Google Play Store now lets Europeans see content from other EEA countries

Google restricts the availability of apps and other Google Play content by location. To bypass these geo-restrictions on Google Play Store content, users have tried different methods like VPN services, locations spoofers, market enablers, or even modified versions of the Google Play Store. But these efforts have usually yielded only limited success since these restrictions are controlled on the server-side. For the first time, however, Google is officially allowing users to browse apps, books, or movies from outside their countries. The change comes in Europe, where users can now view Google Play content from the entire EEA region.

As per the support page added by Google, users in the EU/EEA countries can browse the Google Play content from other countries in the EEA region. However, it clearly states that they will be not be allowed to download apps, games, or content that is not available in their country.

To browse another country’s content, users must open the Play Store on their phone browsers, log out of their Google Profiles, and scroll down to the bottom of the page where they can find the location selector.

The location selector is interactive only if you are in any of the countries part of the EU/EEA (including the U.K. until the Transition Period ends). If you’re from any other region, you can still browse the store for other countries by editing the “gl” query parameter in the URL. For instance, change the URL from play.google.com/store?gl=US to play.google.com/store?gl=IT if you are in the U.S. and want to browse Google Play Store content from Italy. You can even change the location to any country by using its two-letter, aka Alpha-2 code in the URL.

Without an official announcement, it is difficult to ascertain what compels Google to take this decision. It could be a way for Google to appease users in the European Union. The tech giant has long been under a strict scanner of the E.U. and even fined heavily for several antitrust violations, including the $5 billion fine for compelling smartphone OEMs to preinstall Google Search Chrome browser on Android devices. Google is currently under scrutiny by the E.U. for its acquisition of Fitbit. Still, it may be able to avoid an investigation by pledging not to use Fitbit’s health data for ads, a recent report suggests.

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Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the tip and the screenshots!

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Fix the Razer Phone 2’s camera viewfinder and EIS with this Magisk Module

The Razer Phone 2 (review) offers some solid specifications, even by today’s standards. The phone sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset clocked at 2.8GHz, a decent 4,000mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0+ as well as wireless Qi charging support, and a surreal 120Hz IGZO LCD 1440p display. However, the OEM is having a hard time keeping the Razer Phone 2 up-to-date and fix long-standing bugs, probably because their smartphone business is in a bit of turmoil right now.

Razer Phone 2 XDA Forums

Talking about bugs, the Android Pie update for the phone reportedly introduced noticeable color smudging and blurriness in the viewfinder of the stock camera. Apparently the issue also affects third-party apps like Instagram while recording videos and taking pictures. To rub salt on the wound, the Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) feature of the camera is only exposed to a limited number of apps, which is further capped at 30fps.

As expected, the XDA community comes to the rescue. XDA Junior Member Usyless has compiled a Magisk Module that systemlessly replaces a camera library on the stock OS with an older build from the Razer Phone 2’s Android Oreo firmware in order to fix the aforementioned viewfinder glitches. Below you can see two instances of video recording using Snapchat – the first one with the unmodified OS and the latter one after applying the Magisk module.

The modder also offers a supplementary Magisk Module that unlocks EIS on 1080p 60fps video recording. Unlike the first mod, the secondary module isn’t compatible with the stock camera app. You must install an appropriate Google Camera port with 60fps support to utilize the true potential of EIS. Note that the EIS mod breaks 4K 60fps recording with the rear camera and 1080p 60fps recording with the front camera.

Razer Phone 2 Viewfinder and EIS Fix Magisk Modules — XDA Download and Discussion Thread

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Download: OnePlus adds three new hidden Fnatic Mode wallpapers

OnePlus has recently rolled out a new set of OxygenOS Open Beta updates for the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7T family of phones. Tagged as Open Beta 15/6, these builds finally enable the “Moments” section in OxygenOS Game Space that we discovered a while ago, while they also bring in July 2020 Android security patches. Upon looking further, it seems that the company has shipped a new version of the Wallpaper Resources app as well, although the OTA changelog doesn’t mention anything about it. What is even more interesting is that there are 3 new wallpapers inside the APK that are related to Fnatic Mode.

XDA Forums: OnePlus 7 || OnePlus 7 Pro || OnePlus 7T || OnePlus 7T Pro

XDA Senior Member and frequent OnePlus tipster Some_Random_Username has found those wallpapers after examining the assets of the updated Wallpaper Resources app. All three wallpapers carry the symbol of Fnatic Mode, which is the branding lent to the built-in gaming mode of the company’s custom Android skin. The images shown below have been resized and compressed for lighter file size.

If you want to set them as the wallpaper on your phone, we recommend downloading the ZIP package from the link below. The ZIP file contains the 3 untouched images in full 1080×2400 resolution.

Download New Fnatic Mode Wallpapers (ZIP)

OnePlus is a frequent collaborator with Fnatic, a professional eSports organization headquartered in London. A well-known easter egg in OxygenOS actually unlocks 3 similar special Fnatic-branded wallpapers on OnePlus phones. It could be possible that the new Open Beta update simply increases the number of secret wallpapers inside the easter egg, or this is a teaser of something big. Nonetheless, here’s how you can unlock the Fnatic Mode easter egg on pretty much any recent OnePlus device:

• Navigate to Settings > Utilities > Gaming Mode > Fnatic Mode.
• Tap on the Fnatic logo five times.
• A text box would appear underneath the logo.
• Enter alwaysfnatic in the text field and hit Enter.

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OPPO R15 is getting the ColorOS 7 stable update with Android 10

A bunch of OPPO smartphones received the stable Android 10 update with the ColorOS 7 skin in the last few weeks. The Chinese OEM recently published an extended update rollout plan for the month of July. According to the roadmap, the OPPO R15 should receive the ColorOS 7 update starting from July 10th, while its “Pro” variant is scheduled to get the same treatment from July 28th. Two more devices, the OPPO F15 and the OPPO A91, will also get their Android 10 updates in this month.

The first day of July comes with the update plan of #ColorOS7 + #Android10 Official Version for this month. Check out when your models will start receiving the update and the corresponding version numbers.

Know More: https://t.co/BsbUWVr7eq pic.twitter.com/Vpihof78QG

— ColorOS (@colorosglobal) July 1, 2020

Making good on its promise, the company is now rolling out the much-awaited update to the OPPO R15. The MediaTek Helio P60-powered phone debuted with Android 8.1 Oreo, which means Android 10 is the second (and probably last) major OS update for this device. OPPO initiated the transition to ColorOS 7 with a short public beta testing phase that took place in June. Those who participated in the beta as well as regular users are now eligible to get the stable build, which is tagged as CPH1819EX_11.F.12 and currently rolling out in Australia.

Check out the full changelog of this update:

ColorOS 7 (Android 10) update changelog for the OPPO R15

• Visuals
  • Brand new borderless design makes visuals more attractive and operation more efficient.
  • Added OPPO Sans as the default font. The new font delivers a refreshing feel and fits well with OPPO’s pursuit of blending beauty and technology.
• Smart Sidebar
  • Optimised user interfaces and improved one-handed operation.
  • Drag an app out of Smart Sidebar to open it in Split-screen mode.
  • Added two settings: Assistive Ball Opacity and Hide Assistive Ball on Fullscreen App.
  • Optimised the Floating Window feature for more apps.
  • Added a bubble: A bubble is displayed when you open an app in a floating window from the Smart Sidebar. Tap the bubble to collapse and open the app.
• Screenshot
  • Optimised 3-Finger Screenshot: Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen and swipe your fingers to adjust the screenshot size. Use 3 fingers to touch and hold the screen and swipe your fingers outwards to capture a long screenshot.
  • Added screenshot settings: You can adjust the position of the screenshot preview floating window and set the screenshot sound.
  • Optimised screenshot preview floating window: After taking a screenshot, drag it up and release to share it, or drag it down and release to take a long screenshot.
• Navigation Gestures 3.0
  • New gesture: Swipe inward from both sides of the screen and then hold to switch to the previous app.
  • Optimised gestures: All gestures are supported in landscape mode.
• System
  • Added Dark Mode: Protects your eyes while reducing power consumption.
  • Added Focus Mode: Shields you from outside distractions when you are learning or working.
  • Added all new charging animation.
  • Optimised the Quick Settings user interface for easier one-handed operation.
  • Swipe left or right to ignore banner notifications.
  • Added a pause function for screen recording.
  • Added a floating window and settings for screen recording.
  • New sounds added for file deletion, calculator key touches, and compass pointer.
  • Optimised system pre-loaded ringtones.
  • Added TalkBack floating prompts for Accessibility.
  • Colour Accessibility Mode added to improve the user experience for visually impaired users.
  • New management function for recent tasks: You can view memory information about recent tasks and lock apps.
• Games
  • Optimised visual interaction for Game Space.
  • Optimised the startup animation for Game Space.
• Home Screen
  • More live wallpapers.
  • Added Art+ static wallpapers.
  • Customise whether to open Global Search or the notification drawer when swiping down on the Home screen.
  • Customise the size, shape, and style of app icons on the Home screen.
  • Swipe up on the Lock screen to switch unlock methods.
  • Optimised the graphic design of password unlocks to facilitate one-handed operations.
  • Supported live wallpapers on the Lock screen.
  • More screen-off clock styles.
  • Added a simple Home screen mode, featuring larger fonts and icons and a clearer layout.
• Security
  • Connect your phone to Wi-Fi networks using a random MAC address to avoid targeted ads and protect your privacy.
• Tools
  • In Quick Settings or Smart Sidebar, you can open Calculator in a floating
  • Added the trim feature in Recordings.
  • Added the Weather (dynamic) ringtone, which automatically adapts to the current weather.
  • Added weather-adaptive animations in Weather.
• Camera
  • Optimised the Camera UI for better user experience.
  • Optimised the Timer UI and sound.
• Photos
  • Optimised the Album UI for a clear hierarchy and quick lookup of photos.
  • Added Album Recommendations that recognises more than 80 different scenes.
• Communications
  • OPPO Share now supports sharing files with vivo and Xiaomi devices.
  • Optimised the Contacts UI for a more efficient experience.
• Settings
  • Search Settings now supports fuzzy match and contains a search history.
• Applications
  • Soloop Video Editor: Create your video with one tap.
  • Added DocVault, an app for easy management and use of your digital ID cards (available only on phones sold in India).

Users running the latest stable channel ColorOS 6 firmware (CPH1819EX_11.C.13/C.14) for the OPPO R15 should expect an over-the-air update prompt to arrive on their phones soon. OPPO says the update will be rolling out in batches. If no critical issue pops up during the first phase, they will scale up the rollout over the coming days.

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Source: ColorOS Community

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Descendant X custom ROM for the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Mi 9 adds “Guardia,” a background permission monitor

The open, no-walled-garden design of Android gives users the freedom of customization. Thanks to the vibrant aftermarket development community, Android users can enjoy plenty of features that are otherwise not implemented by Google or OEMs. Take the example of Android’s new advanced permission management control system called Permissions Hub— something that was present in early leaked Android Q builds but Google didn’t ship in public releases. The relevant code snippets do still exist in AOSP, which have later been forked by the LineageOS team, and now it is accessible to regular users via LineageOS 17.1. XDA Senior Member Dil3mm4 has now taken another shot at enhancing the permission mechanism in their own way. Dubbed “Guardia”, the new background permission monitor is part of the latest build of their custom ROM, Descendant X.

For those not familiar with Descendant X, it is an Android 10-based Generic System Image (GSI) maintained by Dil3mm4 that has its roots in the AOSP GSI by XDA Recognized Developer phhusson. Descendant X is also available in the form of device-specific ZIPs similar to any other custom ROM. The developer has yet to update the GSI builds with Guardia, but you can access the permission monitor feature right now by flashing the newest Descendant X package for the Xiaomi Mi 9 and the Mi A1.

Descendant X Download and Discussion Thread: Mi 9 ||| Mi A1

Mi 9 XDA Forums || Mi A1 XDA Forums

Users can find Guardia under Settings > Privacy. After turning on the function, Guardia will start running in the background and notify you of apps requesting permissions. You can customize the alert types for different scenarios (e.g. location access and camera), and even place Google apps and/or system apps into an allowlist so that you are not getting hammered by hundreds of such informative but annoying alerts.

Given that Google is going to introduce a plethora of OS-wide permission related changes in the upcoming release of Android 11, we hope the developer will further improve Guardia by integrating the component on top of those revisions.

Apart from the background permission monitor, the newest build of Descendant X (version 10r40) also brings in July 2020 security patches, a handful of ClockFlow themes, and the fan-favorite notification ticker. Here is a video showcasing all the changes in this release:

Descendant X: Download ||| XDA Discussion Thread (GSI)

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Lenovo may be working on an Android tablet that doubles as a secondary monitor

The tablet market is propped up by Apple and its iPad, with only Samsung and Huawei really trying to compete with their own Android-based tablets. Another tech brand still pumping out new Android tablets is Lenovo, though they’ve mostly pivoted away from general-purpose tablets toward more lifestyle-focused devices like the Lenovo Smart Tab and Yoga Smart Tab. Lenovo used to make really interesting Android tablets like the Yoga Book with its E Ink keyboard. Now, leaked documents obtained by Android developer Till Kottmann (@deletescape) reveal that Lenovo is working on another Android tablet with an interesting concept. Possibly called the Lenovo Yoga X, this upcoming Android tablet may double as a secondary monitor for your various devices.

Developer Till Kottmann discovered a few internal documents that outline the “second screen UX wireframe” for the Lenovo Yoga X device. The document that they found contained a few mockups of what the tablet could look like, as shown in the featured image above shared by Evan Blass (@evleaks) on his Patreon page. Till Kottmann also shared the document with us, revealing what the purpose behind this tablet may be. One of the slides mentions how the tablet can be used as a secondary screen for other devices such as laptops, smartphones, or a Nintendo Switch. This is accomplished by connecting a device to the Yoga X through a micro-HDMI cable. Once connected, the tablet can switch to its secondary display mode, pausing any ongoing audio playback and locking the Android OS behind the user’s PIN/password. When nothing is connected to the Yoga X, the device can be used as a regular Android tablet.

There are a couple of other neat integrations when the Lenovo Yoga X is used as a secondary display. For example, when entering the secondary display mode, the Android system brightness and system volume levels will be used. Pressing the tablet’s volume buttons to adjust the volume will show a volume indicator on the display even if the Android OS isn’t showing. The user can control whether audio is output from the tablet or other available output devices. Touching anywhere on the screen will display the brightness adjustment, power, and output device settings.

The document that @deletescape uncovered only reveals Lenovo’s plans for the Yoga X’s secondary display mode. Thus, we don’t have any information on the specifications, pricing, or availability of the Yoga X. It’s possible that this document pertains to a concept product that has since been canceled, but we’ll keep an eye out to see if we can find more information about this tablet.

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The Google Pixel 4a “5G” and Pixel 5 show up in the latest Google App code, but not the Pixel 5 XL

We’ve been tracking both the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 for quite a while now, but the pandemic has put a serious hold on Google’s phone plans. Despite the Pixel 4a showing up in hands-on videos, getting fully benchmarked, and going through a camera review, its launch was allegedly delayed a couple of times. The Pixel 5, meanwhile, is expected to be announced this Fall…unless that gets delayed, too. Interestingly, new evidence has emerged that suggests there won’t be a Pixel 5 XL model. Rather, one of the two devices we previously suspected to be a Pixel 5 may in fact be marketed as a “Pixel 4a 5G.”

First spotted by 9to5Google earlier today, code within the latest Google app beta reveals the names of the upcoming Pixel devices. The Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 are mentioned as expected, but we’re also seeing the new “Pixel 4a 5G.”

For some context, let’s go back to January of this year. We first discovered three code-names in relation to Google’s Pixel series: sunfish, redfin, and bramble. Sunfish is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 SoC and has been confirmed to be the Pixel 4a thanks to the Cuban leaks. Redfin was a little more mysterious, but we now know it’s the Pixel 5. The Pixel 5 will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, 765G, or 768G SoC and not the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. Bramble was the last code-name to figure out.

Bramble was originally discovered to be based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 like redfin, leading many to reasonably assume it would be part of the Pixel 5 lineup. However, the Google app lists the “Pixel 4a 5G” with the code-name “Bramble.” Furthermore, the Google app does not list the Pixel 5 XL name.

That leaves us with three clear 2020 Google Pixel devices: Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5. The Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 will both have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765, though the former will definitely offer 5G while the latter will also likely offer support for it. It’s interesting that the main series and “a” series Pixel phones will have essentially the same processor. We expect the 4a 5G to maintain the cheaper build materials and some other lower specifications to keep the price down. For instance, we know that “redfin” AKA the 5 will support reverse wireless charging, but we don’t know if the same is true of “bramble” AKA the 4a 5G.

Previous rumors pointed at the Pixel 5 costing around $700, while the (non 5G) Pixel 4a could be around $350. Are you still looking forward to these devices?

Rumored Pixel 4a (Sunfish) Specifications

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
• GPU: Adreno 618
• RAM: 6GB
• Internal storage: 64GB(?), 128GB UFS 2.1
• Display: Single hole-punch 5.81-inch display, 2,340 x 1,080 resolution, 443 dpi, 60Hz refresh rate
• Rear camera: 12.2 MP Sony IMX363, f/1.73 aperture, 1.4µm pixels, OIS, EIS, LED flash, 4K video recording, Autofocus
• Front camera: 8.0 MP Sony IMX355, f/2.0 aperture, 1.14µm pixels, EIS, Fixed focus
• Connectivity: 4G, Dual SIM, GPS, WiFi 5, Bluetooth, GLONASS
• Ports: USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Security: Rear fingerprint sensor
• Battery: 3,080 mAh
• Software: Android 10

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Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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