XDA Recognized Developer franciscofranco‘s kernel is not only one of the most successful custom kernels for Android smartphones, but it’s one of the most successful projects on our forums. It’s available for a wide array of devices and includes a series of tweaks to improve the battery life without sacrificing the performance that you’re used to. Another reason this kernel is so popular is because of FK Kernel Manager, franciscofranco’s self-made kernel manager app.
FK Kernel Manager has evolved to become one of the best and most complete kernel manager apps out there since it was revamped in version 4.0 last year, yet it’s obviously fine-tuned to support the parameters of franciscofranco’s own custom kernel. This kernel is not available for every phone, so some users might miss out on the experience of using this app. This has slowly been changing over the course of the past few months, though. Now, as of version 5.0, the app is completely untied from Franco Kernel and has been renamed from FK Kernel Manager to just “Franco Kernel Manager.” Not only does this update allow you to tweak any kernel you use on your phone (depending on the available sysfs parameters), but it will also be fully supported as it will allow you to download any kernel from within the app itself.
I'm super excited for this update! FK Kernel Manager is now called Franco Kernel Manager. Why? Now you can add built-in support for downloading any kernel! It's super simple to support, just ask your fav kernel dev!
If the kernel you use is not currently downloadable from Franco Kernel Manager, your custom kernel developer should easily be able to add support, according to Franco himself. Roughly 20 different kernel developers tested and provided feedback for the update before it was released. The app will, then, not only serve as just something to tweak your kernel settings, but it will also serve as a hub for everything custom kernel-related as you will be able to download and update whatever kernel you have right from the app. If you’re a custom kernel user of any kind, then you will surely love this update.
In case you don’t have the app, it’s available for $3.49 on the Google Play Store. Check it out!
The Xiaomi Mi A2 began its journey with Android 8.1 Oreo when the phone launched in July 2018, and in India the next month. The Mi A2 received its stable Android 9 Pie update in November 2018, bringing the phone up to speed on the then-latest version of Android. Android 10 launched for the public in September 2019, and we’re already in January 2020 — for Android One users running a rather barebones build of Google’s Android, this has been a long wait. We spotted the Android 10 kernel sources for the Mi A2 and the Mi A3 yesterday, and now, the Xiaomi Mi A2 has finally received its official Android 10 update.
Mi A2 (device codename: jasmine) gets its official Android 10 update with a cool 1.3GB update.
While the update is considered a “stable” update, users who have installed the update report that there are a few rough edges still present. There are UI glitches at a few places, and features like VoWiFi are missing. APEX packages also require that you have a locked bootloader. On the flip side, it is Android 10, and no issues regarding performance or overheating have been reported yet. The bootloader unlocked warning also no longer shows up. You also get December 2019’s security patches.
This update should be rolling out to devices very soon, likely taking the form of a staged rollout. You can wait for the update to reach your device, as sometimes, some critical bugs tend to be found only in the broader rollout stages and often cause the phased rollout to stop and a new update to be issued. If you are impatient, you can install the update by downloading it from the link below.
It is still advised that you backup your data before installing this update. Since Android 10 is now out for the Mi A2, we expect the update to arrive on the Mi A3 soon, too.
Thanks to Telegram user Manish4586 for the screenshots and XDA Member kacskrz for the download links!
The Xiaomi Mi A2 began its journey with Android 8.1 Oreo when the phone launched in July 2018, and in India the next month. The Mi A2 received its stable Android 9 Pie update in November 2018, bringing the phone up to speed on the then-latest version of Android. Android 10 launched for the public in September 2019, and we’re already in January 2020 — for Android One users running a rather barebones build of Google’s Android, this has been a long wait. We spotted the Android 10 kernel sources for the Mi A2 and the Mi A3 yesterday, and now, the Xiaomi Mi A2 has finally received its official Android 10 update.
Mi A2 (device codename: jasmine) gets its official Android 10 update with a cool 1.3GB update.
While the update is considered a “stable” update, users who have installed the update report that there are a few rough edges still present. There are UI glitches at a few places, and features like VoWiFi are missing. APEX packages also require that you have a locked bootloader. On the flip side, it is Android 10, and no issues regarding performance or overheating have been reported yet. The bootloader unlocked warning also no longer shows up. You also get December 2019’s security patches.
This update should be rolling out to devices very soon, likely taking the form of a staged rollout. You can wait for the update to reach your device, as sometimes, some critical bugs tend to be found only in the broader rollout stages and often cause the phased rollout to stop and a new update to be issued. If you are impatient, you can install the update by downloading it from the link below.
It is still advised that you backup your data before installing this update. Since Android 10 is now out for the Mi A2, we expect the update to arrive on the Mi A3 soon, too.
Thanks to Telegram user Manish4586 for the screenshots and XDA Member kacskrz for the download links!
A U.S. Government-funded smartphone comes with pre-installed malware, researchers at Malwarebytes have discovered. The malware can’t be removed without rendering the device unusable. The smartphone in question is the UMX U683CL and is sold as part of Virgin Mobile’s Assurance Wireless program. This is a federal Lifeline Assistance program. Founded by the FCC in 1985, Lifeline is a program intended to make communication services more affordable to low-income consumers. The UMX U683CL costs only $35 through the program, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210, 1GB of RAM, 5-inch 480p LCD, 2000 mAh battery, and Android Go. It’s certainly not a bad offering, but it seems that the price of affordability comes at the cost of privacy. The team at Malwarebytes found not one, but two instances of pre-installed malware on the UMX 683CL.
“Wireless Update”, the return of Adups
The first application is the more minor of the two, and self-identifies as “Wireless Update”. It’s the only way to update the device, but it also has the capability of automatically installing updates in the background, without the user’s consent. Malwarebytes identified this malware as Android/PUP.Riskware.Autoins.Fota.fbcvd, or Adups.
On a side note, the inclusion of Adups malware is actually what led to BLU’s smartphones being pulled from the Amazon marketplace. BLU eventually settled with the FTC. Adups had been collecting a lot of user data, including “full-body of text messages, contact lists, call history with full telephone numbers, and unique device identifiers including the IMSI and IMEI”. This data was then transmitted back home. In the case of the UMX U683CL, the app immediately begins installing applications in the background once the device is powered on and connected to the internet. The apps are free of malware thus far, but this is still entirely done without user consent. This does not mean they will be clean in the future, either.
Pre-installed and unremovable malware
But the worst comes in the form of the second application, Android/Trojan.Dropper.Agent.UMX, which is a heavily obfuscated and vital part of the system. It comes as part of the device’s own settings application, so removing it would render the device unusable. Malwarebytes matched the trojan with other malware of Chinese origin thanks to shared service names, along with code that matches in every aspect apart from variable names. It also shares a hidden library called com.android.google.bridge.LibImp, which loads another trojan known as Android/Trojan.HiddenAds.WRACT. It does not come in immediately, and the researchers at Malwarebytes eventually did receive it. This new malware presents itself as a notification simply titled “Full”, with no other identifying information. It’s possible to uninstall it HiddenAds, although it’s unknown whether or not it’s gone for good once you do.
Assurance Wireless has been contacted, no response yet
To make matters worse, the researchers at Malwarebytes contacted Assurance Wireless with their findings and asked why a US-funded device was being sold with pre-installed malware. So far, they have received no reply after giving adequate time for a response. It’s further made deplorable that a smartphone aimed at those with lower incomes have to compromise on privacy, as budget should not dictate whether a consumer has a right to privacy or not. There’s not really any way around it either – uninstalling “Wireless Update” prevents updates (though it’s unlikely it got many anyway) while uninstalling the settings application is more or less impossible without bricking your phone. There shouldn’t even need to be a choice between not having malware, or having a usable phone.
Malwarebytes was unable to confirm whether or not UMX had knowingly pre-installed malware. While the malware appears to be Chinese in origin and the device is produced by a Chinese company, it could instead just be a coincidence. Malwarebytes also makes it clear that this device isn’t alone, and that they have heard of numerous reports of other budget smartphones launching with pre-installed malware as well.
A U.S. Government-funded smartphone comes with pre-installed malware, researchers at Malwarebytes have discovered. The malware can’t be removed without rendering the device unusable. The smartphone in question is the UMX U683CL and is sold as part of Virgin Mobile’s Assurance Wireless program. This is a federal Lifeline Assistance program. Founded by the FCC in 1985, Lifeline is a program intended to make communication services more affordable to low-income consumers. The UMX U683CL costs only $35 through the program, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210, 1GB of RAM, 5-inch 480p LCD, 2000 mAh battery, and Android Go. It’s certainly not a bad offering, but it seems that the price of affordability comes at the cost of privacy. The team at Malwarebytes found not one, but two instances of pre-installed malware on the UMX 683CL.
“Wireless Update”, the return of Adups
The first application is the more minor of the two, and self-identifies as “Wireless Update”. It’s the only way to update the device, but it also has the capability of automatically installing updates in the background, without the user’s consent. Malwarebytes identified this malware as Android/PUP.Riskware.Autoins.Fota.fbcvd, or Adups.
On a side note, the inclusion of Adups malware is actually what led to BLU’s smartphones being pulled from the Amazon marketplace. BLU eventually settled with the FTC. Adups had been collecting a lot of user data, including “full-body of text messages, contact lists, call history with full telephone numbers, and unique device identifiers including the IMSI and IMEI”. This data was then transmitted back home. In the case of the UMX U683CL, the app immediately begins installing applications in the background once the device is powered on and connected to the internet. The apps are free of malware thus far, but this is still entirely done without user consent. This does not mean they will be clean in the future, either.
Pre-installed and unremovable malware
But the worst comes in the form of the second application, Android/Trojan.Dropper.Agent.UMX, which is a heavily obfuscated and vital part of the system. It comes as part of the device’s own settings application, so removing it would render the device unusable. Malwarebytes matched the trojan with other malware of Chinese origin thanks to shared service names, along with code that matches in every aspect apart from variable names. It also shares a hidden library called com.android.google.bridge.LibImp, which loads another trojan known as Android/Trojan.HiddenAds.WRACT. It does not come in immediately, and the researchers at Malwarebytes eventually did receive it. This new malware presents itself as a notification simply titled “Full”, with no other identifying information. It’s possible to uninstall it HiddenAds, although it’s unknown whether or not it’s gone for good once you do.
Assurance Wireless has been contacted, no response yet
To make matters worse, the researchers at Malwarebytes contacted Assurance Wireless with their findings and asked why a US-funded device was being sold with pre-installed malware. So far, they have received no reply after giving adequate time for a response. It’s further made deplorable that a smartphone aimed at those with lower incomes have to compromise on privacy, as budget should not dictate whether a consumer has a right to privacy or not. There’s not really any way around it either – uninstalling “Wireless Update” prevents updates (though it’s unlikely it got many anyway) while uninstalling the settings application is more or less impossible without bricking your phone. There shouldn’t even need to be a choice between not having malware, or having a usable phone.
Malwarebytes was unable to confirm whether or not UMX had knowingly pre-installed malware. While the malware appears to be Chinese in origin and the device is produced by a Chinese company, it could instead just be a coincidence. Malwarebytes also makes it clear that this device isn’t alone, and that they have heard of numerous reports of other budget smartphones launching with pre-installed malware as well.
Last year, Samsung managed to put out some amazing flagship smartphones. But something that often goes unmentioned is that they also doubled down in the midrange and low-end spectrum of the market. Samsung’s midrange strategy, which included different smartphone lines such as the Galaxy J and Galaxy A-lines of smartphones, just wasn’t cutting it anymore. That changed with the revamped Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71.
At CES 2020 in Las Vegas, we managed to get a close look at the Galaxy A51 and the Galaxy A71, the newer-generation successors to the mid-rangers Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A70. Both the A51 and the A71 were announced a month back, yet an international release is now imminent. For everything that their low price point may imply, including lower specs and build quality, they exude Samsung’s DNA by all means, featuring hole-punch AMOLED displays, multiple-camera setups, and a design language that’s pretty similar, all-in-all, to what we expect to see on the upcoming Galaxy S20 flagships.
Samsung Galaxy A51
Specification
Samsung Galaxy A51
Dimensions and Weight
158.5 x 73.6 x 7.9 mm;
172g
Display
6.5″ FHD+ (1080 x 2400) Super AMOLED;
Infinity-O display
The Galaxy A51 is, evidently, the lower-end one out of the two, yet in the hand, it feels just as premium as the Galaxy A71 does. Just like its predecessor, the Galaxy A50 and the Galaxy A50s, the Galaxy A51 comes in a plastic body, with a plastic frame as well as a shiny plastic back. And talking about the back, it is probably the most noteworthy design feature of the device. It has a gradient finish (with the white variant in particular, which is the one we handled, being pretty reminiscent of the Galaxy Note 10’s Aura Glow color option with rainbow-ish reflections and shades), and the back has a polygonal effect with an X-shape, which really helps highlight this rainbow effect even further. Samsung calls this effect “Prism Crush”, a tagline which is also present in all color options the device is going on sale with.
The Galaxy A50s, which served as a revision to the Galaxy A50, also featured a similar polygonal effect, and it’s really eye-grabbing—even more so in person. The phone feels fairly light in the hand, which is probably helped by the device’s plastic build, and despite its 6.5-inch display, it doesn’t feel very big either.
Right by the top-left corner, there’s the rear quad camera setup which, in tandem with Samsung’s new design language for 2020, is housed in a square-shaped module, reminiscent of other smartphones such as the Google Pixel 4 and the iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max. Recently launched Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S10 Lite and the Galaxy Note 10 Lite also feature such a square-shaped module, and the Galaxy S20 lineup is also expected to feature something like this. This camera setup, in particular, features a 48MP main sensor coupled with a 5MP depth sensor, a 5MP macro sensor, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, so it’s set to be a very versatile camera module.
The phone also features a headphone jack by the bottom, which is a feature Samsung started to do away with, unfortunately, with the Galaxy Note 10. We’re glad to see them keeping it, even if it’s just in their midrange phones. The left side of the phone houses the SIM card/SD card tray while the right side features the power button and the volume rocker.
Going to the front, it’s dominated by a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a hole-punch camera, seemingly smaller than what the Note 10 lineup had, and featuring a 2400×1080 resolution with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The hole punch camera, which is centered, just like the one in the Galaxy Note 10, instead of in the corner, is a 32MP camera sensor that should be able to provide you very decent selfies, and the display itself is definitely the quality that you would expect from a Samsung panel in recent times. The fingerprint sensor, just like its predecessor, is embedded into the display.
As for other features, there is also a 4,000 mAh battery which should provide you usable battery life to get through your day. There’s also up to 6 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of storage—expandable, in case that’s not enough for you. The device is running Android 10 out of the box with One UI 2.0 on top, showing, again, Samsung’s renewed commitment to software.
Samsung Galaxy A71
Specification
Samsung Galaxy A71
Dimensions and Weight
163.6 x 76.0 x 7.7 mm;
179g
Display
6.7″ FHD+ (1080 x 2400) Super AMOLED;
Infinity-O display
The Galaxy A71 is, for the most part, very similar to the Galaxy A51. Obviously, it’s supposed to be higher-end, although, at least in my opinion, there are more similarities than differences. It’s bigger, yes—it features a 6.7-inch panel instead of a 6.5-inch one like the Galaxy A51, and because of this, it has a bigger footprint, although not that much bigger despite what it may initially look like. What’s bigger, too, is the hole punch at the top of the display. Just like the A51, it’s centered, yet it’s slightly bigger. It has the same 32MP front-facing camera, so there’s no reason why it should be bigger, yet it is. It definitely does not look bad, though.
Going to the back, the same “Prism Crush” multicolor effect is present in this unit, although the polygonal effect is definitely not as pronounced. The camera hump in the top left corner looks the exact same as the one in the Galaxy A51 and the camera setup itself is pretty similar as well—almost identical, in fact. The only difference between the two is that the Galaxy A71 carries a 64MP main sensor—just like the Galaxy A70s—instead of the Galaxy A51’s 48MP main sensor. Both devices look as outstanding in person as they look in renders.
Again, going to the front, it is almost entirely dominated by the display with very, very small bezels to be seen. The punch-hole, again, is more prominent than what we saw in the lower-end variant, yet it’s a similar size to the Note 10, so again, far from something to worry about. The fingerprint sensor is embedded under the display, and unlike the higher-end Samsung Galaxy S10/Note 10 phones, they feature an optical fingerprint scanner instead of an ultrasonic one. Both optical and ultrasonic sensors have their pros and cons and I wouldn’t call one superior to the other, so this really comes down to a matter of taste. Optical sensors usually come with cheaper phones, though.
Internally, the phone features a 4,500 mAh battery (up from the 4,000 mAh one in the Galaxy A51) and carries a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of internal storage which, yes, you can expand with a microSD card to fit your needs. The device is running Android 10 out of the box with One UI 2.0 on top, just like the A51, which is great to see as it means that both devices will get updates to, at least, Android 11 and Android 12 down the road.
OnePlus had big-time success last year. The OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro, as well as their revisions, the OnePlus 7T, and the OnePlus 7T Pro, upped the ante for OnePlus and proved the world that they could, too, make actual flagships instead of just “flagship killers.” The OnePlus 7 Pro is widely credited as being the first device to kickstart the trend of high refresh rate displays among mainstream smartphones, featuring a 90Hz panel that looks as buttery smooth as it sounds. Then, the OnePlus 7T also adopted this 90Hz panel and brought it to a lower price point. Now, OnePlus is set to launch their successors, the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro, very soon.
It’s also plausible that the devices will be compatible with more carriers this year. With the OnePlus 6T, OnePlus managed to launch a device of their own on T-Mobile, which was a big deal as this helped them consolidate their presence in the US even more. The OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnePlus 7T were also launched on T-Mobile as well and thus saw a high degree of success stateside, but now, it seems that OnePlus is looking to expand their horizons a bit with an official Verizon launch. Their devices have been largely compatible with Verizon’s network since the OnePlus 7 Pro’s launch, but this would be the first time a OnePlus device would be sold through Verizon officially, including all of Verizon’s app suite in tow. We knew for a fact that Verizon wanted to sell OnePlus devices this year, and the OnePlus 8 may be the first one.
A Verizon launch should also be a much bigger deal than a T-Mobile launch, as Verizon holds a way bigger userbase than T-Mobile does. Not only this, but the OnePlus 8 would also be fully compatible with Verizon’s 5G Ultra WideBand network out of the box as well as other Verizon features such as Wi-Fi calling, VoLTE, and more. If this is true, this would also be one of 20 5G devices Verizon is planning to launch in 2020.
A Verizon launch, in turn, should mean that way more American customers will be able to enjoy OnePlus devices in 2020. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
Are you excited about the upcoming OnePlus 8? Let us know down below.
