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May

[How-To] Got The Android 3.1 Update On Your Motorola XOOM 3G Or Wi-Fi And Lost Root? Here's How To Gain It Back

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, XOOM

The Android 3.1 update that's been rolling out to Motorola XOOMs all week (yes, including the Wi-Fi versions) contains quite a few improvements to the Android experience, such as better stability, resizable widgets, and an extended app switcher. However, one thing this update does not contain (and actively cleans up if you had it before) is root.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About: Part 1 (Apps 1-8), Part 2 (Apps 9-16), Part 3 (Apps 17-25)
How To Fully Back Up And Restore Your Android Phone Using Nandroid Backup

Whether you want to regain root on your 3.1 XOOM or root the whole thing the very first time, publicanimal from xda has you covered with full instructions of unprecedented clarity and presentation.

Mar

[Exclusive] How To Root The HTC Thunderbolt - Instructions By Team AndIRC (V1.02 2011/03/18)

Posted by Justin Case in Development, Exclusives, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Update: This method is outdated - please refer to this guide instead.

Jamezelle, jcase (that's me), and all of AndIRC (i.e. everyone - AndIRC is an open dev group), the same folks who rooted the pre-production Thunderbolt in February, proudly present:

A Very Dirty HTC Thunderbolt Root V1.02 2011/03/18

Pros

Root with read/write access to /system
Ability to downgrade and flash any RUU (i.e. signed firmware)

Cons

No custom recovery [yet]
No custom kernels [yet]
The root procedure currently requires flashing a slightly older version of the firmware (RUU_Mecha_VERIZON_WWE_1.05.605.0_Radio_1.07.00.0108r_NV_8K_1.38_9K_1.54_release_166255), which could potentially have more bugs. Right now, we cannot confirm whether LTE/battery bugs are present in this version or not.

Feb

Quick How To & Hands-On: Get The Stunning Honeycomb Boot Animation On Your Rooted Android Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Last night, I spotted a tweet from simms22 linking to a video of the Honeycomb boot animation on a CM7ed Nexus S. This morning I awoke to a tweet from him with a link to download it. Update: about an hour ago, simms notified me that the original animation is the work of XDA member zul8er, and tnpapadakos then released an updated (fixed) version.

^{I think this is the first time I've ever seen his pretend pervertedness actually pan out.}

And indeed, sexy it is. For those who missed the boot animation the first go-round, we were impressed the when we saw it earlier this month on the XOOM, and it looks just as good scaled down.

Dec

How To: Root And Install ClockworkMod Recovery On Your Nexus S [Instructions]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung

Last Updated: May 3rd, 2011

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

We didn't exactly expect it to take long, but the Nexus S that went on sale today has now been rooted by Koush, the creator of ClockworkMod recovery and ROM Manager. ROM Manager support is coming very soon, but in the meantime, you can get your Nexus S rooted and ClockworkMod installed by following these easy instructions, courtesy of Koush:

Step 1

First, reboot into your bootloader/fastboot mode.

Dec

[Updated] Froyo For Samsung Epic 4G Now Available To Download [Hands-On] [Instructions]

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Epic 4G, Froyo 2.2, News, Samsung, Sprint

Last Updated: July 2nd, 2011

Update: A Sprint official has just posted on the Samsung Epic forums saying that this is not the final version of Froyo for the Epic. What's more, he gave one commenter an ETA of about three weeks. Ridiculous, isn't it?

Below is a statement from the Epic Product Manager regarding the leaked release (DK28):

Sprint is working on a software package for the Samsung Epic4G that will upgrade it to the Froyo version of Android. Over the weekend, some users were able to access and download a test build (DK28) for the Samsung Epic from some 3^rd party developer sites. Unfortunately, this is not approved software for Sprint production devices and we strongly recommend that users refrain from loading it.

Nov

Motorola Introduces Droid 2 Global In A Series Of Videos

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid 2 Global, Motorola, News, Videos

Verizon's upcoming Droid 2 Global, which replaces the still relatively young Moto Droid 2, has exposed some skin today on Verizon's how-to video page. Here, the CDMA/GSM packing world phone is shown off in an official introduction, along with a handful of how-to videos demoing specific phone functions. The $200 QWERTY speed demon (it's clocked at 1.2GHz) is scheduled to be released later this month.

And now, onto the goodies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3_KD9b0--Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGnki4khsg8

Watch the rest of the how-to videos in how2moto's YouTube account.

Oct

Modder's Column: Prettying Up That Status Bar On Your HTC Desire Or EVO 4G

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development

Modder’s Column, formerly known as Modder’s Monday, is a column dedicated to rooting, hacking, and other forms of modifying Android and is written by Jaroslav Stekl, a man who spends his days coding, hacking, hiking, and of course, writing for Android Police.

A few editions back, I described several ways to customize your Android device. As you may recall, one of my main points was changing up the status bar using apps such as Date Status Bar, Memory Status, Status Toggle, and Battery Percentage. The last of those four apps in particular has one big issue: it places another icon in your status bar.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 2

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News, Tips & Tutorials

Yesterday, I told you how to use pre-made icons to create a custom Android Phone 7 theme. Today, I'll walk you through how to create your own icons in Adobe Photoshop. I'm going to assume you have at least a basic understanding of Photoshop.

Estimated time required: 15 minutes for the first icon, and 2 minutes for each subsequent icon.

Difficulty: Low if you've used Photoshop before.

What You Need

Adobe Photoshop
The .PSD templates (included in the full ZIP, linked)

Getting Started

Rally The Troops

Before we begin making the icons, you'll need to make a list of what Apps you want to have immediate access to.

Oct

T-Mobile G2 Rooted, Though Not Permanently Just Yet

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Froyo 2.2, G2 (Vision), T-Mobile

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

In case you were afraid that your sexy new T-Mobile G2 wouldn't be able to run custom ROMs or take screenshots when it arrived, fear not - hendusoone, xda-developers forum member is here to save the day.

Sep

[How-To] Get FM Radio Working On Your Rooted Droid 2

Posted by Brad Ganley in Droid 2, News

This article deals with rooting. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, hit up our primer here: Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting

There was initially some doubt as to whether or not the Motorola Droid 2 actually contained the proper hardware for FM radio. We can safely lay that discussion to rest because, as of today, the developers at XDA have gotten a fully working port of the FM radio app from the Droid X onto the Droid 2. While it takes a good amount of knowledge to get this done, it doesn't take very long. In reference to how well it works, you are going to have to decide that for yourself.