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Hi XDA,
I thought I'd create a thread to share a useful app (at least for myself) that I came across recently. I did not create this app, nor am I in any way affiliated with the creator.
It's called "Smart Cover".
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=smart.cover&hl=en
What it does is turn your screen off when it detects something blocking the proximity sensor. As soon as the obstruction is removed, your screen turns back on.
Why would this be useful? Well if you're concerned about your power button wearing out, using this app would definitely minimize your total number of power button actuations.
In my day-to-day usage over the past week or so, I've found it incredibly useful to have my phone turn on as soon as I take it out of my pocket, and shut off as soon as I put it back. Also, when at my desk I now just need to turn my phone face down.
I should note that if the screen times out by itself, or you turn your screen off manually (i.e. without interacting with the sensor), then to turn your screen back on, you just need to wave over the proximity sensor with your hand/finger. For those who are unaware, the proximity sensor on the Nexus S is directly above the screen, on the left.
This app provides the option to disable itself while in landscape mode, to avoid accidentally shutting off the screen while typing, playing games, watching movies, etc.
Of course, it's important to realize that since this app uses the prox. sensor constantly, it will have an effect on battery life. From my experiences though, it's drain has been minimal. Inspection of processor state with "CPU Spy" shows that the NS is still able to reach the Deep Sleep state with this app enabled.
Probably not everyone will enjoy this app however. The first day or so of using it was a bit tricky, as it forced me to use my device differently. I have since gotten used to it. Anyways, I recommend you check this app out.
EDIT:
After searching around there appear to be a number of similar apps on the Play Store, each with different options/features. Here are some others:
(I have not tried any of these yet).
Proximity Screen Off https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.itsme4ucz.screenoff&feature=search_result
Tap Tap App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.maicas.android.wsleep&feature=related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwOSwibmV0Lm1haWNhcy5hbmRyb2lkLndzbGVlcCJd
Smart Screen Off https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.android.smartscreenoffpro&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIml0LmFuZHJvaWQuc21hcnRzY3JlZW5vZmZwcm8iXQ..
This one looks interesting as it combines both the proximity sensor and light sensor. Battery drain would probably be higher though.
Feel free to share your experiences with any of these apps, or post if you discover better ones.
Taptap seems to work best for me
Having this constantly running and using constant hardware I'd imagine this drains quite a bit of battery.
are you seeing any dramatic saving in battery? or does running the program kill batt life?
mauiyob said:
are you seeing any dramatic saving in battery? or does running the program kill batt life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??
This app does not save any battery life.
At the end of each day, I find that the app uses about 5% of my battery.
developersdevelopers said:
??
This app does not save any battery life.
At the end of each day, I find that the app uses about 5% of my battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a battery saver app. it's a feature app, I personal don't like hitting the power then slide to unlock. When i take it out of belt clip it turns on.
that's the feature.. worth 5% [imhp]. using Smart cover and working good.
Thinking only useful feature if you have a clip.
I'm using Tap Tap App
Tap Tap App is great. It just does what I need.
No need of Power button
Loving my HTC One, but I have such small hands that I can hardly reach the Power button to wake it up after it goes to sleep!
Does anyone know of an app where I can use the Volume button instead?
Thanks in advance.
Only way to possibly assign the sleep/wake function to the volume buttons would mean having to be rooted. I don't know if anyone's made that change yet though, it might just require editing a single file. Don't have any experience with This myself so not 100%. Just know it requires root.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
After a quick search online I've discovered Auto Screen On in the Play Store, which lets me double tap the proximity sensor (left of top speaker) to wake it up.
Works perfectly but an app using the Volume button would be much better.
With this app your screen has to be awake all the time and will drain your battery i think.
On TrickDroid v2.0.0 u can choose VolWake in Aroma
LG, Helmut
Moved your thread to the proper section for you. Please remember to post only in the correct sections. Thanks.
I've heard of some app for a nexus 4 that allows you to just swipe the screen and it turns on. Not sure what it was called, but you get the concept.
Good job I have big hands really because this nor generally using the phone is an issue due to its size.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
I'm assuming sweep2wake or swipe2wake will eventually be implemented. It's basically swiping left to right on the capacitive buttons to wake the phone.
The One X had it, but it was a bit buggy when I used it in terms of it not working if the phone was asleep for a long time. I got rid of my One X a while ago though so idk how the feature works now and if they figured it all out., but I expect it to get implemented on the HTC One eventually.
The proximity sensor isn't a bad idea, jailbroken iPhone 5 etc...have the always on proximity where if you cover the proximity it'll turn the screen off and eventually lock the phone after a while. So you can put it in your pocket and it will turn the display off, bring it out of pocket and it comes on without needing to slide to unlock or anything. It's good if your messaging constantly.
pewpewbangbang said:
I'm assuming sweep2wake or swipe2wake will eventually be implemented. It's basically swiping left to right on the capacitive buttons to wake the phone.
The One X had it, but it was a bit buggy when I used it in terms of it not working if the phone was asleep for a long time. I got rid of my One X a while ago though so idk how the feature works now and if they figured it all out., but I expect it to get implemented on the HTC One eventually.
The proximity sensor isn't a bad idea, jailbroken iPhone 5 etc...have the always on proximity where if you cover the proximity it'll turn the screen off and eventually lock the phone after a while. So you can put it in your pocket and it will turn the display off, bring it out of pocket and it comes on without needing to slide to unlock or anything. It's good if your messaging constantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iirc showp1984 said he's getting a htc one, and see oz did too so hopefully one of them will bring sweep to wake Zarboz did an excellent job on the incredible s and he doesn't even have the device
Sweep to wake generally doesn't work sometimes in deep sleep. I use vol wake and the. Sweep to go to sleep on my incredible s now s2w is actually the greatest thing ever
MOD EDIT: Removed
Got my X today and I'm really enjoying it overall! However, I'm having a problem where once I make a phone call I can't wake the phone to enter anything on the key pad or even hang up. I've kept the factory screen protector on until mine get delivered so I wondered if it might be a proximity sensor issue but power, volume, screen taps don't work. Thanks in advance for any thoughts you all might have.
Doing a quick shake wakes the phone up, lol. Feature or wonkiness?
I had the same problem, just reset the phone twice and the second time it fix it by not choosing the restore backup data automatically. (Don't know why) but its working now.
Had the same problem and also had horrible battery life, seriously 3-4hrs total life. (Even afyer 3 resets)Took it in and complained of proximity sensor issue and they switched it out. No problems with the new one and first go round 14hrs life with 4+ screen on. Watch your bay life if the issue is still there or get replaced before carrier deadline to be safe.
Sent from my XT1055 using xda app-developers app
Hi, I'm about to go for a Neo (don't need a camera), but the reason i returned my original gear was the "turn your wrist to turn the screen on" motin was either
- Too unreliable - meaning i'd be twisting my wrist like a fool just to see the time
- Annoying when i was playing the piano (screen went on/off like crazy)
I'm wondering if this is improved at all? Also, is it possible to actually turn it off completely?
Shame this watch doesn't have an always-on clock....
A
eurorauser said:
Hi, I'm about to go for a Neo (don't need a camera), but the reason i returned my original gear was the "turn your wrist to turn the screen on" motin was either
- Too unreliable - meaning i'd be twisting my wrist like a fool just to see the time
- Annoying when i was playing the piano (screen went on/off like crazy)
I'm wondering if this is improved at all? Also, is it possible to actually turn it off completely?
Shame this watch doesn't have an always-on clock....
A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi sir, you could actually go to setting, display, then wake up gesture and turn it off. hope this helps.
- Too unreliable - meaning i'd be twisting my wrist like a fool just to see the time
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Click to collapse
this is my first gear I don't know how good/bad the first one was
as far as I can tell: works really great
had no problems so far
- Annoying when i was playing the piano (screen went on/off like crazy)
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Click to collapse
that will never change
you move your arm --> motion sensor activates the screen
what you can do: lower the screen timeout to 10sec or deactivate the motion completely
settings -> display -> wake-up gesture -> off
Code:
https://i.imgur.com/j7Z8mSv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3QUdMSD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/orbiuQ6.jpg
(sorry for the code tag, I am not allowed to post links)
Mine is very flaky. Funny thing is I was missing the way my Pebble worked 95% of the time and meant to ask about this until I ran across this thread. With this, wrist flick is maybe 50%, OR I have to do an exaggerated arm raise motion - I can't just look down and flick my wrist like I would on my Pebble to see anything. Also when it does work, it's slow - there's like a half second where I'm waiting in suspense for the display to wake. Maybe you people that came from the older Gears are used to that and it's ok for you, but with my Pebble I was never waiting - maybe it's due to the fact that Pebble is only turning on the backlight from the sensor, as the display is on all the time.
Which brings me to my biggest frustration. I had hoped that somehow an AMOLED screen could be set up to be always on with just the basic info while still saving battery (like active notifications on the Moto devices). I hope that somehow there's a way to work around this and have a simple info display that could be always on (no colors/animations, just white text on the black background to save power). If i needed to charge every night, that's fine. I'd rather have that than look like/feel like an idiot shaking my wrist around and still not getting it to wake up. That's one of the reasons I returned the Sony smartwatch last year.
I just received my NEO yesterday.
The motion sensor *is* rather sensitive and ANY vertical arm motion with even the slightest twisting kicks the phone screen on. At first it's interesting . . . after a while it's a bit annoying.
I would like to have a self-defined motion, or perhaps a bit more control over exactly when it turns on.
At least it would be better if we could reduce the screen time to 3 or 5 seconds that would lessen the distraction.
I turned the motion sensor off and that's actually pretty good -just got a text message and it displayed correctyl, and for now a quick press to see the time is not bad.
Solution for loss of gesture control on Samsung Gear2 Neo.
eurorauser said:
Hi, I'm about to go for a Neo (don't need a camera), but the reason i returned my original gear was the "turn your wrist to turn the screen on" motin was either
- Too unreliable - meaning i'd be twisting my wrist like a fool just to see the time
- Annoying when i was playing the piano (screen went on/off like crazy)
I'm wondering if this is improved at all? Also, is it possible to actually turn it off completely?
Shame this watch doesn't have an always-on clock....
A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Over time my neo appeared to become more and more unresponsive to my wrist movements until it stopped completely and only pressing the button allowed me to see the clock. After reading this post and the replies I decided to press the 're-set Gear' switch in 'Settings' on the Neo. This removes all the stored data from the device and restores the factory defaults.
After restoring the Bluetooth link using the gear manager app on my Galaxy S5 gesture control was restored and worked perfectly. Also I switched off the gesture control using the button in 'Settings' under 'Display' and that worked too.
What I can't tell you is why what I did worked. However as the onset of the problem was gradual it might suggest that it might be related to a gradual build-up of data in the Neo's memory that might be a factor affecting the device's performance. I suspect more time deleting alerts and notifications might help, or if you're not using your neo to play music or store photos and videos you could just do what I did as and when the need arises while we wait for Samsung to supply a system upgrade to solve the problem.
I hope this reaches you in time to stop you sending your Neo watch back as I have become very fond of mine. I too play pianos and synths but I've always taken off any watches before playing out of personal preference, but we can always switch our Neos' gesture control off while playing, but beware of any mics nearby picking up it's chimes!
My Neo is no longer responding to the wrist motion. I've tried resetting it to stock numerous times, and reloading (never restoring) all the software.
Could it be that the motion sensor has failed?
I got this in Dec 2014, and I'm really disappointed that this has happened already. It was easily my favorite feature.
Is there any test, or diagnostic I can run to confirm my suspicions?
Samsung Gear S2 Smartwatch Wakeup Gesture Doesn't Work
I had the same problem with my Gear S2. Tried everything, including disabling "Do not disturb", but wakeup gesture still didn't work. Reported problem to seller who sent another S2, but it also did not work.
Please help let me know if screen activating in pocket is a bug or if this is intended design (i.e., design flaw)?
Now that it's summer my leg can get a little sweaty. But my phone in pocket triggers off my leg due to the moisture! Then the phone will randomly edit various things as the phone bounces around in my pocket.
WTF, why won't the phone just detect the darkness and know it's in my F*ING pocket! My S9+ was really good about this, it knew when it was in the pocket and ignored my sweaty leg.
But with this retarded S21 Ultra, it doesn't seem to know when it's in your pocket. I've already lost several important appointments and tasks (my calendar and task lists widgets are on the main screen) because the dumb phone let my *LEG* edit/destroy/delete the important tasks and calendar entries.
I'm holding out hope that maybe this is not how the phone is designed to work, maybe I can fix it by doing a factory reset. But I recall other posts complaining about how the phone is too retarded to detect being in the pocket when it comes to the Always On Display (AOD) and just keeps the display on while in the pocket too. So maybe it's a fatal design flaw of the phone, where if it is hot outside and you have moisture on your leg, your phone will think your leg is typing and just randomly change things.
Please help me understand whether this is a fatal design flaw or just some bug or what!?
please disable the option to activate the phone/unlock phone via sensory detection
i believe you need to deactivate that first from the smart lock - on body detection
and then also go in advanced features, motions and gestures and deactivate lift to wake
KingFatty said:
Please help let me know if screen activating in pocket is a bug or if this is intended design (i.e., design flaw)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Used to happen to me too. Ofter i would only realise phone was awake and messing around by the beeping sounds of the dialer going off in the pocket, or the increasing temperature of the phone against my thigh - screen on for God knows how long.
Pocket detection is dubious at best - doesn't work consistently. All this happened despite it being set to "on"
Turning off double-tap-to-wake screen helped me.
Now the phone only wakes up for calls and will show lockscreen only if I hit the power button (side key) - I have never used AOD, so screen stays off no matter how hard you tap away at the screen.
Unfortunaltely this puts a lot of mechanical wear on the side key (waking up the phone to unlock)
TO solve this, I have set my Fingerprint scanner "always on" enabled, so if i want to unlock phone without wearing out the side key, I just hit the screen with my thumb where i know the fingerprint scanner is, and it takes me to the home screen without showing the lock screen. I've developed muscle memory now and can hit the correct spot on the screen 90% of the time without the fingerprint icon displayed on screen. No perceptible differnence in battery life as opposed to keeping fingerprint scanner always on disabled.
This has worked for me. Maybe you can try it out and see if it solves your issue.
enigmaamit said:
Used to happen to me too. Ofter i would only realise phone was awake and messing around by the beeping sounds of the dialer going off in the pocket, or the increasing temperature of the phone against my thigh - screen on for God knows how long.
Pocket detection is dubious at best - doesn't work consistently. All this happened despite it being set to "on"
Turning off double-tap-to-wake screen helped me.
Now the phone only wakes up for calls and will show lockscreen only if I hit the power button (side key) - I have never used AOD, so screen stays off no matter how hard you tap away at the screen.
Unfortunaltely this puts a lot of mechanical wear on the side key (waking up the phone to unlock)
TO solve this, I have set my Fingerprint scanner "always on" enabled, so if i want to unlock phone without wearing out the side key, I just hit the screen with my thumb where i know the fingerprint scanner is, and it takes me to the home screen without showing the lock screen. I've developed muscle memory now and can hit the correct spot on the screen 90% of the time without the fingerprint icon displayed on screen. No perceptible differnence in battery life as opposed to keeping fingerprint scanner always on disabled.
This has worked for me. Maybe you can try it out and see if it solves your issue.
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I dont think that would put any mechanical stress on the power key.
Phones are tested for upto millions of press of buttons which you woudnt be able to achieve in your lifetime .
I have my aod on always , and double tap to wake on always .
Best possible way to avoid accidental wakeup is to insert your phone with screen facing away from the body i.e towards the fabric of pants/jeans/lower
tim2london said:
please disable the option to activate the phone/unlock phone via sensory detection
i believe you need to deactivate that first from the smart lock - on body detection
and then also go in advanced features, motions and gestures and deactivate lift to wake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, lift to wake was already disabled while the problem happens. The phone still wakes from "taps" caused by the leg.
I want to clarify, the problem is not caused by the phone unlocking or locking.
The problem is because the phone is not ignoring screen taps when in the pocket. It thinks I'm double-tapping to wake the phone.
I'd like to keep enabled the smart lock on body detection, and keep enabled the double-tap to wake. I can see how keeping the phone locked would help, but the root problem is still there - the phone wakes up even though it is inside the pocket.
Keeping the phone locked would just transform this to a new problem - how do I prevent my phone from waking up in my pocket and wasting energy while my leg enters various unlock codes by itself.
enigmaamit said:
Pocket detection is dubious at best - doesn't work consistently. All this happened despite it being set to "on"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the S21 Ultra refers to this as "Accidental Touch Protection." The flavor text explains "Protect your phone from accidental touches when it's in a dark place, such as a pocket or bag."
Accidental Touch Protection has been turned on when I had the problems.
Does anyone know why Accidental Touch Protection is not working, even though it's turned on?
The setting is found under Settings - Display (scroll down, 4th from the bottom).
Keep the back of the phone towards your leg, problem solved.
aj7400 said:
I dont think that would put any mechanical stress on the power key.
Phones are tested for upto millions of press of buttons which you woudnt be able to achieve in your lifetime .
I have my aod on always , and double tap to wake on always .
Best possible way to avoid accidental wakeup is to insert your phone with screen facing away from the body i.e towards the fabric of pants/jeans/lower
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Click to collapse
Yup, you may be right. Ideally they should last a lifetime. But all mechanical parts are prone to failure. Same thing holds true with charging ports - they shouldn't fail, but often do. Doesn't happen to everyone, but it's something to keep in mind.
I've had my HTC power key fail on me due to constant use over 2 years, and ever since then I've stuck to using the screen for wake-up. Needn't happen to everyone, but once bitten, twice shy, right?
The screen facing outwards is a good idea and it was the first solution that came to mind when I was having accidental wake-up issues. Tried it for a few days but stopped using it because it's awkward for me (camera bump irritates thigh) and it was un-intuitive to take out the phone, then turn it around in the hand to start using it. I just wasn't comfortable using it that way.
Like I said, this set-up works best for me, everyone might have their own way of doing things
All I know is that with this set-up, I don't have any more accidental wake-ups while the phone is in the pocket. That was the main requirement.
KingFatty said:
Yes, the S21 Ultra refers to this as "Accidental Touch Protection." The flavor text explains "Protect your phone from accidental touches when it's in a dark place, such as a pocket or bag."
Accidental Touch Protection has been turned on when I had the problems.
Does anyone know why Accidental Touch Protection is not working, even though it's turned on?
The setting is found under Settings - Display (scroll down, 4th from the bottom).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's the one I was talking about. Like you said, it doesn't work consistently. No idea why. I've always had it on.
KingFatty said:
I'd like to keep enabled the smart lock on body detection, and keep enabled the double-tap to wake. I can see how keeping the phone locked would help, but the root problem is still there - the phone wakes up even though it is inside the pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you'd like to keep the tap to wake feature on, then the best solution for now appears to be what @aj7400 and @blackhawk have suggested - Keep the phone screen facing away from the thigh.
The screen of my phone frequently turns on when it is in my pocket and the phone starts performing some tasks like playing music.
Does anyone of you experience the same problem ? Is there any method to prevent accidental touches when the phone is locked ?
Edit: sorry I didn't notice this thread, so I created another one for the same problem. I'll try some of the solutions you proposed guys, hopefully it will fix the problem.
Was there any pattern to when Samsung's "accidental touch protection" failed to keep the phone screen inactive?
I'm trying to find out if there is anything going on that might affect the accidental touch protection. Normally, accidental touch protection keeps the phone screen off when the phone is in your pocket, to protect against unwanted touches or "butt dialing."
But in my case, my leg was a little sweaty and the phone screen activated and deleted some of my important info.
Has anyone else seen anything in terms of a pattern when your accidental touch protection fails to protect against accidental touches?
Maybe you had see-through pants with white pockets with direct sunlight glistening off your sweaty thighs?
KingFatty said:
Was there any pattern to when Samsung's "accidental touch protection" failed to keep the phone screen inactive?
I'm trying to find out if there is anything going on that might affect the accidental touch protection. Normally, accidental touch protection keeps the phone screen off when the phone is in your pocket, to protect against unwanted touches or "butt dialing."
But in my case, my leg was a little sweaty and the phone screen activated and deleted some of my important info.
Has anyone else seen anything in terms of a pattern when your accidental touch protection fails to protect against accidental touches?
Maybe you had see-through pants with white pockets with direct sunlight glistening off your sweaty thighs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Happened to me in Dark blue denims as well as black trousers.
It's not consistent. Works most of the time but fails every once in a while.
For me, usually I become aware of it when i hear the dialer beeps (somehow the screen taps end up on the emergency call dialer screen) go to town.
Funnily enough, I turned the feature off and was roaming around the city for more than 2 hours. No accidental wake-ups at all. This is even after I have temporarily restored double tap to wake screen. Need to watch this for a few more days and if i don't get any more ghost wake-ups, i'm keeping it turned off.
enigmaamit said:
Funnily enough, I turned the feature off and was roaming around the city for more than 2 hours. No accidental wake-ups at all. This is even after I have temporarily restored double tap to wake screen. Need to watch this for a few more days and if i don't get any more ghost wake-ups, i'm keeping it turned off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do, i didnt understand ?
ELp2 said:
What did you do, i didnt understand ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turned off Accidental Touch Protection
Have you also tried just initiating LOCKDOWN MODE via the power button before a run?
I'm guessing that your leg and the sweat and the fabric combine to give the electric feel of a skin's surface that activates the phone?
You could also use a Bixby Routine to disable double-tap to wake?
enigmaamit said:
Turned off Accidental Touch Protection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let us know your conclusion...I went the EXACT ane route (before finding this post): disable ATP and created a routine button to disable double tap to wake when I take the phone out for a walk.
Seems to be working, but it's another source of frustration as my previous Huawei mate 20 pro had the ATP feature but never started playing muzak in my pocket.
Samsung...good hardware plagued by half-baked software.
Ipse_Tase said:
Let us know your conclusion...I went the EXACT ane route (before finding this post): disable ATP and created a routine button to disable double tap to wake when I take the phone out for a walk.
Seems to be working, but it's another source of frustration as my previous Huawei mate 20 pro had the ATP feature but never started playing muzak in my pocket.
Samsung...good hardware plagued by half-baked software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Huawei mate 20 has much more major issues than our SK allies flagship phones do in more ways than one
I don't have these issues on the 10+ unless a put the phone facing my leg on the display side.
You should have a good case that has side protectors slightly higher than the display plus end display protection in the case ie Zizo Bolt case. Otherwise a face plant can easily destroy the display. These phones need case protection... before they kiss the concrete.
This also help stop accidental touches both when on and off. It makes the phone easier to hold and use as well.
Face the display away from your body. That should be more than enough...
If it's really still a problem limit display timeout to 1 minute.
Use only the power button or volume control buttons to activate the phone.
-or-
Use a case clip holster.
Ipse_Tase said:
Let us know your conclusion...I went the EXACT ane route (before finding this post): disable ATP and created a routine button to disable double tap to wake when I take the phone out for a walk.
Seems to be working, but it's another source of frustration as my previous Huawei mate 20 pro had the ATP feature but never started playing muzak in my pocket.
Samsung...good hardware plagued by half-baked software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, in conclusion I can only say that the setup is working... Haven't changed anything since then and no accidental pocket mishaps yet. ATP and Double tap to wake are still off.
BTW, your idea of a Bixby routine trigger to disable double tap when heading out to walk is quite neat