Articles about Modding

Almost two months ago Motorola announced the new Droid Razr HD, but there was something missing. Don't get me wrong, it's nicely spec'd but Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich doesn't exactly shout 2012, does it? Fear not, Jelly Bean is underway and for the more eager owners of the smartphone there is a leaked ROM available as well.

This is not an official build, and therefore it may still have software issues. That said, thanks to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Droid Razr HD users can take advantage of features like Google Now and Project Butter. In order to keep elevated privileges (popularly known as "root") after installing the leaked ROM, OTA RootKeeper or a similar application must be installed beforehand.

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Even though the Asus Nexus 7 and Samsung Galaxy Nexus share the same version of Android and similar display resolutions, some apps are not identical. On the Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet, the Calendar app displays more information, and thanks to the modding community it's now available for the Galaxy Nexus as well.

Instead of the lines in the Calendar app from Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the modded tablet variant shows a text description for each event of the day, making it a bit more useful.

Two modded versions are available at the moment, with the first based on the Calendar that ships with Android 4.1.2 and the second on the one available as a separate download from Google Play. Both can be used, but only the latter allows users to sync events dating back one full year.

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A week after the last build that introduced Kangerator, the Android Open Kang Project team announced Jelly Bean Milestone 1. It's a stepping stone for the custom Android distribution, and the last one users will see ahead of the version of Android.

Google released Android 4.2 Jelly Bean yesterday, and until it gets pushed to AOSP the team behind the popular project decided not to release further builds. The idea is to incorporate the latest version of the green robot into the AOKP source, which will bring the newly introduced features. Jelly Bean Milestone 1 touts a more bug-free operation, as every bug report received via RootzWiki and Twitter in the last weeks has been closed. As usual of late, a new build doesn't come without new features and changes in the list of supported devices, so let's get to it.

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Almost a week ago Sprint announced that it will carry the LG Optimus G for $199 starting in November, and ahead of its release a developer already posted a method to gain elevated rights (also known as "root" among modders) for the quad-core powerhouse coming Sprint's way.

According to the developer rooting the Optimus G for Sprint is done in the same way as for the South Korean version, and only requires to install the LG Android drivers and download the necessary file that performs the process itself. Gaining elevated rights is fairly simple judging by the involved steps that need to be performed, but using this method users will receive a number of prompts in Vietnamese that have to be accepted in order for the process to complete.

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Three weeks have passed since the Android Open Kang Project team released a new build, and after a long wait AOKP Jelly Bean Build 5 is now available, bringing along the latest version of Android with it. Also released is a new app named Kangerator for following and downloading new AOKP releases.

The latest build is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, build number JZO54K and apart from introducing support for the AT&T variants of the Samsung Galaxy S III (d2att) and Galaxy Note (quincyatt) and removing support for the HTC One XL/X (evita), it also brings a number of features from the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich builds, such as NavBar widgets.

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Here at BetaNews, we expected that Motorola Mobility would embody a new attitude about Android updates following Google's acquisition -- fast upgrades for Android smartphones and more developer-friendly approach, similar to the Nexus lineup. That hasn't come to pass. A number of developers are rising with the "Support My Moto" campaign, designed to grab the Google subsidiary's attention and eventually make the company deliver on its promises.

"Support My Moto" campaign claims Motorola promised Android updates, but never delivered. Among the devices: Droid X2, Atrix 4G, Photon 4G, XT882 and MT8720 that are currently left running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Not too long ago, Motorola promised a $100 credit for smartphones that will not receive the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, and according to the XDA Developers user that started the campaign the company is still figuring out how the program will be implemented for non-Verizon users. But according to the supporters of the campaign, these are not the only problems that they are trying to get resolved.

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The Motorola Atrix HD is not the most modder-friendly smartphone available as it comes with a locked bootloader. Now though, there is a root exploit available that might turn things around and help it receive custom Android distributions.

The exploit gives Motorola Atrix HD users the ability to run applications using elevated, or root, rights. The installation is pretty straight forward, and first requires downloading and extracting a zip archive. The newest ADB drivers from Motorola are required before connecting the smartphone to the computer and running the .bat file. Just a button combination more, and the Motorola Atrix HD is rooted, according to the developer.

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Barely yesterday I wrote "TWRP 2.3 is released, touts speed improvements", but now there is a new version available. This time around, Team Win Recovery Project 2.3.1 focuses on fixing a number of bugs encountered in the previous announced version.

TWRP 2.3.1 brings USB Mass Storage core improvements, better handing of mounting storage during boot for a number of unspecified devices as well as unmount system after boot to prevent errors on .zip install. Other differences include fixing a problem related to the size of images after resetting to default, size errors during backup for "some" devices on recovery and a problem with restoring backups when more than one archive is present.

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CyanogenMod team introduced an in-house updater for its CM10 custom Android distribution, and while it may cover important functionality some users might desire a more comprehensive app. Addressed to more demanding modders, Team BBQ offers BBQTools, touted as an all-in-one tool for delivering updates, changelogs and more.

Just like BBQLog, BBQTools comes with the ability to display the changelog between CyanogenMod 10 nightly or stable builds, but can also download the essential Google Apps package needed by the installed CM version to offer access to Google Play store and other essential Android functionality, as well as stable or nightly builds for compatible devices and capability to install or update the CyanogenMod.

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Running an Android distribution means having a custom recovery installed, with Team Win Recovery Project being one of the most popular solutions. TWRP 2.3 is released, touting a number of speed improvements as well as other fixes.

It's now based on AOSP Jelly Bean source code, and to aid implementing new features and future AOSP recovery updates, TWRP 2.3 has undergone significant under-the-hood changes due to a core rewrite into C++. ADB Sideload, which is a Jelly Bean recovery feature, has been implemented allowing to push and install an Android distribution using a single command from the computer. Also added is the charging indicator that updates every minute. What else?

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Little more than a month ago Motorola announced its new Droid Razr smartphone lineup, among which is the 4.3-inch Droid Razr M. The phone ships with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but, just like with the HTC One X, someone decided that it could use some jelly beans...

On Twitter P3Droid provides a download link for the Razr M Android 4.1 Jelly Bean ROM, with the standard warning regarding the voided warranty if flashed. Named "Blur_Version.77.111.10.XT907.Verizon.en.US.zip", the leaked file comes in at 255MB, and judging by the included files it updates the Verizon Wireless variant to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean and not the latest available.

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A month ago the CyanogenMod 10 team introduced M1, the first monthly release of the popular custom Android distribution. M2 is now available, based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, supporting more devices.

Aimed at users looking for a more stable build, it can be used as a daily-driver on an extensive number of supported Android smartphones and tablets. The update, or fresh install for new users, can be performed manually, through ROM Manager or by using the built-in CM Updater app. Between the two monthly builds CyanogenMod 10 has undergone a massive list of improvements and bug fixes for each of the supported devices.

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Modding is a very popular activity among Android users, which sometimes is a relatively cumbersome process. To make tweaking your green robot-based smartphone or tablet easier Pimp My Rom comes into play by promising to suit any Android distribution and device, while delivering an impressive number of customization possibilities. Pretty neat, isn't it?

Pimp My Rom, besides having a "naughty" connotation, is a script based on AROMA Installer that is designed to customize Android distributions and brings a number of features, mods and tweaks that can be selected and applied from a touchscreen interface. According to the developer, it can run on any device using Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 3.0 Honeycomb, 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or 4.1 Jelly Bean, basically covering more than 75 percent of all Android smartphones and tablets that run today.

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As a CyanogenMod 10 user I religiously check for nightly builds, and today I received a bonus. Yesterday my colleague Joe Wilcox wrote "Google updates Nexus 7 to Android 4.1.2" and, while it will take some time for the update to push throughout the Nexus lineup, Android 4.1.2 is already incorporated into the latest CyanogenMod 10 nightly.

CyanogenMod 10 nightly, October 10 build, is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and sports the JZO54K build number, from the previous nightly that used Android 4.1.1 build number JRO03R. Upon a bit of research, for my Samsung Galaxy Nexus the popular Android distribution has undergone massive changes to include the "jb-mr0-release", similar to other devices such as the popular Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X or Google Nexus 7. Upon a bit further research it seems that apart from allowing launcher rotation, the build also includes a significant number of improvements from the previous build.

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Samsung announced Galaxy Note II at IFA little more than a month ago, and the handset was among the first smartphones to come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. Acknowledging the popularity the previous model has among modders, the South Korean electronics giant has released the open-source code for its latest phablet.

The source code is available to download from the Open Source Release Center and covers the international model, as well as what appears to be three regional devices (codenamed SEA, MEA and SWA). By using the source code, modders can customize the stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz to create custom images that include various tweaks, but can just as well take a number of elements to use in custom Android distributions such as CyanogenMod 10.

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