This Android live wallpaper brings you a bird’s eye view of your location

I’m all about beautifying the interface on my Android phone, and so I’m happy to report that I’ve just come across one of the best tools for livening up your wallpaper. All you need to do is move around!

Skyline, a fairly new live wallpaper app, grabs 3D terrain data from Mapbox for your exact location, so you can see what it looks like from high above wherever you are in the world. Here’s my home screen setup, with Skyline set to Yosemite national park:

It also includes parallax effects so you can see more of the area when you unlock your phone, swipe through screens, or tilt your device in different directions. You can also set any location on the planet to get a different background, and pan and zoom before you apply a new background.

Depending on where you point the app, the results can be breathtaking; I enjoyed looking for interesting landscapes by searching through the places listed in the r/earthporn subreddit.

If you enjoyed the overhead view live wallpapers that came with the Google Pixel 2 (which you can also install on your own Android device), you’ll want to give Skyline a go too. It’s certainly worth the $2 asking price for a world full of eye-candy. Grab it from Google Play.

Comments

Instagram now tells everyone when you’re active, here’s how to hide it

Another day, another feature nobody asked for. Facebook subsidiary Instagram has now enabled activity status in direct messages: this means that practically all of your friends will now be able to see w hen the last time you were actively using the app was. The feature rolled out as part of the latest updates for Android and iOS – so at least you know everyone is getting the same deal. In case you were wondering how this looks, Instagram now displays a line indicating the last time a user was active on its platform directly underneath their username. The activity status is currently only visible in direct messages. While some might find this change slightly annoying at first, it is not all that surprizing to see it in the main app. Indeed, Facebook integrated the same feature in its Messenger app ages ago. The good thing about the new addition is that Instagram has given users the option to opt-out from having their activity status visible to everyone. Here’s how...

Status report: Samsung’s Galaxy and the Android 8.0 Oreo update

Save 50.0% on select products from FIDECO with promo code 50EUHETH, through 7/3 while supplies last. So we entered the seventh month of the year over the weekend, and Android 8.0 has officially been out as the latest stable version of the Android OS for almost a year at this point. It was in late February that Samsung first updated one of its devices to Oreo . That was the Galaxy S8, and now, four months later, how far has the Korean company come in bringing Oreo to all of the eligible devices ? Samsung’s Galaxy and Android Oreo: Not yet at the finish line Save 70.0% on select products from LSXD with promo code 70AUE5W5, through 8/1 while supplies last. When it comes to flagships, Samsung has released the Oreo update for all of them. Those would be the Galaxy S8, S8+, Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Galaxy Note 8, and the Galaxy Tab S3. Samsung has also released the update for spin-off devices like the Galaxy S7 Active, Galaxy S8 Active, and even ...

Here’s how Elon Musk might use rocket thrusters on the new Tesla Roadster

Last week, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced bold plans to combine the technologies of his two biggest companies by placing rocket thrusters on future specialized models of Tesla’s Roadster. The thrusters won’t actually combust, according to Musk; instead, they will expel highly pressurized cold air, giving the Tesla an extra boost in acceleration. It’s a move the might technically work, but it also baffles industry experts and engineers: the thrusters won’t be very efficient and probably won’t be street legal. Specifically, Musk is talking about incorporating a key piece of hardware from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket — a tank known as a composite overwrapped pressure vessel, or a COPV. These bottles are made out of a thin metal liner that’s wrapped in carbon fibers, and they’re a great way to store a lot of pressurized air in a very small space. They’re also fairly lightweight, which is why many rocket manufacturers like using them to help pressurize their rockets. “IS...

Vc Tech

Search This Blog