LineageOS 18.1 adds support for the POCO X3 Pro, POCO F3/Mi 11X, Galaxy M20, and more

In March this year, the LineageOS team rolled out the first build of LineageOS 18.1 based on Android 11 to nearly 60 devices. Since then, the team has added support for several more devices, including the OnePlus 6/6T series, the Google Pixel 3 series, several Xiaomi phones, the Samsung Galaxy S10, and more. The team has now added support for a few more devices, including the POCO F3 (Redmi K40/Mi 11X), the POCO X3 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy M20.

In case you own any of these devices, and you wish to try LineageOS 18.1, you can download the builds by following the Wiki links mentioned in the table below. (Note: The Wiki link for the POCO X3 Pro wasn’t live at the time of writing. You may have to wait a while to access the download link.)

Device	Codename and Wiki link	Maintainer(s)
POCO F3/Redmi K40/Mi 11X	alioth	SahilSonar SebaUbuntu althafvly
POCO X3 Pro	vayu	–
Samsung Galaxy M20	m20lte	SamarV-121

Along with these devices, the LineageOS team has also promoted the following devices from LineageOS 17.1 to 18.1:

Device	Codename and Wiki link	Maintainer(s)
Fairphone 3	FP3	dk1978
BQ Aquaris X	bardock	eloimuns Quallenauge Team aquaris-dev
BQ Aquaris X Pro	bardockpro	Quallenauge Team aquaris-dev
Samsung Galaxy A5 2017	a5y17lte	filiprrs
Samsung Galaxy A7 2017	a7y17lte	filiprrs

After downloading LineageOS 18.1 for your device, you can follow the guide given on your phone’s Wiki page to install the ROM. Do note that the installation instructions vary per device, so make sure you follow the correct instructions, or you might end up bricking your phone.

For the unaware, LineagOS 18.1 is based on Android 11, and it brings several new features and improvements to the table. Some of the main highlights include a built-in backup feature, revamped Recorder and Music apps, dark mode support on all LineageOS apps, and icon pack support. Check out our in-depth review of LineageOS 18.1 for more details.

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WhatsApp’s new terms of service will reportedly be optional in the future

Earlier this year, WhatsApp announced plans to update its terms of service and privacy policy that would mandate users to share their data with Facebook when a user messages a WhatsApp Business account. However, WhatsApp’s failure to properly communicate new changes caused widespread confusion among users, forcing the company to delay the deadline by which it required everyone to accept the new change. The company then revealed that it had pushed the deadline to May 15 and that users who don’t accept the new policy by that date would start seeing their WhatsApp functions being limited slowly over time. However, as the backlash continued, WhatsApp was forced to revise that change, too, with the company later confirming that it had decided not to delete or limit accounts. Now new evidence suggests that the Facebook-owned company could be making the new terms of service optional.

According to WABetainfo, WhatsApp will let users continue to use the service as it is even if they don’t accept the updated terms of service. The company now plans to limit this mandatory change to WhatsApp Business messaging.

In simple terms, if you use WhatsApp to chat with your friends and family, you can choose to ignore the terms and continue to use the service without attracting any limitations. However, if you want to chat with business accounts, WhatsApp will require you to “review and accept the WhatsApp update.”

The following message will be shown when the user tries to message a business account:

Screenshot courtesy: WABetainfo

WhatsApp always maintained that its updated terms of service were only going to apply to users messaging WhatsApp Business accounts.

WABetainfo says WhatsApp plans to announce this new change to Terms of Service “very soon” and that a future version of WhatsApp beta will support this change. WhatsApp has yet to officially confirm this new change.

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Google Chrome for Android tests a new UI for the downloads panel and bookmarks

With the first Android 12 stable release right around the corner, Google has been hard at work updating its apps to conform with the new Material You design language. The company has already rolled out minor UI updates for several of its apps, including Chrome for Android, which received dynamic theming support earlier this month. The company is now testing a few additional design changes in the browser that give the downloads panel and bookmarks a more modern look.

As you can see in the attached screenshots, Google Chrome for Android’s latest design refresh gives the browser’s downloads panel a completely new look. Instead of a gray pop-up at the bottom, current downloads are displayed as a toast at the top of the screen in the new design. Completed downloads also appear in the same location in a rounded card with an “Open” button. The bookmarks pages have also received a design update, featuring larger squircle icons and more spacing between items.

The new downloads panel UI is currently enabled by default for many Chrome users running recent Canary builds of the browser. If you don’t see it yet, you can manually enable it by flipping the “show download progress message” flag in chrome://flags. The bookmarks UI refresh, however, is not enabled by default in Canary builds, but you can get it by flipping on the “enables the visual refresh for bookmarks” flag.

Since the new design changes are limited to Chrome Canary releases at the moment, we can’t be sure if Google will end up rolling them out in a stable release or not. We’ll have to wait and see if Google decides to adopt this new design for the downloads panel and bookmarks.

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This Week in Gaming: Saints Row, Halo Infinite, and the rest of Gamescom’s announcements

Most of the news that was fit to print this week was premiered at Gamescom, the European gaming event where we got to see some previously-unseen gameplay from the major titles, including a new Saints Row, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Halo Infinite. I can’t contain every piece of news from Gamescom, but I’ll try to cover all of the biggest announcements from the show.

New Saints Row and Marvel games announced at Gamescom

One of the biggest games to be revealed at Gamescom was a new Saints Row title. The series has been dormant since 2015’s Gat out of Hell, so the news that Volition was working on a new game in the series was particularly welcome. The trailer for the game revealed it to be a reboot starring a new group of Saints and set in a new location. Fan reception to the first trailer was mixed, but follow-up materials have been more in line with the spirit of the franchise. The game is set to launch on February 25, 2022.

Another new game revealed at the show was Marvel’s Midnight Suns. This new game is a tactical RPG with several familiar Marvel characters facing off against a demonic entity. If Marvel’s Avengers feels like an attempt to capture the spirit of the MCU films, Midnight Suns feels like an attempt to capture the spirit of its TV show spin-offs: It’s dark, weird, and cool. The characters include Blade, Ghost Rider, Magik, and Nico Minoru. We’re also getting a customizable player character to play called The Hunter.

Halo Infinite and Horizon Forbidden West get release dates

In addition to new games, we also got some much-needed updates on upcoming games. Specifically, we got some release dates. We now know that Halo Infinite will launch on December 8, just making its 2021 release window. While we didn’t get a look at the campaign at any time during the show, we know that both it and the multiplayer mode will launch simultaneously. Microsoft also announced the Halo Infinite limited edition Xbox and controller at the same event.

Another release date we got, a bit further out than we might have been hoping for, was Horizon Forbidden West. There were rumors that the game would miss the projected 2021 release window — it’s not officially a delay as the developers hadn’t set a firm date up to this point — but now we know the game will instead launch on February 18. February is shaping up to be a big month for games, as we also discovered that the action game Sifu will launch on February 22.

Call of Duty: Vanguard, Forza Horizon 5, and Destiny 2 were also there

It’s hard to contain all of the new trailers and details from Gamescom in just a few paragraphs, so here’s a quick rundown on some of the more interesting details that I haven’t mentioned already: We got gameplay reveal for the campaign of Call of Duty: Vanguard, as well as more details on the playable character Polina Petrova. She’s a Russian sniper who can navigate vertically to vantage points. We also got a big gameplay showcase of Forza Horizon 5, starring the game’s many beautiful cars and the equally beautiful Mexican landscape.

Finally, we got a huge Destiny 2 showcase, in which Bungie revealed details about the new season, Season of the Lost, and the upcoming expansion, The Witch Queen. These two new content packs for the game will dive deeper into the series’ lore and reveal some characters that have either been gone a while or have never been seen before but have been mentioned repeatedly. They will also add new mechanics to the game such as crafting and a new difficulty level.

A quick update on ActiBlizz, Overwatch, and Pokémon GO

Trainers – we’re looking forward to sharing our plans as a result of the task force on September 1, but one thing does not have to wait! From now on, 80 meters will be the base interaction radius for PokéStops and Gyms globally. (1/2)

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) August 25, 2021

Since Gamescom got all the attention this week, I’ll limit the other news bits to just a few updates. Some good news for Pokémon GO players: Niantic listened to fan requests and restored the distances for gyms and PokeStops from the pre-pandemic distance of 40 meters to the pandemic distance of 80 meters. Fans had been protesting the decreased distance since it was both dangerous (the distance was reduced in the United States, where the pandemic is still ongoing) and made those locations less accessible. Niantic said on Twitter: “We’ve heard you and understand that this has been a welcome benefit to many players.”

Activision Blizzard is somehow in even hotter water with the state of California. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing amended its complaint against the company this week to allege that the company had suppressed evidence pertaining to the lawsuit by destroying documents. The DFEH also says ActiBlizz’s hiring of WilmerHale interferes with their investigation, and that the company is trying to pressure its employees to speak with either them or WilmerHale, rather than the DFEH, by claiming employees are required to disclose any communication with the DFEH. In other news, Blizzard has confirmed it will be renaming Overwatch’s Jesse McCree, who currently shares his name with a now-fired problematic Blizzard employee.

September’s Free Games Via Subscription Services

For this part of the weekly update, we’ll add the games that have been added to or announced for subscription and streaming services. Xbox Games with Gold:

Xbox Games with Gold for September

• Warhammer: Chaosbane
• Mulaka
• Zone of the Enders
• Samurai Shodown II

Games released this week:

No More Heroes 3

The final adventure of Travis Touchdown, No More Heroes 3 is the return of the cult classic action franchise.

Available on Nintendo Switch

Aliens Fireteam Elite

This co-op title sees a team of Marines take on the legendary Xenomorphs in this follow-up to the films.

Available on PlayStation 5

Available on Xbox Series X/S

King's Bounty 2

This turn-based tactical RPG lets you play as three different heroes in a vast open world with many secrets.

Available on PlayStation 4

Available on Xbox One

• Psychonauts 2: Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PC (via Steam)
• Marvel Future Revolution: iOS, Android
• I Expect You to Die 2: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, PSVR, SteamVR

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Magisk is dropping support for hiding root access from apps

Back in May, topjohnwu, the developer of Magisk, announced that he had joined Google on the Android Platform Security Team. Given that Magisk is used to root Android devices and also circumvent root detection measures in apps, many were skeptical that Google would allow the developer to continue working on the project in its current form, or even at all. Fortunately, topjohnwu has been given the green light to continue developing Magisk, but this approval is contingent on the project dropping support for its root hiding feature called MagiskHide.

In a blog post, topjohnwu addresses the current state of Magisk development and what’s changing for the project moving forward. His first point refutes the accusations that his employer, Google, had banned him from working on the project, when in reality, he just had to cut through a lot of red tape to get the approval he needed to work on the project. It’s not unusual for tech companies like Google to scrutinize the external work that its employees do, especially when that external work directly impacts the product that the employee was hired to work on. In topjohnwu’s case, his job on the Android Platform Security Team gives him privileged insight into Android’s current and future security measures, which presents an obvious conflict of interest when MagiskHide — Magisk’s root-hiding component — is designed to circumvent one of Google’s current security measures, that being SafetyNet Attestation. For this reason, topjohnwu has no choice but to cease development on MagiskHide as well as remove most of its infrastructure.

MagiskHide reaches end-of-life

Ending development on MagiskHide was not a difficult decision for topjohnwu to make, though. On a personal level, the developer says that it’s been a while since he last found it enjoyable to work on circumventing root detection methods, which is understandable because it’s essentially a cat-and-mouse game. Sure, Magisk’s popularity can largely be credited to its success in circumventing root detection in Google Pay and Pokémon Go, but it gets tiring having to constantly patch the project just to keep up with the ever-changing landscape. Plus, with hardware-backed attestation in play, circumventing root detection becomes far more difficult, and current workarounds may not work forever.

Although MagiskHide is reaching end-of-life status, the tool will still be around in a very limited sense, as topjohnwu believes it’s important that apps have the ability to “opt-out” of modding. The developer says that users “will be able to assign a denylist of processes where Magisk denies further modifications and reverts all changes it had done. Magisk will not spoof/alter/manipulate any non-Magisk related signals or traces to circumvent any device state detection.” Basically, MagiskHide will no longer be hiding root access from apps and will instead be used to ensure that user-selected apps won’t be modified. Making it easier to revert changes will also speed up testing on emulators, as developers will no longer have to reboot or patch emulator images.

Of course, even though the official Magisk app is dropping support for hiding root access doesn’t mean it can’t be forked to bring back the feature. Any developers that do this, though, will run into the same problems that topjohnwu did, meaning they’ll have to play the same cat-and-mouse game that contributed to topjohnwu becoming disillusioned with Hide.

The end of the centralized Magisk Module Repo

Another upcoming change to Magisk is the removal of the Magisk module repo from the app. The integration of the Magisk-Modules-Repo into the Magisk app is what allows users to search and download modules from within the app. Its removal will mean that users will have to manually download module ZIP files and install them from within the app, which is a little inconvenient compared to the existing solution but not difficult at all to do. Plus, apps that come with a Magisk module component can easily install the module for the user by running the magisk --install-module ZIP command, taking the manual step out of the equation for users.

The bigger loss, though, is for discoverability of new modules through the centralized, curated repo, but topjohnwu says the GitHub organization will be transferred to “trusted community members” soon. Eventually, he wants to let users point the Magisk app to online module sources, kind of like F-Droid, but this isn’t a high priority for him at the moment.

This change wasn’t prompted by topjohnwu’s employment at Google but was instead bound to happen given the time investment required to moderate the repo.

Zygist – Magisk in Zygote

For the past several months, topjohnwu and several other developers have been working on something called “Zygisk,” which is Magisk in Zygote. Zygote is the OS process that handles forking each application process, so running parts of Magisk in the zygote process will make modules even more robust. Topjohnwu says that Zygisk also meets his philosophy of Magisk “getting out of the way” of apps whose developers don’t approve of modding, as when a process is added to the MagiskHide denylist, Magisk “will cleanup the memory space of the process to ensure no modding is applied.”

This project is still a work-in-progress, but we’ll hear more implementation details when it’s ready for beta testing.

The future of Magisk development

Magisk started out and remains a hobbyist project for topjohnwu, but the developer wants to take the project more seriously. He has already started up continuous integration on GitHub and will start to regression test changes before each release by integrating with AVD.

Topjohnwu also notes that other talented developers have been submitting worthwhile code changes to the core of Magisk, fixing many bugs and expanding device compatibility. Despite being open source from the beginning, Magisk has been the sole domain of topjohnwu, so it’s nice to see other people contribute to the project when topjohnwu has less time and energy to devote to it himself.

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These are the Best Calendar Apps and Widgets on Android: Google Calendar, DigiCal, and more!

Calendar apps are handy in effectively organizing your time. Still, many of us end up using whichever calendar app comes preinstalled on our Android phones. But the bundled apps are rarely the best ones around. Thankfully, there are many great options to choose from in the Google Play Store, and we present some of them to you in this article.

Navigate this guide:

• Google Calendar
• Business Calendar 2
• DigiCal Calendar
• aCalendar
• TimeTree
• Proton Calendar
• Calendar Widget by Home Agenda
• Month Calendar Widget
• Calendar Notify
• Everyday Calendar Widget

Best Calendar Apps and Widgets

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is one of the better calendar apps on Android. It includes all the basics of a calendar in a pleasing design. You can toggle between calendar views, manage or view tasks, and get all your calendar data in one place. Being a Google app, it can automatically import events from Gmail and add them to your calendar.

If your team uses Google Workspace, you can check your co-worker’s availability, whether meeting rooms are free, or share calendars with other team members using it.

Google Calendar (Free, Google Play) →

Business Calendar 2

Business Calendar is another popular calendar app. The app acts as your complete personal organizer, giving you features of a calendar, schedule planner, and task organizer. The app can also sync with Google Calendar, Outlook, Exchange, and other apps to show everything in one place. Additionally, there are several customization options, widgets, themes, and calendar views.

You can also use the Business Calendar 2 app to answer meeting invites or invite people to your events. It’s free to download and use with ads. There’s a premium version as well, which you can unlock with a one-time payment. It removes ads and adds lots of advanced features.

Business Calendar 2 - Agenda, Planner & Widgets (Free⁺, Google Play) →

DigiCal Calendar Agenda

DigiCal includes all the typical calendar features and also gives you access to sports schedules, TV schedules, weather forecasts, holiday calendars, and more. It also allows you to have a local calendar on the device that isn’t synced anywhere for extra privacy. If you do want to sync, there’s support for Google Calendar, Outlook, and Exchange.

The app also gives you seven agenda views, six widgets, and a dark theme. The DigiCal Calendar app is free to download and use. But you can opt for DigiCal+ to remove ads, get extra widgets, and other advanced features.

DigiCal Calendar Agenda (Free⁺, Google Play) →

aCalendar

If you want a calendar app that comes with lots of powerful widget options, aCalender is your answer. It has seven widgets that you can customize to your liking. Additionally, the app lets you easily switch between day, week, month, and agenda views. Year view and export support are present as well.

aCalendar is free to download and use with ads. But with in-app purchases, you can get a holidays calendar, more color options, business features, tasks support, and more.

aCalendar - a calendar app for Android (Free⁺, Google Play) →

TimeTree

If you’re looking for a calendar app for your entire family, friends group, or team members, TimeTree could be the answer. This shared calendar app allows everyone to view the same calendar and add events to it. You can create multiple shared calendars for different needs. Additionally, users can chat with each other in each event.

There is a memo feature as well in TimeTree that helps plan things. The app is free to download and use, but it does include ads.

TimeTree - Free Shared Calendar (Free, Google Play) →

Proton Calendar

If you’re privacy-conscious and don’t appreciate your calendar provider having access to your data, you should try out the Proton Calendar app. From the makers of ProtonMail, the Proton Calendar app is currently in beta, so there’s a chance you might run into some bugs. It includes end-to-end encryption so nobody can see your calendar data, including Proton. Additionally, there are no ads or trackers to keep everything private.

In addition to the calendar basics, the app allows you to create recurring events and schedule appointments in any timezone. You can also add multiple notifications to any event. Proton Calendar is also available on the web, and an iOS version is coming soon. The developers promise to add more features as the app moves out of beta. It’s free to download and use.

Proton Calendar - Private and secure calendar (Free, Google Play) →

Calendar Widget by Home Agenda

This paid Calendar Widget from Francisco Franco of Franco Kernel fame is another good option. It gives you a lot of customization options and even allows you to import themes made by anyone. You can choose to show just today’s events or a running list. Also, you can set the maximum number of days shown in the widget. There are several other options to help you tweak the widget to your liking.

There’s a free version of the app, but it’s pretty barebones, and only the paid version makes sense.

Calendar Widget by Home Agenda ($1.99, Google Play) →

Month

If you’re looking for a neat calendar widget for your phone, you may like Month from Candl Apps. It includes several customization options, allowing you to tweak how the widget looks on the home screen. There are over 80 themes, but not all are available in the free version. Month also lets you pick which calendars show up in the widget. Lunar Calendar support is present as well. You may spot this app in some of our reviews as my colleague Aamir Siddiqui heavily relies on this for his homescreen.

Month is free to download and use with ads. But you can use in-app purchases to remove ads and unlock additional features.

Month: Calendar Widget (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Calendar Notify

While widgets are great at giving you a glance at your schedule, they’re only visible on particular home screen pages. So if you want to see your calendar at more locations, Calendar Notify is a handy app. It acts as a companion to your existing calendar app and puts your calendar on your notification shade. You also get regular widgets.

The app allows you to tweak how your calendar looks in the notification shade. Additionally, you can back up or restore your app settings. Calendar Notify is free to download and use. There’s a premium edition as well that unlocks a few additional features.

Calendar Notify - Widget, Lock and Status bar (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Everyday

In other calendar widget options, we also have Everyday from XDA Recognized Developer Pranav Pandey that looks beautiful. The app comes with a theme engine that will match the calendar widget to your style. You can choose from Agenda, Today, or Month views to get what you want on the home screen.

There are lots of other settings to customize the widget as per your needs. You can pick calendars, events visibility, and more. Everyday is free to download and use with ads. But you can get the Everyday Key to gain more features and remove ads.

Everyday | Calendar Widget (Free, Google Play) →

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These are the best calendar apps and widgets for Android. Which calendar app or widget do you use? Let us know in the comments section. Check out our best Android apps, best podcast apps, and best weather apps lists for more app recommendations.

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