How To Edit Videos & Save Recording Sessions In Vine For Android & iOS

When Instagram brought video to its app, quite a lot of users and app reviewers, including myself, were convinced that it had a much more intuitive capture scheme compared to the then leader of the video sharing scene, Vine. Vine had absolutely no room for error. If you made a mistake, you had to redo the whole thing from the very beginning. More than just a few times, I’ve seen users and professional Viners alike complain about the lack of editing features. Well, Vine fans, it seems your voices have finally been heard. In its latest update, the Vine app for Android and iOS delivers both editing features and saving multiple recording sessions for later! The editing features, while not as snappy as those offered by Instagram Video, are definitely more powerful in comparison. Support for uploading videos from the Camera Roll / Gallery is still absent, though. Join us after the break to learn how the two new features work...

Android Tuner Packs A Ton Of System Tweaks To Improve Performance

The best thing about Android is that you can tweak every minute detail of your device to get the most out of it. For instance, you can change the entire user interface, use alternative apps for pretty much everything, and with a rooted device, also remove preinstalled bloatware, make full device backups to internal or cloud storage, and customize every nook and corner of the OS. If you’ve noticed your phone’s performance to be slowing down lately, there are a few apps that let you tinker with various system settings to get it back up to speed. Android Tuner is a prime example of this genre of apps. The app carries a truckload of tools designed to monitor and boost your phone’s performance. It lets you configure different OS-related areas including but not limited to changing CPU speed, cleaning memory, accessing root files, managing Wi-Fi networks and more...

Runtastic Six Pack Abs Workout For Android & iOS Helps You Burn That Belly Flab

In today’s hectic routine and fast paced lifestyle, it can be tough to find some extra time to get in a full workout regime. But that doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your health and wellbeing just because you can’t manage enough time for the gym, pool or a jog each day. There are plenty of mobile apps available now that aim to get you in shape and teach you to work out better, eat smarter and live a healthier life. Runtastic is a pretty popular name when it comes to health and fitness apps, and we already know why after seeing their Runtastic Pro, Timer and Altimeter Pro. The developer has recently added another awesome addition to their fitness apps library called Runtastic Six Pack Abs Workout, which lets you learn various techniques for getting that well-defined six pack you always dreamed of having. Available for both iOS and Android, this app guides you through several curls, crunches, twists, leg lifts and more to help you get the perfect abs...

Google Maps Engine Android App Allows Viewing Custom Maps On The Go

Google Maps gives us the opportunity to explore places we might never get to visit in our lives, but Google wants to let you do even more with Maps than just navigating to your old friend’s new house or exploring exotic Pacific islands. The search engine giant’s Google Maps Engine app for Android is designed to let you view custom maps created by you or users of the service by using map builder API. For the uninitiated, Maps Engine – a service which Google introduced back in 2011 – allows you to plot small spreadsheets of locations, and use styling and drawing options to customize the appearance of the maps to however you please. The mobile app provides a simple way to explore those maps from your phone or tablet.

The interface of Google Maps Engine looks fairly similar to that of the Google Maps app. In fact when launched, the app shows you the regular Google Maps, though you wouldn’t find all the functionality of the former in the new tool. The purpose of this app is to provide users with a way to view their custom maps or those that are created by other users, business and organizations. There is a search bar at the top that allows searching for places using information stored in the custom map’s infrastructure. That said, you can also tap the GPS button to detect your current location...

 

M2AppMonitor Is An Android App Monitoring Tool With Crowdsourced Reports

There are countless solutions out there to help you monitor the state of smartphone system resources, so a tool that does the same for mobile apps makes perfect sense. Say hello to M2AppMonitor for Android, a utility that will tell you absolutely everything you need to know about how an app is using your device’s resources, be it battery, mobile data, memory, CPU, storage space or info such as contacts. It provides crowd-sourced performance and quality reports for apps so you may easily rectify issues such as rapid battery drain and high monthly data usage...

Kronia Browser For Android Offers An Intuitive, Clutter-Less UI For Faster Browsing

Web Browsers are an important part of smartphones. People often rely on the internet for news, entertainment, and social networking tools, and even work is now moving towards the web. Although the stock web browser in Android sets the bar high for internet surfing on the go, there are an umpteen number of third party apps on the Google Play Store that provide a wide spectrum of features, ranging from gesture-based controls to plugin support and whatnot. Kronia Browser is a new entry for Android that aims to make mobile web surfing simple and painless. Its minimalistic interface makes browsing not only intuitive but also fairly fun...

Hands-On With Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware App For Android

Anti-malware applications have long held a place of importance on PCs. Recently, however, mobile operating systems have also seen increased popularity of such apps, mostly because Android has become an even bigger target for a multitude of threats trying to steal sensitive information present within smartphones and tablets. Quite a few big names have already jumped onto the mobile security bandwagon, and the latest to join the fray is Malwarebytes – a well-regarded PC security provider – that recently released Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Android, it’s first mobile security solution...

Microsoft Remote Desktop App For Android & iOS Now Available

Smartphones and tablets nowadays boast striking touch displays, surprising power under the hood and a dazzling array of features. So it’s not surprise that Microsoft has decided to give users a way to control their PCs straight from their mobile devices. The Redmond comany has released its Remote Desktopapp for Android and iOS devices, which allows you to connect to your Windows PC remotely over the same WiFi network, provided you have enabled remote desktop functionality on your desktop . It’s free and doesn’t require you to install any client agent app on your PC to use it. And the procedure to setup the whole thing? Pretty simple. Let’s find out how it works after the jump...

Use Your Android Device To Listen To Emails And News On The Go

Mobile apps are starting to take mobility much more seriously these days, and the latest to exemplify this is Listen to Emails and News for Android. The app is a narrator for your favorite news websites and RSS feeds, and what’s more, you can also add multiple email accounts to its list of channels, allowing you to have the app read your mails out loud while you’re on the move. The app supports automatic grouping of channels by genres or categories such as health, sports, technology etc, like a personalized radio. The app supports intuitive gesture controls for navigation and even offers hands-free control via bluetooth, the proximity sensor and speech recognition. We take a closer look at the app and all that it has to offer, right after the jump!!!

Enable Or Disable Individual Android System Sounds With Ultimate Sound Control

Ultimate Sound Control for Android makes up for what the Android OS otherwise lacks in: sound customization and detailed settings. At times, you have to wait for the appropriate sound to play so that you can adjust its volume with the volume rocker, and even then, you can only tweak it for a group of similar sounds. Maybe I don’t want my phone to sound off when the battery is low, but why should enabling silent mode be the answer? Ultimate Sound Control gives you the option to turn off most sounds used throughout your device, which is otherwise quite a tedious task, only manageable through the editing of system files, where there is always the risk of breaking sounds if you made even the slightest of mistakes. It goes without saying, a novice user wouldn’t even dare venture into these parts of the OS. This app seems to have been built keeping all that in mind, and will run on any rooted Android phone running Android 2.3 and above. Maybe Google could take cue from this and work on making such features native to the Android OS...

Password-Protect WiFi & Data Access On Android With Internet Lock

Mobile devices tend to become a distraction, since all it takes is a browser and an internet connection for the user to wander off deep into cyber-space. At times, your mobile device could incur hefty data charges just because it landed in your child’s hands, and while you may have had mobile data disabled, we all know how Murphy’s Law works. There may also come a time when you just don’t want anyone to connect your device to the internet for whatever reason. XDA-Developers forum member msappzcreated an Android app called Internet (Data/Wifi) Lock soon after he found his prepaid balance exhausted as his kid went through a couple of ads that appeared in some app. However, the app serves purposes that transcend simple child-proofing of the internet connection on your mobile device. We take a look at how the app works right after the jump...

Backup, Sync & Restore Android Data & Settings With Nero BackItUp

There are a number of apps available at Google Play Store that let you create offline and online backups of your files. Offline backups are those created on your device’s internal or external storage, while online backups are saved to the cloud for easy access across devices and safety in case of losing all your data on the device. If you’re looking for an app that offers both these features in a handy little package, Nero BackItUp provides an great solution. Created by the famous Nero AG team known for its suites of disk burning and backup tools, this Android app gives users a lot of flexibility and control when backing up files. You can backup and restore various kinds of data from your device including photos, videos, music, contacts, call logs, text messages and system settings. On top of that, Nero offers 5GB free cloud storage, with paid options available for more storage. Details after the jump....

Install Android Kernels The Easy Way With Universal Kernel Flash

So you’ve rooted your Android device and have been hearing about the benefits of those awesome custom kernels, but are too afraid of manually flashing them yourself using command line tools? Or you flash different kernels often but would prefer to have a more convenient, GUI-based method of installing them right from your device? XDA Recognized Developer frapeti has developed Universal Kernel Flash to take care of all your kernel flashing needs. At the time of writing, Universal Kernel Flash has been confirmed working for the LG Nexus 4 (E960) and a few Samsung Galaxy series devices including the S4 (GT-I9500 & GT-I9595), S III (GT-I9300), Ace 2 (GT-I8160) and S Advance (GT-I9070 & GT-I9070P) running stock as well as custom ROMs based on various versions of Android from Gingerbread to Jelly Bean, and the developer is working on adding support for even more devices. Let’s find out more about this handy little app right after the jump...

Swipe In From The Edge To Switch Between Android Apps With Switchr

Multitasking isn’t a novel concept in mobile operating systems anymore, as pretty much every modern mobile OS including Android, iOS and Windows Phone allows users to run more than one app at the same time, and switch between foreground and background apps on the fly. Although Android has pretty awesome multi-tasking capabilities, its default task switching process requires users to long-press or double-press a button in case of many devices that don’t have a dedicated task switching button or softkey. Even on devices with that key, users have to tap it first and then select the app from the list that appears. Though a great thing about Android is that even a core OS feature like this can be improved or even entirely replaced via third-party apps. A new such tool called Switchr aims to make multitasking more efficient and effective by letting you switch between running apps using a touch gesture, eliminating the need for taps and long presses often needed for the job. All you have to do is swipe from the left or right edge of screen to instantly switch between apps...

Convert Everything Is The Ultimate Unit & Text Converter For Android

Kilometers vs. miles, Sensible (Celsius, of course) vs. Fahrenheit, Dollar vs. Euro – the units we use for the same type of measures vary across geographical regions as well as use cases. Before the age of computers, unit conversion required having to remember the formula (or carry it around in written form) and then performing the calculation manually whenever required. Needless to say, it was a cumbersome process but thanks to digital calculators and later, mobile phones, it has been made as easy as punching in the required quantity and unit, and choosing the desired unit for conversion. There are countless smartphone apps out there for every major platform that can help with that, and most of us probably have one installed already. So, what would make one want to shift to yet another one? Three reasons: the biggest number of supported quantities and units that you’ll ever see in any such app, a killer interface to go with it, and an ease of use level that’s hard to match. With Convert Everything installed, you will not likely have to look for any other unit converter again, ever...

Record & Repeat Touch Events To Automate Tasks On Android With RepetiTouch

Back in July, I covered an open-source desktop application for Windows called MouseController that allows users to record their mouse movements and clicks, and playback the exact same recorded sequence at a later time. If you’re looking for a similar tool for Android devices that lets you record all your taps and swipes, and playback the entire sequence in a similar fashion to automatically perform recurring tasks, give RepetiTouch a shot. It’s a free app that can record any on-screen touch events and replay them whenever you want, as many times as you want. It can come handy to automate certain tasks that require swiping between a few screens, touching a few buttons here and there, or typing stuff using the on-screen keyboard. In addition to adding a huge boost to your productivity when dealing with repetitive tasks, the app can be fun even to just impress your friends. Details about its usage and a few screenshots just after the break. The only catch is that your device has to be rooted in order for RepitiTouch to successfully record and repeat all your on-screen actions...

Open Mic+ Adds Moto X-Like Global Touchless Control For Google Now & Tasker

The Moto X is one the most talked about Android phones in the market, and comes packaged with a bevy of great features in an effort to outpace the competition. Being designed under Google ownership, many consider it to be sort of an unofficial Google Nexus. Among a few keystone features of the device, the ‘always listening’ Google Now voice commands integration that lets it hear and respond to you even while the screen is off is the most impressive one. Using it, you can quickly access different features via Google Now without having to even touch the device for launching Google New itself. While the Moto X is still in limited availability in select regions only, you can replicate some of its coolest features on your existing Android device, thanks to third-party apps. Open Mic+, for instance, is one such app that brings the aforementioned ‘always listening’ feature of Moto X to any Android handset running Jelly Bean...

Edge: Quick Actions Offers Faster, Unified Access To Android Settings & Recent Appss

With the exceptional power of today’s smartphones, you can accomplish many tasks with them that were achievable only on conventional computers just a few years ago. All major mobile operating systems on the market today boast multitasking capabilities of some sort, with Android being known particularly for its full multitasking support. You are not bound to perform one task at a time, and with just a couple of taps, you can quickly switch among the different running apps. But although the native multitasking capability of Android’s latest version is quite effective, apps like Edge: Quick Actions aim to take it to a whole new level. The app is designed to take an intrinsic approach to multitasking, and lets you switch between running apps and access quick controls like Wi-Fi, GPS etc. through a small panel that can be brought up by swiping from the left edge of your screen. Read on to find out how...

Easily Download Different Google Apps Packages On Android With EasyGApps

If you have ever flashed a major ROM such as CyanogenMod, AOKP, Paranoid Android, Slim Bean etc. on your Android device, you’d already know that they don’t include Google apps (Play Store, Maps, Gmail etc.) and that you have to flash a Google Apps package (referred to GApps) in addition to the ROM itself, in order to get the Google part of Android (which is technically not a part of the Android OS itself). The process isn’t exactly difficult, as you simply need to do one more flashing operation from recovery when you’re already there to perform the ROM installation. However, there are various Google Apps packages available out there, including universal ones as well as those custom-built for particular ROMs or their derivatives. Finding the latest version of the right Google Apps package when you need it may not be a hassle, but there’s still no consolidated source that can point you to all of them. Not anymore, thanks to EasyGApps by XDA-Developers Senior Member MBQ_. This Android app serves as a one-stop shop for all your GApps needs, and lets you download official GApps as well as BaNKs, Slim and PA versions from their respective sources without having to search for, remember or bookmark them individually...

Notepad Is An All-In-One Note-Taking Android App With Dropbox Sync

If you’re a student who has to regularly attend lectures, a professional with frequent meetings, or just someone who needs to jot down ideas as they come to your mind, you’d already know the importance of a notepad, be it physical or digital. Smartphones and tablets are fast replacing physical notebooks, offering us countless options for all our note-taking needs. Like other mobile platforms, Google Play Store also has a multitude of note taking apps, including some very popular ones like Evernote and SimpleNote, along with a few you may have never heard of. If you’re looking for a full-featured app in this genre, try Notepad by Colibri. It is fairly powerful at what it does and in addition, comes packaged with many other options that aren’t found in simple (or even some advanced) note-taking tools. Details after the jump...

Snaptee Comes To Android; Lets You Design & Purchase Custom T-Shirts On The Go

There’s a whole variety of web services that let you create and design your own T-Shirts the way you want and then have them shipped to your doorstep. Though what if you want to create your T-shirts on the go from the convenience of your smartphone or tablet? Back in May, we covered Snaptee for iOSthat lets you do just that from your iPhone, and the service has now made its way to Android as well. Snaptee for Android lets you create awesome tees by sprucing them up with photos, text, quotes or even Instagram pictures without having to sit down in front of a PC for the purpose. The service even lets you sell your design to others and earn a 10% commission on every order sold, without having to spend a dime. The app’s integrated editor works great for creating different types of text and image-bassed designs...

YouTube Founders’ Social Video Sharing App MixBit Comes To Android

Just when you think there’s no scope for yet another social media service, yet another one comes in. While the social video clip sharing has seen its fair share of success with Instagram and Vine, it seems nobody has figured out how to do it right. Back in August, YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen launched their own video sharing app dubbed MixBit for iOS, and today marks the expansion of the service to Android as well. On its basic level, MixBit enables you to shoot and combine multiple 16-second video clips, edit them and publish them as one large video project on Facebook, Twitter and MixBit’s own social space. You can also add hashtags to your videos to make them easier to find and sort by others...

Shooting videos couldn’t be easier than MixBit, as you can start it right away by tapping the top-right ‘Start here’ button from the home screen. You can shoot in both landscape and portrait modes, though the former provides higher quality. After positioning your device, tap and hold on the screen and MixBit will begin recording; let your finger go off the screen, and the shooting will automatically stop. What makes MixBit different from Vine and Instagram is its ability to combine up to 256 different clips (each up to 16 seconds long) to get over an hour of combined footage in one video project.

  

Espier Brings A Perfect iOS 7 Control Center Clone To Android

Espier Studios is known for apps that bring a near-perfect iOS look to Android, just like its new Espier Launcher & Screen Locker iOS7 as well as the Espier Notification Center iOS7 that we recently covered. With these three, you get a near-perfect iOS 7 look and feel on your Android, with the only thing missing being the Control Center. The brand new Control Center in iOS 7 has received a lot of critical acclaim, and is being considered by many as one of the best features of the update. For those who want to stick with Android but still get the looks and some features of iOS 7, we covered the first Control Center clone for Android when it was released, but the app has since been taken down from Play Store. Besides, not being by Espier Studios, it didn’t integrate well into the other aforementioned apps. Espier Control Center iOS7, on the other hand, replicates the iOS 7 Control Center perfectly on Android, all while fully integrating with Espier’s other apps to provide you a complete iOS 7 experience on your phone...

FindIt Offers Unified Search For Gmail, Google Drive & Dropbox On Android & iOS

FindIt, first released for iOS a couple of months back, has now been rolled out to the Android platform as well. As the name itself suggests, the app lets you universally search for all your data in famous cloud services, such as Gmail, Google Drive and Dropbox. While services like Gmail and Google Drive do offer their own search functions, FindIt will allow you to easily sift through all three services from one screen. We take a closer look at the app, right after the jump...

Get Samsung Galaxy S4 & Note 3 Lock Screen On Your Android Phone

Galaxy S4 is a fantastic device and by far the best phone Samsung has ever produced. The same can be said about the Galaxy Note 3, another high-end flagship from the South Korean electronics maker that’s quite similar in specs to the S4 but larger in size. Both devices are simply amazing and ship with the latest Touchwiz UI, a skinned Android version that contains a custom Lens Flare lock screen, among other great features. Last month, we reviewed the ported version of the original Galaxy S4 TouchWiz 5 launcher that works on all devices running Android 4.1 or later and today, we bring you the Galaxy S4 Lockscreen. The app is heavily inspired from the default lock screen of TouchWiz 5, and has been made shared with us by XDA-Developers Senior member -Aatif- . The app retains all the typical features found in Galaxy S4′s lock screen, as well as a few additional customization options. Read on for more details...

Get iOS 7 Notification Center On Android With This Espier App

The iOS 7 redesign has been controversial, to say the least, with many panning it for its Hello Kitty-esque color scheme, while others praising it for letting go of skeuomorphism in favor of a flat layout. Although I’ll personally take the sleek and futuristic looks over iOS’ tacky interface any day, there are some Android users out there who just want their devices to look like they are running Apple’s OS, and testimony to this is the popularity of apps by Espier Studio – a developer obsessed with replicating the look and feel of iOS features for Google’s smartphone platform. We have previously covered Espier Launcher iOS7 and Espier Screen Locker iOS7 that bring the home screen and lock screen of iOS 7 to Android, and today, we’ll be taking a look at Espier Notification iOS7, which replaces the stock Android Status bar and Notification shade with the status bar from iOS 7, complete with its Notification Center.

Just like Espier Screen Locker iOS7, Espier Notification iOS7 is a plugin for Espier Launcher iOS7, and requires the launcher installed in order to function. Once you have the launcher installed (along with any of its other plugins), simply install Espier Notification iOS7 from the links provided at the end of this post, go to Espier Hub, select Plugins for Launcher and enable it. Next, tap ‘Espier Notification iOS7 Settings’, followed by ‘Notification service’ on the next screen and then enable the Espier Notification iOS7 accessibility service from the settings screen that shows up next. From the plugin’s settings, you can also configure several of its parameters such as having a clear status bar on the home screen, showing battery percentage on the status bar, modifying the displayed operator name, enabling the iOS Notification Center via the iOS-style Notif. Page option, selecting widgets for the Notification Center, and selecting the apps for which notifications should be shown in Notification Center...

  

Location Reminder For Android Sends Custom Alerts To Anyone When You’re At A Certain Place

Today’s smartphones are capable of handling all kinds of work and personal tasks, from editing, reading and composing emails to managing files and to-do lists, and editing documents. All the tools you need are available in the form of various mobile apps, with hundreds of thousands of them available on Google Play Store for the Android platform. However, due to the huge number of choices available, finding the right app for a task at the right time can be a rather difficult choice for many. So when I came across Location Reminder – a new app that reminds you of certain tasks when you reach specified locations – I knew it will be a big time-saver for people with weak memories. Developed by Droid Mate – the team behind Shady Contacts - this app is designed to let you easily manage all your location-based tasks. Details after the jump....

While its name obviously brings to mind simple task lists and ticking off to-do’s type of usage, the app is quite innovative; it allows you to set up reminders for different tasks that you want to complete at certain locations. For instance, using this app, you can set a reminder to meet your friend when you’re near their home, or change your vehicle’s motor oil when you’re near the workshop. Location Reminder uses Google Maps API and let you select any location on the map, linking it to a certain task. When you’re within the chosen vicinity on the map, the alert automatically ticks off.

 

SolCalendar Is A Gorgeous & Comprehensive Calendar App For Android

Calendar apps are a dime  dozen for all mobile platforms, though most users don’t bother going for third-party alternatives, as every smartphone OS ships with a calendar app of its own, and usually this stock offering suffices for the average user. Android has two native stock calendar apps on offer one for generic calendars and the other specifically for Google Calendar, just the way it has separate Email and Gmail apps. Both these work just fine, though at times, one comes across a third-party Calendar that stands out due to its interface or feature set. SolCalendar is one such exception that excels in both these departments, and its support for Google Calendar, Yahoo! Calendar and pretty much any calendar service supporting the CalDAV standard, beautiful UI, handy gestures, great widgets, integrated weather reports and event stickers makes it one of the best calendar apps we’ve seen so far. Read on for our detailed review and screenshot tour...

Upon first launch, SolCalendar shows you a few tips on making the best of its features. Just go through them, and choose weather or not to grant the app access to your location for showing you the weather forecast for each calendar day.

 

Easily Capture Screencasts On Android With SCR Screen Recorder

Android has had a bunch of screencasting tools available for it on Play Store, including ScreenCast & Recorder that we covered a while back. Though having more options never hurts, especially if they are feature-rich and add something to the mix not offered by the ones already available. Brought to us by XDA-Developers Member iwobanas, SCR Screen Recorder is full-featured screencast recording app for Android that works on all devices running 4.0 ICS or later, including 4.3 Jelly Bean. Support for Tegra devices, high-speed recording on devices that have adequately fast hardware, and an extremely minimal UI that just works without getting in your way while recording make it a great option for anyone looking to record their on-screen activity on Android. Like all other screencast tools, the app requires root access to work. Read on for further details...

Call Popout Shows Floating Popups For Calls Within Select Android Apps

Remember CallHeads – the nifty Android app that basically allows you to get incoming calls in form of Facebook’s Chat Heads-style bubbles? The app was pretty handy for deciding what to do with incoming calls without having your entire screen taken over by the default phone interface. If you liked CallHeads, you’re gonna love Call Popout by Root Uninstaller. Although it looks and functions similarly to the former, it come with some extra handy features not available in CallHeads, such as the ability to customize the head’s border color, and enable the feature for only a selected number of apps in case you want to receive calls the usual way when using other apps...

Get Paranoid Android’s Pie Controls On Any Froyo Or Later Device

With its innovative features such as per-app DPI settings, different UI modes for all devices, the PIE navigation system and the HALO notification system, Paranoid Android has established itself among the top custom ROMs available for Android devices. Though the ROM itself isn’t available for all devices, and besides, not everyone wants to install a whole ROM to get these features, and that’s why we’ve seen efforts by app developers such as Portal for HALO-style notifications and LMT Launcher for PIE-like controls to bring some of these features to devices running any stock or custom ROM. However, many of these efforts required you to be running a recent version of Android, such as ICS or later. If you are still stuck on Android 2.2 Froyo or Android 2.3 Gingerbread and want PIE-like controls on your device, you’re in luck – Pie Control lets you do exactly that, as long as your device is rooted...

When launched, the app will ask you for root permissions and once you grant those, you’ll be able to start using it right away; simply slide your finger from the right of left edge of the screen, and PIE-like navigation controls will show up. What’s more, not lifting your finger and instead hovering it over any of the three control will replace the other two controls with different ones in order to keep several options quickly accessible to you. The available options include Home, Menu and Back at the base level, Volume Up and Volume Down when Home is selected, Play Store and Search when Menu is selected, and Settings and Power when Back is selected.

 

LG G2 Emulator: Take A Tour Of LG’s Latest Flagship Phone On Your Android Device

They say a picture is worth thousand words, but with technology on our side, there is no better way to convey your message than letting others interact with the picture itself. LG, the South Korean electronic company popular in the smartphone industry for bringing us the Nexus 4, has released a new Android app at Google Play Store that lets you play with some new powerful features of its latest flagship, the G2.LG G2 Emulator aims to be the definitive guide for those eyeing the new device, and cleverly conveys various software aspects of company’s new phone by emulating them right on your current phone! You can experience how the six key features of LG G2 work, and also participate in the LG G2 lucky draw event by going through all the 6 features in the form of an interactive game. Details after the jump...

The emulator gives you a guided tour of 6 flagship features of the device that include KnockON, Guest Mode, Slide Aside, QuickMemo, Capture Plus and Clip Tray. Not only can you read information related to each and view some promotional and tutorial videos, but also interact with the feature itself. What’s more, LG is running a competition until September 30th that will put you in the draw to win one of 30 LG G2 phones, or one of 500 $25 Google Play Gift Cards. The competition is open worldwide.

 

Unofficial iMessage App For Android Available For Download, But With Security Risks

The inherent flexibility of Google’s mobile OS is one of the major factors that makes it so attractive to its users, and it is this very quality that makes it possible for Android users to get the features, look and feel of other platforms with nothing but a few taps. While certain Android fans might smirk at the idea of porting features over from rival platforms – iOS, in particular – others will welcome such alternatives as long as they add a significant value over stock provisions. Case in point: iMessage. Why would anyone want to use iMessage on Android, you ask? It is likely that you have at least one or two good friends, if not many more, who own iPhones. iMessage will enable you to converse with them for free over the internet without them having to install any additional IM apps and vice versa. iMessage Chat for Android makes this possible. However, for now, there to be talk of suspicious behavior and security risks surrounding the app. Read on past the break for details...

Condi Is A Free Yet Robust Task Automation Alternative To Tasker For Android

When it comes to task automation on Android, Tasker has come up as the ultimate tool. The app can automate everything you can think of, and pushes the limits of the phone to a new horizon. For those unfamiliar with it, Tasker is basically a rule-based application that lets you create different task profiles in order to execute certain actions automatically when triggered by certain events, with no input required from your side. Tasks can range from anything between toggling various sensors and radios (Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth etc.), controlling music playback, and a ton of additional choices. Though Tasker is only available for a price on Play Store, and has no free variant, and the other few alternatives that are available for free just don’t cut it when it comes to the features. Mini Tasker (now named Condi) aims to redefine the rules by offering powerful task automation free for everyone. It’s a versatile app designed to take care of all your task automation needs. If you’ve ever used Tasker, you will immediately feel at home with Mini Tasker. The app monitors your phone for contexts and performs tasks based on them. Your desired tasks can be accomplished via creating profiles – a combination of Conditions and Actions. As of this writing, the app lets you execute the following actions:..

Set Custom Brightness & Screen Timeout For Individual Android Apps With Screen Controls

Android’s appeal lies in its wide array of customization options. The platform gives full flexibility and control to the users by letting them swap out or customize almost everything – ranging from the home screen, app drawer and lock screen to the notification shade or keyboard. Although rooting your device may be the best way to customize it, you can easily customize quite a few aspects of the OS simply by installing certain Android apps from the Google Play Store. One such app that I found to be extremely handy is Screen Controls, which allows you to set a custom brightness level and screen timeout for each app installed on your device. The app is reminiscent of IntelliScreen, though the latter only allowed customizing per-app screen timeout. Screen Controls’ adds selective brightness control to the mix, which can prove to be extremely useful for dimming out certain apps that have particularly bright UIs. Details after the jump...

While most users might not find the need for per-app brightness and timeout control, there are always those in the Android user-base who wish to go the extra mile. The main screen of Screen Controls carries three tabs; All Apps, Favorites and Running apps – all of which are pretty much self-explanatory. If you’re looking for a particular app, simply enter its name into the search field below the line of tabs.

 

Popular Physical Activity Tracking App ‘Moves’ Comes To Android

When I used Moves on my pal’s iPhone back when it first came out, the app totally blew me away. The activity tracking app sits in the background and learns your daily routine, such as where you go, how far did you walk, sprint or cycle and presents your movements as a simple timeline for later study and analysis, turning your smartphone into a pedometer using a combination of built-in sensors. ProtoGeo, the dev-team behind Moves, have now brought the acclaimed app to Android devices running 4.0 and above, and just like it’s iOS variant, Moves is completely free to use, sporting a flat UI, which looks absolutely gorgeous. Those who can’t help sitting on their couch all day and are looking to get back in shape are surely going to like it...

Quickoffice For Android & iOS Goes Free; Offers 10GB Of Extra Google Drive Storage

Smartphones these days can handle so much more than making phone calls. If you often feel the need to view or edit Microsoft Office documents on the go, then today brings exciting news; Google is now offering its cloud-based Quickoffice app for iOS and Android – which was previously being sold for $14.99 at both the App Store and Play Store – completely free of cost. The app enables you to access Office documents straight from your mobile device, and allows editing Word files, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations, as well as uploading these files to your Google Drive account...

Now SMS Is An Android Text Messaging App With A Google-Now Like UI

Messaging apps are among the most popular and fastest growing applications genres on Android and iOS. Even though free mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp, Kik or Viber have been getting more consumer attention lately (and incessantly eating away at mobile carriers’ SMS revenues), SMS clients such as Go SMS Pro still haven’t faded entirely into the background. Now SMS is a brand new text messaging app for Android that features Google+ and Google Now-like aesthetics with Android’s Holo interface. The app allows you to send and read your SMS and MMS messages, and comes packaged with loads of additional features and options. Screenshots, usage details and more right after the jump.

Now SMS carries all basic features that you’d expect from an app of this type, along with many advanced features that are usually offered by third-party apps only. It sports a slick UI with fancy animations that are found in Google+ and Google Now. The message list comprises of contact picture, names, time stamp, and a message excerpt. The interface also carries ‘New Message’ and ‘Mark All As Read’ buttons at the top-right for instant access. It also displays total message counter beside each message thread, while all the unread messages in the list are automatically highlighted as bold...

 

Get Free, Unlimited Internet Tethering On Verizon Or AT&T Moto X

The Moto X is undoubtedly one of the hottest smartphones on the market right now, and despite efforts by Motorola and mobile carriers to lock it down, it has been rooted by the ever-talented Android hacker Justin Case. Another restriction that many carriers put upon smartphones these days is an extra charge for data tethering, even if you are already paying for an unlimited data plan. This is seen by many as an unfair practice, since it should be up to the user to decide how they want to use the data that they have paid for. That’s why we always see efforts by the third-party Android community members to override these tethering restrictions, enabling users to tether their data to their computers without having to worry about paying an extra charge for that. If you have a Moto X on Verizon or AT&T and have rooted the device, you can also enjoy free, unlimited data tethering on your phone right away, thanks to XDA-Developers Senior Member amoamare. For more information and the complete guide, read on after the jump...

SolMail Is An Android Email App With Classy UI, Multiple Accounts & More

A lot of us have more than just one email account configured on our phone. On Android, you have both the Gmail app and the Email app built to handle all IMAP and POP3 email services, which should do fine for most of us. However, the Email app doesn’t really get close to Gmail when it comes to the immensely intuitive user experience offered by the latter. Enter SolMail – the all-in-one mail app that gets the job done using the same overall interface, design language and gestures as the Gmail app! The app makes use of colors to differentiate your accounts from each other if you happen to view emails from all your accounts on one page. With many more settings and functions to tinker with, read on after the jump to see what the app has to offer...

  

Autodesk Brings Its 3D Modelling App FormIt To Android

Gone are the days when architecture apps were only available on PCs and the software alone could cost you a fortune. Now, there are many free mobile apps that let you make your very own 3D models and objects, and access them from anywhere you want, thanks to the connected world of mobile devices and cloud computing. We reviewed Autodesk FormIt for iOS last year, and the company has recently brought the app to Android as well. I must acknowledge that despite rarely finding myself drawing 3D objects,Autodesk FormIt for Android left me fairly impressed. FormIt boasts a truckload of features, and they all work as advertised. It’s designed to help you model buildings, draw different types of objects, and view them in 3D right on your smartphone or tablet. More to follow after the jump...

Safe In Cloud Is A PC & Android Password Manager That Uses Your Cloud Storage For Syncing

When it comes to password managers, LastPass pretty much seals the deal for most of us. That said, there are several other choices that keep popping up on the scene. One of them that I recently came across is Safe In Cloud for Windows and Android. The interesting bit about Safe In Cloud is that, unlike LastPass, it synchronizes your passwords to your own cloud storage and supports Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive and Box.net. The application has a really clean interface, and does a wonderful job of safely storing passwords, notes, credit card numbers, email accounts and more. It keeps your all passwords in an encrypted database shielded by 256-bit AES encryption, making it quite safe and secure. What’s more, it can also import and export data between other password managers, and sports full browser integration with Firefox and Chrome...

Disable Android Startup Items To Save Boot Time With BootManager

Android has made leaps and bounds in terms of progress since its advent, but it can still leave even the latest hardware feeling old at times. Just like with Windows, startup times and the task switching experience can deteriorate over time if your device has tons of apps installed on it. This is because of how many apps run automatically when you boot the device, and if you’re using a device with RAM less than 1GB and a single core processor, you can actually end up grinding your teeth at the dismal speed. However, as I said, Android has made leaps and bounds, and this extends to developer support as well, who seem to come up with a solution to every problem. Enter BootManager – an Xposed framework module that gives you control over every app that is set to auto-start upon boot by the OS. BootManager is a breeze to use even for the most novice of Android users, and all it requires is a rooted device with the Xposed framework installed. More on BootManager and how to use it, after the jump...

SAO Launcher Lets You Access Apps & Messaging From Anywhere In Android With A Gesture

There are a bunch of great launcher apps available for Android at Google Play Store to give your handset a fresh new look. These allow you to revamp the interface of your device by adding new usability and cosmetic elements. The latest to join the party is SAO Launcher by XDA-Developers Senior Member Xlythe. SAO, short for Sword Art Online, is built upon an interesting new concept and aims to make navigation between your different apps and settings easier and quicker. Rather than replacing your existing home screen, SAO acts as a sidekick to your default launcher and provides the supported functionality in conjunction with it. In other words, you won’t have to compromise on the features and options offered by your current favorite launcher, as you can use both simultaneously. Details regarding its interface, usage and installation right after the jump...

OSkin Is A Brilliant Platform For Saving & Sharing Your Android Home Screen Setup

The world of Android is full of customization options and we have seen some brilliant launcher apps for home screen replacement on the platform, including the recently reviewed Aviate that totally amazed us. Though once you have customized your phone’s home screen to your liking with the launcher, wallpaper and widgets of your choice, there’s no easy way of saving that complete setup for quickly and easily getting it back later, or sharing it with others. Created by the dev behind OBackup, OSkin is a rather ambitious project that aims to change all that, though it’s currently in beta and you’ll need to have a Google+ profile in order to take it on a spin. So let’s find out more about this interesting app after the break...

The application is currently in beta and in order to install it, you’ll have to join this Google+ community, then visit this link to sign up as a beta tester, and finally head over to the app’s Play Store link (provided at the end of this post) and install it from there. Upon first launch, it will ask you for root access. Simply grant it the appropriate permissions and you’ll land on its home page.

 

Idea Cellular Reduces 2G data tariff by 90% across all circles, 3G data tariffs now at par with 2G

Idea Cellular has announced revision of its 2G and 3G data tariffs across the country. Idea has reduced 2G data tariff by up to 90% across all 22 circles, enabling users to avail 2G data at 2 paise/10 KB...

How To Stream Songs To Any UPnP/DLNA Receiver Device From Google Music

Ever since Google revealed its $35 Chromecast dongle that lets users stream content from Netflix, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV, and YouTube to their TV by simply plugging their device into it, many third-party developers have taken on the task of making it possible to stream content from many more sources to it. That said, some developers have also looked into hacking the Chromecast software support in the aforementioned apps to make them stream their media to devices other than the Chromecast itself. Cast To UPnP/DLNA for GMusic is one such free app that lets you stream music from Google Play Music to any UPnP/DLNA device by simply using its Chromecast streaming feature.

When you launch the app upon installation, it gives you basic instructions on how to use it, along with a ‘Show me’ link that presents you with screenshots for the process. Though using the app couldn’t get any simpler. Just make sure it’s running (indicated by its persistent notification), and launch Google Play Music. Note that you don’t even have to launch Play Music on the same device as Cast To UPnP/DLNA; it can be on any device, as long as both Android devices are on the same Wi-Fi network...

 

Shifu For Android Tracks You & Intelligently Suggests Relevant Tasks

The most productive people and groups always keep track of their due tasks in order to complete them efficiently and in time. In this digital age, we are fortunate enough to have many options for desktop, web and mobile platforms that can assist us with our task lists. Using task management apps, you can easily organize your tasks, access your to-do lists, and keep track of your daily productivity. Shifu: To Do & Task Manager for Android might sound like just another app in this genre, but it adds some creativity to the mix. It acts as your sidekick and tries its best to remind you of your most important tasks that you’ve set it to monitor. Unlike many other task managers where you simply put a reminder and get notified later on, Shifu is context-based and automated, making it much more intelligent...

 

Material For iOS & Android Shows Latest News Based On Your Social Media Activities

Many apps available for smartphones claim to have enough intelligence to sniff out a user’ preferences from different sources, and then come up with content that is bound to be of interest. Quite recently, we covered an app named rabt for iOS, which creates a video collection based on your feedback. Other similar apps learn from your reading habits over time, and then there are a few like News.me that show posts depending upon your activity on different social networks. Material is not very different from News.me, but in our experience, the app looks much neater. Also, Material is great at arranging posts into a variety of topics, and discovers your interests with great precision, too. The fact that the app is available on both iOS and Android simply adds to its overall appeal...

  

Repix Brings Its Awesome Photo Editor & Brush Filters To Android

Google Play Store is full of photo editing apps, some of which are quite pricey, while the others are totally free. Repix is the new kid on the block that aims to outpace the competition by bringing something different to the table. We covered the app back in March when it was first released for iOS and as soon as the Android variant was released, we couldn’t wait to give it a go and see how it fares against its iOS counterpart. Suffice to say, we weren’t disappointed in anyway. The app features some really innovative brushes that let you transform your photos into classic masterpieces without a lot of effort. Details to be followed after the jump...

Track & Monitor Your Everyday Habits On iOS & Android With Chronos

Most of us have had moments when we just stop to think about what we’re doing with our lives, and often, that triggers a thought process that takes us way down memory lane, and also analyze whether we are spending the right amount of time doing the right activities that actually contribute to our goals, or just wasting our time in distractions that we might end up regretting later. However, it isn’t always easy to keep track of everything that we’re doing, and the forgetful ones among us (like me) can definitely use assistance in this regard. One way is to keep a journal of your activities, but that in itself requires time and effort. So, how about a solution that requires zero effort from you, and keeps track of your day-to-day activities in order to present you with that information in an actually useful manner? Enter Chronos – a web service that uses its iOS and Android apps to monitor your routine in order to give you insights on how you are spending your time. In addition, it also aims to help you with your goals and adopting a healthy lifestyle by showing you relevant alerts. More details after the jump...

The Android version of Chronos serves as a mere data collector, with no interface of its own. Upon installation, you’ll be asked to connect with your Facebook or Google account in order to access your collected data on the web. Once signed in, there’s nothing you can do in the app apart from just letting it run in background and collect data, which you can then view at the Chronos website.

 

Turn Any Image Into An Interactive, Wobbling Live Wallpaper On Android Using AndWobble

Getting bored of how your original photos look? How about adding some fun factor to them?AndWobble is a free and highly entertaining Android app that you can use to play around with photographs on your mobile device by adding interactive wobbling effects. On the basic level, wobbling lets you select any area of an image and then set it to move in a certain direction by tapping over it, which causes the selected portion to bounce randomly. You can play with effects by tapping, dragging or pinching over the wobble area, or by simply shaking the device. AndWobble even allows you to set these wobbling image as a live wallpaper. Not only can you pick your own images and add wobbling effects, but also choose from a number of user-generated content available in AndWobble’s online library...

The app sports a really simple design. The main screen is an amalgam of interactive tiles that gives you access to different sections of the app such as images, settings, downloads, tutorials etc. You can also take picture and add wobbles instantly without having to leave the interface via tapping Camera. When you open an image, you’re provided with an editing workspace where you can work with your wobbles in layers. Wobbles can be added or removed on the fly, and you can control them in a number of ways, such as rescaling their size, and tweaking the direction they should move in when tapped. The canvas carrying the current image can also be resized via pinch gestures. And you can always revert your last change by using Undo button at the top.