XDA Screen Brightness : March 2017

Friday, March 31, 2017

Guide to Build Your Own Custom Kernel for ARM Smartphones

XDA Senior Member 3lambda has posted a noob friendly guide on building your own custom kernel for ARM devices.

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Easy Android Signer Tool for Windows Brings Single and Batch Signing with v1 and v2 Signing Scheme Support

Easy Android Signer allows you to zipalign, sign and verify multiple APK files in one step. This tool for Windows supports v1 and v2 signing schemes, support for multiple signatures for one apk as well as batch signing.

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TWRP v3.1.0 Unofficially Released for the Galaxy Tab S3

It hasn't been long since the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 was announced, but we now have a build of TWRP v3.1.0 released unofficially by XDA Recognized Contributor ashyx. The build works for both the SM-T820 and SM-T825 models running on the Qualcomm MSM8966 SoC.

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Get the Galaxy S8’s Updated Launcher on the Galaxy S7 running Nougat

Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy S8 to the public 2 days ago, and with the new phone came new Samsung apps. If you're looking to try out the newest version of the Samsung Experience Launcher, then check out this thread by XDA Senior Member takerhbk. This app can be installed on Samsung devices running official Nougat builds, but your mileage may vary in whether or not it functions properly.

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How to Add Custom Icons to the Navigation Bar in Android O

If you've been following our coverage of Android O, then you might have seen our tutorials on how to modify the navigation bar to toggle picture-in-picture mode, enable media control keys while playing music, and today how to add forward/previous buttons to quickly browse through your e-mails. The possible uses of a customizable navigation bar are huge, and our first three tutorials only scrape the surface. But while we do have a couple of more useful tutorials to share with our readers, there's one thing we had to cover before we can move on to our next tutorials: how to add custom icons to the navigation bar keys in Android O.

Android O's new navigation bar customizer, accessible through SystemUI Tuner, allows you to set a keycode to a navigation key. (Reminder: in order to access SystemUI Tuner, you have to pull down the status bar and long-press on the gear icon in the top right until you see a toast message telling you that SystemUI Tuner is now accessible.) Because there are so many keycodes, Android O does not offer an icon for each keycode you can place on the nav bar, but instead allows you to select from 6 icons: circle, plus, minus, left, right, and menu.

Since we figured out how to manually set keycodes from shell commands, we also wanted to figure out what icon possibilities were available. We first discovered that the two navigation bar keys are defined as two system properties under the Settings.Secure class. These two properties are named sysui_nav_bar_left and sysui_nav_bar_right, corresponding to the left nav bar key and the right nav bar key respectively. The properties take a string value, one of either clipboard, menu_ime, or key(KEYCODE_KEY:ICON_RESOURCE).

Using a test Google Pixel device running the Android O Developer Preview, we discovered that the 6 icons shown by default correspond to particular content resources contained in the SystemUI, represented by a URI.

com.android.systemui/2131230944 (circle)
com.android.systemui/2131230848 (plus)
com.android.systemui/2131231002 (minus)
com.android.systemui/2131230907 (left)
com.android.systemui/2131231004 (right)
com.android.systemui/2131230913 (menu)

Since these values were pulled from the Google Pixel, it's possible that these icon resources won't be the same on other Google devices running the Android O Developer Preview. But since the icon resource is a content URI, we are able to replace this with a file URI scheme to point to any icon stored on our device.

How to set Custom Nav Bar Icons in Android O

A file URI looks like the following:

  file:///storage/emulated/0/PATH/TO/FILE

Combining this with our knowledge of setting custom keycodes above, we can now set any arbitrary image as our icon to be shown in the nav bar. For instance, if I want to set my left navigation bar key to KEYCODE_DPAD_DOWN (#20) with a custom down arrow icon saved as down.png and my right navigation bar key to KEYCODE_DPAD_UP (#19) with a custom up arrow icon saved as up.png, both icons stored on the root of my internal storage, my commands would look like these:

  settings put secure sysui_nav_bar_left key(20:file:///storage/emulated/0/down.png)  settings put secure sysui_nav_bar_right key(19:file:///storage/emulated/0/up.png)

You can enter these commands using either an ADB shell or by granting the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission to SecureTask and then using Tasker to trigger nav bar changes based on certain conditions, as I've outlined in my previous tutorials (and will also showcase in another tutorial).

How to get Custom Icons for your Nav Bar

Of course, given the size of your nav bar, you can't just place any image you download off of the Internet. The image needs to be the right size, otherwise it will either appear too small or most likely appear way too blown up. Getting your own image in the proper size can be a challenge if you don't already have experience with PhotoShop or other image manipulation software, but luckily there are websites out there that offer many free icons that we can use.

The first thing you'll need to do is determine your device's display metrics, which is something you may already know, but in case you don't, you can look it up on Material.io. Next, you'll need to correlate your display density with an icon reference chart to determine what size icons you'll need. Finally, use the free icons database to download the icon you're looking for in the right size.

Make sure you save the icons you'll be using in a particular folder such as /NavIcons, and name the icons something simple you can easily reference in your commands.

We hope you find this tutorial useful! For me, personally, one of my major qualms with the navigation bar customizer was the inability to select custom icons for nav keys so I would always immediately know what my nav keys are doing. But now that we've figured out how to place our own custom keys and custom icons on our own conditions, we can start making some real use out of our navigation bar.

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Today Weather, with its Dark Theme, is Perfect for AMOLED

We love seeing apps come from the apps and games XDA community. This app is called Today Weather and it's one of the best free weather app you'll find on the Play store plus it looks fantastic on AMOLED displays thanks to its blacked-out look. Check out this video and download it for yourself for free.

Track multiple cities at once, each one with a unique photograph.

Beautiful high quality images makes this app unique from your average forecast apps.

Never miss the sunset or sunrise. Today Weather will always tell you exactly when the sun comes up and goes down.

Your weekly forecast is shown with awesome animated icons.

Get more information on one screen with a compact and easy to read sign.

Detailed notifications give you way more information so you don't have to launch the full app.

Today Weather is giving away 50 ad-free vouchers to the first 50 people that comment on YouTube. Good Luck!

Play store link XDA Thread

We thank TodayWeather.co for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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OxygenOS Open Beta 13 for OnePlus 3 and Open Beta 4 for OnePlus 3T Released

OnePlus has released a new Open Beta for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, and no, it is not April just yet so we know this is for real. This Open Beta is numbered 13 for the OnePlus 3 and 4 for the OnePlus 3T, although the changelog for both the devices is the same. The download links are different, though, so it's a good idea to download the correct build for your device.

OnePlus details the following changelog:

All new launcher, added support for shortcuts on 7.1.1
Redesigned app drawer
Redesigned UI for launcher settings – Simplified the Settings options and added another gesture to get to them quickly, a pinch motion from the homepage of your launcher.
Added status bar icon option to display real time network speed
Added Notification Denoising – This is to allow priority levels to be assigned to peek notifications and will let you grant only the most important apps and their notifications the ability to interrupt you. This feature can be found under Settings>Device>Notifications
Added Gaming Do Not Disturb mode – This allows you to lock the capacitive and home buttons while gaming or in other apps where it's easy to hit those buttons buttons unintentionally. This feature can be found in Settings>Advanced>Gaming Mode
Added automatic Night Mode – You are now able to set Night Mode to activate and deactivate at a certain time or according to a specific cycle of day and night. This can be found under settings>Display>Night Mode
Added Secure Box for file encryption – This is for all files (including pictures and video) that should not be easily accessible to other people. It can be set up with its own pin, and once items are moved (by long pressing and selecting "set as secure" in the settings option) they can only be viewed in the secure box portion of the file manager. This can be found under Apps>File Manager>Secure Box
Optimized touch latency
Optimized camera EIS for videos
Improved contacts management with linking and merge functions
Added quick pay option for India – This will allow users to set up a QR-based quick pay feature that can be quickly accessed while the screen is either on or off with a long press of the home button. This will only activate right now if one of the following apps is installed: Paytm, Wechat, or Alipay. This can be found in Settings>Security & Fingerprint>Quick Pay
Bug fixes and general improvements

Some of these fixes and improvements are self-explanatory, and OnePlus has added more information to the ones which are not. Of particular interest is the claimed improvements to touch latency and Camera EIS for video — we'll have to see how much of an improvement we're talking here.

To try it out, download Open Beta 13 for OnePlus 3 and Open Beta 4 for OnePlus 3T. Users who are already on the Open Beta branch will receive this update as an OTA. Do note that moving back to the Stable branch from Open Beta will involve a full clean flash.

The changes that I am excited about is the Gaming DND mode and Quick Pay option. Quick Pay is interesting as I have started moving towards PayTM for payments throughout the day. PayTM is much less of a hassle than haggling for exact change and often quicker and more popular than card terminals with small vendors.

What are your thoughts on the new Open Beta? Which feature are you looking forward to? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Source 1: OnePlus 3 Forums Source 2: OnePlus 3T Forums

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Google I/O 2017 Agenda Page Updated with Scheduled Sessions

A little more than a month ago Google started taking applications for those who wanted to attend their Google I/O developer conference this year. It took less than a week for the company to start sending out confirmation emails to the first batch of lucky applicants who were selected to attend the event. Tickets are currently priced at $1150 for general attendees, and $375 for students, but you can only go if you are selected and receive an email from Google.

Until now, we didn't truly know what was going to be talked about at Google I/O 2017. We can assume there will be some talks about Android O, Android Wear 2.0 and possibly Android Auto. But there hadn't been any formal announcement as to what will be talked about at the event in May. That changed yesterday when Google finally posted the first batch of sessions that are currently scheduled for Google I/O 2017. This takes place from May 17th through to May 19th, and Google has an Agenda website up for you to pick out the sessions you want to be part of.

The big draw here will be the keynote, which will likely be given by the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai again. And we're told that this keynote address will be a full 2 hours long. Throughout the first day, talks will be given about Firebase, Google IoT platform, what is new in Android, the mobile web, the newest additions to Android's accessibility features, and the latest changes to ads on the mobile platform. This is just a taste of what is going on as talks will continue all the way until 7PM that night.

On days 2 and 3, talks will begin at 8:30AM and will continue on until 6:30PM and 3:30PM respectively. This will include more sessions about Firebase, mobile ads, the mobile web, accessibility, Google Assistant, Android and more. Google also reminds us that this schedule will be regularly updated until Google I/O 2017 takes place, so be sure to visit it regularly to see if any talks have been moved or added.

Source: Google I/O 2017

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How to Add Forward/Backward Keys to Android O’s Nav Bar to Quickly Read Emails

If your time spent on your smartphone consists of going through a ton of e-mails, then you may find it annoying to accidentally switch messages when you're trying to see your entire e-mail message. Thanks to the new navigation bar customizer in Android O, we can add new keys to the navigation bar to perform custom actions. In this case, we'll be adding two new keys to the navigation bar that will move forward/backward in your e-mail list whenever we are using the Gmail app.

Thanks to Eli Irvin for (again) testing this out for me, and capturing the above screen recording.

If you've been following our previous Android O tutorials, then you'll know how we'll be tackling this problem. This tutorial is fairly similar to our picture-in-picture button tutorial, so if you've read through that then this one should be a breeze.

Add Forward/Backward Keys to Nav Bar while in Gmail

Requirements:

Tasker ($2.99)
SecureTask

Tasker is necessary because it is the automation app we're using to detect what application we're in and send commands through the SecureTask plug-in, which is what will handle changing our navigation bar. Once you've installed both applications, we need to set both of them up.

In order for Tasker to detect what application we're in, we need to grant its Accessibility Service. Doing so is very quick, simply go to Settings –> Accessibility and look for "Tasker" on the list of Services. Enable the Accessibility Service.

Next, we need to grant SecureTask the ability to modify system settings on our device. In order to do so, we have to grant SecureTask a special permission known as WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS which is normally inaccessible to regular applications, but can be granted manually by a user through the use of ADB. Thus, you'll need to have ADB up and running on your machine to get this working. Fortunately, granting this permission is only a one-time thing, and we'll be using SecureTask in future Android O-related tutorials (of which there are a couple more), so it's definitely worth doing it.

Setting up ADB

The first thing you'll need to do is download the ADB binary for your particular OS. You can do so here. Once you've downloaded them, you need to then make sure you have the proper driver if you're on Windows.

Once you've extracted the binary to a separate folder and have installed the driver, we need to next enable USB Debugging on the smartphone. In order to do so, open up Settings and go to About Phone. Tap on Build Number 7 times until you get a dialog telling you that you've unlocked Developer Options. You can access Developer Options in Settings now. Apparently in Android O, you have to enter your pin/password before you can open Developer Options. Do so and look for USB Debugging, then enable it.

Now plug in your phone and open up a command prompt in the same directory where you extracted the ADB binary. (Windows users, hold shift+right-click in that folder and select "open command prompt here.") Type adb devices into the command prompt. You'll see a message that the ADB server is being started, then on your phone you'll see a prompt asking you to grant your computer ADB access. Accept it. Now when you enter adb devices into the command prompt, you should see your device's serial number, if so then you were successful.

Granting WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to SecureTask

With an ADB command prompt opened up, enter the following command to grant SecureTask the requisite permission.

  adb shell pm grant com.balda.securetask android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

SecureTask will now have the ability to modify system settings without root access! Now we're ready to move on to Tasker.

Setting up the Tasker Profile

Open up Tasker and create a new Profile. Name it "Gmail Scroll Keys." Select the Application Context, and look for the e-mail app you want to enable the navigation bar keys in (eg. Gmail). Select the app(s) that you want, then back out to next create a Task.

Tasker will ask you to attach a Task to this new Profile. Create a new Task when asked, and name it (or don't). We will create two Actions in this Entry Task, as follows:

A1: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_left. Value: key(21:com.android.systemui/2131230907)
A2: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_right. Value: key(22:com.android.systemui/2131231004)

That's it for the Entry Task (the one that runs when you enter the e-mail app), now we need to add an Exit Task to disable the two keys when we leave the e-mail app. Create an Exit Task by long-pressing on the Entry Task and selecting the "add exit task" option when it pops-up. We will also create two Actions in this Task, as follows:

A1: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_left. Value: null
A2: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_right. Value: null

That's it! Now when you enter the Gmail app (or whatever other e-mail app you've chosen), you'll now see the two navigation bar keys to allow you to move forwards or backwards in your e-mail list.

Download and Import

As with all Tasker related tutorials, we will be providing the XML file you can download and import. Download the prf.xml file from AndroidFileHost below and save it to your internal storage. Open up Tasker and long-press on the Profiles tab up top until you see an Import button. Tap on that and look for the XML file you just saved, then select it to import it. Make sure you have Tasker's Accessibility Service enabled and have granted the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to SecureTask as mentioned in my article, otherwise this Profile will not do anything on your phone!

Download the "Gmail Scroll Keys" Profile from AndroidFileHost

If you're wondering what else we can accomplish with SecureTask and Android O, stay tuned to the XDA Portal because we have more to share. Expect more tutorials on how you can make your navigation bar in Android O accomplish many useful functions!

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Twitter No Longer Counts Usernames In Replies Against 140 Limit

Twitter has been trying to figure out ways to maximize its 140 character limit for tweets since last year. The company earlier said that it had been working on new ways to let users express more without raising 140 character limit. As such, Twitter has already stopped counting media files such as links, polls, GIFs, photos, videos and quotes against 140 character limit. Now, the company is taking things even further with a new change. Starting today, Twitter is rolling out a new update which will stop counting usernames while replying to a conversation.

To make this happen, Twitter is making changes to the way you reply to someone in a conversation. With this update, whenever a user replies to a tweet, usernames of whom they're replying to will appear above the tweet, as opposed to inside the tweet text, so that the user have more space left for the conversation. According to Twitter, this change will make things less cluttered as it will allow you to focus on the discussion "rather than seeing lots of @usernames."

Following are the changes Twitter is making with this new update:

Who you are replying to will appear above the Tweet text rather than within the Tweet text itself, so you have more characters to have conversations.
You can tap on "Replying to…" to easily see and control who's part of your conversation.
When reading a conversation, you'll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet.

Twitter says it has taken into consideration users' feedback and also done some research and experimentation before implementing these changes. Twitter also claims that their tests have found that with this new experience, people are engaging more with conversations on Twitter.

The new experience is already live on the web version of Twitter and an app update bringing this change should be on the way for Android and iOS.

What are your thoughts on this new experience? Have you tried it out yet? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Official Twitter Blog

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OnePlus Announces Highly-Limited Dash Energy Drink, Coming this April 1st

The company behind the successful OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T is always looking to expand its range of products, and in recent months it has begun offering a number of accessories, swag and gear including clothing and bags.

Now, OnePlus feels ready to leverage its Dash Charge technology into a whole new class of product: highly-limited Energy Drinks. The new Dash Energy will become available soon, and you'll be able to get a taste of its electrolyte-infused performance this April 1st in select locations including London and India. If you have been looking for a new kind of gamer fuel, look no further. Just take a look at this sweet specs sheet:

Best Consumed By 03/2018	Servings per Container: 1
Calories:	0 cal
Total Fat:	0 g
Saturated Fat:	0 g
Trans Fat:	0 g
Cholesterol:	0 mg
Sodium:	95 mg
Total Carbohydrate:	0 g
Dietary Fiber:	0 g
Sugar:	0 g
Protein:	0 g
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron:	0%, 0%, 0%, 0%

Clearly nutritional. OnePlus claims that their energy drink technology allows the company to "unlock a person's hidden potential" by limiting their sleep cycles to just half an hour a day, inline with their Dash Charge's "A Day's Power in Half an Hour" marketing slogan. I've received one of these Dash Charge energy drinks, and while I can't say that I am sure it has passed any kind of regulation, it tasted pretty good… Well, kind of. Good enough, I guess? I've had worse in Argentina.

I know what you are thinking — what on Earth is OnePlus doing? I honestly have no clue either, but if you want to check it out for yourself, on April 1st you'll be able to get a taste in Bishops Square, Spitalfields, London from 12PM to 4PM, and you can also visit the OnePlus Experience Store in Bangalore, India should that be closer to you. If you happen to reside in the EU, you can also enter the raffle online for a chance to win a four-pack of this highly limited energy drink.

So there you go. If you saw OnePlus teasing a Dash Charge announcement yesterday and thought you'd be getting something awesome like a new power pack, I'd like to say I'm sorry. Also, hahaha, why would you expect that? Have you forgotten about the OnePlus 3T Colette Edition? In any case, we'll be doing an in-depth review of the Dash Energy later this afternoon on social media, so stay tuned for that (if you really want to waste your time).

Excited for this new OnePlus product? Fool around in the comments below and let us know what you think.

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Thursday, March 30, 2017

How to Enable Media Playback Nav Bar Controls in Android O when Playing Music

The Android O Developer Preview has only been out for a week, but we're quickly discovering more and more potential uses for all of the new features. One of the features we've been most excited about is the new navigation bar customizer found in System UI Tuner.

On initial inspection, Google's implementation seems quite barebone. While you are able to add a new navigation key to the left and right of your existing keys, any key that you add will be permanently situated on your navigation bar. Unfortunately, that makes this feature useless for many people, as many of the keys you would want on the nav bar only work under specific circumstances. But as we've shown you before, it is in fact possible to enable specific nav bar keys under your own customizable conditions. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to enable media playback control buttons in your navigation bar when Google Play Music, or any other music app, is playing music.

Thanks Eli Irvin for testing this for me, and capturing this screen recording!

Enable Media Playback Nav Bar Controls

Requirements:

In order to detect when music is being played, we need to enable Notification Access for the Notification Listener plugin. Doing so is very quick, simply go to Settings and search for "notification access" in the search bar. Open the settings page, look for Notification Listener, and grant it access to read notifications.

Next, we need to grant SecureTask the ability to modify system settings on our device. In order to do so, we have to grant SecureTask a special permission known as WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS which is normally inaccessible to regular applications, but can be granted manually by a user through the use of ADB. Thus, you'll need to have ADB up and running on your machine to get this working. Fortunately, granting this permission is a one-time thing, and we'll be using SecureTask in future Android O-related tutorials, so I definitely advise you doing this now. If you've followed my previous tutorials where I told you to install AutoTools, SecureTask is less feature-filled but it has just enough for our needs here.

Setting up ADB

Granting WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to SecureTask

With an ADB command prompt opened up, enter the following command to grant SecureTask the requisite permission.

  adb shell pm grant com.balda.securetask android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

SecureTask will now have the ability to modify system settings without root access! Now we're ready to move on to Tasker.

Setting up the Tasker Profiles

We'll be creating two separate Tasker Profiles here. One that reacts to when our music player of choice (in my example, Google Play Music) starts music playback (its notification has been posted), and one that reacts to when that same music player's notification has been dismissed.

Open up Tasker and create a new Profile by pressing the + icon in the bottom right. We'll start with making a Profile that triggers when the music player's notification has been posted. Name the Profile "Enable Media Nav Keys" and select an Event Context. Go to Plugin –> Notification Listener –> Notification Listener. For the Notification Event, select Posted and under Apps select the applications that you want to monitor (eg. Google Play Music).

Once you're done, back out and Tasker will ask you to attach a Task to this Profile. You can name the Task, but it's not necessary. Just hit the checkmark to enter the Task editing screen. Once you're in, we're going to add two Actions to this Task.

A1: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_left. Value: key(88:com.android.systemui/2131230907). This is KEYCODE_MEDIA_PREVIOUS and will show up as a left arrow in your navigation bar.
A2: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_right. Value: key(87:com.android.systemui/2131231004). This is KEYCODE_MEDIA_NEXT and will show up as a right arrow in your navigation bar.

Next up, we'll create the second Profile that triggers when the music app's notification is dismissed. This Profile will get rid of the media control keys when the notification has been dismissed. Create a new Profile and name it "Disable Media Nav Keys." Again create an Event Context and select the Notification Listener plugin. This time, for the Notification Event select Removed but again select the same music app you want monitored.

Again add a Task (without a name is fine) and create the following two actions:

A1: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_left. Value: null.
A2: Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Action: Write. Setting: secure sysui_nav_bar_right. Value: null.

These two actions will clear your navigation bar keys so the media playback control keys will no longer be there.

That's it! Now when you start music playback, you'll see additional keys on your navigation bar to control media, but when you dismiss your music player's notification, these keys will disappear.

Download and Import

As with all Tasker related tutorials, we will be providing the XML files you can download and import. Download the prf.xml files from AndroidFileHost below and save them to your internal storage. Open up Tasker and long-press on the Profiles tab up top until you see an Import button. Tap on that and look for the XML files you just saved, then select them to import them (you'll have to do this one by one). Make sure you have granted Notification Access to Notification Listener enabled and have granted the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission to SecureTask as mentioned in my article, otherwise these Profiles will not do anything on your phone!

Download the "Enable Media Nav Keys" Profile from AndroidFileHost Download the "Disable Media Nav Keys" Profile from AndroidFileHost

If you're wondering what else we can accomplish with SecureTask and Android O, stay tuned to the XDA Portal because we have a lot more to share. Expect more tutorials on how you can make your navigation bar in Android O accomplish many useful functions!

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Miscellaneous SystemUI Mods for OxygenOS 4.1.1 on OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T

XDA Senior Member SyCreed has put together a few notable SystemUI modifications for the OnePlus 3/3T on OxygenOS 4.1.1. Get center clock, red and dark blue accent colors, change navigation bar dpi and more with these modifications.

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Unofficial Port of EFIDroid Available for the Snapdragon Galaxy S5

EFIDroid is a second stage-bootloader based on UEFI that allows you to multi-boot any number of ROMs. It has now been ported to Snapdragon variants of the Galaxy S5 thanks to XDA Senior Member mohammad.afaneh and can be installed in one-click by using the EFIDroid manager app,

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New H2OS Launcher and File Manager APKs for the OnePlus 3

With the latest H2OS update, OnePlus has added a new launcher that has some features from Pixel Launcher. This, along with the new File Manager application can now be installed on the OnePlus 3 thanks to XDA Senior Member innocentwoolf.

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How to Display a Picture-in-Picture Mode Toggle while using YouTube on Android O

In our last article, we were the first to show you how you can use Android O's new picture-in-picture (PiP) mode right now on your smartphone. To recap, the method involves sending a certain key known as KEYCODE_WINDOW which is defined by the constant 171. This key code is most readily sent by enabling the hidden navigation bar customizer in SystemUI Tuner then adding a new navigation bar item which triggers the keycode.

However, doing this method means you'll have a permanent icon in your navigation bar to toggle picture-in-picture mode, even when it's not applicable. PiP only works on certain applications, namely apps that can display full-screen video content, so it doesn't make sense for there to be a button to toggle it in all apps. At the end of the article, we stated that we would show you how to display picture-in-picture mode on a per-app basis. Here's how that's done.

Display Picture-in-Picture Toggle on a Per-App Basis

Requirements:

Tasker ($2.99)
SecureTask

Next, we need to grant SecureTask the ability to modify system settings on our device. In order to do so, we have to grant SecureTask a special permission known as WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS which is normally inaccessible to regular applications, but can be granted manually by a user through the use of ADB. Thus, you'll need to have ADB up and running on your machine to get this working. Fortunately, granting this permission is a one-time thing, and we'll be using SecureTask in future Android O-related tutorials, so I definitely advise you doing this now. If you've followed my previous tutorials where I told you to install AutoTools, SecureTask is less feature-filled but it has just enough for our needs here.

Setting up ADB

Granting WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS to SecureTask

With an ADB command prompt opened up, enter the following command to grant SecureTask the requisite permission.

  adb shell pm grant com.balda.securetask android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

SecureTask will now have the ability to modify system settings without root access! Now we're ready to move on to Tasker.

Setting up the Tasker Profile

Open up Tasker and create a new Profile. Name it "Toggle Picture-in-Picture." Select the Application Context, and look for the video app you want to enable the navigation bar key in (eg. YouTube). Select the apps that you want, then back out to next create a Task.

Tasker will ask you to attach a Task to this new Profile. Create a new Task when asked, and name it (or don't). When you're in the Task creation screen, add a new Action by going to Plugin –> SecureTask –> Secure Settings. Press the pencil icon to open up the SecureTask configuration.

Under Action, pick Write. Under Setting, put secure sysui_nav_bar_right. Under the value, put key(171:com.android.systemui/2131230944). Exit to Tasker's main menu. Add an Exit Task to this Profile by long-pressing on the new Task we just created then selecting "add exit task." Repeat the above Action, but this time for the value put null.

That's it! When you enter the YouTube app (or whatever other app you chose), you'll now see an icon pop up in the right side of your navigation bar allowing you to toggle picture-in-picture mode.

Download and Import

As with all Tasker related tutorials, we will be providing the XML file you can download and import. Download the .prf.xml file from AndroidFileHost below and save it to your internal storage. Open up Tasker and long-press on the Profiles tab up top until you see an Import button. Tap on that and look for the XML file you just saved, then select it to import it. Make sure you have Tasker's Accessibility Service enabled and have granted the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission to SecureTask as mentioned in my article, otherwise this Profile will not do anything on your phone!

Download the "Toggle Picture-in-Picture" Profile from AndroidFileHost

If you're wondering what else we can accomplish with SecureTask and Android O, stay tuned to the XDA Portal because we have a lot to share. Expect more tutorials on how you can make your navigation bar in Android O accomplish many useful functions!

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Android O’s Picture-in-Picture Mode can be Enabled Right Now, Here’s How

Feature image: Picture-in-picture mode on an Android TV

Picture-in-picture mode (PiP) is a feature of some television receivers allowing the device to display one program in an inset window while another program is running. This feature made its way to Android TV devices starting in Android 7.0 Nougat, but Google recently announced that the feature will be making its way to Android phones running Android O. With Android O, developers that update their apps to support PiP mode can now also specify the aspect ratio as well as custom interactions with the window such as toggling play/pause.

Users on devices that are a part of the Android O Developer Preview have been able to try out the revamped notifications and other tweaks, but thus far have been unable to try out picture-in-picture mode on their devices. However, it's actually possible to enable PiP on any device running Android O right now!

As you can see in the video above, we open up YouTube and navigated to a video. The video is paused, and then we press a navigation key which collapses the YouTube app and displays the video in an inset window on top of all other activities (such as Google Play Music and the Pixel Launcher). The window can be moved around the user interface, too.

We then press the window which restores the YouTube app to the video we opened, and then we start playback. Pressing the button to launch PiP mode now minimizes the YouTube app while the video is still playing! Currently, it appears to be a bit buggy with the YouTube app since the video doesn't take up the entire window while playing, but we figured that PiP mode for phones is probably mostly useful for listening to audio while doing something else given the relatively small screens of smartphones compared to Android TV devices. Furthermore, this bug will probably be fixed in later versions of Android O or with an update to the YouTube app, but we'll have to wait and see for that.

How to Enable Picture-in-Picture Mode

Okay, okay, we know what you're really here for. How do I enable this myself? It's actually quite simple. You need to send a certain key to trigger picture-in-picture mode on your Android phone. The KeyEvent is called "KEYCODE_WINDOW" and it is used by Android TV device remotes to toggle picture-in-picture mode. Fortunately, it works for phones on Android O as well!

In order to send this key from a tap on a navigation bar button, you need to use the hidden navigation bar tuner in SystemUI Tuner. Add a navigation button and select the button type to be "keycode" and look for keycode #171. Once you've done that, your navigation bar will now have a button that, when pressed inside of a supported app, will toggle PiP.

You might be already thinking: doesn't this mean I have to have this key permanently on my navigation bar to use picture-in-picture mode? Not true! Stay tuned to the XDA Portal, as we'll next be showing you how to display this key only in certain apps!

Thanks to Eli Irvin for discovering this!

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Telegram’s Latest v3.18 Update Brings AI-Powered Voice Calls to the IM App

Instant Messengers are all the rage these days. It feels as if every major tech company has its own take on what is the best implementation for an IM app, and one particular company even has multiple variations of what it envisions to be the best IM app. So it is no surprise that we see IM apps extending beyond the conventional paradigms of what users expect to do with an Instant Messaging app.

The latest example of an IM app going beyond that traditional definition of IM is Telegram. With its latest update, Telegram brings Voice Calls to users in the Western European region, with the feature expected to roll out to the rest of the world soon.

Telegram's Voice Call interface is claimed to be familiar to users and easy-to-use. The highlight of these voice calls is the end-to-end encryption employed, the same one that is used in Telegram's Secret Chats. The key verification UI that is used for ensuring the call is not being snooped through a Man-in-the-Middle attack has received an update as well. To check the security of the call, Telegram now allows you to compare four emojis displayed on the phone with your caller. You can read more about Telegrams Voice Call authentication over at their FAQ page.

Telegram's voice calls will prefer going over a peer-to-peer connection at first. If such a connection is not possible, Telegram will use the geographically closest server to connect the call. Telegram will also be expanding their content delivery network around the globe in the coming months to ensure quick and crisp calls to remote locations as well.

With calls being promised to be encrypted end-to-end, how does AI fit into the picture?

AI on voice calls in Telegram does not have access to the contents of the conversation, but it does have access to technical information like network speed, ping times, packet loss percentages, and more. These are inputted to a neural network to optimize "dozen of parameters" to improve the quality of future calls on the given device and network. So calls on stable WiFi can work towards sound quality, while those in spotty cell coverage areas could focus on consuming less data.

Telegram does allow control on who can call you. Voice Calls can be switched off completely, can be allowed for your contacts, and you can have co-existing whitelists and blacklists for special access or restrictions to specific individuals as well.

Video Compression

The new update also brings control over the quality of video shared across Telegram. You can choose from a few options for video quality, going all the way up to 1080p for your shared video. The preview screen gives you a glimpse of what your video will be like for your recipient before you send. The first preference selected is saved as default for future shares.

You can either love or hate the new changes happening with Telegram. The conventional user of Telegram would rather not have an IM app evolve into a chimera of communication, while others may appreciate a quick, easy and user-friendly way to make encrypted voice calls by an app not controlled by Facebook or other giant corporations known for data harvesting. We appreciate Telegram giving users an option to disable calls entirely.

What are your thoughts on Telegram and its new Voice Calls functionality? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Telegram Blog

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Google Is Reportedly Considering New Hardware Partners For 2018’s Pixel

While Google has yet to release second-generation Pixel device for this year, a new report coming in hints that Google might be looking for a new hardware partner to manufacture its 2018 smartphone lineup. HTC has already secured a 2-year manufacturing deal for the Pixel devices this year, which will likely be launched later this fall, so the new devices will be manufactured by HTC.

As reported by Digitimes, HTC is competing with other smartphone OEMs to win a contract to manufacture the third generation Pixel lineup that will be launched in 2018. The OEMs that are looking to score this deal include HTC, LG, TCL, and Coolpad, as per the report. The report also goes on to say that "LG is more likely to win orders" for Google's 2018's lineup, adding that orders for the third-generation Pixels could reach five million units.

The same report also notes HTC has shipped over 2.1 million units of both first generation Pixel and Pixel XL devices since their initial launch.

As per the initial reports about the upcoming Pixel device set to be released this year, Google will likely stick with the same strategy of positioning the Pixel as a premium device to compete with Samsung and Apple. Just a while back we learned that Google has already started working on its next Pixel devices and that there might be three Pixel devices this time around, reportedly code-named Muskie, Walleye, and Taimen.

It will be interesting to see how this all pans out, but given that HTC and LG have far greater experience in designing and manufacturing premium devices for international audiences, we believe it's less likely that Google will approach some of the other lesser known manufacturers such as TCL and Coolpad to seal the deal for its third generation smartphone lineup.

Source: Digitimes

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Android Wear 2.0 Rolling Out to Fossil, Casio and TAG Heuer Smartwatches, Bug Delaying Update

Google officially announced the Android Wear 2.0 platform update back in February, with the LG Watch Style and Watch Sport being the first devices to come running the new software out of the box. The Android Wear 2.0 update is in many ways a substantial upgrade and brings quite a few useful features, such as Android Pay support, Google Assistant, an on-watch Google Play Store, Standalone Apps and a whole lot of under-the-hood optimizations.

Since Google reportedly has a much bigger stake in rolling out updates for smartwatches, unlike smartphone updates, many were hoping that the Wear 2.0 would be rolled out to supported hardware in a timely manner. Sadly though, it's been almost 2 months since the Google dropped the update and most devices haven't received it still. But that seems to be changing now, as updates have officially started rolling out to some of the supported watches.

As announced on Google's Android Wear support forum, the Fossil Q Founder, Casio Smart Outdoor and TAG Heuer Connected will be the first to receive the Wear 2.0 update. The OTA rollout was supposed to start from March 29th and will finish by April 4th, so we will assume that users will likely start seeing update prompts in the coming days.

As for when the update will be rolled out to other watches, it appears that a bug discovered in the final build of software is holding up the update rollout. Google has talked to Wareable about this issue and has promised that the update will be rolled out to remaining devices as soon as they found the fix.

"We have started rolling out the Android Wear 2.0 update to Fossil Q Founder, Casio Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10 and Tag Heuer Connected. For other devices, the update is currently being delayed due to a bug found in final testing. We will push the update to the remaining devices as soon as the issue is resolved."

Source: Android Wear Support Forum Via: Wareable

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Bypass Restrictions to Netfix, Amazon and Hulu with Getflix Lifetime Subscription

If you live anywhere other than the US, streaming from sites like Hulu and Netflix can be a massive pain. You can go through a VPN but some of them are slow and don't allow streaming video. Getflix is the best way to watch your favorite streaming services that are normally blocked in some countries, and we have a really good deal on a Lifetime Subscription to Getflix from XDA Depot: right now the Getflix: Lifetime Subscription is only $39. That's 96% off.

Instead of rerouting all your internet traffic through a different server, this service only routes the traffic needed so you can still enjoy top internet speeds. Getflix unblocks more than 100 streaming channels around the world so you can watch movies, TV, sports, and more wherever life may take you.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2017

[Finally] Google Home now Defers to Google Assistant for Reminders, Calls, Texts and More

The Google Home has been one of my favorite purchases in recent memory. When support for third-party integrations was announced, I was excited for the possibilities it would bring for power users like myself. While I've been busy tinkering away with getting my own custom voice commands, many regular users of the Google Home have felt frustrated that the home assistant service is unable to perform some fairly basic tasks such as making phone calls, sending text messages, or creating reminders.

What rubs further salt on these wounds is the fact that these basic features are available in the regular Google Assistant that's (now) present on most Android 6.0+ devices. It would be great if you could continue using these features on your smartphone even though they're inaccessible on the Google Home, but yet another frustrating feature of the Google Home is that it hijacked every "OK Google" voice command that you initiate when you're in range. Until now.

On my Google Home, at least, I've noticed that the Google Home will now no longer answer questions that it doesn't support, and instead defer to the Google Assistant on my phone. If I ask it a question like "what is the weather right now" my Google Home will answer, but if I ask it to make a phone call, send a text message, set a reminder, or ask if to do any other command it can't handle (but Assistant can), Google Assistant on my phone will now handle that command.

I am not sure if this feature has rolled out to all Google Home users, but this is certainly a very welcome change. My Google Home is in my bedroom, so when I ask my Google Home to do something chances are my phone is also in range to hear my "OK Google" prompt. Thanks to this change, I now no longer have to worry that I my Google Home triggered alongside Assistant before asking it to make a phone call, text somebody, or add a reminder.

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What Are Your Thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+?

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ have finally been launched. Packing in some impressively-designed hardware with promising software features, the S8 and S8+ will be the phones that every other flagship will be pitched against this year. How OEMs react and what they bring out to compete against Samsung will also determine how well they will do, because the S8 and S8+ have their markets carved out for them already.

So we ask you,

What are your thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+? Which is your favorite aspect of the devices? Do you like the new "seamless" approach to the smartphone? Which aspect of the devices leaves you unimpressed? What would you change in these new phones? Would you ever buy one of these expensive phones?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Galaxy S8 and S8+ Software Rundown — Bixby, DeX and Other Features

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are important devices for Samsung. They feature some of the best hardware capabilities ever produced by the company. But viewing the hardware in isolation from the software takes away from the complete, cohesive and holistic experience that the smartphones aim to provide.

Samsung has put in a lot of effort into the software capabilities on the Galaxy S8's, and we'll briefly touch upon those below. Are they gimmicks? Are they useful and thoughtful additions? We'll let you decide!

UX

The UX on the new Galaxy S8 and S8+ has been centered around the experience originating from the interaction with the Infinity Display. The UX on the device aims to be seamless, enhancing the flow of user interactions.

The Always-On Display on the device will complement the color of the phone. You also get a Home button on the Always-On Display, which complements the actual embedded pressure-sensitive home button below the display. You also get features like multi-window and edge display, so you can look forward to doing more with the large display.

The new UX gives the users options to have the dock expand into the app drawer, building up on the seamless experience. Or, you can always fall back onto the option of having an app drawer icon.

The app icons and typography on the Galaxy S8 also work towards the phones new design language. Samsung is making use of continuous curves and lines to allude depth, while still retaining an overall flat look.

We'll take a more detailed look at the new UX in our review of the Samsung Galaxy S8, so stay tuned.

Bixby

Bixby is Samsung's answer to the slew of virtual assistants coming in from various competitors, and the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are the first devices to preload this smart and contextual assistant and even dedicate a physical button to it.

The focus with Bixby echoes Samsung's new "seamless" mantra on the S8, as it makes interactions with services, apps and even the phone more instinctive and natural. Bixby incorporates and leverages contextual awareness in order to learn the users' habits and respond accordingly.

Bixby offers four main features: Voice, Vision, Reminder and Home.

Bixby Voice is activated by pressing and holding the dedicated hardware button on the side of the S8's, or by saying "Bixby" out loud. Bixby would then allow the user to control the phone with a combination of touch and voice interchangeably. Bixby also utilizes natural language understanding, so it adapts to the speaking style of the user. If an unknown command does appear, it will prompt for more information instead of simply cancelling the command entirely.

Bixby Vision interface relies on what the user is looking at and then taking action accordingly. It allows users to use the Galaxy S8's Camera app to reverse image search what they are seeing on their viewfinder, look for more information like nearby places, shop online and even translate text. All of this is built-in, so there is no need for additional external apps if Bixby is as good as Samsung claims it is.

The service also does reminders, which can be configured on the basis of time or location. Bixby can also be used to set reminders to mark their place on text articles and even videos to allow for resuming later on.

Its dedicated home screen works a lot like Google Now, and can be activated with a single left swipe on the home screen or a short press of the dedicated Bixby button. Home displays a customizable card-like interface, showing information like frequent contacts, missed call info, music controls, as well as pull in information from social media. The highlight of Home is its contextual and adaptive behavior, which learns the information that the user prefers and assigns them higher display priority for the right time of need. You will also be able to interact with cards from apps like Gmail and partners like Uber.

Bixby's Voice feature will support only English and Korean at launch though, with more languages being added soon after. Vision's shopping services will be available in several countries including UK, USA and Korea, and will be expanded to more countries later on.

Samsung DeX

Samsung DeX is an accessory feature of the Samsung Galaxy S8, requiring the Samsung DeX Station to work.

Samsung DeX provides an Android-based desktop-like experience to allow a, wait for it, seamless experience between desktop and smartphone. You can access apps, edit documents, browse the web, watch videos and more using your smartphone's processing and connectivity capabilities but extending them to a larger display, keyboard and mouse.

The desktop environment on DeX is a redesigned Android UI which is optimized for use with a keyboard and mouse. It includes multiple resizable windows, contextual menus and a "desktop version Web browser". Samsung is collaborating with Microsoft and Adobe to enable DeX compatibility with Microsoft Office and Adobe mobile apps, with more features than what's available to phone and tablet users. You can also utilize DeX to access Windows OS-based applications by allowing remote access to virtual desktops through partners like VMware, Citrix and Amazon Web Services.

To start using DeX, simply insert the Samsung S8 or S8+ into the DeX station, and connect the station to an HDMI monitor, and make use of Bluetooth, USB or RF-type keyboard and mouse.

Security

For security, Samsung added a lot of features in areas the mainstream consumer will notice as well as places where they won't.

Since it is a Samsung device, there will of course be the Knox security platform preloaded onto the device, providing strengthened security features for individuals as well as enterprise users.

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ also incorporate an improved iris scanner, and feature the more traditional biometric authenticators like fingerprint scanning and facial recognition.

Samsung Pass is the new feature on the S8 that allows you to register IDs and passwords for websites. You can then use biometric authenticators to verify your identity and log into mobile banking apps and websites on the Samsung Browser.

Miscellaneous

Samsung has also added in features to the S8 and S8+ which are not device specific and either pre-existed, or can be rolled out to more devices.

One of such features is Samsung Connect, which lets users manage and monitor smart devices in their home from one unified app. This puts the Galaxy S8 as the controlling remote for your IoT peripherals.

Samsung Cloud allows users to store data online in a secure manner and view it on other devices.

Bluetooth Dual Audio allows one smartphone to stream audio to two Bluetooth audio devices, allowing for independent control of volume levels.

Of course, there is also the classic Samsung Pay, which is rather unique in its support for MST terminals for physical payments.

There is a lot more to the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ than what the spec sheet denotes on its face. The software is claimed to work seamlessly with the hardware, which should give users one of the best smartphone experiences that they will witness in 2017.

What are your thoughts on the software experience on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+? Let us know in the comments below!

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Intel Claims its Next 10nm Chips Will Be a “Generation Ahead” of Samsung

While the spotlight today is on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, Intel is trying to one-up Samsung in an area where they fiercely compete. Intel's fabrication process has been strong, but 10nm chips have seemingly taken the company longer than expected.

However, Intel claims that its long-delayed 10nm Cannon Lake chips will be a "full generation ahead" of rivals Samsung and TSMC. This jump comes due to the "hyper scaling" in their design, which makes for denser chips able to accommodate for twice as many transistors, yielding CPUs with 25 more percent performance and 45 percent lower power use than what's found on current Kaby Lake designs. While chip traces are the same as their competitor's, the better feature density ultimately produces higher transistor counts and smaller die sizes than Samsung's chips. Intel even claims that this design will help them continue Moore's Law for better increments in performance in future releases.

Samsung and Qualcomm had partnered to bring the 10nm Snapdragon 835 to fruition, a strong alliance that allows them to showcase their design and manufacturing experience. Samsung thus leaped ahead of Intel through its 10nm FinFet process, and at the same time, the company is facing strong competition in the desktop CPU space due to AMD releasing Ryzen, a very competitive package at an affordable price.

Intel is supposedly planning to ride its 10nm chips for three years while keeping up with Moore's Law, until they scale down to 7nm technology. The additional pressure put forth by the partnerships and releases its competition enjoyed in 2017 are certainly applying pressure here, which means Intel is likely to double down on its efforts to produce efficient chip designs, and perhaps even make its products more affordable as well. Either way, all of this competition is certainly benefiting us consumers in both the mobile and desktop/laptop space, so it'll be interesting to see where these companies take our devices' chips in 2017 and beyond.

Via: Engadget

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Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ Finally Launched — Specifications, Pricing and Availability

At long last we are seeing the leak season for the Galaxy comes to an end as Samsung officially launched the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, as their names would imply, are essentially the same phone but in different sizes. Both the devices come in a beautifully-premium body made of glass fronts and backs and a metallic side frame. This is the first Samsung device in a very, very long while that does not come with a hardware home button, too. The removal of the Home button and the other buttons allowed Samsung to go crazy with the phone's screen by minimizing the bezel.

The front of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is dominated by the large Infinity Display, further accentuated by the minimal bezels on the top and bottom, and the edge curve on the sides which effectively nullifies the frames on the side of the display. Samsung has chosen to go with a pure black front this time for its darker variant, reminiscent of the stealth black Note 7, which helps hide the wide array of sensors on the front and blends in much better with the Super AMOLED display when displaying black colors. The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8″ QHD+ (2960×1440) display and the Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2″ QHD+ display, a jump up in size from the 5.1″ display on the S7 and 5.5″ display on the S7 Edge — the key difference being they come in a 18:9 aspect ratio, which actually means they are similar to their predecessors in terms of display width. The S8 measures 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm and weighs 155g, while the S8+ measures 159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm and weighs 173g. Both the devices bear IP68 water and dust resistance.

The lack of Home button on the front led Samsung to move the fingerprint sensor onto the back of the device. But Samsung has oddly positioned the sensor on the right side of the camera module, which does look more awkward than a symmetrical and circular sensor like the ones we see on the Pixels; we'll have to wait to find out how awkward this implementation really is. The left side of the device has the volume rocker and power button, while the right side bears the dedicated button for the Bixby Virtual Assistant. The new phones come with a USB Type-C port, and thankfully, also come with a 3.5mm headphone jack port (it's a sad state of affairs when one has to specifically list this specification).

The insides of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are the same (except for battery size, of course), but there are variations overall depending where you buy your device. The International variant of the S8's will be powered by Samsung's own Exynos 8895 SoC based on 10nm FinFET technology, while the American variant of the S8's will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC based on the same Samsung-fabbed 10nm FinFET technology.

Both variants will also come with 4GB of DDR4 RAM [as we've seen in previous years, the Chinese variant will get it bumped up to 6GB (+128GB storage) as per its TENAA listing, although Samsung did not mention of this during the launch event]. Its UFS 2.1 storage comes in at 64GB internally and microSD expansion for additional storage. Depending on the market, the Galaxy S8's will also sport Dual SIM capabilities.

The camera setup on the Galaxy S8 and S8+ is comprised of a 12MP Dual Pixel sensor with f/1.7. As expected from Samsung's flagship, you also get PDAF and OIS. Video capabilities on the devices include simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image capture, as well as 4K video recording at 60FPS and FHD slow-mo at 120fps. The front setup consists of an 8MP autofocus sensor with f/1.7.

The main difference between the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ resides in their battery capacity. The S8 comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, while the S8+ comes with a larger 3,500 mAh battery. For their display sizes, the batteries do seem about right, but we can understand why Samsung would want to play it safe. Both of these devices come with fast wireless charging as well as regular fast charging capabilities.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with Android 7.0 Nougat below Samsung's own skin. You can read more about its software features in our dedicated coverage.

Pricing and Availability

Pre-orders for the devices will begin at 12:01 EDT on March 30,2017. AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Sprint, Straight Talk Wireless, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless will carry the devices in stores from April 21st. Customers who pre-order will receive a free Gear VR headset with Controller as well as Oculus content.

Variations will persist across other regions for both pricing and availability. We'll add pricing as soon as Samsung reveals them.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will come in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Arctic Silver colors initially.

What are your thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+? Do you look forward to purchasing the device? Let us know in the comments below!

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