Rooting an Android phone lets you customize the behavior of your device, access protected files and folders, and generally muck around with the operating system. But it also makes your phone more vulnerable to malware, because if you can alter system files, then so can third-party software. So it’s not surprising that some Android apps […]
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Now you can root a Google Pixel or Pixel XL smartphone
Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL are the first smartphones to ship with Android 7.1, but they’re also the first to feature a new disk partition scheme and file-based encryption (instead of full-disk encryption) which makes updating the operating system faster and safer… but which means hackers have had to find new ways to unlock the […]
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dePixel8 can unlock bootloaders for Verizon Pixel phones
Just a few days after revealing that it’s possible to unlock the bootloader on Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones purchased from Verizon, hacker beaups has released a utility called dePixel8 that anyone can use to unlock a Verizon Pixel phone. Beaups notes that it should also work with phones sold by European wireless carrier […]
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Google Pixel phones can be rooted
Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are the first to ship with a new set of disk partitions designed to make it possible to download and install system updates in the background (and safely roll back an update if there are problems installing it). But the new partition layout, along with some other changes in […]
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Lilbits 309: Keeping Windows 10 small
Around a decade ago it seemed like a safe bet that personal computers would keep getting faster processors, more storage space, and other beefed up hardware. So when Microsoft released new versions of its operating systems, the system requirements tended to be higher than those for previous versions. These days there are plenty of powerful […]
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Lilbits (11-20-2014): Encryption, Lollipop, and fart apps for TV
Shortly after Google released Android 5.0 Lollipop, folks started finding ways to gain root access on devices like the Google Nexus 6 and Nexus 9. Yes, it’s generally pretty easy to unlock the bootloader on Nexus devices, but Google has stepped up security in Android 5.0 so rooting has been a bit tricky and up […]
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Google releases Android 5.0 for Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 10
Google has released Android 5.0 Lollipop for the Nexus 5 smartphone, Nexus 10 tablet, and WiFi-only Nexus 7 tablets (both the 2012 and 2013 models). Over-the-air updates are starting to roll out, and you can download factory images straight from Google (although installing a factory image will overwrite your data). Google says updates for the […]
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How to root the Google Nexus 9 tablet (video)
The Google Nexus 9 is one of the first devices to ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop and it’s also one of the first Android devices to feature an NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit processor. So it took a a little longer than usual for someone to figure out how to root this Nexus device… but just a […]
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Chainfire’s Sideload Launcher for Android TV lets you launch just about any app
Android TV is basically Android… with a user interface optimized for TVs. It’s designed to run TV-friendly apps such as YouTube, Google Play Movies, Netflix, and Hulu Plus and when you visit the Play Store you’ll only see apps that have been optimized for Android TV. But under the hood the operating system is much the […]
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Unofficial KitKat: Nexus 5 rooted, Android 4.4 ROMs arrive for older devices
A day after Google released Android 4.4 KitKat and launched the Nexus 5 smartphone, independent developers have started working with both. It’s now possible for anyone to root a Nexus 5 phone, and custom ROMs based on Android 4.4 KitKat have started to arrive for older phones and tablets. It’s always easy to unlock the […]