Related
Power Switch
Save power by turning off your device's screen whenever you shut the case!
Power Switch is a tool for devices with cases - somewhat like the SmartCover, it will turn off the screen when you shut the case.
If you have a device with poor battery life, Power Switch can save tons of juice by switching it off entirely after a given amount of time asleep.
Features:
- Sleep seconds after shutting case
- Automatic shutdown
- Set up a schedule using Night Mode
- Configure sensor sensitivity
- Facedown to turn screen off
- Persistent notification
- Uses almost no power
The app has gone through an extensive testing process here at XDA under another name. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen, you're the best!
However, this testing showed that some features of that app were not all that useful, and some were conspicuously absent. To save both you and us a lot of grief, we made the second-generation Killswitch.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please use this thread. I daresay Im known as a kindly developer always open to suggestions.
If you want to upgrade from Killswitch, send an email to the address in my signature containing the words "KILLSWITCH REFUND" and the order numbers of both Killswitch and Power Switch. I will then refund you the cost of Killswitch, and you will have Power Switch.
Lite
This version limits the cool down timer - it works just as well, but doesnt save as much juice!
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.powerswitch.demo&feature=more_from_developer
Pro
Has all the juice-saving power and customization!
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.powerswitch.pro&feature=search_result
Works on Gingerbread handsets?
Yes, works on 2.0+. No need for root either.
Any opinions?
Anything else?
Pretty clever implementation of the dialog box, all of the buttons on that is very useful and I will be using this app for my tablet
Enjoy, and please leave suggestions and market reviews, they help a lot!
Any suggestions guys?
I like the app's style and potential.
Maybe you could give consideration to some of the following as potential future features:
- Option to mute/unmute
- Scheduled backup for rooted devices?
- Check for updates (scheduled times?)
- Change data sync frequencies
- Enable/disable location services - root (Latitude etc)
- Kill/enable WiFi/mobile data
- Auto reply to SMSs (option to specify time period)
None of the above are at all thought through by me but you might see some potential that perhaps you hadn't been considering. If you think it's all a load of [email protected] Just ignore this (at least you got a free bump).
nobnut said:
I like the app's style and potential.
Maybe you could give consideration to some of the following as potential future features:
- Option to mute/unmute
- Scheduled backup for rooted devices?
- Check for updates (scheduled times?)
- Change data sync frequencies
- Enable/disable location services - root (Latitude etc)
- Kill/enable WiFi/mobile data
- Auto reply to SMSs (option to specify time period)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate, these are good ideas, but the app really has a different purpose. I am in fact working on something else where these ideas would be more appropriate...
Works great for its intended purpose. Gracias.
Good to see you in this thread tivo, thanks for the thanks!
So based on the description of what this does...
It has no reason to access the internet, but it does.
It has no readon to read my phoen state etc, but it does
It also has no reason to modify my SD card contents, but it does.
I'd like to try this as it may be quite useful. But Im sorry, there's no way Im going to try it given the permissions it seems to require for no stated reason!
Man id really love to reply in a smarmy, pushy-noob destroying, paranoia dispelling way, but you do have a point.
Internet - license, debugging, flurry (very coarse, national level)
Read data - debugging
SD - debugging log creation
Phone state - disables itself during calls (duh)
See i could have said anything there and you would never know (ehm google, htc, amazon).
But im a community dev here. With quite a few apps and a little respect i like to think.
ftgg99 said:
Man id really love to reply in a smarmy, pushy-noob destroying, paranoia dispelling way, but you do have a point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive nothing against you or your app, but having looked at many things to buy on the market, Ive yet to buy a single one due to the level of permissions they seem to require with no reason given.
I suspect flurry isnt used for poping up annoying ads for "Also by the same author". Yes I know! But I found one free game I liked that insisted on running a background service whose sole purpose seemed to be to download advert details and show notifications of the other games produced by the publisher. A few in game ads I can live with, but not that level of annoyance.
Sorry rant over. Time to find the credit card I think
flurry is just a statistics service, the thing youre talking about is called airpush, its evil incarnate.
Unfortunately it seems this isnt going to work with my transformer and my case
Ive turned the sensitivity down to 1% and it still thinks its too dark and starts to turn the screen off. If I set it to 0% it doesnt start to turn things off at all. This is under energy saving lights or standard fluorescent lights which may be having some effect I guess. Certainly the front camera is quite dark under these lights.
Additionally, when I close the cover I suspect the screen light is reflecting from the cover and lighting the sensor enough to keep things still running unless the screen is really dark. (Even with the cover closed I can see light from the screen through gaps) Turning the sensitivity to a larger percentage would fix that of course, but then it will start turning off while Im using it
What case is this?
ftgg99 said:
What case is this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, meant to add that in!
Its this Tuff-Luv one
I dont see any holes in it...
Finally got my app up and running on the Market and being a die hard Galaxy Note and xda user, I thought it would only be appropriate to post it here for fellow users to enjoy. =)
IntelliCover is a utility which uses your device’s proximity sensor to control its display and allow fast and efficient access to your phone or tablet.
It turns the screen turns off automatically when you put your device in your pockets, close its flip cover, store the device in a bag, or even just leave the device facing down on a table. As soon as the device is back in your hand the proximity sensor is triggered again, the screen turns back on and your phone is instantly ready for use.
IntelliCover is more feature-filled than any other similar application on the market. And the best part? It's FREE!
Click here to visit the market page and download the app for free
P.S. If you find a bug, I'd appreciate if you could report it to me before giving a bad rating because it usually only takes me less than a day to fix.
*** Features ***
Calibration:-
Proximity Sensor Delay – Add a delay to the time takes to trigger the sensor and turn the screen off.
Application Settings:-
Automatic Unlock – Automatically dismiss the Unlock Screen, provided there is no password. *Experimental*
Disable in Landscape Mode – Disable the proximity sensor when an application is in landscape mode.
Go to Home Screen – Show the home screen when the screen turns on.
Screen Off Only – The screen will turn off but not on when the proximity sensor is triggered.
Screen On Only – The screen will turn on but not off when the proximity sensor is triggered.
Start on Boot – Automatically start the IntelliCover service when the device turns on.
Notifications:-
Proximity Warning – Vibrate every time the proximity sensor is triggered.
Status Bar Notification – Show an ongoing notification in the status bar.
Screen On and Off Actions:-
Airplane Mode – Enable or disable airplane mode.
Auto Rotate (will be removed) – Activate or deactivate.
Auto Sync – Activate or deactivate auto-sync.
Bluetooth – Enable or disable Bluetooth.
Haptic Feedback (will be removed) – Activate or deactivate haptic feedback.
Ringer Mode – Switch ringer mode to Normal (Sound with Vibration), Vibrate or Silent.
Wi-fi – Enable or disable wi-fi.
*** Frequently Asked Questions ***
Q) Is it really free? Where are the ads?
Ans) IntelliCover is completely free and has no ads whatsoever!
Q) Do I require a rooted device to use IntelliCover?
Ans) Nope. IntelliCover works on all supported phones and tablets, rooted or unrooted.
Q) Doesn’t using the proximity sensor consume a lot of battery?
Ans) Actually, the proximity sensor consumes minimal power, almost little enough to be insignificant.
Q) What are the ‘Screen On’ and ‘Screen Off’ actions?
Ans) IntelliCover allows you to set events to be triggered when the screen turn on or off. For example, by setting wi-fi to turn on when your screen turns on and setting it to turn off when the screen turns off, you could save a huge amount of battery power.
Q) Can I request a feature?
Ans) Of course! Head over to the Contact section to drop me an e-mail.
Q) Why does IntelliCover keep running in the background?
Ans) It has to run in the background to know when the proximity sensor is triggered.
Q) How can I uninstall the application?
Ans) First you must go into Security settings and remove IntelliCover from System Administrator. Then it can be uninstalled like any other application.
Q) Can I donate to the developer?
Ans) Not yet but hopefully I’ll have something set up soon.
*** Permissions Required ***
INTERNET - Required for error logging (to send crash reports)
WAKE_LOCK - Required to unlock screen
WRITE_SETTINGS - Required to toggle ringer mode
VIBRATE - Required to vibrate phone
RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED - Required to detect phone boot
WRITE_SYNC_SETTINGS - Required to toggle autosync
READ_SYNC_SETTINGS - Required to toggle autosync
BLUETOOTH - Required to toggle bluetooth
BLUETOOTH_ADMIN - Required to toggle bluetooth
ACCESS_WIFI_STATE - Required to toggle WiFi
UPDATE_DEVICE_STATS - Required to toggle WiFi
CHANGE_WIFI_STATE - Required to toggle WiFi
*** Contact ***
Feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any issues, bug reports, feature requests, suggestions or queries. Please read the FAQ above before sending an e-mail to avoid redundancy.
Click here to visit the market page and download the app for free
Nice one mate.really good work.
Keep it up:thumbup:
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
awsome app . really good
but need some work as ... i may close the phone an put it over the table ..... need option to not turn on the screen when its turn off manual
what happen when my hand somehow moves to the proximity sensor?
shivg86 said:
Nice one mate.really good work.
Keep it up:thumbup:
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! It's my first app so hearing from happy users is really exciting and inspiring.
engfantom said:
awsome app . really good
but need some work as ... i may close the phone an put it over the table ..... need option to not turn on the screen when its turn off manual
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I get it. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll try to fix it as soon as possible. I have exams right now but after that (in a week probably) I'll release a fixed, updated version. And thanks also for the rating. With a new app, it really helps to get good ratings
meethere said:
what happen when my hand somehow moves to the proximity sensor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there is a delay option. So you could set a delay of 2-3 seconds or more so that if you move your hand by mistake to the proximity sensor, it won't just turn off, it'll be delayed. Or you could set the vibrate function on so if your hand goes there, the phone will vibrate to warn you about it. :good:
Downloaded and voted with five stars.
Thanks mate. :laugh:
Downloading rite now..
good idea ! But, it's not working with flip cover.
Indeed, the screen turn off when the flip cover is at 5mm of the sensor but it turns on again when completely closed!!!
can you fix that?
keep on the good work ...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
samvox said:
good idea ! But, it's not working with flip cover.
Indeed, the screen turn off when the flip cover is at 5mm of the sensor but it turns on again when completely closed!!!
can you fix that?
keep on the good work ...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm...not sure. It works with my flip cover. Almost all phones (like Galaxy Note) have a proximity sensor that only detects FAR or NEAR. So even though I've told the application to turn the screen off when an object comes to a certain distance, either the hardware itself or the phone's firmware doesn't have the ability to detect the distance. Proximity sensors are only made to be used when on a call so it doesn't really need to detect distance in its regular everyday usage I guess.
I did have a similar problem to yours when testing with a sort of snake-skin leather Zenus case because it had some tiny ridges in it, but in most test cases it worked. I'll try my best to see if I can dig up a solution. =)
If I remember well, it depends on the color of the cover.
Darker means that the proximity doesn't work very well.
I have another proximity app, I'll switch to this one very soon, and I have to put a little white stripe on the cover,where the sensor is, to make it work correctly.
If I'm not wrong,is an issue with all the sensors and not a program fault.
Inviato dal mio GT-N7000 con Tapatalk 2
raistlin74 said:
If I remember well, it depends on the color of the cover.
Darker means that the proximity doesn't work very well.
I have another proximity app, I'll switch to this one very soon, and I have to put a little white stripe on the cover,where the sensor is, to make it work correctly.
If I'm not wrong,is an issue with all the sensors and not a program fault.
Inviato dal mio GT-N7000 con Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I think about it, that actually makes alot of sense. I don't know what it is with ALL sensors and black but they do tend to freak out. I even have an amazing Logitech mouse that works on mirrors and glass and see-through plastic and anywhere else except for on pitch black surfaces lol. The only crude fix I could think of is to use a combo of proximity sensor and light sensor somehow but it would be a waste of battery in my opinion.
Just tried your app, but didn't really worked : when I flip my (black) cover (or when I hide the sensor with my finger), the screens goes off but just for few seconds before getting on again. I'm using WidgetLocker btw, I don't know if it affects your app or not.
Edit : if you need logs or anything, feel free to ask
Sine. said:
Just tried your app, but didn't really worked : when I flip my (black) cover (or when I hide the sensor with my finger), the screens goes off but just for few seconds before getting on again. I'm using WidgetLocker btw, I don't know if it affects your app or not.
Edit : if you need logs or anything, feel free to ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I'm still searching into it but it would seem that darker colors do not work well with the proximity sensor. Since this doesn't really have much to do with the actual programming itself I'm not sure I can do much about that.
BUT it should work when you use your finger. WidgetLocker shouldn't make a difference, it just works like any other lockscreen so it won't affect the functionality of my app. The fact that it turns on after a while baffles me though, because programmatically it doesn't make sense to me.
If you don't mind, could you please try putting the phone down on a surface or putting it in your pocket to test it? The proximity sensor is pretty sensitive so if you'd moved your finger even a bit it could have gotten triggered. Let me know if it still doesn't work and then we can move on to the messy part.
*yawn* Time for bed
This is happening right now!
Sorry, was just shocked when I actually saw the posting dates/time, I always assume apps have been around and had the bugs worked out, but I see this is newly born! So, for an i717 Note (AT&T Branded) this should essentially work the same, right? I mean there are no processor specific requirements or such? I am a releatively new Note owner - just a few days, and I have rooted, flashed a nice ROM, and ordered an awesome leather cover (NOT the cheesy flip cover) and I went looking for a proximity sensor based "cover detection app" - this sounds good, nice options to fine tune, and the dev sounds really into making this work well. Sounds like a winner. I will grab this now, but will not have my cover till Monday. It is NOT black, LOL, so I will test and report how well it works soon after i get my cover. I also got the Samsung branded car mount (I am going broke getting these, for my HTC phones, then GSII, then GSII Skyrocket (slightly larger) and now Note (LOTS LARGER, LOL!) Oh, so why am I telling you about my car dock? Because it's awesome, LOL!!! Nah, just kidding, (but it IS awesome) - I am wondering if being in a darkened car, like at night might trip the proximity sensors threshold for available light and kill the screen. Anyway, if you don't know that's okay. If it does trip the sensor, I will let you know.
Thanks again for a quality app, with no ads, and free. Always a pleasure - gonna put a price on it when it's perfect? If so remember your testers, hehe.
awsome app, nice job !:good:
SmartAs$Phone said:
Sorry, was just shocked when I actually saw the posting dates/time, I always assume apps have been around and had the bugs worked out, but I see this is newly born! So, for an i717 Note (AT&T Branded) this should essentially work the same, right? I mean there are no processor specific requirements or such? I am a releatively new Note owner - just a few days, and I have rooted, flashed a nice ROM, and ordered an awesome leather cover (NOT the cheesy flip cover) and I went looking for a proximity sensor based "cover detection app" - this sounds good, nice options to fine tune, and the dev sounds really into making this work well. Sounds like a winner. I will grab this now, but will not have my cover till Monday. It is NOT black, LOL, so I will test and report how well it works soon after i get my cover. I also got the Samsung branded car mount (I am going broke getting these, for my HTC phones, then GSII, then GSII Skyrocket (slightly larger) and now Note (LOTS LARGER, LOL!) Oh, so why am I telling you about my car dock? Because it's awesome, LOL!!! Nah, just kidding, (but it IS awesome) - I am wondering if being in a darkened car, like at night might trip the proximity sensors threshold for available light and kill the screen. Anyway, if you don't know that's okay. If it does trip the sensor, I will let you know.
Thanks again for a quality app, with no ads, and free. Always a pleasure - gonna put a price on it when it's perfect? If so remember your testers, hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol Well let's get one thing out the way. This app is and will be free (and ad-free) forever. So don't worry about that. Who knows, maybe a long way into the future I might release a paid app to earn a little cash but I don't plan on doing so anytime soon, and surely not to this app.
As for compatibility, as long as your phone has a proximity sensor the app should work (though I'm working out some problems on the smaller phones) so yes, it should work on your phone, no problem. Just hope it works out with your cover though. My cover is sort of a really dark deep brown and it doesn't work at times so I tend not to use that one. I do alot of coding and testing at night btw, and it doesn't just trigger the proximity sensor, so I strongly doubt a darkened car would trigger it.
Good luck with your Note btw. I really think you made the right choice. I've had mine for a year now. I'm just in college so I can't buy Note 2 or I would have. The way Samsung talks about Note 2 though makes me believe I'll have the chance to grab a Note 3 sometime in the future. =)
YES! FINALLY! Fix for all Gingerbread devices coming soon. Should be up within a day or two after some testing. Then I'll work on widgets and optimization and other stuff after I'm done with exams.
i installed this app. but when i close the flip cover, it just locks the screen . opening the cover does nothing
it doesn't properly works
I don't know why, but when I put my finger on sensor it works, with my black cover don't
nokiamodeln91 said:
i installed this app. but when i close the flip cover, it just locks the screen . opening the cover does nothing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you please give me a little more information? Just basic stuff like the device model and Android version and whatever else you think is important, and I'll look into the issue.
Giopon said:
I don't know why, but when I put my finger on sensor it works, with my black cover don't
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unfortunately this isn't a problem with the application. Proximity sensors don't work well on darker colors. That's why it might work with your finger and maybe in your pocket but not with a black cover. Sorry, this is a problem with hardware, not with the app, so I can't fix that. Only thing I can tell you is that you're not alone. Pretty much all proximity sensors have trouble with black, not just yours.
I've created an app that wakes ambient display when you take the phone out of your pocket or if you have the phone face down and turn it over. The app is in addition to Google's ambient display and does not change your lock screen in anyway. It can also set "pulses" of ambient display. The free version allows you to have it always pulse while charging.
I added a few other paid features for tilt or lift to unlock, wave to unlock, pulsing at an interval, and battery percentage display on the ambient display.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or run into any problems. Thank you!
Check it out: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.compass.ambiturner
Pulse means, as long as i have for exampel a unread whatsapp message, ambi is showing at the set pulse time?
Maybe ill test it on OP3 with CM14.1 running ... will report back!
MultiCulti said:
Pulse means, as long as i have for exampel a unread whatsapp message, ambi is showing at the set pulse time?
Maybe ill test it on OP3 with CM14.1 running ... will report back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. There is a filter for you to choose which apps can trigger a pulse. The pulse timeout is how long do you want the pulses to continue before it stops (to save battery). Pulse will temporarily pause when your phone goes into deep sleep. I could wake it up, but that's a much larger battery hit.
The other features seems to have little to now battery impact. Pulse is fine as long as the interval isn't set crazy low.
So far I've only personally tested it on stock Pixel XL.
ok, so far its working fine here!
Just the pulse isnt working (tried whatsapp and google messenger)
Love the idea off showing the battery, but its not that looking good :silly:
but i think, you just can manage this as "notification", or am i wrong?
anyways, good idea so far, will follow (bought it anyway) :laugh:
MultiCulti said:
ok, so far its working fine here!
Just the pulse isnt working (tried whatsapp and google messenger)
Love the idea off showing the battery, but its not that looking good :silly:
but i think, you just can manage this as "notification", or am i wrong?
anyways, good idea so far, will follow (bought it anyway) :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery level is a notification. I'll create a custom layout to improve the look in a future update.
The pulse is the least reliable feature. I'm still working out the kinks, but doze and deep sleep definitely are one problem. I'm testing various ways and will try to get it as consistent as possible.
Alarm Manager would work but it would drain battery.
Looks great! Just to confirm - you need to have a lock screen set up for it to work?
poczynek said:
Looks great! Just to confirm - you need to have a lock screen set up for it to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it works with androids Ambient Display. So if you have that and it's turned on it should work.
So I've done some limited testing with the app white listed from doze and so far it improves the responsiveness significantly. I don't know the battery impacts yet, but if it's not noticeable I'll add code to prompt users to white list it.
Other upcoming changes:
Advanced settings to adjust wait times for how long the phone has to be in your pocket or laying flat before a wake can occur.
A pulse option that initially pulses faster when a notification comes in, and progressively shows down until the timeout.
Possibly change in lock screen battery indicator appearance.
Filter on laying flat thresholds. I suspect the accelerometer incorrectly reports the phone tilted while it is laying flat on occasion.
New update posted.
I may have discovered what is causing the intermittent nature of wave to wake. I made some changes in how I'm using the proximity sensor so that should help. I'll have to wait and see after a day or so of use to see how consistent it is.
I also added an option to turn off the wake from pocket.
There's now a help screen with an email developer button and some troubleshooting hints. I've been getting a large number of 1 star reviews, and many of them are people who don't realize you need to have ambient display turned on and a lock screen set, so I included more info on that.
Oh, and the notification is now hidden unless you have the Battery Indicator selected!
If anyone is still having problems with tilt to wake please let me know. On my Pixel XL that has been working every time all day. There is sometimes a delay, but I think that's due to the aggressiveness of Android 7.1 putting the device into sleep.
Awesome app. I bought it mainly because of Wave To Wake, but for some reason it works two times on my Nexus 6 and then stops working until I turn my screen on and off again. Oh, and I've already whitelisted Ambi-Turner from the battery optimisation.
Also I would love if you could make Ambient Display work as soon as I turn the screen off, without having to wait for 10 or 3 seconds.
Thank you a lot for your hard work, I hope this can be fixed. Please contact me if I can help with anything!
Ygor Cortes said:
Awesome app. I bought it mainly because of Wave To Wake, but for some reason it works two times on my Nexus 6 and then stops working until I turn my screen on and off again. Oh, and I've already whitelisted Ambi-Turner from the battery optimisation.
Also I would love if you could make Ambient Display work as soon as I turn the screen off, without having to wait for 10 or 3 seconds.
Thank you a lot for your hard work, I hope this can be fixed. Please contact me if I can help with anything!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to get wave to wake as consistent as possible. Did you update last night? Let me know if that helps it.
I'm actually working on some advanced settings to let you control those timeouts.
grokus said:
I'm trying to get wave to wake as consistent as possible. Did you update last night? Let me know if that helps it.
I'm actually working on some advanced settings to let you control those timeouts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm testing it right now and it's still quite inconsistent. Though I never know if I'm waving too fast or too slow, you know? Maybe if there was a way to make it more sensitive? Thanks for the attention! ;D
Edit: just to be clear, Wave To Wake does only work two times, but I discovered that I don't actually need to turn the screen on for it to work, I can just move the device (then Ambient Display will turn on) and after that the Wave To Wake will work again (though still only two times). I believe it has something to do with the time after it's been awake or something like that.
Android Wear Issue
Ok...I love the app when its working and even bought the Pro. So worth it to me.
This morning I forgot my Android Wear watch (LG Urbane) at home and Ambi Turner was working perfectly. I had to run home at lunch, grabbed my watch, turned it on and now Ambi Turner isn't working.
Any thoughts how to get around this?
mschumacker said:
Ok...I love the app when its working and even bought the Pro. So worth it to me.
This morning I forgot my Android Wear watch (LG Urbane) at home and Ambi Turner was working perfectly. I had to run home at lunch, grabbed my watch, turned it on and now Ambi Turner isn't working.
Any thoughts how to get around this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UPDATE: I turned off the 'Mute' for my watch and Ambi Turner started working again. Hmm...gotta thing this one through. Turning on Mute alerts my watch, but I also see them on Amber Display.
Ygor Cortes said:
I'm testing it right now and it's still quite inconsistent. Though I never know if I'm waving too fast or too slow, you know? Maybe if there was a way to make it more sensitive? Thanks for the attention! ;D
Edit: just to be clear, Wave To Wake does only work two times, but I discovered that I don't actually need to turn the screen on for it to work, I can just move the device (then Ambient Display will turn on) and after that the Wave To Wake will work again (though still only two times). I believe it has something to do with the time after it's been awake or something like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm adding some customization for the wave timeouts. I wish I could measure hand distance from phone but the pixel and nexus sensors don't have that granularity the way moto phones do.
mschumacker said:
UPDATE: I turned off the 'Mute' for my watch and Ambi Turner started working again. Hmm...gotta thing this one through. Turning on Mute alerts my watch, but I also see them on Amber Display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm that's strange. I'm using a garmin fitness watch that has notifications and haven't seen anything like that. Does your watch somehow mute notifications on your phone so that only the watch displays them?
grokus said:
Hmm that's strange. I'm using a garmin fitness watch that has notifications and haven't seen anything like that. Does your watch somehow mute notifications on your phone so that only the watch displays them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes...there is a setting in Android Watch (Silence phone while wearing watch ) in the new version. It used to be 'Mute calls and notifications'. Its actually very handy so that when I'm in a meeting, I just get a vibration on my watch instead of my phone making any noise. Add the 'Feel the Wear' app where you can customize the vibration pattern per app...just a great combo.
EDIT: Since I just got a new version of Android Watch, it seems I can turn on the Silence option and the AmbiTurner, wake on wave, is working! Woo HOO!
Made tons of improvements. Tilt to wake should be extremely reliable now. There is also a lift to wake option. I reduced the speed you need to wave, so it should be much easier to trigger now. I also added an option to always pulse while charging.
Let me know how it works!
I had taken a break from updating it because I became a father but I have a little spare time now.
grokus said:
Made tons of improvements. Tilt to wake should be extremely reliable now. There is also a lift to wake option. I reduced the speed you need to wave, so it should be much easier to trigger now. I also added an option to always pulse while charging.
Let me know how it works!
I had taken a break from updating it because I became a father but I have a little spare time now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@grokus is this app still being developed?
Sent from my LG-H990 using XDA Labs
Hey Guys!
MIUI, a skin over android that we all know and love/hate/neutral of... With the upcoming MIUI 10 update coming over, I'm sure all of us are very excited for the new features, like the single camera bokeh effect, full screen gestures, and so on. But of course, MIUI has it's ups and down, like maybe an app drawer. We also know that there are other "skins" for android from other companies like say Huawei, One Plus, Oppo, etc. They have their own unique things about it which may attract people over to their platform for that very reason.
With all the unique features that other UIs have, maybe we could take some inspiration from them and maybe with MIUI 11, it could be integrated in. Who knows? So here are some of my suggestions:
- Off-screen Navigations
I know MIUI has things like double-tap to wake screen and such. But maybe add more of it. Say a music's playing, maybe with like a triple finger swipe to the left will skip it, a triple finger tap will pause it and play it, and a triple finger swipe from top to bottom or bottom to top may control the volume. There could be so much more to the navigations. It be very handy for when your screen's locked and we wanna so a quick action.
- Gaming Experience Mode (GEM)
Maybe something for the gamers too? Like say we press an icon like the "switch" button to go to second space, but this time it's something new like an "Enter GEM" setting, when enabled pops up a button like second space does. When pressed, it basically turns of syncing and such, focusing all the ram, cpu, gpu to the games available, where calls/notification are all turned off or maybe minimised to a small pop-up on the corner of the screen, swipe it away to ignore it or tap it to open up a small tab for suggestions, like maybe a WhatsApp message comes on, you tap the small icon and then 3 suggestions pop up. Eg. "Cant talk right now", "Talk to you later", or maybe "Duude! I'm playing PUBG right now!". It's up to you, you can edit it in the settings or some sort.
- Side-Assistant
You know how Samsung has experienceui or touchwiz? With their "edge" devices, you pull the edge of the screen from that curve that will pull a tab with contacts, etc. Well, MIUI could maybe do something similar? Rather than the "quick ball" option which limits us to 5 actions, maybe make it so that you pull the edge of the screen, then a small tab opens, which will contain contacts, quick actions like screenshot, flashlight etc. Suggested apps? It's almost limitless. Maybe even make a small google search bar in the side assistant tab.
- Navigation Button Pattern (NBP)
Ever placed something in a safe or some sort, and then we placed in a code so it could open it, of course you did. Well this is something similar, say we made a combination of, home button, then recent apps button, then home button again. We make a command for that exact pattern, say we make it so that if we do the pattern/combination, it will open settings or open an app, or call someone. It's pretty much limitless, with something like this, it could pretty much make shortcuts with a small move. It'll be pretty dandy you know!
- Lasting Power Mode
With MIUI's integrated battery saver mode, it will pretty much disable syncing and processes to make sure the battery last longer, but with that mode on, we could still probably spend loads of juice from just say using the GPS. So like Samsung's ultra power saving mode, this will limit us to certain apps that are essential, while making sure that non-essential processes and background actions are restricted to keep the battery alive as long as possible, but it comes with the cost of experience. But sometimes we really do need it, so it may just be worth it.
- Gyroscope Gestures
Come on Xiaomi! With the gyroscope in your devices, using that sensor of yours could really come in handy! Like maybe shake the phone to turn the flashlight on. Wave it to accept calls and put it on speakers, etc. Oh and a favourite of mine would be to flip the phone twice to turn camera on or something.
- Phone H Check (H means Health)
Now something with the built-in security app. We know how useful it is, how much we love it. How we can save space with it, etc. But sometimes having to wait to make sure our phone is in the best condition is a bit of a drag, for me at least. So... why don't you add a night check session, say every 1 A.M, it will do the optimization. Cleared the ram, junk, battery stuff, etc. So when we wake up, our phone is all healthy and ready to use!
So that's all I've got for now... Comment if you think if they're a good idea or a bad idea, etc. Maybe even suggest your own!
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
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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!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.