2016 in Review: What was the Best Midrange Smartphone of 2016?

As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016.

Our last discussion was on your opinion on the best flagship of the year, but its time to cover other bases. Mid range smartphones usually see past technology from last year's flagships trickle down into a price segment which is more affordable to consumers. There are compromises which prevent these devices from competing in the big leagues, but that doesn't mean that these phones are slouches.
So, our question to you is,

What was the best midrange smartphone in 2016? Was the device released this year, or is it an older flagship that is now more affordable? Why does this smartphone deserve to be called the best in the mid range? What features attracted your attention towards this phone? What were your needs and expectations, and how were they fulfilled? Additionally, what are the caveats to the phone that stop it from competing against flagships?

Let us know in the comments below!

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iFixit Ranks 2016’s Smartphones in Order of Repairability

Just like we enjoy having full control of the software in our smartphones, some of us at XDA also prefer to do our own device repairs as well. When a new smartphone or tablet gets torn down by iFixit, you typically see us writing about it. Not only is it interesting to us, but we feel these teardowns are an invaluable tool for the entire Android community as well. iFixit recently released a ranked list that includes some of the biggest smartphones of this year.

iFixit gives each of their official teardowns a repairability score. This score can be used as a quick way of learning how easy, or difficult, a smartphone can be to repair. We're told the team gives points based on modular designs if/when they're used, removable batteries, standard screw types, and when a screen is easy to replace. These are generally the pain points for smartphone repairs, so it's nice when an OEM has gone the extra mile here.

iFixit also takes points away when they feel an excessive amount of adhesives have been used inside the phone. They also don't like to see soldered components, or complex opening procedures either. So this published list is short, but it does a good job at highlighting some of the best and worst smartphones released this year as far as repairability is concerned. At the top of the list we have the LG G5. It might not have sold as many units as LG had hoped, but iFixit appreciated the removable battery and modular design.

Next up is the Pixel XL from Google (and HTC), as it was praised for having many modular internal components. However, the Pixel and Pixel XL are difficult to open without breaking the screen. Then at the bottom of the list we have the Galaxy Note 7, with the Galaxy S7 right below it. They felt the Galaxy Note 7 was tough to open, and the battery was more difficult to replace than it should have been. They described the Galaxy S7 as a glass and glue sandwich, which made it difficult to open and repair.

Source: iFixit

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DxOMark Reviews the Dual Cameras of the LG V20

As we get to the end of the year, some review publications are starting to highlight some devices that they weren't able to get to upon release. Many have been waiting for DxOMark to review the dual camera system of the LG V20, and yesterday that review was officially published. The device earned a respectable overall score of an 85, which puts it right alongside the Huawei Mate 9 in their eyes.

DxOMark felt the sensors preserved a good amount of detail when the subject was in very bright light. They saw good noise reduction in low-light environments, and the autofocus was fast and generally accurate when they tested it. However, they found some irregularities with the focus, there was a slight pink colorcast when outside, and some highlights were overexposed in high-contrast scenes.

During the review, DxOMark felt the camera's video performance is where the LG V20 is weak. They gave its video performance an overall score of 82 as they saw some motion blur even all lighting conditions. There were slight autofocus oscillations visible in the preview, there was a visible focus drop during tracking, and limited dynamic range when shooting video in bright light. They did say it had good target exposure though, and appreciated the noise reduction in bright light and again they felt it preserved detail in bright light situations.

Overall, DxOMark was impressed with the camera of the LG V20, but felt a little let down since they ranked the LG G5 right above it with an overall score of an 86. If LG had just focused more on the video performance of the camera, then it would have received a higher score.

Source: DxOMark

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SuperSU v2.79 SR1 is Available, Focuses on SELinux Changes for Nougat

Yesterday, Chainfire announced the first update after version 2.78 of SuperSU was made stable. As we've mentioned before, the SR updates are basically a different name for beta versions of SuperSU. The name change was put into place as an attempt at reducing the number of people trying to upload beta releases to non-Google Play app stores since it would continue to carry the same version number.

Most changes here are with SELinux on Android 7.x Nougat, although there are a lot of other changes with this new update. Chainfire says this version will now use it's own 'u:r:supersu:s0' context to run in. So instead of reusing the 'u:r:init:s0' context, this change can prevent a few conflicts from occurring. However, we're warned that this change could make some root applications (and even some firmwares entirely) to suddenly stop working.

SuperSU v2.79 SR1 no longer modifies file_contexts[.bin] as well. Chainfire noticed that this modification caused some issues on select firmwares. They've been unable to identify the reason for the conflict though, but noticed that the modifications were causing it. Some people reported that SuperSU was slow to grant root access to some applications on boot when a device had a bunch of application installed. This mainly happened with Nougat, and we're told it shouldn't be much of an issue anymore.

You can download the flashable zip for v2.79 SR1 right here, and we encourage you to check out the XDA forum thread for the beta version of SuperSU in case you run across any issues with the new version. The full changelog for this update can be found below.

• Expand Samsung detection
• GUI: reworked portions to work with 'supersu' context on 7.0+
• GUI: fix binary update notice when superuser disabled by user in some cases
• su: reworked portions to work with 'supersu' context on 7.0+
• su/GUI: improve responsiveness when device busy on 7.0+
• sukernel: fix cpio restore failure with very short filenames
• sukernel: no longer patches file_contexts(.bin)
• sukernel: revert force seclabel (no longer needed with 'supersu' context)
• supolicy: add "create", "auditallow", "auditdeny" policy commands
• supolicy: support "*" for permission/range parameter of "allow", "deny", "auditallow", "auditdeny", "allowxperm" policy commands
• supolicy: –live/–file no longer apply default patches if custom patches are supplied
• supolicy: –sdk=X option added (required for 7.0+)
• supolicy: reworked all SELinux rules for 7.0+, run as 'supersu' context
• ZIP: Separate slotselect and system_root logic
• ZIP: Adjust system/system_root device and mount-point detection
• ZIP: Fix minor errors in documentation
• ZIP/frp: Explicitly label /su

Source: +Chainfire

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Tasker v4.9 is out with Non-Root Programmable Firewall, Multi-Window Automation, S-Pen Recognition, and More

It's no secret that we at XDA are big fans of Tasker. We've covered the application and its capabilities multiple times in the past and have demonstrated that the potential uses of Tasker are limitless thanks to its extensive plug-in framework. Tasker has become so robust over the years that development on the application has slowed down significantly in the past year or so. That doesn't mean that development on Tasker is unnecessary or dead, as new versions of Android introduce new features that are ripe for automation.

Back in July, the Tasker developer teased that the next major update to Tasker would take advantage of Android's VPN integration to allow for a non-root, per-app, programmable firewall. Nearly 5 months after this revelation, Tasker has finally received an update to version 4.9, bringing this feature along with a plethora of additional changes.

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What's New in Tasker

The developer has posted a full change-log on his website, but there are simply too many changes to list. Here are the most important changes to Tasker with this update:

• New Network Access control. This new action is located under the Net action category. You are given 4 different options to control the network access on the device: Allow All, Allow, Deny All, or Deny. If you select 'Allow' or 'Deny' you are given the option to choose which particular apps you would like to allow or deny network access for. Since this is an Action, you must either couple this with a pertinent Context to trigger it or you can set up a launcher shortcut to manually run a task containing this action.
• New Toggle Split Screen action. This action is located under the App action category. There are no configuration options with this action. Just as before, this action is contained in a Task and thus must be coupled with a Context that triggers a Task. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like you can directly open both apps of your choosing using this action, as Tasker only toggles multi-window so you will have to either manually select the other app to launch in multi-window or use AutoInput to select the second app.
• New Pen Out and Pen Menu states. These are new State Contexts (one which is active so long as the condition is met) where Tasker can now react to when a user removes the Samsung S Pen from the device holder or when the S Pen Air Button menu is displayed.
• Support for External SD Cards. Previously, Tasker did not play well with files located on external SD cards. Now, the app has been updated to use the new external SD access API. When you select any action in the File category, you will now see a small SD card icon in the bottom right hand corner of Tasker's internal file browser, which will allow you to select files on your SD card.
• Added support for native Back Button and Recents Button. No longer will you have to rely on third-party plug-ins for your UI navigational needs, as you can create your very own navigation app using Tasker.
• Added support for displaying the Power Menu on the device. Using this and the AutoInput plug-in, you can now automate rebooting your device if your device has a reboot function in the power menu (such as the new Google Pixel phones).
• Uses the new media button API in Android 7.0+, which should fix any issues users are having with media button input from Tasker.
• A LOT of UI and UX improvements for the scene builder – one of the most frustrating parts of Tasker for new users.

As I've mentioned before, there are a ton of bug fixes, changes, and features added in this update. If you are a fan of Tasker, it would behoove you to read the full change log to get a good idea of what's new. Furthermore, as I don't want to leave any new users of Tasker in the dark, here are some quick ideas I've come up with to take advantage of these new features. You can easily implement these following the below descriptions and modify them to suit your needs.

In the first tab below, you'll see a quick and easy use of the new Network Access feature. I've made a profile that will disable network access to the Mint app when I'm not on my home network. In the second tab, I've set up a quick driving mode profile using the new Toggle Split Screen feature. Here, upon connecting to my bluetooth device, Tasker will launch Maps and Google Play Music in multi-window mode. This requires the aid of AutoInput to select the second app from the recent app screen.

• Firewall
• Driving Mode Multi-Window

  Profile: Firewall (78)  State: Not Wifi Connected [ SSID:Rahman MAC:* IP:* ]  Enter: Anon (81)  A1: Network Access [ Mode:Deny App:Mint ]  

  Profile: Driving Mode (82)          State: BT Connected [ Name:FLEXSMART X3 MINI Address:* ]  Enter: Anon (86)          A1: Launch App [ App:Maps Data: Exclude From Recent Apps:Off Always Start New Copy:Off ]           A2: Launch App [ App:Play Music Data: Exclude From Recent Apps:Off Always Start New Copy:Off ]           A3: Toggle Split Screen           A4: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:2 Minutes:0 Hours:0 Days:0 ]           A5: AutoInput Action [ Configuration:Type: Point  Value: 540,1465  Action : Click  Is Tasker Action: false  Check Screen State: false Timeout (Seconds):20 ]  

Note that these are just the descriptions for the two fairly simple profiles. If you re-create these, please be sure to change the SSID to point to your own home network in the 'Firewall' profile and to change the Bluetooth device to your car bluetooth in the 'Driving Mode Multi-Window' profile.

If we come up with any great Tasker scripts in the future, we'll be sure to share them on the XDA Portal. If you come up with a great Tasker idea on your own, feel free to comment below or visit our Tasker Tips & Tricks forum at the link below.

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Visit our Tasker Tips & Tricks Forum

Download Tasker from the Google Play Store

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2016 in Review: What was the Best Flagship Smartphone of 2016?

As we enter the final days of the year, it's time to get your opinion on all the events, news, releases and controversies that we witnessed so far in 2016.

This year saw some great releases by OEMs big and small. Some smartphones took a gamble to differentiate themselves from the crowd, while some played it safe and improved on conventional expectations.

The competition was fierce, but a winner has to be chosen. So, today's question to you is,

What was the best Flagship smartphone released in 2016? Why does this smartphone deserve to be called the very best? What features attracted your interest towards this phone? What were your needs and expectations, and how were they fulfilled?

Let us know in the comments below!

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Google will launch two flagship smartwatches with Android Wear 2.0 next year

In an exclusive interview with The Verge, Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear at Google, states that the company will launch two new flagship smartwatches in the first quarter of 2017. Furthermore, these two smartwatches will be the first devices to run Android Wear 2.0.

We learned of the existence of these two smartwatches earlier this year and even caught a glimpse of what the smartwatches could look like, but this is the first time we have official confirmation from Google. We now also have some additional information about the smartwatches thanks to Mr. Chang.

According to Mr. Chang, these new devices will not carry the Pixel branding, but will instead be OEM branded. What this tells us is that these two Google devices are going to made in close conjunction with their OEM partners, much like the now-defunct Nexus program. Mr. Chang reports that Google collaborated with the manufacturer on both the hardware design and software integration for the two smartwatches, and that their partners have had prior experience in making Android Wear smartwatches.

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Android Wear 2.0 Release Timeline

After the release of these two smartwatches, Mr. Chang states that older Android Wear smartwatches will begin receiving their updates to Android Wear 2.0. As we've covered previously, the update to Android Wear 2.0 brings a plethora of changes including Google Assistant integration, a standalone app store, in-app billing, better two-factor authentication sign-in support, new gestures, and more. Although not every existing Android Wear smartwatch will be upgraded, most recent models are expected to make the cut. Mr. Chang states that although certain features such as Android Pay require NFC, the company will not make NFC a requirement to receive Android Wear 2.0.

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Devices Expected to Receive Android Wear 2.0. Via The Verge.

• Moto 360 Gen 2
• Moto 360 Sport
• LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE
• LG Watch Urbane
• LG G Watch R
• Polar M600
• Casio Smart Outdoor Watch
• Nixon Mission
• Tag Heuer Connected
• Fossil Q Wander
• Fossil Q Marshal
• Fossil Q Founder
• Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch
• Michael Kors Access Dylan Smartwatch
• Huawei Watch
• Huawei Watch Ladies
• Asus ZenWatch 2
• Asus ZenWatch 3

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As we approach January, Google will release the fifth and final Android Wear 2.0 Developer Preview, which should include support for Android Pay and Google Assistant. In addition, the final Developer Preview will finally bring support for iOS, which has been confirmed to be compatible with the Android Pay feature.

In the future, Mr. Chang teases that several OEMs are planning on releasing their own Android Wear 2.0 devices, with some announcing them at CES next month. Given the news this year that the likes of Motorola, LG, and Huawei passed on releasing an upgraded model of their smartwatch, we may see some of these OEMs release a new smartwatch sporting Android Wear 2.0.

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Source: The Verge

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