IMPORTANT NOTE: Although this method has worked for me and a few friends, many people reported that it didn’t work on their phones. Try it at your own risk.

Before I jump into my guide of getting Google Wallet on unsupported devices, I should talk briefly about what is Google Wallet.

Google Wallet is one of Google’s many cool services. Its job is simple, you have a Google Wallet account that is connected to one or many of your credit cards. And then you can do online purchases through Google. Google Wallet for phones is even cooler; you can simply hover your phone on supported devices in stores and the transaction is done wirelessly. Here is a video that shows a transaction:

It is essential of course to have your account ready before going through all this. To get your Google Wallet working, visit using your PC Google Wallet’s website: http://www.google.com/wallet/ and then follow the instructions there.

Google wallet is not supported on all devices though. You are unable to install it on phones other than a few Nexus ones and some Galaxy phones like the Galaxy S3. I wrote a Guide to get Google Wallet on Samsung Galaxy S3 before. But here is a new way to get Google Wallet working on all phones.

How to get Google Wallet on Unsupported Phones:

The method is even easier than the old Galaxy S3 method. And it even works on all phones like the HTC One and HTC X by downloading an apk file.

Requirements of Google Wallet on Unsupported Devices:

1. Having an NFC chip in your phone. You can check your phone’s specifications at GsmArena.
2. Your phone must be rooted. If not and you plan on rooting, make sure you pay great attention to instructions as any mistake could delete everything in your phone.

Overview of the method:

1. If you don’t already have Google Wallet installed. Download it and install it.
2. Download and install the framework Xposed.
3. Download and install the module Patched Google Wallet.

Step-by-step Guide to get Google Wallet on unsupported devices:

Installing Google Wallet (if needed):

1. If you don’t already have it installed. Download the Google Wallet APK from here. (Latest update while writing this is 1.6-R96 v16)
2. Launch the apk file and hit install.

Installing Xposed:

1. Download Xposed apk file XposedInstaller_2.1.3.apk. (update:  XposedInstaller_2.1.4.apk.)
2. Launch the apk file and hit install.
3. Reboot.

Now that the framework is ready, you go ahead and install the module for Xposed.

Credit for making the Xposed framework goes to XDA member rovo89.

Installing the wallet module:

1. Download the apk file com.modaco.xposed.wallet.apk.
2. Install the apk you just downloaded.
3. Open up the Xposed app and enable the module you installed.
4. Reboot to get the google wallet on unsupported devices hack working.

Credit for making the module goes to PaulOBrien from modaco.com

This is it! Now just open the app and go through the basic setup. That’s all you need to get Google wallet on unsupported devices.

TL;DR:

Download and install: Google Wallet APK
Download and install: XposedInstaller_2.1.3.apk (or 2.1.4.apk)
Download, install and enable: com.modaco.xposed.wallet.apk

Random example 1

Android wallpapers are different than the normal concept of wallpapers due to the scrolling of screens. Many people get confused by this but after spending sometime reading and trying different dimensions, I came to understand that it’s as simple as multiplying the width by two. It becomes tricky sometimes with the on-screen buttons because in some cases you’d count that space and you won’t in other cases.

Random example 2

Whether you’re looking for Galaxy s3 wallpapers, Galaxy s2 wallpapers, Nexus 4 wallpapers, or even any Android wallpapers. The multiply by two rule always applies.

Correct and incorrect dimensions

You have the right to totally judge me on the theme of these Android wallpapers. Some of them are very simple, some of them are nature wallpapers, and some of them (well, at least I believe) are just beautiful wallpapers. And I’m sorry to disappoint you guys who are looking for some NSFW wallpapers. It’s just not my style.  But here are some screenshots of all the wallpapers so you can get an idea of what you’re about to download:

I tried my best to get the wallpapers exactly in the correct resolution. But since some ROMs make use of on-screen buttons bar, it was difficult to come with a one-solution-for-all. Most of you won’t have to crop the wallpapers though.

Android wallpapers downloads:

Nexus 4 wallpapers:

Download here.

Nexus 7 wallpapers:

Download here.

Samsung galaxy s3 wallpapers and Galaxy Nexus wallpapers:

Download here.

Please feel free to share this on Facebook and twitter. Your sharing and support motivates me

Nothing too special about this update of Pandora except the lock screen controls. Also the interface has been slightly updated to include a progress bar with seconds remaining of the song. And the buttons for skips and thumps up and down are still the same.

As a reminder, this modification has been done only to the interface of the widget. The code hasn’t been touched and the functionality of the app is still exactly the same.

I hope I don’t disappoint you when I say that if you are looking for unlimited skips, you will not find it here. I personally pay for Pandora One now and I’m really happy with the service and recommend you to do so also. After all, if you use it for more than a few songs a day, that’s like paying a few cents for a few songs.

To Install this apk, do the following:

• Uninstall the current original Pandora from your Android phone.
• Download the Pandora transparent widget apk that I made and install it.
• Sign-in and you’re set!

 Note: If you get a massage saying that you can’t install the transparent widget, do the following:

Go to Android Settings.
Enter the Security menu.
Put a check at Unknown Sources so that Android will be ok installing apk files from sources other than Android Market.

Pandora Transparent Widget

You can download the pandora transparent widget from here, and feel free to share it among Android people :). And remember to subscribe to my RSS feed to get the updates as soon as I make them.

Download.

With the new 1080p screen resolution, I had to get back to my library of the Android wallpapers that I made. And resize all of them. Of course the way the Android wallpapers work is still the same. I have discussed before that to get the fully optimized and perfect Android wallpapers. You will have to get the screen resolution, and then multiply the width by two. Sometimes though it gets tricky to determine the exact wallpaper size because of the on-screen buttons. Sometimes the bar is just black, but some ROMs make it transparent and then it’s possible to use that space for the wallpaper too.

For the case of the Galaxy s4 wallpapers, the height is 1920 pixels, and the width is 1080. So by multiplying the width you will get with the wallpaper resolution size of the Galaxy s4. That is: 2160 x 1920.

This is such a huge number of pixels for a relatively small screen size. But the 5.0 inch display of the Galaxy s4 packs a sweet number of ppi. 441 ppi to be exact. This makes the Samsung Galaxy s4 wallpaper super crisp and detailed.

Galaxy S4 wallpapers

The wallpapers that I choose and modify are usually very minimal. I try to leave space for the widgets of the Android launcher. With such simplicity, you will get very beautiful wallpapers for Android and very efficient interface. Of course, this is the main reason for the popularity that my wallpapers get.

Samsung Galaxy S4 wallpapers:

To use the Samsung Galaxy S4 wallpapers, you will need to download the zip file in your phone and unpack it using any file explorer like ES File Explorer.

Download here.

Android has some advantages and disadvantages in this field. On one hand, Android has full freedom of complete multitasking. You can have so many things running in the background checking for mails, services, new posts on different websites, or even Air pressure reporting services. On the other hand, this luxury doesn’t come for free. This makes every background service consume some CPU, memory, and therefore battery. That’s the reason that made me look into the best Android battery saving methods. And I can say I found out great results about the best battery saver app for android!

First, let’s talk about how to measure correctly how well you’re doing with battery. The best application to do so is called BatteryDrain. First of all, the app looks great with the holo design. And it’s also very simple. The concept is by measuring how big the percentage you’re losing per hour. So if you lose 20% of your battery every hour, your smartphone’s battery will last for only 5 hours. While if you lose 5% per hour, that’s gonna be 20 hours of battery life! In this day and age, 5% is considered a good percentage on average.

Here are two screen shots of my battery drain. One while using the phone (around 15%). And another while idle after doing the adjustments in this guide (around 2%)
compared to 

The guide of Android Battery Saving:

There are three methods: First Google Maps location reporting, which is easy, effective, and doesn’t need rooting. And then the two great applications, DS Battery Saver and Greenify.

Disable Google Maps location reporting:

The simplest and easiest way to save battery on Android is to disable the continuous location reporting in Google Maps. It also does not need rooting. Location reporting is enabled by default in all Android phones and it uses the GPS and the data connection. This makes it one of the biggest battery consumers in your phone.

To disable Google Maps location reporting:

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Go to the Settings.
3. Select Location Settings.
4. Uncheck the “Report from this device” option.

Here is a screen shot for how to do so:

DS Battery Saver:

The concept of this app is so simple and it has received a lot of good feedback as one of the best Android battery saving apps. Simply, whenever your phone’s screen is off, your phone will go in a cycle of shutting down all background data for a while (1 hour by default) and then activate the data connection for a little bit to fetch emails and notifications (1 minute by default).

I have set mine to a cycle of (turn on data connection for 1 minute every 15 minutes) and while it’s not that aggressive, it still has improved my battery a lot. You can download the app here.

DS Battery Saver Pro tips and recommendations:

Put your streaming apps like Pandora (oh and btw, transparent widget ;)) and TuneIn Radio in the white list. This way you’re going to have data while you’re listening.

Greenify: (requires ROOT)

Greenify is a very interesting app for Android battery saving. It puts apps you select into deep sleep (or hibernate) while the screen is off and they’re not in use. This is so useful when you have random applications running in the background checking for stuff. So now facebook won’t check for messages unless you open it. And weather apps won’t check unless you open them. And everything actually is not even gonna be running and consuming any battery unless YOU want something from it. I recommend putting as much apps as possible unless you actually care about getting updates from some apps in time. Like some people want real-time Whatsapp updates, or real-time reddit message notifications. Greenify in my opinion is the best battery saver app for android. It can be downloaded here.

Greenify tips and recommendations:

Do not Greenify your widgets. You will forget them Greenified but they will be still visible, except with old outdated information.
Do not Greenify music players, Pandora, and radio apps. While listening to music the apps will randomly get hibernated and you will get mad!

If you like this guide on Android battery saving, feel free to share it to your friends who (most of them ;)) own Android phones.

Cheers!

If you’re like me, you like your phone for minimum tasks. And your tablet for the rest of the apps, then you’d really want to get Whatsapp on your Android tablet. It saves your phone’s battery, space, and just gives you a chance to focus on your daily life instead of having many people sending you stuff that most likely can wait until you get home.

Whatsapp on an Android tablet guide:

What you need:

• ROOTED Android phone (Although, someone has commented that it can be done without root using carbon backup instead of titanium)
• ROOTED Android tablet, such as the Nexus 7 or Nexus 10.
• Whatsapp activated on your phone.
• Titanium Backup.
• ES File Explorer (Or any capable file explorer like Solid Explorer for example)

Step-by-step:

1. Backup Whatsapp’s data on your phone using Titanium Backup.
   This can be simply done by opening Titanium Backup. Then go to the “Backup/Restore” tab on the top. Click on Whatsapp and then click “Backup!”.
2. Send the backup files using ES File Explorer.
   If you have the paid copy of Titanium, just slide to he right and select “Send latest backup…”. But if you don’t have this feature, open ES File Explorer and navigate to (sdcard/TitaniumBackup/) and then multi-select the three files that start with (com.whatsapp.). Then hit the menu button and select share. You can send them using Gmail to yourself.
3. Download the files on your Android tablet and move them to Titanium’s folder
   If you open the Gmail app it’s gonna give you a message that you can’t download the file. Open Gmail using your browser and download the three files. Then open ES File Explorer and navigate to (sdcard/download/) and select the three files. Now move them to Titanium’s folder on your tablet. It’s usually (sdcard/TitaniumBackup). You’re almost ready to get Whatsapp on an Android tablet
4. Restore the backup to get a working copy of Whatsapp on an Android tablet.
   Now when you open Titanium Backup you should find Whatsapp in the apps list. Just click on it and then hit restore.
5. (IMPORTANT) disable or uninstall Whatsapp on your Android phone.
   If you have two copies of Whatsapp. Whatsapp on an Android tablet AND Whatsapp on a phone, messages will get to only one of them! You should deactivate one of them so you wont get messy.

This is a video guide that I made on getting Whatsapp on an Android tablet:

النسخة العربية من الفيديو هنا

If you have any questions, hit me up. And feel free to tweet and share this for support so I’d make more. Cheers!

I have to mention though that Android 4.2 is required to be able to run this widget.

As I have explained before, one of Android’s strongest features is its main screen’s interface and widgets. And since Android 4.2, it’s been possible to have widgets in the lock screen as well. Not all widgets though are allowed in the lock screen unless they were programmed to be so. Custom ROMs though allow having any widget but I believe that it causes bugs. Another method is using WidgetLocker app but I tried to like it and couldn’t. It just doesn’t feel smooth.

DashClock on the other hand feels extremely smooth and it is by far the best Android lock screen widget I have seen. As any lock screen widget, it comes minimized by default and can be maximized too. Here are some screen shots to show the two mode and how they look:

This lock screen widget gives you exactly the simplest most important information you need to see the moment you take your Android phone out of your pocket.

However, the only thing that I thought was missing from this widget was displaying the battery level. But the widget has the ability to add extensions! This means any developer can make an app that throws some information in there. And there is already an extension to show the battery level. This is the one I tried, and here is another one too. And of course there are so many other extensions already.

This is the extensions screen:

Click here