New AOSP Branch Details Potential Build System Upgrades?

While there are frequent unexplained changes and pushes to Google’s AOSP repositories, an interesting-looking new branch has been pushed out recently, called “master-soong”. Taking a look at the changes made to the manifest repository (which is used to specify the repositories to be downloaded when building Android), it appears there are some new repositories making an appearance.

Of note here are new prebuilt repositories for Go, and Ninja. Go is a programming language, created by Google, which compiles to produce native code, yet has many features which make it easier to use than the traditional natively compiled languages (such as C).

Ninja is a make replacement, by a Googler, for controlling the compilation of source code. Currently, Android is built using the make system. Interestingly, Chromium already uses the Ninja build system, and it appears there are many performance benefits in using Ninja for large projects.

Either way, we cannot be sure what is going on here, but it certainly looks like the “soong” part of the branch could be related to the use of Ninja and Go (hence ending in -ng). Quite what soong stands for, we can’t be sure, but it certainly looks like there could be some interesting changes afoot.

Compiling AOSP is already a long process, and any efforts to speed that up will be beneficial for custom ROM developers. We can only hope that any upcoming build system is better documented than the old one, to make it easier for developers to modify and extend, to fix the parts of Android that Google refuse to fix, and cause users to use custom ROMs.

What do you think? The newly added repositories are all currently empty, but everything looks to point towards some fairly large potential changes in the build system.

Thanks go to XDA Senior Recognized Developer, XpLoDWilD, who spotted this in AOSP.

The post New AOSP Branch Details Potential Build System Upgrades? appeared first on xda-developers.

Send Links to Any Nearby Device with CaastMe

There already are many solutions on the Google Play store if you want to send a link to one of your devices — but what if you wanted to do it quickly without having to install any software or logging in to a website on the recipient end? Most apps require you to do either or both, which can be a hassle (or even a security risk) in some cases.

Luckily, XDA Forum Member wyemun has developed CaastMe. Inspired by how WeChat and WhatsApp use QR codes, the developer took it up as a challenge to code the website and Android app in less than a day. Don’t be fooled by the short time it took, though, as CaastMe is actually very polished and simple to use.

You probably want to know how it works at this point. After you’ve installed CaastMe, only two steps are actually required:

• First, go to http://caast.me/ (this works on desktop browsers as well as some mobile browsers, although you may need to enable the “View desktop site” option if you have any display problems). A QR code will appear on your screen.


• From your mobile, share the link you want to CaastMe. This will instantly open your camera, allowing you to scan the QR code. As soon as you do that, you’ll be redirected to the link you just shared.

You can also view the screencast below if you’d like to see it in action. If that’s not enough, you’ll be pleased to know that sharing other data (such as images) is planned for the future.

http://ift.tt/1zgTGH6

If you’re looking for a hassle free way to share links that doesn’t involve installing software everywhere or dealing with logins, head over to the CaastMe forum thread now to grab it and give it a try.

The post Send Links to Any Nearby Device with CaastMe appeared first on xda-developers.

BetterBatteryStats v2.0 gains Material design and Android 5.0 support

If you like to know more about the battery on your Android device than the little battery gauge that comes with Android tells you, you might have used one of the available apps that give more details on the battery. One of those apps is called BetterBatteryStats and it has received a major update.

The update brings Material Design to the app giving it a new look. The update also brings full support for Android 5.0 Lollipop to the mix. Users still get a minimal user interface that gives you all the data in an easy to use format.

You can choose from two themes with the app, one is light with a white background and the other is dark with a black background. The update also brings new details about API stats to a dumpfile. The system app dialog now offers links to recovery ZIPs to be used when workarounds are needed.

Preferences can now be imported and exported and an option to show or hide spinners is now available. Users can now show the SELinux Policy on System App dialog and dump files. The ability to import and export preferences makes it easy to get the app back to the setup you like if you flash to custom ROMs and have to reinstall frequently.

SOURCE: Android Police

Both Cellular Nexus 7s Get 5.0.2 Lollipop!

If you are eager to try out the latest and greatest on your Nexus 7 LTE (2013) or Nexus 7 Mobile (2012), look no further, as Google has just uploaded the official images for the devices. About time!

The post Both Cellular Nexus 7s Get 5.0.2 Lollipop! appeared first on xda-developers.

Smart Lock allows Android to unlock your Chromebook

We've featured something similar but the Smart Lock for Chrome is an official one from Google. This special unlocking feature works on a Chromebook with just an Android phone or tablet nearby. Simply sign in to unlock Chromebook without having to click anything on the keyboard or entering a passcode. All you need to do is access your Android phone.

This seems to be a nice and useful feature but not all Android phones can unlock your Chromebook. Smartphone must run at least Android 5.0 Lollipop and must have Bluetooth connectivity. Meanwhile, Chromebook must be installed with Chrome OS 40+ or above and of course, Bluetooth for the remote unlocking to work. Tablets are not yet supported but Google could be working on it.

Since this feature works over Bluetooth, the Android phone's Bluetooth must always be turned on and phone must be within a 100-foot Bluetooth range and near the Chromebook. Smart Lock for Chrome must first be set up on both the Android phone and the Chromebook. You can allow multiple phones to unlock Chromebook but you should turn off the connections not in use.

If you have more than one compatible phone nearby, turn off the ones you won’t be using. To sign in to Chromebook, make sure phone and computer are both connected to the Internet, click account picture found in the bottom right corner. Click Settings > Show advanced settings. Click “set up” on the Smart Lock section. Follow instructions to pair phone and Chromebook. Make sure phone and Chromebook can detect each other’s Bluetooth connection.

SOURCE: Google Chrome

Story Timeline

• Google Chrome OS gets new lineup of Haswell-powered devices


• Google Chrome to block extensions from outside the Web Store


• Google Chrome hack allows Android apps to run on any desktop

Nokia Z Launcher beta update adds icon pack support

If you are a user of the Nokia Z Launcher app, you may be waiting for the app to leave beta and go to official full release. The app has been updated recently, but it is still listed as a beta. If you are unfamiliar with Z Launcher, the app is designed to learn how you use your phone and give you faster access to your favorite apps.

The app has several functions with Scribble letting you write a letter on the screen to find apps that start with that letter. You can use Z Launcher to launch apps, contacts, or websites. The Adapt feature learns and promotes the right apps at the right time.

The latest update to the app brings it to 1.1.2-beta and adds in some new features. There is preliminary support for icon packs and you can now uninstall or hide apps from the ranked list with a long press on the text.

The app received UI improvements for a wide range of Android devices. The app also has an improved design and better performance for carousel widgets. Scribble handwriting recognition was improved. One big change that many users wanted has been implemented with the Play store loading without pre-searched text. A number of bug fixes were also made in this go around.

SOURCE: Nokia Z Launcher

One Billion Android smartphones shipped globally in 2014

2014 was a big year for Android devices according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The company tracks smartphone shipments around the world and its data shows that a billion Android smartphones shipped globally in 2014. According to the metrics, global smartphone shipments grew 30% during the year reaching a total of 1.3 billion units.

Android smartphones made up 81% of all smartphones shipped during the year and 2014 marked the first time in history that Android units shipped over a billion devices. In 2013 global smartphone shipments reached 1 billion total. For 2014 Android shipped as many units as the entire smartphone market did the previous year.

The closest operating system to Android for 2014 was iOS with Apple shipping 192.7 million iOS smartphones globally making it a distant second place. iOS had a 15% share of the smartphone market for 2014.

Microsoft shipped 38.8 million smartphones to grab 3% of the global smartphone market. All other smartphone OS' accounted for 9.3 million devices shipped, giving all other operating systems a scant 0.7% of the market.

SOURCE: StrategyAnalytics