How to use Kustom Live Wallpaper: The Basics

Marco is back with a video tutorial for KWLP (Live Wallpaper Maker). This is  a great customization app that can make your phone look incredible. The problem is, it's not that easy to use. So if you're new to KLWP, this video will help you get started.

Launcher

First off, get yourself a good custom launcher. You'll want this because KLWP works best with black layouts. Nova Launcher is the recommended app to use for this situation.

Get rid of any icons or widgets from your homescreen. The idea is to get a fresh blank page. If you have a prime version of Nova Launcher, add some gestures to replace the navigation bar and app drawer.

Kustom Navigation

Open your Kustom app and you'll be greeted with three main sections. The main window shows what you're currently editing. Some shortcuts at the bottom of the page take you to different settings like layers, positioning, background and more. The top bar contains your menu, save button and new module icon.

  

Adding Modules

Alright now it's time to add your first module. Select the add icon in the top right corner and choose "text". Now you should see a tiny bit of text at the top of your preview screen.

Now let's customize it. Select the text module listed at the bottom. This will allow you to edit the properties of the module you just added. The module you have right now is set to display the current time. You can edit the information that this module displays from this menu. Mess around with it and check out the results in your preview window.

If you make a mistake, use the undo icon in the top right to go back.

Fonts and Size

Once you're happy with what you've added, you can start giving your text some character. Play with the font, size and width settings until you like what you see.

Check out the paint and position tabs for additional settings.

Background

Now that you have a text module that you're happy with, let's add a background image. Go to the background tab and select "type". You'll be able to use an image from your gallery, or choose a solid color to be your background.

Now hit your save button, a choose "set as wallpaper". You now know the basics of setting up a kustom live wallpaper. Try adding new modules and messing with the settings to learn more.

 

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Have You Seen an Increase in Android Battery Life in Recent Years?

Battery life on Android continues to remain one of those areas where we can see a lot of change, both on and off the spec sheet. It is a product of complex interactions between battery capacity, consumption and efficiency of other hardware as well as the user's personal use case.

So it is not surprising to see that while battery sizes and densities have increased over the years, battery usage has increased disproportionally as well. Smartphones of the past like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the LG G2 were known for their stellar battery performance, in many ways still unmatched today. These days, we see some OEMs trying out off-beaten paths with oversized battery phones sporting upwards of 4,000mAh, but not being the best elsewhere. On the other hand, several flagships continue to compromise on the battery department in lieu of aesthetics and marketability. So we ask you,

Have you personally seen an increase in Android battery life over the years? Is there any perceptible overall improvement, or are you getting similar results to what you saw in previous years? Which smartphone delivered the most amazing battery life to you? Which was the worst? Has there been any changes in your use cases for better or worse?

Let us know in the comments below!

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Xiaomi India Sells 2+ Million Smartphones in Q3

Xiaomi has been doing a lot of expanding throughout India these last couple of years. They were originally an online-only smartphone OEM within the country, but recently started expanding how and where they offered both their services and products. We saw this expansion pick up steam back in March of last year when they started selling the Mi 4 and the Redmi Note 4G at The Mobile Store (India's largest mobile phone retailer, inside the Delhi-NCR region).

Toward the end of last year, the company started offering a pickup and repair service in India that they would call Pick Mi. This would allow those in certain regions to have their Xiaomi smartphone picked up by a courier, have the phone fixed, and then have it returned. At launch, those who lived in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata could get their phone back in 24 hours while others were required to wait 7 to 10 days.

Xiaomi has continued expanding their online and offline presence within India and it has started paying off for them. The Redmi Note 3 was recently named the best-selling Smartphone in India after it was announced they had sold over 2.3 million units. And the company doesn't show any signs of slowing down either. Throughout the third quarter of this year, Xiaomi has announced they have sold over 2 million smartphones in India alone.

This is big for the company as they normally sell between 1 to 1.5 million per quarter. This shows a growth of 150% when compared to the third quarter of last year and Xiaomi is very proud of that accomplishment. This was aided by the recent Diwali sale, where Xiaomi India managed to sell over 247,000 smartphones through the company's Mi.com website alone. As far as online sales go, Xiaomi ranked 2nd for the quarter and was only bested by Lenovo/Motorola.

Source: The Economic Times

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Samsung Pay with Gear S3 Currently Doesn’t Work on Pixel Phones

A major selling point of the new Gear S3 smartwatch from Samsung is the ability to use Samsung Pay directly on your wrist. This includes both NFC and MST capabilities, so even if the pay terminal hasn't been upgraded with a contactless payment option, then you can still use it on the magnetic stripe part.

This has been known since launch, but then a couple of weeks ago Samsung said that it would also work on non-Samsung smartphones.

This makes sense because the NFC and MST features are built directly into the smartwatch, but many thought Samsung would restrict Samsung Pay to Samsung devices anyway. This confirmation via Twitter has since been deleted, but many Android publications started to cite it with headlines claiming Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 would work on any Android 4.4+ device. Sadly, this is not the case and many people are just finding out about it now.

Granted, it does work with some Android devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, just not all of them. While there are likely to be some other devices are are incompatible with Samsung Pay on the Gear S3, the big one that has been uncovered is the Pixel and Pixel XL. Samsung has confirmed the feature will not work with either of these two smartphones, but doesn't go into detail to tell us why.

It doesn't seem to be an issue with Android 7.0 Nougat, as Samsung Pay on the Gear S3 has been shown to work on the LG V20. Samsung does say they are "constantly working to expand Samsung Pay to new devices," and to "stay tuned," but doesn't give any details about when or if this will happen for the Pixel phones. For those looking to buy a Gear S3, you can refer to this list and see which devices are guaranteed to work with the Gear S3.

Source: @SamsungPay

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5 Christmas Tech Deals Under $100

With Christmas right around the corner, it's time to get serious about your holiday shopping. In this video, we explore some of the best deals under $100 for anyone who loves their Android device. Check out the deals we found below.

Chromecast Ultra $69

"Stream up to 4K Ultra HD & HDR picture quality over your WiFi network with Chromecast Ultra, a streaming device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port. Chromecast Ultra provides fast, reliable performance with minimal buffering and smoother streaming. Use your iPhone®, iPad®, Android device, or laptop to stream thousands of Cast-enabled apps."

Get this deal

Google Home $99

"Google Home is a voice-activated speaker powered by the Google Assistant. Ask it questions. Tell it to do things. It's your own Google, always ready to help. Just start with, "Ok Google".

A simple voice request triggers Google Home to play music, podcasts or radio from services like Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora and TuneIn.

"

Get this deal

Fire HD 8 Tablet $60

"Choose from millions of Kindle e-book and magazine titles. Connect with the largest online community of book lovers on Goodreads. Discover over a million titles with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Also, listen to your favorite books with Audible. Plus, enjoy exclusive Kindle features you only get from Amazon like X-Ray, Whispersync, Vocabulary Builder, Page Flip, Blue Shade and more."

Get this deal

Philips Hue Bloom $60

"Together, the Friends of Hue Bloom accent light, the bridge and the Hue app will change the way you use light. Play with all the colors in the Hue spectrum. It's stunning, it's smart, and it's tailored for you. A Hue bridge is required, and the Bloom single pack can be used in addition to any of the Hue or Friends of Hue starter kits."

Get this deal

Sony MDRXB950BT/B Extra Bass $88

"Wireless freedom, sleek comfort, and unmistakable bass response add-up to an unforgettable audio experience. Connect via Bluetooth with NFC and let your music loose for up to 20 hours battery life anytime anywhere. 40mm drivers with electronic bass boost will add punch to your favorite tracks."

Get this deal

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OnePlus 3T Gets Fully Functional TWRP and Root

As the first few batches of the OnePlus 3T begin shipping and users get their hands on the new device, they can now dive straight into the world of custom ROMs without sparing nay another thought on complicated procedures or other difficulties.

Thanks to the efforts of XDA Recognized Developer jcadduono, OnePlus 3T owners can flash a fully working and stable build of TWRP 3.0.2. As mentioned, the recovery can do all the tasks expected out of it despite being the first version release for this phone.

Flashing this recovery is easy and involves steps that are very familiar to Nexus users. You enable OEM unlocking in the Developer Options on your phone, and proceed to unlock your bootloader using the "fastboot oem unlock" command via fastboot on your computer. Then you flash the recovery through fastboot using the "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" command…and that is it. To get root, simply boot into recovery and flash the requisite root package (like SuperSU).

Since this recovery is for the OnePlus 3T, it is implied (and even explicitly mentioned, just in case) that it is not compatible with the regular OnePlus 3. Another point to note, the OnePlus 3T's stock boot image has dm-verity enabled, so you will be unable to boot back into system if you swipe on TWRP to enable system modifications without the intention to root via SuperSU. You need to follow along the steps mentioned in the thread to get back into your system, rooted or otherwise. You can either swipe right and just flash SuperSU, or you can swipe right and flash the dm-verity disabler zip to be able to boot back into the system.

For download links, sources and further detailed instructions, head on over to the forum link!

Have you received your OnePlus 3T? Have you tried out the above mentioned TWRP and obtained root? Let us know in the comments below!

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A Look at the HTC 10’s Nougat Update, Rolling out Now!

HTC is wishing all of its flagship users in the USA a Happy Thanksgiving, and it's doing so by announcing the rollout of the official Android 7.0 Nougat update for the HTC 10.

Clocking in at a hefty 1.11GB in size, there is no mistake in assuming that this is a significant update for the HTC 10 which was launched with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. This update is currently rolling out to unlocked HTC 10 users in the USA. Sadly, there is no word on when this update will begin its rollout for other regions of the world, but we can guess that it won't be too long now. Carrier locked HTC 10's would have to wait for their update as well.

Update Info Screen

But if you can't wait, or don't have a HTC 10 for that matter, we received the update on our unlocked HTC 10. Take a look at some screenshots from the update:

The update that is rolling out is Android 7.0 Nougat, and not Android 7.1, in case you got too happy about it. The update contains security patches up to November 1, but the patch level for November 1 is partial only. The full security update with many more critical fixes is dated for November 5, and an additional patch was rolled out on November 6. We are disappointed that HTC did not include the absolute latest in security patches as this is a critical area where being on the cutting edge is preferable over still being vulnerable.

The Settings Menu sees the Nougat overhaul, and HTC has left things untouched for the most part.

The Nougat treatment extends onto the Notification Panel and the Quick Toggles. One thing to note, Night Mode comes "revealed" by default on HTC's minimalistic skin. You do not need any additional apps to enable or toggle it, as you can do so out-of-the-box on the update. Heads up notification is slightly different as well.

App switching experience is improved as well. Double tapping on the recents button switches to the last used app, instead of just going back into the original one. The animation for this switch is smooth as well.

As for bugs, we found one so far in our usage. HTC's "Weather Clock" widget breaks on the Google Now Launcher, while it works fine on the Sense launcher. The widget is iconic (albeit modern in its current avatar) and represents an "HTC" experience ever since widgets were introduced in Android, so we're slightly bummed on this. You can use other widgets, so all is not lost.

Have you tried out the update? How do you like it so far? Let us know in the comments below!

Big thanks to Steven for the screenshots!

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