Back to school: the essential Android apps for students
As we prepare to bid a fond farewell to summer, classrooms and lecture halls are starting to fill up with eager and not so eager students returning to pursue a diploma, degree or simply just a passing grade. To reduce some of that back to school tension, we’ve put together a list of useful Android applications that should help lighten your academic load. This selection has a little bit of everything and features a blend of software capable of helping students of all ages. So if you’re ready to transform your smartphone or tablet into a powerful study buddy, pull up a chair and check out these must-have apps.
Dictionary
Okay, so this one might be a given, but if it’s not loaded in your device’s app drawer, you’re definitely missing out. More than just an index of definitions, Dictionary also includes a top-shelf thesaurus and vocabulary expanding features like “word of the day.” There’s also a few snazzy inclusions like voice search and audio pronunciations that should help with those tough words like “anemone” and “worcestershire.” There’s even support for Android Wear baked right in.
EasyBib
You’ve barely been back in class for a few weeks and a heavy demand for papers appears to be a popular trend among your professors and instructors. With such a hefty workload coming on, you’ll soon find yourself using the B-word — bibliography. The process of logging in citations can be brutally tedious, but it’s often necessary. Thankfully this easy to use application simplifies the process.
To get this sourcing party started, fire up EasyBib and point your device’s camera at a book’s barcode. You’ll have a choice of over 7,000 citation styles, including ASA, AMA, CSE and ACS all with a single tap.
SimpleMind
As a budding scholar your mind is loaded with tons of ideas and sometimes it can be hard to keep things organized. If you’re looking for something to calm your raging brainstorm, SimpleMind has some easy to use tools wrapped in a light 1.5MB package. This mind mapping software charts your ideas in a color-coded web for fast access. Not just limited to mobile gear, you can also edit your tops via cross-platform support for Windows and Mac.
Fast Scanner
If you’re ever in need of a scanner, there’s no need to buy a big bulky overpriced machine that will only crowd your already cramped dorm room. Fast Scanner uses your device’s camera to capture single or multiple page documents and export them as PDFs. You can use this app to send files via email or archive them for your records.
Graphing Calculator
If you’re a math major or your area of study requires some heavy number crunching, you’ll definitely need a good calculator. As for freebie apps, Graphing Calculator by Mathlab digs in pretty deeply. Equipped with scientific, fraction, algebra and matrix calculator modes, things can get a little heavy. However, even if you’re studying the arts, this potent software can most likely run circles around your device’s stock application. So you might as well give it a try.
Duolingo
If you’re taking up a second language or planning on studying abroad, your linguistic skills will most likely need a coach. Instead of drilling you with grueling challenges and making you run laps for incorrect answers, Duolingo uses a variety of games and visual cues to teach you a new language. Easy to use, the app’s developer claims that 34 hours of Duolingo are comparable to a semester of university-level education. Even so, while we endorse the app, we don’t recommend dropping out of class.
StudyBlue
No matter how high-end your mobile device may be, it can’t do all of your homework for you. You’ll still need to study. A must have tool in any respectable crammer’s arsenal is the flashcard and StudyBlue manages to modernize this age-old staple. It’s a lightweight piece of software that offers an eco-friendly solution to using dozens of costly index cards. You can keep study notes with you at all times and remotely share flashcards with classmates on the fly.
Here Comes the Bus
So you’re not the student, but your kid(s) are and the school bus is their primary method of transportation. This app can definitely help give you peace of mind. Used by multiple school districts, Here Comes the Bus keeps parents connected to their precious cargo by sharing details like bus arrivals and departures. It also supports push notifications that will notify you of schedule changes, along with alerts of when a bus is within five minutes of your stop.
Squid
The thought of typing notes on a smartphone or tablet sounds downright torturous to some people and we’d have to agree with such sentiments. Perhaps you’d rather jot them down on your mobile device, but you didn’t pick up Samsung’s new king-size smartphone. No worries, Squid (formerly known as Papyrus) has you covered.
You can scribble notes directly on your phone with a stylus or your finger and file them away for safe keeping. In addition to handwritten drafts, users can mark notations and highlights on PDF files. Plus all of your notes can be backed up to the cloud via Dropbox or Box.
Easy Voice Recorder
If handwritten notes sound too retro for your style of studying or you often find yourself falling asleep during class, you’ll need a good voice recorder to keep up with your instructor’s lectures. Thankfully, Android has plenty of options to choose from, but we’re going to recommend one in particular. Easy Voice Recorder by Digipom offers a simplified audio capturing software that lets you encode sound samples in a variety of codecs including PCM, AAC and AMR. There’s also widget support for fast access.
Wrap-up
The process of starting or returning to school can be grueling and hopefully our selection of applications will help you hit the ground running. In addition to the aforementioned software, Google’s app catalog has a stellar suite of productivity tools that are often preloaded on Android devices. However, if your setup is somehow light on programs from Mountain View, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Calendar are almost mandatory downloads.
If you liked our selection, or one of your favorite academic applications didn’t make this list, be sure to let us know in the comments.
LifeCable enables direct charging from an Android or iPhone
We’ve all been in that situation when we’re running out of battery, and there’s nothing you can do but run in circles flailing your arms (or simply plug it in the wall). Well, LifeCable is attempting to make that inconvenience a bit lighter by introducing a cable that allows you to charge your phone from another phone. Yes, that’s nothing new, but what is new is that they claim it will be the first to be able to utilize both iPhone and Android connections.
Put shortly, you can charge your Android with MicroUSB (Sorry, OnePlus Two users) with an iProduct that has the Lightning port, and vice versa. When can you get it? Well, it’s about to launch soon on Indiegogo for backers, so give their website a visit to get reminded for when it goes live.
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Phone It In the Right Way
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There’s a right way and a wrong way to phone it in. With a simple Smartphone, you can phone it in and show your teams just how stellar phoning it in can be. There are apps galore that managers can use to bring everyone into the room and keep up with your teams and office even when you are separated by geographical distance. Even full scale meetings get easier with the right tools. Create and foster a culture that engages your people with creativity, collaboration, and communication.
Do Meetings Right
Everyone has had the meeting from hell. Interminable. Pointless. You might as well be on a merry go round. You play Candy Crush on your phone, daydream, and according to a Verizon white paper 39 percent of meeting attendees have actually taken a nap. If you look around the meeting and see blank stares, you are dealing with a bunch of people who have simply checked out. Their butts are in the seats, but they are gone baby gone. Even in a video conference, there’s going to be people who just clock out the second the lights go down.
This is because most meetings are run in a format that despite the PowerPoint slides is right out of the last century. Top down, mono directional, and not taking into account that the people with their butts in the seats can contribute, too. A culture of ineffectual meetings can even turn toxic and dysfunctional, kneecapping an organization that needs to adapt to the digital age. It’s 2015, not 1985, and everyone needs to evolve past the shoulder pads and big hair era of management. Make the technology work for you, with apps that work on any platform or device.
Get Your Droid On
Pew Internet’s recent survey of smartphone use notes that 64 percent of Americans in 2015 own a smartphone, and that is up from 58 percent just in 2014. Odds are that your team members own a smartphone, and use it daily. If you can incorporate that mobile phone into your communications policy, you will have a flexible platform for reaching out to your staff and giving them the face time they need with you and each other. Android video conferencing with Bluejeans is not limited to Android, this application can connect with so many other platforms, including room based systems from Cisco and Polycom, and other apps that will make collaboration easy and intuitive.
Getting On Board
Unlike room based systems, you will find that using a cloud sourced application is much simpler and much less expensive. Previously, the hardware and the software deployed in many video conferencing systems required its own staff to operate. While you may want to appoint a meeting moderator, the interface, whether it is on a smartphone, a tablet, or other device is simple to use. Collaborative tools include document and video sharing, meeting recording, text chatting, and even a command center that will help you by providing valuable information about how you are conducting your meetings. Participants can access their meetings directly from their browser, and anyone from anywhere can be invited to join in.
Give Good Meeting
It can take some effort to build a culture in which everyone participates, and one of the chief complaints about meetings is that they are dominated by individuals and seem to go exactly nowhere. By deploying Bluejeans, meetings are always fresh. Participants can refer back to the recordings, notes, documents and other media that were shared during the meeting and implement the decisions that were made immediately. A meeting is productive only when acted upon. Meetings that go nowhere, have no agenda, and serve little purpose should be decisively eliminated.
Many meetings can be eliminated by deciding how best fulfill communication needs. For instance, calling a meeting with nothing as simple as a status update is a waste of time, disruption, and can slow productivity if a meeting does need to be held considering a certain subject within the status update then those who are most affected can be summoned to a video-conference to discuss solutions. Another complaint about meetings is that people who have the most to offer, are not usually invited to participate, there can be many reasons for this, but those who speak the least should be offered some time in front of the camera. When you are creating the meeting agenda give everyone a set amount of time to offer their contributions and points of view.
Final Words
You cannot change a culture overnight. Re-engaging with employees who are detached and alienated will take time. When a 2015 Gallup poll showed in excess of 68 percent of workers uninvolved, and unenthusiastic about their work, it should alarm any manager or stands the impact of soft costs on the bottom line. Reengage them, give them something to be enthusiastic about, and allow them to develop creativity and passion that will benefit your organization.
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Download and install the Android Wear 1.3 OTA updates
Android Wear version 1.3 that adds a few new watchfaces that are interactive has started rolling out. It keeps Android at version 5.1.1 but the Android Wear part of the OS is starting to see these enhancements trickle through to devices.
If you don’t want to wait then you can manually download and install the OTA update for Android Wear 1.3 using the links below.
Android Wear 1.3 OTA Links
LG G Watch:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): platina LCA43 from LDZ22D
LG G Watch R:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): lenok LCA44B from LDZ22D
LG Watch Urbane:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): bass LCA44B from LDZ22D
Motorola Moto 360:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): metallica LCA44B from LDZ22O
Samsung Gear Live:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): sprat LCA43 from LDZ22J
Sony SmartWatch 3:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): tetra LCA43 from LDZ22D
Asus ZenWatch:
from 5.1.1 to 5.1.1 (Android Wear 1.3): anthias LCA43 from LDZ21T
Proceed with caution when pushing OTA updates via ADB to your device, but enjoy the new functionality and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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Deal: learn to make apps with the Hot Java Android 6.0 Coding Bundle for $29
Gone are the days when you had to go to school for years just to learn how to put together a mobile application. Though going through that process still helps, there are now online courses and tools that can give you the skills required to start your new coding career.
Want to learn how to make great Android apps, games and more? The AA Deals Store has an offer on some great courses to get you started, and for very cheap! You can now buy the Hot Java Android 6.0 Coding Bundle for only $29. That would be a 95% discount over the $657 price these courses originally cost! The bundle includes over 60 hours of training and 5 classes that range between $67 and $199 in value.
Here are the courses and their real value:
- Learn Android Lollipop Development – $199 value
- The Complete Java Developer Course – $197 value
- Learn How to Reskin, Upload & Publish an Android Game – $97 value
- Play Framework Development with Java – $97 value
- Reskin Games for App Stores (No Coding Required) – $67 value
The only requirement is that you have internet access. Users will also need an Android device for the first class (real or virtual).
Join the developer party, guys! Once again – this bundle is only $29. You have nothing to lose, yet so much to win. And remember, you could share this deal through your social networks for the chance to win $10, so the deal may get even better. Just click the button below to get all the details.
Galaxy Tab S2 pre-orders start today
You can now finally pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 having been announced last month and will hit ‘select’ US retailers and carriers as of September 3rd.
A 9.7-inch WiFi model with 32GB of storage will cost $499.99, whilst the 8-inch model with the same capacity will cost $399.99.
Both sizes are available in black (AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular, T-Mobile), gold (WiFi only) and white (Verizon). Samsung also says that they are working with Amazon and Best-Buy to offer a trade-in scheme whereby bringing in a qualifying tablet will take $100 off the Galaxy S2’s price.
The 4G LTE will undoubtedly add a premium on that price but will dependant on carrier. Will you be ordering the Galaxy Tab S2?
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Android ‘hacks’ you can do without rooting your phone
Rooting a phone is naturally your best option if you’re looking to unleash the full potential of your Android device. However, rooting doesn’t come without a few downsides.
For one, when you root your phone, you’re putting full trust in the root method’s developer not to have included harmful code or backdoor access. After all, rooting a phone is a process that, by its nature, must bypass any security measures that the device’s manufacturer put into place, exposing your phone to any number of potential compromises. Fortunately the developer community for Android is generally helpful and full of good will, so in practice this sort of dirty dealing has been rare in our experience. Nevertheless, the fact that there are thousands of active developers working on so many different devices makes this a legitimate concern.
Second, rooting an Android device usually isn’t as simple as installing and running an app. It’s possible for rooting procedures to go wrong, and sometimes this results in a “bricked” device that is no longer usable. Since rooting a phone violates your terms of use, you can almost certainly kiss your warranty goodbye in these situations.
The good news is that the Android operating system has advanced considerably since its infancy, and many users are finding that they no longer need to root their phones to unlock the capabilities they want to take advantage of. Here’s are some of our favorite ‘hacks’ that you can pull off with an unrooted phone even though they seem off the beaten trail. None of them are quite as exciting or advanced as you’d get with a root app, but some of these ‘hacks’ are still pretty cool ways to do more with your phone.
Create Custom Widgets
Widgets are a great way to use the capabilities of certain apps right from the convenience of your home screen. Unfortunately, you tend to be limited by the imagination and aesthetic sensibilities of a given app’s developer. If you want to make your home screen really reflective of your own taste and personality, try downloading an app like Beautiful Widgets to give your phone a more personal touch. You can also set up shortcuts that keep you from having to navigate the same familiar menus time and time again.
Hack Games
Game Killer is a hack tool that lets users hack a variety of games without needing to root. The app has seen regular updates since its creation, and it currently has around eight hundred games in its database. Unlocking cheats and mods for these games is as simple as downloading the app and selecting the hacks you want to use.
First, simply download the Game Killer .apk from their website. Game Killer isn’t accessible from the Google Play Store, so you’ll need to make sure to enable “Unknown Sources” on the Security menu of your phone’s settings. It’s probably not a bad idea to check out the tutorial and FAQ that Game Killer has provided. Since Game Killer contains data relevant to close to a thousand games, it’s a pretty hefty app. You might want to download it via a wifi network rather than use your mobile data.
Bear in mind that some developers might take a strong position against you using Game Killer, since the app subverts elements of game design and gives you the ability to do things that many players would consider cheating. If the game you’re looking to modify is an offline app, then you probably don’t have anything to worry about. However, if you’re playing an online multiplayer game like Clash of Clans, know that if you’re caught using Game Killer your account could very well be suspended.
Once your phone has Game Killer installed, tap the icon to start up the app. Once the game list finishes loading, tap the button that reads “Hack Android Games Without Root.” (Makes sense, right?)
The next screen will show the list of supported games. From here, you can scroll to the game you want to modify or use the search feature. Once you select your game, a new menu will pop up that displays all the cheats available for that game. These will vary widely depending on the kind of game you’re wanting to modify, but they can range from unlocking features and levels to unlimited gold.
Choose all the modifications that you want to use and then hit the “Hack” icon at the bottom of the menu.
You’re done! Game Killer will launch the modified version of the app you selected with the cheats you chose in effect. Enjoy your infinite wealth in godmode, you dirty, dirty cheater!
Use “Edge Display” on your Android
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge came with the Edge Display, a way of indicating notifications by illuminating the pixels on the beveled edge of the screen. Everyone quickly agreed that this was the absolute sexiest way to receive notifications imaginable, but the S6 Edge’s unique shape made the full Edge Display effect impossible to replicate on other devices.
Fortunately, you no longer have to languish in the uncool wasteland of LED notifications. An app called Edge Color Notifications creates a pair of sidebars on the edge of your screen that very closely replicates Edge Display. Sure, it’s not perfect since your non-S6 Edge phone probably doesn’t have a screen that wraps around the edges of your device, but it’s a pretty close second.
Download the app and start receiving notifications in a much slicker way.
Remotely Control Your Desktop Computer
Google’s Remote Desktop app makes using your Android to control your PC from anywhere a breeze. You don’t have to install any heavy software, and setup is so fast that you can be up and running in less than ten minutes. Heck, maybe even five minutes if you’re good at multitasking. There are two halves to this installation process. On one hand, you need to install and configure the Chrome app on your PC. On the other, you have to get the Android App from the Google Play store.
It’s a flexible process, but let’s start with the PC side of things. First, download the Chrome Remote Desktop app in the Chrome Store. Once the app is installed, the interface will guide you through a chain of prompts. Just follow the instructions and grant the app the permissions it needs, and you’ll be good to go in no time.
After Chrome Remote Desktop is installed, you will be prompted to provide a 6-digit PIN. Remember this number because you will need it to access your computer from your Android device.
Speaking of your Android device, go grab that thing and let’s get the other half of this process finished off. On your phone, download the Chrome Remote Desktop app in the Play Store. No complications here; just install the app, open it up, tap the name of the computer you just configured, and then enter the PIN you created.
Boom. You can now control your PC using your phone from anywhere.
Record Your Screen
For a long time, recording video of an Android screen was something of a hassle. However, Android 5.0 Lollipop added screen recording API capabilities, so developers have been able to create much more stable screen recording apps.
One of these apps is AZ Screen Recorder. This app is lean, customizable, and has additional features such as a countdown timer that work together to make recording your screen a very pain-free experience. It integrates with the phone’s camera and you can even draw on the screen during videos. While other screen recording apps only offer basic recording functionality, AZ Screen Recorder lets you edit and trim videos right inside the application.
Downsides, you ask? Well, since this app leans on the new API, you’re out of luck if you don’t have Lollipop.
Play Old Games with an Emulator
Revisit your old favorite games by downloading an emulator. Having an N64 in your pocket isn’t much more than a novelty unless you invest in a physical controller for it, but Gameboy games and SNES/NES games run like a dream on Android.
I’m currently replaying through Pokemon and you better believe my Charizard was so overpowered by the time I got to Misty that her Starmie didn’t even stand a chance. Type disadvantage means nothing when you grind your team leader into a living god that feasts on the souls of a thousand unprepared Pidgeys.
Read more: 12 best emulators for Android
Re-configure Navigation Buttons
Home2 Shortcut is a brilliant little app that lets you re-assign new shortcuts to the navigation buttons that appear at the bottom of your phone’s screen. With Home2 Shortcut, you can easily configure your home button, for instance, to launch a specific app when you tap it twice. I’ve discovered that the app I use the most is Google Play Music, so assigning that as a shortcut was a no-brainer for me.
Use IFTTT to Automate your Settings
In the past, Tasker was your best bet for turning your phone into a completely automatic machine that dynamically adapted to your surroundings. Although Tasker remains the most powerful option available–especially for users with programming experience–IFTTT offers many similar functions in a much more user-friendly package.
For instance, I frequently forget to turn my Android wifi back on when I get back to my house, so I have an IFTTT recipe that turns on my wifi whenever I come home. It’s not complicated, but it saves me precious mobile data.
Since IFTTT links up to so many different “channels” and services, your imagination is your only limit when it comes to concocting creative recipes. Make an account and IFTTT will recommend some pre-configured recipes for you. After using these for a little while, you’ll probably want to start crafting your own to suit your specific needs.
Conclusion
The Android operating system has come a long way in terms of what it’s capable of accomplishing without modification. While increased security features are making devices more difficult to root, this downside is offset by the incredible degree of freedom you can achieve with an Android device right out of the box. Things that would have previously required complicated modification are now as easy as installing an app and tapping a few settings.
These are our favorite rootless Android “hacks.” If you’ve got some more useful ones, let us know in the comments!
Vysor (early Beta) allows you to control your phone from Chrome
There are already tools like Pushbullet and AirDroid that allow certain interaction with your Android device whilst you are physically away from it, but now a new application called Vysor aims to take that one step further.
Koush, the same developer that brought apps like AllCast and Helium, has developed Vysor that is essentially a Chrome extension that will talk to your Android device over ADB. That does mean you’ll have to plug your device into the computer for it to work, but here’s hoping functionality may be introduced at a later date to make all this happen OTA.
When your device is detected by Vysor, it opens a floating resizable desktop window that mirrors the screen. You can click and drag to interact with your device and it is incredibly responsive.
It’s not quite finished yet and the Beta tag certainly applies here, but if you’d like to try it out, you can grab the Chrome extension here.
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New talk shambles in suggesting Nokia to get back in smartphone market
Taking a cue from the zombie apocalypse landscape, the idea of Nokia getting back into the smartphone market has seemingly re-emerged from the dead thanks to new information from Bernstein Research senior analyst Pierre Ferragu. In a report to major clients, Ferragu thinks Nokia can ride the strength of their brand image to become a major Android smartphone manufacturer in the budget device segment of the market.
According to Ferragu, Samsung and Apple, while not fighting for the same consumers in the smartphone market, are competing for distribution channel customers. This battle resulted in no room being available for a third alternative to the Android and iOS platforms. Even now Ferragu thinks there is no room for a new entrant due to the level of maturity of the iOS and Android ecosystems.
Looking ahead though, Ferragu thinks the day is returning when “brand, distribution and scale were everything, innovation was mostly hardware-driven and easily replicable.” As evidence of Nokia’s return to a market where the dynamics are changing to a formula that existed when Nokia was thriving, Bernstein points to evidence the company is snapping up Android engineers for their development team. However, the analysts do anticipate Nokia will have to partner with others to manufacture low cost handsets and they point to a company like LG or Huawei as a possible source.
Finally, Ferragu believes Nokia’s brand image will help it succeed where others may have been struggling. Nokia recently placed 98th in brand value according to rankings by Interbrand. “From that perspective, the brand matters in smartphones as does distribution and scale,” according to the Bernstein analysis.
source: Korea Times
via: G for Games
Come comment on this article: New talk shambles in suggesting Nokia to get back in smartphone market
Android 6.0 Marshmallow – 8 features Google needs to improve
Google aims to improve Android with each major release, however it doesn’t always manage to pack in the features and improvements that users and developers are asking for. The release of Android M is upon us, and here are eight things Google still needs to improve.
Customization
While Android M offers features such as arranging quick toggles and having a possible dark theme, it is still no match compared to custom ROMs. Theming and changes to the core look of the OS are nothing new to the rooting community and it is time Google allows this deep customization in stock Android.
Tablet UI
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich had a dedicated tablet UI which made the tablet and phone experience very different. Jelly Bean unified the tablet and phone UI to look and act very similar while keeping them separate and Lollipop basically made them indistinguishable. This is a good and a bad thing. While the experience is now the same, no matter what (stock Android) device you are using, there aren’t any special software features that make having a tablet worth while. Which leads into our next section.
Multitasking and RAM management
Multi-window multitasking is nothing new for owners of smartphones that come with customized versions of Android like those from Samsung or LG. But until now it has not been included in stock Android. While still in the experimental stage, this feature is now in the Android M dev preview. It enables apps to be opened simultaneously in all four corners, or two side-by-side. The only problem is that it doesn’t necessarily look pretty, and closing apps in this view may reveal others that are behind it. This can lead to a confusing experience, which I am hoping will be addressed in coming updates.
Also the RAM management issues that should have been addressed in KitKat, still exist today. When I have a lot of apps open I see multiple launcher redraws and quite a bit of lag, which have hindered the experience on my Nexus 6. The Nexus 9 with only 2 GBs of RAM is even worse and without these issues being fixed multi-window apps and heavy multitasking do not seem possible on stock Android yet.
Gestures
There are no universal gestures in Android, the only major one is double tap to wake and stock Android only supports that on the Nexus 9, so the other Nexus devices are not able to take advantage of this. Custom launchers support some gestures but they only work on the home screen. There are apps that enable universal custom gestures if you are rooted and they enable you to do anything with just a swipe. This could be very useful and could even replace the navigation bar all together by having gestures that act as the back, home and recent apps controls.
Better Lockscreen/Widgets
Google introduced lockscreen widgets in Android 4.2 and sort of removed them in Lollipop. Swiping left or right now opens the camera or phone. There is no option to add widgets and swipe between them like you could in Jelly Bean and KitKat, however the notifications are actionable, so there is still the ability to change songs and do anything that you can do in the notification shade. This method works but it is not as pretty or as useful as it used to be. Having the ability to add widgets like Jelly Bean and KitKat, with actionable notifications would be a very nice upgrade.
Privacy and permission settings
App Ops made a slight appearance in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It let you control which apps can take advantage of what permissions. If you didn’t want Facebook being able to see your location, you could block the app from being able to do so. Unfortunately this feature was removed in Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Being able to control app permissions is a must have and it would be a welcome addition to Android M or any future Android release.
Full system backup and restore
This is nothing new in the root community, one of the best things about being unlocked and rooted is the ability to install a custom recovery. CWM Recovery and TWRP both offer ways to make Android backups which backup the whole system in case something goes wrong. This only takes a few clicks and the options provided are very customizable. Restoring is also a breeze with just a few steps. Google is getting closer with the ability to backup app data in Android M and the ability to add accounts and the home screen layout using Tap & Go. This is relatively convenient compared to older versions of Android but it doesn’t compare to a full system restore or a dedicated app like Titanium Backup.
The ability to remove bloatware
Carrier branded devices are known to come with a lot of bloatware. AT&T installs apps in the double digits on branded devices and even on the Nexus 6 when it came out. AT&T is not the only one at fault however, most of the carriers have some form of bloatware that you can’t get rid of no matter how hard you try, unless you are rooted. Disabling the apps in settings will get rid of them in the app drawer and prevent them from doing anything, but they still take up space on your device. Even the American Nexus 6 has Verizon bloat built in no matter what carrier you use it on.
Wrap-Up
Google has improved Android immensely since its first release in 2008, but there are always things to improve on. New Android releases bring a lot to the table while leaving a few things behind. Android M is no different, however with some options that should have been added long ago, along with better battery life, greater performance and other improvements, it is a worthwhile upgrade.
AIVAnet 