It just got a whole lot easier to decide whether or not saving $50 on Amazon's new ad- and bloatware-subsidized smartphones is worth the headache of having to see an advertisement on the lock screen every time you wake the device.
Android phones may soon be able to send and receive iMessages thanks to a new open-source app called PieMessage.
Mobile data is expensive. The internet connection that comes with your cell phone plan is generally limited to a certain amount of gigabytes that can be downloaded before your monthly cap kicks in, at which point you run the risk of incurring costly overage fees.
One thing you have to love about Google is their sense of humor. From their annual April Fool's Day pranks to the hidden Flappy Bird mini-game in Android to tons of hidden commands in Hangouts, you can just tell that those smart guys in Mountain View still like to have a little bit of fun with their work.
An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard.
Unless you're in law enforcement, you won't usually have a flashlight on hand for those rare moments when you need to sift through the dark. However, it is very likely that you will have your phone on you, so you'll have fast access to a bright light with just a few easy taps.
If you ever need to make calls and/or send texts to the U.S. or Canada from abroad, or even just receive them from those locations, there's an easy way to do so without breaking the bank. In fact, it's free, and all you need is a smartphone, computer, and some free tools.
This year, Google released two Nexus phones to glowing reviews, and as we've grown to expect, the Android community wasted no time in coming up with a root method for both. In fact, legendary root developer Chainfire even devised an entirely new "systemless" method for rooting that should make updating a bit less complicated, along with a few other benefits.
Of all the new features in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, an automatic battery-saving function called "Doze" might just be the most interesting. What it all boils down to is that if you set your phone down on a flat surface, the device uses internal sensors to detect that it's motionless and not in use, then responds by drastically scaling back battery-sucking services until the next time you pick your phone up.
Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device.
In general, the fingerprint scanner in Samsung's 2015 flagship phones is quick and accurate, but when you get that "No Match" message while trying to unlock your phone, it can be incredibly annoying. To help curb these issues, I'll go over three tips for speeding up the unlocking process that should work wonders on your Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note 5.
Let's say you got a little careless while installing apps from unknown sources, and now your Android device has been infected by malware. Or perhaps your friend has come to you for help after they had haphazardly installed random apps until their phone was filled with popups and garbage like that.
Depending on your child's age, their first smartphone may be a little too open for them, or you, to handle. With essentially a world of information—both good and bad—available at their fingertips, it can seem like a huge hurdle to instill parental controls on their device.
Before I start this tutorial, no, this is not that "Effective. Power." text that is going around. With that being said, let's talk about this attack.
The Galaxy S6 might just be the best Android phone on the market right now. From a hardware standpoint, Samsung truly knocked this one out of the park with its finely-crafted build quality and amazing screen.
The wait is over. The Samsung Galaxy S6, arguably the best Android phone of this year, has just launched. There was already a lot of hype about this super phone—its looks, its specifications, and its other functions have been under the microscope for quite some time. It will not be a good idea that you take this phone in your hand and use it in the same fashion as you have been using your other phones in the past.
If you are among those lucky ones who got a chance to pickup the Yu Yureka from Amazon and looking for a detailed guide on how to root your yureka, then I doubt that there is any better place than this. You might have visited some XDA threads for the same but those are generally brief explanations and you might miss something or the other. Moreover, in most of them, ported Clockworkmod recovery has been used which is less stable and lacks features. So keeping your worries aside, look nowhere ...
The only mail I like getting comes in the form of an Amazon package, but when I go to my mailbox, it always ends up being a pile of credit card offers and catalogs I could never see myself ordering from. Those pieces of junk mail usually end up in the trash, which is horrible when you think about all the trees that had to get cut down in order to produce them.
Korean electronics giant LG maintained a large presence at CES 2015. While their TVs and home appliances were heavily showcased, my interest was primarily on one device—the new LG G Flex 2 Android phone.
The upcoming W3D gaming smartphone by Snail isn't like anything you've ever seen before. It's pretty much a cross between an Android phone, Nintendo 3DS, and PlayStation Vita. It runs on Android, has a 3D screen similar to the 3DS, and gamepad controls like the Vita, making it one hell of a portable gaming device (that's also a phone).
Google's latest Nexus device is big, bold, and beautiful—and now it's got root. Thanks to some quick work by legendary Android developer Chainfire, the Nexus 6 already had a clear-cut root method before most stores even had it in stock.
Whether you're in a movie theater, driving, or just want to temporarily unplug from the grid, you need to ignore or completely silence your phone. You'll still receive calls and texts during this time, but in a world where people expect instant gratification, you'll end up looking like a jerk who doesn't answer back.
Straight out of the box, the Nexus 5 is an awesome device, but even it can be faster with better battery life. Luckily, one of the things that makes it so awesome is that there are tons of developers creating mods for it, since it runs stock Android by default. When it comes to gaining speed and better battery life, flashing a custom kernel is the way to go.
Shazam has ushered in an age where any song we like, but don't recognize, can be almost instantly identified. While the whole process is easy enough—just pull out your phone and hit a button—there are still moments where we might miss those quick and fleeting tunes.
This past year, Facebook spent $19 billion purchasing the popular messaging app WhatsApp, and for good reason. Mark Zuckerberg isn't going to spend that type of money on just any application. WhatsApp is widely popular and frequently used by more than 500 million users worldwide, which is almost twenty percent of the Earth's population.
The latest software update to the Amazon Fire Phone packed a lot of new and enhanced features, one of which makes the Carousel (a favorite feature of mine) much more useful.
As the largest wireless service providers in the United States, AT&T and Verizon Wireless carry some serious clout. Sadly, they use some of this power to heavily modify the Android phones that they offer.
Owning an Android device is almost like having a PC in your pocket. Android's ability to easily navigate the file system on your phone is one of many features that separate it from the competition. Just plug your phone into a computer, drag the file over, and you're all set.
Mobile carriers have been the bane of my existence for as long as I've had a phone. First, they take away unlimited data, and then when you try and switch carriers, they hold your phone hostage for a up to a week before unlocking it from their network.
One of the best things about the Nexus line of devices is the ease with which one can achieve root. Plug your phone into your PC, download a couple files, type a few commands, and you can be rooted within 30 minutes. No muss, no fuss, no carrier-locked bootloaders.
Having a dust- and water-resistant phone is truly useful, but it comes with a price. In order to achieve this functionality, Samsung had to literally plug up any holes in the Galaxy S5, and this included the charging port.
Google's new camera app has a highly innovative and unique feature dubbed Lens Blur, and the most interesting thing about it is not necessarily what it does, so much as how it does it.
If you drop your smartphone in water, take it apart as much as you can and place it in rice. It's been the most recommended method of cell phone rescue since the days of clamshells. In fact, it's usually the only thing recommended when searching for "how to save your wet phone." Turns out, we've been wrong all along.
If you've ever seen one of those Samsung commercials from about a year back, you know that the Galaxy S series of phones come with a feature that allows you to do certain things by making gestures in front of your screen. They call this feature Air Gesture, and it enables you to perform certain functions without even touching your phone.
There's a lot of personal information residing on your phone, possibly even more than on your computer, so it's only a matter of time before someone tries to access it.
Often, when you crack open a beer with friends, your buddies are more focused on texting and Snapchatting than what's happening right in front of them. Smartphones have wedged their way into bars around the world—but an innovative new beer glass is encouraging patrons to put down the phone and engage with friends.
Did you know that using your Nexus 5 can deprive you of sleep—and not just because you can't seem to quit playing that addicting game or watching Netflix videos?
As fellow softModders, I'm sure you strive to find any and every way to make your phone unique. Wallpapers and icon packs are great to get started, but to really stand out from the rest, try changing your HTC One's boot animation.
As softModders, the first thing we do after updating to the newest version of Android is to root, install a custom recovery, and install a superuser app. By doing this you open up your HTC One to a vast quantity of new apps and tweaks you can use to truly make your phone One of a kind.
With Google's recent release of the Software Developers Kit for Chromecast, Android gurus now have a roadmap of sorts to guide them in adding Chromecast functionality to their apps. The results are beginning to pour in.
