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[TIP] Surface adaptive display

I use a very dim display to save battery on the Surface or any other mobile device. The adaptive (auto) brightness feature isn't truly the best for the Surface for sure. I noticed that the screen flicks too much even though you're in the same environment. On reading about it on the web, I figured that this is a genuine problem for many on the tablet. Bad design maybe. So instead of reducing the brightness to minimum, I kept it at almost like 7-10% and voila ! The display is now as crisp as its supposed to be ! I wouldn't guarantee if it won't flick at all, but trust me, its like 90% better
Enjoy your new Surface !

screen flickering
Hi,
I've also noted some light flickering issues on my Surface (that I really like) even if the auto-brightness feature is off and with 100% level.
Generally speaking, it's not visible unless :
- you're scrolling quickly through the start screen
- you're closing an app with the proper gesture
It seems that for half second the scrim flickers...is it also happening to you ?
I was considering a RMA but I'm not sure if it's more a SW problem than a HW one.
Thank you for your answer.
Fabio
rustedfate said:
I use a very dim display to save battery on the Surface or any other mobile device. The adaptive (auto) brightness feature isn't truly the best for the Surface for sure. I noticed that the screen flicks too much even though you're in the same environment. On reading about it on the web, I figured that this is a genuine problem for many on the tablet. Bad design maybe. So instead of reducing the brightness to minimum, I kept it at almost like 7-10% and voila ! The display is now as crisp as its supposed to be ! I wouldn't guarantee if it won't flick at all, but trust me, its like 90% better
Enjoy your new Surface !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I think its more visible when you're on the Metro UI or the Start screen. And more on when I am scrolling from the side of the screen, just like you said. Its pretty weird.

Do I want a Pixel?

My G4 just died, should I get the VZW version of the Pixel 2?
I just want to swap in the nano sim and keep going.
I want to use a custom rom so I need to unlock the bootloader, is this possible?
Swapppa has some reasonable offerings........
LG was a bad experience, want simplicity at its android best.

spyknee said:
I want to use a custom rom so I need to unlock the bootloader, is this possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you buy the Verizon version
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

ok and then
can I use my current nano sim for puppywireless, a verizon mvno, with the unlocked google edition pixel 2? Verizon wants cdma phones......................

You can buy the unlocked version from Google and use it on Verizon.

>Do I want a Pixel?
Depends on if you do or not.
Jokes aside, you can unlock a Verizon P2 if it hasn't taken the Jan update yet. Visit in store and ask to see a P2 in box, no SIM or wifi please. The box will indicate the factory software. Once you find a winner (hurry, they're fading from inventory) just carefully apply the unlock steps and enjoy.

Go Ahead
Yes, you should, Pixel mobiles are the best mobiles according to my friend's opinion, I'm also going to buy it next week but first I have to write my assignment.

So, I now own a new Pixel 2 Google Edition.
1st Pros:
Luv that its already stripped down and lean in the stock OS. @8.1.0 ver.
1st Cons:
Device does not report battery lvl correctly in notifications tab, always states 100%, icon always shows full.
WiFi icon appears to show only on, no signal strength at all.
Totally dislike notifications tab period! Too much redundancy! To much access points to the same stuff.
Decided that it should be a central home screen. A group of 5, home at center. Now that leaves 4 sides or edges.
1 edge for calling and texting, swipe left edge
1 edge for social media outlet of choice, swipe edge right
1 edge for camera and video, swipe edge down
1 edge for video and music playback, swipe edge up
Or could be other choices instead. Point being all the different access methods, repeat the same things so lets get simple.......................
Its about personalized customization of actual use. right now we just customize the presentation of gui's, color, form. There is nothing intuitive about OS use tho!. Things like smart bullitain are really useless and forced on us, seriously, wonder around with a live feed always going.......no.

spyknee said:
So, I now own a new Pixel 2 Google Edition.
1st Pros:
Luv that its already stripped down and lean in the stock OS. @8.1.0 ver.
1st Cons:
Device does not report battery lvl correctly in notifications tab, always states 100%, icon always shows full.
WiFi icon appears to show only on, no signal strength at all.
Totally dislike notifications tab period! Too much redundancy! To much access points to the same stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting: on 8.0 the Pixel 2 battery meter stuck at 100% charge for a long time (not permanently), but that was fixed by updates. Should not be a problem with 8.1.
And the WiFi icon works just as expected, i.e. shows signal strength (though no "activity arrows" if you were used to those). So this sounds like something is wrong.
I'm not sure what you are saying about the notifications. Can you give some examples?
Things like smart bullitain are really useless and forced on us, seriously, wonder around with a live feed always going.......no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have anything forced on me - I just turned off (or didn't turn on) anything that didn't interest me (with Google's launcher being one of the first things to go). There are always alternatives.

So I have discovered that enabling the ui demo mode was the problem with the status bar and battery level reporting, enabling this bad.
I have learned of and enabled the system ui tuner. This ended all the phone functions, status reporting, very sweet. Now the status bar just reflects certain running services.
I also installed the Android P theme launcher, I like it. Has a sidebar option, the ability to hide the status bar, the ability to alter dock settings. So I essentially dumped some cpu reporting cycles, so to speak, let see how bat life responds.
Without root, I have gotten closer to what I want. Need to get TWRP installed and a nandroid made.

Next thing,
Ambient- Always On Display, many internet posts for disabling. Do Not Disable!
Affects the screen saver display and wake up, touch screen. The touch screen seems to need this enabled for better response. I decided to enable the edges as well. Turned it to full squeeze. Do not wish the assistant but it seems that disabling it, and the rest really upsets touch screen.

spyknee said:
Next thing,
Ambient- Always On Display, many internet posts for disabling. Do Not Disable!
Affects the screen saver display and wake up, touch screen. The touch screen seems to need this enabled for better response. I decided to enable the edges as well. Turned it to full squeeze. Do not wish the assistant but it seems that disabling it, and the rest really upsets touch screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ehm, AOD is just a additional option that is included so you can check the clock and whatnot without the need of turning on your screen.
The touch response in the screen is controlled at the kernel driver level and is only affected (in a negative way) by yourself and your fingers and how dirty the screen is.

spyknee said:
Next thing,
Ambient- Always On Display, many internet posts for disabling. Do Not Disable!
Affects the screen saver display and wake up, touch screen. The touch screen seems to need this enabled for better response. I decided to enable the edges as well. Turned it to full squeeze. Do not wish the assistant but it seems that disabling it, and the rest really upsets touch screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might be the only one but I disabled aod with no ill effect that I am aware of. I don't care for it.
Also, enabling the up-down arrows on wifi-data is a simple mod.

aod affects pick up wake, double tap wake. touch responsesivness is very finicky as is, worse with aod off.

spyknee said:
aod affects pick up wake, double tap wake. touch responsesivness is very finicky as is, worse with aod off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are just experiencing some placebo side effects, mate. AOD have NOTHING to do with the screen sensitivity.
The screen- and touch response is controlled at the kernel driver level. Not at software/application(s) level.

AOD
My issue was this, if I left the phone idle and untouched for awhile and then came to it and double tapped the screen, it would not wake up. I would have to use the side button to open. Sometimes the action of lifting would allow the double tap to work, but inconsistant. Doing the squeeze for the assistant was inconsistant as well.
The touch screen acts inconsistantly. If you do a horizontal movement, it interferes with a vertical swipe, I mean things seem to get canceled out. I have to initiate action multiple times to win.
heres the deal, i do not give a flying bleep whether its a hardware or software issue, I would like smart answers that give a solution, not assign a blame or fault. Or tell me I am somehow misinterpreting what I percieved.
So here is my take. The dam phone is overloaded with redundant crap, that steps on each other, interfering with it self. IMO everything in this phone should be disabled at purchase. The consumer should then enable those things it wants! Possibly eliminating over extended, overlapping services and hardware.
Now I say this because it appears that in fact to much was being asked of the phone and it was flipping out basically.
I dumped some google software, pretty much what it would let me.
I disabled the screen saver function, my belief is this was why i would not wake up. Screen saver or no, it times out going to the aod clock display, which I like. Now the phone responds to a lift and double tap everytime......................................................................................
I was using a single home screen, with the android p launcher sidebar. My issue was using swipes to navigate web sites, read stuff, sift thru pages. The swipes were not responding properly, PITA. It seems that by using a single home screen, it stilts the screen edge, makes a dead zone, interferes. Not to mention the right side slider swipe icon is useless as presented. It seems that enabling a 2nd home screen helps with that dead zone. Its not 100% when swiping thru pages but response has gotten more tolerable.
IMO
Thanks to fakebook, everyone should understand what these devices are truly about, DATA MINING.
Google
Verizon
LG,HTC,Samsung,Hauweii
Each and every phone has at minimum, 3 different forms of active data harvesting going on. manufacturers, carriers, media apps. The greatest performance killer of all, not to mention...........................................I have come to despise predictive search algos, targeted marketing adds, basically digital junk mail inundation.

So,
Been using the pix 2 awhile now. Really hated Oreo so I went into beta play to get pistachio. Used ver 3, now 4.
I really liked the initial ver 3 update cuz it removed so much bloat from carrier crap. Less google crap too it seems.
Now I like the responsiveness much better with ver 4. I still have everything I can disabled, disabled or removed. No AOD, active edges, tap to life, no music, movies, tv. No auto pay, auto track, auto search, google talk, nada.
Its a com device, an internet search device, thats it! Bat life is good, real good.
These devices are overburdened with non-sensical, redundancies, that create huge performance impacts. Seriously, how many ways are there to access a smartphone, on all at once.
Now I lift the phone, touch the physical button and walla, works every dam time.

Yep, flexible to meet millions of users needs...

Just dropping this here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2/help/worth-buying-pixel-2-june-2018-t3803197
It might also give anyone also in a similar situation additional information to help deciding.

P20/Pro to OP6?

Considering getting the OP6
currently i have the p20 pro came from a 5T, i feel like the ui was a step backwards, the kirin 970 feels sluggish (or emui), my 5T was snappy and quick
the p20 has an amazing camera setup noticably better than my 5T.
however huawei isnt without its issues, google app has stopped working for almost all huawei devices, the UI is noticably slower than my previous 5T, bad ram management, old SOC, certain old school linux tweaks break the phone.
other than the camera and VOLTE the p20 pro has little going for it, my question is, is it worth upgrading to the op6?
mainly use the camera for point and shoot, if the op6 can hold its own against the p20p that would be a major deciding factor, also if VOLTE works in Australia (as it does on my p20 pro)
*i rarely purchase phones, the 5T and p20 were given to test and if i decide to keep i just have to pay the amount, most of the time i just sawp them out for a new phone a month later, deciding if i should use a op6 or p20p as a daily driver.

I come from OP5, i spent 1 month choosing between p20 pro (just because it's camera) and OP6..
I finally choose the OP6; main raisons :
- finally the camera is way better than my 'oil effect' OP5 camera
- impossible to live with emui
- 'root/mods' community
- spending $250 more for an old SOC is not an option
- front design : the large area with FG scanner on the front is so ugly with a notch and does't make any sense...

Sorry for the Google translate traduction :
A comparison between the P20 PRO (about 1 month of use) and the subjective Oneplus 6 (15 days):
*
- equivalent screens. Nickel, 1080p is enough for those who do not use VR.
No adjustment needed.
Ex aequo.
*
- HP. No call, the single microphone OP6 is not terrible (although the last update was given more punch) and do not just compete with the 2 stereo microphones Huawei. The most difficult is in landscape mode, the fingers tend to clog the only grid. For the jack output (with adapter on the P20 PRO), no noticeable difference, but I'm not a music lover.
The earphones of Oneplus are much more comfortable to wear.
*
- design.
The quality of manufacture is identical. The fingerprint sensor on the front of Huawei is convenient for viewing messages in the office. The use of this one for navigation is nice, but I prefer the gestures of Oneplus. To return to the impression sensor, the rear placement makes it less accurate than the P20 PRO. This is not a blocking problem, it is me that night or while waking when the facial unlocking trouble with my floured mouth: Heink:
The OP6 heats up while I have not felt anything on the P20PRO.
On the P20PRO the top microphone is very small. No problem sound restitution issue of the call, but sometimes the sound was muffled. By moving the phone a few millimeters, no more worry. I guess the narrowness of the microphone is that in some positions the lobe of my ear blocked this one. No worries about other phones.
*
-drums.
My typical use: VLC 2.5h, 2h bluetooth podcast listening, 2h surf, 4G 11h, 8h in airplane mode and the rest in WiFi.
I was expecting a regression seeing the test on Gsmarena and the difference in capacity of both batteries.
P20 PRO or OP6, I find myself with the same SOT: 5h30 to 7h. Between 2 refills I am at 40h.
Fast charging is equivalent.
*
Photo Cards.
Huawei did very hard. If they manage to solve the AI ​​that abuses the color saturation, the photo part will be close to perfection.
Mention A ++ for the black and white sensor which gives an impressive result. : Love:
Photos in very low light are abused, the camera can see things that the human eye does not arrive.
The OP6 does not demerit. Compared to my old S7, the photos are better in outdoor and basic brightness, the OP6 is slightly less responsive on the focus.
In summary: S7 + - = OP6 << P20PRO
Regarding the photo application, I found the ergonomics of OP6 more fun than that of P20PRO
*
-Software
Let's start with Huawei. Unlike a lot of criticism, I have not suffered lags and RealRacing no significant loss of SPF. The settings are a bit messy, but you do not spend your life there. I liked the ability to block apps on startup and in the background.
But we get to the main reason for my change: Notification management is flawed. Regularly I lost calendar notifications, Keep, mail etc ...: cry:
I tried to disengage all the necessary parameters or to change by equivalent applications. Factory reset. Nothing to do. The process that hibernates applications seems to be extremely brutal (even in previous versions of EMUI). I have never been able to successfully run next apps because of this aggressive management: Lightflow (or Lightmanager) and Notification Reminder.
Regarding OxygenOS, being a former user of a Nexus 4, I'm thrilled. From the Android close to the stock with until it is necessary in setting. Everything is fluid, stable and visually clean. :ground:
The community seems to be active on ROM / kernel despite the youth of the phone. I just wait for the others to wipe the plasters, not urgent on this side, the basic soft is amply enough.
*
-Network.
the 2 are very good compared to my previous phones (S7 and Z3 compact).
In my basement, the S7 was struggling to make calls. The P20PRO was bagging between H + and 4G. The OP6 is still in 4G.
In outdoor use, the 2 are equal.
*
To summarize :
The 2 phones are excellent
- the P20PRO is a range above question photos but the application management is really too aggressive screen off
- the OP6 OS isirreproachable OS. But on the other points no notable differences compared to its competitor.

minscetbou said:
Sorry for the Google translate traduction :
A comparison between the P20 PRO (about 1 month of use) and the subjective Oneplus 6 (15 days):
*
- equivalent screens. Nickel, 1080p is enough for those who do not use VR.
No adjustment needed.
Ex aequo.
*
- HP. No call, the single microphone OP6 is not terrible (although the last update was given more punch) and do not just compete with the 2 stereo microphones Huawei. The most difficult is in landscape mode, the fingers tend to clog the only grid. For the jack output (with adapter on the P20 PRO), no noticeable difference, but I'm not a music lover.
The earphones of Oneplus are much more comfortable to wear.
*
- design.
The quality of manufacture is identical. The fingerprint sensor on the front of Huawei is convenient for viewing messages in the office. The use of this one for navigation is nice, but I prefer the gestures of Oneplus. To return to the impression sensor, the rear placement makes it less accurate than the P20 PRO. This is not a blocking problem, it is me that night or while waking when the facial unlocking trouble with my floured mouth: Heink:
The OP6 heats up while I have not felt anything on the P20PRO.
On the P20PRO the top microphone is very small. No problem sound restitution issue of the call, but sometimes the sound was muffled. By moving the phone a few millimeters, no more worry. I guess the narrowness of the microphone is that in some positions the lobe of my ear blocked this one. No worries about other phones.
*
-drums.
My typical use: VLC 2.5h, 2h bluetooth podcast listening, 2h surf, 4G 11h, 8h in airplane mode and the rest in WiFi.
I was expecting a regression seeing the test on Gsmarena and the difference in capacity of both batteries.
P20 PRO or OP6, I find myself with the same SOT: 5h30 to 7h. Between 2 refills I am at 40h.
Fast charging is equivalent.
*
Photo Cards.
Huawei did very hard. If they manage to solve the AI ​​that abuses the color saturation, the photo part will be close to perfection.
Mention A ++ for the black and white sensor which gives an impressive result. : Love:
Photos in very low light are abused, the camera can see things that the human eye does not arrive.
The OP6 does not demerit. Compared to my old S7, the photos are better in outdoor and basic brightness, the OP6 is slightly less responsive on the focus.
In summary: S7 + - = OP6 << P20PRO
Regarding the photo application, I found the ergonomics of OP6 more fun than that of P20PRO
*
-Software
Let's start with Huawei. Unlike a lot of criticism, I have not suffered lags and RealRacing no significant loss of SPF. The settings are a bit messy, but you do not spend your life there. I liked the ability to block apps on startup and in the background.
But we get to the main reason for my change: Notification management is flawed. Regularly I lost calendar notifications, Keep, mail etc ...: cry:
I tried to disengage all the necessary parameters or to change by equivalent applications. Factory reset. Nothing to do. The process that hibernates applications seems to be extremely brutal (even in previous versions of EMUI). I have never been able to successfully run next apps because of this aggressive management: Lightflow (or Lightmanager) and Notification Reminder.
Regarding OxygenOS, being a former user of a Nexus 4, I'm thrilled. From the Android close to the stock with until it is necessary in setting. Everything is fluid, stable and visually clean. :ground:
The community seems to be active on ROM / kernel despite the youth of the phone. I just wait for the others to wipe the plasters, not urgent on this side, the basic soft is amply enough.
*
-Network.
the 2 are very good compared to my previous phones (S7 and Z3 compact).
In my basement, the S7 was struggling to make calls. The P20PRO was bagging between H + and 4G. The OP6 is still in 4G.
In outdoor use, the 2 are equal.
*
To summarize :
The 2 phones are excellent
- the P20PRO is a range above question photos but the application management is really too aggressive screen off
- the OP6 OS isirreproachable OS. But on the other points no notable differences compared to its competitor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for my OP6 to arrive (I live in Brazil)
But that's quite what I expected, the OP6 is more than just fast, it's an incredible software experience, without crashes / bugs, and out of the ordinary performance.
Obviously the P20 camera is on another level, but I think the OP6 camera does a great job

Improve Noise Detection in your Nokia 8

As we have received Nokia 8 PRO Cam update globally, some of us not happy with the final application.
There are lots of bug with this new pro app and it is so clear that it had been rushed out to silence us.
Firstly, in landscape mode in order to launch Nokia 8 PRO features you have to go trough settings, swipe up does not work which is ridiculous and it shows they have released the PRO app without real user feedback, only dump software engineers can not notice such bugs.
Secondly, in default settings shutter control is on which makes a lot of noise in dark situations, try to turn it off and you will see much much better result with less noise. It is not a miracle, does not reach the level gcam has achieved but at least , with PRO cam we see less noise.
Considering it's price, I do not except a miracle from Nokia 8, but this little details kills Nokia legacy. I believe, they should listen feedback from users first before they launch any update.

..please? You have no clue how cameras work? You can't beat the physics. It's all about the amount of light being captured by the sensor. Dark situations will always be hard for small cameras, and vice versa crap cameras, can perform well in bright situations if the lens is sharp.
With a faster shutter will have few options to make to even out the exposure:
Open up the lens aperture more. (These small lenses are usually fully open always if not used in bright sunlight, so there is nothing to gain).
Raise the ISO. This is basically amplifying the sensor data, resulting in a brighter image but with increased noise and loss of details. This is what you are complaing about.
Revert back to a lower the shutter speed so more light can be collected. The disadvantage is that you need to hold you camera more still and moving objects will still not be frozen.
Give up and lower the exposure resulting in a darker image. (Exposure compensation)
A fift option is also cheating, adding post process noise reduction, think a bit like anti-aliasing resulting in even more detail loss. Personally I'll take a slightly noisy image any day in favor of a software drawn oil painting without details.
I can't comment the bug, I haven't hit it. I'd rather the Camera app to remember the settings from last session and also some user programmable "presets" would be nice. Or a full Live Bokeh from a short-cut would also work as an work-around just to make an example.
Usually your subject is gone before your camera settings are in place.
Anyway, t best solution for you would be to get a larger sensor and a larger lens so more light can be collected. Seriously, for example a Sony RX1R II would easily beat any cell phone camera out there in lower light.

Question Understanding Notifications and Outer Display Orange Dot

On my Flip 3 the outer display orange dot does not show when I have a new phone call or text message notifications (when I open the phone badges show missed calls or messages). I do get the orange dot for missed Gmail mail and some other things.
Do I need to set some setting in order to enable the orange dot for missed calls or messages?
Thanks,
Barry.

Hi,
I did a test and everything working fine for me. Try checking the notification settings for you message and phone app. I guess the orange dot is only showing if notifications are turned on

david.siebauer said:
Hi,
I did a test and everything working fine for me. Try checking the notification settings for you message and phone app. I guess the orange dot is only showing if notifications are turned on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That's good to know.
On my phone notifications are turned on for both the default phone app and default messaging app.
For the default phone app, notifications appear to be turned on, but the slide switches are grayed out. I am not able to control those notifications by turning them off or on – the switch is to the right so they appear to be on, but the switch is gray not green.
For the default messaging app, the switch is to the right, it's green, and I can switch notifications off and on – they are currently on.
I have a feeling I might know why I'm not receiving that notification dot. I have that phone number forwarded to Google Voice. If I don't answer, Google Voice picks up and takes a message. Google Voice says something about also handling messages, although I don't know how that works. I receive messages on my phone. Once Google Voice told me I had a new message, but other times no. I don't remember seeing that orange dot when I receive a new message. I will have to test it some more.
Barry.

Phone app showing the same for me. I think these are the default settings.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
I tried to reproduce the behavior for the messages. Only way it does not show the orange dot is by turning off notifications at all or activating DND (without setting exception to show notification while DND mode).
Unfortunately Google voice is not available here, so I can't test it.
David

david.siebauer said:
Phone app showing the same for me. I think these are the default settings.
View attachment 5450869
I tried to reproduce the behavior for the messages. Only way it does not show the orange dot is by turning off notifications at all or activating DND (without setting exception to show notification while DND mode).
Unfortunately Google voice is not available here, so I can't test it.
David
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That's how my phone app notifications look – buttons grayed out.
I will have to play with this some more.
Barry.

Notifications on this phone are garbage. At least from the standpoint of knowing when you have one without manually turning the exterior screen on.
When you get a notification the exterior screen turns on for like a second and that's it.
They need options..like edge lighting or a simple blinking dot because unless you saw it turn on for that spit second then tough luck. If Someone sent you an important text or email and you didn't see the screen flash on then off you're out of luck.
It's ridiculous. It's lazy and I expect better from a company like Samsung...
I deeply regret buying this phone for just that reason alone..

d0x360 said:
Notifications on this phone are garbage. At least from the standpoint of knowing when you have one without manually turning the exterior screen on.
When you get a notification the exterior screen turns on for like a second and that's it.
They need options..like edge lighting or a simple blinking dot because unless you saw it turn on for that spit second then tough luck. If Someone sent you an important text or email and you didn't see the screen flash on then off you're out of luck.
It's ridiculous. It's lazy and I expect better from a company like Samsung...
I deeply regret buying this phone for just that reason alone..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I partially solved with vibration when i take the phone, if there is a notification not read the phone does a little vibration

mirkol78 said:
I partially solved with vibration when i take the phone, if there is a notification not read the phone does a little vibration
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True but that's fundamentally the same as tapping the exterior screen twice to see if there's a notification dot.
Im hoping the developer of aodnotify @Jawomo can use the code in another thread (located here https://bit.ly/3n0VG5d) that allows you to do things with the exterior display like edge lighting or a blinking dot and plenty more but the first 2 would be helpful for notifications received when you weren't looking at the phone.
I just don't understand why Samsung limited the exterior screen options so much. It seems like such an obvious idea to be able to tweak notification settings for the exterior screen...but Samsung seems to always go half way on their software... Except for their extreme and broken battery saving methods. Like say you don't open your clock app for 3 days... Even if you have an alarm set for day 4 their over aggressive battery software will put the app to sleep and not allot it to run in the background..and your alarm won't go off on day 4. Even if you allow an app to run in the background and disable battery optimization for that app this still happens.
You can sort of disable it so it's less aggressive but looking at the settings you might not know 100% what it's actually doing and your average user probably won't change any of those settings.

I miss the good old time swhen you just had a simple LED Notification light Maybe to simple

david.siebauer said:
I miss the good old time swhen you just had a simple LED Notification light Maybe to simple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too...me too.
It can't be that hard to implement lol. Even if you use the screen as a fake LED I'd be happy.

Agree notification light is something extremely useful. Last time i 've had it on Mi 9 or Note 9 phone. Rest in piece! Only Xperia offers it nowadays.
Also think Z Flip notifications are great and bad at the same time. You have widgets, you can swipe notifications away, you can read long messages and people can see themselves on that screen. Now with AOD off, you have permanent charging notification which is wonderful. That exactly emulates a white (pulsing) notification light. But with AOD on, situation changes. Charging status is suddenly impossible to read. Oh, the microscopic battery icon, not again. Notifications pop up for a quick period of time. Orange dot sometimes disappears. There should be app icons instead like on normal AOD!

doggydog2 said:
Agree notification light is something extremely useful. Last time i 've had it on Mi 9 or Note 9 phone. Rest in piece! Only Xperia offers it nowadays.
Also think Z Flip notifications are great and bad at the same time. You have widgets, you can swipe notifications away, you can read long messages and people can see themselves on that screen. Now with AOD off, you have permanent charging notification which is wonderful. That exactly emulates a white (pulsing) notification light. But with AOD on, situation changes. Charging status is suddenly impossible to read. Oh, the microscopic battery icon, not again. Notifications pop up for a quick period of time. Orange dot sometimes disappears. There should be app icons instead like on normal AOD!
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The only widget I find useful is the timer. Swiping notifications away is fine but doesn't really help let me know I have some unless I actively go looking.
Having the charge screen on all the time doesn't appeal to me either, if I want to see it I'll just tap the screen. Ive never liked things staying on all the time, not even the clock but I know plenty of people do so I understand why it's an option.
The orange dot is pretty useless. It disappears if you turn the exterior screen on even if it's just to see the time and you don't touch anything else.
That's why I wish someone would make edge lighting for the exterior screen. The code needed to make it work has been posted but who knows if someone will do it.
Like I said I use aodnotify to basically keep the exterior screen turned on for 2 min when I get any kind of notification. That way I can look over and know. I always have my phone on vibrate and vibration on Samsung phones is so weak. On ever phone I've owned that wasn't Samsung I could hear the vibration from across the room but with the note 9, 10+ and this I can't hear it vibrate when it's a couple feet away.
Samsung... Always going half way when it comes to their software. No idea how they became number 1.

d0x360 said:
Samsung... Always going half way when it comes to their software. No idea how they became number 1.
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to be fair, no other brand is close to Samsung software like I moaned here. Several times i returned the phone like Sony, Alcatel because of dead blank OS. Quit OnePlus because of that too. Xiaomi has just a overmodified bloatware and spyware. There's no brand that can compete with Samsung regarding software.
Also it's Samsung that can notify you in a brutal way -- do the edge effect, blink with flash, repeat notifications until you notice.. This creates an explosive cocktail of effects you can't miss. I'd just prolong the notification time, it's really short. But it's the same with other brands!
Avoided 3rd party notif light apps, as they burn battery quick. But i tried aodnotify as it promises something different. It's highly configurable but can't modify the small screen. I have the phone closed 99% of time so it's useless for me But thanks for the tip, i will use in next time, if i ever will have a classic phone.

doggydog2 said:
to be fair, no other brand is close to Samsung software like I moaned here. Several times i returned the phone like Sony, Alcatel because of dead blank OS. Quit OnePlus because of that too. Xiaomi has just a overmodified bloatware and spyware. There's no brand that can compete with Samsung regarding software.
Also it's Samsung that can notify you in a brutal way -- do the edge effect, blink with flash, repeat notifications until you notice.. This creates an explosive cocktail of effects you can't miss. I'd just prolong the notification time, it's really short. But it's the same with other brands!
Avoided 3rd party notif light apps, as they burn battery quick. But i tried aodnotify as it promises something different. It's highly configurable but can't modify the small screen. I have the phone closed 99% of time so it's useless for me But thanks for the tip, i will use in next time, if i ever will have a classic phone.
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Wait... First off there is no edge lighting on this phone. It's irrelevant if there is on other Samsung phones especially since you can get better edge lighting via aodnotify and it doesn't use much battery at all. Ive used it for years and it's very efficient. In fact I've used plenty of notification apps like one on the original Pixel to give me a blinking LED style notification light that changed color based on app and it barely used any battery either. Plus you can get edge lighting on any phone by using an app. Samsung's own edge lighting is horrible. It lacks granularity in it's settings and features. aodnotify fixes all of that as do tons of other notification apps but aod is the best for edge lighting and the z Flip3.
aodnotify does work with the z Flip3. First if the phone is open (screen on or off) it will provide edge lighting or other effects like fake LED, camera hole light etc. If the phone is closed aodnotify will let you make it so the exterior screen can be set to stay on as long as you want when you get a notification. So it is useful for the z Flip3. I don't know how you missed the settings for always on display but mines set to always off unless a notification is received. Then it's enabled, screen set to stay on for 2 min unless the notification is cleared. Very helpful, especially since Samsung basically has no notification options.
As for Samsung software being good... I completely disagree. Also other companies default software is irrelevant, Samsung makes massive profits every year on phones. They should be able to make decent apps. The majority of them are rated 3 stars or less on the Galaxy store.
It's buggy, it lacks options and features and not only is there a massive amount of bloat, some of it is basically spyware sending everything you do to Samsung. Thankfully I can block that with Adguard.
Googles apps are superior in every way despite the fact that GAPPS is just supposed to be the basic frame work for what these kinda of apps should be. Samsung SHOULD have far superior apps with way more options and better UI's than GAPPS but they don't. Their dialer is super basic, so is contacts. Their messaging app doesn't support RCS and it's ugly. The calendar, calculator...all of it worse then GAPPS.
Then there's their ridiculous changes to battery management. Instead of using what's built into Android they made a custom solution that's beyond overly aggressive.
Let's say you work mon-fri every week but you take Friday off so on Wednesday or Thursday you open the clock app and shut off the alarm for Friday. When Monday comes your alarm won't go off because their battery software has put it to deep sleep even though you set it up so it can run in the background AND you disabled battery optimization for the app. It's ridiculous and actually breaks some apps. It can also cause delays in getting text messages and emails. It can even cause wifi calling to break mid call.
I could go on with tons of in depth issues but I think that's enough for now. I expect better from the #1 mobile phone company. Much better. I've given them 5 chances if you count the galaxy nexus which felt cheaply made but thankfully didn't run Samsung software...
So once a year goes by and the next pixel comes out there's a 99% chance I'll buy it and sell this z Flip3. The only way I wouldn't get a pixel is if Microsoft makes a duo 3 and actually tries or another company makes a really good phone that can also be rooted. Regardless of what I buy there's one thing I know for sure...it won't be made by Samsung

d0x360 said:
Regardless of what I buy there's one thing I know for sure...it won't be made by Samsung
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I'm back in the Samsung camp because of the software. Been there since SPlus phone (as the era of HTC was ending) with some interruption. I've listed dozens of reasons in the linked post. You want more from this company while you're getting nothing from the others. Samsung is not in the business of Gapps, so it's not fair to mention it, and you shouldn't use such spyware anyway (then why you care about adguard?). I've used Google "phone apps" (caller, calendar, photos) and it was too simple. Who still gives you rich LOCAL music player, who still gives you LOCAL video player (other brands cancelled both). Gallery with post edit, map, s-pen zoom and gestures (Note) is good, no need google Photos. Who gives you best calendar app with nice UI, weather, home timezone, spen preview? I've seen anything comparable to that other than ver geeky apps on the market. Caller which plays recorded calls directly from UI? Lovely. Love the call popup settings that others don't gives you. Who gives you OneUI, 10x richer than other layouts while fast. Onehand mode, or even scroll the screen down basic function of OneUI. The one and only legendary Edge panel that can't be replicated (tried ALL clones). The best AOD, best edge lightning + flash + screen effects (for large screen). Best accessibility options in market period. Best functional camera. You can still say cheeeese to shoot and no other brands can do. You can recognize objects, scan documents or get assistance in shooting situations. And so much more. I'd rate Samsung software ******** while OnePlus ** Sony ** Xiaomi ** LG ** etc. Don't know about Google but i assume it's the same mediocrity (again i don't count their non-phone apps). And i'm heavily debloated, work without Samsung account and still profit from this ecosystem heavily.
Yes they kill apps https://dontkillmyapp.com/ but is perfectly manageable. All you do is choose few core apps and prioritize them, while the most garbage gets killed. This approach is very helpful for battery and OnePlus invented it (that's why they always had nice scores on gsmarena). I moaned first, but now i agree.
Pixel 6 is a horrid phone based on people, and now heavy (that's why i chose ZFlip), let's see next year.
Samsung just pushed AOD app update for ZFlips. I tested the orange dot and it works for all messages and calls. It even blinks. Again, no other firmwares i know incl AOSP offers longer notifications than this. It's always displayed shortly or not at all. Samsung of course has the most configurable AOD and notifications with color highlighting, color match app, bubbles, smart popups. Split app from task manager or Edge panel. It's insane. You can even prolong the AOD notification timeout in the settings or even the toast messages! Here we found the glitch. This setting simply needs to apply on cover screen too and problem solved. Let's wait for another update, i'm sure it will come. It's not like in other brands where phone software stays the same for years.
There's no edge effect on the cover screen (yet!), but that flash makes me jump out of bed. Expecting a major company to produce geeky nice apps like aodnotify is very unrealistic. It won't happen. BTW I still can't make aodnotify work with cover screen. I went through all the settings and it has zero impact there.
I just played with Bixby settings.. you can set action when folded, half folded, unfolded. Stay unlocked when driving. Hundreds of settings. Talking about Samsung not having enough functionality or settings.. oh no, that's so wrong. ZFlip 4 is in my preorder basket.

doggydog2 said:
I'm back in the Samsung camp because of the software. Been there since SPlus phone (as the era of HTC was ending) with some interruption. I've listed dozens of reasons in the linked post. You want more from this company while you're getting nothing from the others. Samsung is not in the business of Gapps, so it's not fair to mention it, and you shouldn't use such spyware anyway (then why you care about adguard?). I've used Google "phone apps" (caller, calendar, photos) and it was too simple. Who still gives you rich LOCAL music player, who still gives you LOCAL video player (other brands cancelled both). Gallery with post edit, map, s-pen zoom and gestures (Note) is good, no need google Photos. Who gives you best calendar app with nice UI, weather, home timezone, spen preview? I've seen anything comparable to that other than ver geeky apps on the market. Caller which plays recorded calls directly from UI? Lovely. Love the call popup settings that others don't gives you. Who gives you OneUI, 10x richer than other layouts while fast. Onehand mode, or even scroll the screen down basic function of OneUI. The one and only legendary Edge panel that can't be replicated (tried ALL clones). The best AOD, best edge lightning + flash + screen effects (for large screen). Best accessibility options in market period. Best functional camera. You can still say cheeeese to shoot and no other brands can do. You can recognize objects, scan documents or get assistance in shooting situations. And so much more. I'd rate Samsung software ******** while OnePlus ** Sony ** Xiaomi ** LG ** etc. Don't know about Google but i assume it's the same mediocrity (again i don't count their non-phone apps). And i'm heavily debloated, work without Samsung account and still profit from this ecosystem heavily.
Yes they kill apps https://dontkillmyapp.com/ but is perfectly manageable. All you do is choose few core apps and prioritize them, while the most garbage gets killed. This approach is very helpful for battery and OnePlus invented it (that's why they always had nice scores on gsmarena). I moaned first, but now i agree.
Pixel 6 is a horrid phone based on people, and now heavy (that's why i chose ZFlip), let's see next year.
Samsung just pushed AOD app update for ZFlips. I tested the orange dot and it works for all messages and calls. It even blinks. Again, no other firmwares i know incl AOSP offers longer notifications than this. It's always displayed shortly or not at all. Samsung of course has the most configurable AOD and notifications with color highlighting, color match app, bubbles, smart popups. Split app from task manager or Edge panel. It's insane. You can even prolong the AOD notification timeout in the settings or even the toast messages! Here we found the glitch. This setting simply needs to apply on cover screen too and problem solved. Let's wait for another update, i'm sure it will come. It's not like in other brands where phone software stays the same for years.
There's no edge effect on the cover screen (yet!), but that flash makes me jump out of bed. Expecting a major company to produce geeky nice apps like aodnotify is very unrealistic. It won't happen. BTW I still can't make aodnotify work with cover screen. I went through all the settings and it has zero impact there.
I just played with Bixby settings.. you can set action when folded, half folded, unfolded. Stay unlocked when driving. Hundreds of settings. Talking about Samsung not having enough functionality or settings.. oh no, that's so wrong. ZFlip 4 is in my preorder basket.
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It's perfectly fair to compare Samsung's version of GAPPS to Google's.. messaging app vs messaging app. Calendar vs Calendar.
The spyware is a HIDDEN service always running in the background and I care about Adguard because it blocks ads, trackers and analytics in ALL apps and it works as a firewall. Go to adguard.com and look. The play store version is NOT Adguard, it's an extension for 2 browsers.
I got the latest update and no...the exterior screen does not have a blinking dot. When you get a notification the exterior screen turns on for a couple seconds and then shuts off. You can see the dot if you double tap the screen but that's not helpful. I want something to blink when I get a notification without me needing to touch the phone.
I'm glad you like Samsung's apps but I can get better versions of everything they offer. I can use Google apps for my dialer, contacts, messages, calendar, calculator and clock. I use Nova as my launcher because OneUI is too basic. I use Google now via Nova and Google assistant instead of Bixby. Bixby is god awful and once again google does it better.
Yeah you can change some settings for battery management but then you have NO battery management. Also the average person isn't going to know any of this so they will fall victim to apps not working and alarms not going off. That's poor design.
So I can say I think Samsung's software is terrible and you can like it.
I'm too tired to read the rest so I'll do it tomorrow.

d0x360 said:
It's perfectly fair to compare Samsung's version of GAPPS to Google's.. messaging app vs messaging app. Calendar vs Calendar.
The spyware is a HIDDEN service always running in the background and I care about Adguard because it blocks ads, trackers and analytics in ALL apps and it works as a firewall. Go to adguard.com and look. The play store version is NOT Adguard, it's an extension for 2 browsers.
I got the latest update and no...the exterior screen does not have a blinking dot. When you get a notification the exterior screen turns on for a couple seconds and then shuts off. You can see the dot if you double tap the screen but that's not helpful. I want something to blink when I get a notification without me needing to touch the phone.
I'm glad you like Samsung's apps but I can get better versions of everything they offer. I can use Google apps for my dialer, contacts, messages, calendar, calculator and clock. I use Nova as my launcher because OneUI is too basic. I use Google now via Nova and Google assistant instead of Bixby. Bixby is god awful and once again google does it better.
Yeah you can change some settings for battery management but then you have NO battery management. Also the average person isn't going to know any of this so they will fall victim to apps not working and alarms not going off. That's poor design.
So I can say I think Samsung's software is terrible and you can like it.
I'm too tired to read the rest so I'll do it tomorrow.
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perhaps i imagine Gapps as Maps etc or the office apps. But let's say it's all Google apps. I've had Pixel ROMs which were based on Google apps you mentioned and didn't notice anything special. Just pure basic. Or forcing to online services. Samsung wins for privacy, i don't like to be tracked so i run those local media players w/o access to internet. I like DLNA, screen mirror stuff. There are no players on other mobiles nowadays and often with DLNA turned off (to force you social networks). Clock - better too, with repetitions until you wake the f*** up. With weather time zones. Calculator - better because it's in Edge panel, super productive. Who else has it? Debloated Bixby - BixbyVision suits me better and I removed Google spyware app completely. Most of it can work offline. Bixby Voice - i don't use such technology until it will be OFFLINE. Bixby routines - fantastic. SmartThings + Audio + Devices on notifpanel - didn't see anything like that before. I can control home devices or cameras from lockscreen! File manager - better, and it connects to web folders and samba (oh my god, thanks). I'm sure Google will give you a chance to connect... to GDrive $$ LOL. Camera better than Gcam as noted. GCam ports = placebo. Camera "AR" very rich and more private than a typical ad-infested apps on market. Samsung Kids - what? Absolutely incredible. And with home screen lock for parents. There's even a general "Pin lock" i again didn't see on the other brands. Samsung Keyboard - very strong even vs GBoard and other brands which provide... nothing. Screen recorder, audio recorder, animation, capture scrolling screen, capture rectangle then extract text - wow. Where are these functions on other brands? I have 5 flagships yearly and I don't recall none of it, maybe i have a short memory And Note series add even more. Smart Stay - great (other brands? hello? Sony has one - kudos!). Edge compass, ruler, torch - so useful. Quick measure - thanks, another adware from appstore spared. Dual messenger - multiple accounts of one chat app? OK! Finder app? don't get my started. There's no competition, forget Sezame. I've spend years searching for an alternative. Is it available from task manager? Yes. Can you drag a window from task manager to a popup or split screen? Yes, and you don't need a stupid tap like on Sony. From Edge panel too. Emergency app on 4 power clicks - thanks (3 clicks = always a mistake). Samsung flow - display Android screen on PC + notifications? Great, no need to pay. Samsung Notes - lengedary. Samsung Pass. Secure folder. Samsung Swich. Samsung Health. Smart View. Tons of notification panel's actionable icons. It just keeps giving. It's insane how much MORE you get with Samsung.
And launcher? Of course I use Nova or similar. But does it mean anyone else got a better one than OneUI? Who? I know: absolutely noone, so why mention it? I don't get the hate. That's the industry standard for vendor launchers - be basic, not to scare the public with overwhelming functionality.
-> Overall, I rate Samsung firmware as 5-10x better than closest competitor. It's a knock out win. This is why I left Xiaomi, OnePlus, Sony, LG and Google, and returned back to the best brand. I was tired of vanilla OS and hated the low investments they make to it. It actually make Samsung cheap.
Re dot - it's there nonstop until you review notifications and it's blinking after an event like missed call. Perhaps you don't have AOD on. Phones w/o notif.light won't provide permanent notification with AOD off it seems. So far the only perma message text displayed on screen i saw was on Garmin watches. 10 letters of most recent notification. Yeah i keep them because of this. I wish it came to mobile phones too. For aesthetic reasons, i don't think it will. Imagine stuffing clock, date, battery, app icon, sender name, text into one small screen. At this point, i just want to prolong the timeout. It's too short.
Re alarms - they're triggered every day. Maybe you're using Naptime to kill it. Kudos to OnePlus to be a rare brand which can turn on the phone to raise alarm. I thought this died with HTC or simple phone era.

Samsung is worse than Google for privacy. They send more data to themselves than Google does.
Thankfully Adguard blocks all that crap.
As for GAPPS v Samsung... They are just as simple ok the Samsung side by with worse UI's. Plus I prefer simple.
If I want something good I'll just get it from the store.
This is definitely my last Samsung phone. I'll probably go with a pixel next but as long as it's hardware is good and it can be rooted then brand isnt as important.
Then I can use whatever rom I want. Back to battery...if you disable Samsung battery functions then you basically cut battery life in half. They seem to have disabled the built in battery saving functions from AOSP so when you shut that insanely aggressive management off...you get nothing.

I would prefer if it worked like my older note used to work. I had ability to just have orange dot notification. Also I was able to set a different color for notifications that came from the "secure folder" apps.