TWRP v3.1.0 is now Rolling out with Support for ADB Backup, A/B OTA Zips, and More

About two weeks ago, we were informed that the next version of TWRP would bring support for backing up files directly to your PC through a feature known as ADB backup. We were told that this version of TWRP would be labeled version 3.1.0 and would roll out sometime soon. That time is now. Version 3.1.0 is rolling out with the aforementioned ADB Backup feature along with a couple of noteworthy fixes.

In particular,  the update brings support for flashing alpha/beta OTA update zips through the recovery. Currently, this would only be useful for users on the Google Pixel or Pixel XL, but as more devices begin shipping with Android 7.1 and the A/B partition scheme, more users can take advantage of this feature. Owners of certain HTC phones, though, can now rejoice as the update brings better support for decrypting the data partition on some phones.

Another major fix to note is that TWRP will no longer wipe the data of certain applications that are set up for the Direct Boot feature, a bug which some users noticed when attempting to backup and restore their favorite messaging apps only to find that all of their messages were missing. Without going into too much detail, the gist of this problem is that applications set up for the Direct Boot feature make use of Device Encrypted (DE) storage rather than Credential Encrypted (CE) storage. Android 7.0 began adding certain extended attributes (xattr) to the data folders of apps stored under DE storage, but backups made via TWRP were not saving these xattrs prior to this update. Hence when a user attempts to restore the data folders from backups missing these xattrs, Android would instead delete the entire data folder.

Finally, one other change we would like to point out is that TWRP will now ask you to install the official app before rebooting. This request, which can be disabled permanently if declined, is a way for users to keep TWRP up to date on their device and to support the awesome team behind the recovery. If you haven't already, check out their app on the Play Store!

There are some other changes that we didn't mention, but you can look through a summary of the (massive) change-log for this update below.

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TWRP v3.1.0 Change-log

1. vold decrypt on a few select HTC devices, TWRP will now attempt to use the system partition's vold and vdc binaries and libraries to decrypt the data partition (nkk71 and CaptainThrowback)
2. adb backup to stream a backup directly to or from your PC, see documentation here: http://ift.tt/2mRragc (bigbiff)
3. tweak MTP startup routines (mdmower)
4. support new Android 7.x xattrs for backup and restore to fix loss of data after a restore (Dees_Troy)
5. support POSIX file capabilities backup and restore to fix VoLTE on HTC devices and possibly other issues (Dees_Troy)
6. better indicate to users that internal storage is not backed up (Dees_Troy)
7. improve automatic determination of TW_THEME (mdmower)
8. minimal getcap and setcap support (_that)
9. try mounting both ext4 and f2fs during decrypt (jcadduono and Dees_Troy)
10. shut off backlight with power key (mdmower)
11. timeout during FDE decrypt (Dees_Troy and nkk71)
12. support for FBE decrypt and backing up and restoring FBE policies (Dees_Troy)
13. boot slot support (Dees_Troy)
14. TWRP app install prompt during reboot (Dees_Troy)
15. support for AB OTA zips (Dees_Troy)
16. support new Android 7.x log command (Dees_Troy)
17. update recovery sources to AOSP 7.1 (Dees_Troy)
18. numerous bugfixes and improvements by too many people to mention

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Otherwise, you can track the progress of the TWRP build for your device here or see if the latest build is already available for your device here. Enjoy the update, and be sure to contribute to the project in whatever way you can, as TWRP is entirely a community-run, volunteer effort by a handful of awesome developers.

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Unnamed Motorola Phone Sports the Snapdragon 835, Demos Sprint’s Gigabit LTE

Due to some production limitations of the Snapdragon 835 this early in the year, a lot of the smartphones showcased at MWC 2017 were using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 SoC. Many were upset at the news that LG's main flagship of the year would be using an SoC from last year. They were essentially forced into doing this because they wanted to start mass production before the Snapdragon 835 could be made available to them. However, this hasn't stopped other OEMs like Sony and Motorola from showing off new devices that will use Qualcomm's latest chip.

At MWC we saw Sony show off the Xperia XZ Premium and now we're learning about a mysterious Motorola smartphone that will also be using Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 SoC. This device was first shown at an event in New Orleans where Sprint wanted to show the company's gigabit LTE capabilities. This is in part possible thanks to the technology Sprint uses and Motorola's engineering team. Motorola's CVP of Global Product Development Shakil Barkat was at the event to talk about the unnamed device and its capabilities.

Mr. Barkat said this Motorola device will be the first to include three-carrier aggregation as well as 256-QAM capabilities with four MIMO antennas included. This isn't an easy feat to pack inside of a smartphone but Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum actually made it easier since their technology allows for smaller antennas. So this, combined with some unique antenna technology that Motorola has been developing for "several years," enabled them to reach these types of speeds with a smartphone right now.

In tests with various prototypes, Sprint has been able to reach average downlink speeds of between 700 and 900 Mbps. It also seems that gigabit smartphones will be an emerging feature this year as a Qualcomm representative confirmed at least four, but up to seven, smartphones will be debuting in the United States this year with gigabit capabilities. If you have limited data on your plan, you better be careful!

Source: Wireless Week

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Google Announces Cloud Functions for Firebase

Google Cloud Next 2017 is happening this week, and we've seen the company announce a number of new features and services for Google Cloud users at the event. There's been some unique announcements, such as introducing a new API to apply machine learning identification to videos, along with a huge update for current Firebase customers. Google's Cloud Functions for Firebase goes against the tradition of using mostly client code in an application, and expands it to the cloud so some functions can be easier.

Keeping most of the code on the client side of things does make it quicker and less expensive (generally) to ship an application to the end user. This functionality is limited though, and can sometimes still require you to have your own server for various tasks. So along with what Firebase has already been offering to keep things local, now you also have the choice to add some cloud functionality by utilizing Google Cloud and its massive server farms.

Cloud Functions for Firebase will be included in all of Firebase's pricing plans, and free tier users will still be able to experiment with it to see if it's a good fit for their needs. Google didn't go into detail about everything you can do with Cloud Functions for Firebase, but they did give a few examples. So, with Firebase Analytics, you could send a coupon code via a notification to a user once they have just completed a purchase. Or you could request your end user to fill out a survey once they have updated their application.

With Firebase Authentication, you could send a welcome email to new users, and even clean up data from your Realtime Database that's associated with a user once they delete their account. Speaking of Realtime Database, you can send a notification using FCM when data is written to the database and moderate or remove abusive language that was just written to the database as well. There are a ton of different things you can do and Google even came up with a video to explain it even further.

Source: The Firebase Blog

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HTC U Ultra Unboxing and Hands on

We have a video unboxing of the HTC U Ultra for you today. Check it out to see our first impressions of this interesting new phone from HTC.

HTC U Ultra on right and LG V20 on Left

HTC U Ultra at navbar setup screen

Back of HTC U Ultra with white finish

HTC U Ultra at Android setup menu

 

We got this phone used at a great deal on Swappa. Swappa is still the best place to buy and sell used phones online. If you're someone who likes to switch phones often then you're definitely going to benefit from having an account on swappa. Even newcomers can get a strong start by importing their buyer/seller feedback from Ebay.

Buy and Sell on Swappa

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The Best Android Development Courses

Here are some of the best courses that we've found related to Android development on XDA Depot. If you're looking into getting started with building apps, check out these resources. Most of them are heavily discounted right now.

Projects in Android

As Android extends into wearables, cameras, and many other devices, now is the perfect time to learn how to develop for Android and cash in on this growth phase. In this course, you'll gain the skills you need to begin a lucrative career in Android development by building 10 apps with varying functions.

$18 $49.00   63% off

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Android Game Development Using Unity: Earn Passive Income!

New to the programming scene, or want to build mobile games without losing yourself in a sea of code? Then Unity 3D (along with this course) is your best friend. You'll specifically learn to develop 2D games for Android, mastering everything from utilizing Unity in conjunction with the Android SDK, to even monetizing your app to generate passive income.

$21 $69.00   69% off

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Step-By-Step Android 7 Nougat Development Course

Android app developers are always in high demand, and that demand is only going to grow as Android is installed on even more devices. The time to learn how to develop for Android is now. This frequently updating course will make learning Android 7 development fun, and incredibly useful.

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Learn Android Studio in 2 Hours

Android Studio is the go-to IDE for streamlining Android programming. Developed by Google, Android Studio consists of a whole host of tools that make building, maintaining, and debugging code much, much easier. Along with tips and tricks for developing apps faster with Android Studio, this course will cover basic Android programming concepts so even beginners can get onboard with one of the most lucrative opportunities in software development.

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The Advanced Guide to Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence Bundle

In this course, intended to expand upon your knowledge of neural networks and deep learning, you'll harness these concepts for computer vision using convolutional neural networks. Going in-depth on the concept of convolution, you'll discover its wide range of applications, from generating image effects to modeling artificial organs.

$42 $489   91% off

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Android App Development: Create a Streaming Spotify Clone

The best way to learn how to develop mobile apps is by actually doing it, and this course will give you a crash course in Android development by showing you how to build a fully functional music streaming app that resembles Spotify. Using Java in Android Studio, you'll learn all the skills you need to start developing for Android.

$18 $49.00   63% off 

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Android Apps Reskinning for Fun and Profit

Ever wanted to create a mobile game, but didn't know where to start? This course will show you step-by-step how to legally edit existing code in order to make a game your own, with zero coding experience. This is known as "reskinning" and is the perfect way to bring your best app ideas to life without spending loads of cash on hiring developers and designers. Some of the most profitable games are modified versions of existing games – so sit back, relax, and learn to reskin existing apps from the comfort of your couch.

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Developers that buy digital goods through the XDA Depot are helping support the XDA-developers website and keep the community alive.

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Native Add-ons for Gmail are Coming, Limited to G Suite Only at First

Google really is focusing on the enterprise customers this week. With the recent Cloud Functions for Firebase announcements and then the new focus of Hangouts too, corporate customers of Google services have a lot to be happy about right now.

Another one of these big announcements has to do with native add-ons finally coming to Gmail users later this year. We don't know exactly when, but we're simply told that we'll be able to install them via the "G Suite Marketplace later this year."

This will differ from some other Gmail add-ons that you and I may have used in the past. Services like Boomerang and Rapportive were done via a Chrome extension but these new add-ons will be completely native and will work across Gmail's web ports, Android and even iOS. Google will let G Suite developers submit new Gmail add-ons for approval and once approved they can then be used by your company's employees through the G Suite Marketplace.

To help showcase the benefit of Gmail add-ons, though, Google is working closely with a few companies to get some initial ones available on launch day. Google specifically mentions three different add-ons that should be made available first. Intuit QuickBooks will let QuickBooks small business customers generate and send invoices. An add-on for ProsperWorks will let you check the contact info of people on email threads against the information stored in their CRM. And the Salesforce Add-on allows Gmail users to look up existing contacts, add new ones, as well as associated email threads.

Google hasn't made any announcements as far as when or if Gmail add-ons will be made available to regular consumers like you and me, who are using the regular Gmail. However, they seem to be implying it with their wording. Outlets like The Verge had said it would be enterprise-only but then edited their piece later to say it "may not strictly be limited to enterprise users." For now though, developers can go here to sign up for the Developer Preview right now.

Source: G Suite Developers Blog

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Google Pushes Hangouts in a more Corporate Direction with Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat

If you ask anyone to sum up Google's messaging strategy, then you'll probably draw a blank stare. We've tried to come up with an answer ourselves, and have found that quite difficult. What started off with one app trying to provide a convenient messaging platform evolved into several different apps trying to compete for different (but often overlapping) sets of users, but then failing to deliver some key functionality that hinders their adoption.

Amidst all of the messaging struggles, Hangouts is the one app that has seen the least amount of attention from Google in recent times. But today, Google has surprised us all by announcing a new purpose for the Hangouts platform in the form of Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet.

Hangouts is now getting an overhaul that turns the service into a more powerful Slack-competitor. The newfound corporate and enterprise direction focuses on building communication tools that help teams connect over video and chat in a more organized and collaborative fashion.

Hangouts Chat

Hangouts Chat is an "intelligent" communication app that takes direct messaging in Hangouts and evolves it in a fashion that will better suit teams. The new Hangouts Chat application will still allow for one-one-one chats, but it will also have dedicated virtual rooms that can be created for each project along with threaded conversations to allow for teams to follow the progress of a project more easily. It will also work natively on web, Android, and iOS  to cover all platform needs.

Hangouts Chat is also banking on integration with other Google services to entice corporate users. The deep integration with Google Docs and Sheets means that not only can one preview content directly inside Chat, but one can also assign document permissions automatically based on the team that created them. The Search functionality inside Hangouts Chat will let users filter by rooms, people, file types, and even links inside chat rooms, dating all the way back to the start of the project.

Hangouts Chat also supports enterprise tools in the form of simple scripting tools using Google App Script from bots to other third party integrations. One such example of a bot created by Google itself is '@meet', which employs natural language processing and machine learning to look at everybody's schedule in a group chat and automatically suggest a meeting time and then schedule it directly in Google Calendar for everyone. Google has listed some companies that it is teaming with to build the platform including Asana, Box, Prosperworks, and Zendesk. Expect some more integration opportunities in the future.

As told to the The Verge, some of the business features would be limited to G Suite customers. For other regular users coming in from Gmail, Hangouts Chat will follow a freemium model, although The Verge did not state which features would cost money.

Hangouts Meet

The new update is also extending over to video chat functionality in Hangouts. With the new Hangouts Meet, Google is focusing on simplifying video chat and making it lighter on resources.

Video calls now can now be started with a simple shared link. Guests who have not been specifically invited but given access through the shared link can "knock" and ask to join the conversation. The light-weight application allows for up to 30 participants. Users on Chrome and Firefox also do not need to download any additional plugins to access Meet. Enterprise customers will also get a dial-in number to allow them to stay connected despite potential WiFi and data connection issues. Of course, as Meet also integrates with G Suite, information on meetings is pulled directly from Calendar.

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Hangouts Meet is generally available today and will gradually roll out to all G Suite customers over the next few weeks. You can also download the Android app now from the Google Play Store. Hangouts Chat is available only for G Suite customers in the Early Adopter Program.

What are your thoughts on Google's new Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet? Do you like the new purpose and direction given to Hangouts? Let us know in the comments below!

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Source: Google Blog Source: The Verge

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