Three Open Source Alternatives to Using the Google Maps API

Google Maps is a tool that most of us use on a daily basis, whether we are are looking for a place to meet up with friends or travel in our cars. Developers often use its API in various applications and services. For a change, here are three open-source alternatives to Google’s solution. Follow the link to learn more!

Dongjin Koh Named New President of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business

During Samsung’s annual personnel appointments announcement, we learned that J.K. Shin will no longer be handling the day-to-day operations of Samsung’s mobile division. Instead, this will be done by Dongjin Koh so that Shin can start focusing on the company’s long-term strategy as well as developing new growth businesses

Google Image Search on Mobile Lets You Star and Organize Images

For those living in the United States, when you use Google’s Image Search feature on a mobile browser then you’ll be greeted with a few new features. First is the ability to ‘Star’ an image for viewing later. You can then view your saved images and then add them to various ‘Collections’ to keep your saved images organized.

WhatsApp Blocks Telegram Links to Be Opened or Copied

WhatsApp has almost one billion users across the globe, and a recent version of the application blocks access to Telegram links on it. The discovery has been made by a Redditor, and can either be an intentional move or a simple bug that blocks an ability to open links. Knowing Whatsapp, we can’t dismiss the first possibility.

Microsoft Shelves Android-to-Windows Porting Project

If you were waiting to see the Android-to-Windows porting project in action, we have some really bad news for you: Microsoft has stopped working on Project Astoria, which was set to help developers to bring Android application to Windows 10. It appears that Android developers have to stick with just the billion people using Android handsets — bummer!

Google’s Arts & Culture Application Showcases Items from Over 850 Museums

Google has just released a new application on Google Play called Arts & Culture that brings you into over 850 different museums that have partnered with Google Cultural Institute. With the application you can view and zoom into artwork in amazing detail, go on 360 degree tours through hundreds of museums, heritage sites, and landmarks, learn about the artwork and artifacts featured in these museums and more.

Adobe Finally Launches Premiere Clip on Google Play

Adobe debuted Premiere Clip one year ago, but sadly it was only available on iOS. This is no longer the case as the application is finally available for Android in the Google Play Store. Premiere Clip is a video editing application that lets you sync a soundtrack, add slow motion effects, and adjust lighting before you publish it online or send it to your friends.

XDA/Android Podcast Episode 8: “Death by USB Ports & Life-Saving Patches”

The XDA/Android podcast will bring you the best news each week from the perspective of the XDA team, r/android mods, admins and users. Each week you can find our latest episode here, on Youtube, Pocketcasts and on your favorite podcast app through the RSS feed: http://ift.tt/1QXeF8c

In this episode, the team discusses this year’s Black Friday deals, the OnePlus cable controversy and the company’s maturity, and the way in which updates and upgrades improve our user experiences!

Today’s cast includes:

Mario Serrafero: Twitter
Daniel Marchena: YouTube
Corey Feiock: Twitter
TK Bay: YouTube, XDA TV

Check Out XDA on Social Media. Twitter, Facebook and Google+

and don’t forget to pay a visit to r/Android!

XDA Forums Available For Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile LG V10!

Separate XDA Sub forums have been created for the carrier variants of the LG V10. This includes forums for Verizon V10, AT&T V10 and T-Mobile V10. Head on over if you plan on purchasing the V10!

The Heist: Short Film Shot Entirely On LG V10

The LG V10 boasts of some neat video recording capabilities, including manual mode for videos. This short film showcases just that, as it was filmed entirely on the LG V10. Take a look and see what manual mode can do in the hands of people that know how to make use of it!

TWRP and Rooting Guide For the HTC Butterfly 3

If you have purchased the HTC Butterfly 3, you’d find this guide by XDA Senior Member DarkRazorZ useful. The guide has posted a step by step process on installing TWRP and then rooting the device, so read on ahead!

Of Drives and Clouds: Surrendering Control in a Low-Storage Era

Create Your Own Forum on XDA

Historically, adding a forum on XDA has been decided by having our intern spin around in an office chair, blindfolded, throwing darts at a board. Actually, we add forums based on which devices we think will have strong community support.

We don’t get it right 100% of the time, but a lot of the time, just by virtue of having a spot on XDA and being in front of many users, the forums we add end up having a good bit of activity.

But today, we want to try something new: Create Your Own Forum, or CYOF. Through CYOF, we will let some members of XDA lead an entire forum section dedicated to ANY topic of his or her choice. These Forum Leaders will have basic moderation privileges and will share the responsibility with XDA’s moderation teams to ensure that forum sections are active, intelligent, and adhere to site rules.

What are some examples of new sections that might come to life under CYOF? Well, it’s up to you guys. Maybe we should have a section for modifying Android Auto in Honda cars, or a forum for utilizing Tasker in home automation scenarios. Perhaps someone wants to add a forum for a device we don’t have listed on XDA, or even a particular carrier. Maybe someone wants to lead a section where XDA users talk about repurposing old devices. Or organizing an open source development project. The possibilities are endless.

Since we consider this an experimental initiative, we are going to start with just five new forums under CYOF. If you have an idea for a new forum section and want to volunteer your time and energy to be a Forum Leader, you can apply below. Or, even if you don’t want to be a Forum Leader but have an idea for a new forum, let us know!

Send us your idea!

Add Custom Desktop Shortcuts On Xperia Home

XDA Recognized Contributor abo hani is back with a guide on adding custom stage icons and desktop shortcuts on to the Xperia Home launcher. Using this guide, you can modify a lot of elements on your home screen!

BlackBerry to Leave Pakistan After Refusing Government Demands

BlackBerry says they are being kicked out of Pakistan for refusing to give in to the government’s demands for access to their customers’ private messages. The Government of Pakistan has actually given BlackBerry until December 30th to comply with their “security concerns”, BlackBerry COO Marty Beard says they are not willing to make this compromise and they will be pulling their products from the country.

iFixit Tears Down the ZTE Axon on Video

A member-contributed teardown of the ZTE Axon by Alex Lin has been featured on iFixit. Most teardowns are showcased via photos but this one was done in a series of videos. From removing the upper and lower back covers to pulling out the embedded battery, if you need to repair your ZTE Axon then this guide can help.

New Samsung Patent Reveals 4 Interesting Form Factors for Smartphones

Companies like Samsung are pumping money into research and development all the time and every now and then we see some interesting and unique patent designs pop up because of it. It seems like Samsung’s latest patent filing shows us that a scrollable smartphone, a folded smartphone with a row of tabs, a foldable smartphone with a hinge system and a bendable smartphone.

OnePlus Introduces Device Exchange Offers For India

To attract more customers, OnePlus has offered to trade in your new smartphone for a reduction in cost towards the purchase of an OnePlus 2 or OnePlus X. The company is also offering free insurance if the trade-in amount exceeds Rs. 5,000. However, as reasonably expected, the trade in value differs from device to device, and is also affected by the age and condition of the device. The offer is valid till 31st December 2015 in select Indian cities.

Microsoft Lumia 950 & 950 XL Launched In India

Microsoft has launched the Lumia 950 and 950 XL in India, for price tag of Rs. 43,699 ($657) and Rs. 49,399 ($743) respectively. Microsoft is also offering the MS Display Dock worth Rs. 5,999 for free with the new phones, giving you power to use the smartphones as a host for a desktop experience.

Photos and Specs of the Upcoming Oppo R7s Plus Revealed

The Oppo R7s Plus has been certified by Tenaa in China and with this we learn quite a bit about the upcoming smartphone. Photos reveal that it will have a metal build to it and that there is a fingerprint scanner on the back. Specs in the certification shows us a 6″ 1080p display, Snapdragon 615, 32GB/64GB storage, 4GB of RAM and a 4,100mAh battery.

(Winners Announced!) XDA and LeaseWeb: Win Free VPS/Dedicated Server Trial and Huawei Watch

Sony Confirms Xperia M2 Update Coming To Fix Camera And GPS Issues

Like almost every device, the Xperia M2 has some flaws. There are some issues with GPS and the camera that still need to be addressed — but on the official forums, a Sony staff member promised to deliver an update fixing these problems. Be on the lookout as Sony may deliver an update in the upcoming weeks.

Enable Multi Boot On Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Multi booting roms on your device is a way to get past the trouble of making constant nandroids when you just want to swap between roms to try out something new. With the help from XDA Senior Member 54NJ41‘s guide, you can now enable multi boot on your Galaxy Note 5!

Get Samsung Marshmallow Features On Galaxy S6 With DN5 ROM

Electron team’s Ditto Note5 ROM has been updated to bring the features from Samsung Galaxy Note 5’s Marshmallow Leaked ROM on to the Galaxy S6. What’s more, all the features have been backported on to Touchwiz based on Android 5.1 rather than on Android 6.0. Go ahead and give it a try!

HappyID Shows You Contact Notes When You Need Them the Most

We’re always on the lookout for apps made by active XDA community members! If you’ve made such an app, let us know by contacting any portal writer.

With the ease of meeting people and adding contacts to your smartphones today, you might have found yourself in a situation where you just couldn’t remember who that “John Smith” in your contacts list was. Was it your classmate, that guy your friend introduced you to once, or someone else entirely? Thankfully, contact notes exist to solve just that problem … except they actually aren’t very useful by default and aren’t shown when they matter the most: when you receive a call.

This is the issue XDA Senior Member nikanorov noticed and decided to fix with his app. Originally called Call Notes Pro, it is now known as HappyID and is offered for free, without advertisements, to everyone.

HappyID’s main goal is to show you your contacts’ notes on your screen when they call you, but it offers several options to make itself as useful as possible; you can pick which fields are shown in addition to the contact’s note field, including the company they work at, their title, birthday, when they last called and more. You can also reorder these fields so that the ones you’re interested in the most show up at the top.

In addition to that, HappyID lets you easily add and edit contact notes directly from its “Notes” tab. The editing feature also comes with a handy shortcut to insert today’s date, which makes keeping constant notes of your conversations with a contact much handier. HappyID also comes with several customization options, such as showing you a temporary notification after the call has ended for quick notes, enabling Android Wear support or changing the appearance of the toast. You can even sync all your notes with your Evernote account, letting you access them from all your devices. HappyID is completely free and has no advertisements! To find more about this app and start using it, make sure to visit the HappyID Forum Thread!