Category: Android

Tips to Reduce Data Usage on Android

In this age of streaming and downloading, where our hunger for data is exponentially growing, most users often find themselves struggling with this ever losing battle of trying to not exceed or finish up their data allowances.

Data plans have become so expensive that most of us live in constant fear of exceeding our monthly smartphone data allowance, forcing us to run from one Wifi hotspot to another just to conserve as much data as possible.

Today, iGyaan brings to you tips and tricks for Android users to conserve data, and help them keep more of their hard earned money away from the clutches of the evil ISPs.

Chrome Webpage Compression

For users who use Google Chrome for browsing the Internet this tip can help them cut down significantly on data used for browsing. Google claims you can save upwards of 35% of data while using Chrome’s Data Saver feature. When enabled, Google’s servers reduce the amount of data that is downloaded when you visit a web page.

But such extreme data saving comes at a cost. When the data saver is enabled, certain websites might load slow, while ones with a lot of images displayed not at their best, but to us it seems like a fair trade for the major data savings that this feature provides.

To activate this feature, the user needs to launch Chrome, tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner, scroll down to the settings button and then click om Data Saver. Just to see the results for yourself monitor Chrome’s data usage after switching the data saver feature on.

Use Opera for Saving Data on Watching Videos

Much like the Chrome browsers compression technology for web pages Opera for Android provides users with a very nifty trick that allows them to watch compressed videos, resulting in almost similar quality content, but greatly reduced size.

The end result being reduced data usage for a very faster loading videos. Can’t say we don’t approve. the Opera browser, go to Settings > Data savings and tick the box that says Video compression.

Restrict Background Data

One of the best ways to conserve data that Google provides Android users is with the option of restricting background data using the inbuilt data saving mechanism of the Android operating system.

With this feature users can tell Android to restrict background data usage of specific apps, hence helping in greatly reduce data usage. Apps and tasks such as email syncing, feeds updating, weather widgets and so on can be stopped temporarily, and be taken care of when in a Wifi Hotspot area.

Turn Auto Update Off for Apps

Android by default sets the Play Store to download updates to apps the moment they are available. Depending on your internet speed, this particular feature if left unattended, can eat through your phone’s data pack very quickly. Switching this to Auto Update Apps Over Wifi Only is recommended.

Head to the Play Store and head towards the Settings button. On the page you’ll see Auto-Update Apps. Tap this and make sure you either have it set to ‘Do not auto-update apps’ or ‘Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only’.

For users looking for more customization, and want to manage individual apps, they can make way to the My Apps page, select an app and then tap the overflow menu to un-check Auto-Update.

Say Bye to the Facebook App

The Facebook App is infamous for its habit of eating through mobile data for fun. Several reports have found that Facebook’s recommended app is a great drain on mobile data on the Android System along with being a dreaded enemy of your battery life. As such, uninstalling it in favour of the Facebook Lite App is highly recommended.

February 18, 2016
Qualcomm Teaser Confirms the LG G5 to come with Snapdragon 820 SoC

Countless leaks have already talked at length about how the upcoming flagship from LG, the G5 will come packing a Snapdragon 820 SoC upon its MWC 2016 launch, and today, Qualcomm, the company behind the Snapdragon chipsets has with a reader tweet all but confirmed that the phone will sport the best chipset that Qualcomm currently has to offer.

Don't miss a whole new way to play with @LGUSAMobile and #Snapdragon820–coming February 21. ? ? ? ? pic.twitter.com/ynshxqBgKS

— Qualcomm (@Qualcomm) February 17, 2016

This will come as great news for Qualcomm which infamously saw the South Korean tech giant choose to ignore the previous top of the line chipset from Qualcomm for the better thermals of the 808.

Other specifications of the phone detail it to come equipped with 4GB RAM, a 5.6-inch QHD display, along with 8-Megapixel camera at the front, and a Dual 20-Megapixel, with laser autofocus and Optical Image Stabilization at the back. The device is also said to come in a modular design for easy access to the battery.

February 18, 2016
LG to Unveil Stylus 2 at MWC 2016

LG is gearing up for a busy week ahead it seems. The company had already revealed plans of unveiling the G5 and the new X series mid-range smartphones to the tech world next week at the Mobile World Congress 2016, and now the marketing guys at LG have gone ahead and dropped another bombshell.

The South Korean tech giant has now revealed that a sequel to last year’s G4 Stylus, which will be called the Stylus 2 will also be unveiled at MWC 2016. The Stylus 2 will also come with a pen, but unlike the last iteration, it will come with nano-coated tip instead of the previous rubber-tipped pen. According to LG this will offer increased accuracy.

Specifications of the phone list the Stylus 2 to be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and sport a 5.7-inch HD display. RAM is 1.5GB, while internal memory is 16GB which will be expandable up to 128GB. The phone will also house a removable 3,000mAh battery which will be great news for users.

On the camera front, the device features a 13MP rear shooter and an 8MP front shooter. Dimensions of the phone are 155 x 79.6 x 7.4mm and it weighs at 145g, the handset will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, and will be available in three colors namely titan, white, and brown. Pricing details were not announced, but LG did reveal that the “Stylus 2 will be exceptionally priced.”

In an official comment, Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said “LG Stylus 2 provides both the big screen and premium notetaking functions of a premium large phone at a price of a mid-tier phone. This device is another example of our commitment to the mass-tier segment where there is so much opportunity for growth and creativity.”

The Stylus 2 will also come with special features aimed at improving user experience. These include Pen Pop and Pen Keeper. Pen Pop “toggles a popup menu when the stylus is removed to offer shortcuts to Pop Memo and Pop Scanner,” Pen Keeper will help prevent the stylus from being misplaced by displaying “a popup message when the phone is detected as being in motion when the stylus bay is empty.”

February 16, 2016
Lenovo to Unveil Lemon 3 Plus at MWC 2016

Lenovo, which looks to be on a singular mission to take over the mobile phone market has just tweeted a teaser of what looks to be a new mobile phone being launched at the MWC 2016 at Barcelona later this month.The tech giant is currently sending out teasers via social media platforms for the same with the tagline “#KnockOut Coming Soon MWC 2016”

Lenovo India has also joined in the fun and tweeted a photo from its official handle with a caption saying, “A gorgeous new device has been engineered from scratch to deliver the #Knockout punch. Brace yourselves.” The picture shows liquid metal being poured on a smartphone, indicating a full metal-body phone from the company.

https://twitter.com/Lenovo_in/status/698129306698981376/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Though nothing more has been revealed about the device but reports suggest that the handset in question here is the Lemon 3 Plus, the successor of the Lemon 3 which was launched in China earlier this year.

Lemon 3 Plus is expected to come with a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display and a1.5 GH octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor. It will be paired with 3GB of RAM and Adreno 405 GPU, and will be ship with Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system out of the box.

It will be equipped with 16GB of internal storage, further expandable up-to 128GB via a micro SD card.The cameras on the phone will see a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel selfie snapper. It will also include 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 and GPS for connectivity.

February 15, 2016
LG G5 Lite hinted at through GFXBench Listing

GFXBench, which in the past has been our trusted friend in leaking specifications of upcoming phones, has now revealed to the Internet the details of an unknown handset from the stables of LG.

The latest listing reveals that the device will come equipped with the recently announced Snapdragon 625 chipset, the first of its kind to be manufacfured using a 14nm process.

The listing further reveals that the handset will sport a 5.3-inch Quad HD display. The phone will come with a respectable 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory.

The new smartphone which looks to be a budget device at best will come with 8-megapixel shooter at the front and the back. Surprisingly, the listing claims that the phone will run on the outdated Android 4.4 platform.

The listing further reveals this model number of the phone which bears the mark of the upcoming LG G5 model number, hinting to this being a toned down lite version of the soon to be launched G5, in which case the phone coming with Android 4.4 makes no sense.

February 13, 2016
Galaxy S7 to Run on Marshmallow, Flagships from Last Year to Get the Update Post Launch

Samsung Galaxy S7, the company’s much-anticipated flagship device is all set to launch at the Mobile World Congress on the 21st February. The phone would run out of the box Android Marshmallow as its operating system.

To recap a bit about the specifications of the phone, the Samsung Galaxy S7 upon launch is expected to to feature a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution, a new 12 MP BRITECELL camera with f/1.7 aperture, and a 5 MP secondary cam. Two SoC configurations are expected. One being a Exynos-based version and the other a Qualcomm-powered model. The battery is expected to be upwards of 3500mAh.

Other Samsung flagship devices from last year, Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+ and Note 5 would get the update post the S7 launch. For those who are using one of these Samsung devices, here’s a quick look at their specifications.

The specs for both S6 and S6 Edge remain the same and the new colours would be available in 32, 64, and 128 GB variants. S6 Edge has a 5.1 inches display with a resolution of 1440X2560 pixels. Powered by Exynos 7420, it is further equipped with 3 GB of RAM, 16 MP main and 5 MP front camera, along with a non-removable Li-Ion battery marked at 2600 mAh.

The Galaxy S6 Edge+ has a 5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560 x 1440 (518ppi) dual edge screen and is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The device runs on the Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop) with an Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad), 64 bit, 14nm processor. The device comes in two variants – 32GB and 64 GB both with a 4 GB RAM.

The Note 5 runs on the Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop) with an Exynos 7420 chipset, a Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 CPU and a Mali-T760MP8 GPU. As far as storage capacity is concerned, this handset comes in two variants – 32 and 64 GB along with 4GB of RAM. However, it does not have an expandable microSD card slot.

February 11, 2016
Xiaomi Mi 5 Camera Shots Surface

As MWC 2016 edges closer it is understandable for the Internet to go on a meltdown mode when a company like Xiaomi teases its users with let’s say camera shots from its upcoming flagship, the Mi 5.

This device which promises to come with market leading specifications and give flagships of other established brands a run for their money has today turned heads with a pair of images clicked using the handset later shared by none other than the company’s president on his Weibo account.

The uploaded images are quite impressive to say the least with good color reproduction and detail. The camera in the image has focused on a bird in mid-flight and captured its movement perfectly. This points to the phone camera coming with a laser autofocus system as it had been previously rumoured.

Moving from the camera, the phone will come with a Snapdragon 820 SoC paired with 3GB of RAM. It will come with 64GB of onboard storage. The display on the phone will be a 5.7-inch Full HD display. The launch of the phone is set for February 24th.

February 10, 2016
Instagram Adds Support for Multiple Accounts

Instagram has today after a long delay added support for multiple accounts. This comes after months of testing of the particular feature. It is being rolled out with the latest update to the app, Version 7.15 which is currently rolling out for users on the iOS and Android platform.

This functionality can be availed by going to the options page and from there clicking to the ‘Add Account’ button at the bottom. After adding multiple accounts, users can switch between them by simply clicking at an account name and switching to it.

To the credit of the developers of the app, they have also added the support for push notifications for all linked accounts. Functionality to log out of one or all accounts at once at the click of one button has also been rolled out in the update.

Addition of support for Multiple accounts on the native app will make it more difficult for third party Instagram apps to survive now as the native app will carry the one feature that most users used third party apps for.

February 9, 2016
Google to Manufacture In-House Nexus Devices, OEMs to Exit

According to reports emanating from Google headquarters in Calfornia, the tech giant is reportedly looking at going the Apple way when it comes the manufacturing of its Nexus devices. Currently, Google shares the branding of its Nexus devices with the hardware manufacturers who have a significant input in both the hardware and designing of the device.

Google wants to change this from the ground up; it plans to bring to users in the future pure Nexus branded devices which will be designed fully by Google. From the hardware to the aesthetics, these phones will be a creation of minds at Google, and as such will not sport any branding of manufacturers. As the tech giant does not have any manufacturing units, the Nexus handsets of the future will take birth in manufacturing plants of handset makers on a contractual basis.

If and when this switch takes place, it won’t be a jump in the unknown for Google as it has already tried its hand at a task like this in the form of Pixel which are also 100% Google designed smartphones.This lineup which was originally created to use the Chrome OS was seen using the Android OS for its last product.

Reports suggest the murmurs for this switch in tactics for Google have made their way directly from the high offices of its CEO Sundar Pichhai who is said to have signaled to his associates at Google as well as outsiders of what could be the road-map ahead for Google.

Suggestions are Google’s extreme step of alienating itself from its current OEM partners is a result of the company’s growing frustration at Apple’s monopoly over the high-end Smartphone market. Google as of now has not been able to influence Android phone hardware so that it can enable new experiences which has lead the Nexus program to not gain the kind of traction with consumers that Google had previously hoped for.

February 2, 2016
ATMs to Support Apple and Android Pay

Because many retailers still don’t offer NFC support for payments, life is still not as easy as it could be if among other things smartphones could also be used to do ATM transactions as well. This is precisely what Bank of America and Wells Fargo are working on offering at their ATMs in the US.

“We’ve been working on the technology that allows us to hook to digital wallets, leveraging NFC on mobile phones to replace the card at the transaction at the ATM. Right now the wallet that we support is Android Pay,” says Jonathan Velline, Wells Fargo’s Head of ATMs.

Similarly, Bank of America is also working of employing NFC at its ATMs. It should be made available in February in some ATMs in Silicon Valley, New York, San Francisco, Charlotte and Boston. Even though Bank of America has not explicitly mentioned which wallets would be supported, we can assume them to be Apple and Android Pay for now.

While these potential developments sound fancy and appealing, there is no news on when they will be available in India as well. Hold your breath until we update you about the next development on this front.

Source

January 29, 2016
Asus Zenfone Max with 5000mAh Battery Goes on Sale

Asus India’s latest enterant to the already crowded market is a phone that sets itsellf apart from the crowd. The new Zenfone handset promises what its buddies couldn’t offer, a long battery life. The Selfie, and Lazer range phones albeit good, still did lack in stamina, and that is where this phone excels.

The Max, with it’s enormous 5000mAh battery, not only offers a phone that won’t die on you mid way through the day, but surprise surprise, it can also double up as a portable charger for other power hungry devices that might need some assistance. Well, that my friends, is an offer that even Don Corleone can’t refuse.

On the specifications front, the phone holds out its own in the crowded budget phone segment. ZenFone Max features a 5.5-inch HD (720×1280 pixels) IPS display which has 10 finger touch support and comes with anti-fingerprint coating. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor which is paired with 2GB RAM, Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system and Adreno 306 graphics processor.

On the photography front, the phone integrates a 13-MegaPixel rear and 5-MegaPixel front PixelMaster camera with an f/2.0 aperture lens and laser auto-focus. It also comes along with a low-light mode that claims to capture up to 400 percent brighter photos at night or low light condition without utilizing the flash.

The Asus Zenfone Maxx has started retailing for Rs 9,999 , which to be honest is decent pricing for a phone with nice specs, and outstanding battery life, as such making it highly recommended.

January 15, 2016
Apple Working on a ‘Move to Android’ App

Update: Apple has denied the development of any such app. “There is no truth to this rumor. We are entirely focused on switching users from Android to iPhone, and that is going great”, says Apples spokesperson, Trudy Muller

Say hello to tech world where things keep getting stranger. Earlier we had talked about an app which allows you to shift from an Android device to iOS. Developed by Apple, the app is available on the Google Play Store and lets users transfer their images, contacts and other important data to an iPhone from their Android device.

Now there are rumours of Apple working on an app that allows iOS users to shift to Android. Though there is no news on when the app will be up and about, speculations about it have already begun. We can perhaps expect to see the move-to-android app sometime this year.

Reports emerging from the UK have suggested that many users stick with iOS simply to avoid the trouble of transferring or losing their data to an Android device. The app is being developed to ease such migrations from one OS to another.

Earlier, following the launch of ‘Move to iOS’, there had been an adequate response from the Android community as they mocked it with their own ‘Stick With Android’ app. Let’s see what response is triggered by this latest development.

January 11, 2016
BlackBerry Confirms Security Updates for BB 10, New Android Device for 2016

BlackBerry has seen a lot of ups and downs in the past couple of months. From being one of the most popular mobile brands at one time with its innovative BlackBerry Messenger to becoming a company struggling to keep itself on its feet -it has seen it all.

We recently heard rumours about how BlackBerry might be letting go of its operating system BB 10. However, these rumours have been proven false by a post on the official BlackBerry blog. John Chen, the company’s CEO revealed that the operating system is “far from” dead and that BlackBerry devices like Passport, Classic and other phones by the company running on BB 10 would receive updates for the operating system soon.

There will be security and privacy updates for BB 10 this year, along with an enhanced 10.3.4 version of the OS slated to arrive later this year with more security and privacy related features.

Additionally, BlackBerry which is all set to bring out more of its own Android devices in the future also confirmed that 2016 will see the launch of only one such device. Would you be willing to put your trust in BlackBerry’s Android devices?

Source

January 9, 2016
Xiaomi Mi 5 Running Snapdragon 820 SoC Confirmed for February Launch

Rumours of Xiaomi’s next flagship had been doing rounds on the internet for sometime now, and earlier today Xiaomi Co-Founder and Senior VP Liwan Jiang through a Weibo post put them to rest by confirming to the world the Chinese phone maker’s plans of launching the much anticipated Xiaomi Mi 5 in the coming months.

As revealed by Jiang himself, Xiaomi has already started mass production of its next flagship, Mi 5, and the phone will hit markets shortly after the Chinese Spring festival, which will be February the 8th this year.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 with the latest Snapdragon 820 processor is ready and in volume production. It will be released after the Spring Festival to have enough time for stocking up – Xiaomi Senior VP Liwan Jiang

Though no official word is out on the specifications of this much awaited device, but according to leaks, and the ever churning rumour mills of the Kingdom of Internet, the Mi 5 is slated to feature a 5.2-inch display with Quad HD resolution. 3GB or 4GB RAM, with a minimum of 32GB Internal storage. The camera on the device is expected to be a 16-megapixel at the back, and an equally impressive 13-megapixel snapper at the front.

This power hungry device is set to pack a battery of 3600 mAh with support for Quick Charge 3.0 technology. At the software end, the handset will run MIUI 7 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

January 6, 2016
5 Free Apps to Help You Keep the Fitness Resolution This Year

This New Year’s resolutions all around seem big on fitness. People in the virtual space have been talking a lot about being fit -from a deluge of pre and post work-out selfies to this never ending high of fitness-junkies. Yes, we get it -life is so much better after a work-out, and even better if your entire Facebook friend-list knows about it.

If fitness is your cup of tea, because of reasons mentioned above, or (hopefully) different ones, and if you too made a resolution about a healthier body and mind in 2016, we are here to help you keep it. Find below a list of five diet and exercise related apps to motivate yourself to keep in shape. Here goes:

Nike+No list on fitness apps can be complete without this. If you already don’t know about this cool and pretty useful app, this is why Nike+ is important -it made running so much better with its constant motivation in the form of trophies, badges and NikeFuel. It allows users various running programmes and challenges to choose from, along with the option of syncing it with your social media accounts. Nike definitely got it right with this one. It is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Tabata Stopwatch ProNow that we are on the topic of cardio, let’s talk about Tabata. This amazing four minute work-out is made for those who live life on the go. Doing this work-out once in the morning and once in the evening will let you maintain a basic standard of health. The biggest hurdle in doing Tabata is keeping the time in check. But worry not, Tabata Stopwatch Pro is here to save the day. It not only plays your favourite song during the work-out but also notifies you of time intervals every 20 and 10 seconds. It’s available in both the App Store as well Google Play.

Daily YogaIf cardio is not your thing, why not try your hand at flexibility and stretching with some good, old Yoga? Daily Yoga is an app which instructs users in Yoga for different parts of the body through comprehensive videos. Depending on the body-part and the trouble you’re facing -from aches to soreness in muscles to fat, Daily Yoga sufficiently covers all requirements. The app is available in the App Store and Google Play.

Calorie Counter – My Fitness PalOptimum health requires both physical exercise and a balanced diet to work in unison. Now that we have got the former part covered, it’s time to move on to the latter -that is, the right diet. Calorie Counter, as the name suggests, lets you keep a check on the daily consumption of carbs and fats. You can enter in the meal and it would give you an estimate of your calories. Once you start using it, you’d be pleasantly surprised with how customizeable this app is. Calorie Counter too is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Hydro Coach and Daily Water Free ‘Nuff with all the huffing and puffing -make sure to keep the body well-hydrated. That’s much easier said than done; making sure to drink enough water is one of the most useful but also the most underestimated hacks ever. Enough water keeps the muscles replenished and healthy enough to take on any exercise regimes. It also keeps the metabolism up and running on its feet making sure your diet and exercise is optimised in the most efficient ways. While Hydro Coach is a useful app for Android phones that will give you regular reminders to drink water, Daily Water Free is the answer for iOS users.

January 6, 2016