A pretty handy dev over at XDA has gone about themeing some of the stock Google apps. The team over at Google are pretty keen on using white spaces through their apps. Owners of devices that sport an OLED or AMOLED display such as the Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 (examples) prefer black colours on the display. It's not just because black looks cool, it certainly does. OLED screens consume battery depending on how much of the display is lit up. If the background is white that's quite a bit. So having black apps should (in theory) dramatically increase battery life. 

So what apps have been themed? 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Dropbox
• ICS Keyboard
• Gmail
• Market
• Music Player
• Google Translate
• Google Documents
• Google Voice
• Google +
• Google Talk

The apps are for Gingerbread and should not be flashed on Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich. You must have root to do this as the stock apps need to be removed before flashing the new ones. To remove the stock apps use an app like Titanium Backup.

Don't bother flashing these apps if your device uses an LCD display. It won't save you any battery. If you like the look though, why not.

Head on over to XDA to check them out.

Source

So some of you are no doubt patiently waiting for your device to get Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). Those of you that don't want to wait are looking to custom ICS ROMs which will be out before any official firmware update. In fact the official updates will be around in early 2012 at the earliest. Some devices will have a longer wait. If you don't want to wait and your device is rooted, head on over to XDA Developers. A member of XDA has started a thread that details a list of devices that have a custom ICS ROM and what status they're at. You'll be pointed in the right direction for your device. 

What are you waiting for? Head over to XDA now to see whether your device has a working ICS port. 

XDA ICS AOSP thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20139152

So you've rooted your phone and you're noticing that your battery is not what it used to be. Well you're in luck. Reason number 151 of why it's great to have a rooted phone with Clockwork Mod Recovery. You can wipe your battery stats from your recovery. Why would you do this? Believe it or not, your battery has a memory. You've no doubt only half charged your phone before which is not conducive to a long lasting battery life. Well this little trick will reset the memory on that battery of yours. 

• Charge your battery to full
• Boot in to clockworkmod recovery
• Go to advanced on the menu
• Select 'Wipe battery stats'
• Select 'Yes' and you're all done
• Reboot your phone

I do this maybe once every month or so to keep it fresh. Happy flashing!

Ice Cream Sandwich builds are starting to appear for various Android phones. These are being ported directly from the ICS source and not the SDK. It's good news. If you do try out an ICS port, be sure to let us know your experience. The following are the devices that have an ICS ROM and the link to the ROM thread. They are work in progress and are all AOSP ie. they don't have the manufacturer UI's on the top. 

• Google Nexus One
• HTC Desire
• HTC Desire HD
• HTC Hero
• HTC Hero CDMA
• Samsung Nexus S
• Samsung Galaxy S i9000

Happy flashing!

Source: XDA