... freaking hate them.
Just kidding, would be nice to have them. Unfortunately high-res icons are not provided very often, though, as you can see on the top left of the play store app, they technically exist. The devs are required to upload 512x512 icons to google, but not to include them in the .APKs.
Do you do anything about it? Has anyone found a convenient way to replace the icons throughout the system, e.g. not only on the homescreen but also in the app drawer? (Modifiying the APKs manually on the PC or with Ninjamorph is too much of a waste of time in my opinion.)
What I do about it:
Get the Icon: Advanced search for images (Google), filetype PNG. If there is no icon: Screenshot in the play store app, remove background, save as PNG. It should be downscaled to 144x144.
Store it on the device.
Replace icon on homescreen: Via longpress in Nova Launcher. Other method, works with every launcher: Create a "Desktop Visualizer" widget, and link it to the desired app. In case the icon looks blurry, check the Desktop Visualizer settings.
However, keep in mind that the app drawer icons remain as they are.
Please tell me if you know some launcher or a highly automated APK modification app that also replaces the drawer icons.
Cheers!
Thats actually quite interesting. I noticed the high-res icons in the Play Store. I don't have my Nexus 10 as of yet but I would hate to have low-res icons simply because the developer didn't take the 10 minutes to convert the icon and upload it with the .APK!
I would suggest we try to clip this problem at the source - TELL developers of this issue! Email them about it. Request it. Developers are in it for money, customers (and, being human, they obviously appreciate positive feedback). Tell them what we want, make it an issue, show them we care, and it will get fixed. Don't just rely on Google to push for a better ecosystem, tell them yourselves!
If someone posts their email to a developer about this issue here, I will take and alter that email to send to them in support, give a bit more force behind it. Sounds like the best option to me!
CWalkop said:
Thats actually quite interesting. I noticed the high-res icons in the Play Store. I don't have my Nexus 10 as of yet but I would hate to have low-res icons simply because the developer didn't take the 10 minutes to convert the icon and upload it with the .APK!
I would suggest we try to clip this problem at the source - TELL developers of this issue! Email them about it. Request it. Developers are in it for money, customers (and, being human, they obviously appreciate positive feedback). Tell them what we want, make it an issue, show them we care, and it will get fixed. Don't just rely on Google to push for a better ecosystem, tell them yourselves!
If someone posts their email to a developer about this issue here, I will take and alter that email to send to them in support, give a bit more force behind it. Sounds like the best option to me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. However, if you want to get it done quickly and properly, you will have to do it yourself. The problem is that I couldn't find a workaround, which is weird, because the idea exists. A long time ago, I had an iPod Touch, where you could install "Winterboard" - a Cydia app which redirected the read access to the icon file (which is stored within the app on iOS, too) to a folder where you could place custom icons.
If I were Google, I'd change the filetype of icons (or even more ui elements) to a vector format like .SVG. This way every device could calculate its own full resolution icons once and cache them for fast access. There wouldn't be the need for new icons everytime the displays are improved, which is happening all the time.
HI Guys: The good news! :victory:
Sony Confirms Android KitKat provided for Xperia SP in the Near Future! :victory:
Link this news to Sony's site:
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/software/phones/xperia-sp/
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Thank you very much Sony! :fingers-crossed:
No need to create a whole new thread, when another is already created.
The info you posted is already here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47696383
Sent from my C5303 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
whitemamba said:
No need to create a whole new thread, when another is already created.
The info you posted is already here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47696383
Sent from my C5303 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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True whitemamba, but the news was updated to Android Kitkat important enough to be a separate thread!
Amin.HVS said:
True whitemamba, but the news was updated to Android Kitkat important enough to be a separate thread!
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Click to collapse
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-
Robin>Hood said:
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, your Purpose do not understand!
You have seen me in the other thread?!
What's this?
Amin.HVS said:
Sorry, your Purpose do not understand!
You have seen me in the other thread?!
What's this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im glad you made this thread! I wouldnt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:
Pavilo-Olson said:
Im glad you made this thread! I wouldnt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome my good friend. :highfive:
I was very glad of this good news. Kit Kat Best Android version Subset 4.xx Android version of the collection. and it has very good facilities.
I hope this version for the Xperia SP will be provided as soon as possible.
Robin>Hood said:
No.
I mean, you saw the other thread, read it and then thought 'Hey, lets make another thread'. -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pavilo-Olson said:
Im glad you made this thread! I would'nt have seen the other post. Thanks! Cant wait, JB 4.3 next month and then KK sooon! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay Robin Hood
You Notice, As I said, it was!
Closer look at the features and capabilities of Android Kitkat
Google's newest version of its mobile operating system, Android 4.4 KitKat, doesn't deliver a huge list of transformative design and feature changes, like what we saw when Ice Cream Sandwich was introduced. Instead, KitKat's main purpose is to usher in a strategy from Google to get the latest Android version on all Android devices, both premium and low-end.
That's a big deal because every year, lower-end handsets come out running old versions of Android, fueling the argument that Android is fragmented and giving customers an inconsistent Android experience. With KitKat, Google shrank the operating system so that it can run on many more devices, thus helping close the gap between low-end and high-end devices.
This hands-on examines Android 4.4 as it runs on the Nexus 5, as that is the only device that currently has the operating system. Not all of the features mentioned will be available on other devices when they get the update. We'll continue to update this material as we spend time with the operating system on other devices when we can. For an in-depth review of the Nexus 5, read Lynn La's review on CNET.
The newest Android for all
Google's ultimate goal is to get KitKat on all Android devices from this point forward. Every year, we see new devices running the latest flavor of Android, but also some running versions that are, in some cases, years old. That makes cheaper devices seem less appealing even given their low prices, and leaves the budget-minded miffed that they can't get the latest features without a cost.
The problem is that budget devices often have smaller amounts of internal storage and RAM and can often only run an older version of Android. More powerful, and more expensive, phones pack faster processors and more RAM, allowing them to run the most updated version of the OS, previously Jelly Bean. Google fixed this issue in KitKat by shrinking the footprint of the operating system by 16 percent so that it can run on devices with only 512MB of RAM. That means that budget devices and phones aimed at emerging markets, which is exactly what Google is after, can run KitKat, instead of now-outdated Gingerbread (2.3) or Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0).
Google is giving manufacturers and carriers the opportunity to put KitKat on all devices in 2014. However, since there's no pressure or directive to only ship devices with version 4.4, it's up to them to follow through. It remains to be seen if carriers and OEMs will jump at the chance to only go with KitKat, and if the past is any indication, it's likely that we'll continue to see new phones shipping with Jelly Bean for a while.
Fresh, simple design
KitKat sports a minimalist design that still has remnants of the Holo look introduced in Ice Cream Sandwich. Many of the design changes I talk about in this section are ones I came across on the Nexus 5. We don't know yet if they will show up on other non-Nexus devices if and when they get Android 4.4. It's safe to say that if your phone has a custom skin, such as HTC Sense or Samsung TouchWiz, and gets upgraded to KitKat, you're not likely to see many design differences.
The app drawer and status bar are now transparent.
First, the home screens on KitKat look a bit different. Icons are now much larger and the text is condensed. The top status bar is translucent and blends with your wallpaper. Google says that other apps can take advantage of this as well. For instance, Twitter could have the blue background on the app's header extend into the status if it so desired.
There are no longer five home screens visible by default; instead there are only two. You can add more by grabbing an app or widget and moving it to the right or left of an existing screen. Just as you can do in TouchWiz and other skins, you can now rearrange entire home screens, instead of moving apps and widgets around individually. To do it, you just tap and hold the screen and then tap and hold the screen you want to move.
There's a new menu where you can change your wallpaper and add widgets that pops up when you press and hold the screen. There's also an option called settings in that menu, but it takes you to Google search settings, not your phone's settings menu, which is strange and unexpected. When you select wallpapers, a row of thumbnails of new wallpapers designed for KitKat appears. On the far left, there's an option to choose photos from your gallery. When you choose your own photo, it will show a full-screen preview of what it will look like as a wallpaper, instead of forcing you to crop the photo with a box, which is a welcome change. It reminds me a lot of how you set the backgrounds on an iOS device.
If you select widgets from that home screen menu, you'll get a grid of available widgets that you can add to your screens.
The app drawer also got a makeover. There is no longer a section for widgets and no icon for Google Play in the top-right corner; all you see is a grid of your phone's apps. It also has a translucent background that shows your home screen wallpaper.
What hasn't changed is the notifications menu, though Google did add a new location tile in the quick-settings panel. Lastly, the persistent Google search bar that popped up in Android 4.0 and stays at the top of your home screens is still there. You still can't remove it unless you use a launcher or install a new ROM.
Next up is the lock screen. Though it doesn't look much different from 4.2 and 4.3, there's a new music widget that lets you control audio playback from the lock screen without unlocking your phone. When you play music from the Google Music app, the lock screen will show the song's album art full-screen. Additionally, if you're playing a video on a Chromecast from your phone, the lock screen will show the video or movie's art and give you an option to pause or play the video.
With third-party music apps, there's no album art, but the app's icon, song title, and artist will show up on the lock screen, right above the playback controls. Apps like Spotify and Pandora and most podcast players have had lock screen controls for a while, but the new widget gives them a much cleaner look.
You can still add other widgets to the lock screen, for Gmail or other apps, just make sure you check the box in the security settings that says "Enable widgets."
Google introduced a new immersive experience for some apps in KitKat. The idea is that when you're watching a video, reading a book, or playing a game, the status bar and onscreen buttons will fade away so there aren't distractions. In the Google Books app, that means each page takes up the entire screen.
Google Now at your fingertips
With Google Now, Google is aiming to bring you all the information you could possibly need in one place. There are cards for your upcoming appointments with travel times to help you plan your journey, weather cards to tell you the forecast, and sports scores that help you stay on top of your favorite team. In KitKat, Google Now gets more robust.
First, I need to mention that Google built a special launcher for the Nexus 5 that makes Google Now even easier to access. If you unlock your phone, you can say, "OK Google" to activate voice search without needing to tap anywhere on the screen. Also, when you turn on Google Now, you can swipe all the way to the left to pull it up. Those two features are exclusive to KitKat on the Nexus 5, at least until future notice. That said, the Nexus 5 is not the only phone that allows you to use voice commands to launch Google Search. Motorola's Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and Droid Mini all sport Touchless Controls, where you can say "OK Google" to start a search without needing to touch the phone at all.
Though the Nexus 5 gets the most Google Now features, KitKat will bring updated search features to other phones as well. First, when you run a search, Google will dive deeper into your phone and pull results from your installed apps. It works like this: Say you search for a restaurant on Google Now and already have the OpenTable app installed on your phone. You'll get the same Web results, but if you scroll to the bottom, there will be an option to launch the OpenTable app which will immediately show the reservation page for that restaurant. In the past, you'd have had to open the app yourself and search separately. Google says this will work with apps from OpenTable, Etsy, Flixster, Moviefone, and Newegg, with more to come soon. In my testing on the Nexus 5, it didn't work, and Google has yet to say when exactly you'll be able to do this.
Next, Google Now is getting a few new cards. One will show you updates from favorite Web sites and blogs, without overwhelming you with every post in the way an RSS reader would. Another will try to understand your recent searches and group together related queries, such as "Nexus 5" and "Android KitKat." Again, these cards did not pop up for me in my testing, but they are expected to roll out soon.
Lastly, Google gave us a vague promise of future cards that will provide context when you're near a certain event or attraction that is getting a lot of search hits. For example, say there's a parade in your city and there are a lot people searching for information on what's happening. Google would display a card about the event's time, location, and other important information when you're near the event.
Google, place my call
KitKat includes a brand-new dialer, which remembers who you call the most and keeps those people front and center. When you open the dialer, the dial pad is hidden away and you'll see a list of frequently called contacts.
One of the biggest changes is that you can now search for businesses from the dialer and call them with one tap. That means instead of opening Google Search or Google Maps and looking for a business, finding its number, and then placing the call, you can just start typing in the dialer, and select the correct result, and your phone will start dialing. You can get specific by typing "Starbucks" to find nearby locations, for example, or just type "coffee" for broader results.
Also, you can type the words of a vanity number -- such as 1-800-Flowers or 1-888-Wait-Wait -- into the search bar, and the dialer will translate it into a numerical phone number. It's a small touch that makes the actual phone part of your phone much more user-friendly.
Another major feature is Caller ID. When a business that's not in your contacts calls you, its name will show up on the screen, helping you figure out who's calling. This only works if the business has a listing in Google Maps (most do) and the number that's calling you is the same number in that listing. If someone calls from an extension, it won't work.
Hangouts meets texting
It's long been rumored that Google would fold the basic stock SMS text messaging into the IM, voice, and video calling app Hangouts. It finally did that with the release of Android 4.4.
If you already use Hangouts on your Android phone to IM with your friends, the experience hasn't changed much. You can still search for contacts by e-mail address or Google account name and send them IMs. What has changed is that, at least for the Nexus devices, there is no longer a separate dedicated SMS app. You now send and receive text messages and photos from the Hangouts app.
Hangouts separates your SMS conversations and Google Chat conversations into individual threads on the main screen, even if you're communicating with one contact. You can, however, switch between those two conversations when you're in the message thread by tapping the person's name at the top.
While Hangouts is easy to use, it doesn't bring anything else to the...tablet that any other SMS client doesn't. I'll stick with a separate app on my Android phone, mostly because I've never been a fan of Hangouts for its original purpose and I can customize the look of my text-messaging app. If you'd rather use something else too, I recommend Textra.
Extra features
Even though emoji was available in earlier versions of Android, they officially come to Android in KitKat. Emoji are part of the stock Google keyboard now and can be used anywhere you input text. Luckily, if you send a message with emoji to a friend with an iOS or non-KitKat device, your friend will still be able to see the tiny pictures, as they can translate to other emoji protocols. I, for one, am a big fan of the new emoji, especially since that's one of the few features from iOS that I was hoping would someday turn up in Android.
You can now print photos from the Gallery app with Google Cloud Print. If you have a cloud-enabled printer, you need to register it with its cloud e-mail address. For non-cloud printers, you need to use a USB cable to connect it to your computer and register it on Google Cloud Print.
For my Wi-Fi-connected HP all-in-one, which doesn't have a cloud print option, that meant I had to connect it to my laptop and sign into Google Cloud Print in my Chrome browser's settings menu. Once that was set up, I could go to the Gallery app, choose a photo, select print from the menu, and find my correct printer.
You can now open files in Google's productivity suite, Quickoffice, from any cloud apps you have installed on your phone, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. You can easily save them back to the cloud when you're finished.
Android is making it easier to manage your launchers with a settings option called Home. There you can switch between the stock launcher and any that you have installed, such as Apex or Nova. This is a personal favorite feature of mine, since I like to use launchers and this makes it really easy to switch back and forth.
Other smaller changes introduced in KitKat include faster multitasking, improved touch-screen performance, low-power audio playback, and a lower-accuracy battery-saving location mode.
Here's a full list of the changes:
The revamped phone dialer app will evaluate which contacts you talk to most and automatically prioritize your phone book accordingly. Also, integration with more Google apps such as Maps will let you search for nearby places and businesses right in the phone dialer.
Caller ID gets a boost, as well. For incoming calls that don't match a phone number not in your contacts, Google apps will scan and display any matches from local businesses listed in Google Maps.
The immersive mode clears up clutter on your screen by automatically hiding everything except the one thing you're viewing (like a photo, map, or game). In other words, you'll be in full-screen mode without status and navigation bars. When you're ready to move on, you can bring back your status bar and navigation buttons by swiping the edge of the screen.
A new Hangouts app consolidates all of your text and multimedia messages, conversations, and video calls in one place.
You'll be able to print photos, documents, and Web pages from your phone or tablet. Any printer connected to Google Cloud Print will be compatible, along with HP ePrint printers and other printers with Google Play apps.
If you have an Android device with an IR blaster, you'll be able to use applications that make it function as a TV remote.
Capable devices will now support Chromecast.
When you reach the bottom of a menu, there's a faint white glow instead of the earlier, brighter blue glow.
Support for the Message Access Profile (MAP) will let drivers exchange messages between their Bluetooth-enabled cars and devices.
Closed captioning comes to most applications.
A new look for the e-mail app brings nested folders, contact photos, and revamped navigation.
NFC features now will work with more wireless carriers.
App developers can take advantage of new step detection and counting composite sensors.
Smaller details range from a uniform color for status bars to a new condensed font.
(Credit: CNET)
Thats was am awsom information about Kitkat.. Thanks for the share my brother
Rajeev said:
Thats was am awsom information about Kitkat.. Thanks for the share my brother
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You're welcome, My dear brother Rajeev, this overview of the Android Kitkat
But soon, very interesting information about the Android Kitkat will share the same topic!
9 Lesser-Known New Features In Android 4.4 KitKat!
9 Lesser-Known New Features In Android 4.4 KitKat
Shortly after Google revealed the latest version of its mobile OS a few days back, we wrote about some of the new features & improvements introduced in Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s been over a week since the release now, and many of us have had a chance to play around with the OS. With that, we have come across a few features that weren’t highlighted by Google, but can nevertheless prove to be quite useful to many users. Not all users are going to find a use for each one of these features, and not all of them are entirely new major additions to the OS; in fact a few of them are more along the lines of refinements to existing features, or handy components of newly added KitKat features that haven’t been specifically highlighted by Google or the press so far. So, let’s take a look at a few of the lesser-known features brought to Android in the 4.4 KitKat update.
Advanced File Picker With Full Storage Access
In KitKat, Google introduced an all new file picker with support for integration with Google Drive as well as third-party cloud storage services to make the process of picking a file easier and more universal. This feature has been talked about a lot by both Google and the media, but did you know that you can also use it to pick any file on your Internal storage and external SD card (on supported devices) directly?
To enable full storage access, go to the file picker’s settings from its menu, and enable the option labeled ‘Display advanced devices’. You can also set file sizes to be displayed from here. After enabling the former option, you should see an entry for your Internal storage (as well as your external SD card, if your device supports it) in the Open from navigation drawer. Tap it, and you’ll be able to select any file from your device’s file system.
You can also sort the files by name, last modified date and size, and choose between list and grid layout. One can’t help but think how nice it would have been if Google had also added basic file management options (opening, deleting, renaming, viewing properties etc.) to the feature and added its shortcut to the App drawer to make it a stock File Manager app – a feature that was considered a standard for mobile operating systems in the pre-iOS, Android & Windows Phone era.
Easily Switch Default Launcher & SMS Apps
If you’ve been reading up on the new features of KitKat so far, you probably know already that upon installing a third-party launcher, you’ll see a new ‘Home’ option in Settings that lets you choose the default one (demonstrated in the left screenshot below). You likely also know that the new Hangouts app in KitKat includes support for SMS messages, rendering the stock Messaging app redundant. Though that doesn’t mean stock Messaging has been completely excluded from the OS; it’s still there as a part of AOSP (though Google and device manufacturers/carriers may decided to not ship it on their devices), and there is also an easy way to choose your default SMS app among all stock and third-party options available. You can find this option under ‘Wireless & Networks’ in Settings.
The option allows you to choose your default SMS app between Hangouts, Messaging and any third-party options that you may have installed.
Advance Alarm Notifications With Option To Dismiss
This is an enhancement to an existing feature that shows attention to detail, and I am already in love with it. At times, we set an alarm but end up waking up before it has sounded, and either out of laziness or due to getting busy with something, we end up not stopping that alarm till it starts sounding. With KitKat, you will view expandable notifications for upcoming alarms one hour before their time, with a ‘Dismiss Now’ option that does just what it says, without requiring you to open the Clock app and go the Alarms section to disable the alarm manually.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s not a new major feature but a very useful addition to an existing one, and once you get used to it, you’ll find it hard to live without it.
Toggle Lockscreen Widgets
Google introduced Lockscreen widget support in Android Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and the feature was immensely praised by users and critics alike. However, there were still many who didn’t really see a need to put widgets on their lockscreen. However, there was no way to disable the feature. That changes in KitKat, as you can now easily enable or disable lockscreen widgets in the Security section of Settings.
So, if you only use the lockscreen to keep your device secure and unlock it when needed, go ahead and disable the feature to make sure you never land on that ‘Add widget’ screen on your lockscreen.
View Text-To-Speech Support Status For Default Language
Text-to-Speech has long been a part of Android, but not all languages supported by the operating system itself were supported by this feature. KitKat adds a ‘Default language status’ section to the Text-to-speech subsection of Language & input settings that shows if your currently selected default system language is supported by the Text-to-speech system or not.
So, no more confusion on why you can’t hear any text-to-speech output for a language you’ve selected.
Mobile Plan Management
There’s a new option labeled ‘Mobile Plan under Wireless & networks settings that seems to be intended to help you manage your mobile plan right from your device, but it’ll only work if your carrier has a known provisioning website for the purpose in order to offer you any options to configure.
We couldn’t test this feature because our carrier doesn’t provide such a provisioning service.
Always Enabled Dial-Pad Autocomplete
Dial-pad autocomplete (also known as T9 dialing) is an extremely handy feature that lets users bring up contacts by typing the numbers representing the alphabetical characters of their names in the Dialer. This was probably the most requested feature in Android since Google decided to include it as an option in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. In KitKat, the feature is no longer an option that you can toggle; it is instead always on. It’s really hard to think of a reason why anyone would want to have it disabled, so it only makes sense to have it always on, and removing the option to disable it.
In addition to the changes in KitKat that we have discussed above, there are also a few more new options hidden in the Developer options section of Settings that aren’t likely to be too useful for the everyday user, but can prove to be quite handy to developers. We said ‘hidden’ because since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, Google has hidden the Developer options section by default. Though you can easily follow our instructions to reveal the hidden Android Developer options. Once revealed, you’ll notice several changes from the options available till 4.3, and we’ll be discussing a few notable ones from them below.
New ART Runtime (love This Feature )
Dalvik has been the default runtime environment of Android since its first public release. It has also been the primary bottleneck of the OS because it uses JIT (just-in-time) compilation, requiring apps to be compiled on the go before running them, which can be quite taxing on performance as well as battery life. ART (Android RunTime) is a replacement for Dalvik that uses AOT (ahead of time) compilation, meaning your apps are compiled to a ready-to-run state before you even launch them, making the process of launching and using them much faster and smoother. And since this would reduce their compilation frequency significantly, you can expect to start seeing better battery life.
While ART isn’t quite ready for prime time yet, an early version of the new runtime environment has been included in KitKat, though Dalvik is still selected as default. Developers who need to test their apps on ART, or users who want to try out the new runtime (at their own risk, since it’s not fully ready yet) can switch to it by tapping Select runtime under Developer options, as shown above.
Process Stats
One thing developers and power users are both interested in is seeing what’s going on under the hood in their devices. For this, KitKat now includes Process Stats – a section under Developer Options that shows you performance and usage stats of all your background, foreground and cached processes.
You can choose a custom duration for the stats, show or hide system processes and toggle the display of different stats types.
A few other new developer options include the ability to select and switch between different modes of HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) checking between always, for DRM content only, and never, a snoop log for Bluetooth HCI (Host Controller Interface), and more.
So, which one of these features do you like most? And have you found a lesser-known feature in KitKat that we’ve missed? Feel free to drop a line in the comments below!
Source
This is a great notice!!
and hope that there is not a trick marketin.
mpiero11 said:
This is a great notice!!
and hope that there is not a trick marketin.
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Yes, this is a good news for us.
Sony confirmed Upgrade Xperia SP to Android 4.4, and probably in early 2014, we will witness the presentation.
**********
OP Updated.
Cool cant wait:laugh:
I was looking forward to install apps, develop apps and use apps on the android wear. When I installed the android wear sdk, and ran the emulator, it didn't seem very "huge". Not much can be done!
http://developer.android.com/wear/notifications/creating.html
As linked above, Google tells us to that we can add support for wear in a few lines of code. What can be done, is limited to the buttons that can be added when swiping to the right page.
No other documentation suggest that we can make Android Wear specific apps. It's not possible to add controls and widgets (Editabletext, button, spinner etc.) like it's possible in full android. Now i know that the screen is small, and limitations has to apply..
But the limitations are counted. Imagine receiving an email, swipe right, theres a reply button, click on it, voice will be activated, speak your message, and it will send it. That's pretty cool, but not cool enough..
What if i would like to add someone to cc?, not possible using the sdk, what if i would like to add a different signature? not possible.
The idea is fine, and it's awesome to see something new, i could really see it's potential, but as of right now, i am kinda disappointed.
I was noticing this also from the non developer point of view. All the marketing of the product it's based on notifications, at least the Gear was able to support the installation of apk's and i was excited since Android was about to release his own watch it was going to unleash all the real power of the smartwatches, but getting notifications from my mom telling me to buy milk does not sound like very awesome to me.
When Android Wear was first announced, I also heard that it was only for notifications. If that is really the case, I'm not interested and will keep my Gear 2 for now.
I think notifications are one of the obvious benefits, but there's going to be a lot more that we figure out how to do with them.
Sure, the interface is restrictive, but that's kinda the idea. The real benefit will be adding that little extra special sauce to the notifications in the context of whatever else is going on. And notifications don't need to just be a note from Dear Old Mom... geolocation, sensors, and other things may come into play.
After reading most of the AD site I sorta feel like you do when you know in about a hour and and a half you're going to have to have a seat on the pot - I know I've got a potential big idea in there somewhere, but it's just not ready to come out yet.
johdaxx said:
I think notifications are one of the obvious benefits, but there's going to be a lot more that we figure out how to do with them.
Sure, the interface is restrictive, but that's kinda the idea. The real benefit will be adding that little extra special sauce to the notifications in the context of whatever else is going on. And notifications don't need to just be a note from Dear Old Mom... geolocation, sensors, and other things may come into play.
After reading most of the AD site I sorta feel like you do when you know in about a hour and and a half you're going to have to have a seat on the pot - I know I've got a potential big idea in there somewhere, but it's just not ready to come out yet.
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The only potential scenario i see working, is having a service, on the phone. That service will have created a notification, showing relevant information, let's say it's showing when sunrise and sunset (depending on the time of the day), if you swipe to the right, you can click on "Show someother info". When you tap that, it will start showing some other information, the service will then have altered the text on the notification.
Thats a potential and very possible scenario. Then again.. Is it really optimal? Apps that need to show this kind of information will take up all the notification space on the phone.
Couldn't find that one listened anywhere here specifically. I'm pretty sure my phones compromised but I'll probably just get people telling me I'm being paranoid. Just notice a lot of weird stuff going on.
I'll give some examples, but it would be cool if someone else here has an A03s and could give me a full list of the system apps to know for sure if mine has some extra ones that aren't truly factory. Because I've restore it several times and they don't go away.
Like under the apps screen under the basic ones I got apps like Android auto, webview, configapk, customization service, and something called data restore tool, device health services, group sharing, meet, nearby device sharing, quick sharing, quick share, settings..etc. which to my knowledge are pretty normal apps to see on phones right? But I seem unable to control them, if I disable them and go back and check later they mysteriously reenabled again, or after that the permissions lists will be greyed out not being able to do anything. Also there is a app called "permissions controller", as well as ones called "apps", "apps update", "tools", "app recommendations", "settings recommendations"..etc. is that normal? I never noticed that with my old samsung. They are really small file size apps with pretty generic looking icons and they don't let me disable them.
What gets more weird to me though is when I enable the system apps too. I see all kinds of suspicious looking ****.
Like for the android setup, and android system apps there are two of each, and the other two have generic looking icons, also got stuff like configuration restore, audio mirroring, auto hotspot, automation test, bluetooth/bluetooth midi service, call & text on other devices, callbgprovider, camera extensions proxy, carrier login engine, sim tool kit, cell broadcast services, clipboardsaveservice, cmh provider, companion device manager (where I have no idea where my "companion is or how to control it so I must be the one being controlled?", configupdater, csc, dcktimesyncapplication, dynamic system updates, ipservice, enterprise sim pin service, external storage, like 10 different gestural navigation bars, group sharing, iaft, ims service, settings, and logging, input devices, iothiddenmenu, keycustomizationinfobnr, launcher, locale overlay manager, service mode and service mode ril, media and devices, mdmapp, vpndialogs, mmigroup,mmsservice, mobilewips, mtp host, nearby device scanning (2 instances), network diagnostic, nsdswebapp, one handed mode, osulogin, package installer, an app called "people", private share, proxy handler, quick share agent, samsung core services? (is that a real app even? I can disable it but who wants to disable "core" system apps, so touche there if it is a program deployed by a hacker on their app naming skills lol, smart switch agent, 2 instances of software update, system connectivity resources, system uwb/wifi resources, an app called "tasks", tethering, tethering provision and tethering automation, tfstatus/tffunlock always running when I never access them, usbsettings, and theres one called wallpaper services/wallpaper and style that looks really generic which is confusing because I assumed the samsung theme manager just handled all that stuff in one? We also got wearable manager installer running, and sometimes wificalling and wifi direct or work setup will be running when I don't have any of those configured.
Sorry for the huge block of text, I'm sure I missed a bunch i missed because there's some that don't show even when you tap "show system apps", like the skms agent as one example, so got a few general questions for you, so for the file/download system I got a bunch of default apps. There's two different files apps, there's a download manager and download app, and also a storage manager, and ALSO a app called the external storage that always wants to be running but can you explain that if I have no external storage? Is the built in storage space on the a03 called external storage? I even have my drive apps and stuff disabled.
Another things that's suspicious to me is secmediastorage, secvideoengineservice, secsoundpicker, secureelementapplication, media and devices + ext storage. Like why should there be a SECOND video or audio engine running when I'm old school and don't even use cast programs/features or anything like that? In fact it's usually one of the first things I just go ahead and try disable.
I noticed a lot of weird things going on with the display though too, looking really sharp then suddenly almost looking like there's two layers of gui not exactly lined up, like off by a pixels making things look blurrier. Like the one ui home is the default factory launcher right? So why does my phone also have a app called "launcher", plus another hidden launcher or something running in the background? I can't remember the name of it offhand, something GUI..
And I understand the concept of android have a permission controller, and "core apps" but are there actually apps under the system apps named that lol? "permission controller", "samsung core apps" one called "device services"...
also is service mode suppose to be running in the background? I googled into it and know it's a genuine service, but I really don't understand why a lot of these apps are stopping and running or renabling themselves.. It's like I have zero control over my own phone and if I'm just paranoid and they are meant to be just seems like a waste of complete waste of ram/data to me.
****, I was just sitting here thinking for like a few minutes about to post and almost forgot the most suspicious ones I've noticed in last few days. all the "com." overlay apps. I guess I really saw the word "overlay" as something you should be suspicious about until the vpn I recently bought had a feature that is suppose to block web browser based overlays. Then I noticed that MOST of my com. apps are all overlay apps! Lol, ranging from google/samsung to mediatek.
I won't post all of them because there's probably 20 at least but here's a few.
com.mediatek.frameworkresoverlay
com.mediatek.settingsproviderresoverlay
com.mediatek.systemuiresoverlay
com.samsung.android.networkstaack.tethering.overlay
com.samsung.android.smartswitchassistant
com.samsung.android.wifi.p2paware.resources
com.sec.android.app.camerasaver and a camera.app.cameraapp one (camera always running in background even if background and battery saver with restricted settings enabled)
com.google.android.ondevicepersonalization.services (I never used any personalization service or see a personalization app for that matter)
com.google.android.networkstack.tethering.overlay
and there's a bunch of com.google.android.overlay.gmsconfig ones /common geotz/ gsa/ photos/
com.google.android.overlay.modules.captiveportallogin.forframework
plus a overlay broadcastreceiver, ext.services, documentsui, permissioncontroller, and sdksandbox one.. tetheringresoverlay, wcmurlsnetworkstackoverlay, locale overlay manager..etc.
Also I get my service through straight talk which I think uses verizon and I noticed when I go to connections/mobile networks and network operators and uncheck the box "select automatically" that for some reason it only wants to connect to a network operator called "Home". I just thought that was kind of a weird and generic name for a network operator. I tried to use a android hidden settings app to change that because it was blocked out and thought I messed up my phone because I no longer had data and couldn't access the menu through the app anymore, but luckily a reformat fixed it but I'm still dealing with all this crap haha.
Can someone tell me I'm not crazy and there's definitely someone that is accessing and controlling my phone without my permission and what would be the best way to go about dealing with this?
Thanks.
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You've copied this post at least once. We'll be removing the duplicate.
Now on to your question...
It is my opinion that the problem may not be with what you are observing, but with your assumptions. In the duplicate thread, you assume two possibilities:
You're being hacked
Your paranoia is justified
Have you thought there may be a third or even fourth option? Such as, maybe you don't understand that much about Android, you don't recognize what you see, you're assuming it's malicious, which combined with your own confirmation bias, has led you to the conclusion that foul play is afoot?
Nothing you have described sounds in any way abnormal. You have a Samsung device running OneUI (Samsung's framework overlaid on top of Android) that is powered by a Mediatek chipset. Everything you describe sounds completely normal to me, with over 10 years of experience in Android, most of that with Samsung devices.
My conclusion, to be frank: You are not being hacked, and your paranoia is unfounded.
OP your post gave me a headache trying to read it.
So...
Have it reflash to the stock firmware if you really think it's behaving erratically and a factory reset doesn't work. Change Google password and all others.
Then be careful what you install.
Don't put in foreign thumb drives or let others use it.