News - 696/944 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

[Updated] CyanogenMod Adds Support For Revoking App Permissions

Posted by Matt Demers in Development, News

Last Updated: May 25th, 2011

Back in March we reported on a proposed patch to CyanogenMod that would allow users to deny apps access to certain permissions while retaining the connection to others. This lets users install applications they are interested in, while remaining mindful of their privacy.

Update: Indeed, the "faking data" patches did not make it into CM and probably never will - thanks to all who posted the correction, including the patch author. See this commit for more info.

Denying permissions unfortunately has a nasty side effect - they will cause applications that don't handle the situation correctly to force close. If an application does start force closing and you've revoked some permissions, you will see a special dialog to easily reset those permissions back to "stock" and give the app a second chance.

May

[New Game Review] TNA Wrestling iMPACT Brings Bodyslamming On The Go, Avoids Hitting Rock Bottom

Posted by Matt Demers in Game Reviews, Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Before I get this post underway, I'd like to send my condolences to the family of "Macho Man" Randy Savage, who had passed away 2 days ago. Wrestling is a guilty pleasure of mine, and his rambling promos about the Danger Zone will always have a special place in my heart. RIP Randy.

The Game

A lot of my youth was spent playing the Smackdown series of games on the PS2; I still pop in Here Comes the Pain every now and again to relive the glory of throwing someone off the top of a ladder through a table. These games, with their arcade-y mechanics and campy story modes, were kings of replayability: if you got bored with your current roster of brawlers, you could just create a bunch more and suddenly the game was new again.

May

[Review] CrossTxT Bridges The Gap Between Phone And Computer For Easy Texting - Regardless Of Browser

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

A few months ago we reviewed an interesting app called Texty. This app connects an Android phone to a computer through Chrome, and allows the user to send text messages straight from said browser. This is useful when you are working on your computer and you do not wish to move your hands away from your comfortable ergonomic keyboard and start pecking away at a small 3-4" screen. CrossTxT performs a similar function, but in my opinion, is far superior to Texty.

Set-Up: Android

Firstly, CrossTxT is currently in beta and you will have to sign-up for a free invite.

May

Patch Enables Netflix App On Rooted HTC Thunderbolts Running Gingerbread ROMs

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

When we posted on the work-around for enabling the Netflix app on unsupported devices, more than a few of you weren't thrilled to hear that the fix didn't work on the Thunderbolt. We knew a fix would come eventually, and now we're happy to report that the developer community has delivered; they've found a way to get the Netflix app working on the Thunderbolt. Unfortunately, there is a bit of bad news, too: it only works on devices that are rooted and running a Gingerbread ROM.

If you fit that criteria, the instructions are pretty damn simple. As always, its highly recommended that you fun a Nandroid backup beforehand in case anything goes awry.

May

Thumb Keyboard, Hands Down The Best Tablet Optimized Keyboard, Receives Major Update To V4.0

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Thumb Keyboard, a multi-layout keyboard compatible with both phones and tablets, is, in my opinion, the absolute best single piece of software you can grace your precious tablet with (see our review for more details).

The split-key design allows for comfortable typing without having to reach too far, and the number of bells and whistles keeps increasing with every release. Different designs for each orientation, multiple themes, multiple size customizations, a multitude of layouts (phone standard, phone split, 5", 7", and 10"), 34 languages... I can go on and on.

I've tried the stock keyboard, SwiftKey Tablet, and the Samsung keyboard, but none of them come even close to Thumb Keyboard.

May

Mozilla Launches Separate Firefox For Android Beta App To Test New Features Early

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Firefox for Android has come a long way since the project hatched as "Fennec" many months ago - there is no doubt about that. What started as a bloated, slow, and buggy pile of crap (really, it was bad), is now one of the greatest browsers Android has to offer (add-ons ftw!). Don't get me wrong - it's still lacking quite a few features - notably, Flash support, faster font redraw on zooming, better startup times, etc., but Mozilla knows this and is working hard on the next version - 5.0.

In order to test out new (but potentially buggy) builds, the company decided to introduce a separate Beta app into the Market today.

May

Confirmed: HTC Flyer On Sale At (Some) Best Buy Stores Right Now

Posted by David Ruddock in Flyer, HTC, News, Tips & Tutorials

That's right, folks - HTC's much-anticipated first Android tablet is up for grabs at Best Buy stores across the U.S. right now. You can pick one of the Wi-Fi only tablets up (note: no stylus included) for a mere $500. A stylus will costs you $80 (yikes), should you so desire one. But consider yourself warned - the Flyer doesn't support handwriting recognition at this point in time, though you could still presumably do all sorts of fun artsy things with it.

How do we know it's on sale? Our man on the street (or in the building, rather), Brad Ganley, snapped a shot of a Flyer demo unit at his local Best Buy:

What's the Flyer packing?

May

Jenga Hits The Android Market, Real World Anxiety Included

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Who doesn't love Jenga? I can't think of a single person that doesn't like to drive themselves totally insane with anticipation playing this awesome leaning-tower-of-blocks game. As of... well, now, you can get that same intense feeling on your Android device, as NaturalMotionGames has brought this family-friendly game to Android.

Probably among the most important features of the game is the realistic physics. If you're going to play, you want it to be physically correct, right? NaturalMotion put a lot of work into making sure that each block is accurately affected by removing surrounding blocks, so gameplay should feel just like the real deal.

May

Hacker's Keyboard Brings A Full Keyboard Experience To Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you've been looking for a full, 5-row keyboard experience on your Android device, then look no further - Hacker's Keyboard may fit the bill perfectly. HK is really designed to be used with apps like ConnectBot for SSH since it features working Tab, Ctrl, Alt, Esc, and arrow keys, but it's worth noting that this keyboard may not work properly with all apps. The reason for this is because some apps may not recognize the additional keys, as they weren't built to handle that type of virtual input.

However, if you experience any other problems while using this app, the developer requests that you file a bug in the issue tracker so he can work on a resolution.

May

[Unboxing & Initial Hands-On] Motorola Droid X2: Twice The Cores, Same Great Taste

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid X2, News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

The Motorola Droid X2 has only been out for a day now - and still can't be purchased via Verizon brick-and-mortars yet- but we've already managed to land one for review. I haven't had much time with it, but I do have some unboxing and hands-on pictures to go along with the initial impressions.

I'm not going to run through the unboxing in words because... well, it's me taking something out of a box.

The first impression: it feels light. Not quite as light as the Droid Incredible 2 (4.78oz), but at 5.47oz it's certainly lighter than my daily ~~brick~~driver EVO (6oz.).