Database Users

ICS on Nexus S Complaints, Dissapointed, Downgrade

To be clear, I am liking ICS a lot, and am happy to see where Android is progressing. Here are a few complaints, however:
-I can't believe they disabled the search capacity button from the home screen. If you remove the search bar, there's no way to search from the home screen. Still hate the fact that the top bar is unusable space.
-Limited items in folders. This is one area which I don't understand why they back-peddled. It's very iOS-like, and it's one of the worst things to copy. Max 16 apps in a folder now. My understanding was that it was unlimited before. This will require adjustment.
-The icons look childish. Wish Google would truly allow customization and let us change the icons like other launchers do.
-Still no ability to add custom shortcuts to the home screen (like ADW Launcher can). Unless I'm mistaken? How do I make a direct dial icon?
-Long pressing Home button for the app switcher feels slow and clunky. It takes a while for the list of apps to show up.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Still getting the hang of it. Again, overall, I'm really enjoying ICS. The UI is so modern and sleek looking.

You can add direct dial shortcuts through the widget section dude
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

Search cap. button works here

I noticed that the quality of the panorama pictures is terrible. It looks like a Polaroid.

sashajovicic said:
Search cap. button works here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the main home screen? Pressing it once brings up search? It doesn't for me.

onthecouchagain said:
On the main home screen? Pressing it once brings up search? It doesn't for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does for me.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

onthecouchagain said:
On the main home screen? Pressing it once brings up search? It doesn't for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can confirm the button also works for me

I'm loving ICS on the Nexus S, too. However, my battery life is atrocious since the upgrade today. I went from 100% to 4% in less than 6 hours. It wasn't that I was using it or playing with it that much, either. All the settings were similar to what they were on 2.3.6, e.g., low backlight, GPS/WiFi/Bluetooth off, push email on, account sync on. I was getting 12+ hours with up to 20% left on Gingerbread with these settings. According to the battery app, it looks like "Android OS" might be the culprit, as "keep awake" is listed as the highest-ranked battery usage over everything else, including screen, voice calls, cell standby, etc. I've read on other forums about a possible Android OS bug with the SGS II. I'm thinking it might be so with ICS on the NS. Anyone else have this issue? How do we report it to Google so we can get a bug fix?

onthecouchagain said:
-The icons look childish. Wish Google would truly allow customization and let us change the icons like other launchers do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
icons are still customizable, as they are with any rom. The launcher my not let you do it as easily as other launcher aps from within android.. but you can still do it externally by editing the icon files from the flash able rom file.

One small issue I found: Lock sound never plays even when the option is checked. Besides that, I'm really liking ICS. I wish the default widgets were more customizable. (e.g., calendar widget is one row too long, GMail widget is one column too wide) As a person with a severe visual impairment, I find the "Larger" text option a nice touch.

sir topas said:
I'm loving ICS on the Nexus S, too. However, my battery life is atrocious since the upgrade today. I went from 100% to 4% in less than 6 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This couldn't be a battery calibration issue with the upgrade could it? I'm experiencing the same at the minute. I seem to recall there is a way to clear the battery stats but I can't remember where I read it.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

BlindWolf8 said:
One small issue I found: Lock sound never plays even when the option is checked. Besides that, I'm really liking ICS. I wish the default widgets were more customizable. (e.g., calendar widget is one row too long, GMail widget is one column too wide) As a person with a severe visual impairment, I find the "Larger" text option a nice touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily resize them by a long press on a widget without delete it, you will see the widget outline get blue with diamond which you can hold too resize.

pepours said:
You can easily resize them by a long press on a widget without delete it, you will see the widget outline get blue with diamond which you can hold too resize.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow, thanks! By the way, I found my issue for the lock screen: it got switched to None. I guess I forgot to switch it back after looking for the Face Unlock feature.
Speaking if which, looking at other threads it seems this feature was dropped for the Nexus S due to poor front-facing camera resolution. Oh well.
PS: I wish the custom message you can put on the lockscreen was more customizable than one scrolling line.

mofunzone said:
i can confirm the button also works for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
search button working for me too
and you can hide search bar In preference
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

How about you guys give it about a week and then start complaining BC now you just sound like some whiney brats.
Sent from my Google Nexus S 4G using xda premium

One thing I noticed is it gets rather sluggish at times. UI is smooth but there are very bad lags. Noticeable with even just the a live wallpaper, you can see it stutters every ten seconds or so.
Also, some apps won't work, Viber for example. It installs but it doesn't work, it just won't start. Black screen.
Maybe I should wait until the official OTA comes available for me, in Italy, through Software Update, and see if things are better? I have an i9020T, though- isn't the update going to be the same exact file?

if your battery life is really bad try turning off NFC and see if that makes a difference. From the Alpha I managed to get about 25 hours (once..) but cannot remember what I changed to get that.

the two complains I have : auto brightness doesn't work as well as it used too.
and google talk signs me out after a while without telling me.

Face unlock didn't seem to make the cut on the Nexus S.

Posted this in the ICS link section... this seems like a better place for it.
Anyone seeing any issues with the completely stock ICS on the TMo version of the nexus S?
Issues I am seeing so far:
Delayed scrolling when I swipe in the web browser. Seems as if the browser is trying to determine if I meant to click a link or scroll and the delay for the OS to decide is MUCH longer than it was on GB. (Maybe that was intended but maybe they over compensated).
The browser exits (doesn't even force close), just exits on certain websites when trying to scroll.
I hear reports of it being "buttery smooth" and honestly mine feels like it is slower than GB.. maybe that is because of my perception that the scrolling is slower...
Curious to see if this is happening to anyone else...

Jelly Bean CM10 Lockscreen gestures

Hi,
Does CM10 or CM9 support lockscreen gestures? I can't find anything about it in the FAQ or the description of the ROMs.
I'm wondering why this question has not been asked more often... In my opinion this is one of the best features- I can turn on the flashlight drawing an "L" while my mobile is still in my pocket!
Another thing is the permission management. Is it possible to block some permissions for an app in CM9 or CM10 ???
I'm still on CM7 but would like to switch to JB as soon as I know whether those features are available in CM9 or CM10.
Thank you,
Greetings

Haven't seen this so far, but i will also keep on searching. If i find any helpful stuff i will post it immediately in this thread.
regards jomochito

defychrist said:
Hi,
Does CM10 or CM9 support lockscreen gestures? I can't find anything about it in the FAQ or the description of the ROMs.
I'm wondering why this question has not been asked more often... In my opinion this is one of the best features- I can turn on the flashlight drawing an "L" while my mobile is still in my pocket!
Another thing is the permission management. Is it possible to block some permissions for an app in CM9 or CM10 ???
I'm still on CM7 but would like to switch to JB as soon as I know whether those features are available in CM9 or CM10.
Thank you,
Greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I switched to Jb today and the gestures were the first thing I tried to find but with no luck ;'(
I dont think its in cm10 YET*
Mabye it would be added later on..... you never know

veddandekar said:
I switched to Jb today and the gestures were the first thing I tried to find but with no luck ;'(
I dont think its in cm10 YET*
Mabye it would be added later on..... you never know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really hoping that the lockscreen gestures come back...
Am I the only one who is thinking that this feature is so important?

Nope u arn't alone I also think so
Sent from my MB525 using xda app-developers app

i too think that lockscreen gestures is one of the best features of cm7, but i wouldnt get my hopes up regarding it being ported to cm10 as one half of the screen is taken by the unlocker 'slide', and the other is by music control. remember in cm7 the music control was 3 little buttons at the bottom and there was plenty of room for drawing the gestures. i have no idea how it could be solved now :/

Man I was hoping this was already available!

I never used cm7 by myself cause i have an st15i and when i found out about cm the newest version was cm9 so i used that one. I was surely cool to have gestures on the lockscreen and i cant wait for it to be ported (somehow). Google gesture search is like the cm gestures just not on the lock screen but works exactly like cm version.

Please ask all questions in Q&A. Thread moved there.

I really miss this feature. Hopefully lockscreen gestures will be implemented in CM10 eventually, but in the meanwhile, the "Gesture Lock" app seems to be a close approximation: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.whacked.gesturelock&hl=en

Proverbs2 said:
I really miss this feature. Hopefully lockscreen gestures will be implemented in CM10 eventually, but in the meanwhile, the "Gesture Lock" app seems to be a close approximation: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.whacked.gesturelock&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using this right now, but it has some faults.
1) no sensitivity control like CM7. So, a curved line pretty much runs the same gesture as a straight line. Without sensitivity control, you are very limited to the gestures you can use unless they are uniquely intricate.
2) The giant clock. I hate this clock on the bottom of the screen. I have a lock screen image I use that displays owner info and some other important info. The clock takes up a large portion of the screen and makes it hard to fit. Besides, the status bar has a clock, so it's pretty much just double displaying info I don't need. I would be willing to pay the developer to add a hide clock option, but next item rules out that option.
3) The developer isn't working on it any more. I've emailed him to ask some questions and he said he's pretty much too busy to do anything with it, so don't expect any updates or improvements.
4) No shortcut ability, other than launching apps. CM7's gestures would let you set a gesture to run things like direct dial a number, toggle sound, turn on flashlight. Gesture lock can only launch apps. While this is a let down, I have found a solution to the problem by using Tasker. Takser now has the App Factory which lets you create an app for anything Tasker can do, which is pretty much anything. So, I've created a few apps like toggle flashlight, which unlocks pattern lock, toggles Tesla LED, then locks the device again. Essentially, it toggles the flashlight pretty much the same as CM7 did. I've also made a couple direct dial apps that work similarly to dial a phone number and relock the screen.
5) No way to choose the color of the gesture trail or disable trails. I loved that I could hide the gesture trails because I made my lock screen look like a regular lock screen with a slide to unlock graphic. If you didn't know the gesture to unlock the phone, you would think the screen is frozen because the slide was just an image that didn't move! With Gesture Lock, you can see the yellow trails and it gives away everything.
Overall, it's a decent app, but nothing close to the CM7 gesture settings. I will forever miss it if it never comes to CM10. I'll probably also never use CM10 if this feature doesn't get added because I am perfectly happy with stock JB as it is now. I've got a ridiculous battery life on my Razr Maxx HD, so I don't really need to save battery, which was my man reason for switching to CM7 in the first place. I wonder if enough of us request it with a donation if it might happen. Anyone else interested enough to donate for it?

gadsden said:
I wonder if enough of us request it with a donation if it might happen. Anyone else interested enough to donate for it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely chip in for it.

Proverbs2 said:
I would definitely chip in for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just found another alternative: an app called Gestos, available free on the Google Play.
It's a really nice gesture app with lots of options, including a gesture lockscreen that works well. Unfortunately, the custom lockscreen includes an ugly clock that I don't like, but the gestures work well.
The app also has a thread on XDA.

POLL ....Toggles or short-cuts on 4.2 JB notification bar

i had a bit of discussion with one of the Google android team on G+ regarding the shortcuts on the notification bar instead of actual toggles.
he is convinced that that how it should be ,he is against having toggles of wifi ,gps, Bluetooth on the bar and only allowing the auto rotate and aeroplane mode to be toggles ,some feature that i think are not used as much as the other are.
https://plus.google.com/112413860260589530492/posts/fv9FBtjo1ts
i may be wrong but i believe allot of user would prefer actual toggles instead!
what do you think

Oh my gosh!! I voted too soon!! I thought they were real toggles and not shortcuts!! Oh my gosh!! Why would they do that!? Why would they make me take 2 steps to turn off WiFi!? =.S
I prefer the Toggles... Take one and move it to the other answer. =.P

Toggles for me too.

Defenitely toggles

the android developer on my link thinks we are all wrong ,i love their work but sometime i think they just don't see the obvious !

I just read through that G+ page. At first I was on your side... By the end I was convinced that they had made the right decision. Google is all about prediction and toggles mean the phone has failed to predict what you wanted. Ideally the system would predict when you want things on and off (look at auto brightness) and the devs are trying to make it all automated. The rotation is a toggle, because they can't predict whether you want it locked or not, etc.
I too wish there were toggles, but I see where they are going... Automate everything.

That's an interesting conversation. I understand the rationale behind settings instead of toggles, but I too am a toggler. You can tell me all day that leaving WiFi (BT, GPS) on all the time will not reduce my battery life but I still won't believe you. I suppose I should try it.

scottjb said:
That's an interesting conversation. I understand the rationale behind settings instead of toggles, but I too am a toggler. You can tell me all day that leaving WiFi (BT, GPS) on all the time will not reduce my battery life but I still won't believe you. I suppose I should try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true. I leave them permanently on on my Nexus and HTC Desire S.
Sent from my Nexus 7

anthonycr said:
I just read through that G+ page. At first I was on your side... By the end I was convinced that they had made the right decision. Google is all about prediction and toggles mean the phone has failed to predict what you wanted. Ideally the system would predict when you want things on and off (look at auto brightness) and the devs are trying to make it all automated. The rotation is a toggle, because they can't predict whether you want it locked or not, etc.
I too wish there were toggles, but I see where they are going... Automate everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh! That is even worse. I'm on android specifically BECAUSE they let you micromanage unlike a certain other smartphone maker...
That said while I voted toggles I do see the utility in easily being able to get to things that often need to be configured quickly like WiFi or blue tooth. I actually have toggles set up in the notification area with extended settings and also use the 4.2 shortcuts. My only wish is that they would give us the option to configure the shortcuts. I never use bluetooth. But a GPS short? That would actually be handy!

Toggles.
hurled from my AOKP'd Evo LTE. Enjoy.

guinnes.s said:
i had a bit of discussion with one of the Google android team on G+ regarding the shortcuts on the notification bar instead of actual toggles.
he is convinced that that how it should be ,he is against having toggles of wifi ,gps, Bluetooth on the bar and only allowing the auto rotate and aeroplane mode to be toggles ,some feature that i think are not used as much as the other are.
https://plus.google.com/112413860260589530492/posts/fv9FBtjo1ts
i may be wrong but i believe allot of user would prefer actual toggles instead!
what do you think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not have both? Have them all toggles and then when you hold it, its a shortcut. I think this is the best idea. Sometimes I just want to toggle it, but if I want to choose a different WiFi network for example, I just hold on the WiFi toggle and it gets me directly there. I think this is more natural too.

Converted from Iphone, need advice..

I have always used android except for the past 1.5 years. Obviously alot has changed and now I am back with the nexus 4. I have to admit it seems much more polished since the htc evo days.
So I need some advice and pointers..
I received the phone last night, I spent the rest of the evening rooting it. I am now running faux's kernel
as well AOKP's Rom
Here is what I am missing imo..
When I put the phone in silent mode, it does not vibrate, to overcome it I installed Silent Mode Jammer from the app store. Just hoping I am missing a setting though.
On the iphone, it was jailbroken and I installed this app called f.lux which at a certain time, would alter the screen so I could view it in the dark without it lighting up an entire room. Also gave it a different colour hue.
Finally, the lockscreen. I would love to have more than a clock on the screen. Ideally, the weather, 5day maybe... my calendar and then any alerts.
Any advice or pointers? Thanks and glad to be back..

Welcome back to the droids
For your lockscreen questionslide from left to right in the lock screen until a "plus" appears push it and you can choose from 5 Stock widgets aviable (at least in stock rom but i dont think aokp removed this fetuare)

batano said:
Welcome back to the droids
For your lockscreen questionslide from left to right in the lock screen until a "plus" appears push it and you can choose from 5 Stock widgets aviable (at least in stock rom but i dont think aokp removed this fetuare)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, that helped. Now I just need to find the right widgets again thanks for this one..

joey3002 said:
...
Here is what I am missing imo..
When I put the phone in silent mode, it does not vibrate, to overcome it I installed Silent Mode Jammer from the app store. Just hoping I am missing a setting though.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome back. I also jumped ship from Android to the iPhone 5 for a couple weeks, then back to the N4. The N4 is my favorite phone by far.
You need to make sure you have "always vibrate" checked under settings for phone, messaging, and email. Then, when the phone is in vibrate mode it will actually vibrate when you get a call, text, or email.

as for the lockscreen, each widget goes on its own page, can you combine them so that they look like:
Clock
Weather
Agenda
Alerts
thanks

[Q] Phone behaviour after am incoming call ended / while playing music on headphones

Dear All,
I've been using android for a long time, also wrote few apps, nothing huge tho.
I recently swapped my beloved SGSII for Nexus 4 ... and one thing drives me nuts!
Its phone behaviour after incoming call ends. Why the hell Im being kicked back into phone activity, while it was not the place I've been before the call? Its irrational... And drives me crazy
Im doing something on my phone (lets say - gaming), and someone calls. I answer, we chat for a while. Call ends. Where am I redirected to?
THE DAMN PHONE DIALER! dafuq?....
Hah, but there is more (definitely some more of this, I'll go mad, and they will lock me up ,) ) - imagine what happens when you ride your bike, listen to music and then answer a call .)
Yes, you guessed right! Im being redirected back to phone activity WITH SCREEN UNLOCKED, even if it was locked and turned off before the call.
Thats what actually pushed me to write this topic - I called my coworker by mistake because of this today.
And here comes the big question:
Does anyone knows a ROM or modified phone.apk which would have this fixed/changed/worked around? I just want to get back to where I was before after a call ends....

Yep. AOKP ROM dialer has an option for that.
Screenie: http://db.tt/IYqEL2wJ
I'm on edge network right now so I can't up the apk... You can probably help yourself
Sent from my Nexus⁴ using Tapatalk 4 Beta

TToivanen said:
Yep. AOKP ROM dialer has an option for that.
Screenie: http://db.tt/IYqEL2wJ
I'm on edge network right now so I can't up the apk... You can probably help yourself
Sent from my Nexus⁴ using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does every AOKP based rom has it? It looks like this might be just kind of ROM I'm looking for .)
Few more questions then:
1. Does it have option to show battery % in notification bar?
2. Option to show toggles (Wifi, bt, data,...) in notification bar? (like in cyanogen)

Darmach said:
Does every AOKP based rom has it? It looks like this might be just kind of ROM I'm looking for .)
Few more questions then:
1. Does it have option to show battery % in notification bar?
2. Option to show toggles (Wifi, bt, data,...) in notification bar? (like in cyanogen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah everything based on AOKP should have it.
1. Yes. In 3 different styles
2. Yes but the implementation differs a bit from cm. The 'tile' type of toggles become hidden once you've enabled the 'power toggles' in notification bar.
Try the latest milestone. It's epic.
Sent from my Nexus⁴ using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I hate this "feature" too! Any ideas how to correct it on the stock 4.3 ROM? I'm rooted with custom recovery and franco kernel. Don't wanna flash a whole new rom just to fix this one issue though.
Maybe flashing the AOKP or CM10 dialer apk would dod the trick?