Review: OnePlus One Smartphone

OnePlus has a motto, "Never Settle", that is a represtation of the company's goal to build a perfect smartphone that everyone can purchase it for less than the name brands are selling for off contract. If the LG G3, Google Nexus 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S5 (forget Apple, they are always outdated) were priced at $299 to buy outright, off contract and unlocked, would you consider purchasing it instead of signing a 2 year contract or paying $29 a month for 18 - 24 months? I would. Unfortunately the off contract price of these high end phones are the cost of a decent PC these days. OnePlus is changing that and is offering the same technology for half the price of it's competitors. Their first phone, called the One for obvious reasons, is a self proclaimed 2014's Flagship Killer. Believe me when I say this, it is!
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CyanogenMod 10.2 Nightly (experimental) build released for Motorola's unlocked Moto X smart phone, go get yourself one(links included)

Motorola's fully customisable Moto X has now got further customisation.   Moto X which is very popular in the US is a fully customisable smart phone which has received very good reviews both from the techies and the buyers.  Moto X boasts of solid hardware as well as feature rich software.  The hardware part belongs to Motorola but you can play around with the software part thanks to CyanogenMod Team.

CyanogenMod has released a Nightly build ROM for Moto X. Though readers may kindly note that this Nightly build not a stable version so it may not be the perfect one but still a CyanogenMod ROM on a fully customisable smart phone seems super.  To install the build on your Moto X you need to make sure it is a unlocked version and allows you to install a third party custom ROM and these are available only in the Developer Edition Moto X.  

You can download these TEST ROMS  from CyanogenMod website links listed below 

1. xt1060 (Verizon Wireless),

2. xt1058 (AT&T) 

3. xt1053 (T-Mobile). 

As already mentioned above, these are experimental builds which have plenty of polishing to be done.  If you are downloading and installing the same, please do remember you shall be doing it at your own risk.  All the builds are roughly 193 MB in size.  If you want to install this ROMs on your Developer Edition Moto X please ensure that you are installing the latest GAPPS package for flashing.

The CyanogenMOD ROM 10.2 build for Moto X will come without the most touted features of Moto X,  Active Notifications and Voice Control.   Please do note this, if you plan to install this experimental Build

CyanogenMod to release user friendly version called 'PRO' says it aint about money and lets non geeks easily install CM on their Android smart phones

If you have rooted your phone, 70 % chances are that you are using a build made by CyanogenMod Team.   Rooting a device with the CyanogenMod ROM has distinct advantage over a non rooted phone.  First and foremost it lets you use the system processes which the native or stock ROMs don't offer.  For eg you have a quad-core processor Android smart phone but chances are that your stock ROM may never use all the processors simultaneously thereby wasting awesome processing power.  This is where the CyanogenMod ROM enters the field.  The ROMs released by Team CyanogenMod let you use your smart phone to its full potential. The ROMs may come with different names like stable build or Nightlies builds but for the rooting process you have to use around 30 different processes which are a strict taboo to a non technical guy.    

The rooting process may be easy for the techno addicts out there but it so happens that not all Android users are very tech adept or understand the process involved in rooting a Android phone.  Team CyanogenMod has itself given a beautiful example of Steve's mother wanting to use a CyanogenMod ROM rooted phone but may not be able to do so because of being technologically challenged.  This is were the newly launched initiative by Team CyanogenMod kicks off.  It will launch 2 new 'Pro' ROMs along with Installer packages.  This means that the processes will remain the same but Steve's Mom now has to go to CyanogenMods webpage sign up with her own credentials (register afresh or use old login id) and download the ROM alongwith the Installer. 

"Steve’s mother doesn’t need root or to alter DPI’s. She needs something that will stay current, protected and work without having to configure thirty different settings. Those settings will still be there, she can enable root easily should she choose to, but its not required for her to enjoy her CM experience. Should she want to become a hacker, she can flash the Community Edition(the current CyanogenMod ROMs) and go to town!"

The CyanogenMod page says that these Pro ROMs are targeted at those who are not comfortable with messing up their phones with technical mumbo jumbo but want the benefits of a CyanogenMod ROM.  

“…Instead, this is the build that is targeted at those not comfortable enough with the process to do it themselves, the exact same people who an installer is beneficial. These builds will be signed with our own private keys and shipped as ‘user’ builds (much like the stock firmware that came with your device). This isn’t a fork of the Community Edition or the CyanogenMod Project as a whole, just a more secure build…”

For installing the same you need to have a CyanogenMod username and password.  The CM account will have additional benefits then just letting you install the Pro versions. The CM Account will also allow you to remotely wipe Android handset in case it is lost or stolen.  It will also allow you to remotely locate your Android smart phone through Google maps just like the Google's newly Android Device Manager only much more.  The CM account will also allow you to cross sync your devices as well as save your data securely online in the clouds.  

Once you open the CM account you have to install the PRO ROM on your smart phone with a unlocked bootloader.  If you don't like the CM, fine you can just go back to your stock ROM.  The Pro CyanogenMod ROM will not lock you down to its use.  According the CyanogenMod website the Pro version is currently being beta tested by over 3500 testers but is expected to hit the Play Store sometime “in the coming weeks.” 

This may probably be the best thing that happened to Android since its own launch.

Android 4.3 App Ops Permission Manager like feature 'Privacy Guard' now added to CyanogenMod 10.2 builds

Always bet on Team Cyanogen to come up with a superior feature to Google.  The Google had introduced a feature called App Ops Permission Manager in Android 4.3 version released a few weeks earlier.  The App Ops Permission Manager basically lets the user set permission for individual Apps as per their preference.  The "Permission Manager" App is already available on the Google Play Store and works only on Android 4.3.

The team Cyanogen has come up with a similar feature and has named it "Privacy Guard" but as of now this feature was not available for all CyanogenMods.  However today the CyanogenMod Google Plus post stated that  they have merged an update to Privacy Guard for 10.2 code that implements AppOps.

This means that the Privacy Guard feature will now be available for all CyanogenMod 10.2 builds.  It will have following features :

A run down of the actions: 

# Single click any app from the main PG UI to instantly toggle on/off permissions for Location, Reading Contacts, Reading Call Log, Reading Calendar and SMS/MMS. 

# Long press any app from the main PG UI to see all currently used permissions and their on/off status. Tapping the app name from this view will take you to the App Info screen. 

# A new 'Advanced' menu item allows quick access to the native AppOps UI (normally hidden). 

# A notification will appear whenever you are using an app that has a permission denied. 

# Privacy Guard can be enabled by default for all newly installed apps. This will block the Location, Reading Contacts, Reading Call Log, Reading Calendar and SMS/MMS permissions. 

# Filter to show/hide system apps from main UI view.

# A quick scroll list view by alphabet, with disabled apps shown at the bottom. 

# A quick reset button will disable PG for all enabled apps, allowing a one-click return to normal behavior

Focal now available as standalone App for Android smart phones and tablets

Remember the stock camera App called Focal developed by the XDA forums for CyanogenMod 10.2 Nightlies.  Now the XDA Forum member TeamBBQ has published the standalone App called Focal (Beta) for Android smart phones and tablets.

As usual, being a beta App, it may contain bugs and may crash. The TeamBBQ has also said that this App is mostly for Android 4.2 based smart phones but should work on tablets as well.  

Focal as standalone App has many key features  which will make your camera experience with Android smart phones worthwhile. The most notable of these changes include an open source replacement for Google’s closed source Photo Sphere, an improved post-shot image review paradigm, spot metering, double-tap to quick capture, and various additional image capture modes. Additionally, device-specific features are available for certain handsets. For example, you can adjust shutter speed on certain Sony devices.

The features of the Focal Beta are :

- A photo and video mode, supporting many features (burst mode, timer mode, scene mode, shutter speed on Sony devices, ...)

- A panorama mode, currently semi-broken

- A PicSphere mode, open-source replacement of Google's PhotoSphere, to do 360° sphere shots

- A review drawer, by sliding from the top of the screen (in portrait). It shows your latest pictures.

In photo mode, you also have access to a few tools, such as automatic picture enhancement (auto-awesome), or a rule of thirds overlay. On some devices, settings such as Color adjustment, HDR and a manual light measure point are also available. Double tapping the screen will put your in quick shot mode, where tapping the screen anywhere will take a picture.  In video mode, high-framerate video is also possible.

Worthwhile tips to remember:

- You can slide a widget's left handle to the right to close it

- You can swipe twice to temporarily hide open widgets, and swipe back to recover them

- You can pin widgets on your main screen

- You can scroll the sidebar

To download the App, visit Google Play here.  You can also download the APK file directly from the mirror site at Github.