Development - 67/87 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Nov

For Android Developers: Next Version Of Eclipse ADT To Include Auto Formatting Of XML

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Gingerbread 2.3, News

I was browsing the Android commit tree, as I like to do at 3:20am sometimes, and I just saw a new commit by Tor Norbye with the following description that made my heart skip a beat: "Add autoformatting of XML." This little update may not mean much to the regular folks, but to Android developers, like myself, this has been a long requested feature.

About a year ago, I wrote this article: Auto Formatting Android XML Files With Eclipse, which described how easy it is to achieve uniform, formatted XML files in Eclipse while doing Android development. Since XML files comprise a very large portion of an average Android project (the whole app layout is XML based), keeping XML files tidy becomes a very important, but mundane task.

Nov

[ROM] Team Whiskey Releases Obsidian, Their First Froyo ROM For The T-Mobile Vibrant

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Development, News, T-Mobile, Vibrant

If you're a Vibrant owner interested in custom ROMs, then today is your lucky day. With their Éclair ROM amassing a 400-page thread in under a month, it's safe to say that Team Whiskey's new Obsidian release is going to draw the crowds. Posted on XDA-Developers just moments ago, let's take a look at just what this ROM has to offer:

Obsidian is the first release of Android 2.2, Froyo, from Team Whiskey. Obsidian is a build that follows closely to its sibling releases. A fast, efficient, dark themed power house that's sure to please the daily driver and power user alike.

Nov

Sprint's LG Optimus S Already Rooted

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, LG, Optimus S, Sprint

Last Updated: October 3rd, 2011

As with most other Android phones, the LG Optimus S didn't remain a rooting virgin for long - in fact, it was only a matter of how long it took Android Central forums member KSmithInNY to get the device out of the box.

Before getting started, you'll need to download the Sun JRE (or should I call it Oracle now?), the Android SDK, and drivers for the Optimus S (model LGP500, here's a detailed guide on installing those). Once you've got those, here's how to go about it:

Step 1: Plug your phone into your PC with the USB cable.

Nov

How To: Replace The Lockscreen Clock Font

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Tips & Tutorials

This has not been tested on devices with custom manufacturer UI's, such as HTC Sense. I can't actually check (as I don't have Sense anymore), but I would guess that it won't work as the lockscreen is completely different when using a manufacturer UI.

This morning on Reddit, I spotted an awesome post titled "I got rid of that stupid lockscreen clock font...," showing nothing more than a screenshot. When asked for details, the Reddit community responded in typical supportive fashion, explaining which file needs to be replaced. It turns out it's quite a simple thing to do for rooted users, requiring only that you copy a font from your PC to your SD card, then replace one file.

Oct

Modder's Column: Prettying Up That Status Bar On Your HTC Desire Or EVO 4G

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development

Modder’s Column, formerly known as Modder’s Monday, is a column dedicated to rooting, hacking, and other forms of modifying Android and is written by Jaroslav Stekl, a man who spends his days coding, hacking, hiking, and of course, writing for Android Police.

A few editions back, I described several ways to customize your Android device. As you may recall, one of my main points was changing up the status bar using apps such as Date Status Bar, Memory Status, Status Toggle, and Battery Percentage. The last of those four apps in particular has one big issue: it places another icon in your status bar.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 2

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News, Tips & Tutorials

Yesterday, I told you how to use pre-made icons to create a custom Android Phone 7 theme. Today, I'll walk you through how to create your own icons in Adobe Photoshop. I'm going to assume you have at least a basic understanding of Photoshop.

Estimated time required: 15 minutes for the first icon, and 2 minutes for each subsequent icon.

Difficulty: Low if you've used Photoshop before.

What You Need

Adobe Photoshop
The .PSD templates (included in the full ZIP, linked)

Getting Started

Rally The Troops

Before we begin making the icons, you'll need to make a list of what Apps you want to have immediate access to.

Oct

How To: Create A Customized Android Phone 7 Theme - Part 1

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: November 7th, 2010

About a month ago, XDA-Devs member newone757 created a really great theme based on the one used in Windows Phone 7 - hence the name, Android Phone 7. He was kind enough to post the image files, a template image, and a short how-to, as well. I've taken the personalization a step further and created icons to fit my needs, and now it's your turn.

This theme was made for, and written using, a high resolution device (EVO 4G - 800x480). It hasn't been tested at lower resolutions, although it should work. For lower resolutions, you may want to consider using fewer icons on each screen or manually resizing them in Photoshop once Part 2 is available.

Oct

[UPDATED] CyanogenMod 6.1 RC1 Is Here, Download It Now

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Froyo 2.2, News

Last Updated: October 29th, 2010

After celebrating CyanogenMod 6.0 hitting the final release version for a multitude of devices, the CM team got right back to work on the next version of the largest Android ROM on the planet. 2 months worth of sleepless nights paid off, as minutes ago, Cyanogen announced a new major milestone - CM 6.1 Release Candidate 1. According to the team, the release is definitely good enough to be a daily driver, and the remaining bugs will be quickly squashed, so go ahead and fearlessly hit up the download links below.

Features

Feature-wise, Cyanogen mentions "Pedlar’s notification powerbar, insane performance boosts on all platforms (install SetCPU if you want to take it further), powerful new features in the camera app, new email features, FM radio support (contributed by the MIUI team), and a whole lot of other great stuff!

Oct

HTC Aria Gets Leaked Froyo ROM

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Aria (Liberty), AT&T, Development, Froyo 2.2, HTC

Thought the miniscule HTC Aria wouldn't be getting a bite-sized scoop of Froyo to call its own? Wrong! ls377 over at the Android Central Forums has packaged the leaked Froyo Sense RUU for the Aria into a flashable .zip file. There isn't really much else to say other than that you can flash it just like any other ROM (through Recovery Mode or through an app like ROM Manager) and that some users seem to be having issues with the Android Market. Still, if I were rocking an Aria, I wouldn't hesitate to leave Eclair - after all, who doesn't love themselves some nice, cool frozen yogurt?

Oct

Tip: Launcher Pro And ADW Users - Drag And Hold Your Apps Over The Trashcan To Quickly Uninstall Them

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Tips & Tutorials

Today's tip is common sense to those Launcher Pro/ADW users who are aware of it and pure bliss to those who aren't. Normally, if you drag an icon on your homescreen to the trashcan, the icon simply gets removed from the given homescreen. However, if you keep holding it over the basket, the action turns into "Drop to uninstall," becoming the fastest way to remove apps that I can think of. To sweeten things up a bit, you can also drag icons into the basket from the launcher, achieving the same murderous effect. It literally takes 1 click to get to the uninstall screen without requiring any extra programs or menu walking.