Enter the Huawei Global Themes Design Contest and Win Big (& See XDA’s Theme)

Installing a theme is a simple thing that anyone with a Huawei phone can do to customize the look. Actually making a theme is a little more difficult, but it’s not nearly as hard as you might think. Huawei’s Theme Tool software makes it super easy for anyone to create a custom theme for their EMUI smartphone or Huawei wearable.

After downloading the app from here, you can open it and create a new project. Give the project a name and then you’ll be asked to select a project type. This is where you can decide how in-depth you want to go. A “Large scope” project will theme everything from the lock screen to the system apps. A “Small scope” project mainly focuses on the lock screen and home screen. “Icon” and “Lock screen” projects are what you would expect.

The screenshot above depicts a “Large scope” EMUI 10 project. Along the left side of the screen are the different categories of customization. Each one includes several other sub-categories to further customize. In the example above, the Home screen is open and you have the option to customize the wallpaper, the Home screen settings, widgets and app labels, folders, and transitions.

In the middle of the screen, you can see where the customization really takes place. Some aspects can be customized by simply choosing a color, such as “Appbar background color” shown above. Others, like the “Background” option, requires an image to be used instead. Once you go through all of these areas, changing as many as you like, you can Export the theme as an .HWT file that can be installed on EMUI 10 devices. For creating themes for wearables and older EMUI versions, check out the tools here.

Here is an example of an XDA theme that took about 10 minutes to create.

As you can see, it’s very easy to create a custom theme on the fly. The theme above doesn’t use any custom images (other than the wallpapers). Just changing a few of the colors can drastically change the look of your phone. If you’d like to create a theme for your Huawei phone, the Themes Tool software makes it very easy to do. You can also check out other designers’ creations straight from the HUAWEI Themes app.

---

Huawei is once again opening up a design contest with some impressive prizes. The Global Themes Design Contest allows participants to enter into four different design categories: Themes, Wallpapers, Watch Faces, and a special “Cities” category. The total prize pool is $300,000.

Designers are welcome to enter multiple categories and win multiple awards. The first prize for the Themes category is $16,000, second place will go to two winners with $8,000 each, and third place goes to three winners with $5,000 each. There are a number of other prizes up for grabs as well, which you can see in the graphic below.

The Huawei Global Themes Design Contest is launching on May 11th and will be accepting entries until July 1st. Judging will take place from July 1st to 20th. Winners will be selected and announced on July 22nd.

We thank Huawei for sponsoring XDA. Huawei had minimal involvement in the creation of or the content within this article. In particular, they were consulted for fact-checking. Any opinions expressed are those of the author. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including servers, developers, writers, and more. While you may see sponsored content alongside Portal content, all of it will be clearly labelled as such. The XDA Portal team will not compromise journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company. Our opinion cannot be bought. Sponsored content, advertising, and the XDA Depot are managed by our marketing director and not the editorial team.

The post Enter the Huawei Global Themes Design Contest and Win Big (& See XDA’s Theme) appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3fJrHJl
via IFTTT

POCO F2 Pro with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 launches globally, starting at €499

The POCO brand had a very promising start in the form of the POCO F1. This device managed to awe value chasers by providing flagship-like performance at a small fraction of that price. Despite the popularity of the POCO F1, POCO went missing from the smartphone space for more than a year. But the brand is now back, with devices like the POCO X2 in India that builds on the same value formula as the POCO F1. But still, users have been clamoring for a direct successor to the F1, and POCO is finally launching the same in the form of the POCO F2 Pro.

POCO F2 Pro: Specifications

Specification	POCO F2 Pro
Dimensions and Weight	163.3 x 75.4 x 8.9 mm 218 g
Display	6.67″ FHD+ AMOLED 180Hz touch response rate Max brightness of 800 nits and peak brightness of 1200 nits HDR10+ support Notchless display with pop-up camera Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on front and back
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865: 1x Kryo 585 (ARM Cortex-A77-based) Prime core @ 2.84GHz 3x Kryo 585 (ARM Cortex-A77-based) Performance core @ 2.4GHz 4x Kryo 385 (ARM Cortex A55-based) Efficiency cores @ 1.8GHz Adreno 650
RAM and Storage	6GB LPDDR4X + 128GB UFS 3.0 8GB LPDDR5 + 256GB UFS 3.1
Battery & Charging	4,700 mAh battery 30W fast charging
Rear Camera	Photo: Primary: 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, 1/1.7” sensor, 0.8μm pixels, EIS, OIS Secondary: 5MP, Macro Tertiary: 13MP, Wide-Angle Camera, 123° Quaternary: 2MP, depth sensor Video: 8K video recording (resolution of 7680 × 4320)
Front Camera	20MP
Other Features	3.5mm headphone jack Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 IP53 water and dust resistance 5G Multi-link Game Turbo 3.0 with voice changer Multi-function NFC IR Blaster
Android Version	MIUI 11 based on Android 10

If the POCO F2 Pro seems familiar to you, that is because it is. Much like how the POCO X2 was a rebrand of the Xiaomi Redmi K30 4G that was launched in China, the POCO F2 Pro is a rebrand of the Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro that was also launched in China. A rebrand in this space is not a bad thing, because all that really changes is the name on the phone — the base hardware remains the same, which is a good thing because the Redmi K30 Pro has some very good specifications on paper. Xiaomi has also already released the kernel sources of the Redmi K30 Pro.

Powering the POCO F2 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC with 5G support. There’s LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage on most variants, though the base variant gets a slight downgrade on these technologies. You also get a decent-sized 4,700 mAh battery with support for up to 30W fast charging that can charge the battery completely in about an hour. As for the display, POCO has chosen to go for a popup camera instead of opting for a hole punch or a notch. The display supports HDR10+, and has a 180Hz touch response rate. Curiously, as with the Redmi K30 Pro, the POCO F2 Pro also skips out on the high refresh rate display trend, so we just get the ordinary 60Hz refresh rate on this display.

For the camera, the highlight of the device is 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor, with a large 1/1.7” sensor size, 0.8μm pixels pre-binning, and dual stabilization through EIS plus OIS, as well as HEIF image format support and 8K video recording support. There’s a 13MP wide-angle camera sensor too, as well as a 2MP depth sensor. The fourth sensor is a 5MP macro camera that supports 50mm macro photography. The front camera within the popup is a 20MP shooter capable of 120fps slow-motion.

Other notable features on the device include a larger vapor-chamber to aid in cooling and sustaining peak performance, improved vibration motor, Game Turbo 3.0 with night vision and voice changer, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Goodix’s optical under-display fingerprint scanner, and Goodix’s smart audio amplifiers with high-power efficiency and idle noise reduction. The phone also has Widevine L1 certification out-of-the-box.

Pricing and Availability

The POCO F2 Pro will be available in four color variants: Neon Blue, Phantom Blue, Electric Purple, and Cyber Gray. The base variant starts at €499, while the top variant starts at €599. Keep in mind that the base variant gets LPDDR4X and UFS 3.0, while the top variant bumps these up to LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1.

You can purchase the POCO F2 Pro starting today from Gearbest and AliExpress. In the near future, you can also purchase it from several other partners, including Amazon and POCO.net.

It remains to be seen whether the device will be making its way to India. From the information available to us, Xiaomi will likely be launching the device under the Redmi branding and skipping out on the POCO branding for this phone in India.

What are your thoughts on the POCO F2 Pro? Let us know in the comments below!

The post POCO F2 Pro with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 launches globally, starting at €499 appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2LmUQfz
via IFTTT

Google starts rolling out “Search Chips” in Gmail for consumers

Earlier this year in February, Google rolled out a new feature in Gmail called “Search Chips” which aimed to make searching for emails a simpler process. The feature essentially made search filters easily accessible, by providing them as clickable suggestions underneath the search box. However, at the time, the feature was only rolled out on Gmail for G Suite users and the company had revealed no plans to extend it to the consumer version of Gmail. Now, it seems like the company is finally rolling out Search Chips in Gmail for consumers.

Search Chips on Gmail for G Suite users

For the unaware, Gmail previously required users to type out filters like “label:work” or “from:email@address.com” in order to narrow down emails. Users could also use a combination of the aforementioned filters to narrow down the search even further. But, as you’d expect, this method isn’t very convenient and a lot of Gmail users don’t even know how to use these filters. With the new feature, users will be able to type in a keyword (or a combination of keywords) in the search bar to bring up clickable filter suggestions or “Search Chips”.

As you can see in the screenshot above, typing out the keyword ‘calibrate’ brings up a couple of filter suggestions, including Exclude charts, Any time, Has attachment, and To me. Clicking on these suggestions allows you to narrow down your search even further, which is significantly easier than typing out the old filters. Additionally, in case the filter suggestions aren’t of any help in a particular case, you also get the option to run an Advanced search by clicking on the option right next to the suggestions.

While Google hasn’t officially announced the rollout, Mishaal Rahman and Max Weinbach from our team have already received the feature on their personal Gmail account. It’s quite possible that the company is currently testing the feature with a small number of users, with plans to roll it out to more users in the coming weeks. We’ll update this post as and when Google shares more information regarding the rollout.

The post Google starts rolling out “Search Chips” in Gmail for consumers appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3dIaDSt
via IFTTT

OPPO Reno 2F receives its stable Android 10 update with ColorOS 7

After delivering stable Android 10 with ColorOS‌ 7 to the Reno2/Z, F11/F11 Pro, A9, and R17 last month, Oppo is now bringing the latest flavor of ColorOS‌ to the Reno 2F. In a forum post over at ColorOS‌ Community, the company has announced the stable rollout of Android 10 and ColorOS 7 for the Oppo Reno 2F.

The stable rollout follows the close beta program that Oppo kicked off in March, allowing select Reno 2F users to test drive the early software and provide their feedback to the software development team. With the stable release now rolling out to everyone, Oppo says beta participants will no longer receive any further beta builds and will be moved to the stable channel.

ColorOS‌ 7 brings a massive overhaul to the overall look and feel of the software and, as we noted in our review, looks far more aesthetically pleasing than the previous iterations of ColorOS. The update brings along a ton of new features such as new system-wide dark mode,  new navigation gestures, Smart Sidebar, a revamped camera app, optimized 3-finer screenshots, new wallpapers, new Digital Wellbeing tools and much more.

You can find the full update changelog below:

ColorOS 7 update changelog for Reno 2F

[Visuals]
• Brand new borderless design makes visuals more attractive and operation more efficient.
• Added OPPO Sans as the default font. The new font delivers a refreshing feel and fits well with OPPO’s pursuit of blending beauty and technology.

[Smart Sidebar]
• Optimised user interfaces and improved one-handed operation.
• Drag an app out of Smart Sidebar to open it in Split-screen mode.
• Added two settings: Assistive Ball Opacity and Hide Assistive Ball on Fullscreen App.
• Optimised the Floating Window feature for more apps.
• Added a bubble: A bubble is displayed when you open an app in a floating window from the Smart Sidebar. Tap the bubble to collapse and open the app.

[Screenshot]
• Optimised 3-Finger Screenshot: Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen and swipe your fingers to adjust the screenshot size. 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.
• Optimised 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]
• New gesture: Swipe inward from both sides of the screen and then hold to switch to the previous app.
• Optimised gestures: All gestures are supported in landscape mode.

[System]
• Added Dark Mode: Protects your eyes while reducing power consumption.
• Added Focus Mode: Shields you from outside distractions when you are learning or working.
• Added all new charging animation.
• Optimised the Quick Settings user interface for easier one-handed operation.
• Swipe left or right to ignore banner notifications.
• Added a pause function for screen recording.
• Added a floating window and settings for screen recording.
• New sounds added for file deletion, calculator key touches, and compass pointer.
• Optimised system pre-loaded ringtones.
• Added TalkBack floating prompts for Accessibility.
• Colour Accessibility Mode added to improve the user experience for visually impaired users.
• New management function for recent tasks: You can view memory information about recent tasks and lock apps.

[Games]
• Optimised visual interaction for Game Space.
• Optimised the startup animation for Game Space.

[Home Screen]
• More live wallpapers.
• Added Art+ static wallpapers.
• Customise whether to open Global Search or the notification drawer when swiping down on the Home screen.
• Customise the size, shape, and style of app icons on the Home screen.
• Swipe up on the Lock screen to switch unlock methods.
• Optimised the graphic design of password unlocks to facilitate one-handed operations.
• Supported live wallpapers on the Lock screen.
• More screen-off clock styles.
• Added a simple Home screen mode, featuring larger fonts and icons and a clearer layout.

[Security]
• Connect your phone to Wi-Fi networks using 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
• 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]
• Optimised the Camera UI for better user experience.
• Optimised the Timer UI and sound.

[Photos]
• Optimised the Album UI for a clear hierarchy and quick lookup of photos.
• Added Album Recommendations that recognises more than 80 different scenes.

[Communications]
• OPPO Share now supports sharing files with vivo and Xiaomi devices.
• Optimised the Contacts UI for a more efficient experience.

[Settings]
• Search Settings now supports fuzzy match and contains a search history.

[Applications]
• Soloop Video Editor: Create your video with one tap.
• Added DocVault, an app for easy management and use of your digital ID cards (available only on phones sold in India).

The ColorOS‌ 7 update has already started hitting the Reno 2F devices in India. If you haven’t received an update notification yet, you can head to Settings > Software Updates to see if it’s available for download.

Buy Oppo Reno 2F from Amazon India

Launched in August of 2019, the Oppo Reno 2F is an upper mid-range smartphone from the Chinese smartphone maker. It features a 6.53-inch AMOLED display, MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, a 48MP primary camera, and 16MP pop selfie camera and a 4,000 mAh battery with 20W VOOC‌ Flash Charge 3.0. The device came running Android 9 Pie based on ColorOS 6.1 out-of-the-box and was promised to receive the ColorOS‌ 7 update in Q1 2020.

---

Source: ColorOS Community

The post OPPO Reno 2F receives its stable Android 10 update with ColorOS 7 appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/3ctDWI0
via IFTTT

Google Play Store tests search filters for ratings, “Editor’s Choice,” and “new” applications

If you are an app developer looking to focus on Android, the Google Play Store will be your topmost focus. And that isn’t remotely surprising — after all, developers have earned over $80 billion from the Play Store, and it is the biggest app market in the world. While the Apple App Store may be more lucrative, the Google Play Store presents itself as a lower bar of entry and a wider audience, which are two things that greatly benefit an app developer who is just starting out. However, because of the sheer number of apps on the platform, actually discovering an interesting new app is not an easy job for users, and by extension, getting your app noticed by users is equally difficult too. However, it seems Google does want to fix this issue in some way, as the Play Store is now testing search filters to help complement the Play Store’s lookup capabilities.

As spotted by 9to5Google, the Google Play Store is testing filters in search that can refine results. Currently, generic search terms can show up a few suggestion chips that can refine results by app features. The new tests will expand the filtering capabilities, allowing refinement by rating (either 4.0+ or 4.5+), by the existence of the “Editor’s Choice” badge from Google, and by “New”. All three of these new filters can be applied at the same time.

These new filters can really help a user narrow down the apps they want to try out — for instance, all highly rated options for a search term can be filtered out, so you can try out the options to see what suits you the best. Similarly, surfacing only new applications will make it easier for new publishers to reach an audience and gain feedback from them to improve their own app. Google Play search filters are not widely available yet and are rolling out via a server-side update, so they should be arriving on your phone automatically in the next few days.

The Play Store has been receiving several changes that make it better at serving as the app store for the masses. The Store recently received a dark theme toggle for most Android versions. It also began showing download counts and app size in search results, and it also recently introduced a “Teacher Approved” section for apps and content that are approved as kid-friendly.

---

Thanks to XDA Senior Member RKBD for the screenshots!

Source: 9to5Google

The post Google Play Store tests search filters for ratings, “Editor’s Choice,” and “new” applications appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2WpZbVO
via IFTTT

Honor 9X Pro with Kirin 810 and Huawei AppGallery launched in India

Huawei’s sub-brand Honor first unveiled the Honor 9X series in China all the way back in July last year. Earlier this year in January, the company launched the Honor 9X in India, alongside the Honor Magic Watch 2 and Band 5i. However, at the time the company didn’t launch the more-premium Honor 9X Pro in the country. After months of leaks and teasers, the company has now finally launched the Honor 9X Pro in India.

Honor 9X Pro Specifications

Specifications	Honor 9X Pro
Dimensions and Weight	163.1 x 77.2 x 8.8 mm 206g
Display	6.59-inches LCD 2340 x 1080 resolution 19.5:9 aspect ratio
SoC	HiSilicon Kirin 810: 2x ARM Cortex-A76 @ 2.27GHz + 6x ARM Cortex-A55 @1.55GHz; 7nm fabrication process Mali-G52 MP6 GPU
RAM and Storage	6GB + 256GB
Expandability	Up to 512GB via microSD
Battery	4000mAh
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, side-mounted
Rear Camera	48MP primary sensor, f/1.8 8MP, ultrawide 2MP, depth sensor
Front Camera	16MP, f/2.2, pop-up
Connectivity	Dual 4G VoLTE Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz) Bluetooth 5.0 LE GPS + GLONASS USB Type-C 3.5mm Headphone Jack
Android Version	EMUI 9.1.1 based on Android 9 Pie

The Honor 9X Pro is a mid-range device powered by Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 810 chipset, which is accompanied with 6GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage, which is further expandable up to 512GB using a microSD card. It packs in a 6.59-inch display with no notch or hole-punch cutout and minimal bezels on all sides. Much like several other devices from last year, the 9X Pro features a pop-up camera mechanism to house the selfie camera; something that we haven’t seen in many devices launched this year.

Speaking of cameras, the Honor 9X Pro features a triple camera setup on the back with a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra wide-angle camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. Over on the front, the device has a single 16MP selfie shooter. Rounding off the specifications is a 4,000mAh battery with support for 10W wired charging via the USB Type-C port.

On the software front, the Honor 9X Pro runs EMUI 9.1.1 based on Android 9 Pie but unlike the non-pro variant, it doesn’t include Google Mobile Services or the Google Play Store. Instead, the device ships with Huawei’s alternative to Google Mobile Services and it’s the first device from the company to ship with the Huawei AppGallery.

Pricing and Availability

The Honor 9X Pro will be available exclusively via Flipkart at a price of ₹17,999 (~$238), but users will be able to get the device at a discounted price of ₹14,999 (~$199) during the special early access sale on May 21 and May 22. Registrations for the early access sale are already live and if you’re interested in purchasing the device, you can pre-book it until May 19 to get the extra ₹3,000 discount. Honor has also announced a couple of other launch offers, including no-cost EMI up to 6 months and free one-time screen replacement within 3 months of purchase. The device will be available in two color variants — Phantom Purple and Midnight Black.

Since the Honor 9X Pro has already been launched in other markets, we had the chance to play with the device earlier this year. You can check out our hands-on review of the Honor 9X Pro by following this link or you can check out TK Bay’s video on the device linked above.

The post Honor 9X Pro with Kirin 810 and Huawei AppGallery launched in India appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2AlLoaa
via IFTTT

Huawei Y9s with 16MP pop-up camera, Kirin 710F launched in India

Huawei has just launched a new mid-range smartphone in India. Dubbed the Huawei Y9s, this smartphone keeps the basic design language and internal hardware of last year’s Huawei Y9 Prime, but brings along a camera refresh in the form of the 48MP primary camera to better stand against the competition.

The Huawei Y9s features a 6.59-inch IPS LTPS with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ resolution, wrapped in a glass body with curved sides which Huawei calls it 3D arc design. Huawei has moved around a few things on the back so as not to repeat the exact look of the Huawei Y9 Prime. For example, all three cameras are now housed inside a vertical strip while the fingerprint scanner has been relocated to the right frame and doubles as the power button.

On the inside, the Huawei Y9s is powered by mid-range HiSilicon Kirin 710F octa-core chipset, featuring 4x ARM Cortex-A73 clocked at 2.2GHz frequency and 4x ARM Cortex-A53 efficiency cores running at 1.7GHz frequency, coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 flash storage.

The quad-camera setup on this phone is comprised of a 48MP primary – a step up from the 16MP unit on the Y9 Prime – an 8MP wide-angle camera with a 120-degree field of view, and 2MP depth sensor. For selfie needs, the phone has a 16MP pop-up selfie shooter.

The Huawei Y9s is powered by a 4,000mAh battery that charges via USB-C port. The phone comes running EMUI 9.1 based on Android 9.0 Pie along with Google apps. In terms of connectivity, the phone supports Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS, and 4G LTE. The phone does come with Google Apps support, but on the flip side, it runs on EMUI 9.1 based on Android Pie.

Huawei Y9s: Pricing and Availability

The Huawei Y9s comes in two colors – Breathing Crystal and Midnight Black – and will be exclusively available from Amazon India starting May 19 for ₹19,990. There is an option to purchase the phone with a 9-month no-cost EMI, which will get you a ₹1,000 cashback too.

The post Huawei Y9s with 16MP pop-up camera, Kirin 710F launched in India appeared first on xda-developers.

from xda-developers https://ift.tt/2zuwv4Y
via IFTTT