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Get Google Pixel 2’s Portrait Mode on the Pixel, Nexus 5X, and Nexus 6P The camera on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is seen as one of the best smartphone cameras this year. Google put a lot of thought into how to tweak their camera software , and it really shows. Google Camera and its HDR+ algorithm is highly sought after, prompting some developers to go as far as porting it to other devices. Other Pixel 2 camera features such as Motion Photos and Face Retouching have also been ported to some devices , and now, the most popular camera feature,  Portrait Mode ,   is now available on the first generation Google Pixel & Pixel XL , Google Nexus 5X , and Nexus 6P . This development is thanks to XDA Senior Member Charles_l  who publishes Google Camera mods on his website  Chromloop . His previous mods have brought features such as Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL) with HDR+, 60FPS video recording at high resolutions, and the aforementioned Motion Photos and Face Retouching features. ...

Dirac partners with AAC Technologies to Bring Enhanced Audio Quality to Smartphones, Smart Speakers, and more For the past few years, audio quality in mobile devices has become an increasingly higher priority. There was a time when audio quality was valued only by a few smartphone vendors, but that trend is slowly changing. We have seen the arrival of smartphones which specifically promote great audio quality as a feature, such as HTC’s smartphones since the One M7 as well as LG’s V series flagships . We have also seen the rise of stereo speakers in mobile, better DACs (such as Qualcomm’s Aqstic DAC ), and in general, a better audio experience. However, there still remains quite a way to go for smartphones to improve in audio quality. This is why AAC Technologies and Dirac Research have partnered to build first-of-their-kind audio systems that integrate Dirac’s audio processing technology with AAC Technologies’ micro-speaker technology. Dirac Research is a...

Telegram 4.7 Adds Multiple Accounts and Quick Replies Telegram got one more update last week to close out 2017. The new version, Telegram 4.7, adds a quick reply shortcut and support for multiple accounts to the application’s roster of features. With the new quick reply feature, swiping left on a message allows you to quickly respond to it, saving you the trouble of tapping on the message and then hitting the reply button. https://www.xda-developers.com/files/2018/01/doc_2018-01-02_03-54-53.mp4 In addition to the new quick reply functionality, the app gained the ability to switch between multiple accounts. You can add up to three and switch between them using the left sidebar menu — you’ll receive notifications from all signed-in accounts. For developers out there (especially those who have bot-owner accounts), support for multiple accounts could be a really handy feature. https://www.xda-developers.com/files/2018/01/530102d1aadfeb724a.mp4   Telegram 4.7 is avai...

Magisk v15.2 Brings Minor Fixes for OnePlus and Samsung Devices Magisk v15.0, the latest major release of the user-acclaimed systemless interface, was introduced back in December 26 — but not without minor issues that went under the radar during beta testing. XDA Recognized Developer / Recognized Contributor topjohnwu , the lead developer of the project, was quick to address some of these problems with v15.1, released just 3 days later. But it caused boot loops on devices including the OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T on stable/beta Android Oreo . Now, Magisk v15.2, the first update of 2018, addresses those issues and implements new SELinux policy rules that improve MagiskHide support on Samsung devices. Hop into the forums and download it now! Download Magisk v15.2 tags : android auto, android wear, android device manager, android 1, android phone, android messages, android studio, android tablet, android emulator, android tv, android p, android 17, android tv box, android browser, a...

Samung’s Detachable “Nautilus” Chromebook will Have a Sony IMX258 Sensor After releasing the Chromebook Plus and the Chromebook Pro last year , it seems that Samsung is developing a new detachable Chrome OS laptop. In November,  Chrome Unboxed  reported on a Samsung Chromebook device in development. It’s code-named “Nautilus,” and it’s a detachable model. More recently, the publication found a commit in the Chromium Gerrit confirming a few “Nautilus” specs. Here’s the relevant description: imx258: Add imx258 camera sensor PO driver VIDEO_IMX258 is added to Kconfig for this new component for camera sensor. It will enable this sensor in kernel, so the component used on samsung nautilus project could have the mipi camera support. RAW image dump is supported in this PO version. The commit makes it clear that “Nautilus” will have a camera module with Sony’s IMX258 sensor, an 13MP Exmor RS 1/3.06-inch sensor with...

Keepass2Android Beta Updated with AutoFill Framework Support in Android Oreo There are many popular password managers on Android, but only a few stand out. LastPass is one of them, but it’s closed-source — you can’t see the code for yourself. For folks bothered by that prospect, one of the best alternatives is Keepass2Android, a port of Keepass for desktop . It lets users store and access their passwords from a cloud storage service, and features fingerprint database unlocking. Unfortunately, no matter which password manager you use,  most offer a sub-standard experience on Android. That’s because it wasn’t until Android Oreo that Google started supporting password autofill — on Nougat and older, managers like LastPass and Keepass2Android have to use Android’s Accessibility Services, which tends to introduce a slight delay. We wrote about how the lag is intentional  because of the nature of Accessibility Services. But the effect is exacerbat...

Smartphone Users Consumed 25% More WiFi and Mobile Data in 2017 For many folks, smartphones have replaced laptops and tablets as the go-to media consumption device. That isn’t terribly surprising — it’s easier than ever to watch content on the go — and stats show that people have warmed to the idea of using mobile data for streaming videos, music, and games. According to a report from research firm NPD, smartphone users in the US consumed 25 percent more data on their mobile devices in 2017 than in 2016. The average monthly data usage per person climbed to 31.4GB this year, according to the report, up from 25.2GB last year. Of the total amount of data smartphone users consumed this year, 83 percent was video content. And in the third quarter of 2017 (April to June), 67 percent of smartphone users said they accessed video content via an app on their phones at least once a month, up from 57 percent from the second quarter of 2017 (January to March). NDP attributes...