xda-developers: mai 2020

dimanche 31 mai 2020

Taskbar 6.0 enables a Samsung DeX-like desktop mode experience on some Android 10+ devices

Android 10 has been out for nearly 9 months now, but one of its best features, desktop mode, is still widely unknown. That’s because it’s technically hidden in Android 10, requiring a development flag to be enabled as well as support built-in to the stock launcher app. Thankfully, the developer of Taskbar has figured out a way to make Android 10’s desktop mode far more useful, bringing a Samsung DeX-like experience to some devices.

For some background, Android 10 added a “Secondary Launcher” activity to Launcher3, the AOSP launcher app that Google’s Pixel Launcher and many other OEM launcher apps are derived from. When an Android device with support for display output is hooked up to an external display, this Secondary Launcher activity is shown on the external display. However, because this Secondary Launcher is extremely barebones, it’s not useful to use as a productivity tool. Third-party app developers figured out that it’s possible for their own launcher apps to replace the stock launcher on the external display, and that’s exactly what XDA Senior Member farmerbb has implemented in Taskbar 6.0.

Taskbar is an open-source Android app that puts a floating start menu and recent apps tray on top of any screen. Since it supports launching Android apps in freeform multi-window, it even comes pre-installed on Bliss OS, a popular Android port for x86 PCs. Back in early November, farmerbb released a fork of the open-source Lawnchair launcher with Taskbar integrated into it. This gave us an early look at what Android 10’s hidden desktop mode could look like with some development effort, but there were some glaring issues that needed fixing. The desktop mode user experience needed fixing so that freeform multi-window behavior worked as you would expect, the setup process needed to be cleaned up so you could control the DPI/UI without needing another app, and a better solution had to be found so that you wouldn’t have to change your default launcher. Now, farmerbb has updated Taskbar to version 6.0 to address all of these issues.

Taskbar 6.0 Samsung DeX-like desktop mode on Android 10

Desktop Mode with Taskbar 6.0

Setting up Taskbar’s desktop mode is quite easy:

In Developer Options, turn on “enable freeform windows” and “force desktop mode” and then reboot your device. (The latter may be unavailable on some OEM software like ZenUI/ROG UI, but don’t worry if it’s not there.)
Install Taskbar 6.0 (older versions won’t work) from Google Play.
Open Taskbar’s settings and go to “Desktop Mode.” Enable it and grant the app permission to “display over other apps” as this is required for the app’s floating start menu to appear. Then, set the app as your default home app. Don’t worry, though, as the next prompt will ask you to set your preferred/primary launcher app, so Taskbar won’t be hijacking your home screen. (Note that on some devices, changing the default launcher will disable Android 10’s full-screen navigation gestures.)
Next, I highly recommend you follow the instructions to “enable additional settings” for desktop mode. This will allow you to lower the DPI so UI elements aren’t enormous on the external display, to hide the navigation bar, and to even dim the phone’s screen to save battery life while it’s connected to the external display. You’ll have to set up ADB access on your PC and run the following command:
```
adb shell pm grant com.farmerbb.taskbar android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS
```
(If you are using Taskbar’s “Donate” version, replace “com.farmerbb.taskbar” with “com.farmerbb.taskbar.paid” in the above command.)
Finally, check to make sure that “usage access” has been enabled for Taskbar. Doing so will allow the app to show a row of your recently used applications in the start menu.
Now, simply connect your phone to your external display using a USB Type-C to Type-C cable (if your external display supports Type-C input) or via a USB Type-C to HDMI adapter.

Once connected, you can use the start menu to launch apps, search for apps, add app icons to the home screen, open some system menus, and more. You can tap the icon next to the start menu to add/show widgets. You can launch multiple instances of windows, and in some cases like Google Chrome, have multiple tabs.

There are loads of other options and changes in Taskbar 6.0, so I recommend you read the full changelog available here.

Display Output on Android – Sadly Still Limited

Who might this be useful for? Samsung, Huawei/Honor, and LG offer their own desktop mode experiences, so there’s you won’t find much use out of Taskbar’s desktop mode if you own a smartphone from one of those brands. ASUS, OnePlus, Essential, Google, and Xiaomi don’t offer their own desktop mode experiences, so if you’re on at least Android 10 on a device from one of these brands, then you may find Taskbar’s desktop mode feature to be useful. If you want a desktop mode experience to be more productive, then I recommend you use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If you have a portable external monitor/laptop chassis like the NexDock 2, then you’ll have an even better experience with Taskbar.

Keep in mind that in order to actually make use of this feature, your smartphone must support display output. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 and 700 series chipsets natively support DisplayPort Alternate Mode over a USB 3.1 Type-C port, but some vendors (like Google) have disabled this functionality on their smartphones. If your device doesn’t support DisplayPort Alternate Mode, then you may have luck using a DisplayLink-certified adapter and the DisplayLink Presenter app to mirror the phone’s display. Screen mirroring using a DisplayLink adapter isn’t as ideal as native desktop mode through a standard connector, but it’s better than not having any display output at all! Fortunately, Taskbar can still be used if you’re just mirroring your phone’s display so long as the app is set as the default launcher, but you’ll have to use the developer’s SecondScreen app to change the resolution and density.

The biggest downside to desktop mode on Android right now is the limited app support. Even though Samsung and Huawei have both offered desktop mode experiences for years and sell millions of smartphones a year, there’s not a lot of demand from users to support desktop mode. That means that a lot of Android apps out there aren’t optimized for larger screens. Google wants to change that because broader Android app support for larger screens will benefit Chromebooks as well, but sadly, there’s still a long way to go before most Android apps support larger screens. Thus, while using Taskbar, you may notice that some apps refuse to run or just look terrible, and there’s not much you can do to fix that.

Download Taskbar 6.0

If you have one of the following smartphones, I recommend giving this app a try:

You can download Taskbar 6.0 from the Google Play Store link below or compile the app from its source code on GitHub. The app is totally free to use, but there’s a $1.99 donate version in case you want to support farmerbb’s development efforts.

Taskbar Forum Thread on XDA ||| Taskbar Source Code on GitHub

Taskbar - PC-style productivity for Android (Free, Google Play) →

Taskbar (Donate Version) ($1.99, Google Play) →

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samedi 30 mai 2020

LineageOS 17.1 adds support for new OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other devices following server hack

LineageOS is the most popular AOSP-based custom ROM out there. Its origin can be traced back to CyanogenMod, which was itself not only the most well-known custom ROM many years ago but also the reason the OnePlus One was so well-received by the community. Over the years, the team behind LineageOS has kept the project updated with new versions of Android for dozens of Android devices. The latest version, LineageOS 17.1, is based on Android 10 and supports a long list of devices. Now, the custom ROM team has added official support for their latest release for a lot of devices from OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, and more. Newly added devices include the Essential Phone, Moto X (2014), Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016), Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, and more.

The LineageOS team recently decided to cease the development of LineageOS 15.1 and jump to version 17.1 rather than 17.0 after they decided to rebase on top of the updated AOSP release corresponding to the Pixel 4/4 XL launch. With the update, the team also announced Lineage Recovery as the default option to install LineageOS on officially supported phones. 17.1 also added a new ThemePicker, a partial screenshot feature, and a lot more.

You can find the new LineageOS nightly builds for each of the following devices by tapping on “Get the builds here” on their respective Wiki pages. All of the devices listed here except for the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos are supported by LineageOS 17.1. The newly added Grand 2 Duos is supported by LineageOS 16 based on Android 9 Pie.

Device + XDA Forum Link	Code-name + Wiki Page	Maintainer(s)
Essential Phone	mata	haggertk, intervigil, npjohnson, rashed
Motorola Moto X (2014)	victara	jro1979, linckandrea, npjohnson
OnePlus 2	oneplus2	OzzysCmAcc, aviraxp
OnePlus 7	guacamoleb (mirror)*	AshwinRC
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016)	a3xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)	a5xelte	danwood76, Stricted
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos	ms013g (mirror)*	djchittoor
Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo	s5neolte	danwood76, Stricted
Wileyfox Swift	crackling	115ek
Xiaomi Mi A2	jasmine_sprout (mirror)*	mikeioannina
Xiaomi Mi 6X	wayne (mirror)*	Isaac Chen
Xiaomi Mi Note 3	jason	dianlujitao
Xiaomi Redmi 2	wt88047	nicknitewolf
Xiaomi Redmi 7	onclite (mirror)*	Dhina17
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro	whyred (mirror)*	srfarias, SebaUbuntu
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro	twolip (mirror)*	DD3Boh
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7	lavender (mirror)*	erfanoabdi

*Some of the download pages for newly added devices return a code 500 “Internal Server Error.” Until this bug is fixed, you can download the official builds from the official LineageOS download mirror. For those devices that require it, the download mirror for LineageOS Recovery can be found here.

Be sure to read the installation instructions for each of the devices as well as the other documentation linked such as for Lineage Recovery. Also, be sure to take a backup of your data before you start with the installation process.

Why the delay?

If you’re wondering why LineageOS has had a delay in getting new builds up, the answer is because LineageOS suffered a hack in early May. According to a statement published by the team on May 3rd, an attacker “used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.” Salt is an open-source framework to manage servers that is used by loads of open-source projects like LineageOS. On April 30th, Cybersecurity firm F-Secure publicly disclosed a vulnerability in Salt that could be used to bypass authorization. Attackers quickly targeted Salt installations that were unpatched, resulting in dozens of servers being hacked.

The LineageOS team identified the attack and then quickly took down its servers. The team confirms that their build signing keys are unaffected (so third-parties can’t sign and distribute official LineageOS builds), the currently uploaded builds themselves are unaffected, and the project’s source code is unaffected.

Around 8PM PST on May 2nd, 2020 an attacker used a CVE in our saltstack master to gain access to our infrastructure.

We are able to verify that:
– Signing keys are unaffected.
– Builds are unaffected.
– Source code is unaffected.

See https://t.co/85fvp6Gj2h for more info.

— LineageOS (@LineageAndroid) May 3, 2020

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Night Vision uses the ToF camera on the Samsung Galaxy S20+, Note 10+, and S10 5G to let you see in the dark

Hardware-backed facial recognition in the Android smartphone world often relies on Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors. Samsung, for example, utilizes the ToF module on the 5G variant of the Galaxy S10 to power their 3D face unlock mechanism. The ToF camera tracks the distance between two objects based on the constant speed of light. Developers have also used data from this camera to create virtual 3D models with depth data to render the surroundings as a pseudo-night vision mode. We first saw this work on certain Huawei and Honor phones in the past with the help of an app named Night Vision / ToF Viewer, and the same app can help you to turn your Samsung Galaxy S20+, Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, or Samsung Galaxy S10 5G into a somewhat functional, but mostly gimmicky, night vision camera.

Galaxy S20+ Forums ||| Galaxy Note 10+ Forums ||| Galaxy S10 5G Forums

When we first tinkered with the app back in 2019, it wasn’t made to detect the Galaxy S10 5G’s ToF sensor. The developer, Luboš Vonásek, worked hard to gradually expand the list of supported devices with ToF cameras. The Android 10/One UI 2.0 update for the Galaxy S10 5G apparently made it easy to handle the ToF module, albeit the output is still limited to a low resolution of 240×180. On newer Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Note 10+ and Galaxy S20+, the app can render the surroundings in night vision mode with a better resolution of 320×240.

Night Vision/TOF Viewer on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. Image credits: Reddit user /u/toelingus

According to our own Max Weinbach, using Night Vision on Samsung provides better quality, while you can get a better range on Huawei devices. The VR mode in this app is no longer accessible since the last update, though, as the developer removed it completely. There is no complicated prerequisite – owners of the aforementioned phones can straight away download it from the Google Play Store without messing with ADB and/or any kind of system file modding.

Night Vision / ToF Viewer (Free, Google Play) →

Credits to Reddit user toelingus for the screenshot!

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vendredi 29 mai 2020

[Update: Delayed] Google will launch the Android 11 Beta on June 3rd, releases Developer Preview 4 today

Update 1 (05/30/2020 @ 01:07 AM ET): Google has announced that the launch and event scheduled for June 3, 2020, has been postponed. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on May 6, 2020, is preserved below.

Google announced the first Android 11 Developer Preview back in February. The first Developer Preview was released earlier than we expected because Google wanted to give developers more time to adapt to their apps to the new APIs and platform behaviors. Since DP 1, two more Developer Preview builds have been rolled out to the Pixel 2 onward. If it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, Google would have released the first Android 11 Beta at Google I/O event, which was scheduled for May 12th-14th. This delay has impacted the Android 11 release timeline, and the tech giant has now announced that they are pushing back the release of the first Android 11 Beta. The first beta will now be revealed at an online event on June 3rd, 2020. To make up for the new gap between DP3 and Beta 1, Google is releasing Android 11 Developer Preview 4.

Google has aptly titled next month’s online event “#Android 11: The Beta Launch Show.” During this event, Google will release Android 11 Beta 1 which will contain the final SDK and NDK APIs. Google will also open up Play Store submissions for apps targeting the new Android version. Citing this change in plan, Google has also released an updated timeline for the release schedule.

Older Beta timeline

Updated Beta timeline

While Google had initially charted its plan to release only three Android 11 Developer Previews, it is releasing the Developer Preview 4 to fill up the gap caused by the delay in the release of Beta 1. Starting today, the DP4 builds for the Google Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a/3a XL, and Pixel 4/4 XL will be available for download. You can flash these builds manually to try out the upcoming Android version or wait for an OTA if you’re already enrolled in the Beta program.

Since Android 11 Beta 1 has been pushed back by about a month, Beta 2 will now be released in July instead of June. As with the previous schedule, Beta 2 will be the “Platform Stability” release. Google introduced this milestone with Android 11 to signify the finalization of internal and external APIs, app-facing behaviors, and non-SDK graylisting. According to official communication from Google, Android 11 Beta 3 will be released in August 2020, and this will be the “Release candidate” build. The Final Release is still expected to be available in Q3, which means it shouldn’t be pushed back to October or months after that.

While the exact date for Beta 2 onwards was not released, Flame Group – a company that consults with OEMs and ODMs to help them receive GMS certifications for devices – mentioned in a blog post that the “Final Release Candidate,” which is most likely Beta 2, will be released on July 6th. While Beta 3 is intended to be the Release candidate build, it appears that Flame Group is referring to Beta 2 when it talks about the “Final Release candidate.” Furthermore, the blog post states that Google will publish the Android 11 source code to the AOSP git repository on September 8th, 2020. Our source corroborates the information laid out in this blog post, as it is apparently information that Google shared with its partner OEMs.

Android 11 News on XDA

Android 11: The Beta Launch Show to substitute Google I/O 2020?

At the Android 11: The Beta Launch Show, Google will also be hosting a series of online talks and webinars for topics that were initially supposed to be covered at Google I/O 2020. The talks ranging “from Jetpack Compose to Android Studio and Google Play” will be held following the post-show Q&A session after the announcement launch. You can register yourself to get notified of the event on this page.

Update: Google postpones Android 11 Beta Launch Show

Google has announced that the Android 11 Beta Launch Show has been postponed.

We are excited to tell you more about Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We are postponing the June 3rd event and beta release. We’ll be back with more on Android 11, soon.

— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) May 30, 2020

The next date has not been announced yet.

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Samsung Access program quietly launches for the Galaxy S20 with Premium Care and Microsoft 365 included

A few years ago, Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program. Apple’s program offered a great deal where every year you could pay a low monthly fee to have the option to upgrade your iPhone while continuing those monthly payments. Carriers and other device makers emulated this idea but started to add their own offers to improve upon it. Samsung, of course, was one of the companies that emulated that idea with the Samsung Upgrade Program. Now, Samsung has quietly launched a new program called “Samsung Access” that provides even more benefits at a lower cost.

Samsung Access, which we spotted earlier today on Samsung.com, is a bit different than the previous Samsung Upgrade Program in terms of benefits. Both Samsung Access and the previous Samsung Upgrade Program have you finance a new phone through monthly payments and later allow you to trade in the phone for the value that’s left. For example, if you had the Samsung Galaxy S10 for a year and paid $30 a month for 12 months ($360 total), you would have owed $540 left on the balance on the device. If you wanted to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S20 after it launched, you would send back the Galaxy S10 to Samsung so they could void the $540 and allow you to start a new contract for a new monthly fee for the new device.

Samsung Access works the same way for upgrading. If you wanted to keep the device instead of upgrading, you are able to pay off the full balance or just not upgrade and continue your financing which takes 36 months or 3 years.

If you are like me and like to upgrade a lot, that’s also a possibility with Samsung Access. You are able to upgrade your phone for no fee every 9 months. If you wanted to upgrade earlier in the cycle, say for example from the latest Galaxy Note to Galaxy S series or vice versa, you can do so if you pay a $100 fee. In the long run, you would likely save money using this service instead of buying and trading in phones every time a new one launches.

Samsung Access – Other Benefits

What makes Samsung Access better than the Samsung Upgrade Program are the other parts that are included in the monthly subscription. Samsung Access includes both Microsoft 365, which itself includes 1TB of OneDrive storage, and Samsung Premium Care. Microsoft 365 gives you full access to the Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Skype, and Teams. The 1TB of OneDrive storage, which is included in a Microsoft 365 subscription, is especially useful on Samsung phones. You are able to link your Samsung and Microsoft accounts to use the 1TB of storage for photo backups in the Samsung Gallery app or Samsung Cloud storage for backups. The other benefit, Premium Care, is Samsung’s insurance program. If you break your phone, you are able to get it replaced or repaired for a $99 deductible up to three times in a 12 month period.

Samsung Access is available for the Samsung Galaxy S20 series only. When financing the Galaxy S20 series, it costs $37 a month for the Galaxy S20, $42 a month for the Galaxy S20+, and $48 a month for the Galaxy S20 Ultra. In my view, this is actually a great deal. If you were to sign up for Samsung Financing, Premium Care, and Microsoft 365 separately, it would cost you an extra $9 per month. That might not seem like much, but over the 36 months of the contract, you would save $324. That’s ignoring the money you can save from the upgrade program. If you want to cancel, you are also able to return the phone for free after 3 months. If you want to cancel before those 3 months, though, you will owe a $100 fee.

These programs are actually really good for those early adopters who love to upgrade (like me). It makes upgrading easy and painless along with not having to worry about accidental damage since it’s covered under Premium Care. All around, this is a pretty great upgrade deal. For a visual overview of what’s offered in Samsung Access, check out the video below that Samsung uploaded to their YouTube channel today. Otherwise, hit up the Samsung Access page and read the FAQs to get all the nitty-gritty details.

Samsung Access for Mobile ||| Samsung Access FAQs

Oh, and Samsung Access is also available for Samsung TVs, in case you’re interested.

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Realme 5 and Realme 5s start getting Android 10 with Realme UI

Launched back in August 2019, the Realme 5 was one of the first phones from the Chinese brand to feature the mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 chip. The affordable quad-camera phone comes with a 12MP primary camera and runs ColorOS 6 on top of Android 9 Pie. Within a few months, Realme refreshed the device with a 48MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 sensor and launched it as the Realme 5s. According to the update roadmap shared by Realme India’s CEO Madhav Sheth, the phone duo is scheduled to receive a taste of Android 10-based Realme UI in May. The company has kept their promise as it has now rolled out the stable Realme UI update with Android 10 to the Realme 5 and the Realme 5s.

Realme 5 XDA Forums

Earlier this month, Realme started an initiative called “Realme UI Early Access” for the owners of the Realme 5/5s, which served as a pilot open beta testing before the actual rollout. The current stable Android 10 build is tagged as RMX1925EX_11_C.39, and it brings in several new features such as Focus Mode, optimized three-finger screenshot, and a revamped camera UI. It is worth mentioning that the Realme 5 and the 5s share a common firmware due to their internal similarities.

Thanks to Realme Community user mmmllL for the screenshot!

The combined changelog for the Realme UI 1.0 update for the Realme 5/5s is as follows:

Realme UI 1.0 (Android 10) update changelog for the Realme 5/5s

Visuals
- Updated UI to realme UI
- Brand new Real Design makes visuals more attractive and operation more efficient.
Smart Sidebar
- Optimized user interface and improved one-handed operation.
- Optimized Smart Sidebar: Replaced File Console with File Manager; removed OSIE Visual Effect and No Notification Alerts.
- Drag an app out of Smart Sidebar to open it in Split-screen Mode.
- Added two new features: “Assistive Ball Opacity” and “Hide Assistive Ball on Fullscreen App”.
- Optimized the Floating Window feature for more apps.
- Added Bubbles: A bubble is displayed when you open an app in a floating window from the Smart Sidebar. Tap the bubble to collapse or open the app.
Screenshot
- Optimized 3-Finger Screenshot Gesture: Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen, and swipe to take a screenshot of the selected part of the screen (partial screen capture). Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen, and swipe your fingers outwards to capture a long screenshot.
- Added screenshot settings: You can adjust the position of the screenshot preview floating window and set the screenshot sound.
- Optimized screenshot preview floating window: After taking a screenshot, drag it up and release to share it, or drag it down and release to take a long screenshot.
Navigation Gestures 3.0
- Optimized gestures: All gestures are supported in landscape mode.
System
- Added Focus Mode: Minimizes outside distractions when you are learning or working.
- Added whole new charging animation.
- Optimized the Quick Settings user interface for easier one-handed operation.
- Added pause feature for screen recording.
- Added a floating window and settings for screen recording.
- New sounds added for file deletion, calculator key touches, and compass pointer.
- Optimized system built-in ringtones.
- Added TalkBack floating prompts for Accessibility.
- New management feature for recent tasks: You can view memory of recent tasks and locked apps.
Games
- Optimized visual interaction for Game Space.
- Optimized loading animation for Game Space.
Homescreen
- Added new live wallpapers.
- Added artistic wallpapers.
- Added option to open Global Search or the notification panel when swiping down on homescreen.
- Added option to customize the size, shape, and style of app icons on homescreen.
- Optimized the graphic design of password unlock to facilitate one-handed operation.
- Support for animated wallpapers on the lockscreen.
- Added a Simple Mode for homescreen, featuring larger fonts, icons and a clearer layout.
Security
- Random MAC address Generator: When your phone is connected to Wi-Fi network system generates a random MAC address to avoid targeted ads and protect your privacy.
Tools
- In Quick Settings or Smart Sidebar, you can open Calculator in a floating window.
- Added the trim feature in Recordings.
- Added the Weather (dynamic) ringtone, which automatically adapts to the current weather.
- Added weather-adaptive animations in Weather.
Camera
- Optimized the Camera UI for better user experience.
- Optimized the Timer UI and sound.
Photos
- Optimized the Album UI for a clearer structure and photo thumbnails.
- Added Album Recommendations that recognize more than 80 different scenes.
Communications
- realme Share now supports sharing files with OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi devices.
- Optimized the Contacts UI for a more efficient experience.
Network
- Added Airtel and Jio VoWiFi feature
Settings
- Search Settings now supports fuzzy match and contains a search history.

Users interested in downloading this update should expect an over-the-air update to arrive on their phones soon. If it’s not available for your device yet, then you can enroll yourself in the “Application Channel” (Realme 5, Realme 5s) to bypass the standard staggered rollout scheme. We will update this article as soon as we get the manual download links.

Source: Realme (1, 2)

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Nintendo 3DS emulation: Official Citra for Android performance testing on the Snapdragon 865, 855, and 845

Citra, the most popular Nintendo 3DS emulator, was officially released for Android onto the Google Play Store last week, and its performance has been at the forefront of the conversation. I’m sure anybody who saw its release wondered whether they could play their favorite Nintendo 3DS games on their Android smartphone or tablet, so I’ve spent the past few days playing games on various different devices powered by multiple different SoCs to see what kind of performance you can expect to get from your device.

I tested the following popular Nintendo 3DS games:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Mario Kart 8
Pokemon X/Y
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Fire Emblem: Fates
Super Mario 3D Land

…on the following Android smartphones:

Realme X50 Pro (our review) – Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
OPPO Find X2 Pro – Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
OnePlus 8 Pro (our review) – Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
OPPO Reno 10x Zoom (our review) – Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
OnePlus 6 – Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Realme 6 Pro (our review) – Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
Honor 20 Pro (our review) – HiSilicon Kirin 980

…and the results were rather mixed. I tested each of these 3DS games with the unofficial Citra MMJ version as well as the official Citra 3DS emulator that was just released on the Google Play Store. Some of the results were surprising. Note that all of these tests were done with audio stretching disabled as I found that it had a pretty significant performance hit for little benefit when enabled. Keep in mind that different GPU driver versions may also affect performance, and so one device with a particular chipset may not perform the same as another device with the same chipset.

Nintendo 3DS emulation using the official Citra for Android port. Left to right: OnePlus 8 Pro, OnePlus 6, Realme 6 Pro.

Note: You can legally acquire 3DS ROMs for your smartphone by dumping and decrypting your own Nintendo 3DS games. For this, you will need a hacked Nintendo 3DS and a legally purchased copy of the 3DS game that you want to play.

Current performance issues with Nintendo 3DS emulation via Citra for Android (and potential fixes)

Before going into detail of the performance of the aforementioned Nintendo 3DS games on various Android smartphones, it’s worth mentioning that currently, the Citra 3DS emulator port for Android does not support a shader cache. A shader cache is simply a cache of files that keeps track of compiled shaders that are shown in-game, and having one greatly reduces CPU and GPU load. When new shaders are encountered in Citra, they are then compiled and aren’t saved to the storage. This means that they can’t be cached, and instead must be recompiled once encountered every time. This is why currently, Citra on Android can be quite stuttery when playing some 3DS games. Citra on PC supports a shader cache, and it’s quite common for users to want to download a precompiled shader cache to avoid slowly and painstakingly generating their own. Also, I found that disabling audio stretching helped performance a little bit.

Nintendo 3DS Emulation Performance – Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, 855, 845, 720G, and Kirin 980

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

Animal Crossing: New Leaf – OnePlus 8 Pro

Official Citra

Mostly 60 FPS
Drops frames frequently, particularly when shaking trees to drop fruit
Audio hangs for a second or so often, and when audio hangs, the game hangs for a second too

MMJ/Unofficial Citra

30 FPS to 45 FPS with occasional spikes to 60 FPS
No audio hangs
More consistent experience overall, though slower
Attempting to sell items will freeze the game, which does not happen on the official Citra build

Mario Kart 7 – OnePlus 8 Pro

Runs perfectly at 60 FPS
Occasional audio cues cause slight stuttering
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

Pokemon X/Y – OnePlus 8 Pro

Not a very intensive game, runs perfectly at 30 FPS (this game runs at 30 FPS in the overworld)
Battles run perfectly
Audio sounds great, music is in AAC format and can now be decoded
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

Note: The flickering as seen in the above video only occurred when I was screen recording.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – OPPO Find X2 Pro/OnePlus 8 Pro

Runs perfectly, no slowdowns
Audio is great
Occasional stutters in combat
Cutscenes work
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

Fire Emblem Fates – OPPO Find X2 Pro

Some slowdowns when entering combat
Some audio stuttering in battles
Audio works great
Cutscenes work
The game mostly runs at full speed, which it didn’t on the MMJ build

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855

Animal Crossing: New Leaf – OPPO Reno 10x Zoom

Official Citra

Runs nearly flawlessly
Very few stutters
Virtually no audio lag

MMJ/Unofficial Citra

Anywhere from 30 to 60 FPS, though mostly towards the higher-end
Very few stutters
Virtually no audio lag
Attempting to sell items will freeze the game, which does not happen on the official Citra build

Mario Kart 7 – OPPO Reno 10x Zoom/OnePlus 7 Pro

Runs nearly flawlessly
Pretty much no audio lag
Pretty much no stutters
No performance difference between Official and MMJ build

Pokemon X/Y – OPPO Reno 10x Zoom

Not a very intensive game, runs perfectly at 30 FPS (this game runs at 30 FPS in the overworld)
Battles run perfectly
Audio sounds great, music is in AAC format and can now be decoded
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – OPPO Reno 10x Zoom

Runs nearly flawlessly
Pretty much no audio lag
Occasional stutters in combat
No performance difference between Official and MMJ build

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

Animal Crossing: New Leaf – OnePlus 6

Official Citra

Mostly 50-60 FPS
Drops frames very frequently, particularly when shaking trees to drop fruit, but also in many other situations too
Audio hangs for a second or so often, and when audio hangs, the game hangs for a second too

MMJ/Unofficial Citra

Around 30-60 FPS, sticking somewhere around 45 FPS for most of the time
Drops frames less frequently
Audio stutters occasionally

Mario Kart 7 – OnePlus 6

Stuttering when navigating menus
50-60 FPS in races, though fluctuates wildly and sometimes dips as low as 30 FPS
Occasional audio stutters

Pokemon X/Y – OnePlus 6

Not a very intensive game, runs perfectly at 30 FPS (this game runs at 30 FPS in the overworld)
Battles run perfectly
Audio sounds great, music is in AAC format and can now be decoded
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – OnePlus 6

Consistent in the 40-60 FPS range
Lots of stutters in combat
Marginally better performance in the MMJ build over the Official build

Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G

Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Realme 6 Pro

Official Citra

Mostly 50-60 FPS
Drops frames occasionally, particularly when shaking trees to drop fruit, but also in many other situations too
Audio hangs for a second or so often, and when audio hangs, the game hangs for a second too
MMJ and Official build more or less perform the same here

Pokemon X/Y – Realme 6 Pro

Runs mostly perfectly at 30 FPS, though occasionally dips in performance
Battles run perfectly
Audio sounds great, music is in AAC format and can now be decoded, minimal stuttering
No difference in performance between Official and MMJ build

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds – OnePlus 6

Consistent in the 40-60 FPS range
Lots of stutters in combat
Marginally better performance in the MMJ build over the Official build

Kirin 980

The Honor 20 Pro with its HiSilicon Kirin 980 was unable to run any of the Nintendo 3DS games that I tested at any playable framerate. The official and unofficial Citra 3DS emulators don’t really support devices with non-Snapdragon chipsets due to driver issues, and as such, this means that Samsung smartphones with Exynos processors will also likely face issues playing any of the 3DS games listed here.

Conclusion – Nintendo 3DS Emulation is very viable (for most flagships)

Oddly enough, I found the best performance to be not with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 but rather with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. It’s possible that Citra was developed primarily on Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 devices as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is a relatively recent release, but this is only speculation on my part. The Snapdragon 855 found in both the OnePlus 7T Pro and the OPPO Reno 10x Zoom handled pretty much all Nintendo 3DS games I threw at it perfectly, which greatly impressed me, and the games themselves were very much playable. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G also fared incredibly well, with more or less identical results to the Snapdragon 845.

Citra (Nintendo 3DS emulator) website

Citra Emulator (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Prepare for 9 Top IT Certification Exams With This $39 Training Bundle

In the current financial climate, finding a secure job has become the top priority for many of us. While some industries are struggling, there are still many vacancies in IT. If you would like to break into this lucrative sector, make The Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle your starting point. This learning library includes all the prep you need to ace nine top exams, with insight from top instructors. You can get it now for just $1,800 at the XDA Developers Depot.

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More from the XDA Developers Depot

Work-from-home accessories to keep you productive
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Back cover shows off what the cancelled Pixel 4a XL could have been

The Pixel 4a has been on our radar since late last year. At first, we were operating under the assumption that there would be a Pixel 4a XL. After all, every Pixel generation has included two sizes, including the Pixel 3a series. Eventually, it became clear that Google would not be launching an XL model this time around. However, that doesn’t mean they weren’t working on one.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Google started the development of the Pixel 4a series with the intention of releasing an XL model. There was a leak last month of a Pixel 4a XL replacement back cover on eBay. The part doesn’t have the typical Google “G” logo, however, indicating it’s actually from a prototype device. Now, new images of the Pixel 4a XL back panel have surfaced.

There’s nothing super notable about these images. The back cover includes the camera Pixel 4-like camera module we’ve seen on the smaller Pixel 4a. One clear difference is the number of cameras. It looks like the XL model may have actually sported dual rear cameras, compared to the single camera on the smaller model. The white cover also has an orange power button, which is typical for the Google Pixel line.

It’s interesting to think about a larger Pixel 4a XL with dual rear cameras at a slightly higher price point. Google could have positioned the 4a as the super-budget option and the 4a XL as a slightly more premium mid-range device. In the end, though, Google decided to ride with just one model.

Pixel 4a XDA Forums

As for the Pixel 4a that we will be getting, the launch has reportedly been delayed until July. The rumored specifications are below.

Rumored Pixel 4a Specifications

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
GPU: Adreno 618
RAM: 6GB
Internal storage: 64GB(?), 128GB UFS 2.1
Display: Single hole-punch 5.81-inch display, 2,340 x 1,080 resolution, 443 dpi, 60Hz refresh rate
Rear camera: 12.2 MP Sony IMX363, f/1.73 aperture, 1.4µm pixels, OIS, EIS, LED flash, 4K video recording, Autofocus
Front camera: 8.0 MP Sony IMX355, f/2.0 aperture, 1.14µm pixels, EIS, Fixed focus
Connectivity: 4G, Dual SIM, GPS, WiFi 5, Bluetooth, GLONASS
Ports: USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Rear fingerprint sensor
Battery: 3,080 mAh
Software: Android 10

Source: 9to5Google

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[Update: Partnership Concluded] OnePlus removed from McLaren’s partners page, hinting there won’t be another McLaren Edition

Update 1 (05/29/2020 @ 09:40 AM ET): McLaren has clarified that the partnership with OnePlus has been concluded as per schedule. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on May 20, 2020, is preserved below.

OnePlus has been doing special editions of its phones for a few years now. The OnePlus 5T was available in the Star Wars: The Last Jedi Edition and the OnePlus 6 was available in a Marvel Avengers Edition. Both of these phones were available in limited quantities and in select regions only. The company expanded the scope of these special editions with the launch of the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition. This variant not only came with a new and distinct CMF (color-material-finish), but it also bumped up the RAM to 10GB and the charging technology to Warp Charge 30. The McLaren Edition made a return with the OnePlus 7T Pro, once again bumping up the RAM and opting for the signature CMF. However, this run appears to have come to an end, as recent developments indicate that there may not be another McLaren edition in the works.

A keen-eyed Redditor noticed that OnePlus was no longer listed as a Formula 1 partner for McLaren for the 2020 F1 season. We checked through Wayback machine (internet archive) and can spot that OnePlus continued to remain listed until March 29, 2020, at least. So, it is safe to presume that the company was delisted as a partner within the last month or so.

OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren Edition

What does this mean? This means that there is unlikely to be another McLaren Edition phone coming from OnePlus. The next McLaren iteration was expected to be on the presumed OnePlus 8T, but we can rule this out from happening based on how things stand right now.

OnePlus CMF Concepts

That’s not to say that there won’t be a special edition for the OnePlus 8T series, at all. OnePlus could always collaborate with a new partner and market a different CMF with different features as a special edition. Some have taken this news to also mean that there won’t be a “T” version at all this year — we do not have any evidence of this statement being true or false, either way.

We’ve reached out to OnePlus for comment on this delisting. We’ll update our article when we get more information.

Update: McLaren confirms that its partnership with OnePlus has concluded

While OnePlus has not responded with any comment, McLaren has responded to AndroidAuthority with a statement:

Our partnership with OnePlus, which came to its scheduled conclusion recently, has been a highly successful collaboration between two iconic and innovative brands. Since the start of this partnership in 2018, OnePlus has been a supportive, valued partner and we wish them well and hope to see them in the future.

This means that OnePlus and McLaren had a fixed duration contract for the collaboration, and that contract has been honored and completed. This means that we are unlikely to see another McLaren smartphone in H2 2020, unless the companies renew their partnership. Keep in mind that OnePlus could collaborate with another partner too, for the presumed T-release of 2020.

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Huawei partners with Dailymotion to show video content in Huawei Video

Improvise, adapt, and overcome seems to be the motto for Huawei since the company was placed on an Entity List by the U.S. Commerce Department last year. The company has developed its own alternatives to Google Mobile Services and the Play Store, re-released older devices with Google Mobile Services, and has even partnered with third-party service provides to offer features that previously relied on popular Google apps. Now, in a bid to offer a YouTube-like experience on its devices, Huawei has partnered with Dailymotion to show video content in the Huawei Video app.

To do so, Huawei has integrated Dailymotion’s video player in the Huawei Video app which will allow users to search for and play Dailymotion videos from within the app. In a statement regarding the partnership, Dailymotion’s Chief Content Officer, Stéphane Godin, was quoted saying, “Thanks to all our premium partners, Dailymotion is able to distribute a large amount of videos and playlists to third-party publishers. We are proud to collaborate with Huawei to make all of our content catalog reach new premium audiences.”

Dailymotion’s technology package will bring a white-label video player, the platform’s large volume of local and international video content via Dailymotion’s API, and a monetization solution for the content on the Huawei Video app. While Dailymotion may not be nearly as popular as YouTube when it comes to user-generated content, the platform still has a decent amount of content from prominent media groups like Le Monde, l’Equipe, BeIN SPORTS, JPI Media, Marie Claire, NBA G League, Media Prima, One India and more.

Speaking of the partnership, Huawei’s Vice President of Mobile Services, Jervis Su, said, “We’re pleased to offer our Huawei Video service so that people across the globe can easily explore thousands of videos and movies available from our partners, including Dailymotion, anywhere and anytime. We are committed to bringing more choice to consumers. We also hope it will bring some joy to all of their lives at this time.”

Source: Dailymotion

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The Sony Xperia 1 II has a neat gaming feature that lets you charge and play without degrading the battery

Smartphone gaming has evolved to become a proper use case for smartphones, to the point that we have gaming smartphones that specifically target this audience. While smartphone gaming is definitely fun and you can easily pour in hours into it, it does have drawbacks for your phone’s battery. Games require a lot of processing power to run, and an intensive gaming session can quickly chew through your battery life. And if you are someone who likes to game while you charge your phone, your phone may have to contend with a lot of poorly dissipated heat originating from both, the running of the game, and the charging of the battery. All of this heat is not good for your phone’s battery health and the overall longevity of your glass-sandwich smartphone. Sony may have worked out a good solution for this scenario, as the Sony Xperia 1 II comes with a nifty new feature that lets the phone use power directly from the charger without charging the battery.

Sony Xperia 1 II XDA Forums

The Sony Xperia 1 II comes with a decent 4,000 mAh battery that supports USB PD fast-charging up to 18W. It also comes with a feature called “H.S. Power Control”, where the H.S. stands for “Heat Suppression”. This feature is part of the “Game Enhancer” on the Xperia 1 II, and it can be enabled on a per-app basis.

When H.S. Power Control is enabled, you can use the Xperia 1 II running on power derived directly from the phone charger. Essentially, you can use the charger to keep the phone powered and the game running, without actually charging the battery. This is particularly useful when playing intensive games for longer periods, as such gaming sessions generate a lot of heat and use up a lot of battery. The heat is not good for your battery health in the long term, generally speaking, and the quicker discharge cycle also takes a toll on the overall battery health. With this feature enabled, you can presumably play for extended periods without worrying about the charging mechanism affecting your battery health. For gamers, this is a game changer, especially if they plan on keeping their phone around for a while.

H.S. Power Control is already available on the Sony Xperia 1 II. It is unknown if the feature will make its way to other Sony devices. The Xperia 1 II is coming to the USA for a price tag of $1,200.

Sony Xperia 1 II — Specifications and Hands-On

Specification Table

Specifications	Sony Xperia 1 II
Dimensions & Weight	165.1 x 71.1 x 7.6 mm 181.4 g
Display	6.5-inch 4K OLED 3840×1644 pixels, 643 PPI 21:9 aspect ratio 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut, D65 white point Motion Blur Reduction (90Hz “equivalent”) HDR BT.2020 (Rec.2020) Gorilla Glass 6
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865: 1x Kryo 585 Prime core (2.84GHz) 3x Kryo 585 Performance cores (2.4GHz) 4x Kryo 585 Efficiency cores (1.8GHz) Adreno 650 GPU
RAM & Storage	8GB/256GB microSD card slot (uses shared SIM 2 slot)
Battery	4,000mAh 18W USB-C PD fast charging Qi wireless charging
Fingerprint Sensor	Side-mounted fingerprint
Rear Cameras	12MP primary sensor, Sony IMX555 – 1/1.7″, 1.8-micron, f/1.7, 24mm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 12MP ultra-wide angle sensor, 1/2.55″, 1.4-micron, f/2.2, 16mm, Dual Pixel PDAF 12MP telephoto sensor, 1/3.4″, 1.0-micron, f/2.4, 70mm, 3x optical zoom, OIS Zeiss optics Up to 20fps AF/AE burst shooting Up to 60 times per second continuous AF/AE evaluation Video recording: 4K HDR at 60, 30, 25, 24fps OIS, EIS, Optical SteadyShot (hybrid EIS and OIS), SteadyShot with Intelligent Active Mode (5-axis stabilization) Slow motion up to 120fps
Front Camera	8MP, f/2.0, 1/4″, 1.12-micron, 24mm
Audio	3.5mm headphone jack, Hi-Res 24-bit/192kHz audio True front stereo speakers
Network Bands	5G: Sub-6GHz Bands N1, N3, N28, N77, N78; no mmWave support 4G: LTE Cat19/Cat13: Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 46, 66) / LTE 6CA / 2CA 3G UMTS HSPA+ (Bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19) 2G GSM GPRS/EDGE (Bands 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 A-GNSS (GPS + GLONASS) USB 3.1 Type-C port, DisplayPort support for video output, USB-C to HDMI
Android Version	Android 10

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HUAWEI HMS Core Forum Recap [May]

HUAWEI Developers is a platform ecosystem that integrates various services and resources for developers to develop and promote their apps, which is committed to serving the vast number of mobile terminal developers. Relying on the advantages of terminal channels, global platform services, and industry chain resources, it aims at openness and innovation in development, testing, and promotion, monetization and other aspects, to help developers create a terminal-based all-scenario innovation experience in an all-round way and reach consumers through smart terminals so as to build an open and win-win innovation ecosystem.

You can access the XDA Huawei Developers forum here. Interact with other HMS developers, find guides, and follow tutorials for beginners or more advanced developers.

Best guides from May 2020:

HMS offers many kits to help developers build high-quality apps. Because of the availability of these kits, you can build your app quickly and at a very low cost.

Development Kits

It doesn’t stop at development. After you’ve built your app, these kits will help you grow your app userbase. Receive detailed analytics that will help you understand how people use your app.