Convert Launcher Themes

Most Android launchers are extremely customizable, and many users like to experiment with different launcher themes and icon packs to get the perfect look. Some launchers also allow you to pick icons on a per activity basis, which comes in handy when trying to give each page its own style, or if you just want to style the home screen without changing the app drawer’s icons.

While most launchers agree on a basic set of rules for themes and icon packs, originally made popular by ADW Launcher, some aren’t fully compatible with these standards or require themers to use their own methods for certain features (e.g. GO Launcher and icon masks). Similarly, some themes and icon packs are exclusive to certain launchers and won’t fully work on others.

Fortunately, if you’d like an easy way to convert themes and icon packs across launchers (as a user, not a themer), XDA Retired Recognized Developer redphx has got you covered. His application, Theme Converter, will allow you to quickly convert launcher themes with zero fuss: you pick the theme you want, press a button and get a new, converted APK that should be compatible with your favorite launchers. As a bonus, the resulting theme will also get rid of any unnecessary permissions.

Theme Converter currently accepts themes and icon packs from 6 launchers (which is more than it sounds, considering most themes will support at least one of those):

• ADW Launcher
• Apex Launcher
• dodol Launcher
• GO Launcher
• Nova Launcher
• Solo Launcher

As for the resulting APK, it will be supported by more than ten launchers (the same note as above applies here: most launchers support the ADW standard): in addition to the ones listed above, Action, Aviate, Holo, NEXT and Smart launchers should all accept the converted theme (icon masks, too!).

Sounds good? Then make sure to visit the Theme Converter forum thread now, start converting your favorite launcher themes and icon packs, and work on perfecting your home screen!

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Samsung Galaxy A7

The Galaxy A7 is making yet another appearance online after popping up on Samsung’s website recently. This time, the device has been listed on theGFXBench benchmark database, which is giving us more details on its hardware. According to the benchmark, the Galaxy A7, or the SM-A700, has a 5.2-inch display – the phone was earlier listed as having a 5.5-inch screen on the Indian import tracking site Zauba, so it remains to be seen which of the two screen sizes Samsung will finally settle on. GFXBench lists the display resolution as 1920×1080, which is yet another hint that the A7 could feature a Full HD display in every market it gets launched in and not just in China.

The benchmark has revealed another juicy titbit. The processor on the Galaxy A7 is an octa-core unit with the Adreno 405 GPU according to GFXBench, which means that the phone would be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 615 chipet. That’s more high-end than the Snapdragon 410 that is expected to power both the Galaxy A3 and A5, and should give Samsung a good differentiating factor for the highest-end member of the company’s upcoming trio of Galaxy A devices, especially since it’s yet to be used in any smartphone on the market.

Other specs of the Galaxy A7 include a 12-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and Android 4.4.4 KitKat. As usual, these are subject to change until things get official, but going by the leaks over the past few weeks, the Galaxy A7 and the other two A series phones are shaping up to be very interesting devices. Expect an official announcement of the A7 sometime in November, and a price tag that sits somewhere between $450-$500.

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Android 5.0 Lollipop updates Galaxy S5

Android 5.0 Lollipop is coming to the Galaxy S5, and we’ve already given our readers an exclusive look at an early version running on the device. We had already said that the Galaxy S5 would be receiving the Lollipop update sometime in late November or early December, and now we have new info from our sources that says the Android 5.0 update will go live for the Galaxy S5 in December. We weren’t given a time frame though, and you should also keep in mind that it could be a month or so from the start of the initial rollout before the device gets the update in all regions.

For those unaware, Android 5.0 Lollipop is the biggest update to the OS since Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It brings a new design philosophy Google has dubbed Material Design, and as we saw in the early Android 5.0 build, Samsung is making changes to TouchWiz to match Google’s new design UX. Android 5.0 also brings a ton of new features, such as lockscreen notifications, multi-user support for phones, support for 64-bit processor, file sharing through Android Beam (a feature that has been present on Samsung devices for quite some time), and lots more. It will also offer increased performance with a switch to the new ART runtime, and better battery life through an overhaul of how Android handles background tasks.

If you haven’t already, check out Android 5.0 on the Galaxy S5 in the video below.

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Merge Your Battery android 5.0

The status and navigation bars are probably the most commonly used areas of your device (that is, assuming you have a navigation bar), and they’re definitely two of the more heavily customizable parts using Xposed modules. Android 5.0 Lollipop will also bring refreshed navigation and status bars, with new, streamlined shapes for the icons.

A new Xposed module by XDA Recognized Developer MohammadAG aims to make your navigation bar even more useful, while also cleaning your status bar some more. Battery Home Icon replaces the normal home button in your navigation bar with a Lollipop-styled version, which also shows you the current battery level. The result is a battery indicator that looks like the well known circle battery indicator that many of you have seen in custom ROMs (there are also several Xposed modules that allow you to change the style of your battery indicator if your ROM doesn’t support this feature, such as XBatteryThemer). In true L spirit, Battery Home Indicator also comes with pretty animations for your pleasure.

The module is fully customizable, and allows you to toggle the charging animation or the battery percentage text, or change the padding of the icon or the circle’s thickness. You also have the option to hide the battery icon from your status bar, in order to avoid duplicity.

The module is currently compatible with most AOSP based and manufacturer ROMs (with a few exceptions, such as LG ROMs; patches welcome!). If this idea sounds interesting, simply visit the Battery Home Icon forum thread to install the module and try it out!

new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 TV

Samsung has been busy in promoting its current flagship smartphone, theGalaxy Note 4, through multiple video commercials. Now, Samsung has released two new videos where it promotes the Galaxy Note 4′s S Pen and camera related features. The first video focusses on the advantages of having an S Pen, proclaiming it as the ‘Magic Wand’. Its numerous features are shown in the video such as, turning handwritten notes into text, cropping and editing images, and using two apps at once with the multi-window mode.

The second video commercial focusses on the 16-megapixel camera related features, such as, the optical image stabilisation for blur-free shots, digital zoom, and the wide-angle 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera for capturing large number of people into a single selfie. A couple of days ago, Samsung had managed to rope inreal artists to promote the S Pen related features of the Galaxy Note 4.

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