Android Discussions Related To Software, Apps, Phones & News

[Nairrk]

WhatsApp to stop support for BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone

If you are still using a BlackBerry smartphone or clinging to an old Symbian-based Nokia phone, it’s high time you may want to consider switching to Android or iOS. Well, your favorite instant messaging application, WhatsApp, is going to end support for BlackBerry, Symbian and even Windows Phone 7.1.

WhatsApp announced it will be ending support for BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1 – by the end of 2016.

Why is WhatsApp doing this? The reason is very simple — most of the mobile users across the world have shifted to Android and iOS smartphones. WhatsApp elaborates the time it had launched the app in 2009, about 70 percent of smartphones then ran on BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian.

But as of now Google, Apple and Microsoft account for 99.5 percent of sales, which back then had then mere 25 percent of the share. WhatsApp is now looking at the future, and wants to channelize its focus on the current and possible future mobile operating systems, and their updates.

“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” WhatsApp said on its website.

If you are using devices based on these operating systems, you can’t really do much than upgrade to the latest Android, iOS or the new Windows Mobile 10 operating systems.

While BlackBerry users can use the BBM, considering that it is a cross platform messaging platform right. But it is highly unlikely that all of your friends might be using the BlackBerry Messenger. Symbian users can either use apps such as Nimbuzz, which is available for almost all platforms. But these alternatives are unlikely to ensure WhatsApp-like instant messaging or have all contacts with same instant messaging application.

Source: WhatsApp to stop support for BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone | Latest Tech News, Video & Photo Reviews at BGR India

 

[Nairrk]

Facebook Live Video Streaming Coming Soon to Android, More Countries

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Facebook earlier this month started rolling out its Live Video streaming feature to countries other than the US. The feature was at first limited to select iOS users and celebrities and was later rolled-out to all the iOS users in the US. Now the social media giant has announced that the feature will be additionally rolling it out to 30 countries however, it did not specify which ones. The company added that the feature will also be arriving to Android devices starting next week.

The social network will be rolling out the Live Video streaming feature to its Android users in the US followed by other countries soon. In addition, the feature will continue to roll out to Facebook Pages as well in the coming weeks. The company in the blog post stated that, "more than 50 percent of people watching live videos are using Android devices."

Read more: Facebook Live Video Streaming Coming Soon to Android, More Countries | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Nairrk]

Apple Bricks Ethernet Port on Some Macs With OS X Update, Here's How to Fix It

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If your Mac isn't connecting to the Internet, you can blame Apple for that. The Cupertino-based company has admitted that a recent update to the operating system rendered the Ethernet port on the machine useless for at least some people. The company has explained on the support website about how one can fix the glitch. You can also do it manually, in case connecting your machine to the Internet wirelessly is also not possible.

Over the weekend, users began to complain of connectivity issues with Ethernet port on "most" Mac computers. They claimed that a Kernel extension update, which has since been pulled, blacklisted the BCM5701 driver, which is supposedly responsible for the correct functioning of the Ethernet port. Apple has acknowledged the issue and urges users to update to Kernel extension version 3.28.2 or make some changes to the system manually.

Check System Information on your system (by opening Spotlight and searching for System Information) to pinpoint the version number of Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration. The affected version number is 3.28.1. If your system is facing the issue, you will be required to update the configuration to get the Ethernet porting again. If you've the option to connect to a Wi-Fi network, type in sudo softwareupdate --background. Close Terminal and restart the system.

If you cannot connect to Wi-Fi, restart the system in Recovery mode, and manually delete the following file using Disk Utility and Terminal: rm -rf "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions/AppleKextExcludeList.kext.

Read: Apple Bricks Ethernet Port on Some Macs With OS X Update, Here's How to Fix It | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Nairrk]

WhatsApp for Android Gets Shared Link History Tab, URL Copy, and More

WhatsApp last week launched official beta testing programme through Google Play to expand the availability of app to more testers. The popular instant messaging service has in a week released multiple builds of its Android app, adding new features such as ability to copy links from chat, improved control over chat clearing, and more.

Android Police reports that the new features have been added in between builds 2.12.453 (currently available via Google Play) and 2.12.489 (latest version available via official site). Those who cannot wait for the new version to hit Google Play can download it from the company's site or via the new Google Play beta testing programme.

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Read more: WhatsApp for Android Gets Shared Link History Tab, URL Copy, and More | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[ice_wise]

Took out my Sony Xperia T2 Ultra after 4 months and found that the camera has stopped working. The front camera works fine but the rear (primary) displays a blank screen with "Camera not available" message. The phone has more than 50% internal storage unused and runs on Lollipop.

Since this is not under warranty, I was looking for solutions without opening/repairing the phone outside a service centre. Any workaround possible?

 

[nitin_k]

Took out my Sony Xperia T2 Ultra after 4 months and found that the camera has stopped working. The front camera works fine but the rear (primary) displays a blank screen with "Camera not available" message. The phone has more than 50% internal storage unused and runs on Lollipop.

Since this is not under warranty, I was looking for solutions without opening/repairing the phone outside a service centre. Any workaround possible?

i would switch the torch on and then off and ensure its off and then try the back camera

 

[ice_wise]

i would switch the torch on and then off and ensure its off and then try the back camera

Assistive light/torch option (and shortcuts) are not appearing on the widget screen since this problem cropped up.

 

[nitin_k]

Assistive light/torch option (and shortcuts) are not appearing on the widget screen since this problem cropped up.

go to play store and download any torch app and try what i wrote above.

 

[Nairrk]

Xiaomi launches ‘Mi Mover’ app to easily migrate data from Android smartphones

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One of the biggest pain points of buying a new Android smartphone is the difficulty in transferring data from the older smartphone. While Google offers cloud backup, which simply downloads apps from your older smartphone (if you had enabled regular backups while setting up the earlier phone), users mostly have to rely on third-party apps. Lenovo’s ShareIt is one such app that we like and today Xiaomi has launched one of its own, which is called Mi Mover.

The Mi Mover app is available for download via the Play Store and it aims to help users backup and transfer their essential data from one Android phone to the other. The app is compatible with all smartphones running Android 4.2 JellyBean OS and above.

Read more: Xiaomi launches

 

[Nairrk]

WhatsApp for Android Now Shows End-to-End Encryption Notification, and More

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WhatsApp is indeed working on giving its user base peace of mind. The latest build of WhatsApp for Android v2.12.500 comes with a number of features including showing users whether their messages are end-to-end encrypted, and it is also finally collapsing long messages. Some users are reporting that the above changes are only visible on v2.12.498, which can be downloaded from the APKMirror website.

Read more: WhatsApp for Android Now Shows End-to-End Encryption Notification, and More | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Nairrk]

Facebook Messenger for Android Gets Material Design Revamp

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Facebook's standalone Messenger app is finally receiving a Material Design makeover. The news was confirmed by Messenger's Lead David Marcus in Facebook and Twitter posts.

The all new Material Design will be rolling out starting Monday to Android users. Talking about the new design, Marcus said, "Any major redesign of an essential app used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is painstakingly hard, and that's why we took every precaution to ensure you'd truly enjoy this evolution."

The Messenger app's Material Design user interface revamp, is still rolling before the main Facebook app. Google had introduced the Material Design philosophy alongside Android Lollipop in 2014.

Read more: Facebook Messenger for Android Gets Material Design Revamp | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Nairrk]

Opera Mini for Android Gets Video Boost, Save to SD Card, and More

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Opera has started rolling out an update for its Opera Mini for Android browser application. The highlight of the update is the new Video Boost feature. As the name suggests, the Video Boost feature would help Opera Mini users "see less of the video-buffering wheel," the company said.

Users after updating to Opera Mini 15 for Android can tap the savings summary to change to high-savings mode under the "O" menu and check the Video Boost box at the bottom. The feature also shows number of videos that have been optimised. Opera said its new feature shrinks the size of the video data to lessen buffering delays. The company also claimed that it was "the first company to integrate video optimisation into a web browser."

Read more: Opera Mini for Android Gets Video Boost, Save to SD Card, and More | NDTV Gadgets360.com

 

[Nairrk]

Truecaller for Android update now tells you when your friends are available, integrates Truedialer

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Truecaller for Android has received an update today bringing along a new dialer along with features like Smart Call History and Availability. Truecaller boasts one of the biggest phone number databases. With the latest update, Truecaller app is getting Truedialer-like features, and the standalone dialer could be phased out altogether. The latest version of Truecaller app is now available on the Google Play Store.

One of the highlight features is the introduction of a dialer app in the main Truecaller app itself. The advantage is that you will be able to place calls directly from within the app. This is however an optional feature, and you can always revert to the default dialer to place calls.

Read more: Truecaller for Android update now tells you when your friends are available, integrates Truedialer | Latest Tech News, Video & Photo Reviews at BGR India

 

[ice_wise]

i would switch the torch on and then off and ensure its off and then try the back camera

Cleared the cache for camera and did a reset, it works fine now.

Some of the torch apps that I downloaded were just a bright white image (for the main screen) and others could not connect to the flashlight. After reset, I removed these torch apps and camera (and torch) had started to work fine.

 

[Nairrk]

WhatsApp for Android Update Brings Revamped Settings Page

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WhatsApp seems to be on a roll these days. The instant messaging application, after bringing pdf file sharing support, showing end-to-end encryption notification, and more, has this time tweaked the user Settings page for Android with a new layout, slightly better icons, and smoother animations.

The new user Settings page on WhatsApp comes as a part of the version 2.12.506, which is yet to be rolled out to Google Play or the WhatsApp website, but can be downloaded as an apk file from APK Mirror website (via Android Police). You can also be a part of Google Play beta programme to get the new version.

Besides the aforementioned design changes, the new WhatsApp version brings some changes in the placement of the options inside Settings page as well. The Profile settings option, which was until now seen placed at second position from top, has moved to the top and features the user's profile pic. It however, bears the same functions - letting users change their profile image, status, name, and more. Slight modifications such as round profile picture instead of square, a floating action button on the profile pic to change the image, displaying phone number along with the status, and icon colour change from grey to green can be seen. The option is followed by Accounts, Chats, Notifications, Data Usage, About and help, and Contacts.

Read more: WhatsApp for Android Update Brings Revamped Settings Page | NDTV Gadgets360.com