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“Ignore No More” claims it can control children’s phones

One almost certain truth in life is that when children hit a certain age (puberty for some, pre-puberty for others), they will start ignoring your text messages and calls. One mother did not want any other parents to go through that and so she created an app that would “force” children to pay attention to the digital summons of their parents.



Ignore No More is an app that claims it can give you control over your children’s phones, well at least until they are of age. If for example they refuse to answer “urgent” text messages or repeatedly not pick up their phones when you’re calling them, then you can lock their phones and they will not be able to do anything with it until they actually call you back. Only then will the phone remotely unlock. The app has to be installed in both the parent phone and the children’s phones in order for it to work.


It is a devious way of controlling your children (in fact some would claim it’s a violation of their rights) but desperate parents would welcome this kind of control. However, it seems like the early feedback from those who’ve purchased and been using it is not all that positive. Even as the developer claims that this app "cannot be disabled”, there have been several complaints that the children could easily disable it and that there are devices that aren’t compatible with the app. Some have discovered also that you need ICE in order for it to work, but there are some phones out there that do not have that feature.


But if you’re confident enough that your child doesn’t have the capability of disabling a “sophisticated” app like this, you can purchase Ignore No More for $1.99 “per phone” from the Google Play Store. If you use the same Google account for different phones, then it would still work as just one phone. Now, the only challenge would be if your kids are more tech-savvy than you and how you can circumvent that in order to properly use Ignore No More.


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VIA: SlashGear


YouTube Music Key tipped to be new music subscription service

What do you do if you have one of the world’s largest online database and repository of music – some under labels, some indie, some without labels – all searchable and viewable at the click of a button? Why, you think of ways to profit from it, of course. It honestly baffled me why it took this long for YouTube – and by extension Google – to think about this. But “YouTube Music Key” is coming soon.



What is it? Well, YouTube Music Key is set to be an online music-on-demand service (much like Spotify), and will dovetail with Google Play Music Key, the latter being the rebranded Google Play Music All Access. What it does is this – it will be able to offer ad-free, audio-only, music on demand (much like YouTube), and even offline playback.


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From insider information, we might be looking at a 30-day trial for starters, and then USD$9.99 per month moving forward. Just how much music are we talking about? According to information acquired by Android Police, it will be around 20 million high-quality tracks – complete albums, organized into artist discographies like we’re already used to with Spotify.


But once you think about what YouTube really is for you, then you begin to understand how huge this could really be. YouTube, according to your artist preferences, can now suggest HD concert footage, covers, and remixes of the tracks you like – because hey, it’s all in YouTube. Google will have to settle the contracts on the artist’s side of it, but once that gets done – we are potentially looking at a Spotify-on-steroids kinda thing, with the service able to provide you with related creative content that mines the biggest creative database of them all – us. Or more specifically, us on YouTube.


VIA: Android Police



Huawei mystery smartphone leaked with fingerprint scanner

It will be barely two weeks before Huawei finally unveils its next smartphone and still the Ascend Mate7 is still pretty much shrouded in mystery. And to add even more mystery, another new Huawei smartphone is now being leaked, sporting what is noted to be a fingerprint scanner on the back.



OK, it's not exactly a firm confirmation, but, being a leak, this is as close as it can get. It seems that this smartphone shares the same rumored sensor with the Ascend Mate7. As repeatedly pointed out before, the placement of the supposed fingerprint sensor is on the back, below the camera, which is rumored to be a 13 megapixel shooter. This mimics the exact arrangement that is found on the HTC One Max. Even the placement of the LED flash to the left of the camera sensor is the same. The only difference is that Huawei is using the square-ish design of Samsung's camera pieces rather than the rounder shape of HTC's.


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Previous leaked photos of the Ascend Mate7 also hinted that Huawei is going after HTC's design in more ways than one, with the smartphone bearing a brushed metal look and a triple segment back cover architecture. That, however, can't be seen here as the device is enclosed in an "anti-leak" casing.


One peculiarity of this latest leak is the specs for the smartphone, which is named as a Huawei Z100-CL00. The device's stats show that it is running on a 1.6 GHz processor with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The screen resolution is noted to be 1280x720 and the size is, of course, not given. There are two possible theories. One is that this is the lower end version of the Ascend Mate7, though the specs are even lower than those rumored for that variant. The second is that this is a completely different device that will just bear some, or at least one, of the key features of the higher end smartphone. Expect to hear more from Huawei when its scheduled September 4 IFA 2014 event rolls around.


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VIA: Weibo



LG’s Quick Circle apps uses G3 without opening phone case

LG’s Quick Circle case, which works exclusively with their flagship G3, is probably one of the most unique phone cases in the market as it is, well, obviously, round. There is now an app package to bring even more functionality to your G3 smartphone without even opening your case. The Quick Circle Apps lets you control your notifications and several functionalities, access your music, and many more, all from the “safety” of your Quick Circle case.



Your usual notifications on your smartphone can now be mirrored onto your Quick Circle case with Quick Notifications. However, viewing them is all that you can do for now as it doesn’t have the capability of performing any action,like dismissing them. Quick Music lets you use any of your music-listening apps so you can control them from that round face you see on the case. Quick Calendar lets you take a glance into your next few days’ schedule or events in the circle.


Some of the other apps included in the package lets you use several basic functionalities of a phone. Quick Torch is for lighting the way when there is no other light source. Quick Stopwatch and Quick Calculator are basically letting you use those two features quickly. Quick Toggles allows you to adjust your phone’s brightness and turn on or off the WiFi and mobile data.


All of these apps are open source and can be tweaked. This is part of LG’s promise that developers are encouraged to create apps and functions specific for users who own an LG G3 and a Quick Circle case. The Quick Circle Apps can be downloaded for free through the Google Play Store.


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XDA Xposed Tuesday: Kids Mode for Your Phone – XDA Developer TV

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The greatest thing about technology is its ability to teach and promote personal growth. No one knows this to be truer than the technology enthusiasts who have procreated and have a little mini-them running around. However, sometimes this little spawn gets ahold of your phone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and they sometimes make changes they should.


In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA Developer TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that lets you create a kids mode on your phone to protect your device. XDA Senior Member WasseemB created the Kids Mode module. TK shows off the modules and gives his thoughts, so check out this Xposed Tuesday video.




Be sure to check out other great XDA Developer TV Videos



The post XDA Xposed Tuesday: Kids Mode for Your Phone – XDA Developer TV appeared first on xda-developers.


T-Mobile HTC One M8 gets 4.4.3 update, Verizon soon

This update has been floating around for a while now, with Verizon actually hinting that their update to Android 4.4.3 might come out today. As it happens, it looks like T-Mobile HTC One M8 users will be the first to get the update, as Verizon says it needs to “re-spin” the update and might delay the rollout.



For T-Mo users, the update may not have shown up on your notifications yet, but as per GSM Arena, a certified T-Mo HTC One M8 user has let them know (with pictures) that the update is indeed rolling out which includes – among other new stuff – Android 4.4.3. There are major firmware updates that should improve network performance (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Mobile Network), and new versions of the Camera, Gallery, Settings and HTC Sync manager apps. Lastly, there are also updates to the BoomSound experience, Extreme Power Saving Mode, Motion Launch and Quick Setting. All in all a tasty update for T-Mo HTC One users.


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For Verizon users, it seems that mid-September is the latest the update will roll out. According to HTC Americas President Jason Mackenzie and HTC VP for the HTC One M8 Mo Versi, they had to recall the impending update – which should have rolled out today – because of some issues that need to be tweaked. No information was given as to what issues these were, but it unfortunately pushes the update out of August and into September at the earliest.


There is confirmation for Verizon users though, that the update will finally make available the Extreme Power Saving Mode that turns off a number of battery hungry features and allows your phone to last for more hours even on critical power levels. Worth noting that AT&T and T-Mobile units of the HTC One M8 got this feature in May this year.


VIA: Droid Life, TMOnews

SOURCE: @JasonMacHTC / @moversi



Blur Launcher gives devs a Google Now Launcher playground

Google Now Launcher (or Google Experience Launcher, if you prefer the older name) is seemingly becoming the new fad for homescreen launchers. After CyanogenMod's own spin on the launcher with its CM Home experiment, Klinker Apps, makers of EvolveSMS and Talon, are now making available a new launcher called Blur that expands Google's launcher to make room for third-party developers to join the party.



What makes the GNL/GEL special? In the context of Google Now, it makes Google's context-based smart assistant easily accessible with a swipe gesture from the homescreen, dedicating the leftmost page to Google Now. Developers have taken inspiration from that concept and put their own twist by displacing Google Now, or at least making it optional, and leaving that space open for third party apps and widgets, or cards in Google Now parlance. In a nutshell, this is what Blur Launcher does but it also goes the extra mile by providing an API for other developers to hook into, making the possibilities potentially endless.


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Coming from Google Now Launcher, which itself is a modification of the AOSP Launcher, every feature is hidden behind the settings option, revealed with a tap and hold gesture on the homescreen. From there, you can choose which app will be embedded in that special Page. One of the limitations of GNL, which CM Home seems to have chosen to inherit, is that there is room for only one such special page. Blur, on the other hand, gives you up to 5 pages if you want. To get the ball rolling, Klinker provides a page for EvolveSMS and Talon for Twitter, the latter requires a separate add-on to be installed. But there is sort of a way around this "one app" limitation. Blur offers an Info Page, which is a Google Now-like implementation, with a Google Search bar on top and space for cards. Unlike Google Now, however, those cards aren't dynamic and context-based and you will have to choose which cards you want to appear there. You can also move rearrange them as you please. At the moment though, it seems that only the Weather card is working.


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But beyond this fancy Page implementation, Blur also offers features that can't be found in GNL or AOSP Launcher that puts it on par with older and more featured Android homescreen replacements. You can, for example, choose the size of both the homescreen and the all apps grid. You can even choose the number of apps allowed on the dock, up to 9 max (the All Apps icon is counted as one). Scrolling effects, icon packs, and gestures are all accounted for. There is even an option for hidden apps and for locking the homescreen icons in place. One note to be aware of, unread badges are not built-in, meaning you won't be able to see the number of unread messages or emails on app icons unless you install and enable and experimental add-on, which requires Android 4.3 or higher. There is even "OK, Google" hotword detection, noted to work only for Android KitKat and later version.


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Blur Launcher is definitely an interesting take on an Android Launcher that offers both the simplicity of GNL/AOSP Launcher with the power of third-party pages and cards. Right now, however, the extremely limited choices of those pages and cards make Blur a little less useful. But with an open API, the launcher has the potential to grow exponentially. All it needs now is for app developers to answer its call.




Download: Blur, Blur - Unread, Talon (Blur) on Google Play Store

SOURCE: +Luke Klinker (1), (2)