Archive

Chromebooks will soon be able to show Bluetooth battery indicators
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Chromebooks will soon be able to show Bluetooth battery indicators

June 30, 2019
A much-awaited feature that arrived with Android Oreo was the ability to see the battery level of the Bluetooth device you were connected to. It's an important feature and quite surprising that it took so long to implement in AOSP, as even custom ROMs such as LineageOS supported it. There are so many reasons as...
Google’s Manifest V3 will change how ad blocking Chrome extensions work: Is it to cripple them, or is it for security?
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Google’s Manifest V3 will change how ad blocking Chrome extensions work: Is it to cripple them, or is it for security?

June 30, 2019
Google Chrome is the most popular cross-platform web browser available on the market right now, claiming 62.7% of the global browser usage share up until May 2019, with Apple's Safari coming in second at 15.89% and Mozilla's Firefox claiming 5.07%. Because of its lion's share, the smallest of changes that Google Chrome undertakes for its...
Kiwi Browser adds text reflow support, Translator settings, external download manager support, and more
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Kiwi Browser adds text reflow support, Translator settings, external download manager support, and more

June 30, 2019
Kiwi Browser by XDA Senior Member arnaud42 has been the browser of choice for many for a long time now. With extension support, a reachability button, an AMOLED friendly dark mode and lots more, it's really no wonder why it's exploded in popularity since its release last year. arnaud42 isn't done adding features to Kiwi...
Magisk now supports system-as-root and the Google Pixel 3/Pixel 3a’s logical partitions on Android Q
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Magisk now supports system-as-root and the Google Pixel 3/Pixel 3a’s logical partitions on Android Q

June 30, 2019
Google released the first Android Q beta back in March, and root access via Magisk quickly became available for the Google Pixel and Google Pixel 2. The Google Pixel 3, however, could not be rooted on Android Q because the developer of Magisk, XDA Recognized Developer topjohnwu, needed to figure out how to work with...
Google’s Fast Share is an upcoming AirDrop-like file sharing tool for Android
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Google’s Fast Share is an upcoming AirDrop-like file sharing tool for Android

June 29, 2019
When I discovered that Google was deprecating Android Beam in Android Q, I was surprised to see how many people were upset by the news. The file transfer service used NFC to transfer files between devices, and although it was slow and rarely used, it still had its fans because of how widely available it...
HTC U12+ gets the Android Pie update in Taiwan
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HTC U12+ gets the Android Pie update in Taiwan

June 29, 2019
The last few years have been rough for Taiwanese smartphone brand HTC. While the brand is certainly capable of designing decent smartphones, it can't seem to keep up with the current trends of the smartphone industry. Although it isn't giving up on smartphones, its focus has shifted away from flagships and toward the blockchain and...
OnePlus 7 Pro price cut by $100 in Canada, difference will be credited to existing buyers
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OnePlus 7 Pro price cut by $100 in Canada, difference will be credited to existing buyers

June 29, 2019
The OnePlus 7 Pro is one of the best flagship smartphones this year. The 7 Pro is OnePlus' first attempt at selling a Pro model, and while it's priced higher than any other OnePlus smartphone, it's still cheaper than comparable flagships. However, because OnePlus sells devices in many countries, its affordability may vary. For example,...
Xiaomi seeks testers for POCO F1’s Android Q update and Mi 6, Redmi 6, Redmi 6A’s Android Pie update
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Xiaomi seeks testers for POCO F1’s Android Q update and Mi 6, Redmi 6, Redmi 6A’s Android Pie update

June 29, 2019
Xiaomi recently announced that it will be shutting its Global Beta ROMs for all devices, with effect from July 1, 2019. Public beta ROMs, though are presumed to be Beta in nature, have been stable enough for a lot of users to use it as a daily driver mainly because of the rather frequent nature...
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 pictures show no rotating bezel
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Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 pictures show no rotating bezel

June 28, 2019
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active was released earlier this year along with the Galaxy S10 family. This device marked a pretty big design shift for Samsung's watches. Gone was the chunky, industrial aesthetic and the fan-favorite rotating bezel. Instead, Samsung went for a much sleeker and slimmed down design. New leaks reveal that the Samsung...
LCDs with in-display fingerprint scanners will bring the tech to budget phones
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LCDs with in-display fingerprint scanners will bring the tech to budget phones

June 28, 2019
Smartphones are always progressing. Years ago, it was crazy to think that a budget smartphone could have a fingerprint scanner. Since then, the proliferation of the fingerprint scanner has made it so that it is ubiquitous even in the sub-$200 market. The next evolution of it is the in-display fingerprint scanner, which removes the need...
[Update: Except Nokia 2] The Nokia 1 gets Android Pie, so now every HMD Global phone has the latest update
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[Update: Except Nokia 2] The Nokia 1 gets Android Pie, so now every HMD Global phone has the latest update

June 28, 2019
I am becoming increasingly impressed with how well HMD Global has handled Android's software updates for all of its smartphones. Granted, you don't get all of the bells and whistles from their OEM ROM as say, Samsung's version of Android, but fans of stock Android have found themselves a good home with the current roster...
OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Vs Huawei P30 Pro: Battle of the Camera Beasts
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OPPO Reno 10x Zoom Vs Huawei P30 Pro: Battle of the Camera Beasts

June 28, 2019
2019 has seen some really great smartphone cameras. The technology is getting crazy impressive and devices are doing really interesting things with it. Two devices that moved the needle earlier this year are the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom and Huawei P30 Pro. XDA TV's Daniel Marchena put together a side-by-side camera comparison of these two...