Database Users

Moto X has a notification light!

Forgive me if this has already been found but the Moto X has a notification light. Everywhere I've read including critic reviews said the moto x only has its active notification system.
I stumbled upon this with my defective moto maker xt1053. Somehow it came with a corrupt system from factory that even rsd lite couldn't fix. Anyway, I have a replacement on the way but I've had no way to turn it off. This morning I was playing around with it and plugged it in via USB to my computer. Battery graphic popped up as it would anytime you plug in with the phone powered down. The phone then showed 0% and to my surprise, a bright green led light long-blinks through the speaker grill!
My question now is... Is there anyway to enable the light under normal circumstances? I love active notifications, but if my phone is face up, I'd like to know if I have a text, etc with out picking up the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

You don't have to pick up the phone to see active notifications. They will pulse (just like an led) until dismissed.

Jayrod1980 said:
Forgive me if this has already been found but the Moto X has a notification light. Everywhere I've read including critic reviews said the moto x only has its active notification system.
I stumbled upon this with my defective moto maker xt1053. Somehow it came with a corrupt system from factory that even rsd lite couldn't fix. Anyway, I have a replacement on the way but I've had no way to turn it off. This morning I was playing around with it and plugged it in via USB to my computer. Battery graphic popped up as it would anytime you plug in with the phone powered down. The phone then showed 0% and to my surprise, a bright green led light long-blinks through the speaker grill!
My question now is... Is there anyway to enable the light under normal circumstances? I love active notifications, but if my phone is face up, I'd like to know if I have a text, etc with out picking up the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty awesome. I would love to be able to activate that. Nice find!

That's pretty sick if it's not a hoax. Looks like an alien phone ?

I just tried the framework changes from this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=43281267&postcount=8
It did not work.
I tried disabling/enabling "active display", but it didn't help.

I'm surprised this hasn't been found before and hacked to work as an ordinary led notification light.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone...

If I didn't have a busted phone I would never have known. On android central someone else mentioned that the light will turn on when plugged in without enough battery to activate the led screen. Has anyone tried the notification light widget from Motorola? Supposedly that gets the moto g light to turn on. If that doesn't work then perhaps it is a kernel setting? I would love to play around to get this working but until my replacement arrives I'm stuck. The picture I took was dumb luck. I kept plugging it in until I could snap a picture fast enough with my nexus 5 to catch it. It looks really cool coming through that grill... Even if it is only green. Its more of a bar than just a single light but perhaps thats an effect of the metallic grill.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Oddly enough I just try to downld and install "light flow" a led notification control center for android and its not installing it just stuck @ ℅100 :what:
Description says it's updated for kitkat and nexus 5 device

That looks awesome! I hope someone figures out how to enable it. I'm too stupid to figure that out
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

As far as i know, It's directly wired to the battery system and does not interact with the OS... So no apk or firmware mod is going to have access to control it.
Sent from my MotoX, using TapaTypo

Whatever we have active notify

nice find

I love active notifications, but would still like using this for some things. It looks pretty awesome when lit as far as your pic shows.
Hard to believe it isn't controlled by the OS.

Yes someone found this early on in the Motos realease. It was eventually concluded that it is not in any part of the system framework so any kind of software changes wouldn't be able to enable it. It is independently attached to the batteries circuit.
Sent from my XT1056 using Tapatalk

Nice find!

Seriously... What an opportunity wasted... Especially since they put it in such a neat spot. To place an LED there in that spot in such a clever way and then never have it do anything with the OS seems like such a waste.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

?
anyone opened it up yet to see if there is an alt/ place to solder the light to? or am i just crazy....
EDIT: i've seen a few phones i've opened up have extra contact points for random little things but hey its entirely possible

You could do that but definitely not worth shorting out your $500 phone accidentally IMO

From the user manual:
Low Battery LED:
This LED lights up when you plug in your
charger and the smartphone’s battery level is too low to
power on the display. It means that your smartphone is
charging and will be ready to use shortly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seen some posts about this before and so far no one has been able to make use of it otherwise

Hah most of us haven't seen it because our battery life is so great
I've actually never had the motox run out of juice on me.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

[TRICK] Double tap to wake, without tapping.

Hey guys, first post on the nexus 6 forums, just got mine a week ago. I'm sure many of you miss the notification light that most of us are use to. I know we can use the app lightflow to get the hidden led to light up but that is not what this is about. I for one miss double tap to wake on my G3 and Oneplus but there is another way and most of you already have the option activated. This magical setting, Ambient Display.
Instead of picking up the phone like a good boy or girl from your desk to check if there are notifications waiting, simply tap either the extreme right or left of the phone and this act will shake it causing the sensors to think you moved the phone and the ambient display will knock on. For those who don't follow, since the nexus 6 back is shaped like a U or curved tapping either side would cause the phone to rock.
That's it, just something I noticed and I did not see it mentioned anywhere, give it a try, no more picking up phones to check the time. Enjoy.

or, get root and use the real double tap to wake. you can get it working by app, or by kernel of choice. its actually included in the code for the n6, but not enabled. you can easily enable it, if you have root. besides, ambient display uses battery, and wakes often in the pocket(and gets really annoying).

simms22 said:
or, get root and use the real double tap to wake. you can get it working by app, or by kernel of choice. its actually included in the code for the n6, but not enabled. you can easily enable it, if you have root. besides, ambient display uses battery, and wakes often in the pocket(and gets really annoying).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ambient display doesn't wake up in my pocket. Chroma pocket mode. ? Still has to poll the prox sensor though, but I'm sure this would use less battery than the display waking up.

simms22 said:
or, get root and use the real double tap to wake. you can get it working by app, or by kernel of choice. its actually included in the code for the n6, but not enabled. you can easily enable it, if you have root. besides, ambient display uses battery, and wakes often in the pocket(and gets really annoying).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does double-tap-to-wake work reliably in 5.1.1? I tried it ages ago with 5.0.1 and found it often would require several extra taps to wake it up. I might root and try again if it works better now...

Oh! I didn't know this. I was missing that feature and I had it all the time.
Thanks for the tip.

On Chroma, Doubletap to wake using the wakegestures.apk is about 85-90% reliable in waking on the first doubletap, its not too big a deal.
Double tap to sleep is 100% reliable first time for me just like a g2-g3.
Nova launcher + screen lock and off app works amazing.

amd-dude said:
Hey guys, first post on the nexus 6 forums, just got mine a week ago. I'm sure many of you miss the notification light that most of us are use to. I know we can use the app lightflow to get the hidden led to light up but that is not what this is about. I for one miss double tap to wake on my G3 and Oneplus but there is another way and most of you already have the option activated. This magical setting, Ambient Display.
Instead of picking up the phone like a good boy or girl from your desk to check if there are notifications waiting, simply tap either the extreme right or left of the phone and this act will shake it causing the sensors to think you moved the phone and the ambient display will knock on. For those who don't follow, since the nexus 6 back is shaped like a U or curved tapping either side would cause the phone to rock.
That's it, just something I noticed and I did not see it mentioned anywhere, give it a try, no more picking up phones to check the time. Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um... duh?

doitright said:
Um... duh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok well, sorry that my post seemed stupid to you.

Thanks for the tip @amd-dude. Its nice to see these type of helpful posts.

xdatastic said:
Does double-tap-to-wake work reliably in 5.1.1? I tried it ages ago with 5.0.1 and found it often would require several extra taps to wake it up. I might root and try again if it works better now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Now you know why Google never left it enabled.

The "rocking " feature to wake the screen was first implemented on the Moto X's Active Display.
Haptic DT2W works every time for me on 5.1.

nhizzat said:
The "rocking " feature to wake the screen was first implemented on the Moto X's Active Display.
Haptic DT2W works every time for me on 5.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it wasn't. Moto X's along with their Droid variants use IR sensors in the corners to detect movement. Thats not how Ambient Display works (which is quite a bit inferior).

adrynalyne said:
No it wasn't. Moto X's along with their Droid variants use IR sensors in the corners to detect movement. Thats not how Ambient Display works (which is quite a bit inferior).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IR sensors were not used on the Moto X 2013. The nexus 6 "rocking" works the same as that phone, though Moto X seemed more sensitive from what I remember.

mwalt2 said:
IR sensors were not used on the Moto X 2013. The nexus 6 "rocking" works the same as that phone, though Moto X seemed more sensitive from what I remember.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh. I had a Droid Ultra back then and I could have sworn it used ir sensors.
I stand corrected.

Does this kill the natural ambient notification? I would actually prefer both. Sometimes I just want to see if there are notifications without opening the display. Then would want to use the knock when I'm actually planning on using the phone
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

hahaha nice trick

sand1303 said:
Does this kill the natural ambient notification? I would actually prefer both. Sometimes I just want to see if there are notifications without opening the display. Then would want to use the knock when I'm actually planning on using the phone
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does not kill the native ambient display. Both can work together.

adrynalyne said:
Nope. Now you know why Google never left it enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works well in my experience (on 5.1.1). I do notice that it works most of the time if I'm holding the phone at an angle, but it works every time if I hold the phone vertically. That was also the case with motion launch on my m8 so maybe it's by design to avoid accidental waking? I suspect people who don't find it working could be having the same issue.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

Missing Features

There are some features missing in this moto g as compared to it's predecessor.
Please add on the list
Driving mode in moto Assist

Gyroscope

Notification light
Sent from my MotoG3 using XDA Free mobile app

ben7337 said:
Notification light
Sent from my MotoG3 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Moto Display, you aren't going to see the notification light on Motorola phones anymore. It just doesn't make sense.

The led is discrete. The moto display is not.

krsmit0 said:
The led is discrete. The moto display is not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The led also flashes every few seconds. The Moto display does not do any such thing and though people say you can wave your hand over the phone to turn it on, that's still more interaction to see if there's anything and I tried that feature on my Moto g and it never worked.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app

ben7337 said:
The led also flashes every few seconds. The Moto display does not do any such thing and though people say you can wave your hand over the phone to turn it on, that's still more interaction to see if there's anything and I tried that feature on my Moto g and it never worked.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly is not the same. But the days of led notifications are coming to an end. And you don't have to wave your hand. You can also just pick up your phone and it automatically shows your notifications in dark mode.

bozzykid said:
It certainly is not the same. But the days of led notifications are coming to an end. And you don't have to wave your hand. You can also just pick up your phone and it automatically shows your notifications in dark mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what if I'm typing and working and want to know if I have a message. How do I check visually without picking up the phone? With the notification light it blinks constantly. The active display can't do that and as a result is a drop in functionality for me. It's nice that the phone turns the active display on when I pick up the phone, but that doesn't replace a notification light, if anything it would work best in unison with a notification light.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app

I'll miss the light. Had active display on motox and hated it. It was the best part of my motog.
bozzykid said:
With Moto Display, you aren't going to see the notification light on Motorola phones anymore. It just doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ben7337 said:
So what if I'm typing and working and want to know if I have a message. How do I check visually without picking up the phone? With the notification light it blinks constantly. The active display can't do that and as a result is a drop in functionality for me. It's nice that the phone turns the active display on when I pick up the phone, but that doesn't replace a notification light, if anything it would work best in unison with a notification light.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

ben7337 said:
So what if I'm typing and working and want to know if I have a message. How do I check visually without picking up the phone? With the notification light it blinks constantly. The active display can't do that and as a result is a drop in functionality for me. It's nice that the phone turns the active display on when I pick up the phone, but that doesn't replace a notification light, if anything it would work best in unison with a notification light.
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true. But most people didn't use led notifications because it didn't tell you much (unless you download an app to configure them with different colors). This is what Moto Display and the ambient display were created for. People used to led notifications don't like it but I venture to say more people are making use of the new method.

bozzykid said:
Very true. But most people didn't use led notifications because it didn't tell you much (unless you download an app to configure them with different colors). This is what Moto Display and the ambient display were created for. People used to led notifications don't like it but I venture to say more people are making use of the new method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't the new method only on Moto phones though? What percent of the market does Moto even have? As for notification colors, every app I know has its own colors for notifications so it's always easy to tell what I have a notification for, unless I have multiple notifications.

ben7337 said:
Isn't the new method only on Moto phones though? What percent of the market does Moto even have? As for notification colors, every app I know has its own colors for notifications so it's always easy to tell what I have a notification for, unless I have multiple notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Lollipop has ambient display which is very similar. That is why turning on ambient display disables Moto Display.

Piyoosh_Singh said:
There are some features missing in this moto g as compared to it's predecessor.
Please add on the list
Driving mode in moto Assist
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure Motorola Contextual Services is installed from Play. That's what I had to do with my 2nd Gen to get driving mode.
Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

I am not a big fan of the notification screen i dont think Moto G has a AMOLED display hence if it is not the case the notification will drain the battery faster how i am not an expert on how the notification works so i may be wrong
LED was cool but no many used it anyways it was not a feature but an accessory without which you can live with

How did this turn into a philosophical debate over the merits of a notification led?
Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

No gyroscope - so no driving mode or photosphere or google cardboard or spotlight stories. No LED notifications. No stereo speakers.

There is a hidden LED;
http://www.techdroider.com/2015/08/moto-g-3rd-generation-also-have-hidden-led.html

yaconsult said:
No gyroscope - so no driving mode or photosphere or google cardboard or spotlight stories. No LED notifications. No stereo speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Driving mode is no gyroscope dependent. It was there on the first gen Moto G (which too, leaks a gyroscope.)

Whoa...I was considering moving from Samsung to Moto...but if no LED, it's a no go for me. I use Lightflow, and the different colors, and flash/no flash, is too handy to lose. Don't have to pick up the phone; don't have to be close to it even, to know what type of message may be waiting.

ewingr said:
Whoa...I was considering moving from Samsung to Moto...but if no LED, it's a no go for me. I use Lightflow, and the different colors, and flash/no flash, is too handy to lose. Don't have to pick up the phone; don't have to be close to it even, to know what type of message may be waiting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enjoy it while you can. Ambient notifications are going to kill the need for led notifications. While it is not was powerful as led notifications, I would imagine we will see a huge drop in LEDs in Android phones in the next year or so.

The notification led driving me crazy

I have the verizon's verion of the E4, XT1767. Is it me or the E4 has issue with the LED notification? I don't have the Moto Display enabled, and the Build number is NDQS26.69-23-2-3
Thanks in advance, it is driving me nuts. And I have the same issue with the Moto E4 plus Amazon verison, XT1775, Build number 26.58-25

It's an LED flash, not a notification light. As in front camera flash. This device has no drivers for led notification.

Thank you. What about the E4 plus?
madbat99 said:
It's an LED flash, not a notification light. As in front camera flash. This device has no drivers for led notification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

lan_baba said:
Thank you. What about the E4 plus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same

Thank you. Guess I'll have to live with it.

lan_baba said:
Thank you. Guess I'll have to live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use this
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-frontflash-notification-v1-6-t3734332

@lan_baba did you try the app @KevMetal linked? It should do what you're looking for.

Thank you, seems like a good alternative.

Solution of the notification light
I was just browsing youtube and I found a fix for this issue. You can check out this solution video here.
https://youtu.be/6HmQ_F_HKbI

NoLED app - anybody know where it went?

Hi guys,
I found this NoLED app, and it's a great alternative to replace the lack of notification light in the OP6T.
But this app is not available in the play store anymore. Does anybody have an idea what happened? I know I can always find the APK, but I wanted to know if it was a privacy issue.
I know there are other alternatives, such as Plus Beat, but I think the light dot would be the best alternative for a lot of people.
Thank you!

aspiraMusk said:
Hi guys,
I found this NoLED app, and it's a great alternative to replace the lack of notification light in the OP6T.
But this app is not available in the play store anymore. Does anybody have an idea what happened? I know I can always find the APK, but I wanted to know if it was a privacy issue.
I know there are other alternatives, such as Plus Beat, but I think the light dot would be the best alternative for a lot of people.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's old and not really compatible with the latest Android. Led Blinker Pro is a much better alternative

rmaathuis said:
It's old and not really compatible with the latest Android. Led Blinker Pro is a much better alternative
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use a custom rom try Pixel Pulse instead. At the moment my best alternative to an LED.

Stogie87 said:
If you use a custom rom try Pixel Pulse instead. At the moment my best alternative to an LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried (and paid) Pixel Pulse and Plus Beat. But I don't like them. Just as the topic starter, I like a real LED alternative better and for now LED Blinker Pro is the best

rmaathuis said:
It's old and not really compatible with the latest Android. Led Blinker Pro is a much better alternative
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will check this Led Blinker Pro. Thanks, man!

Plus Beat happened. Check it out in the App section. It's amazing.

rmaathuis said:
I have tried (and paid) Pixel Pulse and Plus Beat. But I don't like them. Just as the topic starter, I like a real LED alternative better and for now LED Blinker Pro is the best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works this app in combination with ambient display?

Stogie87 said:
Works this app in combination with ambient display?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, but that's the only downside. But NoLED did also not use ambient display. And I also don't think this app is a battery killer since I still have 11 to 12 hour Sot while using the app.

I loved and used NoLED for years until not long ago...got a copy of the apk. Attached it.
For fun I just installed in on Beta 4, seems like it messes up the screen/conflict with the ambient display..maybe mess with it. Wonky unlocking it.
Would really like to get AOD back!!!

I think Light Flow is much better compare to others.

I just downloaded NoLED to my Galaxy J7, since it doesn't have a notification LED. I like the app, but when I pick up the phone & see the icon? It's a little tricky to get the phone to wake up. I also just noticed that once an icon appears? I have to turn my phone off, then on again, if I want to make a call. Odd, huh? The app (NoLED) can still be found & downloaded at: apkpure. com

Tried the last 2 versions on my LG V40, running Android 9. For some reason version 6.0.20 didn't perform well but the previous version 6.0.19 works well.
The only issue I have is the double tap to open doesn't work all the time and I need to tap the home button.