Consensus on Smart Stay battery hit? - Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)

It works well as advertised. Just wondering if it's taking a toll on the battery life.

I doubt there's any noticable hit on the battery - "smart stay" is only active when the phone's screen is already turned on. Compared to the power drain of the screen, flicking the front camera on for a few fractions of a second every 30-60 seconds is meaningless.

It doesn't work well for me. I see the eye pop up in the notification bar, then my screen goes dim, then off.. while I am reading a web page or xda. What do you do to make it work?

durhamite said:
It doesn't work well for me. I see the eye pop up in the notification bar, then my screen goes dim, then off.. while I am reading a web page or xda. What do you do to make it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happens to me in low light. Sufficient ambient light seems to be requisite for it to work. Other than that I'm not sure.

It seems not to like my glasses. I watch the eye flash on and off, then it goes dim anyways. no tinting, just regular glasses.

durhamite said:
It doesn't work well for me. I see the eye pop up in the notification bar, then my screen goes dim, then off.. while I am reading a web page or xda. What do you do to make it work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works fine for me, maybe you were blinking or something.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

I haven't noticed any difference in battery life with disabled vs enabled. Works great for me (as manual states, must not be in low light otherwise will not work). Works with my glasses on as well.

Battery hit should be minimal. I use Face Unlock which uses the camera and the battery drain is negligible.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Related

Brightness at lowest level is still really bright?

I tried setting my Vibrant to the lowest possible brightness level (with auto brightness disabled, of course). It still seems very bright to me compared to the lowest level on every other phone I've used. I realize this phone has a nice screen, etc. but is there no way to make it dimmer in situations where you just don't need that bright of a display and want to save battery?
Edit: I want to clarify, I love the screen's brightness, I'm just mainly asking for battery saving purposes.
I was running a black bg for a while. It would seem to be your best option for both issues. It was said in another thread that black uses the least amount of battery.
Vibe the XDApp
You can get tinted screen protector....The bright vibrant screen is the best thing on this phone.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
All~G1 said:
I was running a black bg for a while. It would seem to be your best option for both issues. It was said in another thread that black uses the least amount of battery.
Vibe the XDApp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting idea, i'll try it.
STi489 said:
You can get tinted screen protector....The bright vibrant screen is the best thing on this phone.
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's not my complaint. No doubt this screen is awesome
What I mean is that I'd actually like to increase battery life further by going even dimmer, if possible.
Then a black background is a good idea, black pixels literally use no battery on an AMOLED screen because the pixels aren't on when they're black, so it's a true black. That's the wonderful thing about these screens, and why the contrast ratio is so ridiculously high. Also why the Kindle app has the color reversal option, making the background black and the text white, and a lot of the UI uses black in places I've seen stock android white or gray. I read a couple chapters of Sherlock Holmes the other day and my battery went down 2%. Awesome screen.
Also the web browser has a separate brightness setting.
Homestar1217 said:
..I read a couple chapters of Sherlock Holmes the other day and my battery went down 2%. Awesome screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
**slow reader..jk
maybe one of the genius phone gods could post a mod for a supper dim night mode. hint/nudge :burning eyes:
I would have to agree even on low the brightness of the screen is very high. I didn't realize this until today my friend wouldn't believe me I had brightness on low (his Droid's screen looked like crap compared to mine ).
Thanks for the tip on the black background... I really do need to find out ways to improve battery life on this thing.
I made a similar thread a while ago. For me it's too bright in low light situations. I'd love to see a way to lower the lowest setting.
+1, i'd like to see to an option to go even dimmer.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Same here. The browser is downright blinding in low-light.
Hey I'm not the only one who thinks the phone should have much lower brightness settings. I think I've seen it dim lower than the lowest brightness, but only on auto mode and only for a short time. Or maybe not. But I'm sure it can go lower because it would be weird if it couldn't. I also much rather have dimmer colors than a black vacuous screen for battery savings.
It does go lower. Put the brightness on manual and set it to lowest possible then wait for it to timeout and go to sleep. 5 secs before it goes to sleep the screen goes dimmer. On the G1 the lowest setting was this pre-sleep brightness. On the Vibrant we can't get that level as an option. Fingers crossed a non-samsung rom like CM6 will fix this.
SykesAT said:
It does go lower. Put the brightness on manual and set it to lowest possible then wait for it to timeout and go to sleep. 5 secs before it goes to sleep the screen goes dimmer. On the G1 the lowest setting was this pre-sleep brightness. On the Vibrant we can't get that level as an option. Fingers crossed a non-samsung rom like CM6 will fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good observation. Indeed hopefully its fixed in a custom ROM or even by samsung themselves (though i'm not holding my breath on that one).
Alarm Clock Plus
The "dim mode" in Alarm Clock Plus is really dim. It would be nice to have a setting that would allow me to drop the brightness down that much.
yeah, because even on low MY EYES, They BURRRN!
lol
seriously
+1 for supporting this thread!
+1 for lower brightness option.
+1 from me too. This thing lights that whole dang room when my wife is trying to sleep.
Sorry it took so long to reply to this thread. I had to go find my sunglasses.... Seriously though, I read in bed at night and yeah its way too bright.

[Q] Auto Brightness Changes Extremely Frequently

I got my GT 10.1 this past Monday and I have noticed auto brightness changes quite frequently. I can't figure out why. I don't think I am blocking the sensor but I don't know where it is...
Has anyone else had this issue? It's making me dizzy so I just turned off the auto setting but it seems like it should work.
Yes, mine does the same. I assume the sensor is next to the front camera, which I'm not obstructing. But the brightness level will change rapidly. I had to disable the feature. Found it default to a level too dark most of the time anyway.
I agree with it being too dark. At least I know I'm not the only one with the issue.
Same issue with me. Turned it off. I read that auto brightness burns more battery than full brightness cause it's constantly asking the CPU to make a decision regarding brightness.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1 using Tapatalk.
Interesting. I always thought that one if the purposes of auto brightness was to conserve the battery.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I had this problem too. It would constantly change so i had to disable it.
Maybe samsung can put a fix out for it.
I imagine the algorithm included is very simple and uses very few cpu cycles, so I doubt it has an impact on battery life. Especially since it probably doesn't (shouldn't) run when the screen is off, so it shouldn't prevent the device from sleeping.
I agree the levels they have set are much too dim and make auto-brightness just about useless. I had the opposite problem with my Captivate, where the auto-brightness as too bright. Fortunately CM7 allows you to adjust the levels for auto-brightness. I hope we see something similar show up in a custom rom for the Galaxy Tab 10.1
Anyway, I keep mine set at 20% and that seems to work pretty well for me.
Where do you see the brightness percentage? I have a slider but don't see a percentage anywhere.
It's an approximation on my behalf.
I notice the same problem especially when holding the device vertically with my right hand on the front facing camera. I guess the ambient sensor is located somewhere where my hand is and thinks that I'm in dark room and automatically lowers the brightness. I also noticed that the brigthness change whenever I touch the screen so i guess its listening every time you touch the screen unlike the ipad where it refreshes evertytime it wakes up.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium App
mesasone said:
It's an approximation on my behalf.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I thought I was missing something somewhere...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Is very anoying, i was moving my head while the screen increase the brightness and move my head and decrease... over and over. So i switch to a custom brightness.

Phone restarts when the led flashlight is on for 60 seconds?

On every rom I have used, when I'm outside in a pitch black situation and I need my flashlight on my phone. When I leave it on for more than 60 seconds, the phone automatically restarts. I suppose because the LED gets too hot? This is on Torch bright widget or widgetsoid flashlight using method 2 for led. However I'm fairly sure that using heart rate monitor app in the market the phone can stay on with the flashlight for more than 60 seconds. I'm going to test this now. This is weird since my HTC HD2 could leave the led flashlight on for hours if I wanted. Well I never had it on for more than say 20 minutes but it worked and the phone never restarted. Any help would be great, thanks!
By the way this happens on all roms including with all kernels and all radios.
I wouldn't leave it on for more than 10 seconds at a time. That is just plain stupid.
Damn I hate useless replies!
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Ok try this out. You're going to burn out your LED and the reason it restarts is from the heat. When you take a pic in your camera app does the LED flash for 60 seconds? um no.... you need a flashlight? Get those small LED keychain ones.. how's that for useful? Use your head....
And tour HD2 does not have a Tegra 2 in it so perhaps why that one does not overheat. Either way you'll kill the LED. They aren't designed to be used like that.
I have the exact same problem on CM7 - was fine on my HD2 for a very long time too
At times I find myself needing a flashlight for a minute or 2 at times. The HD2's LED never overheated unless you left in death ray mode but I'm not sure since I can't remember ever having a problem ever. Just use regular brightness at a reduced continuous voltage therefore reducing heat production. That's not stupid to need my f*ing phone as a flashlight for a couple minutes when needed. LED's are very efficient and can take a hell of a beating, however they're efficient in nature so leaving it on may reduce it's life sure. But has anyone reported their cell phone led light going out? I have never heard of it so stop posting stupid idiotic comments. Posting dumb offensive comments makes you look stupid. You could respond with an intelligent response unleashing to the world your hidden genius. Instead you decide to do what you do best.
If anyone who may be having the same problem. I have found a solution to the problem. Downloading instant heart rate monitor will allow the light to stay on forever with no problems.
Later
Atrix_E said:
And tour HD2 does not have a Tegra 2 in it so perhaps why that one does not overheat. Either way you'll kill the LED. They aren't designed to be used like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry. I do understand you stating they aren't designed to do that. However I don't care what you think about cell phone led's. I asked a question therefore I would expect an answer. Not an electronic's lecture.
1chris89 said:
I'm sorry. I do understand you stating they aren't designed to do that. However I don't care what you think about cell phone led's. I asked a question therefore I would expect an answer. Not an electronic's lecture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my answer. Sorry that you do not like it. Why not troll on now about video playback on your HD2?
Had the same problem with widgetsoid.
Download Tiny Flashlight + LED from the marketplace. My 60 second reboot problem does not happen with this particular application. I am on stock at&t rom rooted.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Atrix_E said:
That was my answer. Sorry that you do not like it. Why not troll on now about video playback on your HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well my suggestion is to you. Next time you post a comment. Please take a moment to think about the question. So then you can give a helpful answer. Questions are meant to be answered, nothing more and nothing less.
jmaddr said:
Had the same problem with widgetsoid.
Download Tiny Flashlight + LED from the marketplace. My 60 second reboot problem does not happen with this particular application. I am on stock at&t rom rooted.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks buddy! I will give that app a shot. As for the moment. Instant heart rate monitor from the market works wonderfully.
1chris89 said:
Well my suggestion is to you. Next time you post a comment. Please take a moment to think about the question. So then you can give a helpful answer. Questions are meant to be answered, nothing more and nothing less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noted and thought about. Wouldn't change my answer.
First of all you don't have to be a flamer, second....you have no clue what your talking about. The led light is led ...led lights put out insanely low amounts of heat...which is why that technology has been incorporated into growing plants...not that it's good ti leave the led on for too long but I have uses the led flashlight for about 30 minutes before on my ATRIX, ya it gets a little warm but that's it. Yes it's possible to burn it out over time but you will be fine for short durations. Why do you think there are so many flashlight apps, if they really caused that much damage google would remove those apps from the market.
And im not talking out if my ass because I know quite a bit on the topic of led technology.
The possible reason for your phone rebooting is because a lot of the flashlight apps out there aren't compatable with the ATRIX for some reason, don't ask me why. You need to download "droidlight" from the market because it was developed for Motorola phones by Motorola ...then I doubt you will be rebooting
But please don't talk like your an expert on the subject and give false information to people because it just adds to confusion for those that don't know. Im no expert on everything so I don't chime in on things I don't know about. Cheers
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Atrix_E said:
That was my answer. Sorry that you do not like it. Why not troll on now about video playback on your HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also you should be suspended by mr.clown for a comment like that.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Tiny flashlight +led works great. Has a good widget as well. Don't recall having a timeout. Accidentally turned it on and fell asleep for hour. Woke up to a dead battery and a brown spot on the coffee table lol. Led was still kicking an hour later. I use mine all the time.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
Its more than likely the app, I have the same problem using Tesla led + widget locker + cm7. Disregard about damaging your LEDs, as long as the proper voltage is applied... they will never burn out... if its getting HOT(not warm) then I would be worried. LED lights do have a "lifespan" but generally exceed it, tremendously.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
J-Roc said:
First of all you don't have to be a flamer, second....you have no clue what your talking about. The led light is led ...led lights put out insanely low amounts of heat...which is why that technology has been incorporated into growing plants...not that it's good ti leave the led on for too long but I have uses the led flashlight for about 30 minutes before on my ATRIX, ya it gets a little warm but that's it. Yes it's possible to burn it out over time but you will be fine for short durations. Why do you think there are so many flashlight apps, if they really caused that much damage google would remove those apps from the market.
And im not talking out if my ass because I know quite a bit on the topic of led technology.
The possible reason for your phone rebooting is because a lot of the flashlight apps out there aren't compatable with the ATRIX for some reason, don't ask me why. You need to download "droidlight" from the market because it was developed for Motorola phones by Motorola ...then I doubt you will be rebooting
But please don't talk like your an expert on the subject and give false information to people because it just adds to confusion for those that don't know. Im no expert on everything so I don't chime in on things I don't know about. Cheers
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean I don't really know anything about it, but if my LED light is on (for a flashlight) it get's noticeably hot within like 10 seconds...
I haven't quite had the same problem as the OP, but I was using TeslaLED with Widgetsoid (had a flashlight toggle in my rotary slider). I turned the screen on, and without unlocking used the flashlight like normal a few days ago, and had it on for 10+ seconds (after 10, my screen timed out like normal). I went to turn the screen on again though, and my entire phone froze - with the LED still on! I had to remove the battery...
I dunno all the technicalities of the LED, nor do I know if this was a freak accident and won't happen again (hopefully!). Might be a problem with TeslaLED/Widgetsoid, or maybe the screen shouldn't go off when the LED is on?
EDIT: Weird, I just tried it out again for fun, and it did in fact freeze my phone again lol. It did the exact same thing: turn on screen, turn on flashlight, use for like 10 seconds. Screen times out, flashlight flickers. Turn screen on, looks normal, but try to turn flashlight off, feel slight haptic feedback then froze.
Being an electrician by trade, I also specialize in luminaire devices, and tend to push LED devices over traditional flourescent, incandescent, halogen & HPS/MH lamps, for various reasons & applications. In fact LEDs last longer than the auxiliary components driving them .. which is why the still have a rated life span, many suppliers guarantee 12,000+ hours.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
JaronBang said:
Its more than likely the app, I have the same problem using Tesla led + widget locker + cm7. Disregard about damaging your LEDs, as long as the proper voltage is applied... they will never burn out... if its getting HOT(not warm) then I would be worried. LED lights do have a "lifespan" but generally exceed it, tremendously.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about everyone else but my led starts getting hot after only having it on for ~10 seconds. I try not to leave it on because of the heat. But yah I do leave it on for more than a minute all the time so it was probably the specific app causing a rare OS bug that caused it to crash.

Screen Filter

Maybe a useful post for some. I found this the other night, mainly because I was bored So if you use the app Screen Filter (which, by the way, is awesome for night time viewing in bed while the wife is asleep, you wont have to hear her say stop playing on your phone, because the screen is so bright!), but if you turn up screen filter all the way up to 100% brightness AND turn up your regular Android display setting up to 100%, you are basically getting your display level at 200%! And let me tell you...It is BRIGHT! I know this may be a useless post to most, but I found it to be actually very helpful in viewing my screen in direct sunlight, when the normal display brightness just wasn't enough.
Been using this app for months.
Sent from shane6374's Epic via Tapatalk
I am having problems enabling and disabling it consistently, but when I do enable it at 100% with my Android brightness at 100% I don't see any further brightness.
Also what is the advantage of this over the regular manual brightness?
Milkman00 said:
I am having problems enabling and disabling it consistently, but when I do enable it at 100% with my Android brightness at 100% I don't see any further brightness.
Also what is the advantage of this over the regular manual brightness?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use it for brightness, I use it to dim the screen to a lower point that what you can do in the settings.
I've been using this app for a few months now. I love using it at night to watch a video in the dark, since the lowest setting for the brightness always seems to hurt my eyes in the dark.
That sounds unbelievable yet I believe it. I'd be concerned though that doing this might shorten the screen's life or damage it. As for that app it's been on my homescreen for a long time. Pretty essential.
Only problem is soft keys ofter are too bright for night veiwing
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
I have tasker set to open screen filter at a low brightness at 11 pm
/sig
Avelnan said:
Phones are going to come to life someday. Take note: LG Optimus line. ASUS Transformer. And now the Nexus Prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Nexus 4 dim notification LED?

Hey there, got my N4 this morning, its a good upgrade from the GNexus. I haven't had any problems so far, besides the GMail not syncing and the lack of a LED notification light. Or so I thought at first, its actually on, but incredibly dim, so I didn't even notice.
Is this just me?
lundqvist said:
Hey there, got my N4 this morning, its a good upgrade from the GNexus. I haven't had any problems so far, besides the GMail not syncing and the lack of a LED notification light. Or so I thought at first, its actually on, but incredibly dim, so I didn't even notice.
Is this just me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears to just be you, my notification LED is rather bright, actually. Have you tried tweaking it with a third party app from the Play Store?
Its dim in comparison to the Samsung LED for example the LED on my Note 2 is a lot brighter and more vivid
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the replies. Its very dim, even when I tried using Light Flow. I haven't installed any other app that may interfere with it.
In addition, my GMail syncs really slow.
I'm currently re-flashing the stock rom and maybe it'll be fixed.
Thanks
Moved to Q&A
Sent from my Nocturnalized One XL using Forum Runner
No your not the only one.. Did flashing the stock ROM help you?..
I notice mines is dim compared to my gnex
Its dim and it blinks unbelievably slow. I dont understand what they were thinking. Notification lights should be bright and obnoxious to.... notify you.
Has anyone found a fix for this yet? The notification light on mine only blinks once then stops. How is this suppose to notify me if I missed a message if it only flashes once and is extremly dim. The Samsung Led light are are way better. Is there going to be a patch for this problem?
Hello fellow RFDer - to the OP
I used light flow with the custom flashing rate, set at 1000/1000 (so 1 second flashes with 1 second gaps) and it seems to work well. Setting any of the other settings (slow - fast) didn't make a difference. I really can't wait for CM where all these items are built in and we dont have to mess with 3rd party apps.
It worked for a while yesterday, now it stopped working. I've since installed Light Flow with no luck, have Light Manager right now (all free so far), but still without success. I've always been a Blackberry person and had a GNexus before, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't spoiled with a working light.
idividebyzero said:
Its dim and it blinks unbelievably slow. I dont understand what they were thinking. Notification lights should be bright and obnoxious to.... notify you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see if anyone has any recommendations.
Same thing for me, notification light worked fine the first day, then I rooted the phone and now it's very dim. LightFlow did not improve anything.
florentnicoulaud said:
Same thing for me, notification light worked fine the first day, then I rooted the phone and now it's very dim. LightFlow did not improve anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm I noticed my light is super dim as well just like the pictures on the first page. Unlocked and rooted it before I got a notification though.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Agreed it's dim.
The LED appears to be under the plastic in the bezel rather than displayed through a hole cut through it. Not sure adjusting brightness at the software level will have much of an impact.
My led is dim as well
Mine is dim and glows really slow! Using Light Flow now, but still not as bright as the one in GNex.
Hi all,
I have a similar issue:
My LED light flashes only when I get notifications relating to Facebook & Whatsapp.
It does not work for missed calls, Gmail messages, text messages or while charging!
I had installed Lightflow and it was a little buggy, but I think, the LED notification should still work for all types of notifications?
I have also factory reset the phone and have the pulse notification option under the display menu turned on, but still no success.
Any help/replies will be much appreciated.
I have no issues with using light flow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Ulver said:
I have no issues with using light flow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate, how about without light flow? Does lightflow drain a lot of battery?
pratopathak said:
Thanks mate, how about without light flow? Does lightflow drain a lot of battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Light Flow only drains battery when you leave a notification unchecked for long periods of time (i.e. the notification LED flashes for long periods of time). Naturally, the longer the LED flashes, the longer the wakelock.
In normal use, the battery hit is negligible (in my opinion).

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