Development - 48/86 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[Carrier Crackdown] Tethering Apps Are Being Blocked In The Android Market [Updated]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Carriers, Development

Last Updated: October 28th, 2011

It's a sad, sad day when we can't use the data that we pay for in a manner that we choose - but that day has arrived. It seems that somebody (perhaps carriers?) is blocking the ability to install Wireless Tether in the Android Market. This is what you get if you try to install it:

You can see that while it's still in the Market, it's not available for installation on any carrier-connected device. Most of the well known tethering apps have made the carrier blacklist, such as Wireless Tether and PDAnet, but there are some lesser known ones that are still available.

Apr

Google I/O 2011 Schedule For 20+ Android Sessions Now Available

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News

Google I/O 2011 is almost here - can you feel it in the air? Personally, I'm counting down days to May 10th when I'll be waking up extra early to gallop over to the Moscone Center in San Francisco and try to attend at least some of the 22 planned Android sessions, including fireside chats and office hours with the Android team.

The [almost - there's 1 TBA] final schedule for these sessions is now up at the I/O site, so if you're one of the lucky attendees, have a look below or hop on over to this document to see the whole timetable in its full glory.

Apr

[Like A Boss] Acer Iconia Tab A500 Rooted, Process Is Stupid Easy

Posted by Brad Ganley in Acer, Applications, Development, Iconia Tab A500, News

Good news, everyone! The Acer Iconia has been rooted and the process is so ridiculously simple that it's almost offensive. Seriously. Here is the entire step-by-step process to gaining full root on the Acer Iconia:

The link in that post goes to the XDA thread for a modified GingerBreak, an application for rooting devices in one click; no computer necessary. You simply download the modified APK, install it on your Iconia, run it, and become rooted.

I must say, I'm impressed at how simple and fast that was for a device that just came out, let alone the fact that it's got an operating system only a small handful of devices are running.

Apr

Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 3: Apps 17-25

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Best Apps For Rooted Users Series, Development, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

This is the third iteration in our 'Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About' series. Click here for part one or here for part two.

It's that time again - we've spent the last few months scouring the Android Market, and now we're ready to report back with nine more great root apps. There are a lot of good ones in this edition - read on for some of the best reasons to root your Android handset!

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

MarketEnabler

One of the most frequent excuses for piracy has to be "The app isn't available in my country" or "Google doesn't allow paid apps where I live." No longer!

Apr

Want HSUPA On Your Motorola ATRIX Right Now? Fret Not - XDA Has You Covered

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, News

Each Motorola ATRIX owner has seen their fair share of ups and downs, the biggest down of all perhaps being the lack of up(load speeds), as the ATRIX 4G doesn't have HSUPA support out of the box. AT&T has promised a fix for this and we've even seen phantom updates arise to fix the issue. As always, though, when carriers and manufacturers fail us, who do we look to? XDA, of course! This occasion is no different, and user dew.man has come through.

This fix is for rooted devices only.

If you're not familiar with flashing and RSD Lite, then you may not want to try this.

Apr

Another Day, Another Source Code Delivered: Samsung Releases The Source For The Galaxy Prevail

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, Galaxy Prevail, News

Last Updated: November 23rd, 2011

Earlier this month Boost Mobile announced the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, the first decent Android handset to land on the Sprint prepaid subsidiary. It's slated to be released just two days from now, and keeping up with its seemingly new demeanor, Samsung has already released the Froyo kernel source code over at the Open Source Developers Center.

While its tiny 3.2 inch screen and crummy 2MP camera certainly don't make this phone anything to write home about, I think it's nice that Sammy is paying attention to the little guys and big guys alike.

You can grab the source download by going here.

Apr

Motorola Says 2011 Devices To Have "Unlockable/Relockable Bootloader"

Posted by Zak Stinson in Development, Motorola, News, Rumors

Last Updated: April 27th, 2011

Motorola has had a dark past when it comes to bootloaders. Apart from a couple exceptions (most notably, the XOOM), all of the major Motorola devices have had locked bootloaders, and thus, Android customization enthusiasts have been shut out from such tweaks as custom kernels.

Recently, there has been quite an outcry directed at Motorola and their bootloader policy, in the form of petitions and hijacked polls, and it looks like they have heard users' requests. In response to questions from Irwin Proud, the man behind the petition, Motorola has indicated that they plan on changing their tune.

“In terms of your question – we completely understand the operator requirement for security to the end user, and as well, want to support the developer communities desire to use these products as a development platform. It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.”

*Hold for applause* Yes, it looks like the company notorious for their developer-unfriendly attitude has heard the requests of the Android community and is ready to embrace handset freedom.

Apr

CyanogenMod Gets Updated To 7.0.2, Brings Many Bug Fixes (Including GPS On The EVO)

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, News

The CyanogenMod crew seem to have had a pretty busy Easter weekend - first they released the pre-alpha for the Thunderbolt, and last night they dropped an update to CM7 for all other platforms. This update brings the current version of CyanogenMod to 7.0.2 and is primarily a bug fix release, but it is also the first "stable" release of CM7 that we've seen for the OG Motorola Droid.

Among the many bug fixes included in 7.0.2 is the GPS issue that EVO owners have been experiencing since the initial release of CM7. Some other common fixes include memory issues, status bar tweaks, and the inclusion of new CM community wallpapers (okay, that last one isn't really a fix).

Apr

Updated: [Download] CyanogenMod 7 For The HTC Thunderbolt (Pre-Alpha) Now With Fast Mirror!

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Gingerbread 2.3, HTC, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

Yes, you read right - CyanogenMod 7 for the Thunderbolt. We're super excited, too, because we can finally get our Thunderbolt Gingerbread on! But, please be careful, this is a pre-Alpha release (that means the release before the release before the beta), so be careful. Here's what does not work:

-USB Tethering does not work.
-Phone Testing menu does not display correct radio options. If you play with it, you will have to relfash a Stock based rom to 4G back.
-Possible Data/Voice bugs and issues.
-Possible Mic issues on phone calls (try a reboot)

This is basically saying your Thunderbolt might not work very well as a phone.

Apr

LG Releases G2x Source, Apparently Doesn't Know About The 90 Day Rule

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, G2x (p999), News

We told you about Samsung dropping the source for the Sidekick 4G this morning, and now it's LG's turn to release some code. The lucky winner is... the G2x. That's right, this awesome new beast-of-a-phone has already received ClockwordMod Recovery and now it's about to get even better - as soon as devs get ahold of the source and start cooking up some homebrew Android goodness (CyanogenMod, anyone?).

It's hard to believe they've done in a week what HTC thinks could take 90-120 days of hard work and intensive decision-making!