Razer Comms For Android Is A Text & Voice Chat Companion For Gamers

Razer is a well-regarded brand in the world of video gaming accessories. Known for its high-end gaming peripherals targeted at PC and console gamers, the US firm has been in the business for quite some time now, and primarily manufactures keyboards, headphones, game controllers etc. A few days ago, Razer released Razer Comms – Gaming Messenger on Android, which brings its gaming-oriented VoIP service – which was previously only available on Windows – to Google’s mobile platform. The app, which allows users to stay connected to their Razer Comms friends even when they are in the middle of their multiplayer gaming session, is basically an extension to the Windows desktop client, and not just a standalone app. What’s good about it is that instead of having to flipping windows back and forth on your computer, you can simply use the mobile app as an easier solution to communicate with your gaming pals whether you’re playing games or not. Read on for more details...

How To Bring Back App Ops To Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Recently, Google started rolling out the Android 4.4.2 update to Nexus and Google Play Edition devices, and along with fixing a few issues with KitKat, this update seems to have altogether removed the hiddenApp Ops feature introduced in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. For those unfamiliar, App Ops was basically a settings activity that wasn’t directly accessible via the stock Settings app but could be brought up using other methods and third-party apps, and it allowed users to change permissions of all the installed apps individually, enabling them to grant them some permissions while deny them others. Despite Google’s reasons that it was an experimental feature without any aim for release due to issues caused when apps lose certain permissions that they require to function, its removal was received with a lot of criticism, as it provided power users who knew what they were doing the flexibility of choosing the permissions their apps get, while not being accessible by novices in the first place. If you have a rooted Android 4.4.2 device and want to get the feature back, App Ops for Root takes care of it for you. In addition, the app also lets you easily launch the feature on Android 4.3 till 4.4.2...

Tweedle Is A Full-Featured, Customizable Twitter Client For Android

The default Twitter app on Android is good enough to keep you hooked to the micro-blogging platform, but in terms of customization options and certain advanced features, it still leaves us craving for more. If you want a Twitter app that can be easily customized in different ways, yet also remains simple, functional and user-friendly, try Tweedle. It’s is a free, full-featured Twitter client for Android that makes tweeting much more fun on a mobile device. It’s light enough to run smoothly even on older Android phones and tablets, and despite that, comes packaged with all the Twitter functionality you could want...

Access & Stream Computer Files & Media On Android With AirStream

These days, one can easily access files stored on their computer on the go straight from a mobile device, thanks to high-speed internet connections and a bunch of apps and services out there that make it possible. Just a few weeks ago, I covered OnAir Player that lets you access and play media files stored on your PC from your iOS or Android device. However, if you want more flexibility and control, along with full access to all your files rather than just music, photos and videos, you should check out AirStream. It is the duo of an Android app and a desktop server app that gives you full remote access to your Windows, Mac or Linux computer from your phone or tablet, either via your local Wi-Fi network, or over the internet...

AirPlay Mirroring & Screen Recorder For Android 4.4.2

Just yesterday, we wrote about CyanogenMod Screencast by Koush that allowed users of the most popular custom ROM for Android to easily record their on-screen activity in high quality, complete with sound from the phone’s microphone. The only limitation of the app was that it required the latest nightly of CyanogenMod to work, leaving users of other ROMs and stock Android out of luck. Don’t fret though; the same developer has also released another app by the name of Mirror that carries the same great screencasting functionality, and in addition, also supports mirroring your phone or tablet’s display to Apple TV or any third-party AirPlay Mirroring implementation. While not restricted to CyanogenMod, the app still requires a rooted device running Android 4.4.2, but the developer is working on adding support for Jelly Bean, and removing the root requirement...

Get A Floating Button Or Notification To Turn Screen Off On Android

With smartphones these days, it’s either go big or go home. While big screens have their advantages, they aren’t without some shortcomings either. Those of you using HTC One would be aware about the inconvenient placement of the device’s power button. Where manufacturers like Samsung keep the power button on the side for easy access, HTC places it at the top end of the chassis, making it fairly cumbersome, non-intuitive and painstaking for the end users to reach it when using the phone with one hand. This is where Turn Off Screen comes to the rescue. It lets you turn the screen off without using a hardware button, via an always-on-top floating button, the notification shade, or a home screen widget...

Record Your Android Screen In CM11 With CyanogenMod Screencast

While Google added native screen recording support in Android 4.4 KitKat, the feature didn’t come with any native user interface to trigger it from the phone itself; it could only be triggered by users over ADB from a computer, or by developers in their apps. The ability to record a screencast of the activity on our devices can prove to be very useful, especially when preparing tutorials and presentations or writing reviews. CyanogenMod has always been about making the most useful features a part of the custom ROM’s experience, and with the CyanogenMod 11 nightlies, that includes the ability to record your device’s on-screen activity, thanks to CyanogenMod Screencast app by Koush (the developer of the famous ClockworkMod recovery). Currently in beta, the app requires the latest CyanogenMod nightly ROM to work, but works wonderfully without a glitch. In addition to recording just the screencast, it also records voice using your device’s microphone...

Cover Is An Intelligent Android Lock Screen With Quick Access To Apps Based On Context

From fancy looking themes to the most minimalistic ones, and even lookalikes of Galaxy S4 and iOS 7, Android gives us countless ways to customize your device’s lockscreen. Today, we’re going to take a look at a way to totally revamp the Android lock screen using a new app called Cover. With a few neat tricks under its belt, Cover is all about presenting you with ‘The right apps at the right time’, in a way similar to the amazingly intelligent Aviate launcher. In other words, it basically learns about the apps you use and when you use them most, and automatically brings them up when they are most likely to be useful to you. You can then immediately peek at the app or even open it via swiping in from its icon. Despite currently being in beta, it works well and has an impressive interface, boasting some really great wallpapers that change based on the time and context...

Instagram Brings Direct & Group Photo Sharing To iOS & Android

Editing and applying filters to photos might be the more eye-catching part of Instagram, but the service’s main purpose is sharing media socially. While Instagram is great for publicly posting your photos, it has never been famous as a personal social network. Lack of privacy controls and an overly simplistic news feed has made it difficult for users to create posts for a targeted audiences. Other social networks differ from Instagram in this regard, as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ all have some form of personal messaging. Until now, it was not possible to make private posts aimed at your Instagram friends, but this longstanding issue has finally been resolved. Thanks to the Instagram ‘Direct’ mode, users can post photos that are visible only to some handpicked people. These Direct posts come complete with their ‘seen’ receipts, and an elaborate commenting system...

  

Locate, Ring, Wipe or Erase One Android Device From Another With ADM

Have you ever been mugged or accidentally lost an Android device? Like everyone else, Google also knows that the smartphones and tablets can easily be snatched by people who shouldn’t be allowed to roam free on the streets, or simply slip out of your pocket or bag while at bars, parties, cabs or even just walking down the street. To address this, the search engine giant introduced its Android Device Managerfeature online that allowed users to remotely locate, ring, lock or even wipe their lost or stolen Android device from a web browser. To compliment the service, Google has now released a new app calledAndroid Device Manager that lets you do the same from Android. This can prove to be very handy if you still have another Android device such as your tablet handy after you’ve lost your phone (or the other way round). At its core, the app does most of the things that Apple’s Find My iPhone service does, but for Android...

How To Set A Vacation Responder In Gmail For Android

What do technology and vacations have in common? Being awesome, of course! Though not many like the idea of mingling the two together, because if your line of work involves dealing with tech throughout the year, the last thing you want is having to deal with it while you’re supposed to be taking a break. But that doesn’t mean we can’t put it to good use while we’re away, does it? That’s where automation comes in. Email autoresponders have been around for quite a while, helping us set up an automatic response to be sent out to the emails we receive while we are away from work. While Gmail has had this feature for quite a while in the web app, at times you only realize after leaving that you forgot to set one up, and the only device you have by then is your smartphone. To address this, Google has added the ability to add a vacation responder to the latest update of its Gmail app for Android. Let’s find out how it works...

dodol Launcher For Android Impresses With Gorgeous Themes & Extensive Customization Options

Sure, apps like Themer and Buzz Launcher have given us a great way to customize the Android home screen with a single tap, but when I used dodol Launcher, boy was I impressed! It’s a functional, beautiful, intuitive and at the same time, one of the most feature-rich Android launchers out there. It also carries a bevy of splendid looking themes, allowing you to swap one home screen with another completely different looking one. And if you’re one of those customization junkies who want to tweak every inch of detail themselves, you can do just that too. Just read past the jump for our full review...

Set Videos As Ringtones, Notifications & Alarms On Android With dodol pop

Most of you would definitely be familiar with creating custom ringtones for your smartphone, but have you ever wanted to have a video clip play each time you receive a call? Because this is what dodol pop is all about. Fresh at the Google Play Store, this Android app lets you set videos as not only ringtones but also alarms and notifications. You can either choose from a bunch of user-generated videos, or create a custom video or sound clip of your own by recording it via the integrated camcorder. You can also edit audio files already on your device to make custom ringtones with the app. Details past the jump...

Microsoft’s Social Network ‘Socl’ Comes To Android, iOS & Windows Phone

Did you know that Microsoft also runs a social network? We didn’t either! Apparently, Socl is Microsoft’s take on social network giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ (or maybe Vine?), with its essential purpose being the ability to create, collect, and share content based on visual collages and short animated memes. You can also share statuses, picture collages, videos, and links. Content can be aggregated directly on Socl, as well as shared on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter. Microsoft has now released a mobile version of the service for Windows Phone, Android, and iOS users. The app, which runs in full screen mode, looks identical across all these platforms. Details after the jump...

Dodol Locker Is A Gorgeous, Themable Lock Screen App For Android

Quite a while back, I wrote a detailed guide on replacing and customizing the Android lock screen, but developments for the OS have come a long way since then, and we have covered many other tools in the past that help you get more out of your lock screen. Dodol Locker is the latest app in this genre that I recently came across and decided to take for a spin. This lockscreen replacement app features several stunning themes that can make device really stand out. And it’s not all about looks either; there’s support for some nifty widgets that you can enable on the themes to view import information such as date, time, weather, missed calls, messages, battery status and alarms on your lock screen, customizable shortcuts for your frequently used apps, the ability to choose a custom lock screen wallpaper (in addition to the ones that come with its themes), PIN and Pattern security, and more...

Redirect File Organizer Offers Rule-Based Auto-Sorting Of Files On Android

Automation tools are great – they let us accomplish more in the same time by doing a lot of work for us that we would otherwise have to do by ourselves. In the past, we have seen quite a lot of automation apps for Android including the likes of Tasker, Condi, MacroDroid and many more, but if what you need is an app that simply sorts all your files automatically for you on your device’s storage, give Redirect File Organizer a go. It allows you to create different rules that it calls Redirects, based on which the app finds the matching files and places them in the specified folders automatically. This can go a long way towards keeping your Android phone or tablet’s storage all organized, without requiring you to manually place the files in the locations of your choice every now and then...

Download Torrents On Android With The Official Vuze Torrent Downloader

Just yesterday, we reviewed Vuze Remote by Azereus that allows users of the popular Vuze BitTorrent client to remotely control the torrent downloads on their PC from their Android device. But what if you don’t want to use your Android phone or tablet to merely control the torrents that are actually being downloaded on your PC, but instead want to download them to your Android device itself? While there are already plenty of options available for the purpose, such as our previously reviewed aTorrent, as well as the official Android app of uTorrent. Though if you are a loyal Vuze user and want to use the same on your Android phone or tablet, you’ll be happy to know that the developers have recently released their full torrent client for the platform as well. Vuze Torrent Downloader might not be the most feature-rich Torrent client available on Google’s OS, but it gets the job done...

Meople.Streamer Is An Intuitive Social News Stream Aggregator For Android

As a professional blogger who writes about technology as part of his job, I have to keep myself up to date with the latest tech news. For the past few years in my blogging tenure, I loved using Google Reader to keep track of all the tech related information that I am interested in reading, and during that time, I had built a comprehensive collection of blog feeds. Those were good times, but unfortunately came to an end when Google pulled the plug on it’s Reader service and since then, I’ve been trying out different news aggregation services to find the right one. Recently upon coming across Meople.Streamer, I decided to give it a shot and boy, was I impressed. It’s not technically an RSS reader, but rather a highly intuitive content aggregation tool that can collect news streams about your favorite topics straight from social media services. So, how and how well does it do that? Read on to find out...

Shake Your Android Device To Switch To A Different Wallpaper

When it comes to customizing your Android device, you’re given loads of options to play with. At one moment you find yourself tinkering with that new widget you just grabbed off the Play Store, and the next you’re setting up a new wallpaper. Luckily, the Android’s home screen and lock screen are very functional and fun when it comes to setting up wallpaper of your choice. You’re given full flexibility and control over the type of wallpaper you want, be it Live or Static. But if you’re someone who quickly gets bored of the same wallpaper but find it tedious to manually change it to a new one every now and then, try Shake It. It’s a wallpaper app that lets you change the background image simply by shaking your device – just as simple as that. Details to follow after the jump...

Vuze Remote Lets You Control The Popular Torrent Client From Android

While uTorrent may be the most popular Torrent client out there, it’s not the only popular one; Vuze has gained quite a lot of fame over the years for being a more feature-rich client, thanks to its torrent library management and discovery options. If you are a Vuze user and want to be able to control it remotely with your Android phone or tablet, the developers behind it have released the official Vuze Remote app that lets you do just that. Packed with features that allow you to stop, resume and delete your downloads, find new ones and add them to your queue, manage their order in your queue, and control download speed for your sessions. You can even control multiple Vuze clients running on different devices with the app...

Before you can start using the app on the Android side, you first need to enable remote pairing on your Vuze client. To do that, go to the Tools menu and click ‘Remote Pairing’.

Recorder with Tags Lets You Bookmark Points In Your Audio Recordings On Android

Voice recorders come in a variety of shapes and sizes for both mobile and desktop platforms, some with a simple, no-frills recording approach, while others boast a more advanced set of options. Even though most Android devices come with a default audio recording app out of the box, there’s no shortage of third-party alternatives on Google Play Store that add a few extra tidbits into the mix. Recorder with Tags, for instance, is one such excellent tool that not only supports recording high-quality PCM voice clips, but also lets users mark these clips with tags within each recording, so they may immediately skip to an important instance within the audio sequence without any hassle. This feature can prove extremely useful during important meetings or class discussions, allowing you to tag some pivotal point in the discussion that you’ll need to reference later. Coupled with an elegant user interface that’s both simple and functional, the app is very easy to use and works exactly as it says in its description...

Popular iPhone Photography App VSCO Cam Comes To Android

While they still don’t come anywhere near DSLRs yet, there’s no arguing the fact that smartphones are becoming a serious threat to point-and-shoot cameras. Most people no longer fancy carrying the burden of a dedicated snapper in their pocket when their mobile phone can suffice for the job. Even in the native Android camera app, you will find many advanced features like exposure control, white balance, ISO settings, panoramic images and what not, to help you get the most effective results. Back in June, we covered an iOS camera & image editing app called VSCO Cam. It was a fantastic option for those who need a feature-rich photo editor and a camera app in one small package. VSCO Cam has also now landed on Android, carrying all those awesome features we loved on its iOS counterpart, and then some. Read on for details...

Set A Different Font For Each Android App With PerAppFonts Xposed Module

Android users are spoilt for choice when it comes to the customization options available for their devices. From changing how the home screen looks by installing a custom launcher to using different apps that replace the functionality of pretty much any stock app, there’s a plethora of options to choose from. And once you root your device, the possibilities become endless. One aspect of the OS that non-rooted users can’t change is the default system font, but changing it becomes a breeze upon rooting. However, changing fonts for individual apps can be a huge pain, even for rooted users, as that has traditionally required modifications to the APK files of those apps directly. Now, however, we have an amazingly easy way to do that, thanks to the PerAppFonts Xposed Framework module by XDA-Developers Senior Member zst123. So, let’s check it out in detail right after the jump...

Turn Portraits Into Awesome Cartoons On iOS & Android With MomentCam

There are a lot of brands, companies and individuals out there struggling to get noticed. While many turn to social media and YouTube for instant 10 seconds fame, a lot of people have been creating mobile apps lately to get their share of the spotlight. Last month, a Chinese company by the name of Hightalk Software Corp. went viral with their Android and iOS apps dubbed MomentCam. Although it was only available in Chinese language at that time, its developers have now created an English variant with the same name. It’s basically a photo-taking and editing app that boasts a variety of customization options to transform your photo into cute characters that look like original works of comic cartoon art, while still looking like you!!!

Branches Is An Android Twitter App That Groups Recent Tweets By User

Whether it’s about expressing your opinion, breaking the news, monitoring industry trends or sharing life experiences, Twitter has a lot to offer all its users. It’s a one-stop-shop for the average Joe, journalists, enthusiasts in different fields, and even celebrities as well as large firms to stay connected with one another in real-time. But let’s face it, if you’re one of those Twitter aficionados who follow a lot of people on the micro-blogging platform, it can become fairly tedious to keep a tab on all the tweets from those people on your timeline, which soon becomes cluttered with an unstoppable stream of information that get hard to manage. Branches For Twitter is a new third-party Twitter app for Android that aims to make your experience more streamlined by automatically grouping tweets from each person in chronological order...

Get UEFA League Updates On Android With HTC FootballFeed

Soccer season is in full swing, with everyone hoping for their favorite team to dominate their league. Just yesterday, we reviewed the International Federation of Association Football’s official FIFA app for Android and iOS. And now, following its three-year partnership with UEFA, the Taiwanese mobile maker HTC has also released a new Android app to let football fans follow the UEFA Champions League and Europa League on their mobile devices. Available for free at Google Play Store, HTC FootballFeeddelivers a ton of awesome features like live coverage of football events, news and articles, information on the latest standings, competing clubs and players etc...

Official FIFA App Now Available On iPhone & Android

There’s no shortage of apps on Google Play Store as well as Apple Apps Store that give you the latest scoop on the world of FIFA, but so far, they have all been from third-parties. But now, the International Federation of Association Football (or FIFA) has made available its official app for both Android and iOS platforms simply dubbed FIFA. Released for free a couple of days ago, the app aims to provide football fans with all the latest coverage about the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014 scheduled to take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July, in addition to giving them access to other FIFA-related news and happenings right in the palm of their hands. More details after the jump...

Koush’s AllCast Streams Videos From Android To Apple TV, Xbox, Roku & Any DLNA Device

The ability to stream media from device to another can come quite handy, especially when the device on which the media is stored has a small screen, and you have a larger screen available. There are many technologies out there that make this possible such as AirPlay, DLNA and Miracast, with DLNA being the most widely supported one, thanks to its open nature and the sheer number of major manufacturers it has on board. If you have been looking for an easy, no-frills way of streaming videos from your Android phone or tablet to other devices on your network such as Roku, Apple TV, Xbox, Google TV, Samsung SmartTV or any DLNA-compatible device, AllCast by Koushik Dutta should put an end to your search...