You might not want to keep your wired headphones plugged into your iPhone or Android handset. The wires act as an antenna and with the right equipment, hackers can take advantage of that.
Shh.... Hear that? It's the sound of silence.
And that's why you won't know if a hacker is controlling your phone via Siri or Google Now through radio waves.
Wired reports that a group of researchers at France's government information security group found a way to silently send commands to nearby iOS and Android smartphones. I wouldn't panic just yet because the tools they needed are a full laptop and antenna but the team says their kit could fit into a backpack and you'd never know.
With the open source GNU Radio software on a laptop, electromagnetic signals can be sent to those devices. Depending on the sent command, Siri or Google Now can told to open up a website, send a text, place a call or do any other number of things.The attacking method uses connected headphones in an iPhone or Android handset to act as a receiving antenna; similar to how FM radio chips do so inside mobile devices.
Granted, most handset owners don't have wired headphones plugged into them when not in use. And if someone was remotely sending silent "voice" commands to your phone, you'd likely see what's going on; the hack doesn't disable the handset's display.
Even so, it's a concerning proof of concept that both Google and Apple should consider researching and finding a way to close the door on any potential unwanted access. The researchers say they have shared their information with both companies.
In a demonstration of the remote control, the researchers were about six feet from a phone. They say that with more battery power and a stronger antenna, the exploit could occur in up to a 16 foot range. The equipment to do so wouldn't be as portable, however.
While Performance, battery life of an Android device matters for few, Sound output also plays a crucial role in judging a phone. Most of the people prefer Sony Smartphones because of its Walkman music. Most of the time you might experience low sound issues after installing any custom ROMs. Manufacturers don’t provide entire access of the hardware functionality. Like, you can increase the vibration intensity,overclock CPU & much more by rooting your Android device. Similar to this, you can also increase your device’s sound output. It will not only increase sound but will also make it much clear and crisp. Lets get started with Installing Dolby Atmos system in any Android device.
Dolby Atmos Redefines Your Entertainment Experience
Frees sound to move all around you: Rather than being constrained to channels, sounds exist as individual entities that are precisely placed and moved in three-dimensional space.
Adds an overhead dimension: A new sensation of height immerses you in the action, creating a full audio atmosphere and realistically depicting objects moving overhead.
Produces breathtaking sound quality: Dolby Atmos renders everything from dialogue to quiet scenes to whirlwind action with astonishing clarity, richness, detail, and depth.
Creates a powerfully moving entertainment experience: It all comes together in sound that excites your senses and inspires your emotions to deliver the full impact of entertainment.
Prerequisite before installing Dolby Atmos:
Android version: Jellybean 4.3+
A Rooted Android Smartphone.
Pre-installed Custom recovery.
How to Install Dolby Atmos system in Android device:
Step 1. Copy the downloaded file in your device. Switch off your device & boot into custom recovery (If you don’t know the correct key combinations to get into custom recovery, Download Rebooter App from playstore & Grant root access to the App. Now, launch the App & click on reboot.
Wipe Cache for Installing Dolby Atmos
Step 2. Wipe Cache & Dalvik Cache. Select Install zip from SDcard & locate the downloaded zip file & Select Yes or Swipe to install.
Install Dolby Atmos
Step 3. Wait for the Installation to Complete it might take 1-2mins.
Step 4. Reboot your device. Disable any other Sound optimizing Apps like AudioFX or anything. Now launch Dolby Atmos & on the optimization.
Dolby Atmos
Step 5. That’s it. You might find a huge difference in the sound output. If you find any force close issues which is really rare, you can flash the uninstall zip of Dolby atmos through the same procedure as mentioned above.
Dolby Atmos works perfectly after enabling Sorround Virtualizer, Dialogue Enhance & Volume leveler. For more clear and crisp sound, keep the setting at Rich. Some devices may not support Dolby sound system. Now its tym to Upgrade Your Audio Experience. Dolby At
Android, one of the most widely used Smartphone OS runs well in start as its free from all other extra Apps and usage data like caches. But, as time passes it starts getting slower and slower depending on your usage & the amount data in it. It doesn’t matter, whether you use a Nexus 5 or a Coolpad device. Everything ends up lagging & battery drainage. Many users find rooting as the ultimate solution. But, it isn’t true. Your device was running pretty well in the initial days, wasn’t it? Generally people find few 4-5 possible solutions to fix it, which isn’t the solution in all cases.
Talking about the solutions, there are many possible reason behind a slow device. It could be a buggy App or an unupdated Android device. Today we’ll discuss all different possibilities to look over. You would surely find a solution for your slow device from any one of this methods. Let’s begin with 21 ways to make your Android phone run faster.
1. Using a launcher :
Android Launcher
This is the most common & easy solution for a slow or not responding Home screen. If you use a phone which isn’t updated, you might experience slow down or sudden crash while opening App drawer, Scrolling through Home screens etc. As third Party launchers replace your Stock Launcher with an updated and light Launcher, it pretty much fixes the lag. As launchers are frequently updated by their developers.
2. Disable Sync :
Many of you might not be aware of the background auto sync of Apps. Auto Sync eats up RAM, CPU & Battery. If you don’t want your Apps like Gmail, Google Plus, Facebook etc to Show notifications for each email or any activities. You can simply disable the Auto sync feature or set it to more value like Sync once after every one hour etc. To disable it, Goto Settings > Find Accounts > Select the Apps that you don’t want to show Notifications. > You might find a Symbol like shown before Click on it & uncheck all options to disable it. Do this with all Apps that you don’t use much.
3. Turn Off or reduce Animations :
Disable Animations in Android – UserX
Majority of the time people experience lag issues while opening Apps or anything. 90% of the time its the Animation bug, Turning off the Animation would fix App launch lags or black screen. To turn Animations Off Goto Developer Options ( If you can’t see it, Goto About Phone > Tap on the build Number for 6-7 times. Now, Go back to find Developer Options just above the About Phone) Find the options in the image & set it as mentioned below :
Set Window Animation Scale to “Animation off”.
Set Transition Animation Scale to “Animation off”.
Set Animator duration Scale to “Animation off”.
4. Restrict Data usage :
Many Apps eat your Internet data in the background which ultimately slows down your device. Limiting or disabling this may not only speed up your phone, but it could help you cut down on how much data you use each month too. Navigate to Settings > Data Usage and scroll down to see which Apps are using data in the background & install My Data Manager – Data Usage & restrict those App to use data.
5. Chrome issues :
If the issue is with Google Chrome, you follow this method to run Chrome quickly on your device :Increase Google Chrome Speed in Android. This simple trick would actually boost up your Chrome.
6. SDcard issues :
Android SDcard issues
Have you ever wondered, Why most of the Top brands don’t have SDcard slots? The reason is, if you use any poor or low speed SDcard it would ultimately slow down your device. To avoid device slow down, use a SDcard of >Class 10. Also scan your SDcard for corrupt or messy virus as they could be the reason behind your slow working device.
7. Limit Widgets :
Try to keep your Homescreen as clean as possible. Filling it with tones of Widgets or Apps would slow down the device as widgets use RAM & CPU in background. Try to limit the widget number to 1-2 only.
8. Remove heavy Apps :
Heavy Apps means Facebook, messenger etc. You would actually experience performance difference once you remove all this heavy Apps. You can use its alternative like Facebook lite or anything.
If you got your phone with tones of useless Apps pre-installed. They could be the reason behind your slow working device. As its not possible to remove those Apps without rooting. You can disable those Apps by navigating to Settings > Apps > Find the Apps & click on disable. Its equivalent to removing the Apps.
10. Avoid live wallpapers :
Most of the people are fond of live wallpapers as it feels good to see a moving homescreen. But, they are the real consumer. A live wallpaper consumes around 8-20MB of RAM & 6-15% of CPU in background, which is a big deal for normal smartphones. It better to stick with static/Normal wallpapers.
11. Switch Runtime (Android Kitkat & Above) :
If you are a Android Kitkat & above user, you can speed up your Android in secs. Switching from Dalvik to ART would increase your device’s performance & battery life. Although its not much developed in Kitkat. But, in lollipop phones you would find a drastic change in your device’s performance. Go to Developer Options ( If you can’t see it, Goto About Phone > Tap on the build Number for 6-7 times. Now, Go back to find Developer Options just above the About Phone.) findSelect Runtime. Select ART & restart your phone. That’s all.
12. Clear Cache :
This is the most common solution given by most of the Android users. Use CCleaner to clear your device’s cache & junk files.
13. Update your system :
Keep your system update to date, as most of the update comes with Performance, battery & security updates over your old version. Don’t avoid System updates as they have some major fixes of your device.
14. Delete Crap :
If your device is full of Images or videos that you don’t use anymore, you can delete it to free up space for system usage. Try to keep your device as clean as possible to provide more space for system to perform operations smoothly.
15. Move Apps to SDcard :
Move your Apps to SDcard to free up Internal memory for system utilization. Make sure you use a good quality SDcard as it could drastically effect your device’s performance. Prefer Class 10 SDcard to avoid Lag & slow reading issues.
16. Timely Restarts :
Don’t forget to restart your phone after every 1-2 days. Restarting your device indirectly refreshes it & clears all saved junk of Apps.
17. Keep an eye on Apps :
Make sure you keep an eye on all the Apps in your phone by timely checking Battery info, RAM usage & Sync of the App. Figure out the battery draining App by using GSam Battery Monitor. Try to keep your Apps up to date, uninstall unused Apps & Switch to Airplane mode in low coverage areas to avoid battery drainage.
18. Factory Reset :
Factory reset reverts everything to factory settings i.e At the time when your device worked faster. If you are worried of your data like Contacts, Message or Call logs, you can backup them by usingSuper Backup for Android. Factory Reset helps 95% of the time.
19. Startup Kill :
Have you ever experienced lag while startup? Its because all the Apps in your device start up at the same time, leaving very few CPU for usage. But you can restrict those Apps to Startup at boot without rooting your Android. Check Startup Manager (Free). It does the job pretty good & its completely free.
20. Upload Files on Cloud :
Upload unused media files on Cloud storage like Google Drive, Mediafire etc. to clean up Space & get maximum performance. You can access those files when ever required.
21. SSD Trim *ROOT* (For lower than Android 4.3):
If you are using an Android device which is running on Android version lower than 4.3 than you are missing one big feature which is not available in Android 4.3< by default. It may confuse readers to know that the solid state memory in Android devices naturally slow down with use. Before Android 4.3 released, many believed cheap flash memory modules contributed to bad performance. All Android and iOS devices use primitive, compared to desktop SSDs, solid state storage devices. Within the Android storage device ecosystem, most storage devices utilize eMMC technology, of which multiple versions exist. Newer smartphones tend to use the more refined eMMC version 4.4 and above, whereas older devices use eMMC (among other, less common technologies). Virtually all of these slow down rapidly over time as data gets transferred and deleted. That’s because of a lack of fstrim (or TRIM) implementation in Android. TRIM allows solid state drives to recover from performance degradation, which naturally occurs over time with flash-based solid state memory. You can free up the space by using LagFix (Free) App.
Final words
You can try all the above methods to fix Performance. Although title says without rooting, but if you have a Android -4.3 (Pretty Old now) its better you root it as it would speed up your device by 40-70% of current speed. If you found any methods not working for your device, you can comment below.
Soon all Android users will be able to use Samsung's cool Soundcamp app to write and record music. The announcement was made at the Samsung Developer Conference 2016, stating that the app, which was released last year for Samsung devices only, will become available to all phones and tablets running Android 5.0 or higher very soon.
Soundcamp lets you choose from six base instruments—piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, a sampler, and a looper—which come loaded with various presets such as electric and acoustic guitars. Soundcamp also has an audio recorder so you can add your own sounds.
You can mix up to eight audio/MIDI tracks per project, and the app supports external USB and analog devices, too.
Guitar & Bass
Like I said above, Soundcamp comes with both electric and acoustic guitar presets.
You can set the guitar to play chords or individual notes. Setting it to chords lets you choose a certain chord with one hand and strum the strings with the other, kind of like an autoharp.
The feature is pretty lacking right now, as you're only able to play the chords in C major, not including the diminished seventh chord which sucks, because diminished chords are awesome.
Setting it to individual notes has problems as well. While you can do things like hammer-ons, pull-offs, and vibrato on this setting, you can no longer strum. So you're pretty much stuck between strumming chords in C major or unleashing the widdly wahs.
Some amp presets would also be nice so you could play with something other than a clean tone.
The bass works the same way as the guitar on the individual notes setting. You've got the choice between 5-string fingered bass and 4-string picked bass presets.
Drums
You actually get a lot of control on the drum set. You get different tones depending on where you tap on each individual piece. For instance, tapping closer to the center of the hi-hat produces an "open" sound, whereas tapping closer to the edge "closes" it.
The kit is very responsive, so you can easily pull off drum rolls if your fingers are fast enough.
Piano & Organ
The piano and organ work like most other keyboard apps out there. You can toggle sustain on or off, and scroll to different parts of the keyboard using the guide at the top of the screen.
Unfortunately, there are only two keyboard sizes available, so you can only display 10 or 15 white keys at a time. That's a little limiting unless you're good enough to use one hand to play and one hand to scroll along the keyboard. Why not just make it 16 white keys so there's two full octaves to work with? There's also an electric piano preset.
Looper & Sampler
The looper comes loaded with a lot of presets that let you create an electronic song in no time. You just set the tempo, then tap on one of the samples to start the loop. You can have up to eight playing at once.
The sampler lets you set soundbites to different pitches. There are four stock presets, but you can record and save your own. There are also three settings for playing them back—single, mix, and cycle.
Audio Recorder
If you get tired of the presets, you can can record your own using Soundcamp. You can use effects like reverb, delay, and harmonizer to get the sound you're after. There's also a VU meter to help you get the levels just right.
Hopefully Samsung keeps up with development of Soundcamp now that it's about to be available for all Android devices. There are a lot of cool features, but there are plenty more that could be added. And when you do try it out, make sure to have your charger handy, as Soundcamp uses up a lot of battery.
Click on the ( Get Your Free Month ) and you'll be directed to the sign in page. After that you'll have to use your PayPal account for verify or an debit credit card. Just use a virtual credit card that you might found all around the net for free.
Now you'll have unlimited calls on Skype for one month free with no charge!
Android N is the next iteration of Android that will be coming with the most sought-after features. Though Android N is still under development, however, we can still anticipate some of the best Android N feature taking at a sneak preview at the Android N Developer’s preview recently released by Google.
Some are terming the upcoming new Android N features as a follow-up of thebest iOS 9.0 features. Well, we will take a quick look at those and we will also see how Android N’s upcoming features vary from iOS features as well. So, here are some of the new Android N features:
1. Multi-Windows Support: The Best Android N features
Android N is going to introduce the much-requested multitasking feature into the platform — multi-window support. Multi-windows support might mimic split-screen view of iOS 9.0. Using Multi-Windows support,
A user can run two apps side-by-side on phones and tablets running Android N. In the war of superiority in Android N vs iOS 9.0, this new and the best Android feature, outruns iOS 9.0.
While Apple restricts using two different apps to a fixed screen size like one-third (in split view mode) and one-half (in Split-screen mode), Android N, on the other hand, lets users resize the apps by dragging the divider between them.
On top of that, on Android TV devices, different apps can be put themselves in picture-in-picture mode, allowing them to continue showing content while the user browses or interacts with other apps.
On devices with a larger screen, especially on tablets and other larger-screen devices, multi-window support gives users a freedom of multi-tasking.
An Android N user can even enable drag-and-drop in his apps.
When we talk more about iOS 9.0 vs Android N, iOS 9.0 does not give you a virtual freedom to configure split-screen view on all the apps whereas Android N lets you configure your app as how it handles multi-window display.
For example, in Multi-Windows support in Android N, you can specify your activity’s minimum allowable dimensions. This prevents users from resizing the activity below that size. Even you can also disable multi-window display for your app, which ensures that the system will only show your app in full-screen mode.
2. Notification Enhancements: The Smart Android N features
By swiping and dragging down the notification alerts in Android, we often built an urge to reply then and there instead of tapping and going to an app like a WhatsApp chat notification. And this time, Google has come cleaner on this with Notification Enhancements.
Avatar and Images: In the notifications enhancement, Google has integrated avatar and Images so that you can see who has sent you an email or a chat message.
Bundled Notifications: Just like tagging in Gmail, you can also bundle your chats and messages based on a tag or a topic. The bundled notifications feature of Android N lets you archive the entire mail or chat in one go as you can see in the image above.
Direct reply: Now you do not need to tap in the notification alert and go to the app to reply a chat, you can directly reply a mail or a chat from the notification window itself.
Custom views: The custom views in Android N lets you decorate your notification style in your own way.
3. Quick Settings: The handy Android N features
Quick Settings lets you define your key settings and actions directly from the notification shade. This new Android N feature has enhanced the scope of Quick Settings to make it even more useful and convenient.
Pagination: Google has paginated the Quick Settings tiles which can be accessed by swiping left or right. Even Google has given freedom to add or move tiles just by dragging and dropping them.
From the developers’ point of view, Quick Settings can be used by developers to add tiles for the apps that are either urgently required or frequently used.
4. Data Saver: A Hybrid Child of iOS Background App Refresh and Windows 10 Metered connection
Google has wisely made use of iOS background app refresh and Microsoft Windows 10 metered connection to restrict the data usage by the Android apps in the background as well as the foreground.
Android N Data saver feature takes cues from iOS background App refresh in terms of the Android apps in the background restricting the background data usage by the apps in the background.
On the other hand, Android N takes cues from Windows 10 metered connection to restrict data usage by the Android apps in the foreground by limiting bit rate for streaming, reducing image quality, deferring optimistic pre-caching, and so on.
It should be noted that most of the battery are consumed by the cellular data plan and battery consumption increases when we are on roaming. So, in the settings, a user can turn on Data saver to save battery life on Android.
Apart from this best Android N features, there are other significant feature enhancements on Android N. Keep on reading for them.
4. Localization of Android
Just like Ubuntu or free open source operating systems, Android will also support language localization. You can directly relate localization with old Nokia basic mobile phones which supported a lot of local languages. Localization in Android will surely enhance the bilingual experience of the mobile users.
5. Android TV recording in Android N
Android N adds the ability to record and playback content from Android TV. This features can be used via new recording APIs.
6. Android Accessibility enhancements:
Well, if you do not know, then you should know that some of the apps which have visual and audial interactions with the mobile users who are visually impaired or deaf, must comply with certain rules. Developers have a hard time complying with such rules.
With Android N new features, a user will be offered Vision Settings directly on the welcome screen for new device setup. This makes it much easier for users to configure accessibility features like magnification gesture, font size, display size, and TalkBack.
7. Call screening feature in Android N
Android N allows the default phone app to screen incoming calls. Some the call screening features are:
Reject the incoming call
Do not allow the call to the call log
Do not show the user a notification for the call
8. Number blocking
On the other hand, Number blocking features are:
Numbers blocked on calls are also blocked on texts
Blocked numbers can persist across resets and devices through the Backup & Restore feature
Multiple apps can use the same blocked numbers list
9. Key attestation in Android N
Hardware-backed key stores provide a much safer method to create, store, and use cryptographic keys on Android devices. They protect keys from the Linux kernel, potential Android vulnerabilities, and extraction from rooted devices.
10. Network Security Config
Android N gives you the freedom to customize the behavior of their secure (HTTPS, TLS) connections safely, without any code modification. On the development side, this Android N feature is going to support the developers a lot especially in the VOIP, SIP, RTP/RTCP setups.
Some of the supported features of Network Security Config are:
Custom trust anchors. Lets an application customize which Certificate Authorities (CA) are trusted for its secure connections. For example, trusting particular self-signed certificates or a restricted set of public CAs.
Debug-only overrides. Lets an application developer safely debug secure connections of their application without added risk to the installed base.
Cleartext traffic opt-out. Lets an application protect itself from an accidental usage of cleartext traffic. Certificate pinning. An advanced feature that lets an application limit which server keys are trusted for secure connections.
While Google hasn’t revealed the final name of Android N, Google has hinted that it could be Android Nutella. If you are betting on some other name like Android Nougat or Android Naankhatai, do tell us in the comments below.
shown before Click on it & uncheck all options to disable it. Do this with all Apps that you don’t use much.
