The Death of CyanogenMod and What it Means for Development

Cyanogen Inc. has finally delivered a bullet to the brain – of CyanogenMod. After years of tumultuous turnovers in the company, Cyanogen recently announced that the company would consolidate all of their efforts into a new Cyanogen Modular OS program.

As a part of their consolidation, the company announced that many of their employees, including Cyanogen (Steve Kondik) himself, would part ways with the company. Finally, today the company announced that all Cyanogen services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued after December 31st, 2016.

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The Death of CyanogenMod

After Cyanogen Inc. announced this news on their official blog, many people were confused and speculated what would really happen to CyanogenMod. Some people were convinced that nothing would change with respect to their favorite custom ROM, in no small part thanks to many blogs misinterpreting the Cyanogen Inc. statement. However, the team behind CyanogenMod clarified what this would mean for the popular Android distribution in a separate blog post. In essence, here is the gist of what will be changing:

• All monetary and infrastructural support for CyanogenMod from Cyanogen Inc. will cease. This includes paid developers contributing code to the open source project as well as nightly build servers. As such, CyanogenMod will no longer receive nightly builds after December 31st. But wait, what if the team simply finds another host to build nightlies?
• The CyanogenMod team will not continue official development on the project. Cyanogen Inc. owns the rights to the brand, so the CyanogenMod team has decided that it is no longer worth continuing development for the open source distribution without monetary or infrastructural support. In addition, even if the team were to find an alternative revenue stream (perhaps via donations), the trouble isn’t worth it due to the potential legal issues that could be involved if Cyanogen Inc., and all brands that the company owns including CyanogenMod, were to be sold to another company. Plus, the team argues that the CyanogenMod brand has been tainted due to its association with Cyanogen, so new users may be wary of installing CyanogenMod.
• However, CyanogenMod will rebrand as LineageOS. We’ve been hearing of this project behind the scenes for the past few weeks, but now we have official confirmation regarding its purpose. This effort, presumably run by Steve Kondik himself, is hoping to revitalize what made CyanogenMod so great – a grassroots, community-driven effort at an Android distribution. We don’t know if LineageOS will take off, but it’s conceivable that if it does, the team could find a build server and set everything up to mimic the old CyanogenMod infrastructure – the end result of which would mean that little would change for the end user.
• Cyanogen Inc. is not shutting down – at least not yet. This was made clear in the earlier blog post, but I’ve seen some confusion regarding the news that warranted some clarification. The company is downsizing and will focus on a new project (the “Cyanogen Modular OS” program), and they are merely cutting off services that they believe they can no longer maintain.

Although CyanogenMod is officially dead, the open source project will live on as LineageOS. But what does this move mean for the average user and developers?

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The Future of Development

It’s difficult to say what will happen from here on out. There are multiple scenarios that could play out in the future:

1. LineageOS really takes off, finding significant support from individual developers who pledge to continue maintaining LineageOS for their respective devices. Furthermore, the team is able to acquire a source of funding, probably by donations, to provide hosting and a server to build nightlies. Given that other smaller Android distributions have been able to find servers for building nightlies, this is not inconceivable.
2. LineageOS takes off, but the operation will be toned down. Given the scale of CyanogenMod’s operation and the massive amount of funding that was contributed by Cyanogen Inc. to maintain support for devices, it may be difficult to find support for developing on lesser known devices. In this case, many devices may suffer a development drought as the development community largely relied on CyanogenMod to provide a stable branch that individuals could then fork. Popular devices will be less likely affected given the high demand for development and high amounts of developmental talent attracted to the device.
3. LineageOS fails to take off. No matter how you look at it, this would be terrible for the enthusiast community. The issues mentioned in #2 would be further compounded, and many users would lose access to one of the most stable, longest lasting custom ROMs in the Android world. As for developers, this would mean that they would have to look elsewhere for a stable base. For example, XDA Recognized Developer SultanXDA has told us that he would not touch LineageOS if it does not have a stable branch and might instead turn to AOSPA as a base. Luckily for OnePlus owners, this won’t pose a problem, but for devices that do not have a stable AOSPA base (and in the future, will not have a stable CM base), it’s hard to say what will happen.

All of these are hypothetical scenarios of what’s indeed a fork in the road for CyanogenMod and Custom ROM developers. Whatever scenario plays out will depend entirely on how much support LineageOS receives from the development community. Whether or not the death of CyanogenMod spells the death of stable custom ROM development on certain devices will be up to developers and users alike. If you’ve used a CyanogenMod ROM in the past and would like to show your support, now is a critical time to ensure that spirit of the project lives on in LineageOS.

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2016 in Review: What was the Best Midrange Smartphone of 2016?

As we enter the final days of the year, it’s time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016.

Our last discussion was on your opinion on the best flagship of the year, but its time to cover other bases. Mid range smartphones usually see past technology from last year’s flagships trickle down into a price segment which is more affordable to consumers. There are compromises which prevent these devices from competing in the big leagues, but that doesn’t mean that these phones are slouches.
So, our question to you is,

What was the best midrange smartphone in 2016? Was the device released this year, or is it an older flagship that is now more affordable? Why does this smartphone deserve to be called the best in the mid range? What features attracted your attention towards this phone? What were your needs and expectations, and how were they fulfilled? Additionally, what are the caveats to the phone that stop it from competing against flagships?

Let us know in the comments below!

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iFixit Ranks 2016’s Smartphones in Order of Repairability

Just like we enjoy having full control of the software in our smartphones, some of us at XDA also prefer to do our own device repairs as well. When a new smartphone or tablet gets torn down by iFixit, you typically see us writing about it. Not only is it interesting to us, but we feel these teardowns are an invaluable tool for the entire Android community as well. iFixit recently released a ranked list that includes some of the biggest smartphones of this year.

iFixit gives each of their official teardowns a repairability score. This score can be used as a quick way of learning how easy, or difficult, a smartphone can be to repair. We’re told the team gives points based on modular designs if/when they’re used, removable batteries, standard screw types, and when a screen is easy to replace. These are generally the pain points for smartphone repairs, so it’s nice when an OEM has gone the extra mile here.

iFixit also takes points away when they feel an excessive amount of adhesives have been used inside the phone. They also don’t like to see soldered components, or complex opening procedures either. So this published list is short, but it does a good job at highlighting some of the best and worst smartphones released this year as far as repairability is concerned. At the top of the list we have the LG G5. It might not have sold as many units as LG had hoped, but iFixit appreciated the removable battery and modular design.

Next up is the Pixel XL from Google (and HTC), as it was praised for having many modular internal components. However, the Pixel and Pixel XL are difficult to open without breaking the screen. Then at the bottom of the list we have the Galaxy Note 7, with the Galaxy S7 right below it. They felt the Galaxy Note 7 was tough to open, and the battery was more difficult to replace than it should have been. They described the Galaxy S7 as a glass and glue sandwich, which made it difficult to open and repair.

Source: iFixit

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DxOMark Reviews the Dual Cameras of the LG V20

As we get to the end of the year, some review publications are starting to highlight some devices that they weren’t able to get to upon release. Many have been waiting for DxOMark to review the dual camera system of the LG V20, and yesterday that review was officially published. The device earned a respectable overall score of an 85, which puts it right alongside the Huawei Mate 9 in their eyes.

DxOMark felt the sensors preserved a good amount of detail when the subject was in very bright light. They saw good noise reduction in low-light environments, and the autofocus was fast and generally accurate when they tested it. However, they found some irregularities with the focus, there was a slight pink colorcast when outside, and some highlights were overexposed in high-contrast scenes.

During the review, DxOMark felt the camera’s video performance is where the LG V20 is weak. They gave its video performance an overall score of 82 as they saw some motion blur even all lighting conditions. There were slight autofocus oscillations visible in the preview, there was a visible focus drop during tracking, and limited dynamic range when shooting video in bright light. They did say it had good target exposure though, and appreciated the noise reduction in bright light and again they felt it preserved detail in bright light situations.

Overall, DxOMark was impressed with the camera of the LG V20, but felt a little let down since they ranked the LG G5 right above it with an overall score of an 86. If LG had just focused more on the video performance of the camera, then it would have received a higher score.

Source: DxOMark

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SuperSU v2.79 SR1 is Available, Focuses on SELinux Changes for Nougat

Yesterday, Chainfire announced the first update after version 2.78 of SuperSU was made stable. As we’ve mentioned before, the SR updates are basically a different name for beta versions of SuperSU. The name change was put into place as an attempt at reducing the number of people trying to upload beta releases to non-Google Play app stores since it would continue to carry the same version number.

Most changes here are with SELinux on Android 7.x Nougat, although there are a lot of other changes with this new update. Chainfire says this version will now use it’s own ‘u:r:supersu:s0’ context to run in. So instead of reusing the ‘u:r:init:s0’ context, this change can prevent a few conflicts from occurring. However, we’re warned that this change could make some root applications (and even some firmwares entirely) to suddenly stop working.

SuperSU v2.79 SR1 no longer modifies file_contexts[.bin] as well. Chainfire noticed that this modification caused some issues on select firmwares. They’ve been unable to identify the reason for the conflict though, but noticed that the modifications were causing it. Some people reported that SuperSU was slow to grant root access to some applications on boot when a device had a bunch of application installed. This mainly happened with Nougat, and we’re told it shouldn’t be much of an issue anymore.

You can download the flashable zip for v2.79 SR1 right here, and we encourage you to check out the XDA forum thread for the beta version of SuperSU in case you run across any issues with the new version. The full changelog for this update can be found below.

• Expand Samsung detection
• GUI: reworked portions to work with ‘supersu’ context on 7.0+
• GUI: fix binary update notice when superuser disabled by user in some cases
• su: reworked portions to work with ‘supersu’ context on 7.0+
• su/GUI: improve responsiveness when device busy on 7.0+
• sukernel: fix cpio restore failure with very short filenames
• sukernel: no longer patches file_contexts(.bin)
• sukernel: revert force seclabel (no longer needed with ‘supersu’ context)
• supolicy: add “create”, “auditallow”, “auditdeny” policy commands
• supolicy: support “*” for permission/range parameter of “allow”, “deny”, “auditallow”, “auditdeny”, “allowxperm” policy commands
• supolicy: –live/–file no longer apply default patches if custom patches are supplied
• supolicy: –sdk=X option added (required for 7.0+)
• supolicy: reworked all SELinux rules for 7.0+, run as ‘supersu’ context
• ZIP: Separate slotselect and system_root logic
• ZIP: Adjust system/system_root device and mount-point detection
• ZIP: Fix minor errors in documentation
• ZIP/frp: Explicitly label /su

Source: +Chainfire

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Tasker v4.9 is out with Non-Root Programmable Firewall, Multi-Window Automation, S-Pen Recognition, and More

It’s no secret that we at XDA are big fans of Tasker. We’ve covered the application and its capabilities multiple times in the past and have demonstrated that the potential uses of Tasker are limitless thanks to its extensive plug-in framework. Tasker has become so robust over the years that development on the application has slowed down significantly in the past year or so. That doesn’t mean that development on Tasker is unnecessary or dead, as new versions of Android introduce new features that are ripe for automation.

Back in July, the Tasker developer teased that the next major update to Tasker would take advantage of Android’s VPN integration to allow for a non-root, per-app, programmable firewall. Nearly 5 months after this revelation, Tasker has finally received an update to version 4.9, bringing this feature along with a plethora of additional changes.

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What’s New in Tasker

The developer has posted a full change-log on his website, but there are simply too many changes to list. Here are the most important changes to Tasker with this update:

• New Network Access control. This new action is located under the Net action category. You are given 4 different options to control the network access on the device: Allow All, Allow, Deny All, or Deny. If you select ‘Allow’ or ‘Deny’ you are given the option to choose which particular apps you would like to allow or deny network access for. Since this is an Action, you must either couple this with a pertinent Context to trigger it or you can set up a launcher shortcut to manually run a task containing this action.
• New Toggle Split Screen action. This action is located under the App action category. There are no configuration options with this action. Just as before, this action is contained in a Task and thus must be coupled with a Context that triggers a Task. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like you can directly open both apps of your choosing using this action, as Tasker only toggles multi-window so you will have to either manually select the other app to launch in multi-window or use AutoInput to select the second app.
• New Pen Out and Pen Menu states. These are new State Contexts (one which is active so long as the condition is met) where Tasker can now react to when a user removes the Samsung S Pen from the device holder or when the S Pen Air Button menu is displayed.
• Support for External SD Cards. Previously, Tasker did not play well with files located on external SD cards. Now, the app has been updated to use the new external SD access API. When you select any action in the File category, you will now see a small SD card icon in the bottom right hand corner of Tasker’s internal file browser, which will allow you to select files on your SD card.
• Added support for native Back Button and Recents Button. No longer will you have to rely on third-party plug-ins for your UI navigational needs, as you can create your very own navigation app using Tasker.
• Added support for displaying the Power Menu on the device. Using this and the AutoInput plug-in, you can now automate rebooting your device if your device has a reboot function in the power menu (such as the new Google Pixel phones).
• Uses the new media button API in Android 7.0+, which should fix any issues users are having with media button input from Tasker.
• A LOT of UI and UX improvements for the scene builder – one of the most frustrating parts of Tasker for new users.

As I’ve mentioned before, there are a ton of bug fixes, changes, and features added in this update. If you are a fan of Tasker, it would behoove you to read the full change log to get a good idea of what’s new. Furthermore, as I don’t want to leave any new users of Tasker in the dark, here are some quick ideas I’ve come up with to take advantage of these new features. You can easily implement these following the below descriptions and modify them to suit your needs.

In the first tab below, you’ll see a quick and easy use of the new Network Access feature. I’ve made a profile that will disable network access to the Mint app when I’m not on my home network. In the second tab, I’ve set up a quick driving mode profile using the new Toggle Split Screen feature. Here, upon connecting to my bluetooth device, Tasker will launch Maps and Google Play Music in multi-window mode. This requires the aid of AutoInput to select the second app from the recent app screen.

• Firewall
• Driving Mode Multi-Window

Profile: Firewall (78)
State: Not Wifi Connected [ SSID:Rahman MAC:* IP:* ]
Enter: Anon (81)
A1: Network Access [ Mode:Deny App:Mint ]

Profile: Driving Mode (82)
        State: BT Connected [ Name:FLEXSMART X3 MINI Address:* ]
Enter: Anon (86)
        A1: Launch App [ App:Maps Data: Exclude From Recent Apps:Off Always Start New Copy:Off ] 
        A2: Launch App [ App:Play Music Data: Exclude From Recent Apps:Off Always Start New Copy:Off ] 
        A3: Toggle Split Screen 
        A4: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:2 Minutes:0 Hours:0 Days:0 ] 
        A5: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Point
Value: 540,1465
Action : Click
Is Tasker Action: false
Check Screen State: false Timeout (Seconds):20 ]

Note that these are just the descriptions for the two fairly simple profiles. If you re-create these, please be sure to change the SSID to point to your own home network in the ‘Firewall’ profile and to change the Bluetooth device to your car bluetooth in the ‘Driving Mode Multi-Window’ profile.

If we come up with any great Tasker scripts in the future, we’ll be sure to share them on the XDA Portal. If you come up with a great Tasker idea on your own, feel free to comment below or visit our Tasker Tips & Tricks forum at the link below.

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Visit our Tasker Tips & Tricks Forum

Download Tasker from the Google Play Store

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2016 in Review: What was the Best Flagship Smartphone of 2016?

As we enter the final days of the year, it’s time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016.

This year saw some great releases by OEMs big and small. Some smartphones took a gamble to differentiate themselves from the crowd, while some played it safe and improved on conventional expectations.

The competition was fierce, but a winner has to be chosen. So, today’s question to you is,

What was the best Flagship smartphone released in 2016? Why does this smartphone deserve to be called the very best? What features attracted your interest towards this phone? What were your needs and expectations, and how were they fulfilled?

Let us know in the comments below!

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