I'm confused by this new feature that is being touted. I keep seeing conflicting reports:
Some claim that the "Okay Google" command works from the home screen (meaning the device must be on and unlocked)
Some claim that the "Okay Google" command works exactly how it does on the Moto X (meaning the phrase will wake the phone from sleep)
It would seem like a pretty useless feature to have if it only activates once the device is unlocked. And even if it is the other way, will this work on any Kit Kat device or just ones with a special low powered processor?
kyleallen5000 said:
I'm confused by this new feature that is being touted. I keep seeing conflicting reports:
Some claim that the "Okay Google" command works from the home screen (meaning the device must be on and unlocked)
Some claim that the "Okay Google" command works exactly how it does on the Moto X (meaning the phrase will wake the phone from sleep)
It would seem like a pretty useless feature to have if it only activates once the device is unlocked. And even if it is the other way, will this work on any Kit Kat device or just ones with a special low powered processor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understood,it only works when screen is on.
If it was meant to work exactly how it does on the Moto X, there would have been an altered version of the Snapdragon ( e.g. X8 ) because otherwise this is a major battery consumer. The always-on ability seems to be reserved for the Moto.
I think currently only N5 supports this and N4 support will come later, but I am not sure about that.
https://plus.google.com/106533248943352121512/posts/GANAWjSGM32
Looks like yes.
Eluveitie said:
From what I understood,it only works when screen is on.
If it was meant to work exactly how it does on the Moto X, there would have been an altered version of the Snapdragon ( e.g. X8 ) because otherwise this is a major battery consumer. The always-on ability seems to be reserved for the Moto.
I think currently only N5 supports this and N4 support will come later, but I am not sure about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was under the impression that the snapdragon 800 chip was designed specifically with an 'always listening' feature. that one of the 4 cores is kept at low power specifically for this always listening feature
yahoowizard said:
https://plus.google.com/106533248943352121512/posts/GANAWjSGM32
Looks like yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
--ish. The screen has to be on in order for it to listen. Without security (a PIN or Pattern, etc) it'll listen at the lock screen.
I use the slide unlock screen, so yes for me. No for those who use a pattern or PIN lock.
On one of the KitKat (official) pages it mentions that voice actions work on the homescreen and when in the Google Now app. The google search widget says in it "Say 'OK Google" and so does the Google Now app. So I am fairly sure it won't be included.
That being said, the CPU should be able to use the always listening feature. I really hope some devs are out their porting it right now. I have a $5 google play voucher from eating a kitkat to spend which I am willing to buy a donation app that provides always listening functionality.
This is exactly how it works on the G2. Screen has to be on for it to work.
Enddo said:
i was under the impression that the snapdragon 800 chip was designed specifically with an 'always listening' feature. that one of the 4 cores is kept at low power specifically for this always listening feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, but theres no low power dedicated core for OFF screen listening.
Eluveitie said:
Yea, but theres no low power dedicated core for OFF screen listening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are right. so far it seems to only be on the home screen and in the google now page
Actually, the Snapdragon 800 processor does support 'always listening' and has a dedicated chip for it. And according to this post by "The Verge" after an interview with one of Google execs, it looks like the 'always listening' feature will be added with future updates, or that's at least the impression he gives off when reading this article. Looks as if updates will be coming mid-Novemeber.
Ugh, I can't post the link to the page because I don't have '10 posts" yet.
after typing theverge.com/ -- follow it by typing in this:
2013/10/31/5051458/android-kit-kat-bring-big-updates-to-google-now-and-speech-recognition
Related
There really should be a pinned thread for utter disappointed features and/or people.
I am not returning my new SW2. Its too cool to have the lamest, inept and funtion-killing GUI cause me to give up. ** But I bought a Pebble watch the same day because (the SW2n currently):
- can not function as a watch. It does but it goes to sleep VERY fast. WAY too fast. This is completely unacceptable. If I want to drain my f*ing watch and be able to read it all day, I should be able to!!! Put a warning on the settings area.. like: WILL DRAIN BATTERY VERY FAST or something...
- Can not finish reading my incoming sms. Maybe you dont know the girl I am dating but she WRITES A LOT... and this may not be normal amounts ... I really mean a lot. And SONY clearly has NO IDEA about this.
- AND continuing from the above point, it goes back to the f*ing CLOCK in sleep mode. SHOULD dim and remain on my screen until I SAY OTHERWISE. NOW I have to press the power button and NOT make it power off buy accident (another STUPID DESIGN) and make it activate, press the home button and then the stupid function messaging button. NO LOGIC FLOW HERE. I have to read 5 or 6 TXTs by now.
- CAN NOT read the messages in order without going BACK and opening the messaging app again. At least that seems to be what I had to do. I might have missed proper procedure here but if that is true, shame on SONY for lacking a more intuitive operation.
The Poweramp app is cool when it works. It should STAY active. I DONT CARE about anyone else or what slogan SONY wants to claim about battery life. I want FUNCTION my f*ing way. I use Poweramp all the time. But it is not able to stay on my watch, active? Total shame.
The ONLY app I kept on my watch is the custom watch faces. It allwos me to keep the display on until the dumbwatch, overthinking watch disconnects from my RazrMaxx/4.4 Dhacker29 ROM.
So in conclusion, This watch completely fails at being a watch. Fails at running apps because it times out WAY TOO FAST. Fails at every possible area other than fitting well.
Maybe your accelerometer is faulty. It should not timeout when on hand, actually it dims and always shows time.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
jmaciak said:
Maybe your accelerometer is faulty. It should not timeout when on hand, actually it dims and always shows time.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.
deitiphobia said:
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...
jmaciak said:
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not a troll. At least I am not trying to be a troll. I do feel slightly underwhelmed buy my experience so far.
And maybe my accelerometer needs checking? If it is supposed to remain on (the screen) for more than 5 seconds when I am wearing it and trying to read something, then yes, something is wrong. Maybe the watch doesnt know when it is on a troll arm?
deitiphobia said:
I hate to be the guy to say it, but is the OP trolling us?
I have the smartwatch 2, just got it yesterday, and what the OP is saying makes no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
What he is saying actually makes perfect sense, especially on this forum - we are not the average, marketing-targeted user and we like to use our devices any way we please, without being limited by design hickups. And we are more sensitive to design flaws and marketing bs than the average consumer.
Sony missed and even lied about basic features and is not allowing, at least so far, anyone to tweak with this product's FW.
In my experience the watch proved very useful ONLY IF YOU ARE NOT RELYING SOLELY ON IT for most of your work - i, for one, would not like to read my correspondence on such a tiny screen and prefer to use the phone instead - but it would sure be nice to know that I CAN use the watch if i wanted to.
Fortunately, while driving a motorcycle, for example, getting a hint of the message content usually suffices for me to determine if i need to pullover and get my phone out, provided i get to see the screen before it times-out, which is another awkwardly missing basic function.
I will, however, hold on to the SW2 for now in hopes that Sony will straighten things the way they should.
Sent from my LT25i using Tapatalk
i agree fully with the OP as well
if i didn't know better, i would suggest posting your opinions on talk sonymobile, but as i already did that and got NO reply from Sony, i guess it would be just a waiste of time
that's my biggest problem with Sony right now: no communication
(although i must admit most manufacturers suck at communicating with their customers, try finding out when the Butterfly s is getting 4.3/4.4, not a chance)
I actually agree with the OP, there are some features that could be included in the settings menu like timeout duration or stopping the watch default to the watch screen every time it goes into standbye especially useful if travelling and using features like poweramp - you need 3x button presses to bring the poweramp screen back on and if you have a messaging app open (reading messages) it should prevent the watch from sleeping
and how fecking hard is it to develop a few watch face designs with different colours etc
TBH I think Sony are in the process of designing a totally new Smartwatch for release in early 2014 and have completely dropped the ball with this one
well, there was an update today, so i guess they didn't drop it completely
update looked good at first, but disappointing anyway
-only 1 extra watch face that's usable, i still want the abilty to design/choose my own watch face
-the option to use the light sensor for brightness is nice, but i'm glad it's optional, don't like it
-music app update totally messed it up (used to work for me)
-camera app update didn't do anything for me, still does nothing
-still no selectable timeout, huge issue for me
---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 PM ----------
Find It for SmartWatch by AQ i purchased also doesn't work anymore
argh, their own Find Phone Smart Extension ALSO doesn't work anymore!
JarlSX said:
their own Find Phone Smart Extension ALSO doesn't work anymore!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK I suspect that problems might occur pairing the SW2 with a non-Sony smartphone.
But please let's keep the discussion in one place only, so we can better compare these findings:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2554874
i think i know why the watch can't dim while still displaying an app
those apps don't really run on the watch, they're just displaying what's happening on the phone (that's where the app is installed)
so for a watch-app to work, the watch is constantly communicating with the phone
such a connection will probably drain the watch very quickly
only the watch part can run independently, so that's why it always goes back to that screen, to save power
this is of course just what i think
FWIW, the screen on time can be controlled by the app. I use and app called IPBike for cycling which runs on the phone. This app allows you to use the watch as a head unit on the bars. It has an option to keep the watch screen on for the entire ride.
jmaciak said:
Well it can timeout and go totally blank ... try it, put them on the table and do not move the watch/table and it will dim and then go completely blank after a while, because the accelerometer sees it's not on the hand. So if OP's accelerometer is faulty, it might behave this way ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should it really go totally blank/black? Mine is only dimmed out and showing clock face all the time, but really dimmy. And it is on the table...
Oh it does, took some time, longer than i expected...
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk 4
not looking for an accurate measure here - just experiences from people doing trial and error
the way i get it, if Hotword detection is on, the phone ALWAYS listens incase you say a hot-word, as if the microphone is always on and a software to detect the words is always on as well
my quesition is, is this REALLY a huge battery drain as it sounds? or am i just being silly
i would prefer to keep it on but not at the cost of major battery usage
Caniv said:
not looking for an accurate measure here - just experiences from people doing trial and error
the way i get it, if Hotword detection is on, the phone ALWAYS listens incase you say a hot-word, as if the microphone is always on and a software to detect the words is always on as well
my quesition is, is this REALLY a huge battery drain as it sounds? or am i just being silly
i would prefer to keep it on but not at the cost of major battery usage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly it only works from the homescreen so it's not always on. Secondly the snapdragon 800 has a low power feature dedicated to things like these. It's very similar to the dedicated cores in the X8 in the motorola x.
So in short, it uses a negligible amount of battery especially compared to something like the screen.
DevourDarkness said:
Firstly it only works from the homescreen so it's not always on. Secondly the snapdragon 800 has a low power feature dedicated to things like these. It's very similar to the dedicated cores in the X8 in the motorola x.
So in short, it uses a negligible amount of battery especially compared to something like the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks buddy
kind of a disappointment it only works in home screen, no way to tweak and make it work when screen is off?
Caniv said:
thanks buddy
kind of a disappointment it only works in home screen, no way to tweak and make it work when screen is off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately not yet. That's something the moto x has though so the devs are looking into porting the software over because the hardware capability is there already.
Caniv said:
thanks buddy
kind of a disappointment it only works in home screen, no way to tweak and make it work when screen is off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're into voice commands, check out utter!.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Anyone have this problem? I've enabled it in the voice settings to allow Google Now detection to always be on no matter what screen it's on, even at the lock screen.
The feature works on the Nexus 7 but doesn't work on my Nexus 5. Is there a way to force it to work or some kind of settings I can toggle to get it to work?
It would be brilliant is someone could port the OK Google with the screen off, adaptive display and double tap to wake !
jingletard said:
Anyone have this problem? I've enabled it in the voice settings to allow Google Now detection to always be on no matter what screen it's on, even at the lock screen.
The feature works on the Nexus 7 but doesn't work on my Nexus 5. Is there a way to force it to work or some kind of settings I can toggle to get it to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly... didn't think the Nexus 5 hardware supported it as it doesn't have the low power processor. Secondly, on my nexus 9 it didn't work until I rebooted the tablet?
For me it works well...! I can say "Ok google" in the homescreen, when i'm on the browser and so on...even on the lockscreen, but obviously not when the screen is completely off.
mingoid said:
Firstly... didn't think the Nexus 5 hardware supported it as it doesn't have the low power processor. Secondly, on my nexus 9 it didn't work until I rebooted the tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Al snapdragon 800 processors have that low power always listening chip
mingoid said:
Firstly... didn't think the Nexus 5 hardware supported it as it doesn't have the low power processor. Secondly, on my nexus 9 it didn't work until I rebooted the tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically it does have the low power core, however it's being utilized as a pedometer.
sorcio91 said:
For me it works well...! I can say "Ok google" in the homescreen, when i'm on the browser and so on...even on the lockscreen, but obviously not when the screen is completely off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll work with the screen completely off in you enable all 3 options. However the phone needs to be plugged in for it to work with the screen off.
jingletard said:
Anyone have this problem? I've enabled it in the voice settings to allow Google Now detection to always be on no matter what screen it's on, even at the lock screen.
The feature works on the Nexus 7 but doesn't work on my Nexus 5. Is there a way to force it to work or some kind of settings I can toggle to get it to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^
RoyJ said:
Technically it does have the low power core, however it's being utilized as a pedometer.
It'll work with the screen completely off in you enable all 3 options. However the phone needs to be plugged in for it to work with the screen off.
^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what it is! Thanks. it doesn't work if the device isn't being charged.
Anyone know if this is going to change?
The Moto X 2014 has a 801 and works with the screen off unplugged. It has to be achievable. That phone doesn't have any special chip besides the 801.
801 is just an overclocked version of 800... some dev should be able to port it from Nexus 6 or Moto X 2014
TigerCourage said:
The Moto X 2014 has a 801 and works with the screen off unplugged. It has to be achievable. That phone doesn't have any special chip besides the 801.
801 is just an overclocked version of 800... some dev should be able to port it from Nexus 6 or Moto X 2014
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong, the motox 2014 does have a special chip for that.
Motorola Mobile Computing System including 2.5GHz Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM 801 with quad-core CPU (MSM 8974-AC), Adreno 330 @ 578 MHz GPU, Natural Language Processor, Contextual Computing Processor
https://www.motorola.com/us/motomak...6M78H3z8ECFYataQodl4gASw#moto-x+1-story-specs
I am pleasantly surprised to find out that Ok Google will wake up and unlock the Pixel 2. Is this one of the few phones now that this is possible? I know from an awake phone it's possible but it works on my Pixel 2 unawake ?
ghettopops said:
I am pleasantly surprised to find out that Ok Google will wake up and unlock the Pixel 2. Is this one of the few phones now that this is possible? I know from an awake phone it's possible but it works on my Pixel 2 unawake ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't understood the second question.
But you can wake up and unlock your phone in many old devices like the original Moto X (2013) the Nexus 5X and 6P (2015) and some Samsung Galaxies and Motorolas. It doesn't matter for how many hours they were resting with the screen off.
Not all the manufacturers enable an always listening feature in their phones hardware and also have a Google app with the OK Google always on option.
(Example: my ex Z5 Compact didn't have this feature).
So phones must have activated the Snapdragon voice activation and prepare the Google app to enable this feature or something like that.
Battery life is practically not impacted by this feature in general. But of course each feature pulls some of it.
Active Display (Ambient Display Always On) and Always Listening (Say "Ok Google" at any time) are essentials features to me that work when the phone is resting in deep sleep.
And they both appeared with the original Moto X by Motorola/Google as far as I remember. (Best ergonomic phone ever as well)
Sent from my Pixel 2
I thought the Nexus had to be charging for that. I know the Moto did.
In Nexus 5 this was not supported. But in 5X and 6P it was working and perfectly. I've been using this function since the 5X. I always use this for create reminders or set timers for the pasta cooking time etc.
I don't know about the Nexus 6
Now in the Pixel 2 I'm suffering sometimes a PIN request I don't know why. Might be for more security.
Sent from my Pixel 2
when you say it will "wake up and unlock" you're referring to the phone being locked with pin / pattern / etc. and the screen is off, correct?
yes, most phones that i'm aware of will not do this unless the phone is plugged in or the screen is on.
however, some other phones do have other options e.g. the samsung phones can "wake up and unlock" to s-voice or bixby and once unlocked you can say "ok google".
Whether I use the squeeze feature or the "ok google" feature, the assistant will work but the screen won't come on like it used to on my pixel xl. Is this normal? I contacted google support and they seemed to think it may be a flaw but didn't really know. I'm trying to figure out if it's just my phone or a software thing across the board.
I guess this is true then and I think it sucks. I use this feature daily and it was one of the main reasons I came to Android!
https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/10/19/pixel-3-drops-support-voice-match-unlocking/
That's one of the reasons I don't have a pin/pw lock screen...unless I'm traveling.
Squeeze and "ok Google" both waking screen while locked on mine although i did have to retrain the voice in google settings.
Pixel 3 XL
Just Black
64gb
I think I saw that screen unlock with voice, Google is doing away with on the pixel 3 probably because of security issues because I saw that they are starting to do a special Authentication whenever you are at la bank website or something it's new.
galaxys said:
That's one of the reasons I don't have a pin/pw lock screen...unless I'm traveling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do mine the same but the issue persists. So you aren't having trouble?
dontbeweakvato said:
I think I saw that screen unlock with voice, Google is doing away with on the pixel 3 probably because of security issues because I saw that they are starting to do a special Authentication whenever you are at la bank website or something it's new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that it doesn't recognize my voice, it does that fine and performs what I ask. The problem is that the screen stays off for some reason.