I'm currently considering exchanging my Note 4 (due to it's sheer size) for the Turbo, but I'm concerned about not having an LED notification.
I did however read that the Active Display works really well with notifications. The thing is, I despise having locked screens on my personal phones (work phones are different story). Does Active Display require a locked screen to work?
livinginavacuum said:
I'm currently considering exchanging my Note 4 (due to it's sheer size) for the Turbo, but I'm concerned about not having an LED notification.
I did however read that the Active Display works really well with notifications. The thing is, I despise having locked screens on my personal phones (work phones are different story). Does Active Display require a locked screen to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean with locked screen?
pattern security?
i can tell from my previous droid maxx that active display works on locked by pattern or unlocked phone. and you can even choose to show the notification or just the app. (i.e. active display showing the whatsapp message you just got or just the whatsapp icon to let you know that you have a new message.)
livinginavacuum said:
I'm currently considering exchanging my Note 4 (due to it's sheer size) for the Turbo, but I'm concerned about not having an LED notification.
I did however read that the Active Display works really well with notifications. The thing is, I despise having locked screens on my personal phones (work phones are different story). Does Active Display require a locked screen to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it works if you don't have any lock screen setup. Actually it works better (definitely faster) imo because Active Display just opens up the app right away, when you scroll up with the notification icon. Otherwise, you scroll up on the AD icon, then get stuck having to enter your password/pin, and finally the app opens up.
As others said, you do not need security for Active Display, if it works anything like the Moto X.
I use Tasker and Secure Settings to toggle PIN lockscreen when I'm on home WiFi. If I leave home, my lockscreen is reactivated, but Active Display still works. I usually don't leave my phone sit long enough to lock during the day (30 minutes), but if it does lock, swiping the active display brings you to the lockscreen to put in your PIN. It's not the same as the normal lock screen, it's like a "popup" that only shows the keypad. It does not show the clock, alarms, etc (which I think is actually just the stock lockscreen widget).
If lockscreen is off, swiping the Active Display takes you straight to the home screen.
Hope this helps.
having swapped out my GS3 (worst phone i ever owned) for a Droid Maxx last year i can say that Active Display (now Moto Display i think?) is the greatest thing ever!...I was worried about losing the LED notification back then, but active display is just plain better...
and now it does not require a lock screen setup afaik
Thanks for the input guys, but I'm not sure if I understand how this works.
On my GS3 (and now Note 4) I turn off my locked screen so that once I click on the power button it turns on my non-locked display.
So correct me if I'm wrong. With Active Display it will let me know of any notifications when it senses my hand wave and I won't have to click on the power button to turn on my non-locked display - instead just some kind of tap patten or something?
livinginavacuum said:
Thanks for the input guys, but I'm not sure if I understand how this works.
On my GS3 (and now Note 4) I turn off my locked screen so that once I click on the power button it turns on my non-locked display.
So correct me if I'm wrong. With Active Display it will let me know of any notifications when it senses my hand wave and I won't have to click on the power button to turn on my non-locked display - instead just some kind of tap patten or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. If there is no lock screen, the Active Display shows the clock and notification icons. On the Moto X you can swipe down to unlock to the home screen, up to go to the app with the most recent notification, or swipe left/right to dismiss the current notifications from Active Display.
Active Display it self sort of serves as a lock screen, just a slide to unlock. If you press the physical power button the phone turns on to the home screen.
But would I still be able to use the power button to go straight to the home screen similarly to the way I have it setup on my GS3 and Note 4?
livinginavacuum said:
But would I still be able to use the power button to go straight to the home screen similarly to the way I have it setup on my GS3 and Note 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there was no security method selected, yes.
fury683 said:
If there was no security method selected, yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome.
And you guys are saying that the Active Display is so great that I'll prefer to turn on my non-locked display with it instead of using the power button?
livinginavacuum said:
Awesome.
And you guys are saying that the Active Display is so great that I'll prefer to turn on my non-locked display with it instead of using the power button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how else I/we can explain it...
On the Moto X 2013, if you have Screen Lock set to none and Active Display on, you will see notifications on the screen in the order they arrive (most recent is "featured" in the ring, others are shown below it. When you touch the Active Display ring, you swipe up to go to that app/notification. If you swipe down, it just "unlocks" and goes to your home screen. Swipe left or right clears the pending notifications from Active Display. Pressing the power button on the side will go straight to the home screen.
Using Active Display with a security method will do all of those same things, but if your lock screen timeout has surpassed, you will have to put in your PIN/password before you can go to a notification from Active Display. If you press the power button instead of using Active Display, you are taken to the PIN/password screen.
I really only use my power button for turning the screen off, not on. Sometimes I do still use the power button to turn on if there is nothing on the active display. Wen it sits on a table, the screen is all black. If you move the device (even slightly), the clock will show up with an unlock icon, when there are no notifications pending. If there are notifications pending, the screen "breathes" every few seconds (10-15 or so, and I believe it gets less frequent if it sits untouched for a while), flashing the clock and notification icons until you unlock/clear them.
Now, the screenshots of Active Display look different for the Turbo because it shows multiple icons on the screen. Moto X only shows one in a white circle. The screenshots I've seen of Turbo show three. Not sure exactly how they react.
As for if you will use the screen vs. power button, I guess that's up to you.
fury683 said:
Not sure how else I/we can explain it...
On the Moto X 2013, if you have Screen Lock set to none and Active Display on, you will see notifications on the screen in the order they arrive (most recent is "featured" in the ring, others are shown below it. When you touch the Active Display ring, you swipe up to go to that app/notification. If you swipe down, it just "unlocks" and goes to your home screen. Swipe left or right clears the pending notifications from Active Display. Pressing the power button on the side will go straight to the home screen.
Using Active Display with a security method will do all of those same things, but if your lock screen timeout has surpassed, you will have to put in your PIN/password before you can go to a notification from Active Display. If you press the power button instead of using Active Display, you are taken to the PIN/password screen.
I really only use my power button for turning the screen off, not on. Sometimes I do still use the power button to turn on if there is nothing on the active display. Wen it sits on a table, the screen is all black. If you move the device (even slightly), the clock will show up with an unlock icon, when there are no notifications pending. If there are notifications pending, the screen "breathes" every few seconds (10-15 or so, and I believe it gets less frequent if it sits untouched for a while), flashing the clock and notification icons until you unlock/clear them.
Now, the screenshots of Active Display look different for the Turbo because it shows multiple icons on the screen. Moto X only shows one in a white circle. The screenshots I've seen of Turbo show three. Not sure exactly how they react.
As for if you will use the screen vs. power button, I guess that's up to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me replying with "awesome" = yourself and others did a superb job explaining everything to me and making this a non-concern for me regarding potentially getting the Turbo.
But totality appreciate you giving me more input on how the Active Display works, especially the breathing aspect.
Regarding using the Active Display to wake up a non-locked screen instead of the power button, I was actually curious to see if there were others who are adjusted to using the Active Display for this purpose and now prefer it over the power button.
Otherwise, I'm now really excited to go demo it tomorrow and see for myself how it works.
Cheers.
I nearly always use the screen gesture to turn on the display, usually to the home screen.
When you move the Moto X at all (I usually just tap it so it rocks to one side on the curved back, or "twist" it slightly while it is laying on the table) the active display comes up. This is usually just to check the time. You can also hold on the unlock ring and see some of the details for the current pending notifications. For example, if Fenix has a notification, I can hold the unlock ring and see the first few bits of the notification to see if I really want to unlock for that or not.
From there I can let go (nothing happens), swipe up to open Fenix, swipe down for home screen, or swipe left/right to clear that notification from Fenix.
You will get used to AD very quickly.
I didn't even think about this phone missing an LED notification. I've got an S3 as well and always have depended upon the different colors to let me know when i get a message/email, etc across the room or my desk while on the charger. I suppose I won't be charging as much anymore but its nice for those that don't keep their phone in their pocket all day. I don't always feel vibrations and am just used to depending on the LED light.
rotorocker said:
I didn't even think about this phone missing an LED notification. I've got an S3 as well and always have depended upon the different colors to let me know when i get a message/email, etc across the room or my desk while on the charger. I suppose I won't be charging as much anymore but its nice for those that don't keep their phone in their pocket all day. I don't always feel vibrations and am just used to depending on the LED light.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, little things like that are borderline panic worthy for some of us. TBH, I find that on average friends who have iPhones take a decent while longer to get back to me than those with Android phones or even Blackberries. Why? Because if they miss a call, sms, or email there's no way of knowing unless they actually physically touch there phone. At least this was the case last time I checked or of course they can always enable "LED Flash for Alerts"....smh.
So coming back to the topic - I gave it some thought and feel like this Active Display is probably an even better option than LEDs.
Instead of the LED notifications on our GS3s lighting up in different colors (the correlation of which I still haven't memorized even to this day), we'll now have Motorola's Active Display which allows for "breathing" when there are notifications. What this does is cause your screen to flash every couple of seconds with notification information. This is awesome because at a glance you'll now know exactly what's going on. So if you're like me and like it when your nearby phone let's you know you may have missed a call, sms, or email then this seems like it'll be quite useful. You also have the option of turning the "breathing" off at night along with managing which apps you wish to work with the AD.
At least I hope that is the case because I've never really spent a lot of time with a Moto X (only briefly on one of my friend's). So for those who are AD vets if I said something that's off please correct me.
This video also helped me understand how it works a little better (so hopefully it'll help you and others who are in the same boat):
This new AD is great and all but a lot of the time when my phone is charging at a friends house or at work, it's across the room. So I don't see anything but an LED helping me track the state from there. I'm still going to get the new phone and figure out how to deal with the difference but I think it's a stupid miss on something obvious from the manufacturer. But what do I know? Maybe it was part of the reason to keep the cost down.
rotorocker said:
This new AD is great and all but a lot of the time when my phone is charging at a friends house or at work, it's across the room. So I don't see anything but an LED helping me track the state from there. I'm still going to get the new phone and figure out how to deal with the difference but I think it's a stupid miss on something obvious from the manufacturer. But what do I know? Maybe it was part of the reason to keep the cost down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think we'll need to be charging our Turbos at a place other than the comfort of our own personal nightstands given the battery capacity we're getting here.
Otherwise, yeah, LEDs are nice to have for when your phone is in a non-nearby situation and you wish to quickly glance at it for an update.
Related
HI,
I know that they probably consume some battery time but I was wondering if anyone saw something like this ?
Thanks in advance,
Bright S
Isn't such a programm really useless?
Why not turning of the device?
Stefan
i to am looking for some software like this. I would love my magician to be more like my old sony ericsson mobile in this sense. It would be great to have a screen saver that completely turns of the backlight of the device and just display a very faint image of the time. And also it will display a faint symbol to indicate a missed call or txt message so i can glance at the phone and kno if i have recieved a message without turning of the screen saver. Would also be helpful if the screen saver locked the device so tht none of the buttons work work and the screen doesnt reactivate if a message is displayed.
How much would this affect battery life? as the screen itself is basically still turned off the whole time the only difference is that i would like it so that the device never actually turns off so this faint clock and message warning is ALWAYS on and never turns off.
something like this would be fantastic!
Tom
Why not go to the today screen, switch off the backlight (hold down power switch) and then use a keylock program (many freeware ones around).
That way, you've got you whole today screen as a screensaver.
If the icons are too small, make a phonealarm skin with HUGE icons, font size 50, and you'll be laughing.
A more integrated standalone screensaver would be straightforward to program tho. analog clock, sms/call notification etc, date etc.
V
Pocket Candy was always quite good. Bit old now tho.
welshtom said:
i to am looking for some software like this. I would love my magician to be more like my old sony ericsson mobile in this sense. It would be great to have a screen saver that completely turns of the backlight of the device and just display a very faint image of the time. And also it will display a faint symbol to indicate a missed call or txt message so i can glance at the phone and kno if i have recieved a message without turning of the screen saver. Would also be helpful if the screen saver locked the device so tht none of the buttons work work and the screen doesnt reactivate if a message is displayed.
How much would this affect battery life? as the screen itself is basically still turned off the whole time the only difference is that i would like it so that the device never actually turns off so this faint clock and message warning is ALWAYS on and never turns off.
something like this would be fantastic!
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mortsaver (www.sto-helit.de) freeware does this! All you have to do is hit a button and it displays a clock, missed calls/messages and signal strength. After 5 secs of not unlocking it, it locks the phone again and backlight goes off. There are reports of battery drainage, but I use ot for over 5 months now and have no negative experiences with it.
Yes, MortSaver exactly does this. You can also configure it in a way that it turns off the device when activated, so there's no additional battery drain at all. Once you switch on your Magician, it shows the saver with time, battery and message popups. When you're not deactivating it via the assigned hardware button, it turns off the device again.
What I was looking for is a replacement for the simple TPEnable/TPDisable, since it deactivates the hardware buttons as well in new ROM revisions. I prefered that solution over MortSaver since I prefer the today screen as information screen and this solution was faster on deactiviation as well. Does anyone know such a simple tool (only deactivating the touchscreen - nothing else)?
anybody working on or considering making notification light using the capacitive buttons on the bottom? is it possible to use those leds as a notification?
That would be an awesome solution...
To use as notifications OnLY the capasitive buttons and not all Screen as "NoLED" app...
+1 from me...
+1 I also agree
and maybe a stretch and maybe you guys dont agree but you could also have each button be a different notification, ie:
text message the back button would light up, email the menu button so on and so fourth
+2 for this idea
It's already been done for the galaxy s's, BLN requires a custom kernel though.
I prefer NoLed, in the market, works great for notifications. NoLed
Im thinking about getting a Nexus S.
The only thing stopping me is the lack of notification LED.
It would be pretty good if this could work.
And being able to tell if its sms or email etc from which button lights would be very cool. But i would think the backlight is just one big light.
I've had a look at NoLed, but it doesnt seem ideal. If i get a notification while im asleep, the screens going to stay on for up to 8 hours non stop? That doesnt sound good.
Also it seems to mess with the lock screen and wake up of the phone.
So i just noticed today when pressing the capacitive button, it turns off. that likely means each one is lit independently from a separate LED correct? so if thats the case, theoretically each led should be able to flash independently?
terryhau said:
Im thinking about getting a Nexus S.
The only thing stopping me is the lack of notification LED.
It would be pretty good if this could work.
And being able to tell if its sms or email etc from which button lights would be very cool. But i would think the backlight is just one big light.
I've had a look at NoLed, but it doesnt seem ideal. If i get a notification while im asleep, the screens going to stay on for up to 8 hours non stop? That doesnt sound good.
Also it seems to mess with the lock screen and wake up of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I read... the NOLED app works well with the AMOLED screens because blacks dont use power. It basically turns on for that single notification or something like that.
You should read more about it from the vibrant sub forum.... with both having AMOLED screens.
azn2050 said:
From what I read... the NOLED app works well with the AMOLED screens because blacks dont use power. It basically turns on for that single notification or something like that.
You should read more about it from the vibrant sub forum.... with both having AMOLED screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, in amoled screens the only pixels drawing power are the ones that are being lit for the notification. You can also set the notifications to timeout after a certain amount of minutes, and can also set a "sleep time" so there no notification while you're sleeping at night. Another awesome feature is the use of the proximity sensor, so that if the phone is in your pocket it doesn't turn on the notification but once you take your phone out of your pocket the notification shows up on the screen.
Check the devs thread for more info:
integra891 said:
So i just noticed today when pressing the capacitive button, it turns off. that likely means each one is lit independently from a separate LED correct? so if thats the case, theoretically each led should be able to flash independently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is EXACTLY what I hoped was going to be possible.
integra891 said:
So i just noticed today when pressing the capacitive button, it turns off. that likely means each one is lit independently from a separate LED correct? so if thats the case, theoretically each led should be able to flash independently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would think this would've the case but not exactly. The galaxy s does this also but it is not possible to activate the leds separately
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
matt_stang said:
You would think this would've the case but not exactly. The galaxy s does this also but it is not possible to activate the leds separately
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I was also thinking this too but could there be some sort of app written making it believe all other buttons were "pressed" so their lights were off once a notification came in? I strongly believe ANYTHING can be changed with a few smart edits I mean people here on XDA bring multi-touch and FM radio's to devices that shouldn't have those features!
Even if you could have each notification have a different light dimmed as if it were being "pressed"
As in: Text message= all lights lit BUT the home
Voicemail=all lights lit BUT the back button ETC...
If they could be seperate that would be great but honestly even if it's all of them it's good enough for me, I just wanna see SOMETHING if my phone is just sitting there
ikon8 said:
It's already been done for the galaxy s's, BLN requires a custom kernel though.
I prefer NoLed, in the market, works great for notifications. NoLed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NoLED is ok except for 2 things for me.
1 - I don't like the dots/icons hopping around the screen. I would rather they were just lined up across the top or the side.
2 - It plays around a bit much with turning the screen on and off.
Looking at NoLED there is NO reason why he couldn't make it act exactly like the Notification LED for the Ball on the Nexus One. Just have different colors for different notifications and rotate them on the same cluster of 4 LEDS on the top right of the phone.
Boom you have rotating colored notifications simple and effective
I wish I was better at coding stuff...haha
I'm glad there is a thread going about this!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
You couldn't be anymore on point man. The jumping about is slightly unprofessional.
hopefully well see some work towards this once some custom roms start coming out
The reason the notifications move around the screen is so that it doesn't burn out those pixels.
dudeimgeorge said:
You couldn't be anymore on point man. The jumping about is slightly unprofessional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I agree, it would be amazing if they just slid around your screen or drifted all over. OR a pulsing light pops up on the screen just like a virtual trackball like the nexus one!
sassyness77 said:
Yes I agree, it would be amazing if they just slid around your screen or drifted all over. OR a pulsing light pops up on the screen just like a virtual trackball like the nexus one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
clearly you guys do not understand why it jumps around so unprofessionally
do you want burned out pixel?
So my moto display will constantly light up every other second when I have notification such as E-mail etc. I feel like that kills a lot of battery when I just put it on the table. Is there are way to change the setting or something so it only light up for once or twice. I can always reach to the phone to check the notification so there is no need for notification always light up. Also, I found out that if I block the IR blaster it will not light up anymore but as soon as I remove the cover it will constantly light up again. I think constantly light up screen really burn down a lot of battery.
It doesn't use as much as you'd think. Moto Display (formerly Active Display on Moto X 2013) only lights the pixels that you can see. The rest of the screen is off.
With the Moto X, the display "breathes" when there are notifications pending. It flashes every 2-3 seconds, but does flash slower if left alone for a while. Placing the phone face down turns it off. You can also define quiet hours that disable the Active Display completely. Lastly, you can turn it on or off for specific apps that you don't want to trigger the notifications. For example, you may want your Gmail and text messages, but not Twitter. You can also dismiss the notifications by swiping left/right when selecting them (not certain if that is still true for Turbo as it has multiple notifications whereas the Moto X 2013 only shows one at a time).
I don't know of any way to turn it off after some amount of time, it's either on or off, but you can change the apps that are included. And as I said, it does blink slower (more time between blinks) if you don't touch the phone for a while.
Ok thanks that really helps... I just hope they can add a setting so it won't always light up. I'm also wondering if battery consumption by moto display count as part of the cell standby because it is still quite high compare to other smartphone I had used before.
emptydream said:
Ok thanks that really helps... I just hope they can add a setting so it won't always light up. I'm also wondering if battery consumption by moto display count as part of the cell standby because it is still quite high compare to other smartphone I had used before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Moto Display battery usage falls under the "Android System" app in the battery stats. You can confirm it in by opening the app in the battery stats and observing the "Active Display System Process" listed.
You can turn off moto display...or you can swipe the notification to the right or left to "dismiss it" without opening the phone...or you can leave the phone face down on the table
I am unsure if I will buy this device.
Someone who has moto maxx can download an application from the notification screen and test if it works well?
These applications promise to pick a different light for each application notification screen on moto maxx. (Since he does not have conventional LED)
I will be very grateful if someone could do this to me
I think Moto should definitely change the Moto Display behavior so that it uses the front sensors instead of the gyro (movement) when there is no current notification. This would allow you to wave for the time and it would be displayed when you pulled it out of your pocket, but it would not be shown by bumps in the road or other movement. If there is a notification waiting the behavior should stay the same because it is up to the user to acknowledge/dismiss it.
neyes said:
I think Moto should definitely change the Moto Display behavior so that it uses the front sensors instead of the gyro (movement) when there is no current notification. This would allow you to wave for the time and it would be displayed when you pulled it out of your pocket, but it would not be shown by bumps in the road or other movement. If there is a notification waiting the behavior should stay the same because it is up to the user to acknowledge/dismiss it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the Moto X 2013 at least, it doesn't turn on every time it moves. If you're holding it in your hand and walking, it doesn't just stay on all the time. Once you set it down on the table and let it sit for a moment, then touch it again, it lights up.
I usually leave mine sitting on my desk at work and if there are no notifications pending (to make it breathe), I just touch it so it rolls slightly on the curved back and it shows me the time.
For actions, I have approach for moto display turned on.
Under display, notifications are turned off.
As I understand it, the phone should wake by wave, but _NOT_ wake up the display when notifications come in.
Instead, i'm not getting it to wake by wave. The only way it'll wake by wave is if the notifications are turned on under display (in moto assist app).
gpz1100 said:
For actions, I have approach for moto display turned on.
Under display, notifications are turned off.
As I understand it, the phone should wake by wave, but _NOT_ wake up the display when notifications come in.
Instead, i'm not getting it to wake by wave. The only way it'll wake by wave is if the notifications are turned on under display (in moto assist app).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed that too. You're not alone.
<eye roll> Why even have the options like that. Seems they put an AND statement rather than an OR in the code.
I may have a partial workaround. The notifications wake allows you to set a time window when notifications are NOT shown. I set it from 00:00 to 23:59. This keeps the phone from waking for every notification and keeps the wave to wake functional.
So, I took this a step further.
I left the time interval in place as mentioned above (12:00am to 11:59pm). This prevents the screen from turning on for each notification alert.
I was bothered by how sensitive the prox sensors were. Bring your hand anywhere near the phone and it lights up.
Disabled the approach to wake option in moto display. The display still lights up but it now requires some form of movement such as picking it up, rotate/twist, etc. It's not perfect, but gets the job done.
I was annoyed by the approach thing always lighting up my screen too. I have found that I do like the screen coming on when I move the phone though. Just bumping it lightly is sufficient to light up the screen.
Realized this as I use a timer constantly at work - it'd be really useful to have it show the remaining time on the 2nd screen. Right now all that shows is a little hourglass icon, but I have to unlock the screen to see remaining time.
Same question for me as well. I currently have the Note Edge. My edge displays the countdown time on the edge screen. I was wondering if the V20 has the same capability on the second screen as well?
probably a bit off topic (but not too much)
I use the timer a lot and can't disable the vibration in it nor change the tune (both options are available in the Alarm)....any idea? Of course I'd like to have the timer on the second screen too.
Timer tone can be changed on a rooted device. I'm going to see if I can find Timer vibrate and maybe disable it.