Development - 29/86 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

HTC Adds Bootloader Unlock Compatibility For Desire HD, Additional Desire And Wildfire Models

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Desire HD (Ace), Development, HTC, News, Wildfire (Buzz), Wildfire S / Wildfire 2 (Marvel)

Those following HTC's efforts to liberate bootloaders everywhere have a bit more to talk about tonight, as the Taiwanese manufacturer added support for a handful of devices.

For those not in the loop, HTC pledged to enable unlocking the bootloaders of all devices released after September 2011, but is doing the community one better by extending support to older models as well. HTC allows users to unlock their bootloaders using a quick, (relatively) easy online tool.

Among the newly unlockable devices are the original Desire, the Desire HD, Wildfire, and Wildfire S. To get started, just head over to HTC's Bootloader Unlock page.

Jan

[Update: Beta 1 Now Available] Touch-Enabled ClockworkMod Recovery Alpha Released For The Galaxy Nexus

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, Galaxy Nexus, News

Update: Things appear to be moving along nicely - Nathan just released the first Beta version of CWM touch. Hit the link below to check it out.

What's the hottest thing to hit custom recoveries since, well... custom recoveries hit? Your fingers! That's right, touch-based recoveries (like TWRP) are starting to make the rounds on various devices, and Android modder Nathan Grebowiec just released an unofficial version of ClockworkMod Recovery with touch controls for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (both GSM and LTE variants).

The interface design is all-around practical, as it uses on screen buttons just like ICS. Have a look:

ClockworkMod Touch is available for download now, but remember that this is just an alpha version.

Jan

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[Update: Works On The OG Transformer, Too!] Exclusive: 'NachoRoot' Brings Root Access To The Transformer Prime, Even With The Newest Firmware

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, Eee Pad Transformer, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Update: We're getting reports that NachoRoot also successfully roots the original Transformer, which, until now, has been unrootable on the latest firmware. Simply follow the directions listed below!

Transformer Prime - two words that we've heard quite a bit over the last week or so. Root - a word that we hear on a daily basis in the world of Android. What do you get when you put the two together? Transformer Prime root. That's right -- the TP has been rooted by none other than our good buddy Justin Case. And we have the details for you right here.

Jan

Google Requires OEMs To Include The Stock Set Of UI Widgets In All Ice Cream Sandwich Devices, Developers Can Stop Skins From Messing With Their Apps

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, Applications, Development, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

We are going to need some restraint and careful explanation for this one.

Google is making life a little easier for developers. Today a post on the official Android Developers Blog announced a new rule for OEMs that insist on skinning Ice Cream Sandwich: You must also include the unmodified ICS "Holo" Theme files. Regular users still have to deal with a skinned OS, but developers can opt out of the skinned parts for their app. Observe:

This is what developers currently have to deal with. Apps will look wildly different depending on what skin your phone has. On the left is Motoblur, on the right is stock ICS. It's the same APK, but everything looks different because apps take many parts of their UI from the OS.

Jan

[Monthly Home Screen Challenge, January 2012] Post Your Android Home Screen, Win An Android Police Shirt

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Home Screen Challenge

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 monthly 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 their component parts, providing you with all the necessary information to create your own awesome home screen.

Jan

[Monthly Home Screen Challenge] And The December 2011 Winner Is…

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Home Screen Challenge

December's Home Screen Challenge – like our first two challenges – gave us a look at some extremely impressive home screens, pushing aesthetics and home screen tweaking to their limits. It was tough to pick just one winner, but in the end, suprafreak1000's zen-like reimagining of the Android interface won us over. Like always, we'll break down the winning home screen and explain each of its parts, so you, the reader, can design your own creation using the same elements.

Winner – SupraFreak1000

Suprafreak1000 (known as Scott on myColorscreen) has built a unique, practical, and visually impressive home screen, blending a cohesive color scheme with a simplistic interface.

Jan

[Updated x2: LG Thrill] CyanogenMod Team Brings Nightlies To A Handful Of LG Devices, Adds Official CM7 Support For Samsung Epic 4G

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, Epic 4G, LG, News, Optimus 3D (p920) / Thrill 4G (p925), Optimus Black (p970)

The minds behind CyanogenMod have done it again, bringing nightly updates to several LG Optimus variants, and adding official CM7 support for the Epic 4G (not to be confused with Sprint's Galaxy SII variant).

Among the newly-supported LG devices are the Optimus 3D (p920), Hub (e510), Pro (c660), and Black (p970) (which is technically seeing the return of nightlies). It may be worth noting that the Optimus Hub and Pro both received RomManager support tonight, making it excessively simple to get CM goodness on the devices.

Update #1: The Epic 4G (epicmtd) nightly just showed up as well.

Update #2 1/2/12: LG Thrill (p925) appeared today.

Dec

CyanogenMod Team At It Again - Nightlies Arrive For Several Xperia Devices

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, News, Xperia Active (Satsuma), Xperia Pro (Iyokan)

Just after expanding Nightly support to Samsung's Epic 4G and a slew of LG handsets, the CyanogenMod team has brought nightlies to a handful of Xperia devices, including Coconut (the Xperia Live with Walkman), Iyokan (the Xperia Pro), and Satsuma (the Xperia Active).

In a Google+ post earlier today, CyanogenMod announced that CM7 support had arrived for multiple new devices, throwing out a special hint to Xperia users.

For those not familiar, a "nightly" is a brand new released, built on a daily (or nightly) basis with a day's worth of new code. Often times, new features contained in nightly updates may be unstable or not fully tested.

Dec

[Exclusive] TacoRoot By Justin Case And Reid Holland: A New Temporary Root Exploit For All HTC Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Exclusives, HTC, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Our own Justin Case has been collaborating with Reid Holland (erishasnobattery) on TacoRoot – a tool that should root just about any HTC smartphone – for some time now, and with the recent additions to HTC’s official unlocking tool, they’ve decided to release it.

At the moment, it’s quite gnarly – it’s only a temporary root for now, and there are various issues with it (see below). That said, it’s incredibly useful for downgrading phones like the myTouch 4G, which can’t be unlocked or rooted with the most recent version of their software. Besides, who could say no to a universal HTC root tool?

Dec

[Update: Incredible S Added] HTC Expands Bootloader Unlock Compatibility – Incredible 2, Thunderbolt Make The Cut

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

In a continued effort to unlock bootloaders everywhere using their online tool, HTC has added several exciting entries to the "supported devices" list. Perhaps the most notable of the new entries are the Droid Incredible 2 and HTC Thunderbolt. Officially, HTC's online unlock tool is compatible with all devices launched after September 2011, but the new additions reflect an effort to add compatibility for older devices.

Update: HTC just added the Incredible S to the mix. Go get unlocked!

"What does this mean for users of the Incredible 2 or Thunderbolt," you may ask. An unlocked bootloader basically allows users not only to root their device with (relative) ease, but also to write to partitions that may otherwise be protected (namely the recovery partition), opening up even more possibilities for those interested in tweaking their phone to perfection.