Here's how you can enable Google Material Design 2 on Android Messages

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June 13, 2018

Android Messages app is available for all Android smartphones

Google has recently updated their Android Messages app to version 3.3. The new version comes with a set of new features, improvements and optimisations. One new hidden feature introduced with the new feature is the Material Design 2.

Material Design provides a minimalistic and simple look to the Android apps. Google has now come up with a much improved Material Design 2 for the Messages app. Other apps which have already updated to Material Design 2 includes Google News and Google One.

The Material Design 2 adds a new option in the settings, the Dark Mode. Dark Mode switches the whites to the blacks and gives a smooth look in the dark. The feature is currently not available but it will soon make its way to the app with further updates. Apparently, the whole Material Design 2 is not available for just anyone who updates to the latest app version.

Also Read: OnePlus 6 starts receiving OxygenOS 5.1.6 OTA update: Here’s what you need to know

Unfortunately, to enable the all-new Material Design 2 on Android Messages, users will need a rooted device as of now. You can refer to our root guide in order to root your smartphone. Here's how you can enable the new design if your device is already rooted.

How to enable Material Design 2

Download and Install MiXplorer from here
Open the MiXplorer app and head over to the root section
Now go to the directory /data/data/com.google.android.apps.messaging/shared_prefs/
Here, look for the file PhenotypePrefs.xml and open it. In the popup menu, select editor and then select code editor.
Tap on the three dots on the top right corner and tap on Find. Search for bugle__phenotype_enable_m2.
By default, the value is set to False which needs to be switched to True.
Now look for bugle_phenotype_enable_phenotype_override and switch its value to True.

After performing all the steps, close the MiXplorer app and Force Stop the Android Messages app by going into Settings>Apps>Android Messages>Force Stop. Now re-open the Android Messages app and you should see the changes. You have to make sure that you do not swipe the app from the Recents menu or else the app will reset back to normal and you have to go through the whole process again.

Vivo Nex launched in China: Here are the alternatives you can buy right now

By

Devesh Arora

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June 13, 2018

Vivo Nex will soon be available in China

Vivo has finally launched the much-awaited Vivo Nex in China. The smartphone features an in-display fingerprint scanner and achieves a 91.24 per cent screen-to-body ratio. Just like the Vivo Apex, the Vivo Nex also has a front-facing camera that rises out of the smartphone's body only when required.

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Vivo Nex sports a 6.59-inch Super AMOLED with a resolution of 2316x1080 pixels and a 19.3:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with 8GB of RAM. The dual-SIM handset comes with 128GB/256GB of onboard storage which is further expandable using a microSD card. The Vivo Nex runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based Funtouch OS 4 out of the box. Under the hood, there is a 4,000mAh battery with support for fast charging.

In the camera segment, the Vivo Nex features a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel and a 5-megapixel sensor. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture.

Vivo Nex will be available at a starting price of CNY 3898

The Vivo Nex will initially be available in China at a price of CNY 3,898 (roughly Rs. 41,200) for the 128GB variant while the 256GB variant will come with a price tag of CNY 4,498 (roughly Rs. 47,500).

Also Read: Honor to soon launch the Honor Play gaming smartphone: Here’s what you need to know

Vivo has not yet announced that if and when will they bring the Vivo Nex to other markets including India. Here are some alternatives that you can buy in India right now

Vivo X21

In case you are mesmerized with the in-display fingerprint sensor technology, the Vivo X21 can be your pick. The Vivo X21 features a 6.28-inch SuperAMOLED display with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC. The Vivo X21 is available in India with a price tag of Rs. 35,990.

OnePlus 6

OnePlus 6 does not come with an in-display fingerprint scanner but does come with a fast one. The OnePlus 6 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo and will be one of the first devices to get the Android P update. OnePlus 6 is available at a starting price of Rs. 34,999.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

If all you care about is design, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is still one of the best-looking smartphones available in India. The Mi Mix 2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. The device packs in 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The Mi Mix 2 retails for Rs. 29,999.

Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A launched: Price, Specifications and Alternatives

By

Devesh Arora

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June 12, 2018

Xiaomi has launched two new budget smartphones in China, the Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A. The smartphones are successors to the last year's Redmi 5 and Redmi 5A. Both the latest smartphones come with 18:9 displays and MediaTek processors.

Xiaomi Redmi 6

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Xiaomi Redmi 6 features a 5.45-inch IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset. The device packs in either 3GB or 4GB of RAM coupled with 32GB and 64GB of onboard storage. The smartphone runs on Android Oreo-based MIUI 10 out of the box.

On the optics front, the Xiaomi Redmi 6 sports a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel and a 5-megapixel sensor. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie shooter.

Xiaomi Redmi 6A

The Xiaomi Redmi 6A is a toned down version of the Redmi 6 and it is a successor to the Redmi 5A. The Redmi 6A now features a 5.45-inch IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the MediaTek Helios A22 processor. The Redmi 6A comes in only one variant which has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. Just like the Redmi 6, the Redmi 6A also runs on Android Oreo-based MIUI 10 out of the box.

In terms of cameras, the Redmi 6A features a 13MP+5MP dual-camera setup at the back. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie snapper.

The Xiaomi Redmi 6 is available at a starting price of CNY 799 (roughly Rs. 8,400) while the Redmi 6A retails for CNY 599 (roughly Rs. 6,300). The smartphones are currently available only in China. So, here are some alternatives you can buy in India right now:

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus was launched as the Redmi Note 5 in India. The smartphone features a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. The Redmi Note 5 is currently available at a starting price of Rs. 9,999.

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 features a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels. The smartphone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC. The dual-SIM handset is available at a starting price of Rs. 10,999.

Xiaomi Redmi 5

Though the Redmi 5 is the Redmi 6's predecessor, it is still a great smartphone. The Redmi 5 sports a 5.7-inch IPS LCD display. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC. The device packs in 2GB/3GB/4GB of RAM coupled with 16GB/32GB/64GB of onboard storage. Redmi 5 is priced at Rs. 7,999 for the base variant.

OnePlus introduces Asphalt Cup gaming competition: Here's what you need to know

By

Devesh Arora

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June 11, 2018

OnePlus, the Chinse smartphone manufacturer has announced an online gaming tournament, the Asphalt Cup. The company has collaborated with Gameloft in order to bring this competition to any smartphone user across the country. The competition is set to kick off on June 13 and will go on until July 8, 2018.

OnePlus and Gameloft will also give goodies, gifts as well as cash prizes to the Winners and even to those who qualified for the finals. As a part of the tournament, the users will have to play the popular smartphone game, Asphalt 8: Airborne.

In case you are wondering what the prizes will be, here's a list of prizes.

Top 5 winners every week will be getting a pair of OnePlus Bullets (Wireless)
Top 25 players will get some goodies by OnePlus and Gameloft
At the end of the competition, Top 3 winners will receive Rs. 3 lakh cash prize each coupled with a OnePlus 6 and OnePlus Bullets (Wireless)
If that's not enough, during the tournament, the players will also receive in-game rewards worth Rs. 2 crores

Also Read: TWRP recovery now officially available for the OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro

OnePlus has partnered up with Gameloft in order to promote its recently launched flagship, OnePlus 6. In terms of specifications, OnePlus 6 features a 6.28-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x2280 pixels and an aspect ratio of 19:9. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC coupled with 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The dual-SIM handset is available in 64GB and 128GB storage options.

OnePlus 6 is currently priced at Rs. 34,999 for the 6GB+64GB variant while the 8GB+128GB variant retails for Rs. 39,999.

Honor to soon launch the Honor Play gaming smartphone: Here's what you need to know

By

Devesh Arora

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June 11, 2018

Huawei's sub-brand Honor is currently planning on launching a new gaming smartphone named Honor Play. With the new smartphone, Honor is planning to take over gaming phones like Razer Phone, Xiaomi BlackShark, Nubia Red Magic and the recently launched Asus ROG smartphone.

As for the specifications, the Honor Play is expected to come with the company's homegrown HiSilicon Kirin 970 SoC. The smartphone will feature a 6.3-inch HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The dual-SIM handset will pack in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which will be further expandable using a microSD card. Under the hood, there is a 3,750mAh battery powering up the internals.

On the optics front, the Honor Play will come equipped with a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 16-megapixel and a 2-megapixel sensor. Up front, there is a 16-megapixel selfie shooter.

Honor is also boasting about two new features on the upcoming gaming smartphone, a GPU Turbo and “4D” haptic feedback.

The competition Xiaomi BlackShark and Asus ROG Phone are powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor while the Razer Phone and Nubia Red Magic come with the Snapdragon 835 SoC. All these smartphones come with up to 8GB of RAM. The Honor Play will be the first gaming smartphone to come with a non-Qualcomm processor and less than 8GB of RAM.

Also Read: Asus ROG Phone launched: Here are the Top 5 Alternatives

Except the Razer Phone, the three gaming smartphones come with 6-inch displays with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The Honor Play will also be the first gaming smartphone to feature a display with a notch up front.

As for pricing, the Honor Play is expected to come with a starting price tag of CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 21,000).

TWRP recovery now officially available for the OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro

By

Devesh Arora

-

June 11, 2018

OnePlus 6 and the Huawei P20 Pro are two recently launched flagships. The smartphones have gained immense popularity since their launch. As the devices are now popular and have a number of users around the world, TWRP has decided to develop a recovery which is now officially available.

For those who are unaware, TWRP is a recovery for Android devices which is usually prefered over other recoveries as it offers a lot of features and has an easy to use and user-friendly interface. The recovery allows users to root their Android smartphones and install custom ROMS in them. With the official support from TWRP, the OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro users can now easily install the TWRP custom recovery on their smartphone.

Also Read: How to root your Android device without a computer using KingRoot

The installation process on the OnePlus 6 is a bit different as the smartphone is a part of Google's Project Treble which creates two partitions, A and B and lacks a dedicated recovery partition.

How to install the TWRP recovery

Install your smartphone's drivers on your PC and set up ADB
Download the files for your smartphone from the links given below
OnePlus 6
Huawei P20 Pro
Now Power Off your smartphone and boot into the bootloader by holding down the Power and Volume Button until you see something on the screen.
Connect your smartphone to the PC using the cable provided with the handset
Open Command Prompt on your PC
In case you are installing the TWRP on the OnePlus 6, type fastboot boot twrp-3.2.1-0-enchilada.img
Once you enter into the recovery, install the twrp-installer-enchilada-3.2.1-0.zip

Now finally you have the TWRP Custom Recovery on your smartphone. You can use this custom recovery to root your device or even install custom ROMs.

OnePlus 6 starts receiving OxygenOS 5.1.6 OTA update: Here's what you need to know

By

Devesh Arora

-

June 11, 2018

OnePlus 6 also has a limited edition Silk White variant on sale

OnePlus recently launched their latest flagship offering, the OnePlus 6. The company has already started to hear out its customers and has rolled out the OxygenOS 5.1.6 update in order to bring back some missing features, introduce new features and optimise the whole software experience.

The changelog of the new OxygenOS 5.1.6 update for the OnePlus 6 includes portrait mode for the front camera and preview for the Light Bokeh effect in Portrait Mode of the rear camera. The update also enables VoLTE on Idea Cellular in India, fixes issues with dual-sim card stability and optimises the call quality. The smartphone now also has a dual-4G option under the SIM and Network settings.

As the OnePlus 6 comes with a notch, there was no option in the settings to enable battery percentage in the status bar. OnePlus heard what the community had to say and has now finally given an option to enable battery percentage. With the OxygenOS 5.1.6, the company has also improved the sound quality of the OnePlus 6.

The Do Not Disturb (DND) mode now has an option for scheduling. The smartphone now also has smart answer for Bluetooth where incoming calls will automatically be answered when connected to Bluetooth devices. Lastly, the power consumption on the OnePlus 6 has been optimised to deliver better battery life and overall system stability has been improved.

Also Read: OnePlus 3/3T gets Face Unlock in the latest public update: Here is how to get it

The OxygenOS 5.1.6 update for the OnePlus weighs in at around 220MB and users will start receiving the update soon. The users can download and install the latest update by clicking on the OTA notification. To manually check for updates, you can head over to Settings>System Updates and then tap on Check For Updates.

Airtel now offers 2GB data per day with the Rs. 149 recharge plan: Report

By

Tech Desk

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June 11, 2018

airtel, airtel plan, airtel Rs 149 plan, airtel prepaid, Airtel 2GB daily — Airtel has revised its Rs. 149 prepaid plan; here are all of its details.

Airtel in a bold move to retain its existing customers and to gain more new customers is now offering much more benefits with its Rs. 149 prepaid recharge plan. The recharge plan will now include 2GB of 4G data per day instead of 1GB. This change was first spotted and reported by TelecomTalk, in the report they further mentioned that the pack will not be available across India and will only be offered to a handful of circles.

This new plan will cost users Rs. 149 for 2GB of daily 4G data along with unlimited calls and 100 SMSes per day and will come with a validity of 28 days. Earlier under the Rs. 149 plan Airtel used to offer 1GB of daily 4G data, unlimited calls and 100SMSes per day.

To compare, Bharti Airtel's Rs. 149 plan is in direct competition with Reliance Jio's Rs. 149 plan. Reliance Jio under its Rs. 149 plan for its prepaid users offers 1.5GB of daily 4G data along with 100 SMSes per day, unlimited calls, and access to all of Reliance Jio's paid apps for free.

Also Read: Airtel’s new Rs. 129 prepaid plan sounds interesting: Here’s what you need to know

If you aren't satisfied with the validity of the Rs 149 plan from Airtel but like the benefits and are willing to pay a more. You can opt to go in for the recently revised Rs. 399 prepaid plan which comes with 2.4GB of daily 4G data along with 100 SMSes daily, unlimited calls and free national roaming with a validity of 84 days.

Yahoo to shutter its messenger on June 17: Here's what you need to know

By

Brahmjot Singh

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June 9, 2018

Yahoo Messenger was one of the most popular application back in its days

Yahoo's one of the most popular application, the Messenger is now shutting down. Yahoo Messenger is an instant messaging app by Yahoo which was popular back in the days when it was launched. Instant messaging is currently being dominated by WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger which forced Yahoo to take this decision after around 20 years of running the application.

Yahoo Messenger will officially stop working from July 17, 2018. This also means that users will not be able to access the chats made previously using the application. However, if you have some memories in the application, you can take a local backup of your chats. You can head over to Yahoo Messenger, request for a backup, verify the account and you will receive the chats via email.

In case you are wondering what will happen to your Yahoo ID, there is nothing to worry as you can continue using all other services like Yahoo Mail, News, Finance and more. The Messenger users will now be redirected to the recently launched Squirrel app. However, the Squirrel app is currently available only on invite bases and will be soon made available to the masses.

Also Read: Yahoo introduces Squirrel chat app: Here are some alternatives

Yahoo Pager was released back in 1998 on March 8 which was later named Yahoo Messenger. The application later got competitors like Google Talk and MSN Messenger. Yahoo Messenger's older version got shut down in 2016 as a new version was introduced a year before that. Currently, the instant messaging apps are dominated by WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook Messenger and even Hike Messenger.

Here's a list of all the Apple iPhones and iPads that will get updated to iOS 12

By

Devesh Arora

-

June 9, 2018

Even the iPhone 5S will get the iOS 12 update

Apple recently unveiled their next iOS version, the iOS 12 at the WWDC 2018 event. iOS 12 is an upgrade over the iOS11 and it brings a number of changes as well as improvements to the operating system.

Not all Apple devices will be lucky enough to get this new update. Here's a list of iOS devices that will get the latest iOS 12 update.

iPhones

iPhone X
iPhone 8
iPhone 8 Plus
iPhone 7
iPhone 7 Plus
iPhone 6s
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
iPhone SE
iPhone 5S

iPads

iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
iPad Pro (10.5-inch)
iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
iPad (5th Gen)
iPad Air 2
iPad Air
iPad Mini 4
iPad Mini 3
iPad Mini 2

It is surprising to see that a 5-year old device like iPhone 5S to get the latest update. Most Android flagships get 2 or at the most 3 major updates. iPhone 5S was launched with iOS 7 and has seen 5 major updates since then (including the iOS 12). However, this is the last major update for the smartphone. Even iPads including iPad Mini 2 and iPad Air might not receive any major update after this one.

Also Read: WhatsApp for iOS can now play Facebook and Instagram videos within the app

Currently, the iOS 12 is available under Apple's Beta program and is currently being tested and refined by the developers. Users who have registered themselves under the Apple iOS Developer Program can download and install the iOS 12 Beta right now. However, we highly recommend you to not install the Beta firmware on your primary smartphone. It is better to wait for the stable version as Beta versions have a lot of bugs.

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How to enable Material Design 2

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Xiaomi Redmi 6A

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Xiaomi Redmi 5

How to install the TWRP recovery

iPhones

iPads