Google is taking questions from developers for a Reddit AMA on Android 11

Google released the first Android 11 Developer Preview back in February this year. This is earlier than the usual release schedule for developer previews and this foresightedness was meant to ensure that developers get ample time to adapt new platform behaviors and APIs for their apps. Despite this, the release of the Android 11 beta was delayed by a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also forced Google to push the following beta releases by a month each. As per the updated schedule, the second Android 11 beta is expected to drop as soon as next week and the Android development team will be hosting an AMA (ask me anything) session soon after that on Reddit to address queries from developers.

Read all Android 11 news coverage by XDA here

The Android Engineering team posted on the Android Developers subreddit announcing they will hold an AMA on July 9th. The session will take place on the same Reddit thread used for the announcement between 12:00 PM PST / 3:00 PM EST and 1:20 PM PST / 4:20 PM EST on July 9th. The AMA will address questions about Android 11 Compatibility and be used to discuss some new tools. To clarify, the AMA is specifically for technical questions from developers and not the end-users. You don’t have to wait until the stipulated time and you can go ahead and post your questions on the Reddit thread ahead of the session so they are addressed by the team.

The AMA session is part of Android’s #11WeeksOfAndroid initiative to have clearer communications with developers. Google has opted for this approach most likely since this year’s Google I/O developer conference was canceled completely.

Notably, a blog post back in May by Flame Group – a company that consults OEMs and ODMs to help them receive GMS certifications for devices – had revealed that the Android 11 beta 2 will release on July 6th as the “Final Release Candidate” build.

Meanwhile, the Android Engineering team will also hold two more AMAs before the final stable release of Android 11 in Q3. One of them will be held between July 27th and 31st whereas another will be held between August 24th and 28th, which is when the “Platform stability” release (beta 3) is expected to be available.

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Source: Reddit

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Redmi K30 Ultra is an upcoming phone from Xiaomi with a Mediatek SoC and popup camera

Xiaomi’s Redmi K-series has cemented the company’s position in the mid-range to flagship-range across different regions. And the Chinese OEM has really leaned into the branding this year, with multiple devices launched with different spec combinations at different price points. The run started off with the Redmi K30 4G and Redmi K30 5G, followed by the Redmi K30 Pro, a Redmi K30 5G Racing Edition, and the Redmi K30i 5G. There’s even a transparent variant of the Redmi K30 Pro, but to be fair, that device is a one-off prototype that is not for sale. Some of these devices have even been rebranded into POCO devices for markets outside of China. Xiaomi is looking to expand the K30 branding even further, as we have now spotted evidence of the existence of the Redmi K30 Ultra.

XDA Member kacskrz, who is our frequent and trusted Xiaomi tipster, spotted a mention of the “Redmi K30 Ultra” within a recent MIUI 12 build. The branding appeared alongside the device codename “cezanne”. Further, another code snippet within MIUI 12 suggests that cezanne will come with a quad rear camera setup, wherein the primary camera will be a 64MP camera (though we do not have information on the exact sensor). There’s also evidence that cezanne will come with a pop-up camera setup for the front. Perhaps the most interesting bit in this equation will be the fact that cezanne will be powered by a MediaTek SoC.

None of the Redmi K-series devices that have launched in China so far come with a MediaTek processor, though other Xiaomi smartphone lineups like the Redmi 10X series have adopted newer SoCs from MediaTek’s Dimensity series. We do not know whether the Redmi K30 Ultra aka cezanne will come with a Dimensity SoC, but there is a high likelihood of it adopting a good SoC to support its decently equipped camera setup.

Unverified information: Independently, rumors on Weibo, originating mainly from leaker Digital Chat Station, suggest that Xiaomi is working on a device with the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 (MT6889). This device will come with a 144Hz LCD display, alongside a 64MP Sony IMX686 primary camera and a pop-up selfie camera. It will also support 33W fast charging for its 4500 mAh battery. The device is expected to be launched in China this month. Many other reports attribute these specifications to a Redmi K40 series smartphone. But we could not independently verify or corroborate any of this information, so there is no evidence to suggest that this leaked device is indeed cezanne aka the Redmi K30 Ultra. For all we know about Xiaomi, these could be two different products with some other differences between themselves.

We hope to hear more about the Redmi K30 Ultra in the coming days.

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Feature image: Redmi K30 Pro

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Mi Control Center adds an iOS design flare to your Android’s Quick Settings panel

MIUI 12 is the latest version of Xiaomi’s custom Android overlay for its smartphones. The updated software tenders several visual improvements to the interface. From a whole bunch of new animations to the iOS-inspired Control Center, MIUI 12 gets an entirely new persona. Xiaomi has already started rolling out the stable MIUI 12 update for the first batch of devices and the same for the next, larger batch with devices including the two-year-old Redmi Note 5 Pro (whyred) is set to commence soon.

The new visual features, especially the Control Center, can be really tempting to try out. But if for some reason, your Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO phone is not due for receiving the MIUI 12 update soon or may not get it at all, you can still experience the Control Center using a third-party app aptly titled, “Mi Control Center.” This app allows you to replace the Quick Settings menu with a Control Center similar to iOS and MIUI 12, not just on devices running MIUI but any skinned version of Android.

To start using the app, you’ll be required to approve Accessibility and Notifications access for the app. The homepage of the app gives you the option to choose between MIUI 12’s new control center and the quick settings panel from MIUI 10 and 11. If you choose the Control Center (which is the prime objective of the app), you can interchange the sides to open Notifications shade and the quick settings shade.

I am using the app on a Google Pixel 3a running on Android 11 beta to demonstrate how seamlessly it works on any UI.

Mi Control Center offers a wide range of customizations for the layout of the icon grid, the color of the text, the active quick settings tile, the brightness slider, as well as the background, and the option to apply a gaussian blur similar to MIUI.

The free version of the Mi Control Center app comes with ads, which may be visible in the settings. You can buy the premium version of the app for about $2 currently to be able to change settings like the transparency of the drop-down panel’s background or add a custom image altogether. You will also be able to change the header tiles, limit notifications, enable more shapes for the quick setting icons, and more.

Mi Control Center: Notifications and Quick Actions (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Via: Android Police

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Huawei’s AppGallery will soon add the Bolt ridesharing service, brings Deezer, Telegram, and more to the app store

Huawei’s current predicament is no secret to anyone anymore. Ever since the company was locked out from pre-loading the Google Play Store on its newer devices because of the executive order in the USA, Huawei has been on a quest to bolster its homegrown AppGallery app store to serve as the complete replacement of the Google Play Store. It is an uphill task though since Google enjoys complete domination when it comes to app distribution on Android as a platform thanks to a decade of functioning as the primary store for Android devices. For Huawei, the task is cut out: stay invested in your own solutions and work towards getting both developers and users onto your platform to create a positive feedback loop. And the company is doing just that as it has added several notable apps onto AppGallery recently, and will soon add the Bolt ridesharing service too.

Over the past few weeks, Huawei has added several major apps to AppGallery. These include:

• Deezer
• Tidal
• BBC News
• News UK
  • The Sun
  • The Times
  • talkSPORT
• Tinder
• Badoo
• Telegram
• TikTok
• Zoom
• Booking.com
• Skyscanner
• Emirates
• Lufthansa
• Ryanair
• Turkish Airlines
• Latam Airlines

The addition of these apps onto the Huawei AppGallery means that users who prefer using these services in the form of Android apps can now officially install them directly from the AppGallery. This also means that they can expect the apps to be adapted to work properly through the HMS Core. Most core functions should thus be available and functional, and even other ancillary functions should be working. Plus, users will no longer need to rely on bridging solutions like Petal Search for sideloading these particular apps.

Further, Huawei also adding Bolt to this growing list. Bolt is a ride-hailing app, akin to Uber but for the European region. Bolt recently made into the news cycle for its venture into electric bikes for the city of Paris. Similar to what we saw with HERE WeGo maps that made its way to AppGallery recently, Bolt will be making its way to AppGallery soon to provide a decent alternative for a ride-hailing app service for users in Europe and Africa. With Europe looking to open back again after easing out the COVID-19 restrictions, the presence of Bolt on the AppGallery will be good news for Huawei users in the region.

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LineageOS 17.1 adds support for the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Samsung Galaxy J7 2015, drops support for the Realme 3 Pro

After dealing with a security breach early this year in May, the LineageOS team finally got back on track with LineageOS 17.1 releases for new devices last month. The team added support for 5 Motorola devices and 5 Xiaomi devices, including the Moto G 2015, Xiaomi Mi 5, Moto G4 Play, Xiaomi Mi Mix, and more. Since our previous coverage, the team has added support for two more devices and has dropped support for the Realme 3 Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy J7 2015 and the Xiaomi Mi A1 have now received official support for LineageOS 17.1. In case you’re interested in trying out the custom ROM on either of these devices, you can download the recovery flashable package by clicking on “Get the builds here” on their respective wiki pages (linked below).

Device and XDA Forum Link	Device codename and Wiki Link	Maintainer
Samsung Galaxy J7 2015	j7elte	dariotrombello danwood76 Stricted
Xiaomi Mi A1	tissot	abhinavgupta371

Before you flash the LineageOS 17.1 build on your device, be sure to read the installation instructions and other linked documentation, including the guides and special boot modes. Also, be sure to take a backup of your data before you start the installation process.

Interestingly, the LineageOS team has decided to drop support for the Realme 3 Pro (RMX1851), which received support for LineageOS 16 earlier this year in February. As per a commit on the LineageOS Gerrit, the RMX1851 has been dropped “for now”, which suggests that the team might offer support for the device in the future. It isn’t exactly clear why the team decided to drop support for the Realme 3 Pro as the commit description only mentions that the device was dropped for “Reasons and whatnot.”

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Huawei’s “Apps UP” contest puts up $1 million in prizes for the best apps and games using HMS Core

The trade restrictions imposed on Huawei by the US have forced the company to lay more emphasis on developing its own products. Over the last year, the company has managed to set up an ecosystem of alternative products to replace all of Google’s products that it currently doesn’t have access to. These include HMS Core, which is an alternative to Google Mobile Services, Harmony OS, which is a first-party alternative to Google’s Android, and AppGallery, which replaces the Google Play Store. But while its ecosystem is almost complete, Huawei still needs the support of third-party developers to get its own services at par with Google’s offerings. To do this, the company has been sending developers requests to publish their apps on AppGallery and has announced a new Preferential Policy to give developers a bigger cut of the revenue. Now, in a bid to get developers to build more apps using HMS Core, the company has announced a new contest offering $1 million in prizes for the best apps and games that use the GMS alternative.

The Huawei HMS app innovation contest called Apps UP invites developers from all around the world to create innovative apps using HMS Core. The contest is live in five regions — Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Latin America, and China — and the top developers from the region will be awarded $1 million in cash prizes, funded by the Shining-Star program. The contest also gives developers the opportunity to compete with their peers on a global scale and showcase their technical ability using HMS Core. Developers will also get a chance to interact with industry experts and get free access to Huawei Developers events, courses, and certifications.

Huawei announced the contest at a recent event and showcased a few examples of apps that feature integration with HMS Core. These include an art app called Sketch AR which makes use of Huawei’s HiAI to create a smart app for virtual art creation, an app called StorySign, which integrates with Machine Learning Kit and blends image recognition with HiAI Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to translate popular children’s books into sign language.

Speaking at the event, Zhang Ping’an, President of Consumer Cloud Service at Huawei Consumer Business Group, said, “The number of talented developers of HMS ecosystem is growing. The work that developers do is integral to so much of our daily life. Through the apps they create, they empower us to seamlessly navigate the world around us. At Huawei, we want to invite developers to join us in building a better future and turn their ideas into reality using HMS Core offered by Huawei Mobile Services.”

If you’re an app developer who’s interested in taking part in Huawei’s Apps UP contest, you can register your account before August 30th by following this link. You can sign up as an individual developer or as a team with up to three members. In order for your app to be eligible, it must be developed with HMS Core integration and submitted on the contest’s official website before 18:00 UTC on August 30th. All eligible apps will be evaluated by a panel of regional industry experts based on social value, business value, user experience, and originality. The top 20 shortlisted apps in each region will make their way to the finals that will be held in October and the apps will be made available for the public on the contest’s official website or Huawei AppGallery from September 21st.

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T-Mobile shuts down Sprint’s legacy 5G network

Sprint and T-Mobile continue to shift things around as part of their merger that went through earlier this year. As expected, T-Mobile is now shutting down Sprint’s 5G network. T-Mobile started this process back in April and has been refarming Sprint’s 2.5GHz spectrum to augment its own 5G network.

We knew this day was coming and some existing Sprint 5G smartphones would be left without 5G access. Older Sprint 5G smartphones that used the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 modem will not be able to connect to T-Mobile’s new 5G network. These phones include the Sprint OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, and LG V50 ThinQ 5G. Earlier this summer, Sprint launched the LG V60 ThinQ 5G and the OnePlus 8 5G, which use the newer Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 modem. Those devices, along with the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, can use T-Mobile’s 5G network.

As mentioned, T-Mobile is using Sprint’s 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum to build out its own 5G network. The carrier has already re-deployed the new 2.5GHz spectrum in New York City and it reactivated it in parts of Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. New York City is currently the only city that has T-Mobile’s low-band, mid-band, and mmWave 5G.

According to BayStreet Research, around 75,000 now-incompatible Sprint 5G smartphones have been sold. If you’re an owner of one of the devices that lost 5G access, there are a few deals you can take advantage of. You can get the LG V60 ThinQ with the dual-screen attachment for $14.16/month for 18 months or the OnePlus 8 5G for $10/month for 18 months. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a 5G city or not—these offers are still open to you.

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Source: FierceWireless | Via: The Verge

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