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Please advise. Captivate issues galore...

Hi all. I just got a Captivate after using Mattc on my HD2 and I used an Aria for a couple weeks as well. I used Mattc on the HD2 for a couple months and really liked it. I understood it was running from the SD and lived with the other issues like slow wake up and occasional goofiness.
So when I got my Captivate I was thinking, wow, I'll have one of(if not the) fastest Android phone on it's native hardware. Everything should rock. I should be blown away... Not.
HELP!
The brightness settings. WTF! Why did they implement like 10 ways the brightness screws with your day. On my HD2 w/Mattc I set the brightness in settings to where I wanted and it stayed. Forever. Also when it hits 10% it kicks the brightness all the way down. 10%? Com on maybe 5%. But what is worse is when it does kick it down I kick it back up but it dims again at every percent it goes down. ANNOYING. Please let me control my phone... Oh and don't get me started on the Browser brightness. Huh? Even with the browser brightness set at max it's still dimmer than my regular brightness setting. Noticably. I only keep my brightness at like 75-80% too.
Also what the hell is with the lame Calendar notification settings? Are there any?
My question is this. Is there any ROM out there that will strip all that Samsung ideology and give me a stock Android experience. Especially without the brightness issues. Why do I need to slide my notification bar to change brightness? All it does for me is just cause my brightness to vary accidentally when I don't want it to.
Why must I add on programs for my Calendar alerts to function normally? Why?
So again. Is there a ROM out there that will strip all the Samsung goofiness? If I can't get this phone to work like I want I'm going to sell it and look for a Telus HTC Desire to use on ATT. HTC phones are the best man. IMHO
Thanks.

juiceppc said:
The brightness settings. WTF! Why did they implement like 10 ways the brightness screws with your day. On my HD2 w/Mattc I set the brightness in settings to where I wanted and it stayed. Forever. Also when it hits 10% it kicks the brightness all the way down. 10%? Com on maybe 5%. But what is worse is when it does kick it down I kick it back up but it dims again at every percent it goes down. ANNOYING. Please let me control my phone... Oh and don't get me started on the Browser brightness. Huh? Even with the browser brightness set at max it's still dimmer than my regular brightness setting. Noticably. I only keep my brightness at like 75-80% too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turn off auto brightness and pick a setting you like. Done.
Also what the hell is with the lame Calendar notification settings? Are there any?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what lame is, but I use my Google calendar and I can set notifications. I get notified. Is there a specific problem you have?
My question is this. Is there any ROM out there that will strip all that Samsung ideology and give me a stock Android experience. Especially without the brightness issues. Why do I need to slide my notification bar to change brightness? All it does for me is just cause my brightness to vary accidentally when I don't want it to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no stock Android experience. Android is just the core - Samsung, HTC, etc, they all add specific things in order for their specific hardware to function. If you don't want what comes on your AT&T Captivate, then you can root and uninstall the apps you don't like, flash one of the many, many cooked ROMs available on this forum (just look around - they are everywhere, and all with great pictures and descriptions and huge threads full of information), tweak settings to your heart's content, or anything else you want to do.
Why must I add on programs for my Calendar alerts to function normally? Why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any add-ons and I get my alerts. What exactly isn't working for you?

Auto brightness has been off. First thing I do-
I do not get audible alerts when a Calendar reminder goes off-(and there is no where in settings to change/check this)
I had to install "Calendar Snooze" to play an audible alert for a Calendar reminder-
Phone is at 10% now fully dimmed. Nice... Considering how bad the battery life is for this phone(for me) I'll be spending a lot of time with the screen fully dimmed.

juiceppc said:
Auto brightness has been off. First thing I do-
I do not get audible alerts when a Calendar reminder goes off-(and there is no where in settings to change/check this)
I had to install "Calendar Snooze" to play an audible alert for a Calendar reminder-
Phone is at 10% now fully dimmed. Nice... Considering how bad the battery life is for this phone(for me) I'll be spending a lot of time with the screen fully dimmed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try reading a little and you will see you can set the brightness at where you want it by un-checking the automatic brightness setting..Then you can swipe along the status bar to raise and lower the brightness..It will stay where you had it set IF the automatic brightness is unchecked..Where you have the slider at will be the brightest it will swipe to..
Set your alerts to something you can hear and turn up the volume..They work fine.
Battery life is not a issue provided you follow some advise..Bump charge it 1 time and then use it till it drains down to single digits before recharging...also make sure you back out of all programs and turn off wi-fi and gps and syncing when you don't need them. Loose any task killer program you have and run it stock..you will find your battery life is excellent..if not you may or may not have a bad battery..Lastly..if you are really dissatisfied with it..take it back..
Good Luck
Mac

In regards to the brightness, turn off auto brightness and the 'power saving option.', that should solve your issue.
As far as removing the AT&T bloatware goes, try Unleash the beast.
If you want to run Froyo try flashing a rom, I used the latest version of Cognition.

Run far away from this phone if you still have the chance.

MikeyMike01 said:
Run far away from this phone if you still have the chance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Broad-brush damnations do nothing to help anyone.

Mac11700 said:
Try reading a little and you will see you can set the brightness at where you want it by un-checking the automatic brightness setting..Then you can swipe along the status bar to raise and lower the brightness..It will stay where you had it set IF the automatic brightness is unchecked..Where you have the slider at will be the brightest it will swipe to..
Set your alerts to something you can hear and turn up the volume..They work fine.
Battery life is not a issue provided you follow some advise..Bump charge it 1 time and then use it till it drains down to single digits before recharging...also make sure you back out of all programs and turn off wi-fi and gps and syncing when you don't need them. Loose any task killer program you have and run it stock..you will find your battery life is excellent..if not you may or may not have a bad battery..Lastly..if you are really dissatisfied with it..take it back..
Good Luck
Mac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. Although I have done all of those things. I'm kind of coming to one real main pain point that I can't seem to solve. The screen dimming at 10%. Does anyone know how to disable that? Even if I kick the brightness back up after it dims at 10% it will redim at 9% and so on...

Bitter. But hopeful.
Picsman said:
Broad-brush damnations do nothing to help anyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, running away from this phone does seem to be good advise. It doesn't mater how slick it is in theory. Uber display and kickass hardware are useless if the basic functionality suffers due to glitches most of the other options don't seem to exibit.
I decided to play the "mod and wait" game with this thing, and I'm regretting it. Broad-brush damnations would have helped me. At this point, enough issues have came up about this hardware that a "broad-brush" sticky may be warranted. The alert issues found by the OP, may be related to his speaker begining to fail. I had a similar issue. Calander and alarm notifications began failing in some apps, but not others. The phone would still ring. Some apps could still use the speaker. Within a week, nothing could use the speaker, and I had to do the "push-on-it" fix.
It's a forum. Posts are opinions. I've been impressed occasionally by the raw performance of this phone. Yet, I've also spent hours, hours, researching problems, applying fixes, flashing, pushing on the speaker, etc. And I've spent hours "waiting" for the thing to do something simple like send an email when it did fine the day before. With as much time and effort as I've put into researching and working on this phone, I feel like I (and others) have not gotten enough stability out of it.
I propose a broad brush damnation for this phone: "slick but intermittent".

fshalor said:
Unfortunately, running away from this phone does seem to be good advise. It doesn't mater how slick it is in theory. Uber display and kickass hardware are useless if the basic functionality suffers due to glitches most of the other options don't seem to exibit.
I decided to play the "mod and wait" game with this thing, and I'm regretting it. Broad-brush damnations would have helped me. At this point, enough issues have came up about this hardware that a "broad-brush" sticky may be warranted. The alert issues found by the OP, may be related to his speaker begining to fail. I had a similar issue. Calander and alarm notifications began failing in some apps, but not others. The phone would still ring. Some apps could still use the speaker. Within a week, nothing could use the speaker, and I had to do the "push-on-it" fix.
It's a forum. Posts are opinions. I've been impressed occasionally by the raw performance of this phone. Yet, I've also spent hours, hours, researching problems, applying fixes, flashing, pushing on the speaker, etc. And I've spent hours "waiting" for the thing to do something simple like send an email when it did fine the day before. With as much time and effort as I've put into researching and working on this phone, I feel like I (and others) have not gotten enough stability out of it.
I propose a broad brush damnation for this phone: "slick but intermittent".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha. Thanks for the ,.. opinion. I'm starting to feel the same way about this phone. I had super high hopes. But I'm really going to stick with HTC. They just get it. IMHO.

I think most people regret buying this phone. Or they will, when FroYo never arrives, the lag gets worse and worse, the phone dies on them, and the GPS never come close to working, the market decides not to intall your app, this, that, or the other thing force closes, etc. etc. etc.

MikeyMike01 said:
I think most people regret buying this phone. Or they will, when FroYo never arrives, the lag gets worse and worse, the phone dies on them, and the GPS never come close to working, the market decides not to intall your app, this, that, or the other thing force closes, etc. etc. etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm froyo is already leaked and OTA is on its way.
Lag has never been an issue.
And GPS is a software fix... proven on these boards over and over.
SHEESH... I'd say go tell somewhere else.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

yeah, 5 million people are completely dissatisfied because one guy managed to not know how to operate his phone.....

MikeyMike01 said:
I think most people regret buying this phone. Or they will, when FroYo never arrives, the lag gets worse and worse, the phone dies on them, and the GPS never come close to working, the market decides not to intall your app, this, that, or the other thing force closes, etc. etc. etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your wrong. I think quite a few people got defective phones and haven't bothered returning them,thinking that if they root it and flash a different rom that would magically fix a broken phone. This is XDA and folks here mostly do this..thus the reason for most of the complaints. Problem is..it won't change much of anything to reflash if the phone is defective..If it is broken to begin with..it will be broken no matter what you do to it.. If yours is defective..quite *****ing about it and get one that isn't..or a different phone entirely. The working ones are great..just like they are supposed to be.
I have 2 of them built in September..both work and neither is defective.This tells me many of those built prior have some issues..perhaps not all of them..but some of them certainly. This certainly doesn't make it right by anyones account..just saying if yours is defective..return it and get one that isn't.
I honestly don't understand people who have the option of doing this,not doing it.The folks at my AT&T store opened 7 different boxes and checked every one of them for any blue tint on the screen and having the 3 button recovery option..for my second one bought at the same time,so I do know there are many out there that ain't working properly..The OP of this thread..is unhappy with it..damn..loose it and be done with it if you are that unhappy..or take that one back and get them to open up the boxes and show you one that works properly...If it was bought mail order..then you should just return it as defective and get your money back..and buy where you can see it first..It's your choice...and your money.
Mac

[Q] App that tells time when asked

I'm rather near sighted so unless I duct tape the alarm clock to my head I have no chance in hell to actually see the numbers displayed on it at night without contacts or glasses. I've been looking around for app that does one simple thing: tell me the time when i say "time" (or something similar).
My search so far has come up mostly short. I found an app that tells me the time when I shake, touch, or wave my hand over the device. There are also half a million bad Siri knockoffs that will tell me the time if I push a button. However what I really want is an app that monitors audio the entire night and doesn't need to be prodded in any way to notice me speaking to it.
There has to be something out there that can do this. I mean, the built in voice thing responds to "hi galaxy" which could in theory work if it would just understand when I ask it for the time. There are also sleep recorders and such apps that obviously don't mind monitoring audio all night long, as long as you plug it in so power isn't an issue.
Does anyone have any ideas for such an app?
EDIT: If I'm to be very feature-greedy I also wouldn't mind if it turned on the LED when I say "lights" or something like that, but I imagine that's more than just a little bit unlikly to exist
EDIT2: Forgot I was in a general part of the forum, so just to be clear, will be using this on a galaxy s ii or galaxy tab 7.0 plus

The device doesn't really matter, such app should run on any device.
I like the idea!
I will give it a shot after my exam on thursday, but no promises , already have some cool ideas .
You should be aware that this is not battery efficient at all and if your phone is not connected to a charger it might run empty during the night.

Dark3n said:
You should be aware that this is not battery efficient at all and if your phone is not connected to a charger it might run empty during the night.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, as I said that's what sleep talk monitors require too.
I did actually find something...on my iPad. There are a couple of apps like that on iOS. I ended up with one where you simply clap to hear the time. Hasn't been updated in ages but still works. There's another one that you actually say "time" to but I think you need to say its name to wake it up first, so didn't even try that one.
Would definitely prefer to have it on Android though, so would be awesome f you got something working
EDIT: decided to buy the other app for iOS just to make a video as a reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXgS0aW10v8
Seems that development simply stopped on that one. Not been updated in ages. Having to say "hello kei" every time is indeed annoying

Spent my first night with the clap activated clock on the iPad. Wow, this truly makes a world of difference to someone like me who's practically blind without glasses or contacts. Ended up waking up a few times during the night, especially close to the time to get up, so being able to get the time without fumbling around for glasses and actually waking up in the process literally made it easier to sleep too

Sony SmartWatch Impressions?

Has anyone bought the "updated" smart watch? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I might buy one from Expansys USA.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

Early reviews online and on amazon are pretty positive. I purchased and returned the liveview due to connection issues. These seem to be a non-issue on the updated smartwatch. I ordered through expansys and will hopefully be receiving the unit this week. I can reply with my personal opinions.
I hope the xda devs pick this device up and come up with some great apps. One obvious one would be a timer/stopwatch app.

I just got it today, so my impressions are sort of limited to my limited use of it today...
I'd say overall impressions are "So far so good". Definitely feel this is a worthwhile device that will only improve with time.
Pros:
1. Much smaller than the MotoACTV and actually feels/looks like a normal wrist watch on your hand.
2. A much needed accelerometer screen activation was added I believe in the latest update (it doesn't mention this feature in the manual nor in any review I have seen). Basically all you do when the screen is off is tap the device anywhere twice really quick. I've noticed sometimes if you tap it too slow or not hard enough and then do it the right way immediately afterwards, that it won't register the correct way and you have to wait like 5 seconds to try again. Not that big of a deal.
3. Screen looks pretty good. A little pixelated due to the low resolution but text is still readable.
4. So far no problems losing sync with the phone.
Cons:
1. Smartwatch app notification icon ALWAYS stays on in the notification bar of your phone when the watch is connected. Needs to be an option to disable this.
2. The touch screen malfunctions with at least one default Sony app that I've seen so far: the Phonebook (Contacts) app. I think this must be something with how Sony designed the app, as other apps I've downloaded function perfectly normal with all the gestures (multitouch, swiping, taps). IT'S HORRIBLE. Can't swipe between screens at all with this. Actually accidentally texted someone on the first screen of contacts the default "Call me" message as I was swiping to the second screen of contacts. The text went through though, so I guess that's a plus because the person called me immediately lol.
3. The charging cable and the way it just fits in the clip to stay connected is probably the worst charging design I have ever seen... should have just used micro-usb... If you aren't careful when setting the watch down while it's plugged in, you could accidentally put an angle on the cable which will ensure that it doesn't make contact with the charging leads.
4. No default email app yet. Only one that exists is for Sony phones
5. Music player could be improved a bit. No control over albums/folders (at least with the Google Play Music app). Very generic play/pause, volume, and next/previous track options. Doesn't show album art with Play Music on ICS (really? This is the default app that probably the majority of Android users use!!).
6. Sometimes if the phone is busy doing other things, you will notice on the watch that the icons take a while to show up (generic icons are shown instead of the specific application ones), which basically is exposing the fact that the apps aren't stored on the Smartwatch itself... which means that if your phones processor is bogged down, so will app responsiveness on the watch itself.
7. No voice search app or widget! Whether we have the phone sitting in our car in speaker phone mode, or have a blue tooth headset on, we need a dedicated voice search activation button widget! I am planning on sitting down one day to make one. This will be especially handy once we have the Google Assistant app (Siri competitor), not to mention how useful this would be to initiate calls to people while driving instead of using the HORRIBLE touch screen contacts app.
8. No microphone in the hardware! This sort of goes with #7 above.

Just got this thing in the mail here at work, well FedEx. Haven't really messed around with it yet. Loaded a few apps, so far so good! Will report back later on anything else I find.

yeh i just got mine today
still fiddling around with it
i look forward to updates
i also noticed the messaging app doesnt sync up constantly
like in the events app,i can get a new message notice and read it,but go back to the messaging app,and it shows older texts....
and theres some other minor quirks,like when the phone rings you can mute it, hang up, but not answer it
would be cool if there was a microphone and i could carry on conversations like im james bond

Dude wait for the pebble: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android

I just hooked mine up today and had all kinds of problems keeping it connected. I am running a Galaxy Tab with the newly released CM-9 nightly. The apps I have tried work: in call control, missed call, audio control, message, and weather. The problem I have with the set up is that it keeps disconnecting as soon as you try and do anything. Originally it wouldn't re-connect reliably, I then found the Liveviewcharm application which allows it to reconnect all the time. So far, I would give it a C+ in my particular configuration but I am hoping.
YMMV, it seems people with other configurations are having less problems. It would be a good idea if people siad what kind of phone and what software they were running.
By the way, the reason the software leaves an icon in the status bar is so that the background app won't get shut down by the OS when it needs memory.
Fred

guih said:
Dude wait for the pebble: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive seen the pebbles,plus if you donate u can get one now right?
but what makes it so better than the Sony?
like the pebbles watch is only black/white or monochrome?
---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 PM ----------
ffarber said:
I just hooked mine up today and had all kinds of problems keeping it connected. I am running a Galaxy Tab with the newly released CM-9 nightly. The apps I have tried work: in call control, missed call, audio control, message, and weather. The problem I have with the set up is that it keeps disconnecting as soon as you try and do anything. Originally it wouldn't re-connect reliably, I then found the Liveviewcharm application which allows it to reconnect all the time. So far, I would give it a C+ in my particular configuration but I am hoping.
YMMV, it seems people with other configurations are having less problems. It would be a good idea if people siad what kind of phone and what software they were running.
By the way, the reason the software leaves an icon in the status bar is so that the background app won't get shut down by the OS when it needs memory.
Fred
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what exactly is liveviewcharm? i find it on the net to download,but absolutely no description of what it is or what it does
Im using Samsung galaxy note with the watch. Stays connected fine unless im a ways away from the phone of course

Been very eager to get the original liveview, but heard about the various connection problems. Now this one seems to have that fixed Normally, I would have got this right away, but the pebble is quite interesting too. So since some of you have the smartwatch could you answer some of my questions please?
* Most importantly, how does this affect battery life? I pretty much destroy my battery in a matter of hours, I don't want this to turn my phone into a laptop where I'd need to charge it every 2-3 hours
* When the bluetooth connection drops, what happens? I know the smartwatch doesn't need the phone for clock functionality (unlike the liveview). So does it just show the time?
* I'm not good with coding and stuff, the smartwatch would be the better option for support right?
Thanks

FC1032 said:
Been very eager to get the original liveview, but heard about the various connection problems. Now this one seems to have that fixed Normally, I would have got this right away, but the pebble is quite interesting too. So since some of you have the smartwatch could you answer some of my questions please?
* Most importantly, how does this affect battery life? I pretty much destroy my battery in a matter of hours, I don't want this to turn my phone into a laptop where I'd need to charge it every 2-3 hours
* When the bluetooth connection drops, what happens? I know the smartwatch doesn't need the phone for clock functionality (unlike the liveview). So does it just show the time?
* I'm not good with coding and stuff, the smartwatch would be the better option for support right?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't really comment on battery life as I am using a tab which has a battery that lasts 24 hours no matter how I use it. Having said that as I far as I can tell there is no difference. I suspect on a phone with a smaller battery your results won't be as good.
The watch tries to reconnect automatically when the connection drops. The Liveviewcharm (clicky) app makes the reconnections much more reliable. The description is in Japanese, you will have to cut and paste the text into Google translate if you can't read it (I couldn't). Basically it is an app that stays running and monitors Liveview connections (which the SmartWatch uses). I can't be any more detailed than that.
I doubt that Sony support will be terrific but there is nothing to code. It mostly just works the way the instructions say. You do have to download each app you want to run on the watch but that is straightforward.
Fred
---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 AM ----------
SayWhat10 said:
ive seen the pebbles,plus if you donate u can get one now right?
but what makes it so better than the Sony?
like the pebbles watch is only black/white or monochrome?
---------- Post added at 09:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:09 PM ----------
what exactly is liveviewcharm? i find it on the net to download,but absolutely no description of what it is or what it does
Im using Samsung galaxy note with the watch. Stays connected fine unless im a ways away from the phone of course
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my post above for a brief description of liveviewcharm, it does help. Good to hear the watch works well with a Note. Maybe subsequent releases of the CM-9 ROM will clean up whatever is wrong with the communications with watch.
One other thing, it is very hard to read in sunlight, one reason the Pebble could be better (when and if it is released).
In any event, I like the idea so much I signed up for a Pebble and may even buy a WIMM to give that a try. The problem for me is that I use the Tab as my only device and sometimes it is very cumbersome just to get out and see who is calling, etc.
Fred

Phone: Galaxy Note
Comment: This is my first smart watch.
And I love it. And guys this is Sony brand. It's important for lot of people. (Maybe is chip, but at least is Sony!)

Pretty cool watch.

avetny said:
Phone: Galaxy Note
Comment: This is my first smart watch.
And I love it. And guys this is Sony brand. It's important for lot of people. (Maybe is chip, but at least is Sony!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently you didn't experience Sony Ericcson's epic abandonment of their MBW-150 watches. Everyone's display has faded to black and Sony refuses to repair or replace them.

JimSmith94 said:
Apparently you didn't experience Sony Ericcson's epic abandonment of their MBW-150 watches. Everyone's display has faded to black and Sony refuses to repair or replace them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DAAAMN !!!
---------- Post added at 08:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------
Guys I need help !
When I shaking my watch the screen going to ON. It's supposed to be like that ?

avetny said:
DAAAMN !!!
---------- Post added at 08:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:37 PM ----------
Guys I need help !
When I shaking my watch the screen going to ON. It's supposed to be like that ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean that the watch wakes when you shake it?
That's actually a feature I was hoping to see. I used to have a watch that would turn the light on when I flicked my wrist This would be a nice feature, since you won't need to have another hand to activate it.
So @owners of this watch, is that a feature of the watch?

FC1032 said:
You mean that the watch wakes when you shake it?
That's actually a feature I was hoping to see. I used to have a watch that would turn the light on when I flicked my wrist This would be a nice feature, since you won't need to have another hand to activate it.
So @owners of this watch, is that a feature of the watch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! I think you right! Its a cool future

Smart watches are gonna get out SONY from bankrupticy. Lool
They really suck past few years trying to build something special. but only they did good is Play Station

I don't like the look of the Sony smart watch, Pebble actually looks cool to wear and in the video on the website is an actual demo unit so it will happen and rock. Plus, they have nearly 6 million backers already, do you know what that is? Lol the development on that thing will be so strong and so good.

guih said:
I don't like the look of the Sony smart watch, Pebble actually looks cool to wear and in the video on the website is an actual demo unit so it will happen and rock. Plus, they have nearly 6 million backers already, do you know what that is? Lol the development on that thing will be so strong and so good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pebble got black and white screen. This is stupid.

avetny said:
Pebble got black and white screen. This is stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trade-off with battery life...
Fred

[RANT] - Lollipop is not great, but tolerable

I was very excited to see this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...w-to-update-to-g900voc4-5-0-keeproot-t3068546
So, I pushed ahead thinking that Lollipop has already been in the wild long enough, surely the initial kinks like WiFi drops and battery hogging have been resolved. No such luck, and after doing it, it looks like I'm going to have to do this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784880
Lollipop is horrible. My phone no longer does one of the most basic things that's been around since the G1: Go (the F) to sleep! Seriously?!?!
Here are my other problems:
-Phone doesn't sleep on its own if timeout set for longer than 30 seconds (and even then, it's not reliable)
-WiFi doesn't reconnect after sleep (when sleep even happens, which is only when I push the button to force it). I have to toggle WiFi off/on to reconnect.
-Battery drain is pretty bad. My first month with the S5 had me barely even thinking about charging. Now, with Lollipop, I feel like I'm back on my old HTC MyTouch!
-The silly way they implemented the lockscreen. Here's my problem: I can ONLY use Settings > Sound and Notification > While locked with the option "Do not show notifications". Why? Any other setting blocks the Owner Information (Settings > Lock screen > Owner Information). If I don't, and if I'm unfortunate enough to have lost my phone, yet fortunate enough to have it found by a good samaritan, I better hope I haven't miss any calls or received any messages in the meantime. This one REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS because it's a horribly-implemented Feature ... at least the others are unintended bugs, but somebody had to give this one the green light.
-I can't adjust the icon sizes anymore. There used to be a choice of large or small icons.
-Oh, and for some bonehead reason, Samsung decided their stock ROM wouldn't have the Lollipop built-in flashlight icon.
-Another intentional feature that I can't disable: the phone keeps a history of recent activity that persists through reboots. YUCK! Why can I not disable this?!?! Again, another bonehead call that somebody had to green-light, without even considering the possibility that I might want to turn it off!
-All the UI "polishing" and improvements don't mean a thing to me, I want it to work.
I found all of the above in less than 24 hours on Lollipop! I might lose my s**t entirely if I keep it for much longer.
Here is my take on why:
Google and Apple are in a heated race to the top. They wrongly assume that what will set each apart from one another is almost entirely dependent on what a few bloggers say about some hot new feature. The paradigm appears to be something like: "Who cares if millions of loyal subscribers lose functionality when we want 100 people to have this one obscure and half-baked feature?"
Latest != Greatest
-----
EDIT:
I've had a change of heart on this. It's not too bad, I just needed to adjust a few settings and live with the other issues.

I too do not like the lolli. Bad battery life, and for some reason the Heart rate monitor led turns on whenever anything is within a half inch of it. I just can't figure that out, but it sucks the battery like a red led vampire!
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium HD app

Tldnr
Don't start a thread just to complain

Lmfao when I saw that link and clicked it, I actually had that same thread opened moments before opening this thread because I, too, am having to go back to KitKat. I laughed for a good 20 seconds. Lollipop is freaking terrible at the moment. Zero customization and Google + Samsung are forcing too much garbage on us without giving any bit of customization.

mygraine said:
I too do not like the lolli. Bad battery life, and for some reason the Heart rate monitor led turns on whenever anything is within a half inch of it. I just can't figure that out, but it sucks the battery like a red led vampire!
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heart rate monitor thing was fixed in OC4 I think, but if it still goes off a factory reset will fix it.

Agree
OP, I agree with you. It probably is the first version without the definitely improvement overall for users. It is risky to upgrade and troublesome if it didn't work out well on your devices. Wish Android 5.1 could be better than Kitkat overall.

I have absolutely no problems with the lollipop. I always had it stock from the start and just let the OTAs take over on their own. Have you tried even rebooting into recovery and wipe cache? Even though it's not a custom recovery you can still do that, also even when you dirty flash nightlies that's something that's good practice. My wife's phone had similar issues that I wasn't experiencing, until I did that to her phone and now she's having no problems. Now the general annoyances of how Samsung implemented ****, I understand, it's stupid with not having native flashlight, tethering is annoying having to use foxfi, and the lockscreen.. bleh. But other than that, everything is actually working like it is supposed to

Chiming in, Yes it's bad.
I have two lines with Verizon, both with S5 phones on them. Great device, its actually the first Android phone I've had that I did not do anything with beyond the out of the box experience. That changed when Lollipop was pushed via OTA, the most prominent issue I experienced on both of my S5s is general responsiveness issues, simple things like switching apps or launching apps sometimes would leave me with a white screen for between 5-10 seconds, an eternity especially when the device was lighting fast on 4.4.4 Kitkat. I followed every suggestion from wiping the device in Android, Wiping in recovery, wiping cache, all of these with only marginal improvements. It really is a shame that Google / Samsung did not do a bit better quality assurance on this build before it was pushed out to carriers and ultimately peoples devices. It says something that other carriers skipped 5.0 and that very rapidly 5.1 surfaced on Newer devices / Nexus devices.
As of last night both of my phones are Odin'd back to 4.4.4 and its like having a brand new phone. Sure, there might not be as much polish, but there are no features I will die without having. The only one that I can say I do miss is the feature where the device will disable the lock screen when your smart watch or home WiFi is connected.
Here's to hoping that Google eventually gets Android 5 right in the optimization department and that Samsung picks it up for the S5, and that Verizon gets it ready for OTA before I am ready to move on to a new device. Not interested in the S6 at all for its sealed nature for storage and battery, but that's for another thread on a different day.
-Nate

I Have to agree. I've given it several chances to perform to expectations but it just fails.... ( insert sad puppy face here ) no matter what I have tried it just under-performs and the biggest thing is the horrible battery life. Sooooo yeah like most of the other commentators in this thread, I'm moving back to 4.4.4......

Unfortunately/fortunately, I have found most of my battery issues were solved with a factory reset. I'm more frustrated that Samsung seems to having issues with Android Auto.

ldeveraux said:
Tldnr
Don't start a thread just to complain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Observations, not complaints. Getting these points out in the open is an essential stepping stone to getting them fixed. Maybe, just maybe, a Producteer or architect at Google has read this by now so they know what to improve next time. Problems cannot be solved until they are defined.
---
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.

CaptainRewind said:
Observations, not complaints. Getting these points out in the open is an essential stepping stone to getting them fixed. Maybe, just maybe, a Producteer or architect at Google has read this by now so they know what to improve next time. Problems cannot be solved until they are defined.
---
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, go start a petition, just like the bootloader guys, see how far it got them? No one from google reads your complaint threads and regrets their work...

ldeveraux said:
Yeah, go start a petition, just like the bootloader guys, see how far it got them? No one from google reads your complaint threads and regrets their work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess that was wishful thinking.
In any case, it seems this thread was a complete waste of time. It made me feel better at the time, but looking back on it and the purpose of this site, it doesn't add any value or help anyone modify their phone. Not only that, one of my primary reasons for the OP was the screen lock issues which turned out to be an app, not the Android version.
So, I stand corrected. Live and learn. Enough said.

My wife would never let me root her phone ever. After this update either I find a way to go back a few with root or it goes against the wall. Looks like I have to start reading and figure out how to do this.

Lol I love how you described it. Sometimes you have to vent. Lol

CaptainRewind said:
UPDATE:
The issue with the screen not sleeping was actually related to the "Show CPU Usage" setting in the app "OS Monitor". I've used that for years on previous Android version with no problems. In Lollipop, it must be disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to share where this app is?
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

dk-v1 said:
Care to share where this app is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eolwral.osmonitor&hl=en
It's a great app, but something about it staying active in the Notification Bar keeps the screen awake. I still use the app, just can't keep the notification active in Lollipop.
And in case it isn't obvious, even though I still have my concerns about Lollipop, I never did go about the procedure of downgrading. It looks like a risky procedure, and I don't want to trip Knox, or worse, have a brick.

CaptainRewind said:
This is the one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eolwral.osmonitor&hl=en
It's a great app, but something about it staying active in the Notification Bar keeps the screen awake. I still use the app, just can't keep the notification active in Lollipop.
And in case it isn't obvious, even though I still have my concerns about Lollipop, I never did go about the procedure of downgrading. It looks like a risky procedure, and I don't want to trip Knox, or worse, have a brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so it's not a stock app. I am still having poor battery life and overheating issues.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app

Simply awful software. Just me?

Hi,
Coming from a Moto Z and before that a 6P.
Ok... I didn't intend to hate this phone but... Why are notifications broken? Why dont PocketCasts playback controls work?
I know this is "1 aspect" but to me notifications are vital and i simply don't understand this phone.
- i receive a notification and screen lights up (i set that per app)
- but then I unlock phone
- notifications still in notification shade. I lock device.
- they are no longer on lock screen
Why?
That's not how any other device i have owned worked?
And lock screen music playback is... A disaster?
I consider this phone basically unusable... Yet reviews never mentioned this. Am I alone?

I agree with you, mostly. I'm coming from a Nexus 6P (and many Nexi before that since the One), so I'm used to the plain Vanilla and love it. I was able to rectify some of the notification issues by enabling banner and lockscreen notifications from the Settings >> Notification & Status Bar >> Notification Management area. It doesn't fix everything, and at times (especially the beginning) it was very frustrating. I have it for 5 days now and am at a point where I think it's usable and am waiting for LineageOS to come out with a vanilla-ish version.
http://lineagerom.com/huawei-mate-9-lineage-nougat-update/
The battery is what drew me to the phone and it doesn't disappoint. I can get about 24 hours and that impresses me.

Thanks, have that set for important apps. Feels like a massive part of Android (notifications) are basically missing. Rest is good/ok/great but.... Just feels like madness that this is acceptable in 2017.

yup, hw software sux. end of. waiting for stock-ed customs

Just you
Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Yea, that's what ended up being the deal breaker for me. I absolutely loved everything else with the phone, but notifications are the baseline of what a phone should be (at least to me), and this phone failed at that miserably. Not being able to reply to a text without unlocking the phone is a no go for 2017. I also kept hearing how battery life was amazing...I never really saw that either considering the size of the battery and a 1080p screen. I've got a Moto Z Play and I can tell you that this is truly amazing battery life. I'm now sitting at 53% with 4:39 sot and been off charger since 9:45a...It's now 1a the following morning. Not putting down Mate 9, as I really did like the rest of the phone...So much so that I'm on here looking to see if they have come out with an update for the glaring problem you guys are discussing. It looks as they Huawei doesn't even acknowledge the issue, so not counting on a fix. Oh well
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

I'm really surprised Huawei get a free pass on this. I read about 10 reviews, saw lots of YouTube videos and I had no idea how this phone handles notifications. I simply don't believe that someone coming from "normal" Android versions wouldn't find this different enough to warrant a huge rant?
Very frustrating. I like so many aspects of this device but the basic things are terrible. Madness.

for lock screen music playback -
settings> then uptop type in notifications> notifications panal> notification managment. then find the app you want to allow on the lockscreen. hope that helps.

Spot on! I'm 700 USD in on this phone. Only thing going for it on my side is the battery (so far) and dual sim as I travel a lot.
The rest is just unacceptable... At the very best. Likely the first and the last Huawei I'll own.

It's not just software that is bad for notifications. The hardware is poor too. The LED is tiny and almost invisible. The vibration is very weak so you can't feel it in your pocket.
This is a great phone underneath, but the little things really spoil it.
Huawei had a great opportunity to take business off Samsung, but they have blown it.
This has put me off Huawei. I'll be trading in the Mate for a Note 8. Or perhaps I won't wait for that. The S8+ is looking good.

Coming from a Nexus 6, the software has it's issues, but overall I like my Mate 9 so much more. Thought I would be missing the stock Android in a daily basis, but I seem to be very happy with my new phone.

-ErrorFile- said:
Coming from a Nexus 6, the software has it's issues, but overall I like my Mate 9 so much more. Thought I would be missing the stock Android in a daily basis, but I seem to be very happy with my new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from the disastrous year of Samsungs (s7 Active, s7 Edge, Note 7) Im loving the mate 9. Getting 10 hours of screen on time, notifications havent been an issue at all (Ive had to unlock the phone to reply to a text on every single phone Ive used including iPhone). I prefer the lockscreen stay clean and the led flash when I have something unread. Out of all the phones Ive used this past year, this is the only one Ive kept. Ive got a Moto Z Force sitting on my table thats for sale and once its gone all Ill have left is my iPhone 6s plus and the Mate 9.

wingzfan said:
Coming from the disastrous year of Samsungs (s7 Active, s7 Edge, Note 7) Im loving the mate 9. Getting 10 hours fo screen on time, notifications havent been an issue at all (Ive had to unlock the phone to reply to a text on very single phone Ive used including iPhone). I prefer the lockscreen stay clean and the led flash when I have something unread. Out of all the phones Ive used this past year, this is the only one Ive kept. Ive got a Moto Z Force sitting on my table thats for sale and once its gone all Ill have left is my iPhone 6s plus and the Mate 9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you find the LED bright enough and the vibration strong enough? If so I have a different phone to yours

RR-99 said:
Do you find the LED bright enough and the vibration strong enough? If so I have a different phone to yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no issues with the brightness of the led at all, in fact I prefer it to the absurd brightness of the s7 series. My phone is primarily on a desk or table and I havent missied any notifications at all. Also my volume is always on so I hear my phone go off and never really pay attention to the vibration of it but I would say its right on par with my iPhone. Another thing is I use Textra and always have so Ive got the vibration set to "multiple short" and if the phone is for some reason on silent I still hear the vibration when a notification comes in. Honestly I have no complaints about anything with this phone especially now that Ive been able to change out the emojis without root (hate android emojis).

coming from a pixel
i really like the mate 9, the software could do with abit more though.
if it was pure vanilla, this phone would be the end all.

RR-99 said:
Do you find the LED bright enough and the vibration strong enough? If so I have a different phone to yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use an app called Flash notificationn 2. basically on any missed notifications it keeps flashing the camera and lights up the screen( set every min or so). it works very well. coming from a note 4 i was also tossed. I do love this phone and at 599.00 seems a steal. does it have shortcomings , ya it does. but so does every phone. price to price with the s8+ or note 8 rumored at close to a grand makes this phone a steal. especially considering the list of shortcomings the galaxys 8 will have.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manzy.flashnotification2&hl=en

admorris said:
Not being able to reply to a text without unlocking the phone is a no go for 2017.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems like an odd issue to me. All it takes to unlock the phone is touching a sensor. Unless the complaint is about doing it while sitting flat on a surface, then I agree the sensor placement isn't optimal. But if replying to a text without unlocking the phone is important, that's easily solved with a 3rd party text app, like Textra.
I also haven't noticed the issues with notifications in my usage that others have had. But I do agree the notification LED could be brighter, and the vibration stronger.

tommy281 said:
for lock screen music playback -
settings> then uptop type in notifications> notifications panal> notification managment. then find the app you want to allow on the lockscreen. hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This just doesn't work reliably. Spotify works 60% of the time maybe but PocketCasts about 5%. Totally rubbish.

Really mixed bag of opinions here.
I'm almost wondering if there are multiple software versions showing different behaviour?
The 2 notifications issues i have are :
1. Music playback controls. Dreadful. Seems like some apps whitelisted but even those don't work 100% of the time. PocketCasts (even latest version from 2 days ago) works basically never, meaning i need to unlock phone to pause. A total joke.
2. Notifications. Lock screen shows them once and once only. As soon as i unlock, all notifications are not shown again on lock screen, unlike normal Android.
For those that "don't have issue with the notifications"... Do you see what i see?

tommy281 said:
for lock screen music playback -
settings> then uptop type in notifications> notifications panal> notification managment. then find the app you want to allow on the lockscreen. hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't fix the issue...It's a known problem.
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 PM ----------
RealEvil said:
Really mixed bag of opinions here.
I'm almost wondering if there are multiple software versions showing different behaviour?
The 2 notifications issues i have are :
1. Music playback controls. Dreadful. Seems like some apps whitelisted but even those don't work 100% of the time. PocketCasts (even latest version from 2 days ago) works basically never, meaning i need to unlock phone to pause. A total joke.
2. Notifications. Lock screen shows them once and once only. As soon as i unlock, all notifications are not shown again on lock screen, unlike normal Android.
For those that "don't have issue with the notifications"... Do you see what i see?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think what you have are two types of people on here...Not two software versions. You have people that have given up on the phone and people who are justifying their purchase...lol
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk