Paranoid Android is a ROM that gets a lot of attention from the Nexus, Oppo, and OnePlus communities due to its stock Android appearance and useful features added atop Google’s mobile operating system. With today’s announcement, the hard-working people at Paranoid have announced official support for the Nextbit Robin…
Since releasing last month, ROMs based on Android Nougat have been popping up for various devices over on XDA. We’ve already seen tons of options for devices such as the Nexus 4, OnePlus One, OnePlus 3, and much more. Now the talented folks over at XDA have developed early Nougat-based ROMs for two different generations of Motorola’s best-selling Moto G.
Cyanogen OS is the popular operating system from the team behind CyanogenMod that ships on devices such as the OnePlus One and Wiley Fox. Cyanogen OS offers a handful of features that its aftermarket CyanogenMod ROM solution doesn’t, in large part to make the OS more consumer friendly. Today, however, Cyanogen announced that it is making the added features of Cyanogen OS available as a separate download for users not running the operating system.
The team behind the second most popular custom Android ROM, Paranoid Android, has today updated the software to have a baseline AOSP Lollipop 5.0.2. Along with this first Lollipop-based build, the team has included a bunch of new improvements and features.
Today’s update is “ready to be used in public,” according to the Paranoid Android team. But keep in mind that this release is still an alpha build. “Hope for awesome buttery smoothness, be ready for a bumpy ride,” the announcement post says.
Here’s what new in this version:
- Update the baseline to AOSP Lollipop 5.0.2
- Improvements to Heads Up, such as an option to disable heads up interruptions completely
- Add Quick Unlock
- Extend the power menu
- Animate the volume panel in a more material manner
- Make it possible to skip songs using volume buttons when the device is locked
- Add CM12 Theme Engine
- Fix various small annoyances from AOSP
The last version of Paranoid Android was released four months ago, version 4.6 beta 5.
The tensions between CyanogenMod and OnePlus have been well documented over the recent months, with OnePlus even going as far as removing Cyanogen branding from its most recent shipments of phones. This morning, OnePlus teased an upcoming announcement with the tagline “Back to Basics” and now the company has revealed its own custom ROM. In a post on the OnePlus forums, the company has revealed that it is developing its own ROM that it will call Oxygen OS.
CyanogenMod has announced in a blog post that its custom ROM for Android is now available to Android One users. Android One is Google’s initiative to bring low-cost devices to emerging markets, unveiled at I/O 2014. There are currently three Android One devices available, all of which are now supported by CyanogenMod 11.
Custom ROMs are a common commodity for Android users, with CyanogenMod being so ubiquitous as to be the default operating system for at least one flagship smartphone. But Android Wear devices are now available worldwide, meaning it’s just about time for a developer somewhere to improve the smartwatch software Google has shipped.
Back in November, the CyanogenMod team announced an interesting new project that allowed users to flash the team’s custom ROM in just a few clicks. The app came with a catch, though. It was only available on Windows machines, leaving Mac users in the dark. Today, however, the CyanogenMod team has released its Installer application on Mac OS X.
CyanogenMod installer supports a long-list of devices, ranging from the HTC One and Galaxy S4 to the Nexus S and Galaxy S II. The process is very simple. First, simply join the CyanogenMod Installer for Mac beta group, download the actual app from Google+, connect a compatible Android device, and the Installer will handle most everything else. It’s important to note that the Installer will wipe all the data from your device, so be sure to back it up before beginning the process.
The CyanogenMod team has had a very successful time over the past few months, as it raised $22 million in funding in December in addition to releasing more devices that run the CyanogenMod ROM out of the box.
Check out CyanogenMod’s Google+ page for more.
There’s no doubting that CyanogenMod is one of the most well-known custom ROMs available, with it being available for a plethora of new and old devices. Last month, the CyanogenMod team announced that it had raised $7 million in funding and was looking into a direct-to-consumer route for installing the ROM. Today, Cyanogen Inc. has announced (via Droid Life) the CyanogenMod Installer. This app, available on Google Play now, allows users to install the custom ROM incredibly easily.
Once the app is downloaded to one of the compatible devices (list here), it will pair to companion computer software in order to perform the ROM flash. All the user must do is plug their device into the computer and simply hit “start.” The process will wipe everything from the device and install the latest CyanogenMod build. Both the app and computer software are free to download.
As far as device compatibility goes, Cyanogen says that it “will continue to work on supporting additional devices beyond the initial set,” but that for the moment, the software supports “the majority of flagship models currently on the market.”
This is an incredible feat for a company that only received funding last month. CyanogenMod Installer will allow for people who are not technologically-inclined to easily install the latest version of Android to their device.
You can download the app from the Play Store now, and the computer software from Cyanogen’s website.
If you own a T-Mobile Moto X and are impatient to upgrade to KitKat (aka Android 4.4), the firmware has been leaked on xdaDevelopers.
As ever with unofficial ROM flashes, caution is your watchword. Make sure you have a good backup, and read the thread (a continuation of an earlier 4.3 leak) carefully before deciding whether or not to proceed.
Just a few days after its announcement, Google’s new Chromecast stick has already been rooted. The rooting process, as detailed by GTV Hacker, is similar to almost every Android phone. During the announcement last week, Google said that the Chromecast was powered by Chrome OS, but GTV Hacker has found something different.
The blog says that after rooting and doing a little digging around within the software, it looks like the Chromecast is running software closer to Android or Google TV, not Chrome OS as Google implied. While this doesn’t mean all that much for the end user, it does leave the door open for an eventual port of the full Google TV operating to the tiny HDMI stick or the ability to install standalone apps at some point.
We had a lot of internal discussion on this, and have concluded that it’s more Android than ChromeOS. To be specific, it’s actually a modified Google TV release, but with all of the Bionic / Dalvik stripped out and replaced with a single binary for Chromecast. Since the Marvell DE3005 SOC running this is a single core variant of the 88DE3100, most of the Google TV code was reused. So, although it’s not going to let you install an APK or anything, its origins: the bootloader, kernel, init scripts, binaries, are all from the Google TV.
We are not ruling out the ability for this to become a Google TV “stick”.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google has been working on an Android-powered set-top box, so it’s possible that it the device may be some sort of advanced variation of the Chromecast.
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Google is updating Nexus devices to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean via an over-the-air update today.
Those with the GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus, who don’t feel like waiting for a rollout, can grab the firmware manually from Google’s servers now, while the v4.2 ROM for the Nexus 7 is also available.
Galaxy Nexus owners need to download the “takju” ROM (.zip), and then install manually or use a ROM Manager. Nexus 7 owners have a similar process: download the Jelly Bean update (.zip), and then manually install or use a ROM Manager.
As SlashGear noted, ClockWorkMod’s ROM Manger in the Google Play Store is a free and easy solution. However, if the above steps confused you, just wait it out. The update will land over the next few days.
[via SlashGear]
According to a post on XDA-Developers, some Android users discovered Google Play Music is limiting the number of device deauthorizations per account. The new 10-device limit apparently rolled out sometime over the last 60 days and users are now beginning to receive a message informing them they have hit the limit. AndroidandMe pointed out the number of deauthorizations is actually limited to four per year, despite the 10-device limit.
As noted in the post, the issue is specifically problematic for users who often flash new ROMs to their device, because each ROM is recognized as a new device. Fortunately, Google agreed to remove older devices for some users who contacted Google Support via email, but the only solution otherwise is to create a new account and re-upload your music. The post on XDA explained another option is to “restore a Nandroid backup from a ROM that was working before.” This is clearly an issue Google will have to address in the near future…
A user on the XDAdevelopers forum has posted a somewhat stable ROM for Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Nexus S. This build shouldn’t be mistaken as complete though, seeing as it does have a number of bugs.Problems with this ROM include 3G connectivity (for some), data, NFC, panorama mode, and camera will force close with the first boot. If you’re just dying to checkout Ice Cream Sandwich this ROM is for you but shouldn’t be used day-today. Get the full details here.
