Unlock the 'Adapt Display' Screen Mode on Samsung Galaxy Devices for More Accurate Colors

Unlock the 'Adapt Display' Screen Mode on Samsung Galaxy Devices for More Accurate Colors

AMOLED display panels like the one found in most Samsung Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S6 models, are known for their deep blacks and vivid colors. The downside here is that the colors tend to be over-saturated and not very realistic.

Samsung countered this issue by offering a "Screen mode" settings menu that you can use to adjust your display calibration. Of the four standard options that you'll find in this menu, the "Basic" setting offers the most realistic color palette, but whites tend to be a bit yellow with this enabled.

On the bright side, there's another option that has accurate colors and pure, crisp whites—but it was hidden from the default settings menu. Luckily, this hidden menu is incredibly easy to access, so your Galaxy device can have accurate colors in no time.

Step 1: Install Nova Launcher

To access the hidden display calibration menu, you'll need a launcher that is capable of creating activity shortcuts. (If you'd rather not install a third-party launcher, an alternative method is shown near the end of this guide using the app More Shortcuts.)

Head to the Google Play Store, then search for and install Nova Launcher.

Once Nova is installed, press your device's home button, then select "Nova Launcher" from the list and press "Always."

Step 2: Create a Shortcut to the Hidden Menu

Next, long-press any empty space on your home screen, then select "Widgets" from the menu. From here, long-press the "Activities" icon, then drag it and drop it onto your home screen.

At this point, a menu will pop up asking you to assign an activity to this shortcut. Scroll through the list and select "Settings," then tap the "ModePreviewTablet" activity to finish creating your shortcut.

Step 3: Enable 'Adapt Display' Mode

Next, simply tap the shortcut you just created to access the hidden display calibration menu. From here, deselect "Adapt display," then reselect it and press "OK." The new, more accurate display mode will be activated immediately, and to clarify, this is different than the "Adaptive display" mode that is already available in the regular settings menu.

Alternative Method for Stock Touchwiz Launcher

If you'd rather not load up Nova to activate this hidden setting, you can access it using the More Shortcuts app from developer ChYK, which is a great app that we've covered in the past.

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Once installed, open More Shortcuts and select "Activity," then head to Settings and select "ModePreviewTablet." From there, simply deselect "Adapt display" and reselect it.

With "Adapt display" mode activated, you should notice that the screen colors are a lot more accurate, and the whites don't have any yellowish tint. The mode will be disabled if you reboot your phone, but you can easily enable it again with the shortcut on your home screen or using More Shortcuts.

How do you like your new display calibration setting? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Android Hacks' Facebook or Twitter, or Gadget Hacks' Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.

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How to Get Dolby Atmos Surround Sound on Any Android

Step 3: Enable Dolby Atmos

Open up the Dolby Audio app from your app drawer, then make sure the equalizer is on by hitting the power icon.

On the bottom of the screen you will see options to enable a Dialogue Enhancer, Volume Leveler, and Surround Virtualizer, which will all help in simulating a surround sound experience.

If you want to further fine-tune your Android's audio, you can also enable one of the Intelligent Equalizers or create your own profile manually. The changes are applied automatically, so there is no need to reboot or restart any apps after making adjustments.

The changes are slightly noticeable when using your phone's speakers, but to really get the most out of them, throw on your best pair of headphones.

How to Block Ads While Surfing the Web on Android (No Root Needed)

How to Block Ads While Surfing the Web on Android (No Root Needed)

Ad blocking on Android usually requires root access, but a new browser from the makers of Adblock Plus is looking to change this. It's based on the Firefox browser, so the interface is already nice and polished despite this being brand new software.

The app is still in its beta testing phases, so it's not on the Google Play Store just yet. As a result, you'll need to make sure your phone is set up for sideloading apps, but beyond that, it's now incredibly easy to browse the web without ads.

Step 3: Disable 'Acceptable Ads' (Optional)

At this point, you're ready to browse the web without encountering intrusive ads. The browser's main menu gives you quick access to your most commonly-visited sites and bookmarks, so you could get off and running right now if you wanted to.

But the developers have chosen to allow certain non-intrusive ads to be displayed. So if you'd like to browse the web without seeing any ads, tap the three-dot menu button and head to "Settings."

From here, head to the "Adblocking" menu, then tap "Acceptable Ads." Next, deselect the "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" option, and you'll no longer see any type of ads.

The settings also offer customization options for importing bookmarks, selecting a start page, and more, so they're worth going through.

Step 4: Browse the Web Without Ads

As this browser is based on Mozilla's Firefox, the interface is already quite polished. Pages render quickly, and a tab-switching interface makes it easy to switch between open tabs. All the while, websites that used to contain ads will now look nice and clean.

Has this new app improved your browsing experience on Android? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Android Hacks' Facebook or Twitter, or Gadget Hacks' Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.

How to Boost Performance & Battery Life on Your Rooted Android Device

How to Boost Performance & Battery Life on Your Rooted Android Device

Performance boosters generally get a bad rap, but that doesn't mean they should all be dismissed—particularly when they're as well thought out as the latest work from developer Danijel Markov. After recognizing a few inefficiencies in the way Android handles memory management and other system-level functions, he created a flashable ZIP that will apply many fixes in one fell swoop.

Markov's mod, dubbed "L Speed," offers a command prompt interface for optional fine-tuning, but can easily improve performance without any adjustments. By default, the ZIP applies several kernel tweaks, RAM optimizations, and CPU calibrations that should give almost any Android device a hefty boost in performance and battery life.

Step 3: Flash the ZIP

Go ahead and tap the "Install" button from TWRP recovery's main menu. From here, navigate to your device's Download folder, then select the "L_SPEED_V2.0_REVOLUTION.zip" file. After that, just swipe the slider at the bottom of the screen to install the mod, and when that's finished, tap "Reboot System."

When you get back up, many system tweaks will have already been applied to your device. By themselves, these tweaks should make a noticeable difference in your device's performance and battery life, but if you'd like to customize L Speed a little more, read on for a guide on the command prompt interface.

Step 4: Customize L Speed Settings (Optional)

To fine-tune some of the L Speed optimizations and even enable a few additional options, start by downloading an app called Terminal Emulator for Android.

After installing Terminal Emulator, go ahead and open the app and type su, then hit enter. From here, the app will ask for Superuser access, so tap "Grant" on the popup.

Now that Terminal Emulator has root access for this session, type LS and hit enter to access the L Speed menu. From here, enter the number 2 to access the L Speed settings wizard.

From here, there are several different RAM, CPU, and kernel tweaks that you can enable or disable, and each has a corresponding number. To toggle one of these features on or off, simply type in the number and hit enter. Most changes will require a reboot before they'll become active, so apply any tweaks that look good to you and reboot your phone.

How well has your device performed since installing L Speed? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Android Hacks' Facebook or Twitter, or Gadget Hacks' Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.

How to Get Apple's Force Touch Feature on Android

How to Get Apple's Force Touch Feature on Android

Apple's latest round of devices—including the MacBook Pro and Apple Watch—use a new touch input method that can detect when you've applied a bit more force than usual. Dubbed "Force Touch," this gesture simulates a long-press or right-click, but it usually requires special hardware to detect the amount of pressure you've applied.

Since today's Android devices lack this specialized hardware, you'd think this feature would be impossible to emulate on our favorite operating system. But as a workaround, developer MohammadAG created an Xposed module that detects the surface area of your taps and uses your device's accelerometer to know when you've pressed the screen a little harder than normal.

The end result is a very capable port of Apple's Force Touch feature that can be used system-wide on Android, allowing you to tap the screen with a bit more oomph to call up the context menu, which usually requires a long-press.

Requirements

Step 1: Install 'System Wide Force Touch'

Before we begin, you should be aware that this module is in its early stages of development, so it doesn't work on all devices at the moment. A full list of supported devices is unavailable, but installation is so easy that it's at least worth a try.

To get started, head to the Download section of your Xposed Installer app and search for System Wide Force Touch, then tap the top result. From here, swipe over to the Versions tab, then hit the "Download" button next to the most recent entry.

Within a few seconds, Android's installer interface should come right up, so tap "Install" on this screen. When that's finished, you'll need to activate the module and reboot.

Step 2: Calibrate the Force Touch Gesture

When you get back up, go ahead and open System Wide Force Touch from your app drawer. To begin, you'll need to calibrate the Force Touch gesture, so tap the button at the top of the screen with a little more pressure than you would normally use. Do this at least 4 times to calibrate the new gesture, and you'll see a list of measurements at the top of the screen.

From here, you can continue to Force Touch the top button to fine tune the calibration a bit further, and if you want to test things out, just use the button on the bottom half of the screen. When you're satisfied with the calibration, be sure to reboot your phone so that the new gesture will be applied system-wide.

Step 3: Using the Force Touch Gesture

After rebooting the second time, your new Force Touch gesture should be activated. To try it out, just tap any button or link with a little more pressure than usual. The gesture can be used in any app, and it triggers the same action that a long-press would.

How well does System Wide Force Touch work on your device? Let us know in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Android Hacks' Facebook or Twitter, or Gadget Hacks' Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.

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Get Real-Time Effects That Describe the Weather Outside on Your Android's Wallpaper

Get Real-Time Effects That Describe the Weather Outside on Your Android's Wallpaper

Living in Southern California means I don't really have a need to check the weather all that often. But every now and then, I'm caught off guard by a particularly chilly or hot day—no one wants to be the only person walking around with a T-shirt and sandals on a rainy, 50-degree day.

While Google Now does a pretty good job of informing me what the weather is, I still wanted something that could convey the same information without me having to check anything.

Weatherback Wallpaper, from developer aceou, fetches your local weather data and adds a weather overlay to your wallpaper. This means you can continue to use your favorite wallpaper and have a visual weather forecast right on your home screen, allowing you to painlessly gauge what the weather's like outside.

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Step 3: Apply Live Effects

Once you are happy with your settings, go back to the main menu and tap "Set Wallpaper." This will bring up your current wallpaper with a live preview of the current weather settings. To save the wallpaper, tap "Set wallpaper," but if you want to use a different background, go back to your home screen to change your wallpaper as you normally would, then repeat the process.

[1] Normal wallpaper, [2] Wallpaper with Weatherback effects

How to Take Smooth Time-Lapse Videos with Microsoft's Hyperlapse

How to Take Smooth Time-Lapse Videos with Microsoft's Hyperlapse

Smartphones don't generally play nice with tripods, so videos taken with our handheld devices make terrible source material for time-lapse photography.

Back in August, Instagram countered this dilemma with an app called Hyperlapse that used an image stabilization algorithm to eliminate a lot of the shakiness in these videos. The only trouble with their stabilization algorithm is that it's hardware-dependent—meaning it would need a complete re-write for every phone on the market—so this app is only available for the iPhone.

Around that same time last year, Microsoft demonstrated a similar technology with the same name. What separated Microsoft's Hyperlapse algorithm from Instagram's was the fact that it used cues from the source video rather than the camera sensor to stabilize the footage. By creating a 3D map of a video's contents, Microsoft Hyperlapse can stabilize any footage into a silky-smooth time-lapse video.

After more than a year of preparation, Microsoft has finally debuted its new Hyperlapse software. At launch, it's available for PCs and Windows Phone, and a beta version can be installed on select Android devices. So if you own a Nexus 5 or Nexus 6, an HTC One M8 or M9, a Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6, or Note 4, you'll definitely want to check this one out.

Step 1: Sign Up for the Beta Program

To sign up for the Microsoft Hyperlapse beta testing program, head to this link from your supported Android device. From here, tap the "Join" button at the bottom of the screen, then scroll down a bit and tap the link in step 2 of the description. If you're having trouble finding the beta signup link, you can use this link instead.

Next, tap the "Become a Tester" button in the middle of the screen, then use the link labeled "Download it from the Play Store" to head to the app's install page. Note that it may take as much as an hour before the app will become available to you.

Step 3: Record a Time-Lapse Video

Once you have the app installed, it's incredibly easy to record a smooth time-lapse video. The app only has two options—you can either import an existing video, or record a new one. Tap the "Record" button to begin.

From here, tap the shutter button to start recording your time-lapse video. While the algorithm is very good at stabilizing videos, it would still be helpful if you could minimize any shaking while recording.

After that, tap the shutter button again to stop recording, then you'll see the speed adjustment menu. Use the slider at the bottom of the screen to change the speed of your time-lapse, then hit the check mark to save your work.

When the video has finished processing, you'll be given a chance to share your new time-lapse. The file will also be stored on your internal storage, so you can use any compatible app to share the video as well.

Have you created any time-lapse masterpieces yet? If so, post a link in the comment section below, or drop us a line on Android Hacks' Facebook or Twitter, or Gadget Hacks' Facebook, Google+, or Twitter.