Database Users

Bugs I have found

Alright, I got my Slide yesterday, and overall I am happy, but here are some things I have found. If anyone can help solve any of these issues, I will be indebted. This are in no particular order, just as I can remember them!
1. Can the LED change colors? My 3rd party apps have been unable to change the color.
2. MyModes:
Can I manually enter the location at which I wish the mode to change? Right now I need to be physically at the location for it to recognize that is where I want the mode to change.
Can I change the ringtone to vibrate instead of silent under mymode settings?
3. Custom notification ringtone: I can see the ringtones I have put on my SD card in some apps, but not in others. For instance, in Gmail - I cannot get my custom ringtone to show up in avaialbe ring tones, but I see it in other apps.
4. My GPS is ALWAYS searching
5. MyFaves: How do I turn off the notification for myfaves activity? CAn you turn my faves off?
6. Can you turn Sense (Expresso Sense, TMO sense, whatever they are calling it) off? Too many duplicate apps (mail, gmail, htc mail, music, htc music, 3 different messaging apps)
7. The messaging icon always displays an unread message, even tho I have read the message.
Thats all I have come up with, or can remember. What "bugs" have others found/fixed? Any one heard of an update to correct some of these bugs?
Thanks
K

kstar54 said:
Alright, I got my Slide yesterday, and overall I am happy, but here are some things I have found. If anyone can help solve any of these issues, I will be indebted. This are in no particular order, just as I can remember them!
1. Can the LED change colors? My 3rd party apps have been unable to change the color.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment no. But then again there hasnt been any dev. for this phone yet so its hard to tell if it suppports it.
kstar54 said:
2. MyModes:
Can I manually enter the location at which I wish the mode to change? Right now I need to be physically at the location for it to recognize that is where I want the mode to change.
Can I change the ringtone to vibrate instead of silent under mymode settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly sure on how the my modes determines the location. buti only have 2 one for home and one for away.
kstar54 said:
3. Custom notification ringtone: I can see the ringtones I have put on my SD card in some apps, but not in others. For instance, in Gmail - I cannot get my custom ringtone to show up in avaialbe ring tones, but I see it in other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try ringdroid. also do you have the folder structure correct in your sdcard for the notification sounds.
kstar54 said:
4. My GPS is ALWAYS searching
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont have this problem. make sure your gps is switched to be active and not just use cell towers
kstar54 said:
5. MyFaves: How do I turn off the notification for myfaves activity? CAn you turn my faves off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont use this feature it seams to get in the way of the phone. but i also noticed when i tested it. that when a fav person sent a message ... when i opened it once in any form it was read all the way around.
kstar54 said:
6. Can you turn Sense (Expresso Sense, TMO sense, whatever they are calling it) off? Too many duplicate apps (mail, gmail, htc mail, music, htc music, 3 different messaging apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install another launcher for eclair and then from homescreen menu > settings > applications > manage applications > htc sence > remove default > hit home > choose new launcher
kstar54 said:
7. The messaging icon always displays an unread message, even tho I have read the message.
Thats all I have come up with, or can remember. What "bugs" have others found/fixed? Any one heard of an update to correct some of these bugs?
Thanks
K
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this happend to me a simple restart solved the problem. this also happend on htc touchflo 2d, 3d on windows mobile so im going to say this is a htc bug.

A bug I noticed: plug in the USB, and there's 3 different modes: sdcard access, sync, and charge only. Setting it to charge only launches the sync software on the PC, setting it to sync mode does not. Also, it seems to turn USB debug mode off and on by itself.

try ringdroid. also do you have the folder structure correct in your sdcard for the notification sounds.
I have them like in my G1 - in a media/audio/ringtone, notification, and alarms
i dont have this problem. make sure your gps is switched to be active and not just use cell towers
Reboot corrected the issue.
this happend to me a simple restart solved the problem. this also happend on htc touchflo 2d, 3d on windows mobile so im going to say this is a htc bug.[/QUOTE]
Seems inconvienient that I would have to rebooteverytime to correct this
Another thing that has come up - My Homescreen is not rotating (yes it is set to) unless I open the keyboard (which is loose already).

goodwinm said:
A bug I noticed: plug in the USB, and there's 3 different modes: sdcard access, sync, and charge only. Setting it to charge only launches the sync software on the PC, setting it to sync mode does not. Also, it seems to turn USB debug mode off and on by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a bug. That's what it's supposed to do. Go go 2.1 and sense UI. You can set the default action for this in your settings
Menu > Settings > Connect to PC.
************
I have noticed, the keyboard backlight doesn't always light up. I'll go to respond to a sms and the backlight for the menu buttons and the keyboard doesn't light up.

The keyboard is lit based on the light sensor. No light, it's on. Enough light, it kicks off.

here's a bug that i noticed, at least i think it's a bug. volume rocker/ringer volume does not control the notification volume(aka txt messages). any ideas on that one?
wasn't a problem on my cliq(which was my first android phone, slide is my second)

Had something last-night ping me when I was messin with home screens. After going back to SenceUI app icons were being selected with out my hand touching the screen, it happened about 4 times. Didnt activate the icon, just highlighted it, and would go away when I would select something else.
I thought it was my case or something, cause I was holding it, but then I saw wesgamer say something similar to the touchscreen messing up as well.
It was small and brief, but note worthy none the less.
kstar54 said:
Another thing that has come up - My Homescreen is not rotating (yes it is set to) unless I open the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im also having this issue, happened on Home screen and DeskClock. DeskClock is fixed by Opening the keyboard, letting it go horizontal, and then closing the keyboard. Home screen, not so much.

I've run into a couple little bugs too...
Sometimes a text message thread will become out of order (the message I sent gets placed below the message I received as a response).
It also hapened in the very beginning when I only had a few texts in total on the phone so I dont think its related to having too many mesages stored.
A couple times the screen decided to scroll all the way up or down without cause. It has only scrolled down in a text thread and only up on a web page (XDA actually). I had a hell of a time trying to read something from the middle of a text thread! haha

I have had the messaging icon read 1 and all of them be read. I have also had the messages get out of order if text are sent back and forth between a minute.
I have one contact with a different ringtone and that ringtone never goes off, always the default one.
I've also had a problem with sd mounting, I had mine set to charge only and I hooked it up to my laptop and no option would come out to mount. I tried changing the setting to automatically mount and that didn't work either. A restart did.
Lastly, I had a theme downloaded from the theme site and had it as my installed theme. I went to the theme selection page and uninstalled the theme while still having it set as my theme and this made the phone crash and restart.

slvrblt - same thing happens to me
turboyo - I have had the messaging icon read 1 and all of them be read. I have also had the messages get out of order if text are sent back and forth between a minute.
i have that happen too. anyone not have their phone vibrate when text messages are received when vibrate mode is selected?
also sometimes when i'm writing a text message the cursor will jump around, anyone experience that?
this is a great phone with so many little dumb problems lol

The stock messaging app is garbage compared to Handcent and Chomp.
I was able to get rid of the duplicate Faves notification, but I can't remember how. Helpful, huh? I did go through the built-in "Manage Applications" via Settings and did some Force Stop on the redundant apps. I also went through via the Tools in Astro with Process Manager and took out a few things. So far, it seems as the management of processes being run is not as efficient as stock Android. Using the same process managers as on my G1, I always have much, much more to kill in the Slide. This has beat up my battery life and stopping several of these "unused" items has helped, but some apps have caused processes from several other apps to run and bloat the memory.
A couple other people mentioned it but Rindgdroid for creating notifications: sdcard/media/audio/notifications. Most of the things I've done I saved as a notification. I've used the pre-installed Voice Recorder then opened up that saved file in Ringdroid and saved as a 'Notification'. It's then shown up via Settings/Notifications in K9 Mail and the Gmail app. I have not tried this for other types of notifications.
So far, I love the phone. The standard "complaints" but have really taken to Swype as an alternate to the keyboard, especially for shorter messages. Genius is super. This is a phone that desperately needs a custom ROM though to help alleviate the excess stuff.

How to achieve these customizations?

Verizon S5 with towelroot, Safestrap, nandroid backup, Titanium Backup, Xposed, Wanam
I've made some progress debloating and customizing, but there are some more things I'd like to do:
1. Remove Quick Settings from notification panel - In landscape view, there is simply not enough screen real estate for the actual notifications because the Quick Settings (and 'clear notifications' row) take up half the screen. I would like to remove them or have them scroll up and off screen when scrolling through notifications. Can this even be done with a custom ROM?
2. Tether without pin lock screen. [updated] FoxFi worked fine for me unrooted, except that I had to use the PIN lockscreen. The instruction on PdaNet's site (change certificate to Wi-fi, etc.) did not work. I eventually found X Tether. Once installed, it shows up as Moto Tether. It seems to allow the native WiFi hotspot to work on its own, but I haven't used it much yet. The easiest way I have found to turn it on/off, is using a widget. I haven't been able to put the widget in an app folder, which I would prefer.
3. Minimal notification panel - figured this one out.
4. Bypass Samsung lockscreen before DynamicNotifications - Not sure if this is possible. Sometime, when I turn the phone on, it goes to the stock lock screen before switching to DynamicNotifications. I saw that DynamicNotifications shows up as a module in Xposed, but it just said something about disabling a message that I don't recall getting.
5. A better dialer and contacts - any recommendations on getting solid, vanilla-like Dialer and Contacts? I tried a couple apps from the Play Store, but they were kind of sloppy in one way or another.
6. No auto play music when turning on radio in car - When I turn on my bluetooth receiver in the car, the last track always starts playing - even if I paused it before I turned off the car last. I kind of wish it would only continue playing if it was playing when the receiver was disconnected. Not a big deal, but thought I'd ask.
7. Update phone when checking exchange emails on computer - When I read, archive, delete, etc. emails in Outlook, they continue to pile up in Email app until I open the email app. Seems like my Galaxy Nexus didn't do that.
8. Remove TouchWiz blue from everything - all the menus and apps still have that Samsung blue theme. I'm not sure how to remove that.
9. Reduce icons on notification bar - I would like to remove the Bluetooth icon. There is a blank icon when I use Rotation Locker in the background to keep everything landscape while I'm in the car. It looks bad having the space between icons and I'd like to get rid of it. There is a battery icon that appears when the battery is charged. I'd like to remove that as well.
10. Make folders only one icon on display - figured this one out.
11. Remove battery icon that appears when S5 is fully charged - There is a white battery with "100" on it that appears when the battery is charged. That makes 3 battery icons total when it's charged. Ridiculous!
12. Disable camera shutter sound and boot sound - Wanam has a setting for this. I have it checked, but the camera and boot still make their sounds.
Edit: added another.
Edit2: and another
Edit3: another

And I want a unicorn that doesnt poop with a golden mane and a bag of money tied to its back and a beer tap in the side of his neck and bluetooth.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ezas said:
And I want a unicorn that doesnt poop with a golden mane and a bag of money tied to its back and a beer tap in the side of his neck and bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really think what I am asking is too unreasonable?

Is this the best thread for these questions? I figured at least a few would have gotten answers.

Not sure about the boot sound but I use Automateit to silence the shutter sound. I have it set to silence the phone when opening the camera and then it returns the phone to full volume when I close it. If the phone is on silent it doesn't make the shutter sound.

graydragon2 said:
Not sure about the boot sound but I use Automateit to silence the shutter sound. I have it set to silence the phone when opening the camera and then it returns the phone to full volume when I close it. If the phone is on silent it doesn't make the shutter sound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess I'll just use Tasker to do that. Would be nice if the Wanam option worked though.

Also you can turn off the percentage in settings-battery. It's near the top

graydragon2 said:
Also you can turn off the percentage in settings-battery. It's near the top
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I changed it to this:
9. Reduce icons on notification bar - I would like to remove the Bluetooth icon. There is a blank icon when I use Rotation Locker in the background to keep everything landscape while I'm in the car. It looks bad having the space between icons and I'd like to get rid of it. There is a battery icon that appears when the battery is charged. I'd like to remove that as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I guess I don't see XDA as a place to come and post a wish list of features I would like to have. I approach it as a place where devs share their work. I limit my questions to things like 'does anyone know if their is a ROM that does xy or z'
Since I'm an end-user by which I mean I don't code, I stay super respectful of those who do and live by the motto 'read more and post less'. While I think it has grown from its roots, it is first and foremost a forum for devs and technically knowledgeable people, and/or people with a genuine desire to become that. I'm just a guest. I'd never go to someone's party with a list of the foods I want prepared.
Anyway that's how I see it, and how I approach the site.
Though I do see now that apparently you are working on doing some themeing so take the above for whatever it is worth.
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ezas said:
I limit my questions to things like 'does anyone know if their is a ROM that does xy or z'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's essentially what I did. I spent time searching, reading, and learning as far as I could without help. I was able to accomplish some on my own, but I ended up with a list of things I still wanted to do. So, I put them all in one post.
If you wouldn't use the "Q&A/Help" section to post questions like I do, that's fine. I have used many forums for many years, and I know that different people use them for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to spend any more time justifying my post. I hope that you can find a better use of your time beyond complaining about other people's posts.

Dude you asked if you you had asked for too much. I replied about how 'I' view being on XDA. No on asked you to justify anything. But consider it dropped.

ergalthema said:
2. Tether without pin lock screen. FoxFi worked fine for me unrooted, except that I had to use the PIN lockscreen. The instruction on PdaNet's site (change certificate to Wi-fi, etc.) did not work. What is the most popular way to tether with S5 root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I eventually found X Tether. Once installed, it shows up as Moto Tether. It seems to allow the native WiFi hotspot to work on its own, but I haven't used it much yet.

ergalthema said:
Verizon S5 with towelroot, Safestrap, nandroid backup, Titanium Backup, Xposed, Wanam
I've made some progress debloating and customizing, but there are some more things I'd like to do:
2. Tether without pin lock screen. [updated] FoxFi worked fine for me unrooted, except that I had to use the PIN lockscreen. The instruction on PdaNet's site (change certificate to Wi-fi, etc.) did not work. I eventually found X Tether. Once installed, it shows up as Moto Tether. It seems to allow the native WiFi hotspot to work on its own, but I haven't used it much yet. The easiest way I have found to turn it on/off, is using a widget. I haven't been able to put the widget in an app folder, which I would prefer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to change the lock screen options back to all being available for selection with FoxFi in use by doing the Lock the phone from Device Manager on Google. As soon as I did the remote lock, all of my lock screen options returned even with FoxFi installed and operational. I read about doing this on another post here somewhere...

How To Improve Your Nexus 7’s Battery Life in Lollipop

I got tired of my Nexus 7 draining its battery just sitting there in standby. Even if I turned the tablet all the way off, somehow the battery still drained itself (more slowly, but still…). I came up with the tips below so that I wouldn’t have to turn off the Nexus 7 completely between uses. I believe that a tablet should be in standby and ready to go at all times.
I now get more than a week of battery life in standby. For the first time, I feel like my Nexus 7 is a useful alternative to my iPad Air.
The biggest battery drain culprit during idle time is behind-the-scenes software — continuously running, polling the Internet, or updating. On a Google device such as the Nexus series, most of that power-hungry activity comes from Google itself. So here’s what we're gonna do. Before we get to the Google stuff, let’s tweak some overall settings and Play Store settings to reduce battery drain in those areas:
First, let’s make sure you’re on the latest OS version for the 2013 version of the Nexus 7. (I’m guessing these settings will work in the 2012 version also, but I don’t know for sure.) In Settings, swipe down to About Tablet, choose that, then swipe down to “Android version”. When I wrote this in mid-February 2015, the latest OS version was 5.0.2. Check for updates on the same screen, and update to the latest version if necessary. If rooted, install the latest custom ROM of your choice.
Once updated:
Hit your Play Store icon. Click the three-bar menu at the top left. Select “Settings” near the bottom.
Under “Auto-update apps,” choose “Do not auto-update apps.” (Why? Because that “feature” uses battery juice to download and install stuff whenever it feels like it, instead of whenever you say.)
On the same page, under Notifications, make sure “Notify me about updates to apps or games that I downloaded” is checked. That way you will know if something needs updating.
On the same page, uncheck “Add icon to Home screen for new apps.” Because it’s annoying, not because it uses battery.
Go to your tablet’s Settings.
Choose “Wi-Fi”.
Tap the three-dot symbol at top right.
Tap “Advanced.”
Make sure “Scanning always available” is unchecked.
On the same settings screen, under “Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep,” choose “Never”. (Don’t worry: If Wi-Fi is enabled, it will wake up instantly every time you turn on the tablet.)
While in Settings, let’s turn off some radios:
If you don’t travel with your tablet, disable Location (GPS).
If you don’t use Near Field Communication (NFC) for tap-to-pair features, disable that. You can always re-enable it when ready.
Disable Bluetooth when not using it.
Obviously, keep your device’s screen brightness as low as is comfortable. (The display is the biggest power hog on your device.) You can change the display brightness settings under Settings, Display.
While in Display Settings, disable Ambient Display. (Well, first Google it, because you might actually like the feature. But I think it’s more of a smartphone feature than a tablet feature.)
When disabling or uninstalling Google apps, DO NOT uninstall anything essential to the smooth running of your tablet. That includes:
Google Search
Google Chrome (unless you replace it with another browser)
Google Settings
Hangouts (you can disable Hangouts once you’ve replaced it with an aftermarket texting app)
Google Now (although we will disable many of its features and opt-out later)
Google Play
Gmail
Now let’s clean up a few apps. We will stay away from system apps, such as Email — because people can get into trouble uninstalling essential system apps.
It’s impossible to know every time an app is working in the background or polling the Internet. So, in my opinion, you should uninstall any app that you didn’t specifically put on the tablet yourself (system apps not included). For example, I uninstalled:
Google Earth
Google +
Hangouts (after I replaced it with Textra)
Google Docs
Google Drive
Google Sheets
Google Slides
Google Fit
Any downloaded apps I’m no longer using, such as wallpaper apps.
For smartphone owners, Google Now can be a godsend — always reminding you of what’s next, keeping you out of traffic jams, and keeping you on schedule. But tablet owners might not need the features. Additionally, with Google Now, the Nexus 7 mic is always on and listening for that “OK Google” search command — which obviously uses battery power and is more of a smartphone than tablet feature.
I found that I didn’t need Google Now at home, where my Nexus 7 is 100% of the time. If you’re like me, you can opt-out of Google Now — or at least stop the mic from listening.
We’ll start with the least draconian measure: stopping the mic from listening for the “OK Google” command from any screen:
From your main home screen, swipe up to get to the Google Now screen.
Tap the three-bar symbol at top left.
Choose Settings.
Choose Voice.
Choose “OK Google” Detection.
Uncheck “From any screen.” Leave “from the Google app” checked, then Google can listen for the command only when you have a search window open.
If you don’t want Google Now at all (I don’t like it because it’s always updating something or doing something in the background), here’s how you disable it completely, while leaving full Google Search functionality intact:
Start by disabling “OK Google” voice detection for screens other than Google Search as shown above (or you can disable it in Google Settings below).
Then, in your Applications, open the Google Settings app.
Tap “Search & Now”.
Tap “Now cards.”
Uncheck “Show cards.”
You will see a message that asks if you really want to turn off Google Now. Go ahead and do that.
From now on, you can still easily search by swiping your finger up from the bottom of any Home screen. And you can still do voice searches by tapping the microphone on any Google Search screen.
I hope these battery-saving features do as much for you as they did for me!

Thanks for the tips, always good to know. :highfive:
I'd like to add that "Google Location Reporting," is a battery hog and seems to make little difference if turned off. With it turned off, my devices still know roughly where I am. :cyclops:

In Settings, under Sound and Notification, go to “other sounds.” Uncheck “Vibrate on touch.”
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... So where did you copy and paste this guide from?

khaytsus said:
Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... So where did you copy and paste this guide from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I typed it myself while looking at my own device. It took hours. But yeah, that one I got wrong because I was looking at my rooted Nexus 7 at the time, not my stock one. But no need to get snarky because you found the one error in a four-page Word document--just try to help next time, okay?

Masteryates said:
Thanks for the tips, always good to know. :highfive:
I'd like to add that "Google Location Reporting," is a battery hog and seems to make little difference if turned off. With it turned off, my devices still know roughly where I am. :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a great tip! Thanks for adding it. Hopefully, others will chime in with even more!

TheContinental said:
I typed it myself while looking at my own device. It took hours. But yeah, that one I got wrong because I was looking at my rooted Nexus 7 at the time, not my stock one. But no need to get snarky because you found the one error in a four-page Word document--just try to help next time, okay?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, perhaps your custom ROM is incorrectly reporting then, because there's no vibration on the Nexus 7.

khaytsus said:
Okay, perhaps your custom ROM is incorrectly reporting then, because there's no vibration on the Nexus 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good catch! I just edited that part out of the guide. I found out where the mistake came from. I'm currently also writing one of these for the Nexus 5. So...my bad...you were right! It was a copy/paste error...from my own guide!
Thank you for clearing that up.

Nexus 7 Draining Big Time
TheContinental said:
I got tired of my Nexus 7 draining its battery just sitting there in standby. Even if I turned the tablet all the way off, somehow the battery still drained itself (more slowly, but still…). I came up with the tips below so that I wouldn’t have to turn off the Nexus 7 completely between uses. I believe that a tablet should be in standby and ready to go at all times.
I now get more than a week of battery life in standby. For the first time, I feel like my Nexus 7 is a useful alternative to my iPad Air.
The biggest battery drain culprit during idle time is behind-the-scenes software — continuously running, polling the Internet, or updating. On a Google device such as the Nexus series, most of that power-hungry activity comes from Google itself. So here’s what we're gonna do. Before we get to the Google stuff, let’s tweak some overall settings and Play Store settings to reduce battery drain in those areas:
First, let’s make sure you’re on the latest OS version for the 2013 version of the Nexus 7. (I’m guessing these settings will work in the 2012 version also, but I don’t know for sure.) In Settings, swipe down to About Tablet, choose that, then swipe down to “Android version”. When I wrote this in mid-February 2015, the latest OS version was 5.0.2. Check for updates on the same screen, and update to the latest version if necessary. If rooted, install the latest custom ROM of your choice.
Once updated:
Hit your Play Store icon. Click the three-bar menu at the top left. Select “Settings” near the bottom.
Under “Auto-update apps,” choose “Do not auto-update apps.” (Why? Because that “feature” uses battery juice to download and install stuff whenever it feels like it, instead of whenever you say.)
On the same page, under Notifications, make sure “Notify me about updates to apps or games that I downloaded” is checked. That way you will know if something needs updating.
On the same page, uncheck “Add icon to Home screen for new apps.” Because it’s annoying, not because it uses battery.
Go to your tablet’s Settings.
Choose “Wi-Fi”.
Tap the three-dot symbol at top right.
Tap “Advanced.”
Make sure “Scanning always available” is unchecked.
On the same settings screen, under “Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep,” choose “Never”. (Don’t worry: If Wi-Fi is enabled, it will wake up instantly every time you turn on the tablet.)
While in Settings, let’s turn off some radios:
If you don’t travel with your tablet, disable Location (GPS).
If you don’t use Near Field Communication (NFC) for tap-to-pair features, disable that. You can always re-enable it when ready.
Disable Bluetooth when not using it.
Obviously, keep your device’s screen brightness as low as is comfortable. (The display is the biggest power hog on your device.) You can change the display brightness settings under Settings, Display.
While in Display Settings, disable Ambient Display. (Well, first Google it, because you might actually like the feature. But I think it’s more of a smartphone feature than a tablet feature.)
When disabling or uninstalling Google apps, DO NOT uninstall anything essential to the smooth running of your tablet. That includes:
Google Search
Google Chrome (unless you replace it with another browser)
Google Settings
Hangouts (you can disable Hangouts once you’ve replaced it with an aftermarket texting app)
Google Now (although we will disable many of its features and opt-out later)
Google Play
Gmail
Now let’s clean up a few apps. We will stay away from system apps, such as Email — because people can get into trouble uninstalling essential system apps.
It’s impossible to know every time an app is working in the background or polling the Internet. So, in my opinion, you should uninstall any app that you didn’t specifically put on the tablet yourself (system apps not included). For example, I uninstalled:
Google Earth
Google +
Hangouts (after I replaced it with Textra)
Google Docs
Google Drive
Google Sheets
Google Slides
Google Fit
Any downloaded apps I’m no longer using, such as wallpaper apps.
For smartphone owners, Google Now can be a godsend — always reminding you of what’s next, keeping you out of traffic jams, and keeping you on schedule. But tablet owners might not need the features. Additionally, with Google Now, the Nexus 7 mic is always on and listening for that “OK Google” search command — which obviously uses battery power and is more of a smartphone than tablet feature.
I found that I didn’t need Google Now at home, where my Nexus 7 is 100% of the time. If you’re like me, you can opt-out of Google Now — or at least stop the mic from listening.
We’ll start with the least draconian measure: stopping the mic from listening for the “OK Google” command:
From your main home screen, swipe left until you get to the Google Now screen.
Tap the three-bar symbol at top left.
Choose Settings.
Choose Voice.
Choose “OK Google” Detection.
Uncheck both “from the Google app” and “From any screen.”
If you don’t want Google Now at all (I don’t like it because it’s always updating something or doing something in the background), here’s how you disable it completely, while leaving full Google Search functionality intact:
Start by disabling “OK Google” voice detection as shown above.
Then, in your Applications, open the Google Settings app.
Tap “Search & Now”.
Tap “Now cards.”
Uncheck “Show cards.”
You will see a message that asks if you really want to turn off Google Now. Go ahead and do that.
From now on, you can still easily search by swiping your finger up from the bottom of any Home screen. And you can still do voice searches by tapping the microphone on any Google Search screen.
I hope these battery-saving features do as much for you as they did for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is fantastic -- thank you!
I just upgraded my Nexus 7 (2013 LTE) to Lollipop and its battery usage tanked. I finally got a good view of how bad it was this morning. I plugged it in last night but left it running (all radios except WiFi off (including mobile data off), display off) and it charged all night. When I checked on it this morning it had actually *lost* battery charge overnight. The battery display page shows that it had been charging all night but still steadily, albeit slowly, losing charge (went from about 51% to about 47% by morning).
I turned the device off and plugged it back in; within a couple of hours it was back up to about 70%.
From various forums it appears that people have wildly varying experience with this on their Nexus devices, including the Nexus 7, with some reporting good battery charge retention, so my first guess is that one or more of my roughly 160 apps is sucking on the battery heavily.
I'm doing a factory reset now and will then try the recharge scenario again (wherein I leave the device on while recharging) and will see what happens with the "clean" version. I'm also going to turn off WiFi, which I know will introduce a significant change, but I want to make sure there is no background WiFi activity going on either (e.g., downloading all my Google apps again).
I'll post the results of my "test".
Barry

^160 apps that's the problem. Use BBS to see what's keeping it up. You can leave WiFi on, I have all location, WiFi, now, ok google everywhere etc on and consistently get 8 hours screen time over 2 days or 7 hours over 3 days.

I've seen the difference (in negative way) of the battery in lollipop too.
I have a rooted n7 lte.
In addition to these tips, I installed "disableservice" from play store and disabled all the wear related service in android google play service and Google music.
Now on the list of battery consuming apps the Google play service is no more the first one.
I've read somewhere that the wear parts of play service consumes a lot of battery and I don't have android wear.
Only my two cents.
Bye

xranix said:
I've seen the difference (in negative way) of the battery in lollipop too.
I have a rooted n7 lte.
In addition to these tips, I installed "disableservice" from play store and disabled all the wear related service in android google play service and Google music.
Now on the list of battery consuming apps the Google play service is no more the first one.
I've read somewhere that the wear parts of play service consumes a lot of battery and I don't have android wear.
Only my two cents.
Bye
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great tips! Thanks for adding to the discussion!

yosmokinman said:
^160 apps that's the problem. Use BBS to see what's keeping it up. You can leave WiFi on, I have all location, WiFi, now, ok google everywhere etc on and consistently get 8 hours screen time over 2 days or 7 hours over 3 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nonsense, he has some other issue. Unless he has 160's "facebook" apps.

Questions: fyi I have stock 2013 5.0.2
When I try to disable NFC, it greys out and then turns itself back on.
I can't find the Google Now screen when swiping left.
TheContinental said:
For smartphone owners, Google Now can be a godsend — always reminding you of what’s next, keeping you out of traffic jams, and keeping you on schedule. But tablet owners might not need the features. Additionally, with Google Now, the Nexus 7 mic is always on and listening for that “OK Google” search command — which obviously uses battery power and is more of a smartphone than tablet feature.
I found that I didn’t need Google Now at home, where my Nexus 7 is 100% of the time. If you’re like me, you can opt-out of Google Now — or at least stop the mic from listening.
We’ll start with the least draconian measure: stopping the mic from listening for the “OK Google” command:
From your main home screen, swipe left until you get to the Google Now screen.
Tap the three-bar symbol at top left.
Choose Settings.
Choose Voice.
Choose “OK Google” Detection.
Uncheck both “from the Google app” and “From any screen.”
If you don’t want Google Now at all (I don’t like it because it’s always updating something or doing something in the background), here’s how you disable it completely, while leaving full Google Search functionality intact:
Start by disabling “OK Google” voice detection as shown above.
Then, in your Applications, open the Google Settings app.
Tap “Search & Now”.
Tap “Now cards.”
Uncheck “Show cards.”
You will see a message that asks if you really want to turn off Google Now. Go ahead and do that.
From now on, you can still easily search by swiping your finger up from the bottom of any Home screen. And you can still do voice searches by tapping the microphone on any Google Search screen.
I hope these battery-saving features do as much for you as they did for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

peaceridge said:
Questions: fyi I have stock 2013 5.0.2
When I try to disable NFC, it greys out and then turns itself back on.
I can't find the Google Now screen when swiping left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you swipe left on your home screen and don't get Google Now, then Google Now is not activated on your device. If Google Now is activated, when swiping left on your home screen, you'll see a full-screen view of Google Now and its helpful cards.
Sorry, I don't know what to make of your NFC turning itself back on. Of course, NFC won't work at all if Bluetooth is off, so you can defeat it that way.

TheContinental said:
If you swipe left on your home screen and don't get Google Now, then Google Now is not activated on your device. If Google Now is activated, when swiping left on your home screen, you'll see a full-screen view of Google Now and its helpful cards.
Sorry, I don't know what to make of your NFC turning itself back on. Of course, NFC won't work at all if Bluetooth is off, so you can defeat it that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, really appreciate your help on the battery issue! I've got Bluetooth off, so that should be fine, then. I'm contemplating going back to 4.4, but haven't had time to research that yet. Again, thanks for your help.

If I remember well, swiping left on homscreen, on nexus tablets do not activate google now, but swiping up from the bottom of the screen, if it's activated it will turn on.

sale 83 said:
If I remember well, swiping left on homscreen, on nexus tablets do not activate google now, but swiping up from the bottom of the screen, if it's activated it will turn on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right! My bad, I think I was thinking of my Nexus 5, where you swipe left. The procedures to disable Google Now are the same with both devices, though.

TheContinental said:
If you swipe left on your home screen and don't get Google Now, then Google Now is not activated on your device. If Google Now is activated, when swiping left on your home screen, you'll see a full-screen view of Google Now and its helpful cards.
Sorry, I don't know what to make of your NFC turning itself back on. Of course, NFC won't work at all if Bluetooth is off, so you can defeat it that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFC and Bluetooth are completely unrelated.
As for the problem; I don't know but I'd have to guess that NFC is required somewhere, like perhaps Smart Lock is enabled or something else that's needing NFC? Wallet? Something like that. I can turn off NFC on my N7 Flo.
That said.. NFC uses almost zero power, so IMO it's not even worth worrying about having disabled.

khaytsus said:
NFC and Bluetooth are completely unrelated.
As for the problem; I don't know but I'd have to guess that NFC is required somewhere, like perhaps Smart Lock is enabled or something else that's needing NFC? Wallet? Something like that. I can turn off NFC on my N7 Flo.
That said.. NFC uses almost zero power, so IMO it's not even worth worrying about having disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFC and Bluetooth are indeed related, but not in the way I originally thought. NFC uses an RFID-like protocol to make a connection, then Bluetooth to transfer any info (files, etc.). So, a user would need Bluetooth powered on for NFC to work, but not the other way around.

khaytsus said:
NFC and Bluetooth are completely unrelated.
As for the problem; I don't know but I'd have to guess that NFC is required somewhere, like perhaps Smart Lock is enabled or something else that's needing NFC? Wallet? Something like that. I can turn off NFC on my N7 Flo.
That said.. NFC uses almost zero power, so IMO it's not even worth worrying about having disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. They are completely unrelated. They work completely independent of each other.

Various questions

I just moved to the Tmobile V20 from the Nexus 5 (not the 5x), and have noticed a few behaviors that are different than what I expected. Would love some insights.
Is there any way to enable the knock knock turn off feature when using the Google Launcher instead of the default?
Do the "smart" calendar events not work on this phone. On my N5, I could start typing Dentist, and it would slowly prompt me for locations, dates, times, etc..
Is there anyway to quick launch the camera? With the fingerprint sensor, I hvae to turn it on, go to the home screen, then select the camera.

frozndevl said:
I just moved to the Tmobile V20 from the Nexus 5 (not the 5x), and have noticed a few behaviors that are different than what I expected. Would love some insights.
Is there any way to enable the knock knock turn off feature when using the Google Launcher instead of the default?
Do the "smart" calendar events not work on this phone. On my N5, I could start typing Dentist, and it would slowly prompt me for locations, dates, times, etc..
Is there anyway to quick launch the camera? With the fingerprint sensor, I hvae to turn it on, go to the home screen, then select the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Double tap the notification bar on any screen.
2. No idea.
3. Press the Down volume button twice when the screen is off. (Not applicable when playing media)

vi001101106 said:
1. Double tap the notification bar on any screen.
2. No idea.
3. Press the Down volume button twice when the screen is off. (Not applicable when playing media)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, #1 and #3 down. Thanks so much for the help.
Ahh, here is the official blurb from the Play Store link for the Calendar App.
• Quick event creation - Smart suggestions for event titles, places and people save you time when creating events.

Are you using the built in Calendar, or the Google calendar? You may need to download the Google calendar to get things working the way to which you want.

Yeah, first thing I did was install google calendar. Maybe I should disable the LG one, wipe the googl calendar, and see if that fixes it.
Edit: Doing that allowed the quick event creation to function. Probably was something to do with the permissions it was allowed to grab since I did the app restore instead of installing it manually.

Workaround for Wear OS Reminder (with IFTTT)

I used to have this issue, when I used Google Assistant on my Huawei Watch (1st Gen) and create a reminder (e.g. Ok, Google, remind me to take out the trash at 12pm) the reminder would be set just fine. It was visible in the reminder section of my phone and my watch.
However, when the reminder was supposed to go off, it would only go off on my phone (with a tone) and then display the set reminder.
On my watch the reminder is only found when I swipe up an look at the notifications. But there would be no vibration or pop-up notification.
This issue seems to be widely known and affects a lot of Wear OS users. On my search for a solution to this issue, I've found some workarounds using Tasker (which is a paid app and probably not very user friendly for the average user) but I found nothing that would solve this issue quickly and easily.
Now, some might have already done this, but since I did not see any thread describing a workaround with IFTTT, I'm just gonna put this here.
What you need:
- IFTTT app installed on your phone.
- IFTTT app installed on your Wear OS watch
Now you simply create an IFTTT applet (which can still be done for free, but if you want to create more than 3 custom applets, the app wants you to pay).
Here's how I did it:
1. Tap on create new applet.
2. The app will ask you "If this" at first, and you just tap on "Android Device".
3. Select trigger: Here you just tap "Notification received from a specific app".
4. Just enter "Google" under app name. (I tried to enter "Reminder" to be more specific, but unfortunately, that didn't work)
5. Now the app will ask you to add "Then That". Choose Wear OS.
6. The only option given here is "Send a notification". Choose this.
7. Tap continue and now you can name the applet, then just click finish.
Now, every time the reminder triggers on your phone, you will get a notification from IFTTT on your watch for this reminder.
It worked pretty good for me, but I'm not sure what other Google service notifications are triggered. Maybe some of you guys can try this and come up with a more specific way to trigger only the reminders.
I hope this helps some of you guys dealing with this issue! It's been bugging me (and others, as far as I read) for quite a while.
Enjoy!
Zee

I almost never use reminder, seems to be handy. I just tried it and it create notif on phone and my ticwatch E. Maybe you need to allow permission or enable notification for WearOS app on your phone. Make sure also the notification on the watch is not block (app info of Reminder).
Alternatively, you can use Automagic instead of tasker. The app now is free on the main website (unfortunately, development stopped already). It has companion app on the watch need to be installed too. Then create flow with trigger Notification on Statusbar Displayed, select the WearOS one. You can choose action to vibrated, recreate the notification on Watch or create full screen display on watch, using widget. No IFTTT nor internet needed.