පසුගිය October 4 වෙනිදින San Francisco හිදී පැවැත්වුණු Google Hardware event එක කාගේත් කතාබහට ලක්වුණු දෙයක්. ඒ Google සමාගම හඳුන්වා දුන් නවතම උපාංග නිසයි. ඒ අතරිනුත් Pixel Phone එකට විශේෂ තැනක් ලැබී තිබුනා. කලින් ලිපියේ සඳහන් ආකාරයට Pixel සහ Pixel XL නමින් smartphone දෙකක් හඳුන්වාදුන් අතර ඒවා Quite Black, Very Silver, Really Blue යන වර්ණ වලින් වෙළඳපලට නිකුත් කෙරුනා. Read More
Hi guys! Today I’m gonna introduce two apps from the same company called ‘FLYPERINC’ who makes productivity applications for Android. These apps will helps you to achieve faster and to do responses more conveniently from your smartphone. Having that said, let’s get down to details shall we? 😀
Notifly will makes your default messenger and some other predefined apps to float. You may have gotten the similar experience from Facebook Messenger App, ‘chat heads’. We all loved it, didn’t we. What Notifly does is that display your default messages as a bubble like we have seen it on messenger chat heads. This will have the effect of screen overlay and you can do whatever work on background and you can simply click the bubble and read and reply without interrupting the background work. 😀 Isn’t that wonderful?
It’s partially customizable. Some apps haven’t integrated yet. Of course your favorite ‘Whatsapp’ is there. 😀 You can check the list of apps that works with Notifly from this link: Google PlayStore – Notifly.
What this app does is the same scenario to Browsers, when you clicked a link. When someone has sent you a link from an email or from a messenger, when you clicked that link will open your browser interrupting the current activity. But Flyperlink integrated to your phone, it will open separately as a bubble without interrupting the current activity. Isn’t that awesome too? If so, you can try them both and see how it treats you.
Well, these both apps aren’t perfect. There are things to be done to improve the quality of interaction with the app such as, Notifly needs the text size customization, Viber and other useful chat apps integration, and some other minor problems to be solved. But both apps has done a quite a good job by making it easier to access your messengers without even open it and goto links without leaving the current activity. Yeah, I love it so far and I hope you would too!
Links to both apps:
Notifly: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyperinc.notifly&hl=en
Flyperlink: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyperinc.flyperlink&hl=en
Until I meet you next time,
Happy Exploring ~ Adios Amigos!
Are you satisfied with the existing messaging apps? Do you need a new messaging app with new features? What if you got a messaging app with an AI? Yes! There is a new messaging app called “Allo”.
Allo is the latest messaging app introduced by Google which has used Google Assistant as its main functionality. In other words Google Assistant which is a Google product that aims to take on Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alex, is used in Allo in order to make the app more effective. But I have to say that this is not completely built with an AI. This is not to replace Google’s other messaging apps such as ‘Hangouts’ or ‘ProjectFi’, and also this is not derived from Google’s Hangout or Messenger. It is built from the scratch. This is just a fresh start for Google’s new communication methodologies.
Google කියන නම ඇහෙද්දීම මතක් වෙන දෙයක් තමයි android ඒ වගේම nexus කියන්නෙත් මග හැරෙන්නෙම නැති Google සමාගමේ වෙළඳ නාමයක්. අන්තිමට නිකුත්වුන Nexus 6P smart phone ලෝකේ වෙනසක් කරපු ජංගම දුරකතනයක්. නමුත් මේ විස්තර කරන්න හදන්නේ ටිකක් වෙනස් කතාවක්. Google සමාගම අලුත්ම නමකින් smart phone එකක් එලිදක්වන්න සුදානම් වෙලා තියනවා. ඒ තමයි Google Pixel. Nexus කියන වෙළඳ නාමයෙන් ඉවත් වෙලා මේ අලුත් නමින් වෙළඳපොළට නිකුත් කරන්න සුදානම් වෙලා තියානවා. ඒ කියන්නේ Nexus නමින් අන්තිමට නිර්මාණය වුන smart phone එක වෙන්නේ Nexus 6P. Apple සමාගම iPhone 7 එක නිකුත් කරපු උණුසුම යන්නත් කලින් Google සමාගමත් මේ අලුත්ම smart phone ඒක එළිදක්වන්න තීරණය කරලා තියනවා. ඒ එළඹෙන ඔක්තෝම්බර් 4 වෙනිදා.
Google සමාගමේ අලුත් විස්තර දැනගන්න කැමති අයට මෙතනින් ඒ විස්තර e-mail වලට ගන්න පුළුවන්. Pixel සහ Pixel XL කියන මාදිලි දෙකකින් යුත් මේ Smart Phone එකේ තවත් විශේෂ දෙයක් වෙන්නේ Official Android Nougat version එක්ක නිකුත් වෙන එක. මේ ජංගම දුරකථන දෙකම HTC සමාගම තමයි සැලසුම් කරලා නිර්මාණය කරලා තියෙන්නේ. සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම water-resistant නොවුනත් තරමක් water-resistant කියලා තමයි වාර්තා වෙන්නේ.
නිල නොවන දත්ත අනුව Pixel XL දුරකථනය පහත දක්වලා තියන ගතිගුණ තමයි තියෙන්නේ.
USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) කේත කියලා හඳුන්වන්නේ දුරකථන නිෂ්පාදන සමාගම් හෝ වෙනත් සේවාදායකයින් විසින්, අදාළ පරිගණක සමග දත්ත හුවමාරු කරගන්නට ඔබේ ජංගම උපාංග වලට ඔබ්බවා ඇති කේත වර්ගයක්. බොහෝ අවස්ථා වලදී නොදැනුවත්වම මෙම USSD කේතයන් කොතෙකුත් අපේ අතින් භාවිතා වෙනවා. උදාහරණයක් විදිහට ඔබේ Mobitel සිම්පතේ ගිණුම් ශේෂය විමසන්න භාවිතා කරන *100# කියන්නෙත් සරල USSD කේතයක්.
සේවා දායකයින් බොහෝ විට USSD කේත භාවිත කරන්නේ යම් යම් සේවාවන් සක්‍රිය කිරීමටයි (දත්ත පැකේජ සක්‍රිය කිරීම වැනි). එහෙත් දුරකථන නිෂ්පාදකයින් මේවා යොදාගන්නේ දුරකථනයේ ඇති විවධ සැකසුම් පහසුවෙන් සිදුකරගැනීමටයි. එනම් සාම්ප්‍රදායික සැකසුම් වෙත පිවිසිය හැකි රහස් දොරක් ලෙසටයි. Read More
Tired of getting prank calls? Getting too much calls from telemarketers? Getting spammy calls? If you have CallApp installed you don’t have to worry about those. 😀 CallApp simply lets you know from where you get the call from. So let’s see what is CallApp.
CallApp is an application where you can get information about certain phone numbers even when you don’t have them saved in your contacts. It simplifies the contact details and show all relevant updates for you in compact details which helps you to get an idea why or where are they calling you, what are the plans ahead, and special dates such as anniversaries, birthdays, etc. Having that idea we shall now look into details, shall we? 😀
Because you can’t keep all the numbers in the world to be saved on your phone. Let CallApp do the trick. It will show you the identity of major phone numbers as well as spammy phone numbers. Feel free about your phone calls. Be up to date with friends and family. Mostly checkout these features that CallApp provides for free!
See information about ANYONE regardless of whether the other caller is
Initiating or receiving a call
In your contact book
Connected to you via social networks
A CallApp user
A person / a business
CallApp synchronizes contacts in your phone-book and updates them with their latest pictures and information from all the major social networks.
CallApp integrates your phone’s dialer with our local search platform to give you access to the people and places that matter to you, all in one convenient location.
Other Features:
SOCIAL INFO
Pictures, birthdays and much more from all major social networks…
PERSONAL INFO
Name, photo, birthday, SMS messages, recent emails, Google Search …
BUSINESS INFO
Reverse Lookup, reviews, menu, reservation, Street View, Yelp, map and directions, 144, white pages, yellow pages …
SHARING TOOLS
Share contacts, locations, photos, apps, links…
PRODUCTIVE TOOLS
Write notes, set reminders, schedule meetings, set a task, enable caller ID Blocker, navigate to an address…
COMMUNICATION OPTIONS
CallApp notifies you whenever you can communicate with your partners via the following: WhatsApp, Google Talk, Skype, Viber, Voxer, Tango, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Facebook Messenger – so you can call up a friend for free
BEST DIALER & CONTACT BOOK
Favorites, frequent callers, reminders, birthday reminders, keypad & keyboard, notes, horizontal view (for driving, hands-free use, etc.), quick dial…
Main Site >>>> Home Page: http://callapp.com/
Android >>>>> Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.callapp.contacts
Apple >>>>>> Iphone: http://www.callapp.com/iphone
In this 21st century, CallApp is a must have application on your phone. I must say that I have tried many caller applications such as Drupe, TrueCaller, etc, but this is the best one I have come up with. It is safe! It is free! It is awesome! Try it now and I am positive that you will love the app. Till I meet you again, adios amigos! 😀
Happy Exploring! ~
Many of you may have wondered how you go to these spammy sites without your knowledge or concern. Many even get afraid of thinking that the mobile phone got a virus or a malware. But these are not viruses or malwares. Mobile browser redirects are something far more annoying than a viruses even though it may not do much harm. I have tried to avoid so many ways to get rid of these annoying redirects and I finally found my self a way to avoid them. This trick may too bug you for a while as you may have to manually add safe sites for exception list. Anyway I hope it will help to many people those who use mobile phone browser and Facebook everyday. If you have any suggestions and comments, please feel free to do so as I am a novice in this matter. 😀
Okay! Here is how I figured it out. As usual I searched in Google for solutions to avoid redirects. There were some articles saying to delete some folders and install some anti-virus guards. Believe me, I have 3 paid anti-virus guards installed on my mobile but none of them could overcome the problem. So there was this one site where it showed how to disable javascript on your browser. I applied it and checked and vola! It worked. 😀 Redirects stopped and no annoy at all. But there is a catch for this. Disabling javascripts will allow some web pages to misbehave. It will not show things as it should be. So if you want a particular web page to behave as usual you need to add that site address to the exception list.
Feels like more annoying? 😛 Anyway, give it a try. You may find it useful as it’s on your mobile and not in your PC or laptop. Here how it is done:
Android Mobile Phone:
Facebook: (This applies only after disabling javascripts on Chrome)
By doing so you can open facebook links without a fuzz. If you experience that some of your favorite sites that didn’t bother you doesn’t work properly you can always add the main site address to the exception list. For example you can add www.teckwire.lk for the exception list. You don’t need to add every single site addresses in it to operate accordingly. You can also add your main search address to this list too. I have put www.google.lk for my ease. I have currently applied this method to my android mobile phone. You can test it on your apple and windows phone and see whether it works. I tried to apply for a windows phone but I couldn’t find a way to disable Javascript. You can read more about advantages and disadvantages about javascripts from the link here : http://www.jscripters.com/javascript-advantages-and-disadvantages/. Hope you enjoyed my article. Please feel free to comment and share the experience.
International Data Corporation (IDC) recently stated that Samsung, Apple and Huawei are the top three mobile vendors for the year 2015. Samsung owns 21.4%, Apple 13.9% and Huawei 8.7% respectively. The important thing to note is that these three vendors build their own system on a chip (CPU) for their smartphones.
Few days back Huawei has conducted an event at Beijing, China for their newest processor launch for upcoming flagship smartphone Huawei Mate 8. This newest processor called Kirin 950 has eight cores with big.LITTLE setup, four high performance Cortex A72 cores running at 2.3GHz and four Cortex A53 energy efficient cores running at 1.8GHz, plus it has a small co-processor called i5 which is in always sensing mode. Kirin 950 has a Mali T880MP4 GPU, according to Huawei this GPU has twice the performance compared to previous generation Kirin 930’s GPU. This chips supports cat. 6 LTE.
Huawei thought about performance and energy efficiency more thoroughly. For that Huawei has built this chip using 16nm manufacturing process and they have conformed this new chip will be 40% more powerful and 60% less power hungry plus that i5 sensing processor will consume only 6.5mA compared to the previous generation which consumed 90mA of power. So if the device have 3500mAh of battery then you can have 10 hours of normal use with this processor.
Before I start this benchmarking performance category I would like to say Samsung’s Exynos 7520 (powers Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6) system on a chip was the world leader before Kirin 950 which gives jaw–dropping 4970 points in multi core and 1486 single core points in Geekgench and in Antutu. It reaches 65000 points. But this Huawei chip reaches 6096 multi core points and 1909 point single core points in Geekbench while in Antutu it reaches up to 83000 points.
Most of you know Apple has recently launched their flagship smartphone iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and It features the Apple’s latest smartphone chip inside called Apple A9. Normally Apple lets the other manufacturers to manufacture their SoC’s, for e.g. in 2013 Samsung manufactured Apple’s A7 for iPhone 5S and in 2014 TSMC manufactured Apple’s A8 chip for iPhone 6. However in 2015 Apple has decided to use both manufacturers to manufacture their latest A9 chip to minimize their dependency on one manufacturer. By this time Samsung has already started manufacturing 14nm chips for their own smartphones so they decided manufacture this Apple A9 under 14nm, on the other hand TSMC has made the Apple’s A9 chip under 16nm.
In general terms smaller the nm better the performance and more efficient right? Yes, so Samsung should perform better right? Yes, but unfortunately Samsung’s chip doesn’t perform as expected. Few days after the release of this iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, geeks and bloggers have started test these two variants and found out that Samsung Chip based phone has less battery life and heats more. After this incident Apple has officially stated that those two model have minor differences but it will effect only 2-3% of the battery life. However, results show big differences between these two models.
As you can see in this picture, ARS Technica website did some tests using (two iPhone 6S models) some benchmark tools. According to them if you use more CPU intensive apps TSMC version iPhone will give you 28% more battery life than the Samsung version. and at the same time Forbes writer Ewan Spence mentioned “Third party tests by AnTuTu, GeekBench, and MyDrivers showed that under high loads that demanded ultimate performance, the TSMC-powered iPhone was offering up to two hours more battery life than the similarly set up Samsung-powered iPhones.”
If you are planning to buy a new iPhone, and if this problem is a concern, then you can check the model by installing Lirum Device Info Lite – System Monitor. If it’s N71AP (6s) or N66AP (6s Plus), then your phone has the Samsung chip or if it’s N71MAP (6s) or N66MAP (6s Plus), then it’s a TSMC powered iPhone.
Hello there again! In this article I would like to give you some important information about mobile security as in why you need such and what is the best mobile security app or apps suits for you. After reading this article I hope you all get some extend knowledge about the mobile threats and how to prevent them. I hope you enjoy my article and be protected too. 😀
As you already know that most of the smartphone devices use significant level of internet for various tasks, it is most likely to get vulnerable for intruders, viruses, malware, phishing, and threats. Even you sending a text message from a social media applications such as facebook, whatsapp, viber, etc or even search from the browser from chrome, opera, etc you have a potential risk of getting a virus or being hacked. Many people, including myself, are using the smartphone to make payments via paypal or credit cards. These transactions could be compromised if not properly secured . Even if you aren’t using internet much but you transfer files through a personal computer may cause you potential harm for the mobile device by getting viruses and other malware infections. Additionally, even without any file transfer or any internet activity, your device can be vulnerable to human intruders for personal, credit card, or other important data stealing. As you can see, it is highly important that you have secured your device for such viruses, malware and intruders.
Bitdefender is one of the most advanced and most powerful cyber security applications in the world. It stands at the top level of both AV-TEST and VB100 security information portals. It is embedded with a powerful malware scanner, web security, anti-theft, privacy advisor, app lock and wear on for smartwatch security. These unique features however comes with a small price. You can activate for 14-day trial mode and if you are satisfied with the product, you can buy it for monthly or yearly subscriptions. I have tried to log into a malware site and it blocked my action and warned me about the site. However, I downloaded test virus samples, which is safe, from WWW.EICAR.ORG and it didn’t trigger as a virus. I hope it is because it known for test file but anyway I made a complain for the company about it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitdefender.security
Highly used, one of the most reputed and most popular device security companies in the world. This application gives you core protection for free of charge but however, to get all the essential protection such as web security, real-time protection, you need to buy the product after the 30-day trial. It has an additional feature of Alarm that can be triggered even in the silent mode but it lacks of app lock feature.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kms.free
Another giant in the device security market is the ESET. This is one of the best security solution provider for PCs and also doing a great job in the mobile industry. You can enjoy the application with 100% virus detection rate, automatically scan downloaded files and applications, on-demand scan to activate at any time, quarantine items, anti-theft, and tablet friendly interface for free of charge. Safe browsing and other premium features are available after you purchase the product.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eset.ems2.gp
One of the best FREE security solutions available for both PC and mobile devices. One disadvantage of free applications is that they provide loads of advertisements. But with Avast, you can enjoy an ad free environment too. Antivirus engine, privacy report and apps manager, SMS and call filter, web shield, network meter, and limited number of app locking features are included in the free version. Premium features for paid customers can enjoy unlimited number of app locking with other fruitful benefits.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avast.android.mobilesecurity
This application I found by accidently. However, CM security provides amazing security features for free in one application. AppLock & vault, anti-theft, app & system scanner, SD card scanner, on-install scan, scheduled scan, call blocking, and safe browsing are loaded with this application, absolutely free. AppLock has an interesting feature of capturing the photo of the person who types the wrong password or the pin from your front facing camera and could be arranged it to mail directly for your email address. Only disadvantage of this product is that they use heavy advertisements. Not much of interfering but sometimes it gets too annoyed and can be cost your data chargers too.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cleanmaster.security
There are other various mobile security and antivirus solutions available for paid and free versions. You can try them as well. Personally I use Bitdefender paid version with ESET free version combined. Main reason is to use like that is Bitdefender is a great internet security solution but lack of real-time active threat scanner like ESET. But ESET is lack of great web protection. But combining these two gives me an unique mobile protection for low cost. You can try combining two suitable security solutions too. Avast is another good combiner. If you are already using Kaspersky or any other internet security, try Avast or ESET free versions for better protection. But it is highly advised to be concerned of consequences that may cause for your device.
Other great Mobile Security applications are listed below:
AVG: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.antivirus
McAfee: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wsandroid.suite
TrendMicro: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trendmicro.tmmspersonal
Avira: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.avira.android
F-Secure: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsecure.ms.dc
BullGuard: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bullguard.mobile.mobilesecurity
That’s all for now about mobile security. Next time you get your hands on your mobile phone, think about potential threats and solutions you can take to avoid them too. 😀
Happy Exploring~~~ Adios Amigos!
Hello again! Here I am revealing ‘what to do first’ about the most anticipated phone in 2015, the flagship killer, the OnePlus 2. I thought of writing this article because after having this phone in my hand I had some really good experience as well as some minor bad, which is eventually you can solve after reading this article fully. I hope you enjoy reading this and of course playing with your new OnePlus 2. 🙂
OnePlus 2 comes with a beautiful little red box weigh around approximately 400g. The box is opened to upwards revealing your brand new OnePlus 2 before your eyes all wrapped up in sealed plastic semi-transparent covers which you can remove by pulling one of the pull tags they mentioned. Next you will find the user manual and agreement documents which I suppose most of the people not read, including myself. At the bottom you will find the power adaptor and the USB C type data cable.
Note #1: After removing the sealed semi-transparent cover, which reveals your OnePlus 2 phone, there is a sticker applied to the screen. Note that this is your free OnePlus 2 Screen Protector Film which includes to your package. Most of the people reported that they have removed it in the first place not knowing it’s the screen guard. So, heads up!
Note #2: First thing you might want is to plug your sim card or cards to your OnePlus 2. Note that the OnePlus 2 has 2 slots for nano size sim card slots. Which is smaller than the regular sim card and further smaller than the micro sim card. I got my micro sim card cut into a nano sim from Celltronics Kollupitiya from a good customer care guy for free. It must be my lucky day! 😉
Note #3: Next you will power up and apply all the settings for your will and finally, there will be an update of around 40MB. You will try to update this like a regular update but it won’t be successful as you expect. So now you need to manually download the whole update from the link below and flash it from the fastboot mode. No need to worry. It’s easy as a pie. 😀
Full guide video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NNh6hUVpMw
Full ROM update link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxo6D0fzgjKfQ3lJUG8xdUpkREU/view
Here are the steps:
Download the full ROM from the above link. There will be a 1.1GB zip file.
Copy it to the phone memory if you have downloaded separately.
Turn off the phone.
Press the volume down button + power button. This will go to the fastboot mode.
Select your language if asked.
Go to Install from SD
Search and select the zip file that you have copied.
It will install the ROM.
When it’s all done, restart.
Note #4: After applying this update note that you will still get the notification for the OTA update. Select and let it update. You will get the update fail notification again but don’t worry. Your update has been already applied. 😀
Thereafter you will receive OTA updates and it will install without a glitch. 🙂
There you go! Now you are having a hassle free OnePlus 2 handset. Let me know if there is anything you would like to know or some specific instructions regarding this matter. I will meet you once again from my next article about the OnePlus 2 UX (User Experience). Till then, happy exploring! ~ Adios amigos!
Many of you have heard about Cyanogen after arriving of OnePlus One to Sri Lankan market. Few of you might already familiar with custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, and many other. In this article you may learn more about CyanogenMod and related information to make best out of your smartphone. 🙂
CyanogenMod is an open source smartphone operating system based on Android. It will allows your smartphone’s hidden features to activate and bring the best outcome. Technically speaking, original android firmware might not allow your smartphone to USB or Bluetooth tethering, Wi-Fi hotspot, or many other features that your smartphone already could do. It also can increase your phone’s performance and reliability compared to the original firmware. The hardware components can might have that ability but the software does not. Therefore, CyanogenMod will activate those features and unleash the beast out of your smartphone.
You may be having an old phone or you may be having a great phone. For both, Cyanogen works fine to get what you ever want from your smartphone. I personally got involved with CyanogenMod because I didn’t have money to buy a new phone at that time and my phone (Sony Ericsson Walkman – W8) didn’t get the Android 4.0 ICS update. Therefore I had to install CyanogenMod ROM to get the best out of my smartphone. It significantly increased my phone’s performance and features that I can access. Plus, it gave a new look for the phone.
Even like new smartphones like OnePlus, Samsung, LG and Nexus can get most out of it by installing CyanogenMod ROMs. When I was using my OnePlus One with Oxygen OS, I had a problem with changing the notification light color for certain applications. It wasn’t a problem when I had Cyanogen OS. Mainly you get bored looking at the same interface or wallpaper every day. Cyanogen allows you to apply various themes and even change the interface and gives a brand new look to your smartphone.
Now here is the catch! You won’t be able to get CyanogenMod installed to your smartphone and unleash the beast that easily if you haven’t got the brains to yourself. Well, at least you could read, research, understand, and follow the instructions to the letter. And you need to understand that if you are using a new phone with a warranty, it can void warranty. Of course unless or otherwise you are using an awesome smartphone like OnePlus. 😀 (I don’t know about Sri Lankan warranty so you should better check with the buying agreement before you advance forward)
CyanogenMod site prefers 5 easy steps to install for certain smartphones. You can check whether your smartphone is eligible of installing CyanogenMod with these 5 steps by following the link here : https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer
If so you can advance forward.
Follow the link and follow the 5 easy steps : http://beta.download.cyanogenmod.org/install
What If My Phone Is Not On The List?
Don’t worry! Most smartphone’s will not be on that list. Therefore you need to do some research to find a site where you can get instructions to root your phone. After that you can flash CyanogenMod ROMs and enjoy the benefits.
Here is one link : http://www.xda–developers.com/
Type your device name and search it. There will be tabs where you can get information such as Forums, Root info, ROMs, Kernels, and Tools and Utilities. These tabs will be differ to phone to phone so don’t be alarmed.
In Root Info tab, you can learn how to root your device and grant access for flashing custom ROMs. Please be advised to take extreme precautions before you advance and follow the instructions to the letter. I or they will be not responsible for bricking your phone. Do at your own risk! 😀 (If you got brains nothing would go wrong… 😀 )
After rooting your phone, (I assume that you will also have installed a custom recovery mode such as TWRP or CWM while rooting) you can go to the link below and search for the latest CyanogenMod ROM according to your smartphone.
All CyanogenMod ROMs for all devices : http://download.cyanogenmod.org/
You can download either a stable ROM or a nightly ROM. Stable ones are less features but more stable ROMs. Nightly ones are with more features with some minor glitches. I have installed nightly versions for my OnePlus One and I can assure that they are as good as the stable ones but with more stuffs included.
Then you may need GAPPs (Google APPs) for some versions of CyanogenMod ROMs. Note that Cyanogen can run without GAPPs but you may not be able to go to Playstore and download APPs. Therefore I recommend you to download GAPPs too and install.
Here is the link for GAPPs : http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps
Installation can be vary from device to device. You can search on Google, “how to install CyanogenMod for (device name) or how to flash CyanogenMod for (device name)”. It won’t be that hard after having a rooted device with a custom recovery. Specific instructions will be given by the site where you have got instructions to root your phone and flashed a custom recovery. There you can learn how to flash or install a custom ROM with the TWRP or CWM.
Please note that I haven’t give you specific instructions or methods to root and flash custom ROMs. Each phone has it’s unique way of rooting so I will not be able to instruct you each and every one of them. Do some research and find an easy way to do it. I did like that. Nobody gave me or teach me how to do these. I did them myself with the help of the internet and my brain. 😀 If I can, you guys can too. May be you guys have friends those who already know about stuff like these. Get help from them too.
If you have an old phone try to flash that first before going to an expensive phone. You may brick your phone if something goes wrong. So, be knowledgeable before you step into the Cyanogen world. 😀 I hope you unleash your beast without a hustle.
Adios Amigos!
Introduction
Many of you have heard about Cyanogen after arriving of OnePlus One to Sri Lankan market. Few of you might already familiar with custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, and many other. In this article you may learn more about CyanogenMod and related information to make best out of your smartphone. 🙂
What is CyanogenMod?
CyanogenMod is an open source smartphone operating system based on Android. It will allows your smartphone’s hidden features to activate and bring the best outcome. Technically speaking, original android firmware might not allow your smartphone to USB or Bluetooth tethering, Wi-Fi hotspot, or many other features that your smartphone already could do. It also can increase your phone’s performance and reliability compared to the original firmware. The hardware components can might have that ability but the software does not. Therefore, CyanogenMod will activate those features and unleash the beast out of your smartphone.
Why Do I want It?
You may be having an old phone or you may be having a great phone. For both, Cyanogen works fine to get what you ever want from your smartphone. I personally got involved with CyanogenMod because I didn’t have money to buy a new phone at that time and my phone (Sony Ericsson Walkman – W8) didn’t get the Android 4.0 ICS update. Therefore I had to install CyanogenMod ROM to get the best out of my smartphone. It significantly increased my phone’s performance and features that I can access. Plus, it gave a new look for the phone.
Even like new smartphones like OnePlus, Samsung, LG and Nexus can get most out of it by installing CyanogenMod ROMs. When I was using my OnePlus One with Oxygen OS, I had a problem with changing the notification light color for certain applications. It wasn’t a problem when I had Cyanogen OS. Mainly you get bored looking at the same interface or wallpaper every day. Cyanogen allows you to apply various themes and even change the interface and gives a brand new look to your smartphone.
How Can I Get It?
Now here is the catch! You won’t be able to get CyanogenMod installed to your smartphone and unleash the beast that easily if you haven’t got the brains to yourself. Well, at least you could read, research, understand, and follow the instructions to the letter. And you need to understand that if you are using a new phone with a warranty, it can void warranty. Of course unless or otherwise you are using an awesome smartphone like OnePlus. 😀 (I don’t know about Sri Lankan warranty so you should better check with the buying agreement before you advance forward)
CyanogenMod site prefers 5 easy steps to install for certain smartphones. You can check whether your smartphone is eligible of installing CyanogenMod with these 5 steps by following the link here : https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer
If so you can advance forward.
Follow the link and follow the 5 easy steps : http://beta.download.cyanogenmod.org/install
What If My Phone Is Not On The List?
Don’t worry! Most smartphone’s will not be on that list. Therefore you need to do some research to find a site where you can get instructions to root your phone. After that you can flash CyanogenMod ROMs and enjoy the benefits.
Here is one link : http://www.xda–developers.com/
Type your device name and search it. There will be tabs where you can get information such as Forums, Root info, ROMs, Kernels, and Tools and Utilities. These tabs will be differ to phone to phone so don’t be alarmed.
In Root Info tab, you can learn how to root your device and grant access for flashing custom ROMs. Please be advised to take extreme precautions before you advance and follow the instructions to the letter. I or they will be not responsible for bricking your phone. Do at your own risk! 😀 (If you got brains nothing would go wrong… 😀 )
After rooting your phone, (I assume that you will also have installed a custom recovery mode such as TWRP or CWM while rooting) you can go to the link below and search for the latest CyanogenMod ROM according to your smartphone.
All CyanogenMod ROMs for all devices : http://download.cyanogenmod.org/
You can download either a stable ROM or a nightly ROM. Stable ones are less features but more stable ROMs. Nightly ones are with more features with some minor glitches. I have installed nightly versions for my OnePlus One and I can assure that they are as good as the stable ones but with more stuffs included.
Then you may need GAPPs (Google APPs) for some versions of CyanogenMod ROMs. Note that Cyanogen can run without GAPPs but you may not be able to go to Playstore and download APPs. Therefore I recommend you to download GAPPs too and install.
Here is the link for GAPPs : http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Google_Apps
How Can I Install?
Installation can be vary from device to device. You can search on Google, “how to install CyanogenMod for (device name) or how to flash CyanogenMod for (device name)”. It won’t be that hard after having a rooted device with a custom recovery. Specific instructions will be given by the site where you have got instructions to root your phone and flashed a custom recovery. There you can learn how to flash or install a custom ROM with the TWRP or CWM.
Important Notes!
Please note that I haven’t give you specific instructions or methods to root and flash custom ROMs. Each phone has it’s unique way of rooting so I will not be able to instruct you each and every one of them. Do some research and find an easy way to do it. I did like that. Nobody gave me or teach me how to do these. I did them myself with the help of the internet and my brain. 😀 If I can, you guys can too. May be you guys have friends those who already know about stuff like these. Get help from them too.
If you have an old phone try to flash that first before going to an expensive phone. You may brick your phone if something goes wrong. So, be knowledgeable before you step into the Cyanogen world. 😀 I hope you unleash your beast without a hustle.
Adios Amigos!
