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How to: Decompile Android APKs and enable in-development features in some apps

If you’ve followed us (or our friends at a couple of Android blogs), you’re probably aware of a little thing we do called APK Teardowns. Basically, we reverse engineer Google’s apps — like Allo, Duo, the Google Phone app, and others — and show you bits and pieces of code (in most cases, strings from a file called strings.xml) from within that might hint at features that are coming in the future. Lately, we’ve also found methods for enabling unreleased features in a select few apps.

But how exactly these things are done hasn’t been well publicized up to this point, and you might be surprised to learn that it’s actually a fairly straightforward process…


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Android Basics: How to install and use third-party keyboards on your Android phone

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One of the oldest features that made Android stand out compared to the competition in its younger days was the fact that users could install third-party keyboards. While this wasn’t a huge thing for most people, it did lend itself to those who enjoyed Android for its customization features. In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through finding and setting up a 3rd party keyboard on any Android device…


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Here’s how to use the Edge screen on Galaxy S7 Edge


For the past few years, since the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung has built special versions of its flagship phones with an ‘Edge’ screen. Initially, with the Galaxy Note Edge, the single, large curved secondary display was mostly there to show off what Samsung could build rather than being particularly useful. It was also huge.

Since then, the Korean tech giant has been working on developing it in to a useful feature. Now, thanks to third party support and an actual a decent implementation as far as functionality goes, the Edge screen on the Galaxy S7 Edge can be genuinely useful at times. Here’s how to use it…


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Android N quick-tip: How to activate split-screen multitasking mode

Android N has been available in the form of a Developer Preview now for a few weeks and is already in to its second preview. Part of this upcoming major software update is the baked-in ability to have two apps side-by-side on the screen, otherwise known as split-screen multitasking. Here’s how you use it…


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Android 6.0 Marshmallow tip: Launch any app or URL from Quick Settings [Video]

Last week a cool new app was launched which lets any user running Android 6.0 Marshmallow launch apps from their quick settings drop-down menu. I decided to take a look and shoot a quick video showing how to use it, and how — despite it taking a little time to set up — it can save a lot of time in your daily workflow. Check it out below…


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Google Maps tip: Send directions to your Android phone from your desktop (Video)

Late last week, Google updated its Maps Android app to version 9.11.0. Although its user interface remains the same, it has one new, awesome feature: you can now send locations, navigation instructions and directions straight to your Android phone.

We put together a short video to guide you through the very quick and painless method. This feature competes directly with that built in to the Mac Maps app included in OS X Mavericks which allows iPhone users to send directions direct from Mac to their phones.


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