And get rid of a few annoyances in the mean time?
EDIT: SOLUTION it cost me half a sunday if not more.
I have a stock Moto X 2013, Europe version. I was very happy with it, apart from a few minor annoyances. Untill I received the Lollipop update months ago.
Missing features or new annoyances since Lollipop:
Wake display by waiving your hand. This was in my opinion a killer feature.
SOLUTION: This website which presents a solution using TASKER. Untested
Shutdown menu - extremely annoying if you just want to reboot
Enable flight mode via Shutdown menu, since the menu is gone, you miss this option as well
Mute phone with 1 button, the volume down button. The alternative, selecting MUTE also disables screen or glow notifications. There is NO way to only mute sound/vibration a Moto X 2013 with Lollipop. You have a SMARTphone that cannot be muted like any other phone!
Bluetooth and mobile data toggles have been removed. OMG even Windows Phone 8 has it.
Lockscreen: swipe to right for camera. Gone.
White popup (general Lollipop annoyance): if you swipe it away, the notification is gone from the bar, you cannot read it/respond from the notification bar after swiping it away.
Minor but not dealbreaker features I would like to have: hide NFC and Bluetooth icon in the notification bar, be able to hide app icons and/or rearrange them in the app drawer.
What do I need to do to get all these features back? I want to stick to the stock experience as much as possible. Custom ROMs with tons of customisation features is not what I am waiting for. A custom ROM with near-stock experience and fixes for the issues mentioned above would be welcome.
But if it is possible to solve all of them with XPosed and/or Tasker, that would be fine. Unfortunately I searched these forums for 3 days now and I cannot find a dedicated Xposed topic with this info (there is 1 but it has little useful info). I hope others have a similar experience and found a solution!
zilexa said:
And get rid of a few annoyances in the mean time?
I have a stock Moto X 2013, Europe version. I was very happy with it, apart from a few minor annoyances. Untill I received the Lollipop update months ago.
Missing features or new annoyances since Lollipop:
Wake display by waiving your hand. This was in my opinion a killer feature.
SOLUTION: This website which presents a solution using TASKER. Untested
Shutdown menu - extremely annoying if you just want to reboot
Enable flight mode via Shutdown menu, since the menu is gone, you miss this option as well
Mute phone with 1 button, the volume down button. The alternative, selecting MUTE also disables screen or glow notifications. There is NO way to only mute sound/vibration a Moto X 2013 with Lollipop. You have a SMARTphone that cannot be muted like any other phone!
Bluetooth and mobile data toggles have been removed. OMG even Windows Phone 8 has it.
Lockscreen: swipe to right for camera. Gone.
White popup (general Lollipop annoyance): if you swipe it away, the notification is gone from the bar, you cannot read it/respond from the notification bar after swiping it away.
Minor but not dealbreaker features I would like to have: hide NFC and Bluetooth icon in the notification bar, be able to hide app icons and/or rearrange them in the app drawer.
What do I need to do to get all these features back? I want to stick to the stock experience as much as possible. Custom ROMs with tons of customisation features is not what I am waiting for. A custom ROM with near-stock experience and fixes for the issues mentioned above would be welcome.
But if it is possible to solve all of them with XPosed and/or Tasker, that would be fine. Unfortunately I searched these forums for 3 days now and I cannot find a dedicated Xposed topic with this info (there is 1 but it has little useful info). I hope others have a similar experience and found a solution!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a question, shouldn't it be in the Q&A?
1) This can be restored by flashing the 4.4.4 firmware
2) Xposed -> GravityBox (Power)
3) Xposed -> GravityBox (Power)
4) Tasker?
5) Xposed -> GravityBox (QuickSettings), or if you mess with the settings for either of those they may pop up in the quick toggles after some time
6) Xposed -> GravityBox (QuickSettings)
7) Xposed -> GravityBox (Notification Ticker)
Status bar icons can be hidden in GravityBox (Statusbar)
The drawer changing can be done with XGELs (Google Experience Launcher)
If this information helped you get it working, be sure to pay it forward by donating if you can
I am definitely going to unlock bootloader, root and install Xposed, see if I can get all of this back. Saves me the risk of potentially unstable ROMs and saving a lot of time testing different ROMs. Thanks a lot!
And yes, I believe projects like Xposed absolutely deserve a donation. I just finished flashing my own HTC One M7, it will also have Xposed (first time going to use it). The Motorola is owned by the lady. I will definitely donate if it works for me.
Wave-to-wake is present in some roms, for example the modded stock rom
There is also the lockscreen with the swipe for the camera.
In order to modify the power menu, you can use APM+.
For the toggles use Gravity Box.
aledex said:
Wave-to-wake is present in some roms, for example the modded stock rom
There is also the lockscreen with the swipe for the camera.
In order to modify the power menu, you can use APM+.
For the toggles use Gravity Box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, but why would I go to all the trouble to install that ROM (which would include wiping my phone) if I can reach all those goals with XPosed/GravityBox
I have stock Lollipop 5.1 European version about:
5 - bluetooth toggle exists, IIRC it only appears if you use it; mobile data toggle also exists, just need two clicks - one on mobile data tile and one on toggle
6 - don't know about secure screen options but if you don't use password/pin/other you can swipe left for camera and right for dialer
7 - you can swipe that popup up to just hide it and without dismissing or use one of this app to remove/modify them "Heads-up Notifications" "HeadsOff - TickerOn" even without root
I believe that the Nexus Experience rom (NX ROM) offers most, if not all of the features that you're looking for, and it offers a very stock experience. The only reason that I don't run it is because I've grown accustom to tapping gently on my phones shoulder when it's sitting on my desk to activate the Active Display to see what time it is or what notifications I've been ignoring. With NX ROM, Active Display works great, but it's not as sensitive. So I have to tip my phone up, or sideways, to about 15 degrees before Active Display activates with. A very minor issue, but I'm very picky.
As far as I remember, it has the hand wave feature, power off/reboot/airplane mode menu, all kinds of toggles, and I believe volume down to mute as well. It doesn't do swipe right for camera, but you can swipe from bottom right corner, or from bottom left (customizable) to activate the camera. Not sure about the white popup thing because I didn't use it that long.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I am extremely annoyed by Google removing useful functionality, harming productivity and introducing new design which is clearly not meant for OLED screens (all white). But with all these suggestions I can hopefully stick with the Moto X for a long time, since no brand but Sony will bring us high end <5" phones.
Bomberlt said:
I have stock Lollipop 5.1 European version about:
5 - bluetooth toggle exists, IIRC it only appears if you use it; mobile data toggle also exists, just need two clicks - one on mobile data tile and one on toggle
6 - don't know about secure screen options but if you don't use password/pin/other you can swipe left for camera and right for dialer
7 - you can swipe that popup up to just hide it and without dismissing or use one of this app to remove/modify them "Heads-up Notifications" "HeadsOff - TickerOn" even without root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also have the European version, but I have a completely different experience. Swiping heads up notification always removes the notification from the statusbar (on all Lollipop phones, not just Motorola). On my HTC One M7 with GPE+ ROM I could lower the popup to 1sec allowing me to access the notification in the statusbar when needed. Works fine.
Another Lollipop bug (not even fixed in Android 6.0.1) is that the dialer shows ALL contacts of ALL your accounts (Google, Exchange, Outlook, Facebook, Skype etc) regardless if they have a phone number or not. The Contacts app does allow you to select specifically which contacts to show per group per account. In 4.4.4 this also applied to the dialer, since 5.0 it does not anymore. Google it and you will see people going nuts about this. A Google employee replying it will be "fixed" in M.. which is nuts since most phones with this issue will never receive an M upgrade.. also, now that M is available for Nexus, it's not fixed. The only solution: find a better dialer in Play Store.. this nums me completely... a phone OS should have at least a good dialer.. and apart from this issue the dialer works fine.
SOLVED
SOLVED:
Documentation + all links below in case anyone or myself ever need to do this again.
The most important part explained in detail:
- uninstall any phone drivers from other phones, uninstall Android SDK etc
- install Motorola USB drivers (Motorola Manager)
- install Minimal ADB & Fastboot in C:\adbfb and install mfastboot in that same folder, use mfastboot instead of fastboot. Scroll down in the Minimal topic to find the link to the Fastboot guide. It lists the command to flash recovery (TWRP): NOTE !!! unplug the phone from the PC right after flashing recovery and use the volume down button to scroll to Recovery in Bootloader, use VOLUME UP to select recovery after uplugging, not the shutdown button and do not reboot first (I used shutdown button and rebooted and spend 2 hours figuring this out)!
- copy all required files (the ROM plus its addons) to c:\adbfb.
- Flash using TWRP, first the ROM, then the addons, then factory reset via TWRP.
Short overall steps:
1. bootloader unlocked via the Motorola site (official method)
2. installed TWRP 2.8.6.0 (the newer one has an issue)
3. installed the modded/debloated stock ROM
4. also installed all the addons for that ROM, listed in that same first post.
5. After first boot and initial setup, Copied Xposed Installer, AdAway and installed them via Amaze File Manager (Play Store).
6. Installed the Xposed modules: GravityBox, Moto Checkbox, Sensify, BTAudio. Used GravityBox and Moto CheckBox to get most features back and personalise Quicksettings and some other great tweaks.
7. Used Sensify to install the HTC Sense Launcher (read the first post to install the correct version!!) which is basically stock launcher WITHOUT persistant Google Search Bar WITH ability to rearrange/group/hide apps in the app drawer and with black background, good for our OLED screen. No free launcher in the Play Store is as simple and plain as this one with these features (Nova Prime can do it but it costs €5 and adds a huge load of features I never need).
8. Wave-to-Wake is still not present in the debloated ROM but I will use the Tasker workaround. Haven't tested this yet.
9. To get the maximum out of your battery and have apps that are easier on the eyes, create a backup using TWRP and carefully follow the instructions of Team Blackout (Black Chrome, Black Calendar, Black Hangouts, Black Keep, Black Whatsapp etc). Haven't tested this yet.
10. Play Store > Settings: disable auto-update in Play Store, also disable the notification of updates.
Hey guys,
considering the Mate S but don't really like the way recent apps menu looks and works. Did anyone replace it with something more stock like?
Does the app Fancy Switcher work with the Mate S, could somebody check this please?
And what about the lock screen - has anybody replaced that with an alternative lock screen app? Will the fingerprint scanner still unlock the device using an alternative lock screen?
Thx for your answers,
vercetti.
vercetti said:
Hey guys,
considering the Mate S but don't really like the way recent apps menu looks and works. Did anyone replace it with something more stock like?
Does the app Fancy Switcher work with the Mate S, could somebody check this please?
And what about the lock screen - has anybody replaced that with an alternative lock screen app? Will the fingerprint scanner still unlock the device using an alternative lock screen?
Thx for your answers,
vercetti.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, here in the UK on the latest build for Lollipop I was unable to install Fancy Switcher, as it said it wasn't compatible with my device.
I'm not very keen on the stock recents however I believe the marshmallow update change's this from 4 apps on a screen to a single app per screen
Lock screen, not very nice and ability to set apps as sensitive to stop them displaying the app sender or message (for example in WhatsApp) which is something I really miss from previous Lollipop and Marshmallow that I had on a HTC One M8 running Google Play Edition. I've tried 'Next' lock screen app from Microsoft but unable to unlock with fingerprint so its probably only a function that works with the stock lock screen. As Marshmallow has native support for fingerprint sensors maybe the update will bring additional functionality however we will have to wait and see.
I did register for Marshmallow beta testing but don't appear to have been selected unless rollout is slow.
I like the phone but almost wish I had waiting and tried a Mate 8. The extra battery size and already on Marshmallow may make it a better choice.
I've always been a stock android or custom ROM person however I quite like some features of the EMUI skin...just wish there were a few more customisations and built in features that were enabled as standard...like the ability to change the cycle date of your mobile data plan.
Gavin
hey gavin,
thx for the nice reply.
the recent apps menu in marshmallow makes it even worse if only 1 app is available per screen. to get to the 5th app you'd have to swipe 5 times (compared to now with just one swipe)! that really sucks - 1 app per screen?!?
too bad about fancy switcher, that would look nice if it worked. i found switcher so far but it doesn't work 100% on my note 2. would you try that one out for me?
lock screen - how are notifactions presented? would you have a screenshot? and they can be swiped away right from the lockscreen?
thx for your help,
vercetti.
hey,
i just saw a video on youtube of emui 4 and the recent apps menu could be seen for short time.
it's improved a lot for my taste: yes, you can only see one app but you flick it to the left and all the others appear. so you only need one swipe to make the other apps slide into appearance and you can swipe them away if they're not wanted anymore.
so yes, you only see one app once the menu is opened but it's seemless once you start swiping.
here's the link to the video. there are probably much better videos, i just came across this one.
the recent apps menu appears on 00:10 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPgATGXaFcA
greetz,
v.
p.s. in the 5 seconds you see the person using the recent apps menu it looks very laggy/unresponsive but i suppose it's a demo or prototype phone. i'm sure it works fine.
vercetti said:
hey,
i just saw a video on youtube of emui 4 and the recent apps menu could be seen for short time.
it's improved a lot for my taste: yes, you can only see one app but you flick it to the left and all the others appear. so you only need one swipe to make the other apps slide into appearance and you can swipe them away if they're not wanted anymore.
so yes, you only see one app once the menu is opened but it's seemless once you start swiping.
here's the link to the video. there are probably much better videos, i just came across this one.
the recent apps menu appears on 00:10 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPgATGXaFcA
greetz,
v.
p.s. in the 5 seconds you see the person using the recent apps menu it looks very laggy/unresponsive but i suppose it's a demo or prototype phone. i'm sure it works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had just tried Switchr, not sure if I was using it correctly but when I swiped in from the side it said "No Recent Apps" although I had just opened WhatsApp and Clock.
With regards to Lock Screen, I have't got a screenshot at the moment, but what I can say is you can swipe left to remove the lock screen notification or swipe right to open the app that the notification has come from, this presents the numeric pad for you to enter your unlock pin, but just touch the fingerprint reader and the phone unlocks.
Regards
Gavin
brumgav said:
I had just tried Switchr, not sure if I was using it correctly but when I swiped in from the side it said "No Recent Apps" although I had just opened WhatsApp and Clock.
With regards to Lock Screen, I have't got a screenshot at the moment, but what I can say is you can swipe left to remove the lock screen notification or swipe right to open the app that the notification has come from, this presents the numeric pad for you to enter your unlock pin, but just touch the fingerprint reader and the phone unlocks.
Regards
Gavin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx Gavin,
that's exactly what happens with my note 2 when i install Switcher. The only thing that worked is to set up favorite apps within the Switcher app. Then it will always show you the icons of those apps. But without a preview of the app, just the icon.
I found a few more videos on youtube with Emui 4.0 and i'd be fine with their latest version of the recent apps menu. And it's just a matter of time til the Mate S gets the marshmallow update.
About the lockscreen: so even if i don't activate a pin code, sliding a notification to the right to open the app will still bring me to a numberpad where i should enter a pin? and then i'd have unlock that with the fingerprint ID? sounds very weird. i can't just slide the notifation to the right and it opens the app diectly?
thx,
v.
vercetti said:
Thx Gavin,
that's exactly what happens with my note 2 when i install Switcher. The only thing that worked is to set up favorite apps within the Switcher app. Then it will always show you the icons of those apps. But without a preview of the app, just the icon.
I found a few more videos on youtube with Emui 4.0 and i'd be fine with their latest version of the recent apps menu. And it's just a matter of time til the Mate S gets the marshmallow update.
About the lockscreen: so even if i don't activate a pin code, sliding a notification to the right to open the app will still bring me to a numberpad where i should enter a pin? and then i'd have unlock that with the fingerprint ID? sounds very weird. i can't just slide the notifation to the right and it opens the app diectly?
thx,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I got that slightly wrong...it appears you can not dismiss a notification from the lockscreen by sliding left, however once unlocked you can dissmiss all notification by double tap on fingerprint reader
If you are using the fingerprint ID you have to set a PIN....but what I meant was if you slide the notification to the right...it brings up the screen to unlock so you can either enter the PIN or you can press the finger print reader....you dont have to do both of them.
I guess if you dont set a PIN or fingerprint then it will just open the app but i prefer the security of having my phone locked securely with fingerprint.
brumgav said:
I think I got that slightly wrong...it appears you can not dismiss a notification from the lockscreen by sliding left, however once unlocked you can dissmiss all notification by double tap on fingerprint reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
too bad you cannot get rid of the notifications right off the lockscreen.
instead unlock -> pull down status bar -> double tap fingerprint
If you are using the fingerprint ID you have to set a PIN....but what I meant was if you slide the notification to the right...it brings up the screen to unlock so you can either enter the PIN or you can press the finger print reader....you dont have to do both of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and this will get me to the app? in whatsapp for example, will it jump into the conversation where the new message has been posted or it will simply open whatsapp and present the conversation list?
thx,
v.
vercetti said:
too bad you cannot get rid of the notifications right off the lockscreen.
instead unlock -> pull down status bar -> double tap fingerprint
and this will get me to the app? in whatsapp for example, will it jump into the conversation where the new message has been posted or it will simply open whatsapp and present the conversation list?
thx,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When on the lock screen - you can't pull down the status bar or the quick settings tiles at all.....(now that is dissappointing) as I would like to be able to quickly disable mobile data something without unlocking or turn off GPS without unlocking.
With WhatsApp it takes you straight to the conversation that the message was posted in.
brumgav said:
When on the lock screen - you can't pull down the status bar or the quick settings tiles at all.....(now that is dissappointing) as I would like to be able to quickly disable mobile data something without unlocking or turn off GPS without unlocking.
With WhatsApp it takes you straight to the conversation that the message was posted in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx on the Whatsapp-notification-clarification
Yeah, i heard that you can't pull down status bar on lockscreen. That is really a pity.
But the doubletap to wake and/or the fast fingerprint scanner can perhaps compensate this issue. Double tap and then pull down the status bar. Oh wait, double tap probably only wakes the device up again, right? That'll just take you to the unlock screen which, then again, has to be unlocked...
Lots of little "problems". Maybe i could get used to them. I'm sure there are more than just the lock screen, right?
How are you getting along coming from AOSP?
Have you rooted? That would be my top priority. Changing DPI is a must to me.
greetz,
v.
vercetti said:
Thx on the Whatsapp-notification-clarification
Yeah, i heard that you can't pull down status bar on lockscreen. That is really a pity.
But the doubletap to wake and/or the fast fingerprint scanner can perhaps compensate this issue. Double tap and then pull down the status bar. Oh wait, double tap probably only wakes the device up again, right? That'll just take you to the unlock screen which, then again, has to be unlocked...
Lots of little "problems". Maybe i could get used to them. I'm sure there are more than just the lock screen, right?
How are you getting along coming from AOSP?
Have you rooted? That would be my top priority. Changing DPI is a must to me.
greetz,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The double tap on the fingerprint scanner only works when the phone is unlocked. Once unlocked u can swipe down on the fingerprint scanner to bring down notification bar and then double tap fingerprint scanner to clear all the notification, this is really nice feature.
I really miss some of the AOSP things but its outweighed by some the fact of having a fingerprint scanner...The guest mode is great, either set a different PIN (or for a family member register one of their fingerprints) and if they want to use your phone they can use it in guest mode so they can only see, Apps that you allow them to see, and galleries that you allow them to see), plus you can also lock Apps so that they require a fingerprint to open which is good too, perhaps for your banking app or something like that.
I did root, but unrooted in order to allow an OTA update to be installed.
I also wiped the phone and converted it to a chinese variant which brings lots of chinese bloatware (uninstalled) but some extra features like permissions manager, virus scanner, mobile data plan cycle date manager..
I'm back converted to a european variant now though becuase I registered to be MM beta tester although I dont seem to have been accepted yet, unless they havent released to the UK yet. I'm still waiting for it to come OTA.
I'm really hoping that the MM update and EMUI 4.0 update bring lots of new features.
I brought an iPhone 6 Plus a month ago to have a look at it, as I had the opportunity to buy one, have a play and sell it without making a loss and I admit I really quite liked some of its features...considering the CPU the iPhones are so fast but I hated the notification centre, Android really have a great notification system and I prefered being able to customise lots of features, particulary with ROMs like Cyanogen. I sold it and after seeing the Mate S online thought it looked great and thought performance would be better....for example graphics performance isn't very good at all...but I only play things like Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, Sim City not nothign that requires heavy frame rates. I'm sure it would handle games liek Asphalt okay but have't tried.
I have seen youtube videos comparing Galaxy S6 and Mate 8 (yes the bigger Mate S with better CPU) however the S6 still wsa very powerful on graphics.
Like I said, hopeing the MM and EMUI update brings some improvement however, for jsut a normal phone user that uses phone on train during morning commute for 40 minutes I'm more than happy with it. Finger print sensor on the rear is perfect, I've barely opened the front cover of my phone case and just natural position of my hand and first finger is perfect so the phone is unlocked ready for me. I think my thumb was at risk of being strained on my HTC One M8 which I had pattern unlock....when I look back I don't know how I managed to keep doing that pattern so many times, and also the risk that a pick pocket could learn my pattern over time.
Hope this is helping you.
brumgav said:
The double tap on the fingerprint scanner only works when the phone is unlocked. Once unlocked u can swipe down on the fingerprint scanner to bring down notification bar and then double tap fingerprint scanner to clear all the notification, this is really nice feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey, sorry for the mixup: i didn't mean the double tap on the fingerprint scanner but the feature "double tap to wake" which is somewhere in the emui settings. with that you simply doubletap the screen to wake it from standby but i'm guessing this won't unlock it, it will just activate the lockscreen.
I really miss some of the AOSP things but its outweighed by some the fact of having a fingerprint scanner...The guest mode is great, either set a different PIN (or for a family member register one of their fingerprints) and if they want to use your phone they can use it in guest mode so they can only see, Apps that you allow them to see, and galleries that you allow them to see), plus you can also lock Apps so that they require a fingerprint to open which is good too, perhaps for your banking app or something like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
those are all very nice features, yes. and the fingerprint scanner is also one of my reasons why i'm looking to upgrade.
i also think the camera results are good enough and that especially the camera app itself is nice (pro mode too).
i'm looking for a 5,5" screen with fingerprint scanner on the back (one reason why the oneplus2 doesn't match my interest even though otherwise it seems to be a nice phone too - its fingerprint sensor is on the home button like with the samsung models).
build quality is also great.
i usually would never go for a phone that doesn't have lots of custom roms available by the time i buy it. but somehow i think i'll be making an exception here. with an AOSP custom rom i would lose all the fingerprint sensor features, the camera app (its features and resulting images) and other EMUI features that i feel might come in handy (like you summed it up in your last post). so having this phone with an AOSP rom would make it sort of pointless in a way. the features we both miss from AOSP is the price we need to pay in order of getting all the mate s features. we just can't have it both i'm afraid
I did root, but unrooted in order to allow an OTA update to be installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's my plan. root it as soon as i get it. and once the marshmallow update is available i'd set it back, go stock, update to marshmallow and then root it again (hope it won't take long for someone to figure out how to root on marshmallow).
I also wiped the phone and converted it to a chinese variant which brings lots of chinese bloatware (uninstalled) but some extra features like permissions manager, virus scanner, mobile data plan cycle date manager..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
perhaps there are certain apps (root) that provide these features, instead of using the chinese mate s rom?
I'm back converted to a european variant now though becuase I registered to be MM beta tester although I dont seem to have been accepted yet, unless they havent released to the UK yet. I'm still waiting for it to come OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probably not out yet...
thought performance would be better....for example graphics performance isn't very good at all...but I only play things like Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, Sim City not nothign that requires heavy frame rates. I'm sure it would handle games liek Asphalt okay but have't tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not really a gamer, so i don't worry too much about the limiting graphics performance.
Hope this is helping you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes indeed, thanx a whole lot, i appreciate it very much.
greetz,
v.
vercetti said:
hey, sorry for the mixup: i didn't mean the double tap on the fingerprint scanner but the feature "double tap to wake" which is somewhere in the emui settings. with that you simply doubletap the screen to wake it from standby but i'm guessing this won't unlock it, it will just activate the lockscreen.
those are all very nice features, yes. and the fingerprint scanner is also one of my reasons why i'm looking to upgrade.
i also think the camera results are good enough and that especially the camera app itself is nice (pro mode too).
i'm looking for a 5,5" screen with fingerprint scanner on the back (one reason why the oneplus2 doesn't match my interest even though otherwise it seems to be a nice phone too - its fingerprint sensor is on the home button like with the samsung models).
build quality is also great.
i usually would never go for a phone that doesn't have lots of custom roms available by the time i buy it. but somehow i think i'll be making an exception here. with an AOSP custom rom i would lose all the fingerprint sensor features, the camera app (its features and resulting images) and other EMUI features that i feel might come in handy (like you summed it up in your last post). so having this phone with an AOSP rom would make it sort of pointless in a way. the features we both miss from AOSP is the price we need to pay in order of getting all the mate s features. we just can't have it both i'm afraid
that's my plan. root it as soon as i get it. and once the marshmallow update is available i'd set it back, go stock, update to marshmallow and then root it again (hope it won't take long for someone to figure out how to root on marshmallow).
perhaps there are certain apps (root) that provide these features, instead of using the chinese mate s rom?
probably not out yet...
not really a gamer, so i don't worry too much about the limiting graphics performance.
yes indeed, thanx a whole lot, i appreciate it very much.
greetz,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, your welcome.
I just wish there was more stuff going on for this device, ROMs, support, chat etc...its very quiet hardly anyone replies to things in this forum.
brumgav said:
No problem, your welcome.
I just wish there was more stuff going on for this device, ROMs, support, chat etc...its very quiet hardly anyone replies to things in this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no development...
But it's understable: most developers are proabably located in USA and hardly anyone owns a mate s there. also the processor is kirin and not qualcomm. not much info coming from huawei about their kirin processors (which the developers would need).
i have another question about looks:
i saw that there are many themes available from huawei and that they change many parts of the user interface. what happens with these themes if i use an alternative launcher, say nova launcher?
will nova launcher override the background pic of the lockscreen or generally the way the lockscreen looks or does the lockscreen stay untouched by nova? same goes for the notifications that appear once you pull down the status bar. will the background of the notification "curtain" stay unchanged or does nova change different things here? colors and icons in settings also are changed when using different huawei themes - do they stay intact when using an alternative launcher?
All my questions short: does Nova (or any other alternative launcher for what it matters) only change what it is known for - leaving everything else the way you set it up with one of the hundred huawei themes? hope yoou know what i mean.
ok, for better demonstration: take the attached pic here for example. from left to right will only screen #2 and #3 be changed and the lockscreen #1, quick toggles #4 and whatsapp #5 remain unaltered with the chosen huawei theme still intact?
thx,
v.
vercetti said:
Yeah, no development...
But it's understable: most developers are proabably located in USA and hardly anyone owns a mate s there. also the processor is kirin and not qualcomm. not much info coming from huawei about their kirin processors (which the developers would need).
i have another question about looks:
i saw that there are many themes available from huawei and that they change many parts of the user interface. what happens with these themes if i use an alternative launcher, say nova launcher?
will nova launcher override the background pic of the lockscreen or generally the way the lockscreen looks or does the lockscreen stay untouched by nova? same goes for the notifications that appear once you pull down the status bar. will the background of the notification "curtain" stay unchanged or does nova change different things here? colors and icons in settings also are changed when using different huawei themes - do they stay intact when using an alternative launcher?
All my questions short: does Nova (or any other alternative launcher for what it matters) only change what it is known for - leaving everything else the way you set it up with one of the hundred huawei themes? hope yoou know what i mean.
ok, for better demonstration: take the attached pic here for example. from left to right will only screen #2 and #3 be changed and the lockscreen #1, quick toggles #4 and whatsapp #5 remain unaltered with the chosen huawei theme still intact?
thx,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try and take a look at a different launcher and the themes thing later tonight when home from work.
Just a quick point though, the lockscreen notifications only work with a particular lockscreen type called Magazine Unlock... This is a type of lockscreen that cycles through a gallery of images....not sure if the images are customisable.
Here is a snapshot of a normal lockscreen with limited notification details compared with the magazine lockscreen. You can see one has the message details and the other is very basic with just an icon.
hey, now that sucks! only magazine lockscreen gives you more info on notifications? all the others simply show the icon?!? wow, that is really disappointing...
thx for trying later today, can't wait!
from a quick internet search I think it's possible to stop the switching pix in the magazine lockscreen. also which pix should be used. so you can actually control which and also how many (or only 1) are used.
The Magazine lockscreen doesn’t necessarily cycle background images. You can set whatever single image you want. I have it set to the same as my normal wallpaper, so it looks like it just changes icons when you unlock.
Sadly the lockscreen is one of the worst features of EMUI. You can't pull down the notification bar, you can't dismiss notifications by side swiping, and you can't touch to open the notifications. The notifications also doesn't quit fit the EMUI theme, they are more material design. Some notifications won't show at all (yes, I turned it on), like Soundcloud. You do however get music control for Spotify, but this is a completely different lockscreen (which can't be changed). And then your notifications won't show up. I don't know how Huawei managed to scrap the stock lockscreen, which works very well and looks nice, and replace it with something far worse. You can install lockscreen apps, but you can't use them with the fingerprint scanner, so it's not really an option imho.
The app switcher, which was mentioned in the OP, I actually prefer to the stock android one. The most useful feature is that you can long press the app switcher icon to return to the last app (like Alt+Tab). As far as I understand, this not a stock feature, but from Cyanogen.
vercetti said:
i have another question about looks:
i saw that there are many themes available from huawei and that they change many parts of the user interface. what happens with these themes if i use an alternative launcher, say nova launcher?
will nova launcher override the background pic of the lockscreen or generally the way the lockscreen looks or does the lockscreen stay untouched by nova? same goes for the notifications that appear once you pull down the status bar. will the background of the notification "curtain" stay unchanged or does nova change different things here? colors and icons in settings also are changed when using different huawei themes - do they stay intact when using an alternative launcher?
All my questions short: does Nova (or any other alternative launcher for what it matters) only change what it is known for - leaving everything else the way you set it up with one of the hundred huawei themes? hope yoou know what i mean.
ok, for better demonstration: take the attached pic here for example. from left to right will only screen #2 and #3 be changed and the lockscreen #1, quick toggles #4 and whatsapp #5 remain unaltered with the chosen huawei theme still intact?
thx,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Nova launcher. It will override the icons from the EMUI themes. Nova does however not influence the lockscreen at all, nor the pulldown meny, settings menues or other apps. So yes to your last question.
Thx for clarifying this suprman.
Lockscreen doesn't sound very good unfortunately...
which theme and lockscreen do you use?
I read in older Huawei threads that one can change the lockscreen style. "halo" style got rid of the 4 standard shortcuts on the bottom (which to my knowledge are also not modifiable...) and instead let's you set up 4 custom shortcuts. but maybe huawei did away with this feature nowadays.
which design (theme) do you use?
thx,
vercetti.
suprman said:
The Magazine lockscreen doesn’t necessarily cycle background images. You can set whatever single image you want. I have it set to the same as my normal wallpaper, so it looks like it just changes icons when you unlock.
Sadly the lockscreen is one of the worst features of EMUI. You can't pull down the notification bar, you can't dismiss notifications by side swiping, and you can't touch to open the notifications. The notifications also doesn't quit fit the EMUI theme, they are more material design. Some notifications won't show at all (yes, I turned it on), like Soundcloud. You do however get music control for Spotify, but this is a completely different lockscreen (which can't be changed). And then your notifications won't show up. I don't know how Huawei managed to scrap the stock lockscreen, which works very well and looks nice, and replace it with something far worse. You can install lockscreen apps, but you can't use them with the fingerprint scanner, so it's not really an option imho.
The app switcher, which was mentioned in the OP, I actually prefer to the stock android one. The most useful feature is that you can long press the app switcher icon to return to the last app (like Alt+Tab). As far as I understand, this not a stock feature, but from Cyanogen.
I use Nova launcher. It will override the icons from the EMUI themes. Nova does however not influence the lockscreen at all, nor the pulldown meny, settings menues or other apps. So yes to your last question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the comments, that summarised what I was going to so with the themes later.
Did you know you can open the app from the lockscreen by swiping it to the right...and then touching fingerprint sensor?
Hi all
I've my phone since two days and I have to say, I deeply dislike MIUI.
The most annoying thing for me is the status bar. I have apps open all day long (for work) with action buttons in the notifications.
If I pull down the status bar, it always opens the second (right) screen, and not the left one with all the notifications. Further, after closing status bar and reopening again (for clicking the action buttons), the notification is not expanded anymore. It does not save, that I've expandet it allready. In these cases, you always have to use two fingers, to expand the notification again. Really annoying! Every other *normal* Android system I had, has behaviour like this...
I don't want to flash RR or CM, there always are bugs and features not working...
The person who can point me to the right direction for addressing these bugs is my hero!
Thanks for all your replies in advance!
Don
DonClemento said:
Hi all
I've my phone since two days and I have to say, I deeply dislike MIUI.
The most annoying thing for me is the status bar. I have apps open all day long (for work) with action buttons in the notifications.
If I pull down the status bar, it always opens the second (right) screen, and not the left one with all the notifications. Further, after closing status bar and reopening again (for clicking the action buttons), the notification is not expanded anymore. It does not save, that I've expandet it allready. In these cases, you always have to use two fingers, to expand the notification again. Really annoying! Every other *normal* Android system I had, has behaviour like this...
I don't want to flash RR or CM, there always are bugs and features not working...
The person who can point me to the right direction for addressing these bugs is my hero!
Thanks for all your replies in advance!
Don
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
you provide no information about what rom or what version of miui you are using. This makes it a bit hard to help. My Mi5 runs the xiaomi.eu dev version 6.7.21. The bug you describe is not present on that version. I just tried the "two sided" notification bar and it always expands to the notification side and not to the shortcuts side. But I prefere to use the "one sided" notification bar, which is more comfortable for me. Everything is on one side and the shortcuts are located above.
cheers
greg17477 said:
Hi,
you provide no information about what rom or what version of miui you are using. This makes it a bit hard to help. My Mi5 runs the xiaomi.eu dev version 6.7.21. The bug you describe is not present on that version. I just tried the "two sided" notification bar and it always expands to the notification side and not to the shortcuts side. But I prefere to use the "one sided" notification bar, which is more comfortable for me. Everything is on one side and the shortcuts are located above.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Greg
Thanks for your reply. Oops, stupid me.
I'm running MIUI 7 Global 6.5.30 on my Mi 5 Pro.
Maybe they changed this behaviour for the global release.
You mentioned "I just tried the "two sided" notification bar [...snip...]". Are those "one side" notification bars in every MIUI (v7) or do you have some special build? I can't find it in my settings...
Hi,
honestly, I tested miui v7 just for one or two days, then miui v8 came out and I switched directly to this new version. So, i really do not know, if the "two sided" notification bar was firstly introduced in the v8 or if it was a part of the v7 already. Is there something holding you back from flashing the new miui v8? I would do a nandroid backup and test the v8. But don't forget to update your twrp accordingly.
cheers