Taskbar 6.0 enables a Samsung DeX-like desktop mode experience on some Android 10+ devices

Android 10 has been out for nearly 9 months now, but one of its best features, desktop mode, is still widely unknown. That’s because it’s technically hidden in Android 10, requiring a development flag to be enabled as well as support built-in to the stock launcher app. Thankfully, the developer of Taskbar has figured out a way to make Android 10’s desktop mode far more useful, bringing a Samsung DeX-like experience to some devices.

For some background, Android 10 added a “Secondary Launcher” activity to Launcher3, the AOSP launcher app that Google’s Pixel Launcher and many other OEM launcher apps are derived from. When an Android device with support for display output is hooked up to an external display, this Secondary Launcher activity is shown on the external display. However, because this Secondary Launcher is extremely barebones, it’s not useful to use as a productivity tool. Third-party app developers figured out that it’s possible for their own launcher apps to replace the stock launcher on the external display, and that’s exactly what XDA Senior Member farmerbb has implemented in Taskbar 6.0.

Taskbar is an open-source Android app that puts a floating start menu and recent apps tray on top of any screen. Since it supports launching Android apps in freeform multi-window, it even comes pre-installed on Bliss OS, a popular Android port for x86 PCs. Back in early November, farmerbb released a fork of the open-source Lawnchair launcher with Taskbar integrated into it. This gave us an early look at what Android 10’s hidden desktop mode could look like with some development effort, but there were some glaring issues that needed fixing. The desktop mode user experience needed fixing so that freeform multi-window behavior worked as you would expect, the setup process needed to be cleaned up so you could control the DPI/UI without needing another app, and a better solution had to be found so that you wouldn’t have to change your default launcher. Now, farmerbb has updated Taskbar to version 6.0 to address all of these issues.

Desktop Mode with Taskbar 6.0

Setting up Taskbar’s desktop mode is quite easy:

1. In Developer Options, turn on “enable freeform windows” and “force desktop mode” and then reboot your device. (The latter may be unavailable on some OEM software like ZenUI/ROG UI, but don’t worry if it’s not there.)
2. Install Taskbar 6.0 (older versions won’t work) from Google Play.
3. Open Taskbar’s settings and go to “Desktop Mode.” Enable it and grant the app permission to “display over other apps” as this is required for the app’s floating start menu to appear. Then, set the app as your default home app. Don’t worry, though, as the next prompt will ask you to set your preferred/primary launcher app, so Taskbar won’t be hijacking your home screen. (Note that on some devices, changing the default launcher will disable Android 10’s full-screen navigation gestures.)
4. Next, I highly recommend you follow the instructions to “enable additional settings” for desktop mode. This will allow you to lower the DPI so UI elements aren’t enormous on the external display, to hide the navigation bar, and to even dim the phone’s screen to save battery life while it’s connected to the external display. You’ll have to set up ADB access on your PC and run the following command:

   adb shell pm grant com.farmerbb.taskbar android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

   (If you are using Taskbar’s “Donate” version, replace “com.farmerbb.taskbar” with “com.farmerbb.taskbar.paid” in the above command.)

5. Finally, check to make sure that “usage access” has been enabled for Taskbar. Doing so will allow the app to show a row of your recently used applications in the start menu.
6. Now, simply connect your phone to your external display using a USB Type-C to Type-C cable (if your external display supports Type-C input) or via a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter.

Once connected, you can use the start menu to launch apps, search for apps, add app icons to the home screen, open some system menus, and more. You can tap the icon next to the start menu to add/show widgets. You can launch multiple instances of windows, and in some cases like Google Chrome, have multiple tabs.

There are loads of other options and changes in Taskbar 6.0, so I recommend you read the full changelog available here.

Display Output on Android – Sadly Still Limited

Who might this be useful for? Samsung, Huawei/Honor, and LG offer their own desktop mode experiences, so there’s you won’t find much use out of Taskbar’s desktop mode if you own a smartphone from one of those brands. ASUS, OnePlus, Essential, Google, and Xiaomi don’t offer their own desktop mode experiences, so if you’re on at least Android 10 on a device from one of these brands, then you may find Taskbar’s desktop mode feature to be useful. If you want a desktop mode experience to be more productive, then I recommend you use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If you have a portable external monitor/laptop chassis like the NexDock 2, then you’ll have an even better experience with Taskbar.

Keep in mind that in order to actually make use of this feature, your smartphone must support display output. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 and 700 series chipsets natively support DisplayPort Alternate Mode over a USB 3.1 Type-C port, but some vendors (like Google) have disabled this functionality on their smartphones. If your device doesn’t support DisplayPort Alternate Mode, then you may have luck using a DisplayLink-certified adapter and the DisplayLink Presenter app to mirror the phone’s display. Screen mirroring using a DisplayLink adapter isn’t as ideal as native desktop mode through a standard connector, but it’s better than not having any display output at all! Fortunately, Taskbar can still be used if you’re just mirroring your phone’s display so long as the app is set as the default launcher, but you’ll have to use the developer’s SecondScreen app to change the resolution and density.

The biggest downside to desktop mode on Android right now is the limited app support. Even though Samsung and Huawei have both offered desktop mode experiences for years and sell millions of smartphones a year, there’s not a lot of demand from users to support desktop mode. That means that a lot of Android apps out there aren’t optimized for larger screens. Google wants to change that because broader Android app support for larger screens will benefit Chromebooks as well, but sadly, there’s still a long way to go before most Android apps support larger screens. Thus, while using Taskbar, you may notice that some apps refuse to run or just look terrible, and there’s not much you can do to fix that.

Download Taskbar 6.0

If you have one of the following smartphones, I recommend giving this app a try:

• ASUS ROG Phone II
• Essential Phone
• OnePlus 7
• OnePlus 7 Pro
• OnePlus 7T
• OnePlus 7T Pro
• OnePlus 8
• OnePlus 8 Pro
• OPPO Reno 10X Zoom

You can download Taskbar 6.0 from the Google Play Store link below or compile the app from its source code on GitHub. The app is totally free to use, but there’s a $1.99 donate version in case you want to support farmerbb’s development efforts.

Taskbar Forum Thread on XDA ||| Taskbar Source Code on GitHub

Taskbar - PC-style productivity for Android (Free, Google Play) →

Taskbar (Donate Version) ($1.99, Google Play) →

The post Taskbar 6.0 enables a Samsung DeX-like desktop mode experience on some Android 10+ devices appeared first on xda-developers.

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Taskbar 6.0 enables a Samsung DeX-like desktop mode experience on some Android 10+ devices

Android 10 has been out for nearly 9 months now, but one of its best features, desktop mode, is still widely unknown. That’s because it’s technically hidden in Android 10, requiring a development flag to be enabled as well as support built-in to the stock launcher app. Thankfully, the developer of Taskbar has figured out a way to make Android 10’s desktop mode far more useful, bringing a Samsung DeX-like experience to some devices.

For some background, Android 10 added a “Secondary Launcher” activity to Launcher3, the AOSP launcher app that Google’s Pixel Launcher and many other OEM launcher apps are derived from. When an Android device with support for display output is hooked up to an external display, this Secondary Launcher activity is shown on the external display. However, because this Secondary Launcher is extremely barebones, it’s not useful to use as a productivity tool. Third-party app developers figured out that it’s possible for their own launcher apps to replace the stock launcher on the external display, and that’s exactly what XDA Senior Member farmerbb has implemented in Taskbar 6.0.

Taskbar is an open-source Android app that puts a floating start menu and recent apps tray on top of any screen. Since it supports launching Android apps in freeform multi-window, it even comes pre-installed on Bliss OS, a popular Android port for x86 PCs. Back in early November, farmerbb released a fork of the open-source Lawnchair launcher with Taskbar integrated into it. This gave us an early look at what Android 10’s hidden desktop mode could look like with some development effort, but there were some glaring issues that needed fixing. The desktop mode user experience needed fixing so that freeform multi-window behavior worked as you would expect, the setup process needed to be cleaned up so you could control the DPI/UI without needing another app, and a better solution had to be found so that you wouldn’t have to change your default launcher. Now, farmerbb has updated Taskbar to version 6.0 to address all of these issues.

Desktop Mode with Taskbar 6.0

Setting up Taskbar’s desktop mode is quite easy:

1. In Developer Options, turn on “enable freeform windows” and “force desktop mode” and then reboot your device. (The latter may be unavailable on some OEM software like ZenUI/ROG UI, but don’t worry if it’s not there.)
2. Install Taskbar 6.0 (older versions won’t work) from Google Play.
3. Open Taskbar’s settings and go to “Desktop Mode.” Enable it and grant the app permission to “display over other apps” as this is required for the app’s floating start menu to appear. Then, set the app as your default home app. Don’t worry, though, as the next prompt will ask you to set your preferred/primary launcher app, so Taskbar won’t be hijacking your home screen. (Note that on some devices, changing the default launcher will disable Android 10’s full-screen navigation gestures.)
4. Next, I highly recommend you follow the instructions to “enable additional settings” for desktop mode. This will allow you to lower the DPI so UI elements aren’t enormous on the external display, to hide the navigation bar, and to even dim the phone’s screen to save battery life while it’s connected to the external display. You’ll have to set up ADB access on your PC and run the following command:

   adb shell pm grant com.farmerbb.taskbar android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

   (If you are using Taskbar’s “Donate” version, replace “com.farmerbb.taskbar” with “com.farmerbb.taskbar.paid” in the above command.)

5. Finally, check to make sure that “usage access” has been enabled for Taskbar. Doing so will allow the app to show a row of your recently used applications in the start menu.
6. Now, simply connect your phone to your external display using a USB Type-C to Type-C cable (if your external display supports Type-C input) or via a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter.

Once connected, you can use the start menu to launch apps, search for apps, add app icons to the home screen, open some system menus, and more. You can tap the icon next to the start menu to add/show widgets. You can launch multiple instances of windows, and in some cases like Google Chrome, have multiple tabs.

There are loads of other options and changes in Taskbar 6.0, so I recommend you read the full changelog available here.

Display Output on Android – Sadly Still Limited

Who might this be useful for? Samsung, Huawei/Honor, and LG offer their own desktop mode experiences, so there’s you won’t find much use out of Taskbar’s desktop mode if you own a smartphone from one of those brands. ASUS, OnePlus, Essential, Google, and Xiaomi don’t offer their own desktop mode experiences, so if you’re on at least Android 10 on a device from one of these brands, then you may find Taskbar’s desktop mode feature to be useful. If you want a desktop mode experience to be more productive, then I recommend you use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If you have a portable external monitor/laptop chassis like the NexDock 2, then you’ll have an even better experience with Taskbar.

Keep in mind that in order to actually make use of this feature, your smartphone must support display output. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 and 700 series chipsets natively support DisplayPort Alternate Mode over a USB 3.1 Type-C port, but some vendors (like Google) have disabled this functionality on their smartphones. If your device doesn’t support DisplayPort Alternate Mode, then you may have luck using a DisplayLink-certified adapter and the DisplayLink Presenter app to mirror the phone’s display. Screen mirroring using a DisplayLink adapter isn’t as ideal as native desktop mode through a standard connector, but it’s better than not having any display output at all! Fortunately, Taskbar can still be used if you’re just mirroring your phone’s display so long as the app is set as the default launcher, but you’ll have to use the developer’s SecondScreen app to change the resolution and density.

The biggest downside to desktop mode on Android right now is the limited app support. Even though Samsung and Huawei have both offered desktop mode experiences for years and sell millions of smartphones a year, there’s not a lot of demand from users to support desktop mode. That means that a lot of Android apps out there aren’t optimized for larger screens. Google wants to change that because broader Android app support for larger screens will benefit Chromebooks as well, but sadly, there’s still a long way to go before most Android apps support larger screens. Thus, while using Taskbar, you may notice that some apps refuse to run or just look terrible, and there’s not much you can do to fix that.

Download Taskbar 6.0

If you have one of the following smartphones, I recommend giving this app a try:

• ASUS ROG Phone II
• Essential Phone
• OnePlus 7
• OnePlus 7 Pro
• OnePlus 7T
• OnePlus 7T Pro
• OnePlus 8
• OnePlus 8 Pro
• OPPO Reno 10X Zoom

You can download Taskbar 6.0 from the Google Play Store link below or compile the app from its source code on GitHub. The app is totally free to use, but there’s a $1.99 donate version in case you want to support farmerbb’s development efforts.

Taskbar Forum Thread on XDA ||| Taskbar Source Code on GitHub

Taskbar - PC-style productivity for Android (Free, Google Play) →

Taskbar (Donate Version) ($1.99, Google Play) →

The post Taskbar 6.0 enables a Samsung DeX-like desktop mode experience on some Android 10+ devices appeared first on xda-developers.

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LineageOS 17.1 adds support for new OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other devices following server hack

LineageOS is the most popular AOSP-based custom ROM out there. Its origin can be traced back to CyanogenMod, which was itself not only the most well-known custom ROM many years ago but also the reason the OnePlus One was so well-received by the community. Over the years, the team behind LineageOS has kept the project updated with new versions of Android for dozens of Android devices. The latest version, LineageOS 17.1, is based on Android 10 and supports a long list of devices. Now, the custom ROM team has added official support for their latest release for a lot of devices from OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and more. Newly added devices include the Essential Phone, Moto X (2014), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, and more.

The LineageOS team recently decided to cease the development of LineageOS 15.1 and jump to version 17.1 rather than 17.0 after they decided to rebase on top of the updated AOSP release corresponding to the Pixel 4/4 XL launch. With the update, the team also announced Lineage Recovery as the default option to install LineageOS on officially supported phones. 17.1 also added a new ThemePicker, a partial screenshot feature, and a lot more.

You can find the new LineageOS nightly builds for each of the following devices by tapping on “Get the builds here” on their respective Wiki pages. All of the devices listed here except for the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos are supported by LineageOS 17.1. The newly added Grand 2 Duos is supported by LineageOS 16 based on Android 9 Pie.

Device + XDA Forum Link	Code-name + Wiki Page	Maintainer(s)
Essential Phone	mata	haggertk, intervigil, npjohnson, rashed
Motorola Moto X (2014)	victara	jro1979, linckandrea, npjohnson
OnePlus 2	oneplus2	OzzysCmAcc, aviraxp
OnePlus 7	guacamoleb (mirror)*	AshwinRC
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016)	a3xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)	a5xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos	ms013g (mirror)*	djchittoor
Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo	s5neolte	danwood76, Stricted
Wileyfox Swift	crackling	115ek
Xiaomi Mi A2	jasmine_sprout (mirror)*	mikeioannina
Xiaomi Mi 6X	wayne (mirror)*	Isaac Chen
Xiaomi Mi Note 3	jason	dianlujitao
Xiaomi Redmi 2	wt88047	nicknitewolf
Xiaomi Redmi 7	onclite (mirror)*	Dhina17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro	whyred (mirror)*	srfarias, SebaUbuntu
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro	twolip (mirror)*	DD3Boh
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7	lavender (mirror)*	erfanoabdi

*Some of the download pages for newly added devices return a code 500 “Internal Server Error.” Until this bug is fixed, you can download the official builds from the official LineageOS download mirror. For those devices that require it, the download mirror for LineageOS Recovery can be found here.

Be sure to read the installation instructions for each of the devices as well as the other documentation linked such as for Lineage Recovery. Also, be sure to take a backup of your data before you start with the installation process.

Why the delay?

If you’re wondering why LineageOS has had a delay in getting new builds up, the answer is because LineageOS suffered a hack in early May. According to a statement published by the team on May 3rd, an attacker “used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.” Salt is an open-source framework to manage servers that is used by loads of open-source projects like LineageOS. On April 30th, Cybersecurity firm F-Secure publicly disclosed a vulnerability in Salt that could be used to bypass authorization. Attackers quickly targeted Salt installations that were unpatched, resulting in dozens of servers being hacked.

The LineageOS team identified the attack and then quickly took down its servers. The team confirms that their build signing keys are unaffected (so third-parties can’t sign and distribute official LineageOS builds), the currently uploaded builds themselves are unaffected, and the project’s source code is unaffected.

Around 8PM PST on May 2nd, 2020 an attacker used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.

We are able to verify that:
– Signing keys are unaffected.
– Builds are unaffected.
– Source code is unaffected.

See https://t.co/85fvp6Gj2h for more info.

— LineageOS (@LineageAndroid) May 3, 2020

The post LineageOS 17.1 adds support for new OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other devices following server hack appeared first on xda-developers.

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LineageOS 17.1 adds support for new OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other devices following server hack

LineageOS is the most popular AOSP-based custom ROM out there. Its origin can be traced back to CyanogenMod, which was itself not only the most well-known custom ROM many years ago but also the reason the OnePlus One was so well-received by the community. Over the years, the team behind LineageOS has kept the project updated with new versions of Android for dozens of Android devices. The latest version, LineageOS 17.1, is based on Android 10 and supports a long list of devices. Now, the custom ROM team has added official support for their latest release for a lot of devices from OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and more. Newly added devices include the Essential Phone, Moto X (2014), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, and more.

The LineageOS team recently decided to cease the development of LineageOS 15.1 and jump to version 17.1 rather than 17.0 after they decided to rebase on top of the updated AOSP release corresponding to the Pixel 4/4 XL launch. With the update, the team also announced Lineage Recovery as the default option to install LineageOS on officially supported phones. 17.1 also added a new ThemePicker, a partial screenshot feature, and a lot more.

You can find the new LineageOS nightly builds for each of the following devices by tapping on “Get the builds here” on their respective Wiki pages. All of the devices listed here except for the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos are supported by LineageOS 17.1. The newly added Grand 2 Duos is supported by LineageOS 16 based on Android 9 Pie.

Device + XDA Forum Link	Code-name + Wiki Page	Maintainer(s)
Essential Phone	mata	haggertk, intervigil, npjohnson, rashed
Motorola Moto X (2014)	victara	jro1979, linckandrea, npjohnson
OnePlus 2	oneplus2	OzzysCmAcc, aviraxp
OnePlus 7	guacamoleb (mirror)*	AshwinRC
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016)	a3xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)	a5xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos	ms013g (mirror)*	djchittoor
Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo	s5neolte	danwood76, Stricted
Wileyfox Swift	crackling	115ek
Xiaomi Mi A2	jasmine_sprout (mirror)*	mikeioannina
Xiaomi Mi 6X	wayne (mirror)*	Isaac Chen
Xiaomi Mi Note 3	jason	dianlujitao
Xiaomi Redmi 2	wt88047	nicknitewolf
Xiaomi Redmi 7	onclite (mirror)*	Dhina17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro	whyred (mirror)*	srfarias, SebaUbuntu
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro	twolip (mirror)*	DD3Boh
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7	lavender (mirror)*	erfanoabdi

*Some of the download pages for newly added devices return a code 500 “Internal Server Error.” Until this bug is fixed, you can download the official builds from the official LineageOS download mirror. For those devices that require it, the download mirror for LineageOS Recovery can be found here.

Be sure to read the installation instructions for each of the devices as well as the other documentation linked such as for Lineage Recovery. Also, be sure to take a backup of your data before you start with the installation process.

Why the delay?

If you’re wondering why LineageOS has had a delay in getting new builds up, the answer is because LineageOS suffered a hack in early May. According to a statement published by the team on May 3rd, an attacker “used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.” Salt is an open-source framework to manage servers that is used by loads of open-source projects like LineageOS. On April 30th, Cybersecurity firm F-Secure publicly disclosed a vulnerability in Salt that could be used to bypass authorization. Attackers quickly targeted Salt installations that were unpatched, resulting in dozens of servers being hacked.

The LineageOS team identified the attack and then quickly took down its servers. The team confirms that their build signing keys are unaffected (so third-parties can’t sign and distribute official LineageOS builds), the currently uploaded builds themselves are unaffected, and the project’s source code is unaffected.

Around 8PM PST on May 2nd, 2020 an attacker used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.

We are able to verify that:
– Signing keys are unaffected.
– Builds are unaffected.
– Source code is unaffected.

See https://t.co/85fvp6Gj2h for more info.

— LineageOS (@LineageAndroid) May 3, 2020

The post LineageOS 17.1 adds support for new OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other devices following server hack appeared first on xda-developers.

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Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark

Hardware-backed facial recognition in the Android smartphone world often relies on Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors. Samsung, for example, utilizes the ToF module on the 5G variant of the Galaxy S10 to power their 3D face unlock mechanism. The ToF camera tracks the distance between two objects based on the constant speed of light. Developers have also used data from this camera to create virtual 3D models with depth data to render the surroundings as a pseudo-night vision mode. We first saw this work on certain Huawei and Honor phones in the past with the help of an app named Night Vision / ToF Viewer, and the same app can help you to turn your Samsung Galaxy S20+, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, or Samsung Galaxy S10 5G into a somewhat functional, but mostly gimmicky, night vision camera.

Galaxy S20+ Forums ||| Galaxy Note 10+ Forums ||| Galaxy S10 5G Forums

When we first tinkered with the app back in 2019, it wasn’t made to detect the Galaxy S10 5G’s ToF sensor. The developer, Luboš Vonásek, worked hard to gradually expand the list of supported devices with ToF cameras. The Android 10/One UI 2.0 update for the Galaxy S10 5G apparently made it easy to handle the ToF module, albeit the output is still limited to a low resolution of 240×180. On newer Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Note 10+ and Galaxy S20+, the app can render the surroundings in night vision mode with a better resolution of 320×240.

Night Vision/TOF Viewer on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. Image credits: Reddit user /u/toelingus

According to our own Max Weinbach, using Night Vision on Samsung provides better quality, while you can get a better range on Huawei devices. The VR mode in this app is no longer accessible since the last update, though, as the developer removed it completely. There is no complicated prerequisite – owners of the aforementioned phones can straight away download it from the Google Play Store without messing with ADB and/or any kind of system file modding.

Night Vision / ToF Viewer (Free, Google Play) →

---

Credits to Reddit user toelingus for the screenshot!

The post Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark appeared first on xda-developers.

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Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark

Hardware-backed facial recognition in the Android smartphone world often relies on Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors. Samsung, for example, utilizes the ToF module on the 5G variant of the Galaxy S10 to power their 3D face unlock mechanism. The ToF camera tracks the distance between two objects based on the constant speed of light. Developers have also used data from this camera to create virtual 3D models with depth data to render the surroundings as a pseudo-night vision mode. We first saw this work on certain Huawei and Honor phones in the past with the help of an app named Night Vision / ToF Viewer, and the same app can help you to turn your Samsung Galaxy S20+, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, or Samsung Galaxy S10 5G into a somewhat functional, but mostly gimmicky, night vision camera.

Galaxy S20+ Forums ||| Galaxy Note 10+ Forums ||| Galaxy S10 5G Forums

When we first tinkered with the app back in 2019, it wasn’t made to detect the Galaxy S10 5G’s ToF sensor. The developer, Luboš Vonásek, worked hard to gradually expand the list of supported devices with ToF cameras. The Android 10/One UI 2.0 update for the Galaxy S10 5G apparently made it easy to handle the ToF module, albeit the output is still limited to a low resolution of 240×180. On newer Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Note 10+ and Galaxy S20+, the app can render the surroundings in night vision mode with a better resolution of 320×240.

Night Vision/TOF Viewer on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. Image credits: Reddit user /u/toelingus

According to our own Max Weinbach, using Night Vision on Samsung provides better quality, while you can get a better range on Huawei devices. The VR mode in this app is no longer accessible since the last update, though, as the developer removed it completely. There is no complicated prerequisite – owners of the aforementioned phones can straight away download it from the Google Play Store without messing with ADB and/or any kind of system file modding.

Night Vision / ToF Viewer (Free, Google Play) →

---

Credits to Reddit user toelingus for the screenshot!

The post Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark appeared first on xda-developers.

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[Update: Delayed] Google will launch the Android 11 Beta on June 3rd, releases Developer Preview 4 today

Update 1 (05/30/2020 @ 01:07 AM ET): Google has announced that the launch and event scheduled for June 3, 2020, has been postponed. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on May 6, 2020, is preserved below.

Google announced the first Android 11 Developer Preview back in February. The first Developer Preview was released earlier than we expected because Google wanted to give developers more time to adapt to their apps to the new APIs and platform behaviors. Since DP 1, two more Developer Preview builds have been rolled out to the Pixel 2 onward. If it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, Google would have released the first Android 11 Beta at Google I/O event, which was scheduled for May 12th-14th. This delay has impacted the Android 11 release timeline, and the tech giant has now announced that they are pushing back the release of the first Android 11 Beta. The first beta will now be revealed at an online event on June 3rd, 2020. To make up for the new gap between DP3 and Beta 1, Google is releasing Android 11 Developer Preview 4.

Google has aptly titled next month’s online event “#Android 11: The Beta Launch Show.” During this event, Google will release Android 11 Beta 1 which will contain the final SDK and NDK APIs. Google will also open up Play Store submissions for apps targeting the new Android version. Citing this change in plan, Google has also released an updated timeline for the release schedule.

Older Beta timeline

Updated Beta timeline

While Google had initially charted its plan to release only three Android 11 Developer Previews, it is releasing the Developer Preview 4 to fill up the gap caused by the delay in the release of Beta 1. Starting today, the DP4 builds for the Google Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a/3a XL, and Pixel 4/4 XL will be available for download. You can flash these builds manually to try out the upcoming Android version or wait for an OTA if you’re already enrolled in the Beta program.

Since Android 11 Beta 1 has been pushed back by about a month, Beta 2 will now be released in July instead of June. As with the previous schedule, Beta 2 will be the “Platform Stability” release. Google introduced this milestone with Android 11 to signify the finalization of internal and external APIs, app-facing behaviors, and non-SDK graylisting. According to official communication from Google, Android 11 Beta 3 will be released in August 2020, and this will be the “Release candidate” build. The Final Release is still expected to be available in Q3, which means it shouldn’t be pushed back to October or months after that.

While the exact date for Beta 2 onwards was not released, Flame Group – a company that consults with OEMs and ODMs to help them receive GMS certifications for devices – mentioned in a blog post that the “Final Release Candidate,” which is most likely Beta 2, will be released on July 6th. While Beta 3 is intended to be the Release candidate build, it appears that Flame Group is referring to Beta 2 when it talks about the “Final Release candidate.” Furthermore, the blog post states that Google will publish the Android 11 source code to the AOSP git repository on September 8th, 2020. Our source corroborates the information laid out in this blog post, as it is apparently information that Google shared with its partner OEMs.

Android 11 News on XDA

Android 11: The Beta Launch Show to substitute Google I/O 2020?

At the Android 11: The Beta Launch Show, Google will also be hosting a series of online talks and webinars for topics that were initially supposed to be covered at Google I/O 2020. The talks ranging “from Jetpack Compose to Android Studio and Google Play” will be held following the post-show Q&A session after the announcement launch. You can register yourself to get notified of the event on this page.

---

Update: Google postpones Android 11 Beta Launch Show

Google has announced that the Android 11 Beta Launch Show has been postponed.

We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We’ll be back with more on Android 11, soon.

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) May 30, 2020

The next date has not been announced yet.

The post [Update: Delayed] Google will launch the Android 11 Beta on June 3rd, releases Developer Preview 4 today appeared first on xda-developers.

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[Update: Delayed] Google will launch the Android 11 Beta on June 3rd, releases Developer Preview 4 today

Update 1 (05/30/2020 @ 01:07 AM ET): Google has announced that the launch and event scheduled for June 3, 2020, has been postponed. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on May 6, 2020, is preserved below.

Google announced the first Android 11 Developer Preview back in February. The first Developer Preview was released earlier than we expected because Google wanted to give developers more time to adapt to their apps to the new APIs and platform behaviors. Since DP 1, two more Developer Preview builds have been rolled out to the Pixel 2 onward. If it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, Google would have released the first Android 11 Beta at Google I/O event, which was scheduled for May 12th-14th. This delay has impacted the Android 11 release timeline, and the tech giant has now announced that they are pushing back the release of the first Android 11 Beta. The first beta will now be revealed at an online event on June 3rd, 2020. To make up for the new gap between DP3 and Beta 1, Google is releasing Android 11 Developer Preview 4.

Google has aptly titled next month’s online event “#Android 11: The Beta Launch Show.” During this event, Google will release Android 11 Beta 1 which will contain the final SDK and NDK APIs. Google will also open up Play Store submissions for apps targeting the new Android version. Citing this change in plan, Google has also released an updated timeline for the release schedule.

Older Beta timeline

Updated Beta timeline

While Google had initially charted its plan to release only three Android 11 Developer Previews, it is releasing the Developer Preview 4 to fill up the gap caused by the delay in the release of Beta 1. Starting today, the DP4 builds for the Google Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a/3a XL, and Pixel 4/4 XL will be available for download. You can flash these builds manually to try out the upcoming Android version or wait for an OTA if you’re already enrolled in the Beta program.

Since Android 11 Beta 1 has been pushed back by about a month, Beta 2 will now be released in July instead of June. As with the previous schedule, Beta 2 will be the “Platform Stability” release. Google introduced this milestone with Android 11 to signify the finalization of internal and external APIs, app-facing behaviors, and non-SDK graylisting. According to official communication from Google, Android 11 Beta 3 will be released in August 2020, and this will be the “Release candidate” build. The Final Release is still expected to be available in Q3, which means it shouldn’t be pushed back to October or months after that.

While the exact date for Beta 2 onwards was not released, Flame Group – a company that consults with OEMs and ODMs to help them receive GMS certifications for devices – mentioned in a blog post that the “Final Release Candidate,” which is most likely Beta 2, will be released on July 6th. While Beta 3 is intended to be the Release candidate build, it appears that Flame Group is referring to Beta 2 when it talks about the “Final Release candidate.” Furthermore, the blog post states that Google will publish the Android 11 source code to the AOSP git repository on September 8th, 2020. Our source corroborates the information laid out in this blog post, as it is apparently information that Google shared with its partner OEMs.

Android 11 News on XDA

Android 11: The Beta Launch Show to substitute Google I/O 2020?

At the Android 11: The Beta Launch Show, Google will also be hosting a series of online talks and webinars for topics that were initially supposed to be covered at Google I/O 2020. The talks ranging “from Jetpack Compose to Android Studio and Google Play” will be held following the post-show Q&A session after the announcement launch. You can register yourself to get notified of the event on this page.

---

Update: Google postpones Android 11 Beta Launch Show

Google has announced that the Android 11 Beta Launch Show has been postponed.

We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We’ll be back with more on Android 11, soon.

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) May 30, 2020

The next date has not been announced yet.

The post [Update: Delayed] Google will launch the Android 11 Beta on June 3rd, releases Developer Preview 4 today appeared first on xda-developers.

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Samsung Access program quietly launches for the Galaxy S20 with Premium Care and Microsoft 365 included

A few years ago, Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program. Apple’s program offered a great deal where every year you could pay a low monthly fee to have the option to upgrade your iPhone while continuing those monthly payments. Carriers and other device makers emulated this idea but started to add their own offers to improve upon it. Samsung, of course, was one of the companies that emulated that idea with the Samsung Upgrade Program. Now, Samsung has quietly launched a new program called “Samsung Access” that provides even more benefits at a lower cost.

Samsung Access, which we spotted earlier today on Samsung.com, is a bit different than the previous Samsung Upgrade Program in terms of benefits. Both Samsung Access and the previous Samsung Upgrade Program have you finance a new phone through monthly payments and later allow you to trade in the phone for the value that’s left. For example, if you had the Samsung Galaxy S10 for a year and paid $30 a month for 12 months ($360 total), you would have owed $540 left on the balance on the device. If you wanted to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S20 after it launched, you would send back the Galaxy S10 to Samsung so they could void the $540 and allow you to start a new contract for a new monthly fee for the new device.

Samsung Access works the same way for upgrading. If you wanted to keep the device instead of upgrading, you are able to pay off the full balance or just not upgrade and continue your financing which takes 36 months or 3 years.

If you are like me and like to upgrade a lot, that’s also a possibility with Samsung Access. You are able to upgrade your phone for no fee every 9 months. If you wanted to upgrade earlier in the cycle, say for example from the latest Galaxy Note to Galaxy S series or vice versa, you can do so if you pay a $100 fee. In the long run, you would likely save money using this service instead of buying and trading in phones every time a new one launches.

Samsung Access – Other Benefits

What makes Samsung Access better than the Samsung Upgrade Program are the other parts that are included in the monthly subscription. Samsung Access includes both Microsoft 365, which itself includes 1TB of OneDrive storage, and Samsung Premium Care. Microsoft 365 gives you full access to the Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Skype, and Teams. The 1TB of OneDrive storage, which is included in a Microsoft 365 subscription, is especially useful on Samsung phones. You are able to link your Samsung and Microsoft accounts to use the 1TB of storage for photo backups in the Samsung Gallery app or Samsung Cloud storage for backups. The other benefit, Premium Care, is Samsung’s insurance program. If you break your phone, you are able to get it replaced or repaired for a $99 deductible up to three times in a 12 month period.

Samsung Access is available for the Samsung Galaxy S20 series only. When financing the Galaxy S20 series, it costs $37 a month for the Galaxy S20, $42 a month for the Galaxy S20+, and $48 a month for the Galaxy S20 Ultra. In my view, this is actually a great deal. If you were to sign up for Samsung Financing, Premium Care, and Microsoft 365 separately, it would cost you an extra $9 per month. That might not seem like much, but over the 36 months of the contract, you would save $324. That’s ignoring the money you can save from the upgrade program. If you want to cancel, you are also able to return the phone for free after 3 months. If you want to cancel before those 3 months, though, you will owe a $100 fee.

These programs are actually really good for those early adopters who love to upgrade (like me). It makes upgrading easy and painless along with not having to worry about accidental damage since it’s covered under Premium Care. All around, this is a pretty great upgrade deal. For a visual overview of what’s offered in Samsung Access, check out the video below that Samsung uploaded to their YouTube channel today. Otherwise, hit up the Samsung Access page and read the FAQs to get all the nitty-gritty details.

Samsung Access for Mobile ||| Samsung Access FAQs

Oh, and Samsung Access is also available for Samsung TVs, in case you’re interested.

The post Samsung Access program quietly launches for the Galaxy S20 with Premium Care and Microsoft 365 included appeared first on xda-developers.

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via IFTTT

Samsung Access program quietly launches for the Galaxy S20 with Premium Care and Microsoft 365 included

A few years ago, Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program. Apple’s program offered a great deal where every year you could pay a low monthly fee to have the option to upgrade your iPhone while continuing those monthly payments. Carriers and other device makers emulated this idea but started to add their own offers to improve upon it. Samsung, of course, was one of the companies that emulated that idea with the Samsung Upgrade Program. Now, Samsung has quietly launched a new program called “Samsung Access” that provides even more benefits at a lower cost.

Samsung Access, which we spotted earlier today on Samsung.com, is a bit different than the previous Samsung Upgrade Program in terms of benefits. Both Samsung Access and the previous Samsung Upgrade Program have you finance a new phone through monthly payments and later allow you to trade in the phone for the value that’s left. For example, if you had the Samsung Galaxy S10 for a year and paid $30 a month for 12 months ($360 total), you would have owed $540 left on the balance on the device. If you wanted to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S20 after it launched, you would send back the Galaxy S10 to Samsung so they could void the $540 and allow you to start a new contract for a new monthly fee for the new device.

Samsung Access works the same way for upgrading. If you wanted to keep the device instead of upgrading, you are able to pay off the full balance or just not upgrade and continue your financing which takes 36 months or 3 years.

If you are like me and like to upgrade a lot, that’s also a possibility with Samsung Access. You are able to upgrade your phone for no fee every 9 months. If you wanted to upgrade earlier in the cycle, say for example from the latest Galaxy Note to Galaxy S series or vice versa, you can do so if you pay a $100 fee. In the long run, you would likely save money using this service instead of buying and trading in phones every time a new one launches.

Samsung Access – Other Benefits

What makes Samsung Access better than the Samsung Upgrade Program are the other parts that are included in the monthly subscription. Samsung Access includes both Microsoft 365, which itself includes 1TB of OneDrive storage, and Samsung Premium Care. Microsoft 365 gives you full access to the Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Skype, and Teams. The 1TB of OneDrive storage, which is included in a Microsoft 365 subscription, is especially useful on Samsung phones. You are able to link your Samsung and Microsoft accounts to use the 1TB of storage for photo backups in the Samsung Gallery app or Samsung Cloud storage for backups. The other benefit, Premium Care, is Samsung’s insurance program. If you break your phone, you are able to get it replaced or repaired for a $99 deductible up to three times in a 12 month period.

Samsung Access is available for the Samsung Galaxy S20 series only. When financing the Galaxy S20 series, it costs $37 a month for the Galaxy S20, $42 a month for the Galaxy S20+, and $48 a month for the Galaxy S20 Ultra. In my view, this is actually a great deal. If you were to sign up for Samsung Financing, Premium Care, and Microsoft 365 separately, it would cost you an extra $9 per month. That might not seem like much, but over the 36 months of the contract, you would save $324. That’s ignoring the money you can save from the upgrade program. If you want to cancel, you are also able to return the phone for free after 3 months. If you want to cancel before those 3 months, though, you will owe a $100 fee.

These programs are actually really good for those early adopters who love to upgrade (like me). It makes upgrading easy and painless along with not having to worry about accidental damage since it’s covered under Premium Care. All around, this is a pretty great upgrade deal. For a visual overview of what’s offered in Samsung Access, check out the video below that Samsung uploaded to their YouTube channel today. Otherwise, hit up the Samsung Access page and read the FAQs to get all the nitty-gritty details.

Samsung Access for Mobile ||| Samsung Access FAQs

Oh, and Samsung Access is also available for Samsung TVs, in case you’re interested.

The post Samsung Access program quietly launches for the Galaxy S20 with Premium Care and Microsoft 365 included appeared first on xda-developers.

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Realme 5 and Realme 5s start getting Android 10 with Realme UI

Launched back in August 2019, the Realme 5 was one of the first phones from the Chinese brand to feature the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chip. The affordable quad-camera phone comes with a 12MP primary camera and runs ColorOS 6 on top of Android 9 Pie. Within a few months, Realme refreshed the device with a 48MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 sensor and launched it as the Realme 5s. According to the update roadmap shared by Realme India’s CEO Madhav Sheth, the phone duo is scheduled to receive a taste of Android 10-based Realme UI in May. The company has kept their promise as it has now rolled out the stable Realme UI update with Android 10 to the Realme 5 and the Realme 5s.

Realme 5 XDA Forums

Earlier this month, Realme started an initiative called “Realme UI Early Access” for the owners of the Realme 5/5s, which served as a pilot open beta testing before the actual rollout. The current stable Android 10 build is tagged as RMX1925EX_11_C.39, and it brings in several new features such as Focus Mode, optimized three-finger screenshot, and a revamped camera UI. It is worth mentioning that the Realme 5 and the 5s share a common firmware due to their internal similarities.

Thanks to Realme Community user mmmllL for the screenshot!

The combined changelog for the Realme UI 1.0 update for the Realme 5/5s is as follows:

Realme UI 1.0 (Android 10) update changelog for the Realme 5/5s

• Visuals
  • Updated UI to realme UI
  • Brand new Real Design makes visuals more attractive and operation more efficient.
• Smart Sidebar
  • Optimized user interface and improved one-handed operation.
  • Optimized Smart Sidebar: Replaced File Console with File Manager; removed OSIE Visual Effect and No Notification Alerts.
  • Drag an app out of Smart Sidebar to open it in Split-screen Mode.
  • Added two new features: “Assistive Ball Opacity” and “Hide Assistive Ball on Fullscreen App”.
  • Optimized the Floating Window feature for more apps.
  • Added Bubbles: A bubble is displayed when you open an app in a floating window from the Smart Sidebar. Tap the bubble to collapse or open the app.
• Screenshot
  • Optimized 3-Finger Screenshot Gesture: Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen, and swipe to take a screenshot of the selected part of the screen (partial screen capture). Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen, and swipe your fingers outwards to capture a long screenshot.
  • Added screenshot settings: You can adjust the position of the screenshot preview floating window and set the screenshot sound.
  • Optimized screenshot preview floating window: After taking a screenshot, drag it up and release to share it, or drag it down and release to take a long screenshot.
• Navigation Gestures 3.0
  • Optimized gestures: All gestures are supported in landscape mode.
• System
  • Added Focus Mode: Minimizes outside distractions when you are learning or working.
  • Added whole new charging animation.
  • Optimized the Quick Settings user interface for easier one-handed operation.
  • Added pause feature for screen recording.
  • Added a floating window and settings for screen recording.
  • New sounds added for file deletion, calculator key touches, and compass pointer.
  • Optimized system built-in ringtones.
  • Added TalkBack floating prompts for Accessibility.
  • New management feature for recent tasks: You can view memory of recent tasks and locked apps.
• Games
  • Optimized visual interaction for Game Space.
  • Optimized loading animation for Game Space.
• Homescreen
  • Added new live wallpapers.
  • Added artistic wallpapers.
  • Added option to open Global Search or the notification panel when swiping down on homescreen.
  • Added option to customize the size, shape, and style of app icons on homescreen.
  • Optimized the graphic design of password unlock to facilitate one-handed operation.
  • Support for animated wallpapers on the lockscreen.
  • Added a Simple Mode for homescreen, featuring larger fonts, icons and a clearer layout.
• Security
  • Random MAC address Generator: When your phone is connected to Wi-Fi network system generates a random MAC address to avoid targeted ads and protect your privacy.
• Tools
  • In Quick Settings or Smart Sidebar, you can open Calculator in a floating window.
  • Added the trim feature in Recordings.
  • Added the Weather (dynamic) ringtone, which automatically adapts to the current weather.
  • Added weather-adaptive animations in Weather.
• Camera
  • Optimized the Camera UI for better user experience.
  • Optimized the Timer UI and sound.
• Photos
  • Optimized the Album UI for a clearer structure and photo thumbnails.
  • Added Album Recommendations that recognize more than 80 different scenes.
• Communications
  • realme Share now supports sharing files with OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi devices.
  • Optimized the Contacts UI for a more efficient experience.
• Network
  • Added Airtel and Jio VoWiFi feature
• Settings
  • Search Settings now supports fuzzy match and contains a search history.

Users interested in downloading this update should expect an over-the-air update to arrive on their phones soon. If it’s not available for your device yet, then you can enroll yourself in the “Application Channel” (Realme 5, Realme 5s) to bypass the standard staggered rollout scheme. We will update this article as soon as we get the manual download links.

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Source: Realme (1, 2)

The post Realme 5 and Realme 5s start getting Android 10 with Realme UI appeared first on xda-developers.

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