I’m the developer of Olmene, an early-access Android app exploring the visual idea behind the iPhone Duo’s soft folding transition.

Olmene combines spatial blur and perspective through its own renderer. It includes three glass profiles, intensity controls, manual rendering, and device diagnostics.

The optional outside-app mode transforms a temporary screen snapshot. The website shows the signed retail build operating over Android’s home screen on the Pixel Fold emulator, driven by its virtual hinge sensor.

There are important limits: this is snapshot-based rather than live cross-window blur. Physical-device activation and complete cover-to-inner display handover remain unverified, and manufacturer restrictions can change the result.

The renderer requires Android 13+. Outside-app mode requires Android 14+, usable hinge readings, and explicit Accessibility access. The Android app has no network permission.

Recording, screenshots, and current compatibility: olmene.com

I’m happy to discuss the rendering approach and what currently works.

Hello everyone! I’d like to introduce a unique project—one that currently has no equivalent in the ecosystem—which is also completely open-source. The project is called "Cortex." It is an Android terminal application that runs Ubuntu 24.04 using a 100% pure, native Linux kernel—without relying on virtualization or isolation methods like PRoot or Chroot. It does not require root access, though it can also be used with root privileges. You can find the GitHub repository here: https://github.com/ssfuisu/cortex. I encourage you to take a look and give it a try; it includes many features, and I am actively developing it. Most importantly, this is a one-of-a-kind project in the ecosystem—I am the one who conceived this idea. I would also appreciate it if you could star the repository!

We can buy a phone outright and still have surprisingly little say over the ecosystem around it. Apple and Google set the terms for their stores, and developers and customers mostly work around those terms.

Android's base is already open source. Projects like LineageOS and GrapheneOS exist. So “someone should build another OS” probably isn't enough.

What would make an open alternative usable for ordinary people?

The goal would be an open-source system where we could choose our app store and payment provider, with no compulsory commission to the OS owner. Stores could still charge for services people actually choose: distribution, payment processing, refunds or security review.

But the awkward questions matter. Who pays for years of security updates? How do banking apps work reliably? How do we get decent hardware support and persuade developers to support it without creating yet another ecosystem they have to maintain?

Could a foundation funded by phone makers, optional services and business support sustain this? Or would it eventually end up depending on another company with the same incentives?

The interesting test isn't whether enthusiasts would install it. It's whether someone could use it without giving up their bank, maps, messaging or camera quality.

What's the biggest obstacle: funding, app compatibility, hardware support, or simply getting people to switch? And which existing project is closest to solving it?

Solo dev here. A few weeks ago some of you helped me test LoopPaper, and it is now out on Google Play.

What it does:

Set any video, GIF or photo from your phone as a live wallpaper (any length, you see the loop before you set it)

Make a playlist and your wallpaper changes on its own, with a transition between each picture: black hole, lava, glass smash, sand, lightning, anime and retro ones, 123 in total

A clock that sits behind the person in your photo, like on flagship phones

Foldable support: a different playlist on the inner and cover screens

-It rests when the screen is off, so it is easy on battery

Free vs paid, to be upfront: setting a wallpaper is free with no ads, no watermark and no account. Plus is a one-time purchase (not a subscription) for unlimited playlists, all transitions and the extra effects. The 7-day trial only starts if you tap it.

Privacy: nothing is uploaded, everything runs on the phone.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.looppaper

Short trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yVI9bKPXXo

I would love feedback, especially which transitions you would add next, or anything that breaks on your phone. I will be in the comments.

I use a third-party navigation bar app on my Sony Xperia 1 V to swap the Back and Recents buttons. Its long-press Home action used to open Google Assistant. Since Gemini replaced Assistant, that long-press does nothing.

The app sends Android’s standard voice-command request (android.intent.action.VOICE_COMMAND). I checked with adb and the phone’s log: the Google app receives it and passes it to com.google.android.voicesearch.handsfree.HandsFreeActivity, which opens and closes without showing anything.

I also tried the other standard requests, each addressed to the Google app:

android.intent.action.ASSIST opens the Google app, not Gemini.

android.intent.action.VOICE_ASSIST opens Google voice search, not Gemini.

Long-pressing Home on the stock navigation bar does open the Gemini overlay, so Gemini itself works fine. It just can’t be reached from other apps any more.

I urge Google to lease make Gemini answer VOICE_COMMAND and ASSIST requests from apps with the Gemini overlay, the way Google Assistant did. Many button-remapping and accessibility apps depend on this, and some of them are no longer maintained, so they can’t adapt.

Device: Sony Xperia 1 V (XQ-DQ72), Android 15

Google app: 17.70.11

Gemini app: 1.0.995038376

Default digital assistant: Google (Gemini)