Exclusives - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

Google Is Working On And Testing Android 4.3 - It's Still Jelly Bean

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Exclusives, News

As everyone is trying to guess whether the next big Android update is going to be Key Lime Pie or not, and whether the release will be Android 5.X or 4.X, we have yet to hear anything concrete. After getting a tip from an eagle-eyed reader (thanks, deepayan!) and digging deeper, I can definitively tell you that Google is currently working on Android 4.3, and it is still Jelly Bean.

Specifically, the build I'm seeing floating around our server logs is Android 4.3 JWR23B, which indicates this is still Jelly Bean (the first letter of the build is always the same as the first letter of the Android version name).

Apr

Exclusive First Look: AirDroid Version 2 Headed For The Play Store Today - Here's What You'll Find Inside

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Exclusives, News

Even in its current and somewhat dated form, AirDroid is easily one of the best apps on the Google Play Store. The sheer flexibility and polish of the remote access tool has made it one of the first things I install on any new device. The original AirDroid is still great, but for the last few months the development team at Sand Studio has been beta testing AirDroid version 2, with a ton of new features added to its original toolset. AirDroid 2 will be live on the Play Store in a few hours - here's an exclusive preview of the final build.

Apr

[APK Teardown Exclusive] The HTC Myst Facebook Phone - The Facebook App Is Now A Launcher, Looks Like They're Planning A Play Store Release, Too

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Exclusives, HTC, News

We've managed to score a system dump of the Facebook phone! There's nothing in it that's too earthshattering, and you could probably guess most of the features, but, since we've got it, we might as well take a look at it.

[This is not an April Fool's joke. I promise.]

Now, this being Facebook, nothing really works unless you sign in. The problem is, all of this is pre-release, so it's set up to only work for Facebook employee accounts. Everything is basically packing unintentional always-on DRM, so screenshots are going to be a little sparse. This is all it will do right now:

Build.Prop Specs

The build.prop file will give us a basic idea of the phone this ROM is meant for, so let's take a look.

Mar

Exclusive: This Is The ZTE Quantum (N8910) Destined For Sprint

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Exclusives, Leaks, News, Quantum, Sprint, ZTE

Sprint is testing a device from ZTE tentatively called the Quantum with model number N8910, Android Police learned recently. The Quantum has mid to high-end specs with its 5" 720p screen, a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, a 13MP camera, NFC, and Sprint's 4G LTE.

The device runs Android 4.1.2, which isn't currently the latest iteration of Android, but in line with most newer devices on the market today outside of the Nexus line and the Galaxy S4.

The lack of 2GB of RAM, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and something like an S4 Pro (or newer) upgrade separate the Pro from the current flagships, but then again - did anyone really expect a ZTE phone on Sprint to suddenly blow everyone else out of the water?

Jan

[Exclusive] This May Actually Be The HTC M7 With Sense 5.0

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Exclusives, Leaks, News

You know what we like here at Android Police? Solid information. Earlier today, we reported on an alleged render of the HTC M7 that looked a little 'close-but-not-quite'. For starters, that image is not exactly the M7. But a helpful tipster decided to help us clarify some things today, by providing real images of something that more than likely is the M7.

We've been seeing a flurry of photos recently and this to be the most legitimate one yet. This is also obviously a photograph of a real piece of hardware, not a render. This photo corroborates a lot of the information that PocketNow's tipster reported that we mentioned in our last article - notably, that the home and multitasking buttons have been swapped.

Oct

[Exclusive] Android 4.2 Alpha Teardown, Part 3: The New Work-In-Progress Gallery And More Multiple User Stuff

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: December 28th, 2012

We're back with yet another edition of our Android 4.2 teardown! We previously showed you the new Gmail, the Quick Settings prototype, and all sorts of security features. Today we're looking at some seriously fun stuff, including a sneak peek at the new Gallery design.

Pending some kind of breakthrough, we'll probably end this series at an even trilogy. There isn't much more to cover after this. And remember, this is a Teardown, not a list of confirmed 4.2 features. None of this is guaranteed to ship in 4.2 and I'm certainly not claiming it will.

The New Gallery

Update: HOLD EVERYTHING.

Oct

dan-rosenbergs-presentation-on-android-modding-for-the-security-practitioner-is-a-must-read

[Exclusive] Android 4.2 Alpha Teardown, Part 2: SELinux, VPN Lockdown, And Premium SMS Confirmation

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, APK Teardown, Exclusives, Features

We've got an LG Nexus system dump and endless desire to spoil every Googley surprise we can. Today's edition of the Android 4.2 Teardown could be alternatively subtitled "The Super-Serious Security Edition," because we're talking about the sort of stuff that should make your sysadmin jump for joy.

Please keep in mind this is just as forward-facing and time-ambiguous as all my other teardowns. This is a list of new stuff in the 4.2 dump, not a list of "confirmed for 4.2" features. Anything could be cut or not fully implemented by the time 4.2 rolls around; similarly to how bits of Android are currently multi-user aware, yet multi-user functionality isn't accessible.

Oct

[Exclusive] Android 4.2 Alpha Teardown, Part 1: Quick Settings - The Second Pulldown Panel [Video]

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, APK Teardown, Exclusives, Features

Welcome to the continuation of our Android 4.2 extravaganza. If you haven't guessed by now, we don't just have an unreleased version of Gmail; we have an entire LG Nexus system dump. Some LG Nexus prototypes are supposedly running 4.1.2, but the build we have is something different - something newer. It's an in-progress 4.2 build. Most apps in this build identify themselves as version "4.2-[###]" or "JellyBeanMR1" (4.1.2 is JellyBeanMR0). The source asked us to not release the dump, so we won't. Sorry.

What we can do is give you as much information as possible about it. This Android 4.2 build is really different, in that almost nothing works on a regular phone.

Oct

exclusive-upcoming-gmail-for-android-4-2-will-finally-have-pinch-to-zoom-swipeaway-deletearchive-video

[Exclusive] Download: The Unreleased Gmail 4.2 APK With Pinch-To-Zoom And More

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Development, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: October 15th, 2012

Ok, guys. Start your engines - here's the download and instructions you need to get the leaked Gmail 4.2 up and running on your device. Keep in mind that this is an unreleased version so some things may be buggy or broken, though I haven't run into any problems.

If you somehow don't know what I'm talking about, we have the next, unreleased version of Gmail, and we're finally allowed to share it with you. Gmail 4.2 finally has pinch-to-zoom, a nifty new swipe-to-archive/delete feature, and a bunch of other things. Just for fun I'll embed the video again:

Download

Note: This APK should work on Android 4.0+.

Oct

Exclusive: Upcoming Gmail For Android 4.2 Will Finally Have Pinch-To-Zoom, Swipeaway Delete/Archive [Video]

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: October 14th, 2012

Today, we are thrilled to share some exciting news about the next version of Gmail for Android. We may or may not be in possession of an unreleased version of Gmail, which may or may not have come from an LG Nexus system dump. One thing I am sure of is we definitely have video of it, which is just one short paragraph away.

Update: You can download the new Gmail here: [Exclusive] Download: The Unreleased Gmail 4.2 APK With Pinch-To-Zoom And More.

Let's get right to the good stuff. FINALLY, Gmail is going to have pinch zoom. It's easily the most wanted Gmail feature, with over 1600 stars on the Android bug tracker.