Proximity sensor on all the time - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

After testing the Air Gesture features the first day I had the S4, I disabled them because I'd rather have better battery life than gimmicky features. The only time I'd really use them is if I were going to have messy hands for whatever reason, and didn't want to touch the phone to answer a call. Anyway, today I was taking a video of the phone with a camera without an IR filter, and I noticed that the proximity sensor is on any time the display is active. I verified that all of the Air Gesture features were disabled, and they are. Does anyone know of any purpose this serves? I'd only expect it to be enabled during a call or whenever it's accepting Air Gesture input.
I did notice that while it's expecting Air Gesture input, the proximity sensor is putting out a lot more light, so I'm still getting a little bit of battery savings while having them disabled because it doesn't ramp up the IR output at certain times - but not much.
Has anyone else noticed this?

Related

Blackberry style sleep-in-pouch, possible?

Is there anything out there to mimic the Blackberry feature of locking the device and switching off the screen when the phone is put in the pouch?
Anyone? It would seem like a feature which should be standard given the way the proximity sensor is used in-calls...
as far as I know the blackberry use's magnets for the lock / sleep. I can see problems if you use the proximity/light sensor, as if you are using in a car at night for example it would conitnuely lock
Pocketshield can unlock with light. ie take it out ya pocket and it comes on. Was talk of adding proximity sensor support soon in addition.

Smart Cover without magnet?

We're all waiting for a 'proper' smart cover for our Nexus 7s. some of us have modified other cases with a magnet to get the functionality, however, I'm thinking we should be able to get a similar, and fairly stable functionality using the light sensor.
There are many apps to turn the screen off & then on again with the proximity sensors, and I found some for the light sensor too but they're not reliable and most of the time left me with a 'screen off loop' where the sensor isn't sensitive enough to light and keeps shutting off the screen. Adjusting the sensitivity hasn't helped either.
Apps I have tried include:
Smart Screen Off / On
CaseSensor for Tablets
Smart Cover
SimpleOn (the closest i got to getting to work but mostly gets into a screen off loop)
a couple of other apps here and there.
Has anyone been able to find a good enough app for our Nexus 7 and other devices with light sensors to use this functionality? Please share your recommendations.

Answer Me Feature Stopped Working

To my surprise, I really started to like this feature. It comes in very handy on a larger phone than I am used to. The first few days I owend the phone the feature worked flawlessly, but eventually it became much less responsive. Rarely it will work on the first try. If I take the phone away and then bring it back to my ear, or switch ears, it works about half the time. I usually end up swiping to answer so that I don't miss the call.
I'm not root and have only disabled or deleted a small number of apps such as Sprint Discovery.
EDIT: Just happened again. From a flat surface to my ear - nothing. Switch ears and it worked. Seems the more motion the phone makes on its way to the ear, the better it responds. Frustrating.
Don't smack yourself in the face with it with the extra motion . You could seriously mess up the beautiful display. And I'm with you. The gesture has gotten a bit more finicky on my VS980.
Possibly you may need to recalibrate the motion sensor (Settings -> General -> Gestures -> Motion Sensor Calibration). Also, is is the proximity sensor clear (no screen protector, etc.)?
Steamer86 said:
Don't smack yourself in the face with it with the extra motion . You could seriously mess up the beautiful display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks - and I have to be careful not to damage the phone screen as well.
Klotar said:
Possibly you may need to recalibrate the motion sensor (Settings -> General -> Gestures -> Motion Sensor Calibration). Also, is is the proximity sensor clear (no screen protector, etc.)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestions, but I already re calibrated and made sure the prox sensor stayed clean and clear.
Do bugs like this (and knock-on unresponsiveness) usually get addressed with future updates?

Proximity Sensor and Screen

This information is for Version 3.0 of the application Proximity Sensor and Screen by Steven Stanley Bayes.
This application allows to really and virtually disable the proximity sensor while in calls, made and received and to re enable at will. This application does not require any third party software in general. However, only one menu selection, which really disallows the proximity sensor when in calls, made or received, requires XDA Framework and Xposed Installer and Xposed Jar. The application will work without these too.
There are no specific installation instructions. The application can be downloaded from GooglePlay : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stevenstanleybayes.proximitysensor in a standard way.
The application can also be downloaded from the posted in this information link. Then, the application APK file will be downloaded to the device's Download or Downloads folder and the user must go and manually click the APK file in order for the application to be installed on the user's device.
There are many more web sites where the application is available for download.
This application allows the user to make and receive calls with proximity sensor disabled and or or directly with speakerphone powered thus the proximity sensor will not power the screen down. This application also allows the user to select the proximity sensor to control the screen. The screen can be selected to be always powered or not.
When the speaker when in call is chosen, all calls made and received will be made with a powered speakerphone and the proximity sensor will not power the screen down when a call is made or received. The volume of the speaker can be adjusted to preserve battery energy. The device can be put in a zip bag and run while in the zip bag without taken out. This is great for wet weather and in a dusty and unfriendly environment. This also is a great health and personal hygiene option as the device will not be contaminated by ear wax and other sources of contamination and bacteria.
When proximity sensor control is chosen, the screen of the phone powers down when there is an object close to the proximity sensor. Thus, the screen will automatically power down when the phone is put in the pocket or put screen down on the table. This works regardless whether the user has chosen to keep the screen to be always powered or whether the screen is normally controlled by the OS. When the phone is away from and object, the screen powers automatically unless the screen has previously been powered down not by the proximity sensor but by other means, such as the OS or a press on the Power Button.
When the screen has been chosen to be always powered, the user can use the phone as a flash light which can easily be turned on by, say, placing the phone close to the chest. This way, the user can shine light for a while to see around, then, quickly stop the light and then, whenever needed, to quickly turn the light on again with just a movement of one hand and not by the power button although the power button will also work as set up. This way, the user would save battery energy as compared to constantly flashing light which may not be needed. The power button still works but the proximity sensor, when used as a switch, is easier to use than the power button.
More information is available in the application.
XDA:DevDB Information
Proximity Sensor and Screen, Tool/Utility for all devices (see above for details)
Contributors
StevenStanleyBayes, Rovo89, StackOverflow and XDA as well as other forums
Source Code: http://www.steven-stanley-bayes.com/ProximitySensor.apk
Version Information
Status: Stable
Created 2015-08-16
Last Updated 2015-08-17
Proximity Sensor and Screen Version 3.0 APK
Attached is the APK file of Proximity Sensor and Screen Version 3.0 APK for one click downloads from this post.
Attached is Version 4.0 of the application which offers a new interface as well as a shaker control of the screen with the accelerometer.
Version 4.0 of this application allows to really or virtually disable the proximity sensor while in calls, made and received and to re enable at will with a click and without restarts. This application also implements a shaker control of the screen as well as a proximity sensor control of the screen. This application does not require any third party software in general. However, only one menu selection, which really disallows the proximity sensor when in calls, made or received, requires XDA Framework and Xposed Installer and Xposed Jar. The application will work without these too.
man, can u tell me if u can implement or do u have any idea how to enable check proximity sensor and disable power button while is in pocket ? thank you
op3n said:
man, can u tell me if u can implement or do u have any idea how to enable check proximity sensor and disable power button while is in pocket ? thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This application will allow you to use the proximity sensor as a switch : when you put your device in your pocket, the screen will be powered off.
The best place to download the newest version of the application is : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stevenstanleybayes.proximitysensor&hl=en
StevenStanleyBayes said:
This application will allow you to use the proximity sensor as a switch : when you put your device in your pocket, the screen will be powered off.
The best place to download the newest version of the application is : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stevenstanleybayes.proximitysensor&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks Steven, but i already have xposed additions options; i observed that any app which will be installed even if is a module for xposed will drain battery bcs must stay all period waked. i have right? for that i search a script or somthing to implement without be an app. do u have any ideas?
In order to use the proximity sensor as a switch, of course, the proximity sensor must be on in order to detect any changes. Hopefully, the proximity sensor should not take too much power, however, the proximity sensor emits energy in order to evaluate the reflected energy, so, yes, there would be some energy consumption.
There is no physical way to use the proximity sensor as a switch and not to consume energy. Ideally, the programmer would be able to adjust the sample frequency and sensitivity but neither Android nor some device manufacturers are so smart.
Hopefully, the other sensors are off when not used. I do not recall to have used other sensors when not selected on the menu but I may have because the manufacturers and the Android have not made the proximity sensor control very reliable and I have experimented with many methods to trick the Android to ensure reliable way of the proximity sensor control.
Android may keep all sensors awake when only one is used but I do not have control over this.
A way to minimise the energy consumption is to use the accelerometer shakes as a switch. The application allows this. However, this is risky because any similar shake, such as bus ride, bicycle ride, etcetera, can be mistaken for such.
The only way I can think of to do what you ask without theoretical energy consumption is to use the light sensor ( photodiode ( s ) ). However, in case you use so, then, in the evening and night, the light sensor would think the phone is still in your pocket when not because there is not enough light. Also, light can penetrate through your clothes and very strongly through thin cotton, so, to even try to play with level adjustment may be unreliable. This is why I have not implemented the light sensor and I am not even happy with the not so high reliability of the accelerometer but I have decided to use the accelerometer with many levels of sensitivity.
I do, however, think Android would not use the proximity sensor constantly and would have a very low sample frequency of the proximity sensor data and thus there will not be very high energy consumption, definitely, the energy consumption of the proximity sensor would be negligible as compared to the huge consumption of the colour screen, so, you will add another few percent every 24 hours : not so much. Also, you do not need to run this continuously but only when you are mobile. When you are at home or work, you do not need to run the proximity sensor as your device usually stays away from you.
Another possible way to slightly lower the consumption is to programmatically switch the proximity sensor on for, say, 100ms and, then, to switch the proximity sensor off for, say, 100ms which the previous status of the screen is kept. This would reduce the energy consumption, but, I am not sure whether Android would switch the proximity sensor off immediately upon request.

Gesture to wake up gone :(

It is sad to see that gesture to wake up from theS9 was replaced in the S10 by Lift to wake, which is actually kinda useless, well we have double tap to wake, but gesture to wake was way more badass, you felt like a jedi waking up the screen of your phone.
I used to have it enabled too. I guess it's true there is no real proximity sensor anymore ?
latino147 said:
I used to have it enabled too. I guess it's true there is no real proximity sensor anymore ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Furthermore the option to just call a contact by putting the phone against your ear is now gone too.... I hate when Samsung remove features from their flagships.... How hard is it for them to just use a normal proximity sensor inside or next to the speaker? Major disappointment.

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