Tag: Android 4.2

CyanogenMod 10.1: Better than Vanilla Android?

Post author By Vibin
Post date February 15, 2013
1 Comment on CyanogenMod 10.1: Better than Vanilla Android?

Vanilla Android is awesome. It is one of those things which most of the Android users don’t have any idea about, because they haven’t tried a Nexus. But then you don’t need a Nexus actually.

You just need a rooted Android device which can run custom ROMs! CyanogenMod is one of the most popular ROMs available for Android and it has reached 10.1 lately.

Now, the whole point of this post is not on how CyanogenMod 10.1 brings Vanilla Android experience to many devices, but rather on how it actually is better than Vanilla Android.

Quick settings

Quick settings was one of the nicest additions to Android 4.2, though Google really screwed up the implementation. This is where CyanogenMod enters the game and makes it lot more usable.

Firstly, in CM 10.1, you can add custom toggles to Quick settings. What this means is that, you can add stuff like GPS, Auto-rotate, Sound, Sync etc. to the Quick settings panel. Next up, these are actual toggles. The ones in 4.2 weren’t really toggles, the Wi-Fi switch for example, would take you to Wi-Fi settings screen and then you had to enable it.

Another really cool thing in Quick settings on CM 10.1 is, you can set it to open if you pull down from right of status bar and you would get the notification center if you pull down from left. This is much better than Google’s implementation, where you have to pull the status bar with two fingers.

Lock screen

CM 10.1 lets you add custom slider shortcuts. So for example, you could add the Phone app as a shortcut and have it quickly opened. This is how it looks like –

If you use the Lockscreen widgets a lot, you can configure to make them open in expanded state by default. CM 10.1 also has a Clock widget baked into it. It’s a different kind of clock widget – showing weather and calendar events along with time.

Performance and Battery life

Jellybean 4.2 was definitely a step back in performance for Android. There was a serious outrage among especially Galaxy Nexus users in Google Code forums. No one knew what happened to all that Project Butter goodness. Battery life on my Galaxy Nexus was pretty good, though.

Now that I’m using CM since 3-4 days, I guess I can comment on both of these. In performance, CM is marginally better, you’ll still see frame drops here and there, but definitely better than 4.2. On the other hand, battery life is more or less the same as 4.2.

Customization and attention to detail

Customization is something you’d definitely expect from a custom ROM and CM fulfils the need for me. You can do stuff like tweaking your display for better colours (I actually tweaked mine for better visibility in sunlight).

If you’re trying this on a Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4 (both of them have on-screen buttons), you can even add extra buttons to the navigation bar. Another Nexus-specific feature is Expanded Desktop – it’s like full screen mode for your phone.

You can set Profiles, one of those features which you’ll still find in feature phones but missing in smartphones.

It also fixes many of Android’s annoyances cleverly. For example, there’s a small ‘clear all’ button in Recent Apps screen. You can set volumes for Phone, Music and Alarms without digging into settings. You can change brightness by sliding left/right on the status bar. You can have the battery indication in status bar to be a circle.

I always get a thought that Google needs to implement stuff like this directly into Android.

Conclusion

So, is CyanogenMod 10.1 worth a try? It depends. If you’re on a non-Nexus phone, definitely worth installing, you’ll in all probability love it.

If you’re using a Nexus and are okay with 4.2, then CM is probably not that interesting for you. Though, it does bring a lot of enhancements to Android which power users will definitely like.

It’s still a nightly, but I haven’t seen any bugs so far, and it is very stable. Hit the link below to check out if CM 10.1 is available for your device.

If you’re a beginner in rooting and related stuff, check out XDA Developers forum, find forums posts related to your device and follow them. Before you go ahead, remember that rooting will void your warranty and may even brick your phone (though the chances are less).

Link: CyanogenMod 10.1

Tags Android 4.2, CyanogenMod

Tips

4 Tips for making most out of Android 4.2

Post author By Vibin
Post date November 17, 2012

Google has released Android 4.2 a few days back and the Nexus line-up has already got the update. The new update has brought a few features like gesture typing, quick settings in Notification bar etc. for which you’d use 3rd party apps previously.

There are also a few hidden/underrated features in the OS. If you want to make most out of it, you got to read this.

#1. Photo Filters

Photo Filters were actually introduced in Android 4.0, but it was pretty dry without many features. With 4.2, Google has brought Instagram-like filters to Android’s stock Gallery app.

To edit a photo, open the Gallery app, hit the three-circles icon in the bottom left corner, there you can choose between filters like Vintage, Punch etc. You can play with the Hue, Saturation etc. of the photo, or add Vignette/shadow effect to it. There’s also a neat feature which lets you revert back the photo, to access that, hit the three-dotted button in Menu bar > Show History.

After you apply a filter, you can tap and hold on the photo to compare it with the original photo – which is really cool.

The edited photo will be saved as a new one beside the original photo. I’ve tried adding filters to Photosphere photos and it still works (because they’re saved as standard .jpg), though without the Photosphere view for the edited photo.

I’m pretty sure users won’t need to hunt for Gallery app replacements and install Quickpic or anything.

#2. Daydream

You know about screensavers on desktop, but what about Mobile? Daydream is exactly that, except that it’s more useful. Daydream will trigger when your phone is docked, though you can make it trigger when phone is charging, too.

You can customize what Daydream actually shows, it can be stream of photos from Gallery app, or just a neat Clock widget, or even news from Google Currents. The last one is my favorite.

To configure it, go to Settings > Display > Daydream. I think it does consumes considerable amount of battery, so be aware before setting it up.

#3. Pinch to zoom in Gmail

Probably one of the most longing features in Android, finally brought to Gmail app in Android. But, guess what? It’s not enabled by default.

To get pinch to zoom in Gmail, go to settings > General settings > Check ‘Auto-fit Messages’.

#4. Magnification

While this feature isn’t targeted for everyone, it can be of great help for people who are poorly sighted.

By default, the feature remains disabled. To enable it, go to Settings > Accessibility > Magnification gestures.

To magnify, all you need to do is, triple tap the screen. Zooming works with pinching in and out, and scrolling can be done using three fingers.

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but this is all I have found after spending a few days with Android 4.2.

Has Android 4.2 impressed you? Drop your comments.

Tags Android 4.2

Reviews

Review of Android 4.2: Google’s step towards Perfection

Post author By Vibin
Post date November 15, 2012
3 Comments on Review of Android 4.2: Google’s step towards Perfection

Though Hurricane Sandy has stopped Google from pushing the Android event on 29th October, it couldn’t stop them from releasing shiny new stuff which they’ve been working on. This includes Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and of course Android 4.2.

I’ve got Android 4.2 (which bears the same name, i.e. Jellybean) installed on my Galaxy Nexus and have been pretty impressed with the improvements.

It’s not a big update, that makes sense as it’s not named Key Lime Pie, which may be the next version of Android bearing big changes, probably.

Here are a few initial impressions of mine on how this update actually improves Android 4.1.

Battery Life

There’s a reason why I’m talking about battery life right in the beginning. That’s because, 4.1 actually ruined the battery life of my Galaxy Nexus. I’m safe to say, it was OK while running Ice cream Sandwich, but 4.1 was no fun in this aspect. The phone could barely go through one full day on a full charge. It could run for 5 hours on continuous web browsing on Wi-Fi.

As you might have guessed, 4.2 is a considerable improvement in battery consumption. I’m pretty sure, most of the people can get away a day with one full charge. Speaking in numbers, my Nexus could run for 7+ hours on Wi-Fi.

Quick settings

If you’ve ever used a TouchWiz phone, you must have seen those small Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Brightness etc. toggles in notifications bar. Now, though I liked the idea, the implementation wasn’t good at all. Google introduced (or borrowed, if you prefer that) this feature in 4.2 and I love the way it’s put.

Unlike controls in TouchWiz, Quick settings in 4.2 won’t come in your way. You tap the icon in top right corner, and it’ll show the control with a nice UI transition. If you want to get to Quick settings really fast, you can drag the notifications bar with two fingers. It’s that easy.

Lockscreen Widgets

Like many people have complained, until 4.1, lockscreen on Android was a waste of space. You could launch Google Now or Camera from the lock screen. In 4.2, there’s this new thing called Lockscreen widgets.

That apparently means that, you can add widgets right into your lock screen. Currently, you don’t have a lot of widgets to choose from, apart from GMail, Messages etc. widgets. Another change is that, if you swipe to right from lockscreen, you head over to the Camera app.

This will probably disappoint a few users who liked the previous minimal lockscreen.

Gesture typing

I use Swype as my default keyboard in Android, and have always preferred to SwiftKey just for this gesture typing (I know, SwiftKey Flow is about to release). Now that gesture typing has come to Android’s default keyboard, I have no reason to ditch this and hunt for alternatives.

In fact, the default keyboard is actually better than Swype. Firstly, it’s fast. Use it for a while and you’ll know. Secondly, it looks much better with Holo UI. Also, as the dictionary data is tied to your Google Account, there’s no need to create an extra account (like you do for Swype/SwiftKey).

Improved Camera

The Camera UI has been changed greatly in 4.2 and that’s for good. To get to the settings, tap and hold anywhere on Camera app and glide with your fingers to the respective controls. Again, this is something you got to try to understand.

Apart from UI, there’s Photosphere, that’s for grabbing a 360-degree Panorama. I love how well it works, and if you’re trying it on a Nexus 4 (which has really good Camera), it’ll be pretty awesome. You start by pointing the camera at the blue dot and continue rotating it all the way up to 360 degrees.

There are a few quirks, though

Google is always known for releasing beta/unfinished products, but as time passes, they get a lot better. Now, 4.2 is not a beta release, though I don’t find it very stable.

Firstly, Bluetooth is flaky in 4.2, it was crashing way too often when I tried it to pair it with a few devices. Next, if you have friends whose birth days fall in December, sadly you can’t set their date right in People app. That’s because the app completely misses December! This is not all, there are a lot more bugs being reported by Nexus users, and I expect 4.2.1 to be here soon.

So that wraps it. These are the main improvements in 4.2 Jellybean. There are many other small features like improved Google Now (which you can get even on 4.1), Daydream – which is like a screensaver for your Android. If you’re trying 4.2 on a tablet, you’ll see multi-user support which is cool if you share your tablet among your family.

Apple always celebrated their products with a sense of sentimentality and emotion. On the other hand Google celebrated Android as a powerful number cruncher devoid of sentimentality. With Android 4.2 it is safe to say the rise of the robots is underway.

Have you got your hands on Android 4.2? Looking forward to read your comments.

Tags Android 4.2, Galaxy Nexus

News

List of Expected Features for Android 4.2 (Key Lime Pie)

Post author By Aditya Kane
Post date October 22, 2012
4 Comments on List of Expected Features for Android 4.2 (Key Lime Pie)

Since Google has announced an Android event for the 29th of October, it has pushed tech bloggers around the world into overdrive about what might be revealed on the day. It can be reasonable to expect a LG Nexus 4 phone, Nexus 7 tablet with 32 GB memory and 3G and possibly a larger tablet called Nexus 10.

The biggest news is that all these devices will be running on Android 4.2, namely Key Lime Pie.

After the highly appreciated Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), the next version will obviously need a lot more new features.

Here is a list of expected features from Android 4.2.

Android 4.2 Expected Features

Mutiple User profiles for tablets: Android 4.2 will have the much needed support for mutiple profiles. The idea is that it will allow two or three users to have their own profiles on a tablet to login and use their own choice of apps and customizations.
New Gmail App: The Key Lime Pie will ship with a new Gmail app which supports pinch to zoom and swipe to archive features taking advantage of the muti-touch devices. This will be like a stock app for Nexus users like the stand-alone Google Calendar app.
Notification Center: The notification center of Android is where it has thoroughly outclassed iOS for a while and it is reasonable to expect more improvements. The notifications will show full messages instead of just part of it and more functions that can be carried out from the notifications UI itself.
Google Now: Google Now will be improved with cards popping up telling you about people and locations of interest where you are along with features like telling you how much you walked and more.
Other Improvements: The other improvements expected are mainly UI improvements to Cameras and the photo gallery.

We will have to wait and see how Google will try to steal the thunder of Apple which is also expected to show up with smaller iPad tablet and some even suggest a peek at iTV. Also the rumours about Android 4.2 could be just rumours, but Google will surely unveil something important.

All said and done, it is a great time to be a customer.

Source: Verge Forum

Tags Android 4.2, Android News, Rumours

News

[Rumor] Google planning a new strategy around Nexus with Android 4.2

Post author By Aditya Kane
Post date October 7, 2012

UPDATE: Android and Me have confirmed that they were false. So Android 4.2 is probably not expected anytime soon.

Google might be planning a expansion of it’s Nexus brand very soon. As reported by Android and Me, any manufacturer will potentially be allowed to make their own version of Nexus phones but adhering to some technical requirements for hardware and support for NFC and Google Wallet.

Google might also expect manufacturers to ship a stock version of Android. This version will be available in either Android 4.2 or Android 5.0 versions.

The new version of Android will support exclusive games and content can be be accessed only from Nexus. Also Google will be in control of new version updates to the devices.

Google’s fight against a fragmented Android

Google’s Android OS has been making headlines for all the right reasons but some issues still exist. One of them is fragmented OS versions across millions of phones.

For example, 55% of Android phones run on Gingerbread version. While Ice Cream Sandwich runs on 23.7%. The latest release Jelly Bean has a meager 1.8% share.

Most manufacturers are not very quick to roll-out updates either, which is has really compounded the issue. Google has Nexus as a brand but Google can hardly become a successful mobile manufacturer without upsetting other manufacturers like Samsung.

But if these rumours do happen to be true, then Google has made a wise choice in not only bringing some uniformity in the user-experience of high-end Android phones but also in fighting the issue of Android fragmentation.

Tags Android 4.2, Android News, Google