Android 11 has arrived on the Raspberry Pi

OmniROM was a very famous custom ROM in the past and it may surprise you to know that it is still under development. This project is once again in the headlines for a new port by Max Weninger which brings the software to Raspberry Pi 4.

Though Raspberry Pi uses the same ARM architecture as most Android devices, porting of Android to Pi has always been a very tricky thing to do. This is mainly due to the missing drivers. Various attempts have been made to bring Android to different Pi models over the years but the new OmniROM port appears to be one of the most impressive builds yet. It has been based on Android 11 and has been designed for Raspberry Pi 4. if you are using older models you will have to stick with other operating systems.

The ROM runs Android in the tablet mode not like an Android TV device. That is a better fit for Pi which is used as productivity and learning PC. Weninger noted a forum reply which says, I really don’t think a raspi is a well equipped device to be used for ATV when you [can get an] ATV USB stick from e.g. Xiaomi for about 40E that simply works without issues and has official Google support.”

the forum thread says that hardware-accelerated video playback is not present and Mesa support for 3D graphics is a work in progress. Android typically does not work well when the booting from slow storage like SD cards but the ROM supports running from either USB or SD.

Samsung SmartThings Find locates your lost devices by using other people’s phones

Tracking of any lost phone is not a difficult task as they are always connected to a network but it is not for most of other devices. Apple first experimented by using Bluetooth and ultra-wideband wireless signals for reaching the location the lost devices without WiFi or the cellular connection and now Samsung is coming up with the same technology with its own products.

Samsung has announced the launch of SmartThings Find, a new service that allows you to quickly and easily locate Galaxy devices. After 6 million users across Korea, U.S and UK signed up for early access to the service, SmartThings Find is all set for global launch on the devices running Android 8 or later. SmartThings Find also works with Galaxy Watches which are running on Tizen 5.5 or later, Galaxy Buds+ and Galaxy Buds Live.

This service uses ultra-wideband wireless and Bluetooth Low Energy to determine the location of the devices. Bluetooth Low Energy id pretty much common on smartphones now a days. The ultra wideband functionality is just available on Galaxy Note20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold2 right now. Once the registration process is completed you can use SmartThings app for selecting the device you need to locate which should display a map.

This functionality can use the crowdsourced data from various other Samsung devices. Samsung has said that SmartThings users can use the Galaxy smartphone or tablet securely to help people locate the lost devices. If someone report his/her device as lost via SmartThings Find, any nearby Galaxy smartphone or tablet that has opted in helping find misplaced devices can alert Samsung server about it’s location which will notify you. All the SmartThings Find user data is encrypted as well as securely protected ensuring the location of the device.

Sony is paying almost one billion dollars to get some anime

When it comes to smartphones Sony is not the first name that comes to mind as they are not great at selling the smartphones. But they are very good at acquiring anime streaming companies. They bought Funimation three years ago and now it looks like another deal might be closing soon that will bring Crunchyroll into Sony stable at almost one billion dollars.

Sony is ready to put up an amount valued at more than $950 for Crunchyroll which may seen like loads of money. Anime is terrible but at the same time they are great as well. Crunchyroll is the biggest name in anime streaming outside Japan with more than 70 million members all around the globe. Sony has already produced some awesome titles like The Promised Neverland and March Comes in Like A Lion through its Aniplex studio.

Now the competition between the streaming companies is boiling up and not all of them can take the pressure. Streaming services require to attract the young ones and they are totally obsessed with anime. With the acquisition of Crunchyroll, Sony will gain access to more than 1,000 new titles that it could use to let you gain increased space in market that is expected to reach more than 35 billion dollars by 2025.

Google Messages conversation categories are about to roll out

Google Messages is the default messaging app of many Android app and it is an important tool for staying in touch with your friends and family members. This app is continuously working on expanding the RCS support and experimenting with some new features. Now the users will be able to find the specific messages quicker than ever thanks to the categories that sort the messages into some specific channels.

We have got the information from series of images which were posted on Twitter of the categories in action. With the screenshots you can predict that Google is working on improving the search experience with the messages sorted based on content. At the moment it looks like the sections available include transactions, OTP, personal and catch all category called more. You can control the message sorting by a toggle in the app settings so that you can instantly disable it if you select. Google is not god at sticking with the single communication app for long term but the company has introduced some impressive messaging features along the way.

This feature has started rolling out for SMS messages and the bar is now displayed just above the message list thus showing various categories available. Apart from filtering your text you can also change the one it has been assigned to and share the message with Google to enhance its categorization.

Telegram 7.2 adds new features and treats for Halloween

Telegram released a major update in the previous month and they added the channel replies, search filters and many more things. Halloween is just round the corner and Telegram is up for it. The the v7.2 this famous messaging app is getting improved which some more features like location sharing, pinned messagesm animated emojis and many more.

You are allowed to pinned multiple messages simply by tapping on the top bar jumping between them. There is also a new button for viewing them at once. Pinned messages are available in one-on-one chats now and they are limited to channels and groups.

In v7.2 location sharing has also been included. Now friends can share their location plus now you can set an alert when they are approaching nearby so you don’t need to glue your eyes to the phone. The icons on the live location map now shows which direction you are facing which will help you in spotting the distance.

There are many more features included in this version like when you send multiple sings at once they will automatically be grouped in a playlist thus making is simple and easier to listen to, forward and comment on. Opening all of them queues them all up by using the built-in media player. When the multiple files are sent at once they will be seen in single chat bubble. For the admins of the channels there are some new stats on the individual posts which includes a list of which public channels posts have been forwarded to. The animations were improved greatly in the last update and they are on the same track in this version as well. Sending the messages as well as switching the songs in the music player will look a lot better now all because of the smooth animations. You can also make memes easily as you will be allowed to edit and resend the photo quickly. Telegram has also come up with new animated emoji which are perfect for the Halloween like empty coffin and crawling spiders etc.

You can now hide liked YouTube videos in YouTube Music

YouTube Music and YouTube are interlinked for many people’s choices and it looks like Google is taking some serious steps to decouple the services. YouTube Music app has become an option that allows you to hide the liked music video from YouTube. This feature is not applied tot he liked sings in the video streaming service. Recommendations as well as watch history sometimes shifts from one platform to another.

When you will go to music.youtube.com or the YouTube Music app on your phone and then open the settings from account menu in the top right corner of the interface. You will be greeted by a new option ‘Show your like music from YouTube’. The toggle is turned on by default so that if you dont need your liked YouTube music videos to show up in YTM, you have to switch off manually. Once it is done you will notice that videos you liked on YouTube no longer appear in YouTube Music. It is great for some videos that YouTube erroneously recognizes as music.

There are no corresponding setting in YouTube by itself so the liked YouTube Music songs still appear on the video platform. Though the song recommendations are still popping up from YouTube Music to YouTube homepage. Sometimes the music history will appear in YouTube, especially when you ask Google Assistant to start a playlist on your TV or use YouTube Music Android TV app. These are the two issues the developers should tackle to separate the two services.

Google One comes with its own VPN in selected plans

Now a days online privacy is utmost importance. Most of the people turn to VPN to help protect their data from prying eyes. Firefox and Opera has got one each and now Google is also offering a free VPN to the members of it’s Google One subscription plans.

The brand new VPN by Google One has been added on plans with 2TB or more storage and it is right into the google One app that was released in the year 2018. it encrypts all of your device’s traffic so that the outside sources can not decipher what you are upto online. If you share you plan with your family members they will also get access to VPN as well if they are using Android devices.

Google One app also offers a free phone backups which means Google is making it irresistible to its users. This VPN is very easy and useful especially because it is very easy to enable. Google has got a free VPN service that will come in action when you connect to a public WiFi networks if the WiFi Assistant feature is enabled on your Android device but the VPN included in Google One app is pretty much visible. This new VPN will be available in US in next few weeks through Google One app on Android and it will expand in other countries gradually. It will also be expanded to other platforms like Windows, iOS and Mac later. You can make your own VPN in less than half an hour if you are not playing for premium Google One plan.

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