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If you've been modding your Android devices for any amount of time, you're probably familiar with Chainfire, developer of the extremely popular SuperSU root permissions manager and various other mods and apps. His latest work attempts to solve an annoyance that has bothered Android power users for years, but has become particularly annoying since the introduction of Android 5.0. Chainfire's new experimental method for rooting Android phones, tablets, and other gadgets does so without modifying any of the files on the /system portion of the device's storage, instead using a modified boot image.
Google updated its design spec recently. The material spec, which Google says is a living document (as evidenced by its ongoing updates), gained further guidance on floating action buttons, dialogs, updates on typography, and a lot more.
Google Play Services version 6.5 began rolling out to users a few days ago, and as we work on an APK teardown to see what's under the hood, it looks like there's at least one more user-facing change in the update. Specifically, Android's system update screen is prettier.
Just a quick heads up for those worrying that the changes that will at some point probably cripple write access to /system even for root-enabled apps did not make it into Android 4.4.3.
Over the years, Google has been shoring up security on Android in a bid to make the operating system more attractive to governments and businesses, and to reduce the threat of malware for regular users. Unfortunately, these changes often come at the expense of flexibility in our beloved platform. As we close in on the next major release of Android, due to be announced next month, SuperSU developer Chainfire has discovered a set of commits to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) that may seriously impact some of the functionality currently enjoyed by many root users. In a post on Google+, he describes how a set of recent changes to the SELinux implementation will completely cut off write access to system to anything but recovery.
Just a few days ago, Google Glass got a hefty update to XE12 with new Glassware, a new (official) wink gesture for taking photos, a lock screen, and other tweaks.
For the past few hours, I've been observing a curious case of Jeff Williams on Google+. Jeff posted a screenshot of what he claimed was a Nexus 4 he bought from a Googler... with a build of Android 4.3 on it. The same build, JWR66N, that we saw leaked earlier on a Galaxy S4 GPE by SamMobile.
If you're like us, you have an obsession with new apps. When you try every new app you come across though, you're bound for disappointment. After all, not every app can be a paragon of functionality, style, and convenience. With that in mind, we go through the long list of new apps submitted to the Play Store every couple of weeks and bring you the best. Even that, though, can be a little too much to digest for some users. For that reason, we've got monthly roundups featuring just a handful of the very very best apps and games from the previous month. Like always, we've compiled a shortlist for users searching for something new. Without further ado, here are our six favorite apps from March 2013.
Conversations With An Amiigo Founder: This Fitness Bracelet Is For Everyone, Whether You Lift Or Not
Last month, we covered the Amiigo which, frankly, looks kind of awesome if it works as advertised. For those who missed it, here's the gist: you put on a bracelet and a shoe clip and the two track your workout. The system then logs that data and feeds it into some fancy software that analyzes your sessions and tells you how much weight you're losing, how many calories you're burning, and what other exercises might be right for you.
Google Working On New Android Build System To Replace, Unify Eclipse's ADT And Ant – Devs Can Try It Now
Google Working On New Android Build System
Looking to create a more versatile and powerful build system for Android developers, Google has been working on what is currently called "New Build System," a tool that aims to (one day) replace, unify, and build upon the functionality of Eclipse's ADT and Ant build systems.
[Download] Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8000 System Dump Leaked Ahead Of Release
Firmware for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, including the full system dump, was leaked by SamMobile this weekend. As expected, the OS version
Firmware for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, including the full system dump, was leaked by SamMobile this weekend. As expected, the OS version in the dump is currently ICS 4.0.4 as opposed to Jelly Bean, but there is still a slim chance we'll see 4.1 at launch. The tablet has received a number of upgrades since the announcement at MWC earlier this year, the most notable ones being a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a stylus slot. It is still unclear when the Note 10.1 is going to launch.
If you've visited Android Police over the past weekend, you've probably already seen my enthusiastic review of Total Commander for Android, which for me is replacing both ASTRO and Root Explorer going forward as the top Android file manager. Ad-free, $0, root support, dual panes, plugin support, and other advanced functions, which you can read about in the review, make Total Commander an easy choice for both novice and advanced users.
Welcome back to another lovely edition of our Boot Animation Roundup! We've been scouring the net for the past couple of weeks looking for the coolest boot animations that we could find, and here's what we came up with: a hungry Android, the guts of a Gingerbread man, a new take on a classic, some TRON-esque lovin', and a little somethin' somethin' for all the gamers out there.
I know, I know... it's only been a week since the last roundup, but when you just happen to stumble upon a gaggle of awesome animations all at one time, what else can you do? If you were thinking "post 'em up for everyone to enjoy," then you win! What do you win, you ask? Why, some sick new boot animations, of course! How sweet is that?
Update: You can grab the system dump from our mirror here.
For round one of the HTC device leaks today, we present for your consideration the HTC Lead - a device that will be coming to the AT&T network at some point in the future (...most likely).
Welcome to the third iteration of our super-awesome bootscreen animation roundup. It's been about six weeks since our last one, so it's definitely about time for another go. I'm sure at this point no introduction is needed, so let's get right into the screens.
Neither z4root nor SuperOneClick is currently working on the Charge (though I'm sure someone will come up with a one-click method soon enough), but guess what - Gingerbreak sure does. Follow these instructions, and you should have root and full /system unlock on your Droid Charge in a few minutes. Credit goes to the Exploid Crew and unnamed testers.
Let's face it: It sucks waiting for your phone to turn on. It takes too long, and you're forced to watch what is essentially a commercial for your carrier and hardware manufacturer. Well, no more! Here are five bootscreen animations that will make rebooting your phone a much celebrate event! Have your friends gather round and watch at the spectacle that is your phone powering on! Gasp at the twists and turns of pretty images on your screen before your device has even turned on!