rom - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet Finally Rooted - Here's How To Do It, And Install ClockworkMod Recovery

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Lenovo, Mods, News, ThinkPad Tablet

Owners of the Lenovo Thinkpad tablet have long been waiting for a way to root their devices... in fact, the situation is so dire that there is a $785 bounty for root. Or was, anyway: Dan Rosenberg has figured out a way to root the device, and Justin Case and utkanos have managed to get ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM) up and running without a hitch. Luckily, both rooting and installing CWM are quite simple (though you do need an SD card to install CWM).

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms,

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Dec

RCMix Ice v1.0 For The HTC Sensation Shows Us What Sense 3.5 On Ice Cream Sandwich Is All About

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

While we've already seen a leaked version of TouchWiz running on top of ICS, a new leak shows us what HTC is doing with Android 4.0. I know you're all anxious to see what it's all about, so let's just get that out of the way first:

It's worth noting that this is a very early test build, so it's subject to change before it actually sees any official light. With that said, you are able to flash this now on the HTC Sensation, courtesy of the RCMix Ice v1 ROM over at XDA. ...

Dec

[Updated: Now With ICL53F] Official Factory Image ITL41D For Verizon Galaxy Nexus Released - Developers Can Now Brick Away

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Dev, Galaxy Nexus / Nexus Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Update: We've also got the images for the newest update to the Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.0.2:

Google Android software engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru has just let loose a factory image of the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, meaning developers now have an official software build to recover from bricks and to tinker with to their hearts' contents. You can find the image, ITL41D, here. The post also indicates more Verizon Galaxy Nexus goodies will be coming later, so we'll keep you updated as more is released.

It should be noted that this is not an ...

Dec

CyanogenMod Posts CM9 Progress Report – Original Droid To Lose Support

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Dev, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

In a reassuring blog post, Cyanogen recently told readers that "things are slowly starting to come together," regarding progress on the hotly anticipated Cyanogenmod 9, which is based on Android 4.0.

The entry goes on to explain that the devices most likely to see CM9 first are those based on OMAP4, MSM8660/7X30, and Exynos chips, as well as a few Tegra 2 tablets (including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and ASUS Transformer).

That's the good news. The bad news is that owners of the OG Droid will be left in the cold, come CM9. The team is also facing challenges due ...

Nov

CyanogenMod 7 Makes Its Way To The Kindle Fire - Still A Bit Buggy, But Nearly Usable

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News

Just two short weeks after the Kindle Fire received its first dose of Android development goodness (read: root), the first full custom ROM has made its way to the device. The ROM is question is, of course, CyanogenMod 7, the most widely distributed custom ROM among Android devices.

Basically everything works, though there are a few glitches. The touchscreen was initially on the receiving end of one said glitch, as the alignment was off by 90 degrees. The developer behind the port, JackpotClavin, has since fixed this issue, so touch should be good to go now. Wi-Fi isn't 100% ...

Nov

206

Editorial: Android Custom ROM Developers, I Think We Need To Have A Talk

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Mods

Dear Android Custom ROM developers: I love most of you. Really. You're part of what makes Android so awesome, because you're so enthusiastic about it, and about making it better. Because of you, we have awesome things like CyanogenMod.

I want to give you some numbers. Let's just look at some popular Android devices:

T-Mobile Galaxy S II: 9
AT&T Galaxy S II: 8
HTC ThunderBolt: 23
DROID BIONIC: 7
Epic 4G Touch: 10

What do these figures represent? The number of different custom ROMs found on the first page of the XDA forums for the above devices. The ThunderBolt's ...

Nov

[Monthly Home Screen Challenge, November 2011] Post Your Android Home Screen, Win An Android Police Shirt

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Home Screen Challenge, Mods

Last Updated: January 3rd, 2012

Creating an aesthetically pleasing home screen for your phone or tablet has become an art in itself, and an entire ecosystem packed with widgets, themes, wallpapers, launchers, and custom ROMs has built up to support it. Sometimes, it can be tough to find a winning combination of elements to create a beautiful and enduring home screen that provides both form and function.

For this reason, we have decided to open up a call for gorgeous, well-decorated home screens of all shapes and sizes. Each month we will select the very best home screen configurations and completely break them down into ...

Oct

Stable Release Of CyanogenMod 7.1 With Support For Android 2.3.7 On 68 Devices Is Finally Out; CyanogenMod 9 Is Up Next

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Gingerbread 2.3, Mods, News, Videos

The road to CyanogenMod 7.1, undoubtedly the largest Android custom ROM, now covering a mind-boggling number of devices (68), has been long and rough. We've been hearing rumblings that the final release was almost here for a number of days (just watch the video of the CM sessions from the Big Android BBQ below), but a couple of hours ago it really did seep through and end up at CM download mirrors across the web.

What's New

CM 7.1 adds support for the following (note that not all of these have stable releases out):

HTC Desire S, Incredible S,

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Aug

[Weekend Poll] What Type Of Custom ROM Are You Running?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

I'm curious to see what percentage of our readers who run custom ROMs are using AOSP (Android Open Source Project - something pretty close to vanilla Android, such as CyanogenMod), and what percentage are using something based on stock device ROMs. More specifically, I want to find out if people on certain manufacturers are more likely to go AOSP than others - in other words, is Blur/NinjaBlur pushing more people to AOSP than TouchWiz, or is there no difference?

^{Left to right: AOSP (ex. CM7), Manufacturer's Stock (ex. HTC Sense), MIUI}

So here's the deal: below you'll see ...

Jul

BootManager Allows You To Install Up To 5 ROMs On One Device, Flashaholics Rejoice

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, Droid (Sholes), EVO 4G (Supersonic), Mods, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Not content to wait for manufacturers to get in to shape and update our phones to the latest and greatest versions of Android, most of us here at Android Police have had a brush with a number of custom ROMs in the past.

Whether it's the latest version of Cyanogen or a more obscure mod, there is always a ROM floating around on my phone, and until now I've always had to uninstall one before installing the other. Fortunately, that's about to change thanks to a new application on the Market called BootManager.

This article deals with a couple of

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Jul

[Update: Nightlies Are A Go!] Samsung Fascinate Officially Joins CyanogenMod

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Fascinate, Mods, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Verizon Samsung Fascinate has finally joined the official ranks of the ever-growing CyanogenMod custom ROM empire, following its brothers Captivate, Vibrant, Nexus S 4G, the original Galaxy S, and Nexus S.

Update 7/28/11: After some delays, nightly builds are finally up! Proceed here to download.

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

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Jul

Motorola Droid X2 Gets 2nd-Init Support, Opens The Gate For Custom ROMs

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid X2, News

The technology that allowed custom ROMs like CyanogenMod on the Droid X/2 and Atrix - 2nd-Init - has now been ported to the Droid X2 by XDA forum member edgan. According to the source thread, it was a direct port from the Atrix, as the code was not modified whatsoever, only re-compiled.

Before I go any further, let's get one important piece of information out of the way: this does not unlock the bootloader or allow custom kernels; it simply brings full custom ROM support.

This is still in very early stages of development, so it's recommended that ...

Jul

New In CyanogenMod 7: Support For Native Screenshots, Touch-To-Focus Camera, Droid Incredible 2

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), Mods, News

The team behind the most popular custom Android ROM on the planet, CyanogenMod, is not planning to take a break even for the national holiday (happy Independence Day, everyone!), giving us a number of new reasons to praise their product over and over again.

Wondering what CyanogenMod already brings to the table? Check out 13 Ways CyanogenMod 7 Makes My Android Phone Feel Future-Proof [Deep Review].

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

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Jun

Download: Official DROID Charge Gingerbread Leak - Complete With Netflix Compatibility

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Droid Charge / i510, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung, Tips

Update 2: SMS send and receive and mobile hotspot are non-working. Do not download this file (the link has been removed) - wait until a more stable release is available. If you need to flash back to Froyo, please check out this thread on MyDroidWorld.

Update: HDMI-out functionality appears to be non-functional in this update build.

Disclaimer: This article contains very device-specific flashing instructions. Read them carefully. We are not responsible for any damage, bricking, loss of data, or inadvertent explosions resulting from your attempts to flash this update onto your DROID Charge. Proceed 100% at your own

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Jun

Nightly Build Of CyanogenMod 7 Now Officially Available For HTC Incredible S

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), Mods, News

The recent unlocking of the HTC Incredible S' bootloader made possible some astonishing feats, not the least of which is the possibility for custom ROMs. Cyanogen and his team have already gotten to work on that last part, and the fruits of their labor are nothing to scoff at: a nightly build of CyanogenMod 7 is now available for the Incredible S.

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