AutoInput plugin automates almost any app, no root needed

Let us bottom-line this for all of you out there – if you’re wondering what’s so amazing about the Android OS (and ecosystem), it is because of rockstar developers like “joaomgcd” who developed a lot of the AutoApps plugins for Tasker like AutoVoice, AutoRemote, and AutoNotification. He’s back with a new one – AutoInput – which is another Tasker plugin that will allow you to automate clicking on app buttons and typing text on input fields.

But first things first. If you don’t know about Tasker yet, then you better get busy learning about it. It’s seriously the best thing to happen to Android. Tasker, a paid app via the Google Play Store, allows for much of the automation allowed by the developer’s AutoApps. Now, allow us to show you what AutoInput can do. Check out the video below.

The great thing about it is that AutoInput doesn’t require root access, which is usually the starting point of most tweaks – whether for performance or for utility – that you will find for your Android device. It just needs you to have Tasker, and then the plugin. The developer even tirelessly put up tutorial videos for doing everything you saw on the video in a tutorial compilation here.

If you have any questions at all regarding the plugin, feel free to communicate with the developer via the Reddit thread at the source link. For more information on Tasker, the Reddit forum /r/tasker whould be a great place to start learning. The plugin is a free download via the Google Play Store under a 7-day trial. You can then make a USD$1 purchase after the trial which will give you access to all the dev's plugins. Enjoy!

SOURCE: Reddit

Story Timeline

• Tasker gets huge update, new features and bug fixes


• AutoVoice Tasker plug-in blows Commandr out of the water


• Redditor creates a new Android game… using Tasker

Android L Final API, Updated Preview Images, and Material Design Support Library Now Live!

It’s the 17th of October and as previously announced, the Android L/5.0 SDK is finally out, in addition to updated preview images for the Nexus 5 “hammerhead” and the Nexus 7 “razor” (2013).

You should be able to get the latest 5.0 SDK from the Android SDK Manager, as usual:

1. Start the Android SDK Manager.


2. In the Tools section, select the latest SDK Tools, SDK Platform-tools, and SDK Build-tools.


3. Select everything under the Android 5.0 section, then click Install packages…


4. Accept the licensing agreement for the packages, then click Install.


5. If you previously installed the Android L Preview SDK, select all those packages in the SDK Manager and click Delete packages.

If you’re the owner of a Nexus 5 (GSM/LTE) or Nexus 7 (2013; Wi-Fi), you can also grab updated 5.0 preview images from the Android L Developer Preview page. This is mostly useful for developers who’d like to test our their apps on live devices, but you should note that these images are not the final builds. Support libraries and emulator images are also available now, so make sure to check out the latest Android Developers blog post to get them and for tips on what to do next.

For an overview of the new features the L APIs bring to the table, head over to the Android 5.0 APIs developers page. There, you’ll also find a list of important behavior changes you should watch out for in order to ensure your applications work correctly on Lollipop. You can also view the full differences report if you’re interested.

[Additional images courtesy of Recognized Developer cybojenix

]

The post Android L Final API, Updated Preview Images, and Material Design Support Library Now Live! appeared first on xda-developers.

LG HD MiniBeam projector produces 300 lumens

There have been tiny projectors floating around for a long time that are designed to connect to your smartphone or tablet to give you larger images to enjoy. A new projector has landed from LG called the HD MiniBeam PH300 has launched and it promises some really nice features and would be great for projecting images from your smartphone or tablet.

The PH300 has a native resolution of 1280 x 720 so you can get HD viewing wherever you are. The contrast ratio for the LED projector is 100,000:1. Since the projector uses LEDs as the light source, it is good for up to 30,000 hours.

The projector is capable of throwing an image of 100-inches from 3.75 meters from the projection surface. The small projector weighs in at 430g and measures 103-113mm x 85mm x 54-64mm.

It has USB support for use with HD DivX video and Office viewer. Power for the projector comes from an internal 3000mAh battery good for up to 2.5 hours of use on a single charge. The projector will launch in key markets in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and turkey next month at an undisclosed price.

SOURCE: LG Newsroom

Check Symlinks in Your Projects with Chklnk

As is the case with every Unix-based operating system, Android uses symlinks. A symbolic link is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory in the form of an absolute or relative path, which affects pathname resolution. In Android, they are mostly used in the /bin and /xbin folders, where all the executing binaries are kept.

If you want to make your own symlinks or get to know which files are a part of Toolbox or Busybox, you can find out manually by entering some commands in Terminal. You can also use a script written by XDA Senior Member LENAROX. Chklnk is nothing but BASH script that can identify the symlinks easily with just one command. After pushing to selected system folder and making it executable, this script can be used to enhance your development projects.

To use this script, your devices must be rooted because you will need to push the script file to your /system partition. You should have also Busybox 1.19.4 or newer installed. Usage is very simple, since you only need to enter the chklnk [file] command to get the list of connections.

Chklnk is a nice way to make your development project better. You can learn more about it by visiting the chklnk.sh script forum thread.

The post Check Symlinks in Your Projects with Chklnk appeared first on xda-developers.

MultiROM now ported for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2

We’ve been giving you a lot of updates regarding which devices now have working MultiROM ports just because we understand that sometimes productivity demands being able to tweak an OS just the way you want it. Or maybe because being able to boot into different ROMs without deleting your OS is just a cool thing to do. Whatever it is, we’re adding to that list today with a MultiROM port for the hugely popular Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

The port for the Galaxy Note 2 – also known by its model number the N7100 – was developed by XDA senior member “tilaksidduram”, but really, all of these would not be possible if not for the work of XDA developer “Tassadar” who first developed the system.

There are special implementations that need to be done to run MultiROM on the Galaxy Note 2 – the device that needs to run MultiROM should be running a kexec-hardboot patched kernel. The full instructions are made available by the port maker via the official forum thread here. And as always, there will be small kinks, but the developer said that they are progressing on ironing those out.

Would you believe that the Galaxy Note 2 is already a two-year old device? Considering that it is still hugely popular, there will still be people out there using the device as their main phone. We hope that this cool new tweak will help in one way or another.

SOURCE: XDA

Story Timeline

• Moto E, Moto G can now enjoy multiboot goodness


• Multiboot capabilities spread to Xperia Z and OnePlus One


• MultiROM now on the HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S4

Whisper calls The Guardian piece on privacy issues ‘vicious lies’

Whisper, the app that lets you post whatever you want under the guise of anonymity, says that a recent Guardian piece, which accuses them of various privacy violations, is a pack of "vicious lies." The British newspaper recently claimed to have inside information that despite the premise of the app, they were tracking user information and even going as far as giving out details to various government agencies. Officials from the app immediately refuted these accusations and will give out further statements to prove their innocence.

According to the article in The Guardian, the app's servers know where users are posting from, even if they opt-out of the location tracking feature. They use the longitude and latitude of your phone to see where you are. It sends posts and information to agencies like the Department of Defense, MI5 and the FBI, when the posts are coming out of military bases. This has probably something to do with protecting sensitive information from getting out and affecting secret operations. While this may be necessary depending on the situation, privacy experts from the newspaper say that the app's terms of service uses a "lower legal threshold."

But an executive from Whisper, Neetzan Zimmerman says that the article is "lousy with falsehoods" and that they are simply trying to "scare away" people from using the service. They will be "debunking" all the claims in the piece soon. The Guardian and Whisper have worked together before to look for people who were interesting enough for "article fodder." The newspaper admits they were trying to explore a potential partnership with the app, so this might be also a case of a relationship gone sour.

Recent online security breaches and privacy violation accusations have only reinforced the idea that nothing you post online will ever be truly private. But if these claims from The Guardian are true, then people posting on the app will probably not see the point of using it anymore since all they really want is to be able to post their secrets without fear of discovery. Of course Whisper would never admit to such a thing, so this will probably be end up a case of "they said, they said."

VIA: SlashGear (1), (2)

ARCHOS enters virtual reality market with ARCHOS VR Glasses

ARCHOS, known players in the lower tiers of the Android ecosystem are branching out. A few months back, they released plans to enter the home automation market. Now they are looking to barge into what seems to be a burgeoning niche of virtual reality (VR) wearable devices, with the new ARCHOS VR Glasses, which will reportedly be available in November for a price point as low as USD$29.99.

From what ARCHOS is saying, their VR Glasses will work in a coupling system where the phone is mounted on the wearable itself. We have no idea yet how that system is supposed to work. Will it be using the display of the phone itself and project it somehow into the glasses? It sure sounds that way, as ARCHOS says that it is recommending at least a phone with a 5-inch full HD display for optimum performance of the device.

The VR device feels more like a projection device at this point (remember those big screen projection TVs of the 90s?) than a real robust VR device like the Oculus. The fact that ARCHOS says it is platform independent – which means it will work with Android, Windows Phone or iOS devices – surely point to this probability.

But at a price point like that, ARCHOS again makes an interesting argument for a 3D-capable user-wearable VR device. Cost matters, and ARCHOS has a lot of history in lowering costs so that technology can reach the masses. Will this work? Place this in the “watch this space” section.

Story Timeline

• Archos steps into the home automation market with Smart Home


• Archos Platinum smartphones and Oxygen tablet revealed


• Archos launching new ‘Platinum’ entry level phones