Thursday, 21 August 2014

Summary #1: 22.8.14

Welcome to the first XDA Developers Report Sumamary, from 22 August, 2014. It's a light load today, but it is a Friday, for God's sake. I'm not going to give you an essay here. I have 3 bits (short-form snippets of news) and 1 byte (long(er)-form news section). So please, sit back, relax, and read this week's Summary.

Bits (3)


This ROM for Sony Xperia Z2 looks nice. It packs a fair number of pretty standard ROM features, but what I like about it are these two things: the camera and sound improvements. The camera app now opens faster, and the already-good camera is made even better. The sound improvements? Those quiet speakers/headphones are now louder, and there's a 30-step volume control, a feature that definitely makes life better. Overall? It's not much, but it's got it where it counts.


Samsung's TouchWiz is well, ugly. Despite this, owners of Galaxy S5 devices on XDA have done a pretty bang-up job of making their home screens look good. At least on most of them, I can’t really see any obvious custom launcher or ROM, so this is pretty authentic. None of that Nova Launcher/Google Play Edition malarkey. Well done, XDA Developers. Honestly? Nova Launcher and stock Android are a hell of a lot better looking (sorry guys).


It's not really a problem, but LG's G3 skin is so BLAND. Seriously. It's nothing advanced, and it might not work on your particular G3 device, but PurpleDrake Lite is designed to root your device, bring you back to stock, and let Google make  your phone a bit more colourful. And besides, why wouldn't you root it? You get so much more from your phone.

NOTE: I hear there have have layout issues with my One M8 ROMs guide. A fix is coming today, don't worry.


Bytes (1)

Honestly? This week's Byte is more a sad reminder than a news piece, but I think we all should be reminded. This sort of stuff matters:


XDA has rules - guidelines that keep the professional and well-oiled forum it is - and this thread serves to remind us that people aren't always privy to following them. Read this complaint and the replies, and remember what makes XDA so great, and the stringent regulations that keep it that way. The crux of the complaint? People in the Dev forums not following guidelines. Ridiculous.

I’ve made zero posts on XDA, so I get level zero rights. I can’t post on certain forums. If I have a question for a dev about their ROM, I have to PM them. I’m surprised I even HAVE that privilege. This is all to stop us untrusted noobs from messing everything up. If you have the right to post a dev forum, or post in one, use it wisely. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Enjoy being more equal, guys.


That’s it guys. Check back next week for more from XDA. Subscribe to my Atom feed (if you can find it), and be sure to leave a comment. Over and out.
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Monday, 18 August 2014

In Depth Look: Customs ROMs for your One M8

HTC's Sense UI skin for its Android phones isn't as bad as it used to be, but the concept that skins are good isn't easy to grasp. Making your M8 a Google Play Edition is one thing, but putting a custom ROM on it that adds more features - that's another. Here's a showcase of XDA's top custom ROMs for HTC's One M8. Not all IDLs will be lists, some may foucus on only one ROM, but anyhow, here goes.

Note: I accidentally found some of these in the Verizon section.To the best of my knowledge though, they should work with any M8. Please leave a comment if you've found it doesn't work with your non-VZW phone.


SinLessROM is a custom ROM for your HTC One M8 that lets you Android 4.4.4, the ART ahead-of-time compiler, performance enhancements and a heap of customisation tools. As well as making your One M8 faster and smoother, it also promises battery life and sound improvements, which are always welcome, even on a phone with the legendary Boomsound front-firing speakers. My favourite bit, though? The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 is running at the 2.5 GHz clock rate that it's capable of - the ordinary One is at 2.3 GHz - and while this may not seem to matter, there's no reason you shouldn't run at max clock rate.

Tranquil MS - http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one-m8/development/rom-sinlessrom-gpe-v3-4-3-google-play-t2818550 - Created by XDA user fernando sor / Badseed (From VZW threads, though devs claim in post it should work on anything)

Badseed has an interesting ROM any M8 owner can use - and should. It's mostly made up of new customisations and back-end improvements. There's also some interesting tricks you can do with the lock screen - the more customisation, the better - and some sound improvements. It also comes with plenty of themes - you won't have trouble making your phone look unique - and they've even ported across some of the useful HTC apps, and gotten rid of carrier bloat at the same time. Badseed's ROM is really about doing more with what you have, making things better, not completely replacing them.


CyanHacker is a pretty powerful ROM that really lets you under the AOSP skin, what with its Kernel Tweaker and all. But wait, there's more! There's a Moto X-style Active Display, the very postmodern PlayStation-looking soft keys of Android L, and a Battery Saver tool. You can use the CyanogenMod Theme Engine and Theme Showcase store to shake stuff up a bit. Plus, CyanHacker offers you a Screen Recorder, which could come in handy, and gives you some useful lock screen upgrades.


ViperOne for HTC One M8 doesn't actually bake in many features. What it does instead (which I rather like) is it gives the user extreme granular control, and thus, the power to truly make their One M8 their own. It also includes a cool LMT-Launcher-style pie that you can use, as well Android 4.4.3, stock-like Android, and the myriad advantages of a matured custom ROM by a solid development team.

Have you tried any of these mods? Any you can recommend? Leave me a comment below with your opinions on this list of custom ROMs for the HTC One M8.


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Thursday, 14 August 2014

Introduction

This is a blog that covers the latest from the XDA Developers forum.

Watch this space every Friday 7-8 AM BST for a quick digest of all the latest and greatest in the Internet's most famous modding forums.

But if you pop back more often, you'll catch an In Depth Look at something cool. Something exciting. Something you won't want to miss.

If you live out of the UK, here are your times:

2-3 AM EST
11 PM - 0 AM PST

Like I said, watch this space. It could get interesting.

Note: Tomorrow (15 August) there won't be a Digest. I don't have the time to put one together. Sorry. But there will be an In Depth Look soon.
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