Nova Launcher is getting a major rewrite with new animations in version 7

Nova Launcher is undoubtedly one of the most popular third-party launcher apps available on the Play Store today. The launcher has been around for almost a decade now, and it has managed to stay relevant thanks to a constant stream of updates that bring new features to the table. However, since the launcher is still based on the open-source Launcher2 app in the Android Open Source Project (AOS), it has become increasingly difficult for the developers to merge new changes from AOSP to the launcher.

For the unaware, the Launcher2 app was deprecated in favor of Launcher3 with the release of Android 7.1 Nougat. This, coupled with the fact that Nova’s code-base has diverged a lot from Launcher2, makes it difficult for the developer to merge new changes from AOSP to the launcher. To address this issue, the next major update for Nova Launcher (version 7) is based on AOSP’s Launcher3, and the rewrite brings a bunch of design tweaks and new animations.

Nova Launcher version 7 is already available for public beta testing in the Nova Launcher Discord channel, and it features the following changes:

Nova Launcher 7 beta changelog

Nova has been rebased on the latest Launcher3 offering from the Android Open Source Project. This means updated visuals and animations and just about every part of Nova’s code has changed.

Nearly all of Nova’s extensive customization has been brought along for the ride and updated to match, enjoy the new folder opening animation with any of Nova’s folder customization options such as immersive windows or different icon layouts.

Some configuration options have been dropped such as the card background and horizontal app drawer styles. Feedback is welcome on this.

Though the focus is on refreshing the base and updating visuals there are various new features sprinkled in as well, such as:

• Radial folder icon layouts
• Vertical paginated folder scrolling
• Swipe Down action on icons (Prime)
• Search bar and Tab bar in app drawer can be placed at the bottom
• More Nova search window and bar options
• Save APK popup menu action
• More

Do note that the changelog mentioned above pertains to the initial Nova Launcher 7 beta release, and the launcher has since received several updates on the beta channel with bug fixes and additional features.

If you’re interested in trying out the latest Nova Launcher 7 beta, you can download the release by joining the public Discord server here. In case you face any bugs or issues in the beta build, you can report them in the #bug reports channel in the Nova Launcher Discord.

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Nova Launcher 7 beta screen recording courtesy of XDA’s Zachary Wander!

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Someone got their hands on Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro before next week’s launch

Samsung has a launch event scheduled for January 14, where the South Korean electronics giant is expected to take the wraps off of the Galaxy S21 series. Alongside the usual smartphone launch, we’re also expecting Samsung to refresh its TWS lineup with a new entry in the form of the Galaxy Buds Pro. There have been multiple leaks of the Galaxy Buds Pro over the last few weeks, which have in turn revealed key specifications, design, and probable pricing of the earphones. As if the leaks so far weren’t enough, we now have our very first unboxing and first impressions video of the Galaxy Buds Pro up on YouTube, revealing pretty much everything there’s to know about this yet-to-launch truly wireless headphones.

The unboxing video comes to us the courtesy of tech YouTuber Digital Slang, who saw a listing for the unreleased Galaxy Buds Pro on Facebook Marketplace, seized the opportunity, and found them to be the real thing. The YouTuber has been posting photos of the Buds Pro over on Twitter for the last couple of days, but now he has gone ahead and posted an unboxing video on his YouTube channel.

Ok here we go.. pic.twitter.com/4cDGIHOzhY

— digital_slang (@digital_slang) January 2, 2021

In a 17-minute long video, Digital Slang shares their initial impressions on everything from sound quality and ANC to touch controls and latency performance. The video also confirms the existence of the ambient sound mode and active noise canceling with level control, as reported by previous leaks. You can check out the full unboxing video below.

At this point, the only piece of information about the Galaxy Buds Pro that remains under wraps is the global pricing and availability. However, as per a leak last month, the Galaxy Buds Pro could be priced around $199 in the US. With the Galaxy Unpacked event happening next week, we will not have to wait too long to learn more about any missing bits.

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Featured image courtesy: Digital Slang

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OnePlus teases a fitness tracker with sleep monitoring support

Over the last year, OnePlus added several new devices to its portfolio. After sticking to budget-friendly flagships for the last 5 years, the company launched its first true flagship smartphone in 2020, its first mid-ranger in five years, and a couple of affordable smartphones. The company also launched its first pair of TWS earbuds last year, and it plans to expand its wearables portfolio further this year.

Last month, OnePlus’ CEO Pete Lau confirmed that the company was working on a smartwatch. Furthermore, a leak revealed that an affordable fitness band was also in the works. While OnePlus is yet to announce a launch date for either of these devices, the company has now started sharing teasers for the upcoming fitness band, which leads us to believe that it may be launched soon.

Every morning, when we wake up we overlook almost a third of our day we spent sleeping.

But it is sleep that armors us to take on new challenges everyday, to #NeverSettle

Tracking your sleep quality is important. How? We got you covered.

Get notified: https://t.co/tyxlW6cRmE pic.twitter.com/EPmEdvzPmL

— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) January 4, 2021

As you can see in the attached tweets, the upcoming OnePlus Band looks like the Mi Band 5. This was to be expected, as the previous leak suggested that the band was modeled after Xiaomi’s popular offering. Although the official tweet doesn’t reveal much about the band’s specifications, it confirms that the band will come with sleep monitoring support.

This year, we are here to help you achieve all your fitness goals and make your life easier.#SmartEverywear

Head to the link to get notified: https://t.co/LUCWvulREa pic.twitter.com/ynLzgyFxku

— OnePlus India (@OnePlus_IN) January 4, 2021

While OnePlus hasn’t shared any further details about the OnePlus Band, leaker Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) has managed to procure specification and pricing details ahead of the launch. According to a recent tweet, the OnePlus band will be unveiled in Inda on January 11th, and it will feature 24/7 heart rate monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, sleep tracking support, and 13 exercise modes.

Exclusive: OnePlus Band Launching on January 11 in India

-24/7 Heart Rate + SpO2 Blood Saturation Monitoring
-Sleep Tracking
-1.1″ Touch AMOLED Display
-14 Days Battery
-IP68
-13 Exercise Modes

-Around INR ₹2,499

What do you think? #OnePlus #OnePlusBand #SmartEverywear pic.twitter.com/tCLLwCrrTV

— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) January 4, 2021

The leaker further reveals that the OnePlus Band will feature a 1.1-inch AMOLED touch display and IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It will offer up to 14 days of battery life on a single charge, and it will retail for around ₹2,499 (~$34). This falls in line with previous leaks, which suggested that the OnePlus Band would be priced around $40.

Exclusive: This is the OnePlus Band.#OnePlus #OnePlusBand pic.twitter.com/JxYoSMxxTn

— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) December 31, 2020

Additionally, leaker Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) has shared an image of the OnePlus Band in three colorways, which gives us an even better look at its design. As you can see in the attached tweet, the OnePlus Band features a rectangular dial with rounded edges and OnePlus branding at the bottom. The fitness band comes with a silicone strap, which may be available in 3 (or more) colorways — dark gray, blue, light gray/orange.

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The POCO F2 may finally launch in 2021 as a mid-range smartphone

Xiaomi’s sub-brand POCO started its journey with the launch of the POCO F1 back in August 2018. But after a successful start, the sub-brand remained dormant until Xiaomi set it up as an independent brand early last year. Following that announcement, POCO launched several new smartphones across various price brackets. But despite constant requests from fans, the company is yet to launch a POCO F2. However, that may change soon.

POCO India recently shared a video on Twitter recapping its progress in 2020 and teasing what’s to come in 2021. Towards the end of the video, the text “The F2” flashes intermittently, which many believe hints at the launch of the POCO F2.

The stage is set! The fun has begun! Let us get ready to take it to the next level!

Excited? You should be, coz the next year is going to be even crazier.

While we enjoy, let us look back at everything we’ve achieved together! Thank you pic.twitter.com/K0432jSj8B

— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) December 31, 2020

It’s worth noting that while a POCO F1 successor already exists in the form of the POCO F2 Pro, it was never launched in India. As a result, one may believe that the POCO F2 could be a cheaper version of the POCO F2 Pro for the Indian market. However, that may not be the case if recent leaks are to be believed.

According to the XiaomiUI Telegram group, the POCO F2 will be a mid-range smartphone with the code-name “courbet”. It will be based on Qualcomm’s sm7150 platform, which is believed to be the new Snapdragon 732G. The device will reportedly have a quad-camera setup on the back, a 4,250mAh battery, reverse charging support, and NFC support in the global model. While we can confirm that Xiaomi is indeed developing a device code-named “courbet” (and “courbetin” for the Indian model), and we can corroborate these specs, we can’t be sure whether or not it will be called the POCO F2 at the moment.

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The Galaxy S21 launches January 14th at Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2021

It’s official: the first Galaxy Unpacked of 2021 will take place next week. Samsung made the news official today in a press release, confirming January 14th for the launch date of the Galaxy S21 series.

With the tagline “Welcome to the Everyday Epic”, the Galaxy Unpacked event is expected to reveal a handful of smart devices across a range of categories. The most anticipated launch at the event is Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series, a trio of smartphones that we know pretty much everything about already.

In North America, the Galaxy S21 series will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888, while in Europe and India, the three phones will feature Samsung’s new Exynos 2100. We’ll hear more details about Samsung’s new Exynos chip soon, but the leaked specs have us pretty excited. Regardless of region, the 3 phones will run Samsung’s latest version of One UI based on Android 11, and we will likely see a bunch of new features and enhancements to existing services make their debut alongside the S21 launch. Now that we know the launch date, we won’t have to wait long to confirm all the rumored details.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Series Forums

In addition to the 3 devices in the S21 series, Samsung is also expected to unveil a new pair of true wireless earbuds called the Galaxy Buds Pro. Thanks to a handful of leaks in late December, we know that the Buds Pro will be Samsung’s second pair of true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. Unlike last year’s Galaxy Buds Live, however, the Galaxy Buds Pro will have silicone tips. We’re most interested in how Samsung will price these earbuds, though a recent leak suggests they’ll be quite expensive.

Samsung is also expected to unveil a Bluetooth tracker called the Galaxy Smart Tag and a new color of the Galaxy Watch Active 2. There could also be other smaller hardware and software launches at the event, and maybe even a “one more thing” style surprise. We hope there’ll be a teaser of Samsung’s next foldable phone, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung is saving that for its next developer conference.

Keep an eye out on the XDA Portal for our coverage of Samsung’s first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2021. The event will take place virtually on Thursday, January 14th at 10:00 AM ET, but if you can’t spare the time to watch the live stream, we’ll have all the information you need post-launch.

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Discussion: What are you most looking forward to in 2021?

2020 definitely gave us much more than what we wanted. While it can unanimously be called more bitter than sweet, the tech industry saw major advancements. Last week, we asked you about your favorite smartphone features of 2020 and your favorite smartphone of 2020 and received some exceptional responses. But since we are already in 2021, we look forward to the new and exciting changes in the new year. What are you looking forward to in 2021, with smartphones and with consumer technology in general?

One of the strongest forces we’re bound to feel in 2021 is the wider availability of 5G. Most importantly, we may see many affordable smartphones or series getting support for 5G, thanks to mid-range 5G chipsets such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 or MediaTek Dimensity 720. At the same time, we may also witness more ultra-portable mobile computers get 5G connectivity, just like the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex.

Mobile computing, in general, is expected to take leaps forward with the introduction of the purported 32-core successor to the Apple M1 ARM-based silicon. Meanwhile, AMD is expected to prepare the 5nm Zen 4 architecture for early 2022. Intel, which recently announced plans to sell its flash memory unit, might finally be able to focus on more efficient CPUs.

Simultaneously, the competition in the mobile computing business could get tougher as Qualcomm, Huawei, Samsung, and Apple lock horns with 5nm chipsets for smartphones. It would be interesting to see what the purported Exynos 2100 brings to the table.

Coming back to consumer products, we do expect to see a surge of foldable smartphones, especially at lower prices than the existing ones. At the same time, Apple’s decision to remove the charger from the box may have implications for the entire smartphone industry moving towards a single unified solution, like an open fast-charging standard or better, more affordable and more accessible wireless charging.

Or, will smartphone companies push cameras past 108MP in 2021? Will AR (augmented reality) finally mature into a widely used technology? Will the PlayStation 5 be back in stock? Only time will tell us the answers to these questions. But what do you think?

What does technology in 2021, smartphones and beyond, look like to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 

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Discussion: Would you pay for a charger separately with each new phone?

Apple is undisputedly the biggest trendsetter in the smartphone industry. Despite ridicule from Android fans and brands, these controversial trends by Apple end up materializing and being adopted by these very brands. The latest in the series is the removal of a charger from the box of the iPhone 12 and future phones. Whether you believe that Apple is helping the environment or just exploring newer ways to collect more money from users, you will have to spend additional money to pay for chargers. While Apple’s major competitors like Samsung and Xiaomi dissed the idea initially, they are now following in its footsteps and have already announced their plans to sell charger-less Galaxy S21 and the Mi 11 series smartphones, respectively. So, should you have to pay extra for a charger that has been included in the box, and would you? Let’s discuss!

Apple was the first brand to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone as early as 2016. When this happened, the entire world chimed in to criticize the company. As the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung took personal responsibility and went on for the next three years with a series of commercials mocking the lack of headphone jack on iPhones. This continued until the launch of the Galaxy Note 10 series, which is when Samsung decided to take the plunge too — and secretly remove all of its ads from all official handles. You can still find some of them re-uploaded by users.

Similarly, when Apple announced its plan to remove the charger from the package, Samsung could not hold back from mocking Apple again — only to delete these jabs later. Xiaomi wasn’t also far behind taking digs at Apple. But, Xiaomi has an innovative — and less upsetting — solution to removing chargers from the box. Only for the first sale, the Chinese company is allowing users to choose between two packages — one with a charger and another without it — for the same price.

Naturally, other smartphone manufacturers are expected to follow suit and eventually sell smartphones without chargers in the box. Even as the step is being marketed as being in favor of reducing e-waste, The Verge quoted senior CFRA Research analyst, Angelo Zino, saying, “the bottom line has a lot to do with [this being a financial move].” Mr. Zino says Apple is trying to offset some of the increased expenditure due to 5G modems by removing components such as the charger and the wired EarPods from the box. With 5G being one of the primary reasons that make smartphones with the Snapdragon 865 much more expensive than their predecessors, other Android OEMs will most likely be joining in.

Irrespective of this banter between brands and their efforts to maximize profits, the cost of a new phone increases for the buyer as the cost of a separate charger adds on top of it. And then, some brands have superfast charging capabilities for their smartphones, achievable only through proprietary chargers, and you can expect to be charged a good premium for this fast charging over a standard charger, thereby hurting buyers even more. Although the popularity of Bluetooth made it easy to relinquish our dependence on 3.5mm headphone connectors, the same does not apply to wireless charging, so this move is going to hurt a lot more.

However nasty, the only way to ensure that you utilize the best charging speeds on your new smartphone is by paying extra for a new charger with your smartphone. But, should you have to do it? Will you do it? Specifications being equal, would you prefer a phone with an included charger over one without? Should companies charge differently for the two packages, or let the pricing be equal? Do you think removing the charger from the box is actually healthy for the environment or is all of it just marketing? Let us know in the comments below!

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