Database Users

[Rom Dump] N7000XXLSA (4.1.2) BUG POOL / REPORTS

Please be concise! Only bug reports of the pre-"official" Samsung XXLSA ROM Leak, or Samsung issued updates!.
I will add up (e.g. bug x #4 ) and list all bugs reported here. No one did so far, despite probably a disproportionate number of people using this ROM as opposed to non-Samsung baked ROMs.
High Mem Usage #5 (several reports on xda)
Camera Click is delayed ( very noticable when making shots with flash enabled)
Slow. AnTuTu reports a score of ca 8000 vs. 10.000 typical for Gingerbread
Disabling Energy Saving Mode, drops the AnTuTu score to ca 7000
When restarting movil during the activated (in the task bar) “Multi Window” option, the first time this option is not functional. Inactivate and Active! #1 (andres.gomez.pena)
normal Kies Air is not working (connecting) using XXLSA #3
Usb connection via MTP is buggy #1 (couldn't confirm Win7100)
homescreen speaks to you (TTS) sporadically #1 (the opening of voice commands may also be intentionally enabled through a tapping motion!)
Kernel is Speedlocked at 1000Mhz #1 (bloodyduke)
Cchoice for apps not always remembered. E.g. for launchers. #3
(1) Update:
The Kernel is configured as SMP Preempt. Priorization may differ in this build from previous Samsung ROMs.
It appears the slow down isn't due to rampant services at all, but the CPU mode being set to "on demand" by default and Speedlocked.
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"lightbox_share": "Share",
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I apologize if my phrasing is a bit off - I am still in my early learning stages.
Battery life is great, as reported by many others!
(2) Update:
The Speedlock is due to the Battery Savings option, and actually not a bug, but working as it should.
It thus cannot explain why Antutu is even significantly slower when Battery Savings options are turned off.
(3) Update:
The OS occasionally closes or restarts applications in the background, which may entail additional CPU loads.
Be advised to turn off Multi-view from the notification bar, if not needed. Antutu went up 800 points from ~7200 to again 8000. Closing background, and halting monitoring apps - yielded me 8500 points in Antutu.

When I want to edit the preferences of the instant load in the Google+ app, it crashes.

After reset, picture frame widget is blank and you need to select the picture again.
After reset default programs ( for images, web links and whatever ) are forgotten and you need to select them again when you first open them.
Usb connection via MTP is buggy and does not show all the files in some directories.
Kies recognizes device but says firmware cannot be updated ( probably normal though because this is not official firmware )
Charging while using the phone is very slow
Confirming Google plus bug... I just uninstall that anyway...

Enabling an application in accessibility settings (e.g. NoLed or Llama) makes the homescreen speak to you (TTS) and the phone becomes incredibly laggy. Longer explanation here and another claim here.

Smart stay option in display does not work in lsa leaked . Problem is fixed in lsc leaked .
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

S Pen hovering effect doesn't work,I mean it doesn't open any thumbnails
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

XXLSD is out. So maybe a buglist for this is more interesting - assuming that from LSA over B to C to now already D some of the A-Bugs are solved.

ThaiDai said:
XXLSD is out. So maybe a buglist for this is more interesting - assuming that from LSA over B to C to now already D some of the A-Bugs are solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. But I figured that the majority will toy with the leaked "official" ROM and either didn't or opted out of any OTA updates. The majority aren't testers but only install the official versions and might land here via google search. Yet as you said, it is a good idea to pool the more recent builds here as well to see if a potential bug is no longer reported.
To all: Please report XXLSB - XXLS? bugs here as well, along with the version you are using.
For instance this Rocketrom JB bake ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1953847 ) is reported with the bug: "Zooming issue with VideoCam on 1080p-mode".
I checked this in XXLSA, and got an error message "Zooming is not supported while Recording FULL HD video". Seems OK and logical. I figure a lot has been fixed or improved in the leaked JB.
I ponder if the sluggishness and high Mem consumption is due to most applications being baked as debug versions? Can anyone confirm this theory? Much can also be explained via ( https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=SMP+PREEMPT ) - the KERNEL configuration of the leaked bake.

For me XLSA worked pretty good until it stopped. When I was listening to music on Poweramp using BT headphones phone freezed. After reboot it stuck on black splash screen GT-N7000. Nothing was working - nor nandroid backup helped nor wiping or even flashing XLSC. Had to do wipes using Abyss Kernel 4.2 Red Pill. After that I could flash or recover system from backup. All was back to normal.

Bluetooth Headset doesn't beep after call ends
Here is another bug that I discovered.
When I am using my bluetooth headset, when the call ends I don't hear the BEEP in the headset that indicates that the call has ended.
In 4.04 when the call ended I would here a BEEP in my headset.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34980130&posted=1#post34980130

ThaiDai said:
XXLSD is out. So maybe a buglist for this is more interesting - assuming that from LSA over B to C to now already D some of the A-Bugs are solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know how can I get the official XXLSB, XXLSC or XXLSD upgrade?

Diegocsn said:
Do you know how can I get the official XXLSB, XXLSC or XXLSD upgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone wrote an app for that MyUpdate or UpdateMe, it was called. (If I would have the post, I would link it).
Others have gotten updates through the official channel - (Phone Status -> Update) e.g. in Singapore. You could try and VPN connect your phone to an Asian server/ISP.

bloodyduke said:
Someone wrote an app for that MyUpdate or UpdateMe, it was called. (If I would have the post, I would link it).
Others have gotten updates through the official channel - (Phone Status -> Update) e.g. in Singapore. You could try and VPN connect your phone to an Asian server/ISP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please teach on the vpn connection to asian server.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

Gallery toolbar sometime misaligned/moving down after viewing photo/full image.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

1. Lags: Even with ultra clean instal. Removing some apps makes it better. But not that much.
2. Butter is more like lumpy grease. Same experience as compared to gb on gs2, now jb on note compared to nexus. Experience not on same smoothness level.
3. More black clipping then ever
4. Unstable, can sod permenantly.
5. Next to black clipping strange artifacts in screen. Rare issue
6. Regionalisation is more linked to simcard/network rather then csc or chosen countries. This makes it difficult to read disclaimers for the travelers amongst us. This for os, for samsung apps and for google play. Pretty silly move.
7. Apps dont remember their states ( e.g. browsers) This is inhibiting multitask experience. Apple can do this why not Android. Focus was on multitasking with release wasnt it?
8. Not all aps are aproachable through the multitasking bar
9. Ota changes check on root now
10. Messages in multitask mode from one app can block all others untill message is away
11. Spen becomes uncalibrated over time. Unforgivable for a spen phone
12. Nice toggles, brightness missing in stock version (60% sure of this)
13. Not as robust. A battery pull can make phone unbootable. Not foolproof.
14. Default choice for apps not always remembered. E.g. for launchers.
Rant rant, so on and so forth
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

baz77 said:
1. Lags: Even with ultra clean instal. Removing some apps makes it better. But not that much.
2. Butter is more like lumpy grease. Same experience as compared to gb on gs2, now jb on note compared to nexus. Experience not on same smoothness level.
3. More black clipping then ever
4. Unstable, can sod permenantly.
5. Next to black clipping strange artifacts in screen. Rare issue
6. Regionalisation is more linked to simcard/network rather then csc or chosen countries. This makes it difficult to read disclaimers for the travelers amongst us. This for os, for samsung apps and for google play. Pretty silly move.
7. Apps dont remember their states ( e.g. browsers) This is inhibiting multitask experience. Apple can do this why not Android. Focus was on multitasking with release wasnt it?
8. Not all aps are aproachable through the multitasking bar
9. Ota changes check on root now
10. Messages in multitask mode from one app can block all others untill message is away
11. Spen becomes uncalibrated over time. Unforgivable for a spen phone
12. Nice toggles, brightness missing in stock version (60% sure of this)
13. Not as robust. A battery pull can make phone unbootable. Not foolproof.
14. Default choice for apps not always remembered. E.g. for launchers.
Rant rant, so on and so forth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot confirm most of these. Performance issues, true. As for multitasking: The high memory consumption leads to forceful closure of apps. Apps must implement restoring routines. Never had any system crashes or artifacts ever - with pretty heavy testing.
If you have rooted the phone your bug reports aren't what others experience.
8. It was delivered and promoted as such. Probably for stability reasons. XDA users have broken that limitation (rooting required).
10- I checked this. Not the case. E.g. video player and gallery zooming. Depends on the application's routine to being put in the background.
11. Didn't experience that. The lack of calibration options bugs the hell out of me. Primitive y-offseting is provided through left /right handed settings. I found an app that allows Wacom digitizer calib. $$+ root. No way!
My mind was blown when I downloaded the Wacom Sketching app and experienced unparalleled Spen sensitivity.
13. Definitely not the case. I am usually too lazy to shut down.
14. Ack.

bloodyduke said:
I cannot confirm most of these. Performance issues, true. As for multitasking: The high memory consumption leads to forceful closure of apps. Apps must implement restoring routines. Never had any system crashes or artifacts ever - with pretty heavy testing.
If you have rooted the phone your bug reports aren't what others experience.
8. It was delivered and promoted as such. Probably for stability reasons. XDA users have broken that limitation (rooting required).
10- I checked this. Not the case. E.g. video player and gallery zooming. Depends on the application's routine to being put in the background.
11. Didn't experience that. The lack of calibration options bugs the hell out of me. Primitive y-offseting is provided through left /right handed settings. I found an app that allows Wacom digitizer calib. $$+ root. No way!
My mind was blown when I downloaded the Wacom Sketching app and experienced unparalleled Spen sensitivity.
13. Definitely not the case. I am usually too lazy to shut down.
14. Ack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
8 Would be nice if they showed an option to view all aps with a disclaimer, stability issues can arize. At own risk. If it cant harm the phone, why not .
10 we are using different apps. Probably different way of showing these prompts/status messages. So its not generically captured, my guess.
11 good tip on the app. Youre gonna love this one if it works.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2027680
13 has been reported at least once, apart from my own experience
Other issues, some difficult to reproduce. That doesnt make them untrue.
I concurr, my setup in regards to stock is not 100% representative. But root cannot effect black clipping or strange artifacts. I think.
However this thread title is on rom dump, not the sammobile leaked rom(referred to as stock, which to my knowledge is not based on dump).
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Not very accurate list.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

thanks for pointing this out. As I said, I did indeed not have any troubles with the pre-official XXLSA. Not even application crashes that I can remember, let alone system crashes - with heavy testing. Many initial bugs which turned out to be misinformation on my part.
My biggest gripes are high memory consumption, sluggishness - but I have no idea if this is normal. But there is certainly a strong argument why current phones have more RAM and more CPUs, GPUs.

[GUIDE] ZGPaX S5 :: [ROOT]+[MODS] :9/17/14::: Revert to StocK Tutorial***

This thread is designed to organize ZGPAX Discussion.
I will begin by posting what i have learned and if others have mods or useful information, OP will be updated.
Please feel free to PM me, and drop a line. ADD ME ON FACEBOOK - all that is in my xda profile to the left
Also, if you are interested you can mail me your ZGPAX via USPS and i will root/ install the modification listed. For more Information PM me with your inquiry!
Also We can Skype/Video Call / Hangouts Video Call for the watches that i mod
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"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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Using Next Launcher 3D
[VIDEOS]
Running NEXT LAUNCHER 3D -
Tablet Talk Notification TEst / Misc Testing
Awesome ON / OFF Application
Stock Test Run
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OTHER VIDEOS
Courtesy of
Shaolin95
ZGPAX Running Dreamcast Emulator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZmdEl9yAvI
ZGPAX Running Playstation - Tekken 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzPNHKuWfbo
ZGPAX Playing Shinobi via M.A.M.E w/PS3 Controller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNFyWJXZcLQ
ZGPAX Quadrant Standard Benchmark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUGlLVXJ77U
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SOFT BRICK OR STUCK in a BOOTLOOP? REVERT TO STOCK
TWRP is required to use the following backup. Please make sure you still have it installed and are able to access it.
Download the stock OS backup Here http://www.4shared.com/zip/dxnYQfmpba/stock_zgpax.html
You need to be able to access your SD Card, if not you may need to use an external SD. Navigate to /SD Card/TWRP/Backup (or create the folder if it doesn't exist). Next you need to make a folder called Stock ZGPAX. Then your are going to place the files you downloaded here from the link above.
IF you cannot access your SD Card, try using an external MicroSD card. You will have to make the /TWRP/Backup Directory and Folder yourself... and then place the files in there manually.
Finally, you will REBOOT into TWRP and Navigate to the restore option. Look for your folder there and restore this backup.
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ROOT
Just install "framaroot.apk or sideload to the watch's internal storage and install - Do not ask for links, just google it
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RECOVERY
To install TWRP, you can download and install RECOVERY TOOLS for Free. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.mkrtchyan.recoverytools
Next download to Internal SD This TWRP image https://www.dropbox.com/s/05818ubth99f2x9/twrprecovery.img and UI.Zip https://www.dropbox.com/s/f59htzer97tvliz/ui.zip
--Open Recovery Tools - Select FLASH OTHER RECOVERY - Locate and Select the twrp.IMG file you downloaded and hit YES. Continue to flash...
--Download UI.zip Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=52782588&postcount=892 Make sure you place it in --> Internal Storage/TWRP/theme - (you are actually going to make this folder yourself)
--Reboot into recovery (Hold down back+power) and you should see twrp.
​
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STOCK ANALOG CLOCK LOCKSCREEN / SCREENSAVER BYPASS
This will prevent the stock lockscreen analog clock and launcher from showing up when you press the power button to turn the screen off
Requirements: ADW or other 3rd party launcher/Root Access/RomToolbox/"NO LOCK" Free application on google play
Be sure you have root, and you have already installed ADW or a 3rd party launcher and ROM TOOLBOX or equivalent.
Step 1: Download "NO LOCK" from play store... Yellow iPhone looking app icon. Or Bluetooth transfer / side-load application to internal storage and INSTALL
Step 2: Go into SETTINGS >> APPS >>> ALL TAB >> Navigate to COM.SZKCT.ACTIVITY and click on it >>> Force STOP & DISABLE if possible
OPTIONAL: If you would like this to stick after reboot: GO TO ROM TOOLBOX >> APP MANAGER >> ALL >>> Locate COM.SZKCT.ACTIVITY and FREEZE the package.
​
INVERTED GOOGLE PLAY STORE
View attachment 2488657
This application just looks a whole lot better on our device. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ka1zpew0r2rqpsp/Inverted_Google_Play_Store_4.5.10.zip?m=
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SMS & INCOMING CALL NOTIFICATIONS
Thus far, the only app i have verified to work RELIABLY is TABLET TALK, which is currently $2.99 in the PLAY Store.
You may need to install PIE CONTROLS to have the MENU BUTTON functionality first. PIE is free in play store - Afterwards:
Install on Both, android phone and the smart watch.
On the android phone you are using, setup the device in settings >> at the bottom >> The phone should be selected as PHONE
On the smart watch, go into the same settings menu at the bottom >> The device should be selected as tablet
On both devices, you should press the bluetooth icon.... Both will turn yellow, and then GREEN, when they paid. DONE!
PERFORMANCE
Using a TOOLBOX / RooT app (such as Rom TOOLBOX or Trickstermod) recommendations below to help performance and battery.
Scheduler --> Change I/O to DEADLINE - This will increase SD Card read Speeds --> The stock is CFG, Deadline is usually faster!
Governor ---> Try ON DEMAND Governor. Can help eliminate over-heating without sacrificing performance. Stock is Hybrid
XPOSED FRAMEWORK
.A number of apps will not fit within the visible area of the device without changing the DPI. Confirmed that Xposed and App settings works with the ZGPAX and can be found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2072081. For example, in the ADW popup dialog you cannot change screen borders or change wallpaper until you change the DPI to 100.
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USEFULE APPS
Some useful good apps that install and work for this device. Will update frequently with your help: ​
Battery Monitor Widget - This widget may help updating the battery percent and reflect more accurately at all times.
Awesome ON OFF - Similar to galaxy gear, turning the watch activates screen on, with vibrate
Shake Screen ON OFF by Freebooks - Simple shake to turn the screen on or off - no need to use home button
CPU SPY is good for monitoring deep sleep... in case you install an app that keeps the device awake.
ADW EX Launcher - 4x4 grid is perfect, runs smoothly, can stretch clock widgets and such
Active Apps - Good for clearing apps and Ram in one convenient location
DigiClock - Large 4x4 clock with built in themes
Frama Root - For quick rooting
Google Maps - Be sure to actually download and install from the playstore or it may not work
NO Lock - Removes lockscreen and you can sleep / wake watch from whichever home screen you left off at
PIE controls - So you don't have to always be hitting the hardware POWER and Back buttons... also allows many toggles
ROM TOOLBOX - All root tools, file explorer, boot animation etc etc

thanks for your works
i wainting arrive my device :laugh:

Volume Change
Since mine isn't here yet, I guess someone else can test this. It's from the Joe's Tech Review website and it's for a different model, but it might work.
Z1 smart watch phone Engineering code. (Bas Advalvas)
INCREASE CALL VOLUME: found it!
Finally found it. And it's easy! Call sound value is too low on the Z1, 1 of it's main drawbacks.
■Start the phone dialer and dial: *#*#8787#*#* This will start Engineer Mode on de the Z1.
■Select Audio, then Normal Mode. Choose the 'type' Speech, change the value 6 into 0 (that's the loudest) and press Set.
■Press the Back button once. Now select LoudSpeaker Mode. Choose the 'type' Speech, change the value 24 (?) into 10 (on my Z1, the value 0 made the sound very soft, probably because of the system that prevents feedbacklooping from speaker to microphone (how you call this?)) and press Set. Press the Back Button a few times to leave Engineer Mode.
That's all! The standard call volume increases a bit (40%?), but the handsfree volume (which is otherwise about the same as the standard) inceases a lot (150%?) AND the annoying interference sound is now gone!!!

Drayke5 said:
Since mine isn't here yet, I guess someone else can test this. It's from the Joe's Tech Review website and it's for a different model, but it might work.
Z1 smart watch phone Engineering code. (Bas Advalvas)
INCREASE CALL VOLUME: found it!
Finally found it. And it's easy! Call sound value is too low on the Z1, 1 of it's main drawbacks.
■Start the phone dialer and dial: *#*#8787#*#* This will start Engineer Mode on de the Z1.
■Select Audio, then Normal Mode. Choose the 'type' Speech, change the value 6 into 0 (that's the loudest) and press Set.
■Press the Back button once. Now select LoudSpeaker Mode. Choose the 'type' Speech, change the value 24 (?) into 10 (on my Z1, the value 0 made the sound very soft, probably because of the system that prevents feedbacklooping from speaker to microphone (how you call this?)) and press Set. Press the Back Button a few times to leave Engineer Mode.
That's all! The standard call volume increases a bit (40%?), but the handsfree volume (which is otherwise about the same as the standard) inceases a lot (150%?) AND the annoying interference sound is now gone!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The speaker is incredibly loud... and being that you haven't actually received your zgpax, i don't think you will need any volume increase.

Would you describe some of the customization you've performed with ADW-EX in order to get such a great look? I haven't used the pay version before, so perhaps it is a silly question, but how did you get such large icons on the main page?

I'm considering buying this watch. Two questions:
1. How does it handle notifications from my phone?
2. Can I use Bluetooth to connect my phone to it since I don't want to put my SIM card in there?

zNiiC,
Check out this other thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2507033&page=8
To answer your questions directly, not yet. It is designed to be a stand-alone device (that being said it may happen eventually).
zNiiC said:
I'm considering buying this watch. Two questions:
1. How does it handle notifications from my phone?
2. Can I use Bluetooth to connect my phone to it since I don't want to put my SIM card in there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yea I've seen that thread. Could you possibly tie your smartphone to this watch with some sort of app to recieve notifications on it?

ItzSnitz said:
zNiiC,
Check out this other thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2507033&page=8
To answer your questions directly, not yet. It is designed to be a stand-alone device (that being said it may happen eventually).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently the manufacturer is still working on making this possible..... I've tried a lot of apps so far with no luck
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

Humm. Bummer. I think I read somewhere that someone used mysms. Not sure if it was in the other thread or for a different watch.

If you really want to make it happen, you can use Tasker, Zapier and Pushover to do the job. Here's a useful explanation intended for a different application. Bottom line: if you expect to transmit more than 100 notifications per month, you'll have to shell out some ridiculous money.

ItzSnitz said:
If you really want to make it happen, you can use Tasker, Zapier and Pushover to do the job. Here's a useful explanation intended for a different application. Bottom line: if you expect to transmit more than 100 notifications per month, you'll have to shell out some ridiculous money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To BigBison420 and ItzSnitz,
Couldn't you use tasker along with either open watch or notify my android since you can install apps on this watch? (Not quite sure how these apps work). Might be worth a shot to see if it is able to send notifications.
OpenWatch: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=554551
Notify my Android: http://www.notifymyandroid.com/

BigBison420 said:
Apparently the manufacturer is still working on making this possible..... I've tried a lot of apps so far with no luck
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that the watch is a phone. It is recognized by other devices also as a phone.... And try googling how to pair an android phone to an android phone to use for notifications and call handling Lol.... Not happenin
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

zNiiC said:
To BigBison420 and ItzSnitz,
Couldn't you use tasker along with either open watch or notify my android since you can install apps on this watch? (Not quite sure how these apps work). Might be worth a shot to see if it is able to send notifications.
OpenWatch: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=554551
Notify my Android: http://www.notifymyandroid.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried to get open watch to work but no go.... I spent a lot of time trying app store apps. Lots of hidden ones too but I'll def post when something works
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

ItzSnitz said:
Would you describe some of the customization you've performed with ADW-EX in order to get such a great look? I haven't used the pay version before, so perhaps it is a silly question, but how did you get such large icons on the main page?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im using 1.3.3.8 which is an over hauled update of the app... All prior versions are clearly not as good.
I downloaded digi clock widget, which has tons of built in theme and stretches out nicely (4X4 widget).
Also disabled action bar in adw, disable dock, and grid set to 4x4 for the homescreens. That's really the foundation of my cosmetic tweaks. Also i completely disabled lockscreen as described in OP so immediately the watch awakens to the clock on the homescreen
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

Hi guys,
Newbie here. I too bought the ZGPAX smart watch about 3 weeks ago, OEM version. I also purchased another model EC-309 from HOPU watches, which is based on similar hardware MTK6577, Android 4.0 and with the extra that it has 3G network, different hardware layout (camera on the side not front).
Purchased the ZGPAX for around 140$ odd plus shipping, EC-309 on the other hand was priced above $230. Full disclosure, I own a retail store selling OEM Android tablets in Indochina and would like to add smart watches into my product portfolio.
I would like to get some tips on how to extend the battery life seeing as some users managed to be able to get 1 to 1 1/2 days use on a single charge . Rooted the devices, lowered the CPU range. Tried basic user stuff like, screen timeout, brightness. Switched from 3G to GSM. Still cant get more than 6-8hr battery life. Have tried DX battery Saver Pro, this really extend the batt life but at the at the expense of shutting off wifi and 3G (not acceptable solution). Any other ideas?
For those who might be interested, here's a comparison of the two devices
1) ZGPAX touchscreen runs much hotter than the EC-309
2) ZGPAX has superior speakers, music sounds clearer and louder, no distortion at higher levels
3) ZGPAX has SD card slot, EC-309 only has internal 4GB
4) EC-309 slightly better finish, aluminium bezel, ZGPAX feels a little plasticky
5) Similar firmware for both models. Same issues, Google voice, Skype, Facebook crashes or does not work.
6) Similar battery life - 6 to 8 hr max
7) Similar battery monitoring issues - battery indicator not accurate
8) Both models have good wifi and 3G reception
9) EC-309 comes with Launcher 8 as a default..Win 8 style launcher, no custom launcher like ZGPAX.
10) EC-309 uses micro SIM , ZGPAX regular SIM size
Will share more on apps that work for me soon.

kindredd said:
Hi guys,
Newbie here. I too bought the ZGPAX smart watch about 3 weeks ago, OEM version. I also purchased another model EC-309 from HOPU watches, which is based on similar hardware MTK6577, Android 4.0 and with the extra that it has 3G network, different hardware layout (camera on the side not front).
Purchased the ZGPAX for around 140$ odd plus shipping, EC-309 on the other hand was priced above $230. Full disclosure, I own a retail store selling OEM Android tablets in Indochina and would like to add smart watches into my product portfolio.
I would like to get some tips on how to extend the battery life seeing as some users managed to be able to get 1 to 1 1/2 days use on a single charge . Rooted the devices, lowered the CPU range. Tried basic user stuff like, screen timeout, brightness. Switched from 3G to GSM. Still cant get more than 6-8hr battery life. Have tried DX battery Saver Pro, this really extend the batt life but at the at the expense of shutting off wifi and 3G (not acceptable solution). Any other ideas?
For those who might be interested, here's a comparison of the two devices
1) ZGPAX touchscreen runs much hotter than the EC-309
2) ZGPAX has superior speakers, music sounds clearer and louder, no distortion at higher levels
3) ZGPAX has SD card slot, EC-309 only has internal 4GB
4) EC-309 slightly better finish, aluminium bezel, ZGPAX feels a little plasticky
5) Similar firmware for both models. Same issues, Google voice, Skype, Facebook crashes or does not work.
6) Similar battery life - 6 to 8 hr max
7) Similar battery monitoring issues - battery indicator not accurate
8) Both models have good wifi and 3G reception
9) EC-309 comes with Launcher 8 as a default..Win 8 style launcher, no custom launcher like ZGPAX.
10) EC-309 uses micro SIM , ZGPAX regular SIM size
Will share more on apps that work for me soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really depends on how you use the device.... i could get 3 / 4 days out of it, simply using it as a watch to check the time. Streaming wi-fi and videos and downloading stuff is a whole different story. Have you tried changing the CPU Governor? I have not lowered the stock cpu settings... mine sits at 1001mhz max and 250 min. Deep sleeps about 90% of the time

BigBison420 said:
Really depends on how you use the device.... i could get 3 / 4 days out of it, simply using it as a watch to check the time. Streaming wi-fi and videos and downloading stuff is a whole different story. Have you tried changing the CPU Governor? I have not lowered the stock cpu settings... mine sits at 1001mhz max and 250 min. Deep sleeps about 90% of the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much thanks for the quick feedback BigBison! Frankly the watch gets fully used most days, I am actively chatting on WeChat, checking time, playing around with some basic voice recognition apps (utter, voice reading). Am trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the device. Will try to lower the CPU settings to half 667mhz and see if that helps. IO on deadline and Govenor OnDemand.
BTW, Any devs out there want to help with Custom ROMS? Am happy to donate towards the purchase of a smartwatch for the dev if it can help resolve the battery, Skype, Facebook and Voice search issues.
Also heard from my OEM supplier in China that a new version with Android 4.3 will be coming out early 1st Quarter 14. Will keep you guys informed.

kindredd said:
Much thanks for the quick feedback BigBison! Frankly the watch gets fully used most days, I am actively chatting on WeChat, checking time, playing around with some basic voice recognition apps (utter, voice reading). Am trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the device. Will try to lower the CPU settings to half 667mhz and see if that helps. IO on deadline and Govenor OnDemand.
BTW, Any devs out there want to help with Custom ROMS? Am happy to donate towards the purchase of a smartwatch for the dev if it can help resolve the battery, Skype, Facebook and Voice search issues.
Also heard from my OEM supplier in China that a new version with Android 4.3 will be coming out early 1st Quarter 14. Will keep you guys informed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow that is very cool! keep us posted, we love updates! haha
Also if you find useful information or good apps for the watch let me know so i can update the OP in the meantime for other peeps.
Cheers!

There's also Augmented Smart Watch Pro (Play Store), however I suspect it's still the same issue that ZGPAX is a phone, not a watch. Might be worthwhile to reach out to those developers to check their pulse on this application.
BigBison420 said:
Tried to get open watch to work but no go.... I spent a lot of time trying app store apps. Lots of hidden ones too but I'll def post when something works
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Mod][How to][Updated Camera 3.3.20.8]Unlock Advanced Camera Settings | Non-Root/Root

Finally! The moment all of you have been waiting for. This is the Tutorial on "How to unlock the advanced camera settings in the motorola camera app" (ladybug icon) :victory:
first of all, this could be the most useful tutorial for stock rom users, since most of the custom rom already have this.
This mod should also work with:
MOTO DEVICES
-Moto E ------------------Confirmed working by @AshuGite and @spiked_mistborn
-Moto G 4G (LTE)--------Confirmed working by many users
-Moto X (2013)-----------Not confirmed, yet. But it should work
-Moto G 2 Gen. (2014)---Confirmed working by @prateek.khurana31
-Moto X 2 Gen. (2014)---Confirmed working by @neh4pres
OTHER DEVICES:
-Xperia Z2----------------Confirmed working except for recording Videos(missing libs) by @ogunja
If you owned one of the Devices mentioned above and the Mod is working for you, pls let me know for which specific Device it worked, hit the thanks Button below and feel free to open a new Thread in one of the above mentioned Devices' Forums, mentioning this Thread. Thank you
EASY METHOD
For NON-ROOT and ROOT users:
DON'T WORRY, this camera app will install as a seperate app so you will still have the original Motorola Camera app
Here is the camera app with unlocked hidden menu for non-root and root users: Motorola Camera v3.3.20.8 (unlocked hidden menu). Just install as normal apk. Thanks to @jefish for making this awesome Mod
How to access the hidden settings: After you swipe out the settings wheel you will have a "Ladybug" icon in the lower right corner (Screenshots below at the end of this post). just press it enjoy the advanced settings for your Camera
Recommended Settings based on @juanchotazo99 tests: Turn off Wavelet Noise, as it screws up your image quality. Morpho VNR seems to reduce noise in the cameras live view (not on the final image). QC Tintless seems to reduce the reddish tint on final images. So it is up to you if you want to set the last 2 options to on or off
ATTENTION: The Methods below are only necessary if you have ROOT and don't want to install the modded apk.
If you have the Play Store Version of the camera app, pls uninstall and flash one of these flashable zips through CWM Recovery. Thanks to @lost101 for making these.
Moto G (2013) 4.4.4 Stock Camera app: (Wavelet noise, Morpho VNR and QC Tintless settings available)
or
Moto G 2nd Gen. (2014) 4.4.4 Stock Camera app
If you don't want to manually edit your build.prop, you can have a look at this Xposed Module which unlocks the hidden settings without editing anything. Thanks to @S0bes for his Xposed Module
Also, check out @juanchotazo99 's awesome camera test with this new settings in this post. this is also really helpful to understand where the photos get better quality.
Completely Manual Method
Here is the tutorial for those who want to get the hidden settings by manually editing the build.prop
Step 1
Make sure you device is rooted and download or use any File Explorer that has root access.
Step 2
navigate to: Root>System>build.prop
edit the build.prop file (MAKE A BACKUP FIRST) and search for this line:
Code:
ro.build.tags=release-keys
and change it to
Code:
ro.build.tags=test-keys
and save the file.
Step 3
Finally reboot your Device and you're done.
Now after you swipe out the settings wheel you will have a "Ladybug" icon in the lower right corner (pictures below). just press it enjoy the advanced settings for your Camera :victory:
Screenshots
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Don't forget to hit Thanks i would be really happy if you do that

Post process noise reduction, morpho VNR (NR, what else could that be, than noise reduction?). Let's disable these two settings and test. I'll give the camera a try tomorrow in daylight with these changes. I mean, scenes with foliage and plants, that suffer greatly from the noise reduction and become painting-like in pictures. Before, and after.
Thanks a lot for this!!
Hidden above is the original. Let's make a better use of this post.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bringing all of this to Moto's attention:
In my camera testing post quoted above I had added the following at its end:
Based on all the previous testing done by people in Motorola's official thread on Moto G's camera quality, BEFORE what @GodOfPsychos has discovered, a Motorola representative stated the following:
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?page=1
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=801623#801623
We’ve been exploring several options to improve the camera. Some items are already on the list – we will fix the intermittent split-flash problem that produces a picture split into light and dark halves. We are working on the intermittent red-tint issue. Other areas are more difficult because any change to improve one area will create other artifacts -- and someone will object to those.
That being said, we have a plan to improve, and much of it is based on the feedback gathered from this thread and others. Thank you. It won’t be fast because it requires changes beyond what we can do through updates to the Camera app itself. But we’re going to make changes that in addition to the items above, should improve sharpness and detail.
I cannot comment on the timing of updates, so I can only ask for patience as we work through this. And again, thanks for the feedback; the photos and observations posted and sent via email were instrumental in helping us get to this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Image quality improvements have been promised for the next update, that would be Android L.
Android L is itself a big deal for imaging because it exposes the entire picture/video taking pipeline to camera apps... that means someone can write a camera app with their own picture processing algorithms which in our case can definitely help us with the quality issue.
Meanwhile, we can enjoy better pictures thanks to OP's findings on the camera app's hidden settings. Anyway, if you read what I've bolded in the quoted comment from that official thread... What the hell, Motorola? I mean, he's probably meaning that the stuff that has to be changed is regarding the sensor itself (it presumably does in-sensor noise reduction, outside the scope of what the camera app does by itself) but when the camera app is doing useless noise reduction and you tell people that it can't be solved that way, then @GodOfPsychos finds out about the app's hidden settings being some simple on/off toggles for that useless noise reduction... just... what the hell. This defies logic.
I've made a user in the Motorola forum and have been posting all our findings in that thread. This can't go unnoticed there because their representatives are able to communicate with the camera team. All my posts so far, under the name JohnRambo:
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=808803#808803
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=809381#809381
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=809421#809421
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=809547#809547
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=810521#810521
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=812005#812005
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=812831#812831
Silence so far, and people are starting to get upset about the matter. You would be, if the representatives all along said that the camera was fine, and the required tweaks are beyond what they can do with the camera app.. yeah, you get the idea. People shouldn't have to root their phone to fix its camera. EDIT: well, there's the modded camera APK now which is just great! Everyone can now enjoy their moto G's camera as it should be.
They updated the Moto X 2013's software to improve its camera quality, we've proven they can do the same with the Moto G 2013...
01/10/14, 9 days later
https://forums.motorola.com/posts/e2f2722bfc?commentId=813675#813675
I went back and marked my previous post as "best answer" to keep it a little more in sight. We're continuing to evaluate improvements, balancing how changes in one area might impact other aspects of the photos. As I wrote before, it will take a firmware update to implement some of the changes; not something we can do via a faster Play Store update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally, an answer. So, no mention of the camera app doing this useless NR. Okay. Well, it seems we'll have to wait for the L update.
This actually made it to the XDA front page.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added 28/09/14
Old camera app, before the update:
So, we have three settings to tweak, what do they do?
Wavelet NR is the offender, if you want to improve your pictures then disable that one.
Morpho VNR reduces color noise in the camera live view, I've been taking pictures with it on and off, and there's no difference in the final picture, nor in its file size. Its effect is especially noticeable in low light conditions, try it out. This one is up to you, if you prefer a cleaner live view.
QC Tintless affects color rendering, in particular the amount of red in the final picture. It is presumably the 4.4.4 fix for people who had too much red in their pictures in 4.4.2, so this one is up to you to tweak. Keep it enabled if you want more neutral colors, disabled if you want a little more red in your pictures out of the camera.
Just disable Wavelet NR. The other two are beneficial either to the live view's quality, or to the final picture through better color rendering.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added 12/10/14
There has been an update to the camera app.
Wavelet NR is now QC denoise, still enabled by default. Do the right thing and disable it to improve picture quality.
Morpho VNR has been renamed to Morpho denoise and is no longer selectable. It doesn't affect you, don't mind this change. It is enabled by default and it should be, otherwise the viewfinder becomes a color noise mess under low light conditions, unlike the pictures taken with QC denoise off.
QC Tintless is unaffected. Keep it enabled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Added 03/10/15
Go here for the latest camera app, with hidden settings enabled. Thanks @S0bes for all your hard work on this.
The camera app's hidden settings have changed a bit since the last update to this post, some other interesting settings have appeared (which I haven't tested by the way), but the recommendation that's been on this post for a year so far stays the same. Disable QC denoise, leave the rest as it is, enjoy!
As always your mileage may vary, the app can be installed on most Motorola phones so far (all of them?), and the improvements depend on how bad your phone's sensor is. The 1st gen Moto G has a particularly bad 5MP sensor that its output suffers too much by the noise removal done by the app. On phones with better cameras, well, you'll have to test for yourself to see if it's worth it.

juanchotazo99 said:
Post process noise reduction, morpho VNR (NR, what else could that be, than noise reduction?). Let's disable these two settings and test.
Will give the camera a try tomorrow in daylight with these changes. I mean, scenes with foliage and plants, that suffer greatly from the noise reduction and become painting-like in pictures. Before, and after.
Thanks a lot for this!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im gonna do a test tomorrow, too.

juanchotazo99 said:
Will give the camera a try tomorrow in daylight with these changes. I mean, scenes with foliage and plants, that suffer greatly from the noise reduction and become painting-like in pictures. Before, and after.
Thanks a lot for this!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GodOfPsychos said:
im gonna do a test tomorrow, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but guys, pls upload it on imgur.com (imgur does not compressing images, so it's in it's full quality) and post links, thx

Didn't work for me
I'm on Stock 4.4.4 (XT1033) and the Camera app version is 3.2.54.1.
Any suggestions?
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

KDB223 said:
Didn't work for me
I'm on Stock 4.4.4 (XT1033) and the Camera app version is 3.2.54.1.
Any suggestions?
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't know either. im a noob at stuff like this. i just found this out at midnight after hours of looking for the cause, that made those settings visible (never thought it would be just an easy build.prop entry).
which file explorer did you use for editing the build.prop?
if it is root explorer, then it could be that the build.prop didn't really saved. in this case the easy solution for that is, before editing the build.prop file, press the "Mount R/W" button in the upper right corner. after that you can edit the build.prop and save it

Working fine on xt1032 4.4.4.:good:
Testing...

KDB223 said:
Didn't work for me
I'm on Stock 4.4.4 (XT1033) and the Camera app version is 3.2.54.1.
Any suggestions?
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
make sure changes were saved then reboot and check again

Working fine here, I can tell these pictures have much more fine detail, but a little bit of noise in low light conditions.
For the people that is not working, I had the same problem, just change the line, save and delete the .bak of the build prop.

2hipso said:
make sure changes were saved then reboot and check again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GodOfPsychos said:
i don't know either. im a noob at stuff like this. i just found this out at midnight after hours of looking for the cause, that made those settings visible (never thought it would be just an easy build.prop entry).
which file explorer did you use for editing the build.prop?
if it is root explorer, then it could be that the build.prop didn't really saved. in this case the easy solution for that is, before editing the build.prop file, press the "Mount R/W" button in the upper right corner. after that you can edit the build.prop and save it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more than sure that my changes have stuck. I used Turbo Editor to the edit and then checked with ES File Explorer.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

GodOfPsychos said:
i don't know either. im a noob at stuff like this. i just found this out at midnight after hours of looking for the cause, that made those settings visible (never thought it would be just an easy build.prop entry).
which file explorer did you use for editing the build.prop?
if it is root explorer, then it could be that the build.prop didn't really saved. in this case the easy solution for that is, before editing the build.prop file, press the "Mount R/W" button in the upper right corner. after that you can edit the build.prop and save it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more than sure that my changes have stuck. I used Turbo Editor to the edit and then checked with ES File Explorer.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Please delete this post. (Sorry)

I still don't know what "Morpho VNR" and "QC Tintless" are.
btw. I recognized that the pre-installed motorola camera app is different to the motorola camera app installed through play store.
in the play store version are a few other options available like:
"Image Stabilization" (somehow unavailable on the pre-installed version), "Video Stabilization" (not greyed out like on pre-installed version),
"Dual Video Encode"(somehow unavailable on the pre-installed version), "Preview history" (not greyed out like on pre-installed version),
"HDR save EV0" (not greyed out like on pre-installed version), "Log AEC; AF; AWB" (not greyed out like on pre-installed version)
But the play store version is also missing some options that appear to be only available on pre-installed version like:
"Morpho VNR" (somehow unavailable in play store version), "QC Tintless" (somehow unavailable on play store version), "Video Size" (somehow unavailable on play store version),
"ALTM" (somehow unavailable in play store version), "Exposure compensation" (somehow unavailable in play store version), "White Balance" (somhow unavailable in play store version)
If someone has all these options available and not greyed out, i would really appreciate it, if you share your "MotCamera.apk" with us. i would attach it to the thread and of course give credit to you.
PS: sorry for my bad english.

Working FIne!!
xt1032 4.4.3

Thank you @GodOfPsychos
I will be grateful if someone tells me what is Morpho VNR and QC Tintless. And if it somehow improves the quality of photos, maybe also with Wavelet noise.
I can't test it because is night
Sent from my tablet./Odoslané z môjho tabletu.

been using the moto camera on a custom ROM & can't believe I just noticed that little ladybug lol, thanks op!

Does this affect OTA update in anyway also do I need to root to edit?

sonygoup said:
Does this affect OTA update in anyway also do I need to root to edit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
about the ota update i am not sure. but i think it will work. and yes you need root access

KDB223 said:
I'm more than sure that my changes have stuck. I used Turbo Editor to the edit and then checked with ES File Explorer.
Sent from my XT1033 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then i am out of ideas.

Damn could a modded apk work? If so can someone do it?

Xperia Z3+ Nougat Review.....

:fingers-crossed::laugh:
YouTube Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjR2PxJmcsk

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THIS ANDROID 7 ON Z3+.
Advantages..
1. Battery is lasting more than MM.
2. Stamina mode comes with 3 level stamina features.
3. Split Screen Apps are awesome.
4. Heating is less, I think they avhieved that by closing the background apps.
5.Camera app doesnt heatup the phone and lasts open till 5 min( I checked for 5 minutes only may be it ll show heating warning after that, I just dont know about it).
6. Now both the wallpaper and lockscreen can be handled easily with the same option WALLPAPER provided at SETTING app.
Disadvantages.
1. The Icons for the apps CONTACTS, MESSAGING, PHONE, CAMERA are so ugly.
2. One cannot go to the homepage by clicking recent navbar and then by clicking at the clear space of the recent apps menu.
3. While phone is locked the phone doesnt react to double tap unlock like it used to be in MM.
4. While the phone is locked the Icons of battery, network, clock etc are placed slightly lower than the Icons placed in the unlocked screen. LOCKING UNLOCKING CREATES AN UGLY LOOK OF MISPLACEMENT OF THESE ICONS.
5. The Battery icon in the status bar is too weird. ( Doesnt like it look).
6. The Data traffic indicator ( the small arrows up and down are way too small, the indicator which shows below 2g, 3g, H+ and LTE on the status bar)
7. They removed the option of selecting the FOCUS MODE in the camera app.
8. I compared the pictures taken by my phone when its in LP, MM AND N, I must say in LP this phone used to capture photos brilliantly, in MM the pics are somewhat lower than LP. But in N the pics quality are not upto marks. I think thats all because of this focus thing. Now the phone focus the way it wants to).
9. Remove/ Quit apps wisely, I am downloading some apps from UC BROWSER and then I exit the app and keep the downloading in the background but when I cleared the app from the recent apps list just to make my recent app section to look empty, it stopped my downloading too and the APP UC BROWSER was completely shut. (This option is in LP TOO BUT NOT IN MM) So close apps wisely.
11. They abandoned the small apps, Yes they are there but not easily accessible, now accessing small apps are quit pain in the ASS.
12. The apps in the Recent apps looks very big.
13. New quick tiles are good but one cannot direct shut data from there.
Thats all dear Fellas, I like the UI OF MM more than this N.
I THINK SONY JUST BAKED THIS N FOR US IN HURRY.
If I missed anything than please guys you can add that on your comments.

I really think the Android N update is very good for this device. Camera quality has improved in N - try some low light shots - noise is much lower. The UI is very fluid.

For my device not update notice for now...but I see that in Russia update is out in these days...
So, for now I can't comment about N on my Z3+...but thank you very much for this thread...I hope more users tell opinions about this new update...
I would like to learn more about:
- camera is more fast or not, compared to MM? About picture quality seems the two different opinions are contrary..so, other user opinion about camera?
- N as it looks in terms of reactivity on our device?
- Audio? From speakers and in headset? There are some new optimizations or similar?
Thanks in advance to all

I checked xpericheck and Ru customisation and in ARENT THERE! They delete it or what?

kiosk123 said:
I checked xpericheck and Ru customisation and in ARENT THERE! They delete it or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes..seems that deleted on every customization...

DomusX10 said:
Yes..seems that deleted on every customization...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? Maybe they add some features (manual camera settings etc.) or this update have many erros....

kiosk123 said:
Why? Maybe they add some features (manual camera settings etc.) or this update have many erros....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope that removed for the reasons you've mentioned :fingers-crossed:

Using Nougat Indian Firmware
Advantages-
1. Camera quality is better
2. Split screen
3. Smooth Ui
4. Performance Enhancment
5. Battery backup improved
6. Brightness dim Issue in sunlight is fixed upto great extent
7. Heating issue is much more solved
Disadvantages ( Huge list but Listing major one)
1. Touch issue (Lackness in touch sensitivity)
2. No manual Focus in Camera Menu
3. Sound Quality reduced (Vibrations in back panel)
4. Can't download apps frome playstore in Roaming.
5. Now we have to double tap to activate data from notification bar
So, its better to push updates for fixing these problems. I hope sony would release updates.

Number 4 and 5 from @ag_themes list are customisation dependent. Both are not present in Russian Nougat that also was on servers before withdrawal.
Also I don't have any touch issues. The sound problems mentioned are the main reason of update withdrawal.
Btw. No overheating is probably connected with reduced usage of a57 cores. Nougat uses them rarely comparing to marshmallow (some report says they are disabled in nougat).

Can someone upload Russian fw? I want to flash it

Using Android Nougat on India Version
Split Screen is advantage (but not many app support however you can force them to)
Slightly more responsive ( like 5 percent)
camera is same (with an added option in manual mode)
audio is also similar
i feel battery consumption when device is used is same ( maybe doze helps when phone is in sleep but i didnt notice much improvement)
My device hanged once (in youtube app). Restarted itself after 5 mins.
Indirect access to small apps ( i never really used them)
{
Other things such as detailed (two taps to toggle) mobile data , wifi and bluetooth. Displays important things on settings , NOtification quick reply these are android N features sony didnt mess with
}
I feel its an simple upgrade of API . Everything else is similar to MM.

HELP
drigger_one said:
Using Android Nougat on India Version
Split Screen is advantage (but not many app support however you can force them to)
Slightly more responsive ( like 5 percent)
camera is same (with an added option in manual mode)
audio is also similar
i feel battery consumption when device is used is same ( maybe doze helps when phone is in sleep but i didnt notice much improvement)
My device hanged once (in youtube app). Restarted itself after 5 mins.
Indirect access to small apps ( i never really used them)
{
Other things such as detailed (two taps to toggle) mobile data , wifi and bluetooth. Displays important things on settings , NOtification quick reply these are android N features sony didnt mess with
}
I feel its an simple upgrade of API . Everything else is similar to MM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your phone is ringing on calls? Mine doesnt ringing from the day I updated to nougat.

Yes it is.
Make sure you have applied a ringtone and its not in Do Not Disturb mode.

arokososoo said:
Is your phone is ringing on calls? Mine doesnt ringing from the day I updated to nougat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine did the same thing. After restart it is working fine now.

Can someone share the ftf?

NOTE#
waseemakhtar said:
Mine did the same thing. After restart it is working fine now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not working even after restarting several times

arokososoo said:
Not working even after restarting several times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine working fine after update. Try clean reflash and install apps from play store NOT from backup.

IMPORTANT
[email protected] said:
Mine working fine after update. Try clean reflash and install apps from play store NOT from backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HELLO PRASHAD, I HEARD YOU GET ROOT WITHOUT UNLOCKING BL? Some guy is spreading that news. Is it true?

arokososoo said:
HELLO PRASHAD, I HEARD YOU GET ROOT WITHOUT UNLOCKING BL? Some guy is spreading that news. Is it true?
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Click to collapse
Nope, not true. With out bootloader unlock, it is impossible to root the device.
IOVYROOT will get temp root access to backup the TA Partition, but after reboot, the device loses the root access. It is only for taking backup, you can not modify the system. If you try to modify the system with temp root access, your device will be dead after reboot.

Does this phones' UI have ads? Do stock apps ask for unwanted permission?

Hello!
I just wanted to know if this phones' software have ads anywhere in the UI? If yes, is there an option to opt-out?
Secondly, I've heard Xiaomi phones are notorious for having stock apps that ask for unwanted permission to function (eg: calculator wanting to access contacts etc.), is this one a victim of that?
Also does the stock os has an option to disable gesture based navigation and use on-screen navigation bar instead?
Finally, does it come with 3rd party keyboard(like swiftkey etc.) out of the box, or how is the built-in one in terms of privacy? Was it known for data gathering in the past?
If you have the device in hand, please do check these things and let me know. Are there anything else that I should be aware of, like known issues? I am not planning to flash custom roms or modify deeply.
Thanks in advance.

@n1troV I have been using my M3 for more than one month, I hope that I have answered all your questions.
1. ads anywhere in the UI?
Yes, in all Xiaomi system apps, you have to go through the settings in each of them and choose to trun off "Recommendations", to disable ads for each app.
2. unwanted permission
The calculator in MIUI does not require any permissions, in the settings, the Storage permission is listed, but denied, the calculator can still be used without the permission. There are a lot of pre-installed Google apps. The dialer, messages, and contacts apps are also from Google.
(Edit: The Taiwanese version uses the original MIUI dialer app and messages app)
3. option to disable gesture based navigation
Yes, it can be changed in the settings, please see the screenshot below.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
4. 3rd party keyboard
Yes, it came with Gboard pre-installed, you can install a different keyboard, if you do not want to use it. By default, Gboard sends analytics data back to Google, but that can be disabled in the settings.
I am using the stock MIUI ROM, and the fingerprint unlocking was very slow when I got the phone, but after getting two system updates, now the unlocking speed is faster.
If possible, I suggest that you can use Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools (can be downloaded from GItHub) to debloat the phone with adb, to remove some unwanted system apps like MSA , WMService, Analytics, Chrome and other Google apps.
I used the phone for navigation several times, and the GNSS accuracy is about 4m, it is usually enough, but sometimes if another road is too close, the maps app thinks I am on the other road.
By default, VoWiFi is not enabled on this phone, but it can be enabled by disabling carrier check, using the code *#*#869434#*#* in the dialer.
If privacy is important to you, you can use a private DNS service like AdGuard DNS or NextDNS to block unwanted connections.
The phone is not perfect, but it is still a good phone for its price. If you want to have more RAM and an ultra-wide-angle camera, you can take a look at Redmi 9T, it has almost the same hardware, but it's better, and its price is the same as or similiar to M3's price, depending on which country you are in.
You can ask me if you have any other questions about the phone.

Thank you very much! You've answered pretty much all of questions I had and then some. I was unaware of the sluggish fingerprint sensor and inaccurate GPS, neither of which are dealbreakers to me, personally.
I've considered 9T too, I actually dig the design language of that one abit more than M3 and there's a slight bump in performance too. It's significantly more expensive compared to the m3 where I live though.
By the way, have you tested read/write performance of the ufs storage on the m3? If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Moreover, are there any noticeable lags/frame drops in the UI, delays in app opening? I am not expecting ~$150 phone to perform like ~$1000 flagships but I'd like to know what the general user experience is like.
And thanks for the tips on secure DNS. I was thinking of implementing pihole for network-wide ad-blocking, will look into private DNS services too.
Thanks again for taking your time to write a well-detailed reply, cheers!

@n1troV It takes about 2 seconds for the phone to open an app, I have tested with different apps. I think it's acceptable for the price.
My previous phone had SD625 chip, and M3 has SD662 chip, after changing to M3, I feel that M3 is a lot faster.
There is one thing I forgot to mention, this phone has dual speakers, but when I tried it the bottom speaker is a lilltle louder than the top speaker, I think when I watched review videos of M3, someone also mentioned this problem.
I will test the storage speed tomorrow when I have time.

n1troV said:
If you have some free time, please do run passmarks' disk benchmark utility and share some screenshots along with the storage capacity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Below is a screenshot of passmark.
(Edit: The phone has 4GB of RAM, but passmark only shows 3GB)
I have the 128GB version, so the storage is UFS 2.2, the SD card I use is Kingston Canvas Select Plus 32GB.
I also have another screenshot of the CIT mode, it shows the hardware information of the phone.
To show you what it feels like to open apps and to scroll through Google Play on the phone, I have recorded a video using the built-in screen recorder, it is in the attached zip file.

Thank you! The ufs storage performance was abit underwhelming though. Have you had an emmc 5.1 based phones in the past? I suppose those chips perform about the same in benchmarks. In fact, having ufs based storage is one of the main reasons I've considered m3 hoping it would help sustain good overall ui performance/snappiness although that does not seem to be the case here.
As for the muffled earpiece speaker; I guess i can pass on that since even higher end phones suffer from the same issue likely due to the fact that there isn't much space in phones with edge-to edge displays and camera hardware to fit a better speaker.
Does this phone support streaming off of popular platforms? There used to be a requirement of some codecs or something along those lines to support drm enabled streaming out of the box iirc, can this one do?
Lastly; if you're in the market for sub $200 phone and m3 and 9t are not your options, what would be your next best pick? Just curious.

@n1troV Previously, I had used two different Redmi phones, both with emmc storage, and they have Snapdragon 435 and Snapdragon 625 chips.
After start using my M3, when I transfered files from my laptop to the M3 using a USB cable, it still took a long time, the speed of transfering files from PC does not feel any faster than my previous phones that have emmc storage. I think this is because the phone only has a USB 2.0 port.
The phone supports Widevine L1 DRM certification, so it can play DRM content at the maximum quality.
I have not played any DRM content on it, but the "DRM Info" app shows that the security level is L1.
I already got used to XIaomi's MIUI, since I used two Redmi phones previously, I would only choose a phone that is made by Xiaomi, this is why I bought the M3.
Before I bought the M3, I had thought about buying other phones that are made by Xiaomi, including Redmi Note 8T (It is not sold in where I live), Redmi Note 9 Pro (It supports NFC, but it is too expensive), and Redmi 9.
When I decided to buy a new phone, because the Redmi phone I was using (Redmi 6 Pro) had GPS issues, last year, I went to XIaomi's website again, and saw that there was a new phone called POCO M3, and I compared its specs with Redmi 9.The specs of M3 are a better than Redmi 9's, except that the CPU of Redmi 9 has better performance, and Redmi 9 has a wide-angle camera. So I decided to buy the M3, since I don't take photos often, and I don't play mobile games.
After using the M3, I feel that the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is a lot more convenient than the rear-mounted fingerprint sensors that my previous phones have, with the side-mounted fingerprint sensor, it's easy to unlock the phone even when it is on the table.

Excellent! I'm relatively new to the world of android phones and almost everybody here is pushing big-name-brand phones despite them having worse specs purely for the brand recognition (I suppose?) I've come to conclusion that M3 offers good value/performance for the price you're paying, not without its fair share of shortcomings though. That's to be expected, I guess.
Thanks for saving me lot of time not having to search answers for each questions I had. It certainly helped getting answers directly from an owner of the mighty M3.
That usb 2.0 bottleneck situation is understandable though. There are $1k devices on the other side of the pond still utilizing usb2 protocol, so yeah.
I mostly agree with your argument on fingerprint sensor placement except I personally prefer rear-mounted sensors mostly due to the fact that those got large surface area to work with and tends to be more accurate and quick. Usually your index finger sits there so its only natural to unlock the device as you pick it. Only downside is not able to unlock when device is on table.
Side mounted sensors on the other hand solve that issue but depending on the placement, it might be hard to reach specially on big phones. Having a hole cut on the side of the frame shouldn't help in terms of structural rigidity either. Eitherway I'd pick any capasitive implementation over gimmicky in-display sensor in a heartbeat.

@n1troV I just remembered that I could also do a read/write speed test on my old phone (Redmi 4X), it has LPDDR3 RAM and emmc 5.1 storage, the screenshot below shows the test results of Redmi 4X.
(POCO M3 has LPDDR4X RAM)
Since you have not used Xiaomi phones before, I think you need to know that Mi and Redmi phones have the original MIUI launcher, and the MIUI launcher does not have an app drawer, but POCO phones only have the POCO launcher, it has an app drawer, and cannot be disabled.
I have tried to install the MIUI launcher on my M3, but it could not be installed, so the only ways to install MIUI launcher on POCO phones are installing a custom ROM, or root/installing a magisk module.

Hmm it turns out ufs based storage is still significantly faster, at least on the reads.
You brought up an interesting point on the launcher, does M3 use swipe up gesture to launch app drawer or it has an option to have that dedicated grid style icon?
I don't dig the stock icons/ui elements on the above mentioned phones though. As long as a 3rd party launcher can be installed with unread counts reliably shown without random crashes, it should be fine.
I've had friends who used Mi phones in the past that I got to have some hands on time with (can't recall the exact model names), most of them were either android go/one devices though. Miui based phones were from 2016-17 so I'm sure alot has changed since then.
EDIT:
I might consider flashing custom rom as my last resort option, specially if I found stock apps constantly phoning home. Preferably a privacy focused rom (graphene/lineage?) with bare essential apps and 3rd party store (aurora?) minus the google stuff. That is only if services like realtime notifications are unaffected. Also there's a steep learning curve as I've not done any of this before

@n1troV The POCO launcher uses the swipe up gesture to open the app drawer, if you do not want to have an app drawer, there is a 3rd party launcher called Lawndesk, it can be installed and used on M3, and it can show unread counts after giving it the notification access permission.
Other 3rd party launchers can also be installed on the phone, but almost all of them have app drawers.
I had unlocked the bootloader of the phone and installed Magisk on it before, but it was difficult to update the phone with Magisk installed, so I reinstalled stock MIUI ROM and relocked the bootloader with Mi flash tool.
I am currently using NextDNS on the phone, because it is customizable, below is a screenshot showing blocked connections to Xiaomi. I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
I still prefer using the stock ROM and POCO launcher, at least I have blocked those connections with NextDNS.

cbw said:
if you do not want to have an app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey that's not what I mean. Remember before the swipe up gesture was a thing, there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap? I was wondering if such option is present on M3 to use drawer icon instead of swipe up.
cbw said:
I have disabled all analytics options in the M3's system settings, I have also removed (debloated) all system apps that are related to analytics or system ads, but the phone still 'phones home'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this is the kind of stuff that bothers me. You went through all the trouble navigating deep in system settings and opting out, yet it does sh!t like this in the background. In the screenshot you've attached, you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it. Who knows what else its pinging
It's impractical for average user to go through each and every request phone is making as there is probably hundreds if not thousands of them. I really do believe that if you opted out of something it should not be pinging servers over the web period. Privacy is becoming a bigger and bigger problem every day yet most people ignore it entirely. I doubt average user would know or care about such sketchy behaviors of their "personal" devices.
tl:dr Probably not the best for privacy, at least not out of the box.

n1troV said:
there used to be an icon on the bottom row of the home screen that opened app drawer on tap?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
POCO launcher does not have that option, but there is a small arrow that can be clicked to open the app drawer.
I have found a 3rd party launcher called Apex Launcher, it still has the old Android icon for opening the app drawer, but I think the old version (3.3.3) of it is better than the current version.
n1troV said:
you seem to have narrowed down results to the requests made to domains that contain "mi" in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do it, because I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
For browsing websites on the phone, I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.

n1troV said:
Who knows what else its pinging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser, below is a screenshot of NextDNS's log.

Thanks for the update on stock launcher and possible third party options.
cbw said:
I also use other apps, and browse websites, so if I didn't do it, it would show a lot of domains, including the ones used by other apps and websites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. Embedded trackers within apps is whole another story. I was more concerned about OS telemetry that cannot be disabled. There is no guarantee that the phone is pinging domains only have "mi" in it.
cbw said:
I suggest that you can install an extension called ublock origin, but most mobile browsers don't support extensions. Kiwi Browser and Firefox Android (There is also a fork called Iceraven, it supports more extensions compared to Firefox) support extensions, so you can install extensions on them for privacy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also aware that the mobile firefox has somewhat limited extension support. However adding more and more extensions doesn't exactly help with browser fingerprinting. In fact it makes matters worse as you stand out more compared to the "default" ff installations. uBo is my go to addon for adblocking on computers, will definitely have that on phone as well.
cbw said:
I have just restarted the phone, cleared the log in NextDNS, and stopped using the phone for 25 minutes, I have only opened NextDNS's website with Kiwi Browser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled? I mean still its imperfect way to track ALL the requests phone is making specially when its on standby, and for such small period of time. Unless its connected to pi-hole or some sort of firewall/nw analyzer all the time, there's no way you can tell whats going on

n1troV said:
I suppose you're logged into google account and has sync enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have enabled sync for my Google account. With DNS, I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
I have installed AdGuard to filter requests on my phone (with local VPN method), and I will post screenshots of blocked requests later.

These are the blocked requests.

Xiaomi Cloud (and Cloud Backup), Xiaomi Service Framework, and System Apps Updater can be uninstalled using Szaki/XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
It is possible to use Android Debug Bridge (adb) to uninstall Google Play Services, but I do not know if it is safe to do it.
After searching online about uninstalling the Mi Account app, I found this.
https://gist.github.com/Biswa96/81fe477079fa5279f7cfd7b98d5519c7
Do not uninstall com.xiaomi.account if you've already logged in MI account.
You will get "This device is locked" message and won't be able to unlock it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hey, thanks for saving the day, again! I'm so glad the first person to reply to my thread happens to be somewhat privacy conscious.
cbw said:
I could not find a better way to track the requests, because DNS cannot tell which requests are coming from a specific app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! Unfortunately same thing applies for network activity monitors. Pi-hole seem to have a decent dashboard, probably 3rd party hardware firewalls too.
cbw said:
uninstalling the Mi Account app
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Click to collapse
I'm not planning to log into any third party services. Probably not even google on setup wizard.
I was wondering, is there a way to sandbox apps in android? As in you could isolate app data from one another and have full control over each app as to whether it's getting access to internet/gps and whatnot. I heard Shelter does this, not sure how that works exactly.
Unrelated to privacy: does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?

n1troV said:
Shelter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will cause bootloop in MIUI.
I also saw this in Shelter's description.
Some vendor / custom ROMs may have a broken implementation that may cause crashes and even bricking of your device. One such example is MIUI from Xiaomi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I want to test apps without installing them on my phone, I use a virtual machine app called "VMOS Pro", it works well on my M3, but it sends analytics data to several servers, and there is no option to disable that.
By the way, POCO launcher also sends data to two different severs, "api.accelerator.intl.miui.com" and "api.ad.intl.xiaomi.com", so you might want to avoid using it, POCO launcher can be uninstalled using adb or XiaomiADBFastbootTools.
n1troV said:
does the stock launcher has option to "lock homescreen grid"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.