Related
I'm almost positive there was a previous thread about this issue, but I can't seem to find it. In any case, I've noticed that the touch sensor lags behind my finger considerably. I recorded a video with two tests consisting of a. A quick demo with the multitouch visualizer app, and b. A half-assed game of table tennis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j7cYb7EtUM
This issue has also been noted by Android Central in one of their tests of the Evo's multi touch capabilities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieuB0VvkmwA
As you can see, the video clearly demonstrates a problem with either the hardware or software. The HTC Incredible uses the exact same touch sensor, yet exhibits none of these issues. As a result, I'm kind of doubtful it's an issue with the hardware. I'm sorry, but for such a high-end smartphone, I would expect better from HTC. Here's to hoping they address this problem in a future software update.
yeah.. im kinda disappointed in EVO..
personally, it not that big of a deal. So it's another obstacle while playing air hockey, just something to make the game more exighting. If you really are disappointed in a beast of a phone as this for having some touch sensor lag.... go dig a hole and bury yourself in it.
Rennat said:
personally, it not that big of a deal. So it's another obstacle while playing air hockey, just something to make the game more exighting. If you really are disappointed in a beast of a phone as this for having some touch sensor lag.... go dig a hole and bury yourself in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That really is not a good excuse for this issue. I don't want air hockey to be more exciting or challenging. I want the paddle to track my finger as accurately as every other high-end smartphone on the market. I have every right to be disappointed, because this isn't 'some' touch sensor lag. In fact, it's quite severe. I paid good money for a good smartphone, and I, along with the rest of the Evo owners, deserve better than this. We shouldn't have to settle for 'not that big of a deal'.
The lag is not on pressing buttons I think, I think it's when you drag stuff.
I mean I tried on my Droid and it feels slow to respond on the emulators with touch controls, but the Evo is slow as well. Also when clicking stuff it feels instant.
jigglywiggly said:
The lag is not on pressing buttons I think, I think it's when you drag stuff.
I mean I tried on my Droid and it feels slow to respond on the emulators with touch controls, but the Evo is slow as well. Also when clicking stuff it feels instant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well no, there's no lag on pressing buttons. The touch sensor can easily handle a single tap, since it isn't necessarily tracking anything. When it comes to playing something like table tennis though, the problem becomes painfully obvious.
Mecha2142 said:
That really is not a good excuse for this issue. I don't want air hockey to be more exciting or challenging. I want the paddle to track my finger as accurately as every other high-end smartphone on the market. I have every right to be disappointed, because this isn't 'some' touch sensor lag. In fact, it's quite severe. I paid good money for a good smartphone, and I, along with the rest of the Evo owners, deserve better than this. We shouldn't have to settle for 'not that big of a deal'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're missing my point. I meant to say that is a little bug in the screen tracking going to influence your desission on whether you are cool with he phone or not? Ever phone will always have minor bugs that you just have to live with. Now tell me, can you name any of your last phone's 'little bugs'? I had a Palm Pre, and I loved it. I will say the build quality was crap and I had to return it 3 times but I still enjoyed the phone. The Evo by the looks of things doesn't have any problems with hardware but the memory card issue that got resolved within a few hours of release.
Rennat said:
I meant to say that is a little bug in the screen tracking going to influence your desission on whether you are cool with he phone or not? Ever phone will always have minor bugs that you just have to live with. Now tell me, can you name any of your last phone's 'little bugs'? I had a Palm Pre, and I loved it. I will say the build quality was crap and I had to return it 3 times but I still enjoyed the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this little 'bug' is going to influence my decision because it shows utter negligence on behalf of HTC regarding their flagship device. A minor bug is the notification light going off every once in a while. A minor bug is not the main input method lagging behind by at least a second. This is a bug I'd rather not have to live with if HTC can fix it. What if all smartphones had this 'little bug'? I'm pretty sure nobody would just accept living with it.
When a G1 outperforms an Evo in terms of touch input tracking, there is a serious problem.
Agreed. I'd like to get this resolved. It isn't a deal breaker to me, but it is shocking that a device like this would have a significant issue with the touch sensor. I have a feeling that tracking can just be updated with a future software update, but if/when this occurs is anyone's guess.
This is definitely a software issue. From Chipworks:
Touch Screen controller
The Atmel device provides for up to 224 nodes (hence being called MXT224?) and a patented charge transfer technology that allows it to be used even in netbook screens (>10”). It features an SNR of 80:1, and an extremely fast refresh rate. All in all, the nearest competing off-the-shelf touch screen at the time of introduction has only half as many nodes, a screen refresh rate of only 83Hz (66% slower) and an SNR of only 25:1 (66% less). Another thing, it can recognize (first in the industry) not only touch but also stylus, fingernails and gloved hands. Because of the high SNR rate, the device consumes a smaller amount of power and a decreased response time (due to it not being required to make use of extra filtering circuitry).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zeuzinn said:
This is definitely a software issue. From Chipworks:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. Now that you mention it, this might have some correlation with the 30 frames per second cap on the Evo. I mean, most other phones run at 60fps, and they have no problem tracking touch input. What's possibly going on is that because the phone is limited to 30fps, the screen can't refresh nearly as fast as it has to in order to track the input...
Mecha2142 said:
Right. Now that you mention it, this might have some correlation with the 30 frames per second cap on the Evo. I mean, most other phones run at 60fps, and they have no problem tracking touch input. What's possibly going on is that because the phone is limited to 30fps, the screen can't refresh nearly as fast as it has to in order to track the input...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just thinking the same thing. Perhaps fixing the frame cap will resolve both issues.
Mecha2142 said:
Yes, this little 'bug' is going to influence my decision because it shows utter negligence on behalf of HTC regarding their flagship device. A minor bug is the notification light going off every once in a while. A minor bug is not the main input method lagging behind by at least a second. This is a bug I'd rather not have to live with if HTC can fix it. What if all smartphones had this 'little bug'? I'm pretty sure nobody would just accept living with it.
When a G1 outperforms an Evo in terms of touch input tracking, there is a serious problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said before.....
Rennat said:
You're missing my point. I meant to say that is a little bug in the screen tracking going to influence your desission on whether you are cool with he phone or not? Ever phone will always have minor bugs that you just have to live with. Now tell me, can you name any of your last phone's 'little bugs'? I had a Palm Pre, and I loved it. I will say the build quality was crap and I had to return it 3 times but I still enjoyed the phone. The Evo by the looks of things doesn't have any problems with hardware but the memory card issue that got resolved within a few hours of release.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and no I don't care if the screen lag is hardware issue or software. If your going to yell and grip about this then go away. We really don't need ranters link you in the forum. The xda forum is to help others and create new ways of doing things and having more features.
At this point, I really don't care what you think. As you can tell from the other posts in this thread, and in fact the entire Evo forum, people do care about things like touch input lag, frame limit caps, and bad wi-fi reception.
Have you seen the thread on the Evo's graphical cap? Most people there seem pretty pissed off about the issue and want something done. Should they go away because they're 'ranters'? No, they're right because the only way to get things fixed is to point the problems out in the first place.
Mecha2142 said:
Yes, this little 'bug' is going to influence my decision because it shows utter negligence on behalf of HTC regarding their flagship device. A minor bug is the notification light going off every once in a while. A minor bug is not the main input method lagging behind by at least a second. This is a bug I'd rather not have to live with if HTC can fix it. What if all smartphones had this 'little bug'? I'm pretty sure nobody would just accept living with it.
When a G1 outperforms an Evo in terms of touch input tracking, there is a serious problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a bug. As of now, the android base will have a minor delay, especially when it comes to user interface because that is just the way java is. Which is why you will not notice it in dalvik prepped apps.
That being said I don't notice it at all after switching to the evo. I did notice it on my hero. There was always a solid delay between my finger and anything it does. On the evo I would say it is almost gone for me. But everyone always compares it to the iphone which is not java but I remember reading about the comparable delays between the two platforms and its there on the iphone <= 3gs but its just not as noticeable.
To each his own but I see way more advantages in waiting for Froyo/JIT on this platform, at least until apple opens up a bit, which will never happen.
EDIT: By the way, RUU the device because I can tell you right now of the two evo's I have played with neither had an input lag anywhere NEAR a second. If that is in fact true I believe the device or install has got something wrong with it. Or it could be a runaway app that has been installed.
flexgrip said:
This is not a bug. As of now, the android base will have a minor delay, especially when it comes to user interface because that is just the way java is. Which is why you will not notice it in dalvik prepped apps.
That being said I don't notice it at all after switching to the evo. I did notice it on my hero. There was always a solid delay between my finger and anything it does. On the evo I would say it is almost gone for me. But everyone always compares it to the iphone which is not java but I remember reading about the comparable delays between the two platforms and its there on the iphone <= 3gs but its just not as noticeable.
To each his own but I see way more advantages in waiting for Froyo/JIT on this platform, at least until apple opens up a bit, which will never happen.
EDIT: By the way, RUU the device because I can tell you right now of the two evo's I have played with neither had an input lag anywhere NEAR a second. If that is in fact true I believe the device or install has got something wrong with it. Or it could be a runaway app that has been installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Are you saying that my Motorola Droid, which DOESN'T have the input lag, is because it's not running java vm on Android? hahahaha Java VM has nothing to do with the lag on Evo's input.
Not really sure where I said that the moto droid is not based on java or anything of the sort. Pretty much ever developer knows that java ui performance is mostly crap.
For example eclipse and OOO. Perfect examples. They have purely unacceptable lag in their UI.
Nearly ALL user interfaces based on java have a laggy UI. As a developer I made a conscious choice to not use java based ui and go with gtk/clutter. I have played with several motorola droids and they all have a solid delay that in most circumstances does not exist on the iphone. It is a pretty common reason for folks to not use java to build their apps. Take a good look at the sandbox dalvik apps. Even under the android emulator they are much more responsive.
I DO NOT see the moto droid having less delay than my evo. I think you are mistaking frame rate for input lag. As icons are moving, they look "jittery" or skip around. That is a long shot from saying there is a 1 second delay between your finger and movement on the screen. I had an app crash the other day while downloading files to the SD card and the whole system slowed down and had this massive input delay. So all I was really saying was try and see if there is maybe something you have installed that has made this happen because everything seems pretty "instant" to me, coming from the hero. Obviously it could be that my opinion is relative to my hero. But I notice that the evo is a bit snappier than the incredible. And that is backed up by a few reviews.
flexgrip said:
Not really sure where I said that the moto droid is not based on java or anything of the sort. Pretty much ever developer knows that java ui performance is mostly crap.
For example eclipse and OOO. Perfect examples. They have purely unacceptable lag in their UI.
Nearly ALL user interfaces based on java have a laggy UI. As a developer I made a conscious choice to not use java based ui and go with gtk/clutter. I have played with several motorola droids and they all have a solid delay that in most circumstances does not exist on the iphone. It is a pretty common reason for folks to not use java to build their apps. Take a good look at the sandbox dalvik apps. Even under the android emulator they are much more responsive.
I DO NOT see the moto droid having less delay than my evo. I think you are mistaking frame rate for input lag. As icons are moving, they look "jittery" or skip around. That is a long shot from saying there is a 1 second delay between your finger and movement on the screen. I had an app crash the other day while downloading files to the SD card and the whole system slowed down and had this massive input delay. So all I was really saying was try and see if there is maybe something you have installed that has made this happen because everything seems pretty "instant" to me, coming from the hero. Obviously it could be that my opinion is relative to my hero. But I notice that the evo is a bit snappier than the incredible. And that is backed up by a few reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Move your finger faster on the screen. Your finger will be going one direction while the interface is still going another direction. The delay is greater than the difference between 30 and 60FPS.
flexgrip said:
Not really sure where I said that the moto droid is not based on java or anything of the sort. Pretty much ever developer knows that java ui performance is mostly crap.
For example eclipse and OOO. Perfect examples. They have purely unacceptable lag in their UI.
Nearly ALL user interfaces based on java have a laggy UI. As a developer I made a conscious choice to not use java based ui and go with gtk/clutter. I have played with several motorola droids and they all have a solid delay that in most circumstances does not exist on the iphone. It is a pretty common reason for folks to not use java to build their apps. Take a good look at the sandbox dalvik apps. Even under the android emulator they are much more responsive.
I DO NOT see the moto droid having less delay than my evo. I think you are mistaking frame rate for input lag. As icons are moving, they look "jittery" or skip around. That is a long shot from saying there is a 1 second delay between your finger and movement on the screen. I had an app crash the other day while downloading files to the SD card and the whole system slowed down and had this massive input delay. So all I was really saying was try and see if there is maybe something you have installed that has made this happen because everything seems pretty "instant" to me, coming from the hero. Obviously it could be that my opinion is relative to my hero. But I notice that the evo is a bit snappier than the incredible. And that is backed up by a few reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You drunk?
I have the Droid and the HTC EVO 4g.
Get the a touch input application
Scroll around with the Droid, instant.
Evo 4g super delay
This issue has nothing to do with Dalvik, or Java.
jigglywiggly said:
You drunk?
I have the Droid and the HTC EVO 4g.
Get the a touch input application
Scroll around with the Droid, instant.
Evo 4g super delay
This issue has nothing to do with Dalvik, or Java.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 its there and verified
Guys
I got two Vibrants to replace two G1s.
The compass is all over the place.
You change the phone inclination and north moves to east! You move it again, and north moves to south!
The G1s are precise. You tilt the phone but the north stays at north.
I'm confused.
Are you guys seeing this issue?
I commented on this in another forum. The compass SUCKS BAD!!! It's horrible.
I believe that the GPS is also 2nd rate. It works well at faster speeds such as driving in a car, but when walking or running it's all over the place and VERY INACCURATE.
When I had the Evo, using Google Sky was 100% smooth and instant. On the Vibrant it's jerky and inaccurate. I'm guessing this is due to the compass issue? Hopefully it's a software/firmware issue.
Yeah, I noticed while using GPSstatus that the compass reacts very slowly to changes in orientation. Samsung has been touting their 6 axis motion sensor, but it seems to be inferior to other products from what I'm seeing.
I've herd a lot about this but mine is working perfectly, well better than my N1 anyway and racing games are easier to play on this phone also, mines response smoothly.
Is there anyone else that has one work good ?
I just used the NAV and it had me exiting at nearly every exit. It never pinpointed my location, It was always 0-100ft range and had to constantly reroute. I was on a major interstate (5 lane each way). G1 was much better but G1 did take an age to find my location initally.
Is it possible the orientation of the sensor is different in the Vibrant as compared to other android phones? I tried the compass after reading this thread on my vibrant and noticed that if you lay the phone flat horizontal and spin it, the compass doesn't do anything. Now if you start tilting the phone up and down, the compass starts spinning. It's acting almost like it is reading the wrong orientation from the sensor...
SykesAT said:
I just used the NAV and it had me exiting at nearly every exit. It never pinpointed my location, It was always 0-100ft range and had to constantly reroute. I was on a major interstate (5 lane each way). G1 was much better but G1 did take an age to find my location initally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY how mine was today when navigating for the first time. I was on the highway when I came close to the off ramp, the GPS thought that I exited off the highway. What gives? My G1 I had since the day it came out never did this.
I just did a little testing,
The compass does not work right in any application. I tried streetview (with compass mode), wikitude, google skymaps, layar, and a compass app...
The thing just wildly swings around and does not point in the right direction ever. I tried calibrating it several times and it didn't help. I don't have a case on my phone and my g1 seems to handle the task just fine in the same room.
I have the same problem. The compass does not work at all, and 'swings around wildly' is 100% accurate.
Man, this is upsetting.
Another vote for the compass being pretty much worthless. Found a thread at androidforums (androidforums com / samsung-galaxy-s/104872-gps-issues.html) saying that samsung is working on a software fix by next month. Given the issues I've also seen with the wildly innacurate GPS and signal bars, I'm hoping these are all fixable with a firmware update.
This is the best android phone tmo has seen (and will probably see) for a while, so I'm hoping it's all just software.
My compass has Parkinsons. Hope we can get an official comment from samsung or tmobile before our 14 days are up!
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App and Swype
If something isn't said within the next week, I'm returning the phone. It's unacceptable to have such hardware flaws like that.
I'm really hoping they come forward and something is said soon. I'd hate to lose this screen.
I just went to a few t-mobile stores today to try out their display models and compare the compass performance with my Vibrant. Every single Vibrant I tested in the stores had the same problem. I think either there was a ton of phones going out with bad compasses or the firmware is messed up and most people don't realize it because they don't use apps that utilize it.
unxconformed said:
I just went to a few t-mobile stores today to try out their display models and compare the compass performance with my Vibrant. Every single Vibrant I tested in the stores had the same problem. I think either there was a ton of phones going out with bad compasses or the firmware is messed up and most people don't realize it because they don't use apps that utilize it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you.
Anyway, isn't that weird that a big company like Samsung released a SMART phone with such big flaws?
I mean, compass and gps are pretty much useless. On a phone that is Android based, with Maps and all sorts of location aware apps, it really surprises me that NO ONE at Samsung USA or Tmobile found these problems before.
Think about it: it took me 30 minutes after I received my phones to realize something was not right. A TMobile engineer testing this phone should be able to find the problem, EASILY, in less than one day.
Amazing.
Anyway, I don't know if I can post URLs here, but if you go to
androidforums dot com/samsung-galaxy-s/104872-gps-issues.html
you will notice that this phone is presenting these problems for a couple of months now, all over Europe and Asia, and so far with no solution or official statement from the manufacturer.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I read somewhere on the i9000 forums that the compass reports NON-STANDARD figures. It only requires a software fix. Samsung confirmed this 'bug' and it should be staged for next firmware update (Hopefully)
I was doing a bit of poking around online and it does sound like Samsung's compass doesn't report it's values the same as the HTC units. I don't know if that is true or not, but you can download this app below and look at your compass output / accelerometer output and see the problem in real time.
http://mobilizycom.easycgi.com/dl/sensortest.html
When you run this app, look at the first 3 values for X, Y and Z. X represents your compass heading (ie direction pointing north, south, etc...) Y represents your pitch (angle from horizon in the vertical direction) Z represents your roll. To help visualize, think of your phone as a little airplane with the nose of the plane being the top of your phone (near usb port) and the wings being parallel with the screen surface.
What I noticed was that Y and Z report perfectly in real time and are accurate to represent my movements. X on the other hand is super delayed and after you make a move, you have to sit and wait for a while for the value to catch up to the actual heading. It also jumps around a bit and sometimes drifts away.
The next three values, a, b, and c are your accelerometer outputs.
I'm guessing the Y and Z values are calculated via the accelerometers and not the magnetometer, but it is very clear that the heading X is delayed, jumps around and in general is poor.
Try it for yourself if you'd like to confirm. I'd be interested in if some people had accuracy and response times on the X being the same as their Y and Z.
As much as I love xda, and 'the word' of people...
Could someone please post a link where Samsung actually said they're working on a fix for the Galaxy S compass problems (in Asia or otherwise)? This is a pretty expensive device, and these flaws are really unforgivable, if they are hardware-related (non-fixable).
The news of their knowledge / fixing of the problem is the deciding factor in me keeping this otherwise excellent device.
I meet with this problem too, double checked with my Hero, it's Vibrant's problem for sure.
I am wondering if Samsung will work on this bug.
Anybody has any idea about if I can return this phone because of this deficiency? I bought it from RadioShark and the 6 axis motion sensor is the only reason( I am a developer).
cnbuff410 said:
I meet with this problem too, double checked with my Hero, it's Vibrant's problem for sure.
I am wondering if Samsung will work on this bug.
Anybody has any idea about if I can return this phone because of this deficiency? I bought it from RadioShark and the 6 axis motion sensor is the only reason( I am a developer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on hold with Samsung right now. I'm sure they'll feed me a line of bull****, but we'll see.
T-Mobile said that there is zero flexibility, outside of the Buyer's Remorse grace period. The CSR said that it's ultimately up to the retail manager, and that some stores are very flexible, especially for long-term customers, when it comes to defective devices.
Otherwise, I was told to be worried about the Buyer's Remorse period, and that if I had any doubts, I should return it so as to not be stuck with a $500+ device that does not function properly.
They also said that they've heard nothing from Samsung regarding the matter...
Hi,
Does anyone else find that the gyroscope is useless on this phone. In street view or Google earth, if I use the hardware sensor to control movement the movement is really jerky and all over the place. Even the compass seems to be screwing up as a 360 turn only seems to have 3 or 4 discreet steps rather than being smooth.
I've installed phone tester and monitored the sensor output and even on a stable surface the values are all over the place.
Is this normal or am I going to have to get the phone replaced?
Cheers,
Phil
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
you have to wave the phone in a figure 8 pattern to calibrate the compass. I'm not sure why, but I have to do this every day. My Nexus S seems to lose its compass calibration everyday.
Is anyone else experiencing this? Or is it a hardware problem on mine?
sagech said:
you have to wave the phone in a figure 8 pattern to calibrate the compass. I'm not sure why, but I have to do this every day. My Nexus S seems to lose its compass calibration everyday.
Is anyone else experiencing this? Or is it a hardware problem on mine?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine about a week and this is the only thing that had upset me so far. Google Sky Map was exhibiting this same problem. It was fine on n1 and g2. hopefully it's a software/driver issue. I would have expected a fix by now though if it was.
Has google said anything yet of substance besides 'we'll talk to X team/we're looking into it...'?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
I've also noticed this - maybe a hardware issue?
phillevy said:
I've also noticed this - maybe a hardware issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plz oh plz let not be a hardware issue, cause it would mean it can't be fixed. I really hope is driver problem, since the NS it's the first google phone to have a gyroscope (as far as I know) so they didn't pin down the little brat.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
gratti said:
Plz oh plz let not be a hardware issue, cause it would mean it can't be fixed. I really hope is driver problem, since the NS it's the first google phone to have a gyroscope (as far as I know) so they didn't pin down the little brat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not the gyroscope. It's the compass. The compass in our phone is extremely bad and subject to lots of noise/interference. It's very unlikely this will be fixed in a software patch, unless Invensense updates their library.
So to confirm this appears to be a general hardware fault with the compass? I can't believe that everyone has this problem on the Nexus S, it's a huge problem and I would have expected more fuss to have been made about it. I have used phone tester to determine what sensors I have on my phone:
Compass: AK8973 Orientation Sensor (Asahi Kasei Microdevices)
Magnetic field sensor: AK8973 3-axis magentic field sensor (Asahi Kasei Microdevices)
Accelerometer: KR3DM 3-axis Accelerometer (STMicroelectronics)
Gyroscope: K3G Gyroscope (STMicroelectronics)
It would be great if anyone who does not experience this problem could let us know and post what sensor they have to see if there are hardware variations around?
@chadrockey Where does Invensense come in? I've seen that they have produced new generation sensor but it appears that the Nexus S doesn't include it.
Invensense supplies the gyroscopes in the Wii MotionPlus and quite possibly the gyroscopes and some additional hardware in the Nexus S.
They also developed the sensor fusion algorithm in the new gingerbread APIs:
hhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7JQ7Rpwn2kOsg
It's more or less a problem with compasses in general and probably weak software applied to calculate heading.
Compasses also vary significantly in area, so the closer to the equator you are, the fewer problems you should have. You can also try indoors/outdoors away from dumpsters, cars, computers, anything metal.
All compasses are notorious for noise and having issues with anything metallic. Like computer cases, magnets, fridges, or even our NFC antenna.
ditto, compass sucks. it gets better when i move it away from speakers, computers, monitors, etc. also, i'm in toronto so it generally sucks everywhere. when i was in HK it was pretty good though.
Nexus' compass is totally borked: +/-30° deviation with back cover (nfc antenna), +/-20° without. (90° turns). My old htc hero performed MUCH better ...
[hfm] said:
It was fine on n1 and g2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chadrockey said:
It's more or less a problem with compasses in general and probably weak software applied to calculate heading
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, is it a software or hardware issue??
I cant confirm that. In maps the compass shows the exact direction im looking at. But i can confirm that none of the compass apps i downloaded showed it right most of them showed me south (i pointed to north) i turned 90° left and they showed sw another 90° and i saw se and next 90° showed me east. Same for sensor testing apps my phone lies on the floor and the values for acceleration, magnetic, gyroscope and compass where going crazy but i i couldnt see them bouncing more than +-2%
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Same problem by me on LG Optimus One, I think it's Android or generally compass sensor problem. After every launch of some compass app, I need to re-calibrate it in figure 8 movement...
I'm currently on my fifth nexus s.. The compasses on the last four were pretty much unusable. The fifth one is noticeably a lot smoother. On a different note, every single nexus s i used was great in some areas and lacked in other areas. The first one i had was solid but every now and then when i was taking pictures the whole screen would turn red. I would have easily kept it. Dropped it hard, replaced it. Second one had an completely crapped out back button. Third one had that weird can't make a portable wifi hotspot problem. It would almost never turn on and the speaker sounded blown out. Fourth one was all busted.. it had the hotspot problem and the screen was popping up. Plus it got unusually hot. My other ones never got that warm. On the fifth one, the live wallpapers slow the home screen scrolling and app drawer so much I don't use them but the rest of the phone works flawlessly, including the compass. The other phones were never affected by the live wallpapers. Am I a little bummed that a $550 device isn't perfect, ya. Especially if your obsessive like I am, but at this point I've learned that no NS is perfect (in my experience anyway). Even after all that stuff i went through (which might be an extreme case) I still love this phone and I'll have it until the next nexus comes out. I just hope I don't drop this one Holy crap this is a long post...
Mine had issues back on 2.3.2 and CM7 RC1. Flashed RC2 and it wasn't jerky anymore. Not really sure why.
I had my device repaired by Samsung service recently, just got it back 2 weeks ago. I'm not 100% sure it is still the same device, only with a new screen, or a replacement (although the S/N and IMEI are the same as before). However, since I got it back I also noticed this compass weirdness. I definitely didn't have these issues before. But then I also didn't have 2.3.3 before. There is also a thread in Google's forums where people complain and some think it started with 2.3.3 (I'm not yet permitted to post the link here though).
I just hope this is a software problem and will be fixed in an update. In the current state Maps is basically unusable for me, the little blue needle always points in the wrong direction and even directly after calibrating the compass (which seems to last about 5min max) the direction is always off by some 10-15 degrees and also reacts very jerkily to any movement. My HTC Desire never had such problems.
please report this bug at here:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=37f2dd3261d20d1f&hl=en
and add a star if you have this issue as well here:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15999
check my issue video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-9lehX8u2U
Google please fix this!!!
I have the following weird phenomenon.
Nexus S users, please confirm you have this problem too.
This problem does not manifest itself on a Nexus One.
I have both Nexii.
Open Google Sky Map.
Move the phone around as much as you can in all directions and orientations.
Select Back or Home.
Open Gallery.
Tilt the phone from portrait to landscape
Do you lose the orientation function?
Infact, I lose orientation function across all apps after that. It is as if the phone is "locked" into a certain orientation or loses the function altogether.
This problem corrects itself after a reboot.
More info: Gingerbread 2.3.2 with LauncherPro
Update: If you change the sensors Speed and Damping to HIGH for both, the problem goes away...
I don't think it uses the gyroscope.
I guess it just uses the Compass to find out which direction your pointing, and the accelerometer to measure up and down
i think the problem is most apps aren't built for gingerbread features. and gingerbread has gyroscope support built in. when an app developer asks - basically - for the direction, android will either use 2 or 3 (compass, accellerometer and gyroscope - the gyroscope adds the smoothness) sensors depending on what api lever (android version) the app is built for.
so, make sure the app is built for 2.3? just throwing it out there. this would explain why google earth (that is shipped on the device) is incredibly nice and smooth (compared to earth on a desire). and, would explain why apps downloaded on the market are jerky too probably.
While these games have beautiful graphics and appear to be stable, one common issue I've noticed with both games is that every so often the character will swing around like 180 degrees. I think I came across at least one other person with Nexus 7 that reported this issue. Anyone not have this issue? Other than that annoying issue I actually like the games. Running stock 4.1.1.
mi7chy said:
While these games have beautiful graphics and appear to be stable, one common issue I've noticed with both games is that every so often the character will swing around like 180 degrees. I think I came across at least one other person with Nexus 7 that reported this issue. Anyone not have this issue? Other than that annoying issue I actually like the games. Running stock 4.1.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be suffering from this issue. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1789450
Watch the video and you'll see why you are having this issue.
I've had this problem slightly with Dead Trigger. I think it has something to do with the control scheme, where the area that is used as a virtual thumb stick to move your player also can be used to turn the view of the player, and causes you to randomly turn when you're trying to move. This may not be the problem, but it's what I've noticed.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Happens to me too with Dead Trigger. Pretty annoying when zombies are trying to tear at your flesh...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
zach382 said:
You may be suffering from this issue. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1789450
Watch the video and you'll see why you are having this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the useful link. I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet but will try to replicate with other games from other publishers to determine if the issue is confined to just Madfinger games (Shadowgun THD and Dead Trigger) or if it's across the board.
Just had a thought if it's somehow related to display autorotation. I know if I launch the game in portrait mode it will switch to landscape mode where it prefers the USB connector end on the right side. But since my charger is situated on the left and due to the shortness of the cable I force autorotation where the USB connector is on the left side and the position that the 180 flip issue in game has been occurring. I'll play the games some more in the preferred landscape mode with USB connector on the right to see if I can replicate it as that will give a better idea as to root cause. Interesting that there isn't an option to disable autorotation.
I've never experienced this and I've played dead trigger quite a bit... I also tested for the problem on the video and thankfully I don't have that problem either.
*Edit* it took me a while to replicate but I do experience the issue on the video. I'll play DT some more and see if I can get it to happen.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
mi7chy said:
While these games have beautiful graphics and appear to be stable, one common issue I've noticed with both games is that every so often the character will swing around like 180 degrees. I think I came across at least one other person with Nexus 7 that reported this issue. Anyone not have this issue? Other than that annoying issue I actually like the games. Running stock 4.1.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same I thought I was the only one. My nexus 7 also feels a little clunky maybe I have too many apps..?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I've had this problem playing DT as well.
Switched to a controller and it's more fun that way anyway!
I've noticed the same issue sometimes when playing Dead Trigger.
This is not specific to the N7 or Dead Trigger, I've always had this problem with Shadow Gun and now with Dead Trigger. This is on more than one device. (Kindle Fire CM9, Galaxy Nexus, Droid X ...etc)
Just an update. I bought Max Payne and GTA III games from Rockstar publisher with similar controls but they don't have that 180-degree flip issue. So, it seems Madfinger games like Dead Trigger and Shadowgun have a software bug in their controller code. I ended up liking Rockstar games better anyhow for the story line and game play and lack of in-store purchase nag like in Dead Trigger. Relieved that it's not the Nexus 7 or JB 4.1.1.
I have installed SGT7 Build 1 and I can no longer replicate the issue. I will be testing this more to see if this is a software issue.
They just updated the 180 degree turn. According to their update today. Will report if any 180 reoccur
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Just spent several days in the wilderness with the 6p, only to discover that the compass looses calibration when you as much as look at it the wrong way. And I am not talking subtle here. At one point the phone had literally reversed North and South, and no amount of recal would fix that. This was in the middle of the AZ desert on a day with crystal clear blue skies. What gives? And why does the compass on any Android phone suck so baldy in comparison to the iPhone. I have never seen the compass on my wife's iPhone get confused. Mine tends to point every which way over the last 4-5 Android phones I have owned.
EDIT: just spent a few more hours figuring it out. Hwawei is, as usual, of absolutely no help. When I called them they asked me to flush the cache and when that did not fix anything they said to call Google. This is pretty much the last Hwawei phone I will buy. In order to make sure I did not do something weird to the phone to cause the compass to misbehave I returned back to stock (yes, this bugs me this much) and sure enough nothing change. My wife's iPhone and my Nexus 6P side by side give a heading that differs by 45 degrees (the iPhone is correct). Furthermore the iPhone heading is properly damped and butter smooth, while the Android one is choppy and looks like crap with three separate apps. Anyone have any suggestions? Fixing this is a must-have for me. There are a couple of photography related apps that are essential to me and use the orientation sensors to superimpose the trajectory of the sun, moon, and milky way on the camera image. If I can't get these to work correctly the phone is getting sold.
EDIT 2: turns out that not all compass apps are created equal, especially when it comes to compass re calibration. Compass by RHB seems to do wonders for me (and others). The app name is generic and a PITA to find on the Play Store, if you look for "Compass calibration" it should be one of the top hits. Thanks to whoever at XDA pointed me that way, I found this on a Google search of XDA.