Huawei’s new foldable phone launches this month, but don’t expect to get your hands on one

Huawei jumped on the foldable bandwagon with the Mate X back in February 2019. Now, two years later, the company is gearing up to launch its next foldable smartphone. The new foldable will simply be called the Huawei Mate X2, and it’s set to launch later this month in China.

The news comes from Huawei’s official Weibo account, essentially confirming rumors that have been circulating on the internet for the past few weeks. The announcement comes when we are also hearing reports about Huawei considering selling off its Mate and P series of smartphone brands to a consortium of government-backed investors. But this announcement of Huawei Mate X2 does restore some hope that the company might not go that route anytime soon — despite all the odds stacked against it.

The teaser shared by Huawei confirms the Mate X2 will be launched on February 22, 2021. The original Huawei Mate X never made it outside China, and that’ll most likely be the case with the Mate X2 as well. Foldables by their very nature are expensive and out of reach for many consumers. And as many of our readers are well aware, Huawei can’t ship Google apps on its new phones due to the U.S trade ban. So even if the company was to launch the device outside China, it will be a hard sell. Moreover, due to the same ban, contract chip fabricators such as TSMC and Samsung cannot manufacture HiSilicon chips, forcing the Chinese smartphone maker to use reserve Kirin 9000 or other chips they had ordered before the ban. Therefore, it’s likely that the Mate X2 will only be made in limited quantities and won’t be available outside of China.

We also don’t know which display vendor is supplying the display for the Huawei Mate X2. We recently reported that Samsung Display has begun supplying its foldable displays to Chinese OEMs, but Huawei is unlikely to be one of them. The original Huawei Mate X had a BOE panel, so it’s likely either them, or TCL’s CSOT will be providing the display. LG Display is another possibility since they supplied the panel for Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold.

As for what we can expect from the Huawei Mate X2 in terms of hardware, the recent leaks point at the device featuring an 8.01-inch internal display and a 6.45-inch outer panel. According to the well-known leakster Digital Chat Station, the Mate X2 could feature a quad-camera assembly, comprised of a 50MP primary sensor, backed by 16MP, 12MP, and 8MP sensors. The device is said to be powered by the Kirin 9000 chipset and a 4,400 mAh battery with support for 66W fast charging.

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Featured image: Huaewi Mate X

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PSA: If you use NoxPlayer to play Android games on PC, you should probably reinstall it

NoxPlayer users beware. A hacker group has gained access to the Android emulator‘s server infrastructure and has pushed malware to a few users in Asia. Slovak security firm ESET recently discovered the attack, and it has advised affected NoxPlayer users to reinstall the emulator to remove the malware from their systems.

For the unaware, NoxPlayer is an Android emulator that is popular among gamers. The emulator is primarily used to run Android games on x86 PCs, and it’s developed by a Hong Kong-based company called BigNox. According to a recent report from ZDNet on the matter, a hacker group has gained access to one of the company’s official API (api.bignox.com) and file-hosting servers (res06.bignox.com). Using this access, the group has tampered with the download URL of NoxPlayer updates in the API server to deliver malware to users.

In a report regarding the attack, ESET reveals that it has identified three different malware families that are being “distributed from tailored malicious updates to select victims, with no sign of leveraging any financial gain, but rather surveillance-related capabilities.”

ESET further reveals that even though the attackers had access to BigNox servers since at least September 2020, they didn’t target all of the company’s users. Instead, the attackers focused on specific machines, suggesting that this was a highly-targeted attack looking to infect only a certain class of users. As of now, the malware-laden NoxPlayer updates have only been delivered to five victims located in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka. However, ESET recommends all NoxPlayer users stay cautious. The security firm has laid out some instructions to help users figure out if their system has been compromised in its report.

In case users find an intrusion, they should reinstall NoxPlayer from clean media. Non-compromised users are advised not to download any updates until BigNox notifies that it has mitigated the threat. A BigNox spokesperson has told ZDNet that the company is working with ESET to investigate the breach further.

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Android 11 makes Google Photos annoying to use for some, but there may be a fix

We have no way of knowing how many devices on the market run Android 11 since Google no longer publishes distribution statistics, but there are probably tens of millions now that companies like Xiaomi and Samsung have had time to push the update to many of their models. If your device runs Android 11 and you use Google Photos, there’s a chance that you’ve encountered a rather annoying change with the way the app handles image deletion and restoration. Instead of simply selecting the images and videos you want to delete, hitting the trash can icon, and then tapping the “move to trash” button, you’ll now have to tap through an extra prompt to give Google Photos permission to delete or restore your files.

I had to withdraw from the Twitter Beta because scoped storage in Android 11 meant the Twitter app could no longer access anything in Photos.
With that fixed, it constantly asks me for permission to do anything & I can’t turn it off pic.twitter.com/SlYFJTpc0B

— Holly ‘8 Cats’ Brockwell (@holly) January 22, 2021

For those of you who take lots of photos and videos, it may be annoying to have to grant Google Photos permission to delete or restore a file. And as pointed out by AndroidPolice, tapping an extra button isn’t the only issue you may have to deal with. If you use Google Photos on another device and want to edit or trash a file you uploaded from your phone running Android 11, the app may ask you to review “out-of-sync changes”. That can quickly get annoying if Google Photos keeps asking you to review changes you just made on another platform.

I use the Web app a lot and now I have to approve all the changes I MADE MYSELF in the mobile app, and it takes ages for it to churn through them all.

It’s driving me mad pic.twitter.com/GuvBtaTecr

— Holly ‘8 Cats’ Brockwell (@holly) January 22, 2021

The extra step to delete or restore a file wasn’t required in Android 10 but is now required in Android 11 due to the enforcement of Scoped Storage. Before Scoped Storage, access to the entire external storage directory was managed by a single permission, making it hard for you to limit what apps can access your private documents, images, or videos. With Scoped Storage in place, Android limits how much access an app can have to sensitive files without explicit user consent. You can find more details on Scoped Storage in this article or look at Google’s graphic below for a summary of the changes.

While they were busy restricting storage access in Android 11, Google was also improving existing APIs to improve the user experience. For example, apps targeting Android 11 can use the MediaStore API to trash a file rather than delete it. In order to move a file to trash, though, the app has to prompt the user to grant it write access. Since most of the images and videos you add to Google Photos from your phone came from a different app — such as the stock camera app — Photos has to ask for permission before it can move a file to or from the trash. However, Google Photos doesn’t ask for permission to trash files if you’re using a Pixel phone with Android 11 installed. It does, however, ask for permission on basically every other device running Android 11, including most Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and ASUS devices. What gives?

The reason is that the system gallery app is not subjected to Scoped Storage restrictions. That means the stock gallery app can open, edit, or delete images and videos without explicit permission. Google Photos is preset as the system gallery app on Pixel phones, but most OEMs preset their own gallery app instead. Furthermore, there’s no user-facing setting to change the system gallery app, not even in Android’s “default apps” screen. However, there is a hidden way to change the system gallery app, but there’s one big caveat: Only a system application can be set as the system gallery app. That means only phones that already have Google Photos pre-installed as a system app can take advantage of this trick.

Not a lot of phones meet this criterion, but based on our testing, we can confirm this works on most OnePlus and some ASUS phones. This method didn’t work on any of the Samsung phones we tested it on, and it also didn’t work on a Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro. If you have root access or are running a custom ROM, this method may work on your device after you systemize the Google Photos app, but we only tested this method on stock devices.

How to (maybe) make Google Photos the system gallery app

Credits go to Kieron Quinn (Quinny899 on the XDA Forums) for sharing this trick!

The first thing you’ll need to do is install ADB on your PC. We have an updated guide on how to do that here. Once you have ADB setup, enter the following command:

adb shell cmd role add-role-holder android.app.role.SYSTEM_GALLERY com.google.android.apps.photos

If you don’t see an error, then it probably worked! You can quickly verify it worked by taking a photo and then trying to delete it in Google Photos. Alternatively, you can run the following command:

adb shell dumpsys role

…and check to see if the “holder” of “android.app.role.SYSTEM_GALLERY” is “com.google.android.apps.photos” (the package name of Google Photos).

If your output matches the text highlighted in the red rectangle, then it worked.

What does this command do?

Android 10 added a new API called “Roles“. When an app has a certain role, it’s automatically granted access to certain permissions. For example, the SYSTEM_GALLERY role automatically grants an app “full read and write access to all image and video files on external storage, including access to location metadata.” The SYSTEM_GALLERY role can only be granted to system applications, and its default holder is defined by the Android configuration value “config_systemGallery.” As we explained earlier, most OEMs preset this value to the package name corresponding to their own gallery app. This value can’t be changed without either modifying the framework or installing an overlay, both of which require root access.

However, it is possible to add another app as a holder of the SYSTEM_GALLERY role, but only if that app is also a system app. This is possible on many OnePlus and some ASUS phones because these OEMs seemingly preinstalled Google Photos on the system-level rather than user-level. Because of this, the Google Photos app is eligible to hold the SYSTEM_GALLERY role, and we take advantage of Android’s hidden RoleManager shell interface to grant it access to permissions it normally can’t be granted. If you attempt to grant the SYSTEM_GALLERY role to a non-system app, you’ll see the following error in logcat:

E RoleControllerServiceImpl: Package does not qualify for the role, package: com.google.android.apps.photos, role: android.app.role.SYSTEM_GALLERY

Sadly, we haven’t found a way around this limitation, but if we do, we’ll share our method with the community. Of course, we would prefer that Google simply make the SYSTEM_GALLERY role user-definable rather than limited to the OEM’s choice.

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Microsoft’s OneDrive on Android gets a new home screen and 8K video support

Microsoft has announced a new update for OneDrive on Android, including a revamped home screen experience. The new features should appear in OneDrive for Android version 6.21 and above.

Microsoft said that if you have a personal OneDrive account, you will now see three main sections in the updated home screen: accessed files, files downloaded for offline use, and “On This Day” photos. OneDrive for work and school will see recent files, shared libraries, and offline files. OneDrive on Android previously showed a root view of your files, which you can still navigate to by tapping the Files tab.

Meanwhile, OneDrive on Android is also rolling out improved support for 8K video. If you own a Samsung device, you’ve always had the opportunity to upload 8K video with no loss or compression. Starting this month, OneDrive will support playback of Samsung 8K videos from the Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy S21 series.

If you want to store 8K video in OneDrive, you first need to enable 8K video from your device’s camera settings. You can either upload 8K video to OneDrive manually or you can connect your Samsung Gallery app to Microsoft’s service.

Microsoft also said that OneDrive for Android will allow Samsung owners to playback Motion Photos. Similar to 8K support, OneDrive has always offered the ability to store Motion Photos, but not play them back. This new update enables that feature. Additionally, you can also easily share Samsung Motion Photos with other OneDrive users, which they can playback in the Android app or on OneDrive.com.

The updated home experience is also available on iOS. However, OneDrive for iOS does not support Samsung Motion Photos playback. If you don’t have a OneDrive account, the service offers 5GB of storage for free, or you can upgrade to 100GB for $1.99 per month.

Microsoft OneDrive (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Google Pixel 5 and LG Wing will get faster speeds on Verizon with an update

If you’re a Verizon subscriber and you own a Pixel 5 or LG Wing, your day is about to get better. That’s because these devices are allegedly set to receive an update that will  allow them to access C-band frequencies by the end of 2021 and early 2022.

According to recently uncovered FCC docs, via PC Mag, the Pixel 5 and LG Wing are among the devices sites to get access faster download speeds. The filings are a “class 2 permissive change,” which the FCC uses to authorize new radio abilities or frequency bands.

PC Mag offers a helpful guide to C-band technology. Essentially, C-band is all frequencies between 4 and 8GHz. “When US wireless geeks talk about C-Band, though, they’re talking about 3.7 to 4.2GHz—and specifically, in this case, the range from 3.7 to 3.98GHz.”

There was recently a bidding war for the licensing rights to C-band frequencies. U.S. carriers reportedly  spent more than 80 billion on the technology, although it’s unclear how much each carrier gets access to. PC Mag notes that C-band offers improved speeds over the nationwide 5G networks from Verizon and AT&T, and offer a longer range compared to Verizon’s Ultra-wideband 5G.

PC Mag notes that C-band is an important part of the 5G puzzle. It will add much needed bandwidth to existing cell sites, so carriers can offer better, more reliable 5G speeds.

It’s been reported that Verizon’s spent around $30 billion to license C-band airwaves, while AT&T spent $20 billion. Meanwhile, T-Mobile reportedly spent $11 billion, although it already has similar airwaves to what’s offered by C-band. The frequencies have already begun to be auctioned off in other parts of the world.

While the Pixel 5 was spotted in FCC’s database, there doesn’t appear to be any changes incoming for the Pixel 4a 5G. The Galaxy S21 series and iPhone 12 series, meanwhile, already feature C-band support in the U.S.

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You’ll soon be able to restrict device access in the Google Home app

Managing a household of smart devices and family members can be a challenging experience. Making things more difficult is the fact that you can’t really control the access someone has to certain smart home devices. With a platform like Google Home, it’s largely setup to be an all-or-nothing approach.

That means your kids either have access to things like smart lights, speakers, and displays, or they don’t. That could change, however, according to a few different new reports. Google is apparently making tweaks to Google Home that could provide household managers with the ability to restrict devices on a case-by-case basis.

According to Android Police, when you go into the Google Home settings and navigate to Household, you’ll see the usual list of all the people in your home. When you click on someone, however, you’ll see a new page where you can see what access level people have to the devices on your network.

As of now, it doesn’t appear as though Google Home allows managers to restrict access. But Android Police is speculating Google is laying the groundwork to change that. Meanwhile, 9to5Google previously spotted strings of code that hinted at such a feature being introduced.

“This person will have access to the selected devices during the following schedule,” the code said.

Android Police points to the Nest app as an example of how these features could work.

“Family accounts let other people share access to your home and your Nest products in the Nest app,” a Nest support page reads. “Depending on the level of shared access you choose, people you invite can add, remove, and control Nest products in the Nest app.”

Restricting access could be helpful if, for example, you’re a parent and you don’t want your kids controlling the lights or speakers in your room. The Google Home app has yet to address this, but recent changes and strings of code suggest these features are imminent.

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Universal bootloader unlock method has been found for the LG G8, G8S, G8X, and V50 ThinQ

Unlocking a bootloader, rooting a device, and flashing custom ROMs are popular hobbies here on XDA. Many users hold the ability to root in high regards, and almost find no interest in phones if they are not able to be bootloader unlocked. LG, however, has a storied history with regards to bootloader unlocking — namely, the Korean OEM prefers to allow only a handful of models to be unlocked by end-users (probably due to requirements from carriers). The modding community isn’t happy with LG’s stance, and now it seems that our impatient users found an unofficial bootloader unlock method that can be applied on nearly every variant of the LG G8 ThinQ, LG G8S ThinQ, LG G8X ThinQ, and the LG V50 ThinQ.

XDA Forums: LG G8 ThinQ || LG G8X ThinQ || LG V50 ThinQ

Based on input from XDA Senior Member cloud1250000, XDA Member Seasee606 has come up with a really innovative process to unlock the bootloader of the LG G8/G8S/G8X or the LG V50 ThinQ. However, the unofficial method isn’t as simple as you may think. It makes use of a leaked engineering bootloader, which requires you to force the target device to boot to the Qualcomm SoC’s Emergency Download Mode (EDL) and perform several low-level flashing jobs.

The underlying concept of this method is pretty much like the one used for the Sprint LG G8 ThinQ bootloader unlocking process, minus the initial part where you need to gain temporary root access using an exploit. In a nutshell, the new method doesn’t require a specific firmware, and it is even compatible with the Verizon variant of the LG G8. The engineering bootloader essentially puts the devices into a state where they are capable of accepting the regular fastboot oem unlock command without a token generated from LG’s official unlocking server.

Unlock the bootloader of the LG G8, G8X, G8S, and V50 ThinQ — XDA Thread

Since the process is a bit tricky and requires flashing via EDL mode, it’s safe to say that it isn’t meant for beginners and will most definitely void the warranty. If you want to proceed anyway, do read the thread and opening post very carefully, and execute steps with utmost precision.

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