Welcome back, my budding hackers! This is the initial post of a new series on how to hack Facebook. It's important to note here that each hack I'll be covering is very specific. I have said it before, but I feel I need to repeat it again: there is NO SILVER BULLET that works under all circumstances. Obviously, the good folks at Facebook have taken precautions to make certain that their app is not hacked, but if we are creative, persistent, and ingenious, we can still get in.
Android 5.0 brought a lot of changes to the world's most popular mobile OS, but few were more central to the user experience than tweaks made to the "Overview" menu (more commonly known as the "Recent Apps" menu). Aside from a visual overhaul, Chrome tabs now exist as separate entries in this list, as do Google searches and a few other activities.
I've been lucky enough to never be a victim of street crime, but I have read and seen too many articles and videos to completely rule it out as a possibility. You can do some things to prevent it, but if your life suddenly turns into a scene from Friday the 13th, you'll want to be prepared with some sort of way to let others know you need help. This is where Shake2Safety comes in, a free Android app from Phontonapps.
S Health is one of the biggest selling points for newer Samsung Galaxy devices. It offers a centralized place to view and manage data collected by all of the various sensors like the heart rate monitor.
Battery life is extremely unpredictable on an Android. Finding the right ROM and kernel combo can make or break having the kind of battery that will last you all day long. Even if you do find the perfect pair, you then have to worry about apps, widgets, and other processes constantly waking your phone and draining your juice. While your media scanner isn't the biggest battery hog out there, it can definitely take a chunk out of it.
Unless you own a Samsung device, your Android's navigation buttons have probably always been in this order (from left to right): "Back," "Home," "Recent Apps." But depending on which hand you use to hold your phone, this may not be the most ergonomic layout for you.
Windows 8 may have introduced a new, intuitive touch-based interface, but plenty of Microsoft loyalists were unhappy with the absence of the classic start menu that they were so accustomed to.
On earlier Android versions, you were able to hold down on an app's icon in the recent apps menu (aka app switcher) and jump straight to the app's info page. From there, you could easily uninstall the app, force-stop its activity, or clear its cache and data.
The guys over at SamMobile were lucky enough to get their hands on an early preview build of Android 5.0 Lollipop on the Samsung Galaxy S5, as you can see in their video below. The operating system has definitely not reached its final form yet, but the progress is very clear.
Notifications sometimes come in bulk on Android—especially after booting up. While some of them are helpful or informative, most can be immediately dismissed as soon as they come in.
Amid rumors of a 6-inch phablet Nexus and the impending release of Android "L", Google posted—then quickly removed—a trio of ads for their industry-leading mobile OS.
I may not be a well-traveled man, but one thing I've learned from my few excursions across the world is that currency exchange rates are a serious pain to keep up with. With global markets seemingly in a continuous flux, I started looking for anything to make staying on top of them easier, and thats when I found Price Helper.
Google has a practice known as dogfooding, where they use their employees to test new and upcoming features for their various services. Back in March, they accidentally released a dogfood version of YouTube on Google Play, and many Android users got their first behind-the-scenes glance at the internal testing features.
I don't know of a pain greater than of the one felt after cracking the screen of your phone. After I managed to crack my screen, rendered unusable, I immediately began to panic as to how I was going to recover all of the photos, videos, and documents stored on my device. After a few hours of searching, I came upon a thread by Mohamad Sabra that showed exactly how to alleviate my problem.
In 2012, VideoLan published a beta release of their wildly popular desktop media player, VLC, for the Android platform. However, because the non-profit development team did not have access to popular North American Android devices, they opted to exclude the USA and Canada from their initial release. That is, until now.
Many game developers have finally realized that in order for their games to be successful, they have to support Android. To really win Android users over, they should also accommodate us hardcore gamers who have OTG cables with the ability to hook up controllers to our devices.
When Google released Android 4.2, a new feature was introduced for tablets that allowed for multiple accounts to be used on a single device. In order to create a unique experience for each user, apps and personal data were kept separate, and switching between users became as simple as tapping your profile photo from the lock screen.
When it comes to theming your Android device, it's the little touches that count the most. That's why developer SArnab created the Android Theme Engine, an Xposed Module to theme those hard-to-reach corners of the Android System that often go untouched with other themes.
While Google would like you to believe that Flash is incompatible on Android KitKat, there is a functional workaround that will get it up and running on your Samsung Galaxy Note 3's gorgeous screen in no time.
It is really quite easy to flash a custom recovery to your Nexus, and there are many excellent tutorials on how to do so (see the How-To below): The Easiest Way to Install a Custom Recovery on Your Nexus 7 Tablet « Nexus 7.
While the preview images for Android's upcoming "L" release just came out yesterday, the new firmware has already been rooted, as is standard with its openness. So if you were feeling reluctant to try Android L because it didn't support existing root methods, then you might want to reconsider.
Google announced Android L to the masses at their I/O event, and with it they introduced their new "Heads Up" notification system. These notifications are part of the new Material Design UI and are sure to change the way we interact with notifications on our devices.
It's the biggest day of the year for all things Google. Their developer conference, dubbed Google I/O, gives us a peak at what the guys at Mountain View have been working on over the course of the past year, and this year, Android was center stage.
Anyone who has rooted their Android device has likely used a tool called Android Debug Bridge, better known as ADB, at some point during the process. For most, that is their only interaction with the ADB, but to be a true Android power user, you need to really know the tools at your disposal.
When Apple recently unveiled iOS 8, many of the newly-added features in their mobile OS seemed eerily familiar to Android users. This is probably because the vast majority of these new features have been available in Android for quite some time.
Keeping track of your phone's battery life can quickly become a chore. Since no one wants to get stuck without a charge, we constantly find ourselves checking to see exactly what percentage remains.
While you may suck at Instagram, it's likely that you manage multiple Instagram accounts, whether strictly for personal use or for managing blog and business pages.
The little black status bar at the top of your screen is great for at-a-glance info, but let's face it—it's pretty ugly. If you want to hide it completely, only showing it when you need it, check out our guide on using Immersive Mode in KitKat. However, if you want to keep the at-a-glance convenience and have it blend in with your apps, try out Tinted Status Bar.
Yesterday, the Free Software Foundation published an article written by Paul Kocialkowski. A software developer for the the Android fork system Replicant, Paul stated that his organization discovered, and later patched, a "backdoor" vulnerability that existed in older Samsung Galaxy devices, including our beloved Galaxy S3s. Only problem is, it's kind of bullshit—but we'll get to that later.
There are plenty of ways to customize your stock HTC One (or any Android device), from playing retro games to adding rotating live wallpapers. But to get the most out of your device, you need root access.
To say that there are a lot of app switchers and launchers available is an understatement. We've covered a few ourselves, including Loopr and Switchr. But why not check out one more?
If you're really popular, like myself, then you're constantly receiving a steady flow of notifications on your Android device. This is either a nuisance, or a reassurance of your popularity. Sometimes you get too many notifications at one time to view, or you accidentally swipe an important alert away, rendering it lost forever.
As a preventative measure against exploitation, certain Android applications won't work if your device is rooted. Opening one of these apps that detects root will typically end up with a warning and an inability to access its features, like in the picture below. AS IF!
Most people were skeptical when Google replaced Google Talk with Hangouts, but to my surprise, it was an easy and pleasant transition. It has basically consolidated my conversations into one location. I can see all SMS, MMS, and Google Talk conversations in one place.
With CyanogenMod 10.2 recently released and the Samsung Galaxy S4 still waiting on Android 4.3, it only makes sense that the coveted features from both firmwares are highly desired by Android owners all over. We've already brought you a feature from each firmware—the cLock home/lock screen widget from CyanogenMod and the Google Play Edition Camera and Gallery from Android 4.3. Now we're bringing you another in the form of an updated text messaging application, ported from both Android 4.3 and...
Apple may have unabashedly lifted their upcoming "Control Center" from Android devices, but visually speaking, it's an awesome take on Quick Settings that would look pretty good on a Samsung Galaxy S3.
If you still have time left on your warranty, taking your HTC One in for repairs can be a serious pain if you've modified it in any way. To avoid the chance that they'll reject your phone because it's been tampered with, you'll have to return it to stock condition.
If smartphone video games have a weakness, it's probably their inability to emulate the riveting and immersive experience that consoles offer.
If you pre-ordered your Samsung Galaxy S4, it might very well be possible that you're reading this on your brand spanking new Android device. As is commonplace with the release of popular smartphones, rooting instructions are usually released simultaneously. I mean, what's the point of paying so much for an expensive phone if you can't have a little fun? Android developer Dan Rosenberg (aka djrbliss) recently announced that you can root your Samsung Galaxy S4 using the root exploit he origina...
As most everyone knows, Android and Apple don't get along so well. Even the users don't get along well, with Android and iPhone users constantly berating and insulting each other online—any chance they get. I should know, since I was one of them, but I'm now rare breed who's learned to appreciate both. People just need to realize that they have their own unique strengths—Android with its customization and Apple with its simplicity.
