I'm guessing this is harder than it seems to a digitial signal processing, software engineering type like me, and that's why it hasn't been done.
Some will say, "why don't you take it on and contribute?" I very well may, when I can carve out the time to learn what I need to know. Unfortunately, that's not on the horizon atm.
So, what's the request? We all know that the sound subsystem is very primitive. Quiet source media, particularly AC3-encoded sound from video media, can be annoyingly quiet even over headphones at full volume.
The device would benefit immensely with just two simple enhancements: A pre-amp, and a balance control. In the digital domain, these two filters are trivial to implement. So, if there is a chained filter architecture to the sound system, similar to that in Windows, this should be dead-simple to implement. There's plenty of public domain GPL code out there already to leverage.
Even without a filter architecture, still implementing something like this shouldn't be too hard. I'm thinking of a settings interface where sliders control pre-amp boost and balance.
Now, even better would be to add level normalization (an AGC). Even better than that would be an equalizer. All of this, again, can be leveraged from public-domain code.
The ultimate would be a port of SRS/WOW functionality. This is probably a pipe-dream. But I thought I'd mention it. This is not open-source, public domain code, so I have no idea how it might be done, other than finding a way to wrap the WM driver and making to work in Linux (do-able, but not easy).
dwallersv said:
Even without a filter architecture, still implementing something like this shouldn't be too hard. I'm thinking of a settings interface where sliders control pre-amp boost and balance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like this?
Doesn't appear to have a balance control from the screen shots, although ALSA does do that.
In general much of what you ask for can be done with plugins for ALSA. It's a matter of exposing it with a simple-to-use interface.
I couldn't get MixGet to work with 2.2. But maybe I was doing something wrong... I'll try some things..
mkasick said:
Like this?
Doesn't appear to have a balance control from the screen shots, although ALSA does do that.
In general much of what you ask for can be done with plugins for ALSA. It's a matter of exposing it with a simple-to-use interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for this pointer. I'd searched Market a month ago when I first got my Epic looking for something like this and couldn't find it.
This handles 90% of the problem. Balance and an EQ would take care of the rest.
I found the ALSA prject Wiki... I'll take a look at this and see if maybe I can hack up an interface to make some of these more advanced features work. Don't hold your breath, gang -- I'm severely limited in time right now, but the holiday season is upon us, and I'll have some time to screw around...
I spoke too soon.
Unfortunately, MixGet isn't a general audio system solution, but apparently needs to be explicitly implemented to support specific apps. It boosts audio nicely for the music player, but had no effect at all for yxplayer (a streaming video player) -- and that's where I really need it!
However, boosting audio independent of the target app itself (i.e. no modification to the app is necessary -- it's unaware of what's been done to crank up the volume) is possible, so it's certainly possible to do this on a system-wide basis.
I saw some references to voodoo-audio working on some things like this. Anyone know what's going on there? I tried to find some stuff with a quick internet search, and could only find an SVN source management page.
Guys,
As Google has released the latest version of Android i.e. JB 4.3. Still we haven't fully aware what does it have.?
So i have collected few information about the same & sharing with you guys. Please help me to share more about the Android 4.3.:highfive:
This thread can be used as General Discussion Thread of Android 4.3.
- Android 4.3 restricted profiles explained
- What is virtual surround sound in Android 4.3?
- Improved photo-spheres will make their way to Android 4.3
- will add as and when receive any new about Android 4.3
Android 4.3 restricted profiles explained
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Android 4.3 might not be the most monumental update to Google’s operating system, but one of the more notable improvements heading our way in Android 4.3 is the upgraded features available in the user profiles section, which was first introduced for tablets in Android 4.2.
Essentially, restricted profiles will allow the device administrator to control exactly what each profile has access to. Google states that restricted profiles are ideal for “friends and family, guest users, kiosks, point-of-sale devices, and more”, so don’t expect to have unfettered access to store demo devices any more.
But the main benefit is definitely going to be seen by families, especially for those who are concerned that their kids could run up an expensive Play Store bill. Restricted profiles will allow concerned parents to turn off access to the Google Play Store or in-app purchases on their child’s profile, whilst keeping full access available for themselves.
The setup process seems simple enough, and is done in much the same way as setting multiple accounts in the older Android 4.2. Heading on over to Settings, then Users, will take you to the screen where you can add new users and edit the permission of existing ones.
From there, various results can be achieved by toggling the on/off options, such as restricted access to certain applications, and some apps have a wider variety of control available via a familiar settings button. This fine tuning allows you to adjust what Settings options can be seen and which apps can be accessed, which is helping if you want to keep the little tykes from messing around with some of Android’s more advanced features.
But the profiles aren’t just about controlling applications, each profile is granted an isolated space with its own local storage, uniquely customized home screen, widgets, and will store various other settings unique to each user, just like with the old user profiles.
What is virtual surround sound in Android 4.3?
Fraunhofer isn’t exactly a household name, but it should be, as the company is responsible for the invention of the ever-so popular MP3 format. But perhaps the company can earn some much deserved recognition with its latest venture, bringing theater quality surround sound to the palm of your hand.
The new Nexus 7 will be the first device to make use of Fraunhofer’s new technology, which will give users a cinema-esque surround sound experience through their headphones, internal stereo speakers, or with an HDMI output to their home theater surround systems. But why is this such a big deal?
You’ve probably noticed, when listening to stuff through your headphones, that although you easily have a sense of left and right panning, it’s very difficult to determine the depth of a sound. In other words, it’s sometimes hard to tell how far in front or behind you that sound originated from, which can ruin the experience when watching a high-quality movie on your tablet.
How it works
The best way to explain the theory and implementation behind this is to imagine a scene in real life. Each source of sound, such as a passing car or your TV, travels a different distance, reflects off different surfaces, and reaches your outer ear at a different angle to every other source nearby. These minor delays, reflections, and frequency differences, created by the shape of our heads and ears, allows our brains to pick out the location of the sound, giving it “depth”.
Cingo essentially creates a “digital space” for multiple sound channels (sources), by applying various digital filters, and other algorithms, to each sound, in order to replicate the experience that our environment creates in the real world. This process is called “binaural audio processing”, which is then combined with more traditional loudness optimization and equalization techniques, such as enhanced bass for headphones, to provide a more optimal listening experience.
Bringing it to Android
From the looks of things, Cingo will be heading to Android in the new 4.3 update, coming pre-installed with the new Nexus 7, and then heading to the Nexus 10, and hopefully other Android devices, once the new update starts rolling out.
Fortunately, Cingo should work will all Android devices which use the High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio codec, as this is what allows for the management of multiple audio sources on our handheld devices.
However, surround sound will only work with source files that contain multiple audio channels. In other words, we need 5.1 surround sound movies on our devices, it just won’t work with any old video or audio file. Fortunately, Google will be offering feature films through the Google Play Movies & TV service that support HE-ACC Multichannel in the near future.
If you want to know just how awesome surround sound and binaural audio can be, I’ll just leave this video link here for your listening pleasure.
Improved photospheres will make their way to Android 4.3
If photospheres are one of your favorite things about Android Jelly Bean, I’m right there with you. Taking a 360-degree shot is one of the coolest things about Android, and really sets it apart from other cameras on other platforms.
If photospheres are also one of your biggest annoyances with Android Jelly Bean, I’m right there with you. The photos don’t stitch together properly, and they often seem like you took them too fast or slow. It’s great when you get it right, but when you don’t, it’s an embarrassing headache.
Evan Rapoport, a project manager for Google Maps, announced today via a Google+ post that photospheres are greatly improved in Android 4.3. Stitching would be cleaner, and overall clarity will improve.
From the post:
First, alignment and stitching are much better, giving you more level horizons and fewer errors throughout the image. While environments with lots of moving things are always challenging, scenes like the one attached here with a long flat horizon are now much better. Second, we've improved exposure compensation for each individual frame, producing a beautifully exposed photo sphere. You can compare this to the previous versions that produced gray areas and inconsistent coloring in areas of high contrast (near the sun, horizons, buildings against blue sky, etc.).
Credit:
XDA users
Android Authority
Gsmarena
Phonearena
There are new stuffs not mentioned on the recent press event:
"Faster, Smoother, More Responsive
Android 4.3 builds on the performance improvements already included in Jelly Bean — vsync timing, triple buffering, reduced touch latency, CPU input boost, and hardware-accelerated 2D rendering — and adds new optimizations that make Android even faster.
For a graphics performance boost, the hardware-accelerated 2D renderer now optimizes the stream of drawing commands, transforming it into a more efficient GPU format by rearranging and merging draw operations. For multithreaded processing, the renderer can also now use multithreading across multiple CPU cores to perform certain tasks."
Source:http://developer.android.com/about/versions/jelly-bean.html
Do take note that it's the developer page and most changes listed are under the hood stuffs for developers. But yeah we're on xda so..
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Hidden Android 4.3 Jelly Bean codes reveal possible permissions manager and 4K video support in the future
Earlier this week, Google announced Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and as developers have spent time with it, they have come across hidden features that might be a sign of what could arrive in future iterations of the OS. The folks at AndroidPolice report about two such features, one which lets users control app permissions and the other is 4K video support.
The first feature is called ‘App Ops’, which essentially will allow users to control what settings or information a particular app will have access to. It sounds similar to the granular app controls available on iOS for some time, but the report says that Google’s version of permissions manager is far better.
Additionally, the report also talks about a couple of lines of codes that indicate possible support for XXXHDPI (640ppi) settings and assets in the near future. Now it is unlikely that tablets or smartphones which look good enough on 480ppi displays will get require XXXHDPI support. But it is good to see Google readying itself for next-generation HD displays.
Thanks to AP
[HOWTO]
Android 4.3 permission manager; what it is and how it works.
ndroid 4.3 is out! Even though it’s an incremental update at best, it still brought with it a number of enhancements and features, including support for 4k displays. However, that’s not all Android 4.3 was packing. Underneath the improvements we could see in Android 4.3 was a secret feature that is, for the time being, hidden. Much like the multi-user feature in earlier versions of Android, this hidden feature can only be accessed if you know where to look for it. So what is it exactly? It’s a Permissions Manager.
Okay, here’s some Android 101. When you download an app, the app usually requires permissions. GPS apps need to access your GPS so it can find your location. Most of the time, they make sense. Sometimes, they do not make sense. For instance, Facebook wants to read your call logs. We have no idea why Facebook would want to read your call log, but it does. The idea behind this Permission Manager hidden in Android 4.3 is to give you control over what permissions apps are allowed to have. So if you don’t want Facebook to see your call logs, you can tell it to stop.
As Android Police reports, this hidden feature is actually accessible to anyone who is running Android 4.3. So if you have that lovely update, this is available to you right now. Don’t know how to use it? That’s okay, we’ll tell you. If you have Android 4.3 and you want to try out this permission manager, here’s our how-to.
Step 1 – Have Android 4.3.
Step 2 – Download this application. This app will give you access to what is called “App ops”, which is the Permission Manager.
Step 3 – …
Step 4 – Profit!
I’m in the Android 4.3 Permission Manager. Now what?
That was easier than expected, right? So once you’re in the Permission Manager, you’ll need to know how to use it. The first thing you’ll see is a list of apps and 4 tabs. The tabs are Location, Personal, Messaging, and Device. These organize your apps based on what permissions they use. If you download Google Hangouts, it’s probably in the messaging list. Things like your camera app will likely be in device. You get the idea.
From there, you can select any app on the list. You’ll then be presented by every permission that app uses with a handy on-off switch. From here, you can turn various permissions on and off. Don’t want Facebook to read your call logs? Turn it off! Don’t want it to know where you are? Turn off the location permission. Keep in mind that the app will still work, it just won’t be able to do those things. So if you, for instance, check into places over Facebook, turning off the location permissions will likely make that feature much more difficult to use.
The last thing we’ll talk about is what the Permission Manager can see. As Ron Amadeo reports, some permissions don’t even show up until you use them in the app. In his example, the “Camera” and “read call log” permissions didn’t even show up until he imported his contacts into Facebook and then posted something with his camera. So keep in mind if you try it out, you may have to fiddle with the app a little bit to get all the permissions to show up.
Lastly, as you can probably imagine, this isn’t a fully working feature yet. While something simple like disabling “read call log” won’t do much of anything, other permissions in other apps can. If you disable the Camera permission in your camera app, your camera app will cease to function properly. If you disable Location in Google Maps, it won’t be able to find you in order to give you directions. There is a reason this is a hidden feature and that is because it is not ready yet. So if you do use the Permission Manager, you do so at your own risk.
Standard boilerplate aside, is there anyone who will be checking this functionality out? Or would you rather wait until it’s a live feature? If you want to discuss it, feel free to do so in our comment section.
So what other security enhancements does Google have in store for Android 4.3?
So what other security enhancements does Google have in store for Android 4.3?
We are glad you asked. According to JR Raphael, Google has been working on these security features for years. We’ll do a quick breakdown.
Starting with Android 4.2, there was a feature called Verify Apps that was added. This scans phones both downloaded and side-loaded to make sure they didn’t contain malware or pose a threat.
Verify Apps was eventually made available to all devices from 2.3 onward. According to JR Raphael, that’s 95% of Android devices running currently.
This now works in tandem with another older feature, the app scanner in the Google Play Store that scans apps as they’re submitted to Google Play to make sure they aren’t malicious. This is why you can always download from Google Play without worries.
All of these features are currently on Android devices right now.
But wait, there’s more. In Android 4.3 specifically, they have added yet another security feature called SELinux. This stands for Security-Enhanced Linux and it essentially keeps the important parts of your phone safe. Most notably the operating system. So there is protection everywhere.
Thanks to AP
https://plus.google.com/114519877662741226877/posts/Eay4Y5ikYcc
This is not written anywhere but JBQ was the one mentioned it.
Sent using GT-i9505~
override182 said:
https://plus.google.com/114519877662741226877/posts/Eay4Y5ikYcc
This is not written anywhere but JBQ was the one mentioned it.
Sent using GT-i9505~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the significant performance boost in 4.3 is probably bec. of this:
The new Nexus 7 (2013) with Android 4.3 includes support for fstrim, essentially idle garbage collection, which TRIMs the eMMC when a few conditions are met – the device is idle, screen off, and battery above roughly 70-percent. I’m told that TRIM support has been part of the eMMC standard since around version 4.2, it was just a matter of enabling it in software. The result is that the new Nexus 7 shouldn’t have these aging affects at all. Better yet, fstrim support has also been added to the old Nexus 7 with as of the Android 4.3 update, so if you’ve got a Nexus 7 that feels slow, I/O performance should get better after fstrim runs in the background. I'm checking on whether the other Nexus devices have also had TRIM support added. I would consider the slow storage aging problem fixed as of now, and Google took the eMMC and storage I/O performance issues with the previous Nexus 7 to heart for this version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7176/nexus-7-2013-mini-review/4
Review was about the 2013 Nexus 7 but the TRIM support is not just for that device but probably 4.3 itself. I have a Galaxy Nexus as well but haven't had the time to update it(wife has it), based on user feedbacks that I've been reading from the Gnex forums, 4.3 made it like it's JB 4.1.2 again and if you have a galaxy nexus you'll know that 4.2 made the device lag at some point. Having tested 4.3 leaks for about a day on the S4 I'm starting to think that the update really made significant boost in performance and definitely not placebo :good:
Thanks for all of the information
One thing is bugging me though.. I created a user profile and switched to it. Later I am not able to go back to the primary profile.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
debnath said:
Thanks for all of the information
One thing is bugging me though.. I created a user profile and switched to it. Later I am not able to go back to the primary profile.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is App OPS only available in Google Play edition on the HTC One?
Because I have 4.3 Dev edition and cant seem to find activities in the settings menu.
I wanted to start this thread to discuss Doze and its impact on reliability, primarily on safety applications.
I'd like to start with a general statement: the days of our devices being merely telephones are long behind us. We still call them cell phones, but as we - especially here - know, our devices are so much more. They truly are wearable computers. They're our music, our cameras, our navigators, our communicators, our personal databases.. and for some of us, safety equipment. And they must be reliable.
Now, battery life is important. No question about that. But.. and I'm trying to put this delicately.. Doze was forced upon us with no option to globally disable, and even "whitelisting" applications doesn't fully release them from the confines of the new battery management policy. For some of us, Doze has made our devices less reliable.
The application category I'd like to call attention to first is marine anchor alarms. For those who don't boat, anchor alarms monitor a vessel's position with the GPS. If the anchor drags a certain distance (and the boat moves more than it should), an alarm is issued to alert the crew to the danger. It is entirely possible to drift (particularly when anchored in current) without triggering the significant motion sensors, limiting even whitelisted apps to 15-minute GPS polls. A lot can happen in 15 minutes.
Obviously using a portable device as your sole means of anchor drag detection is not a wise idea. Yet, many people with smaller boats do it, because that's all they have. Some of us with larger vessels do it as well, with a secondary system as a backup (since anchor alert applications make it much easier to define the anchor scope and exclusion zones precisely). This is all very much beside the point.
This category of application can no longer function reliably on Android! As of Android 6.0, anchor alerts can no longer monitor the GPS position reliably 24 hours per day unless:
1. The device is plugged in (and the power supply hasn't failed), or,
2. The application uses media input/output (a battery-wasting hack).
Unlikely as it may be, it is possible that someone will lose their small vessel this summer because their device failed to notify them that they'd slipped off the anchor, even if they knew enough to whitelist the app!
This is a pretty serious regression, and there are others. AIS (Automatic Identification System) and radar warning apps that communicate directly with ship systems via IP are no longer reliable. Tasker can no longer respond to local events with a granularity better than 15 minutes. Sleep monitoring applications are broken as well. And this is after you've manually whitelisted these applications!
I don't want this thread to sound like a rant. Doze is a fantastic addition to Android. But I would like to get the conversation started so that more people recognize that it imposes a fairly significant cost for some people.. especially those of us with extended batteries who feel virtually no benefit.
I was hoping people could respond with:
1. Other categories of applications, or individual applications that are no longer reliable on Android 6+ (particularly those related to safety),
2. A "me too" if you want the ability in custom or official roms to a) completely/situationally disable Doze without root, or b) properly whitelist applications, and,
3. Whether or not you've personally experienced critical notification delays, missed alarms, or other negative effects you attribute to Doze.
If anyone does need to disable Doze in the meantime, there is a straightforward (not well documented) way to do it if you are rooted:
Code:
dumpsys deviceidle disable
The change is non-persistent.
I'll make clear at the outset that this is hardly a critical request, it's something minor that I just couldn't find any solutions for online. Regardless, everything ought to be customisable, ultimately.
Android has a built-in feature to duck audio streams whenever another audio stream (like a notification) plays at the same time. Most of the handling for this is done on a per-app basis, and so I suspect there is no way to customise this if the app itself does not provide options to do so (though this, again, should ultimately be customisable).
What I'm after, however, may be controlled on the system-level. A little backstory before I explain:
My girlfriend has an apple phone, and while I'm no fan of apple, there are a few little things about it I like. One of these is that the audio ducking fade is far smoother than on android, with a gradual curved fade lasting about half a second. On android, it seems to be a very rushed curve lasting maybe a tenth to a fifth of a second.
This concern may seem too trivial to even mention, but I think it makes a great difference to the perceived production-quality of audio, especially when presenting it to other people, and as I said, everything should ultimately be customisable.
so, my request is this: assuming the functionality is not hard-coded, how can I customise the ducking behaviour, specifically the ducking curve? If there is any way to manage other ducking features, so much the better.
If this is a feature that others might find useful, and it's possible to modify it with an app or xposed/magisk module, I would be willing to write one. I have plenty of programming experience, though it would be my first android app.
Thanks
I'd like to open a useful thread to know a well-working Call Recorder with the most recent OS matched to the respective phones because it looks like it is a very hard issue.
A 'well-working' Call recorder I mean that:
- can record both ends of conversation with no warning vocal message;
- can also record through bluetooth earpieces the other end of call;
- can access the contact's names and then you can have shown on your recording list the called contact name.
- no root needed.
umby75 said:
I'd like to open a useful thread to know a well-working Call Recorder with the most recent OS matched to the respective phones because it looks like it is a very hard issue.
A 'well-working' Call recorder I mean that:
- can record both ends of conversation with no warning vocal message;
- can also record through bluetooth earpieces the other end of call;
- can access the contact's names and then you can have shown on your recording list the called contact name.
- no root needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that what you want is not legal in all areas. Check the laws for your specific country and locality. Consent from all parties is sometimes required; at the very least, the most frequent requirement is that all parties to the conversation have to be aware that they're being recorded.
V0latyle said:
Keep in mind that what you want is not legal in all areas. Check the laws for your specific country and locality. Consent from all parties is sometimes required; at the very least, the most frequent requirement is that all parties to the conversation have to be aware that they're being recorded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Volatyle, many thanks for your reply! I wouldn't open a polemic about this, but my unique purpose is to get automated data in my phone (i.e. when I'm driving the car and I'm with my bluetooth earpieces, etc.) when I listen to the people giving me details about my errands, etc. and I can hear them afterwards.
I find very stupid this restriction because - if we like - we can record the calls anyway... I think that the responsibilities against the law is a different matter and the lawbreaker has to pay for the privacy violation then.
Furthermore, currently, it is allowed with many phones to record the calls through either the phone's earpiece or speakerphone by an app installed into the same phone! Thus, my thread - I think - has the reason to be open because I'm looking for a feature that is already present in the phones, but I'd like to optimise a working call recorder only with an simple bt device connected or contact names regularly shown (another very stupid restriction - I believe) .
umby75 said:
Hi Volatyle, many thanks for your reply! I wouldn't open a polemic about this, but my unique purpose is to get automated data in my phone (i.e. when I'm driving the car and I'm with my bluetooth earpieces, etc.) when I listen to the people giving me details about my errands, etc. and I can hear them afterwards.
I find very stupid this restriction because - if we like - we can record the calls anyway... I think that the responsibilities against the law is a different matter and the lawbreaker has to pay for the privacy violation then.
Furthermore, currently, it is allowed with many phones to record the calls through either the phone's earpiece or speakerphone by an app installed into the same phone! Thus, my thread - I think - has the reason to be open because I'm looking for a feature that is already present in the phones, but I'd like to optimise a working call recorder only with an simple bt device connected or contact names regurarly shown (another very stupid restriction - I believe) .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't say I was going to close your thread, I'm just making sure you're aware of the legality of it. Whether or not a phone has a recording app or recording functions enabled does not mean it is legal, and it is your responsibility to be aware of the laws in your area.