Consumer Reports look into #bendgate, Galaxy Note 3 is strong

We all know about the trending issue about Apple’s new iPhones – at least we assume most of us know, those who have not lived under a rock these past few days. The short version of it is that some owners of the new iPhones have made very public statements about the strength of the frame of the phones, claiming that the devices could easily be bent under strong but usually normal pressure.

This is where Consumer Reports – the good guys who look after the concern of consumers – steps in and investigates the whole deal, especially after a video went viral of a person who easily bent an iPhone 6 Plus with his bare hands. Going the scientific testing path, Consumer Reports tested multiple phone models with what it called a “three-point flexular test” – where all phone models were tested with the same machine.

The phones tested were the new iPhones, an iPhone 5, an HTC One M8, an LG G3, and a Samsung Galaxy Note 3. They were subjected to flexular pressure more than the 55 pounds that Apple used to test its units with, seeing at what point the units broke. For references, 55 pounds is comparable to the force needed to break three pencils.

The results were conclusive enough – at least for the new iPhones – that you wouldn’t normally be able to just bend a unit with normal daily use as claimed by most of the negative viral content. Surprisingly, it was the HTC One M8 which capitulated with the least force applied (90 pounds), with the iPhone 6 next at 100 pounds of force. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3, together with the iPhone 5, seemed to be the ones structurally strongest, only giving in after being subjected to 150 pounds of flex force.

There are two sides to this story, but the first one should be that the scientific test proves you won’t be able to bend these phones – yes, including the new iPhones – without subjecting them to abnormal amounts of flex force. That being said, and point number 2, these viral videos have come at a very awkward point in time for Apple, right after the phones’ launch. Cupertino will have to weave its magic better to survive and get up from this obvious setback.

SOURCE: Consumer Reports

Story Timeline

• Survey says iPhone 6 won’t cause Android users to jump ship


• Galaxy Note 3 pitted against iPhone 6 Plus in #bendgate test


• Bendgate continues: iPhone 6, One M8, new Moto X, Lumia 1020

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Google shows possible 3rd party app UI for Android Auto

Along with hyping the newfangled Android L operating system, the mothership had made noises during Google I/O that it was expanding Android OS to other platforms that could be improved by connectivity – such as home appliances and cars. For the latter, Google has now put out a developer document for Android Auto (as in “automobile”) that shows how 3rd party apps would look like in the OS.

Android Auto apps will not really be apps in the universal and normal way that we know them. Most of them will be sort of Android Auto-specific “extensions” of their original apps – kind of like Android Wear apps work not as a separate app for the platform, but specific content that shows when installed on a wearable.

Google has apparently made a strict layout for Android Auto that developers can’t touch – they simply have to tweak their content to fit Google’s frame. The only actions they can do is fill Google’s layout with content, change colors (according to what Google has), and provide text for that interface. They can’t move buttons around, dictate size and placement of elements, or even add additional screens.

Why is Google so strict in this? It probably is because there are a lot of safety issues Google has to consider when making an interface for a car-borne OS. Google has been consulting with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to fine tune the final design for Android Auto so that it's not distracting for the driver. Fair enough. Let’s see how third party devs work around these specifics. Catch the whole developer document at the Android Developers portal here.

VIA: Ars Technica

Story Timeline

• Android Auto brings Google into cars in a simpler way


• Android Auto gets first batch of car maker commitments


• 5 Things to Love and Hate in the Android L Dev Preview

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Change the Volume From the Notification Panel with Xposed

You know, it seems like a lot of the time it’s simply much easier to navigate to my phone’s ‘sound’ settings and manually change the volume of my music rather than actually pressing the physical volume buttons on the side. Maybe because my device is finally showing its age, or I’m just not patient enough, but on many occasions the volume buttons decide not to trigger, or it changes the wrong type of volume at the good part of the song which absolutely needs to be played at the loudest volume. And I’m sure that many of us share similar gripes with our devices. Lucky for us however, XDA Senior Member hamzahrmalik has developed the perfect Xposed module for the job.

Aptly name Notification Volume, the Xposed module imbeds volume sliders into the bottom of the notification panel of your Android device. This means the next time you need to immediately change the volume, you don’t have to wait for your volume buttons to ‘unlag’ as you can simply drag down the notification panel and adjust your ringer, media, or alarm volume from there. As of right now however, two bugs are yet to be ironed out, being that the volume sliders overlap your quick setting tiles if you have a lot, and the sliders will not update if the volume was changed by the volume buttons.

If you would like to give Notification Volume a whirl on your device, head over to the Notification Volume module thread to get started.

The post Change the Volume From the Notification Panel with Xposed appeared first on xda-developers.

Customize the Info Panel of the OnePlus One Lock Screen

The lock screen of the OnePlus One is quite the pleasant thing to look at. It’s minimalistic and simple, yet different from what we’ve all perhaps gotten used to over the years. But by default, the customization options are quite limited, particularly in regards to the solid-colored panel that takes up the bottom half of the screen. Yes, you can say that a third party lock screen will fix this little issue, but if you’re looking for some more freedom with the original lock screen, you may want to check out Recognized Developer NunHugger’s mod.

NunHugger’s mod essentially allows you change the color of the OnePlus One lock screen panel or replace it with an image or a gradient. The mod comes in a variety of options pre-made by NunHugger ranging from solid colors such as black, red and orange, to brushed metal and various wood textures. Furthermore, NunHugger has also written a brief tutorial teaching you how you can include your own colors and images to the lock screen panel mod, with NunHugger planning on writing a more comprehensive tutorial in the future.

So if you’re an owner of the OnePlus One and feeling like the lock screen might need a little spicing up, check out the lock screen panel mod thread for more information.

The post Customize the Info Panel of the OnePlus One Lock Screen appeared first on xda-developers.

Liven up Your Notification Icons by Animating them with with LiveIcons

We usually see quite a bit of Android customization in a few select elements of the UI, such as the lock screen, status and navigation bars, and home launcher. However, one of the areas we’ve not seen many people delve into is device animation, particularly with regards to animated notification icons. Perhaps it’s a little too insignificant for anyone to notice, or maybe it just never came across people’s minds, but animated notification icons might be a really fun part of Android customization that no one’s really considered.

With this said, XDA Senior Member hulgo has developed an Xposed module called LiveIcons that animates your Android device’s notification icons. As of right now, the module allows you to replace your current still SMS icon with either of two animated icons called ‘Breathing’ and ‘Flip’. The module is compatible with any Android device running any ROM that uses the AOSP messaging app with the package name com.android.mms.

Hopefully in the future we’ll see more icons and options introduced to LiveIcons in the future, as it is definitely a fun module that has a lot of potential. If you would like to give this a go, contribute to the module, or check out the development progress, head over to the LiveIcons module thread for more information.

The post Liven up Your Notification Icons by Animating them with with LiveIcons appeared first on xda-developers.