Development - 56/87 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

CyanogenMod 7 RC2 Rolling Out Now, Packing Android 2.3.3, New Features, Bugfixes

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Development, News

Cyanogen has just announced via the CM blog that CyanogenMod 7 Release Candidate 2 is rolling out now for supported devices. The team has managed to work in the changes found in Android 2.3.3, and this is the first RC to pack WiMAX for the EVO (previously it was only found in nightlies). CM7 has been feature-frozen with RC2 as well, meaning the team will focus on fixing bugs from this point on.

CHANGELOG

7.0.0

Common: Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) - Google

Common: Fixes and changes from AOSP master - Various

Common: ClockworkMod Recovery 3.0: Koush, Cyanogen, Zinx

Common: Themes engine - T-Mobile

Common: Performance enhancements for Qualcomm hardware - Code Aurora

Common: New boot animation - 73v1n - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYXiKWwp0DQ

Common: Fix readahead values for NAND/MMC devices

Common: Revamped notification widget - cvpcs

Common: Updated various graphics for GB style - blunden

Common: DSPManager updated for 2.3 - alankila

Common: Restyled music app and forward-port of features - Jason Asher

Common: Rotary answer in Phone app - James Peterson

Common: BT VoiceDialer fixes - Matthew Sparby

Common: Calendar enhancements - James Peterson

Common: Stagefright fixes for 7x30, 8x50, and 7x27 - Zinx, arcee, Cyanogen

Common: Pacman package manager - Kmobs

Common: Workaround for unknown phone number - Jiri Tyr

Common: Trackball answer/hangup - Juan Rodriguez

Common: CMParts reorganization - Robert Burns

Common: Optional screen on/off animations - Diogo Ferreira

Common: New browser incognito mode - optedoblivion

Common: New trackball/trackpad wake - Zinx, Cyanogen

Common: Legacy sensor/GPS support - arcee

Common: Enabled v8 javascript engine on armv6 (msm7227/msm7225) - arcee

Common: Customizable overscroll - arcee

Common: Torch cleanup - defer

Common: 2D compositor backwards compatibility - arcee

Common: OpenGL backwards compatibility - Zinx, Cyanogen, Sileht, ezterry

Common: SMS templates using gestures - Riccardo Ciovati

Common: Phone Goggles - David Bidorff

Common: Option to always show battery percentage on lockscreen - Robert Burns

Common: CPU frequency/scaling control in CMParts - Robert Ramiega

Common: Option to pause/play music with camera button - cvpcs

Common: Allow SIP User-Agent configuration - arcee

Common (non-HTC): Fixed mobile connection suspension - arcee

Common: New music widgets - Jason Asher

Common: Updated FLAC support - cvpcs, Cyanogen, kroot

Common: Updated wallpapers - Fitsnugly, Prash

Common: Customizable search/long-press search - Sven Dawitz

Common: New lockscreen styles - Rotary Revamped (default) and Lense - Sven Dawitz, Stefano Pignataro

Common: Customizable app launcher on rotary lockscreen - Sven Dawitz

Common: Now playing and album art on lockscreen - kmobs

Common: GPS fixes - CodeAurora, arcee

Common: Breakfast/Brunch - arcee

Common: Statusbar battery percentage with mini icon - Sven Dawitz, design by Jazz Kalsi

Common: SMS split for braindead carriers - Mike Wielgosz

Common: CMParts cleanup - Sven Dawitz

Common: Notification profiles - Martin Long

Espresso/Legend: Enabled native WiFi tethering - Cyanogen, OMAPZoom.org

Z71: Enabled MPEG4/AAC video recording - arcee

Z71: Enabled native WiFi tethering - arcee

Passion/Bravo/BravoC/Supersonic/Inc: Kernel 2.6.37 - Google, Cyanogen, defer, Kali-, toastcfh, slayher

Vision/Glacier/Espresso: WiFi calling compatibility and optimization - Zinx

Vision/Glacier/Ace: Unified kernel - HTC, Cyanogen, Zinx, Kali-, defer

Vision/Glacier/Ace: Fix FM radio on 2.3 - Zinx

Vision: Only install WiFi calling on TMUS devices - attn1

Espresso/Legend/Liberty: Unified kernel - HTC, Cyanogen, attn1, jznomoney, Alex Hofbauer

Supersonic: WiMAX support - HTC, Shinzul, toastcfh, shift, #teamwin, Cyanogen

ONE: Enabled native WiFi tethering - arcee

For those who don't know, CyanogenMod is the largest and most popular custom ROM for Android.

Mar

[Update: Root No Longer Required] XDA Team Enables Webtop Over HDMI For Everyone With A Rooted Atrix

Posted by Zak Stinson in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, News, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: March 13th, 2011

At the leading edge of this new wave of dual-core superphones is the Motorola Atrix. One of the major innovations of this device, besides the next-level processing power and fingerprint scanner, is Webtop - the desktop-style interface available when the Atrix is docked. By plugging into the HD multimedia or laptop dock (sold separately of course), you can interact with the phone on a larger display while using an internet browser, file explorer and Facebook in a pseudo-desktop environment.

While the feature is pretty nifty, the price tag isn't. The cost of the docks may have come down since the release of the Atrix, but $400 for the laptop version is still prohibitively expensive for some.

Mar

The War Against Infringement On The Android Market Is Heating Up: Fruit Ninja Clones And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, Development, Editorials, News

The Android market is filled with apps of questionable legality. But oftentimes, overpriced, branded theme and clock apps like those you'll find here are considered relatively harmless - who's stupid enough to buy them, anyway? Still, apps in this category are in clear violation of registered trademarks - and that doesn't sit well with their holders.

Google even has a page for developers and copyright holders to submit DMCA takedown requests for apps on the Market. Google's form guides you through what information is needed, and how to identify the apps in question - really, it makes the whole process quite simple.

Mar

Unity Android Platform To Let Developers Convert iOS Apps To Android - With One Click

Posted by Will Shanklin in Apps/Games, Development, News

In a very interesting piece of news today, a new platform has emerged for developers that may let Android get a lot more iPhone apps very quickly. Unity Android aims to make porting an iOS app to Android as easy as clicking a button.

Games will need to be developed under the Unity Engine from the start to enable the simplest conversion, but others have cited the ease with which their previous iOS apps were ported:

"We're amazed of how easy and fast it was to port our latest iOS game Stupid Zombies to Android. It took us less than two days to fully port the game and do some fine tuning."

- Marc Andreoli, Partner at GameResort LLC

"We were very impressed with how simple it was to port our iPhone game Drift Mania Championship to Android.

Mar

New Honeycomb-Inspired Live Wallpaper Is The Perfect Complement To Clock Widgets, Theme, And Boot Animation

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

If you've been dying to imitate the Honeycomb UI on your device, things have certainly been looking up for you lately. First we saw the digital and analog clock widgets hit, and shortly after, Honeybread was released. Then, just a few days ago, the stunning Honeycomb boot animation dropped. Now, XDA members have come through again with a LWP inspired by the stock Honeycomb wallpaper.

Developers nemuro and Xaffron teamed up to create the LWP, and are offering it for free for the time being. The catch: it's essentially in trial form; some features will only work for a limited time.

Feb

Official Gingerbread ROM Leaked For European And Asian Samsung Galaxy S i9000 Phones

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Galaxy S, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Samsung

The XDA forums are on fire this afternoon after a user posted a thread linking to a Polish Android forum, claiming to contain a download for an official Gingerbread build for the Samsung Galaxy S i9000. Before you get too excited, let me reiterate: this is not for US devices, and I would not recommend trying it on your Captivate/Vibrant/Fascinate/Epic.

That said, the handy development community will get their paws on this and have a field day, so you may be seeing unofficial Gingerbread ROMs for US phones (aside from CyanogenMod 7) start floating around on XDA in the next week or so.

Feb

If Your Motorola XOOM Is Rooted It Will Not Be Upgraded To 4G LTE Unless You Un-Root, Says Moto

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Motorola, News, Tips & Tutorials, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Well, the title explains it pretty well, but I'll provide you some documented evidence:

That's right, folks. Sending in your XOOM to Motorola while it's rooted will get it sent right back. Motorola will not provide 4G LTE upgrades to XOOM devices that have been rooted, plain and simple.

A forum moderator in the same Motorola support thread indicates that it's not quite as hard-line as the first responder indicated, and that your XOOM simply must be stock in terms of software functionality when Motorola receives it. Presumably, this means a flash back to factory settings and software will allow your previously booted 'n rooted XOOM to be upgraded.

Feb

Motorola XOOM Gets Overclocked By SetCPU To 1.5GHz, Bends Space-Time

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Development, News, Videos, XOOM

You thought 1.2GHz was fast? That was just the beginning. The developer of the extremely popular SetCPU app has managed to get a 50% clock speed increase out of the XOOM's dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2, bumping it up to a screaming 1.5GHz. Now, this is sort of like attaching a very large turbo to your four-cylinder hot hatch - that is, your device life may be shortened a little if you're constantly pushing it to the limits. Oh, and it might burn a hole in your pants. But 1.5GHz is an impressive figure regardless, and shows just how powerful the Tegra 2 driving the XOOM really is.

Feb

That Was Quick: The Motorola Atrix 4G Now Has Its First Custom ROM

Posted by Will Shanklin in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Development, News

If you're among the early adopters of Motorola's Atrix 4G, you can now install a custom ROM that may give you more flexibility with your snazzy new phone. Developer Design Gears' Adeo ROM is now available for download. While this may not be a ROM that will show any immediately mind-blowing changes to the typical end user, it gives you a reboot option, and more importantly, it's deodexed, which is an important first step that will allow developers and advanced users greater power to modify and replace apps APK files.

While one can install the ROM whether rooted or not, this brings some tricky caveats along with it:

you cannot do a factory reset, or you could end up bricking your prized Atrix
you cannot ever pull the battery, or risk suffering the wrath of the Atrix gods (or something like that)

A tutorial/review of the ROM has hit YouTube, courtesy of MobileTechVideos:

As you can probably tell, the direct usefulness of this one is really going to depend on your level of experience and whether you're a developer 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.