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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