Android

PARANOIDANDROID custom Galaxy Nexus ROM makes it a true tabletphone

Paranoidandroid

Android runs in one of two modes, phone or tablet. What a lot of people don't know is that switching from one to the other is actually possible, giving you a tablet with a phone UI or vice versa. That problem with doing that is that it creates a device that is trying to be something it isn't. PARANOIDANDROID is a new custom ROM for the Galaxy Nexus that aims to do tablet mode on the 4.65-inch device differently – by creating a hybrid mode. 

The developer's "mission statement" is very clear about this ROM not just being tablet mode. As he says, tablet mode is normally done by, well, switching to tablet mode. Then you have a device that has essentially completely forgetten it was a phone, and that's not ideal either. "So the magic must be in between somewhere, a place that Google must have overlooked and left blank. Yes, this rom strives to drop your device into tablet mode, but it won't stop there, it will reshape and redefine ICS to make it all a usefull addition and not just a cute novelty. i'm calling it: Hybrid Mode, best of both worlds"

The ROM is still very new, being classified as pre-alpha, so this is going to be for those who want to be in on it from the start. With this being a custom ROM, for those who aren't read in on that side of Android, it basically means that you have to hack your phone. That's something some people will never do, while others change ROMs more often than they change socks. 

Even though I don't have a Nexus, this is one custom ROM development I'll be following closely – because it frankly makes me wish I had a Nexus. We see more and more large phones for Android, with devices like the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note being so large that it makes devices like the 4.65-inch Nexus average in comparison. Despite this, Google isn't really treating a ~5-inch phone any differently from a ~3.5-inch one, and that can lead to a lot of the advantages of a large device simply fading away. I can tell you from having a 7-inch Android tablet that there's a lot of things from the tablet side of Android that devices like the Note, Nexus, HTC One X, and the rest of the large phones would benefit greatly from. One of them is simply being able to use a dual-column layout, instead of having e.g. an email app where folder sleection and message list are on different screens altogether. Hit the source link to check out the screenshots in the second post and you'll know exactly why this makes me wish I had a Nexus. 

[XDA Developers forum]
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Andreas Ødegård

Andreas Ødegård is more interested in aftermarket (and user created) software and hardware than chasing the latest gadgets. His day job as a teacher keeps him interested in education tech and takes up most of his time.

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