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So I just recently got my moto x, everything seems really nice and smooth. But I feel some basic things are left out.
For example, it would be nice to have a power widget without making another click on the top right just to access it. And when I do I feel like some things are left out.
Looking for basic things like easy toggle for screen rotation and GPS.
Another thing I'm looking for is an easy way to reboot phone (holding power only allows me to turn off), a quick way to take a screenshot, and even a 'holding back button force quits app' would be helpful.
Now I was thinking of maybe getting apps that do what im looking for (if available) or should I go with a ROM that can do all those?
I'm not crazy into themeing or looks I just want the method thats fast, responsive, quick AND still allow me to use motorolla functions, like the way it handles notifications by shaking the phone or twist twice to get camera, I love that and don't want to lose it.
Any suggestions?
1dtms said:
So I just recently got my moto x, everything seems really nice and smooth. But I feel some basic things are left out.
For example, it would be nice to have a power widget without making another click on the top right just to access it. And when I do I feel like some things are left out.
Looking for basic things like easy toggle for screen rotation and GPS.
Another thing I'm looking for is an easy way to reboot phone (holding power only allows me to turn off), a quick way to take a screenshot, and even a 'holding back button force quits app' would be helpful.
Now I was thinking of maybe getting apps that do what im looking for (if available) or should I go with a ROM that can do all those?
I'm not crazy into themeing or looks I just want the method thats fast, responsive, quick AND still allow me to use motorolla functions, like the way it handles notifications by shaking the phone or twist twice to get camera, I love that and don't want to lose it.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stay stock, root if you can and install xposed with gravity box module, this will allow you to add those features to the stock rom
if you can't/don't want to root here are some tips for getting along better with your x
for the quick settings - use two fingers to pull down the notification shade (xposed / gravitybox will allow you to customize the tiles in the quick settings page)
Screenshot - volume down and power (hold together for ~3seconds)
reboot - there are apps on the play store that can give you a shortcut for a reboot (or again Xposed will give you the advanced power menu that you are missing)
Kill apps - press the recents button and swipe the app away
I hope you find this helpful.
Teksu said:
Stay stock, root if you can and install xposed with gravity box module, this will allow you to add those features to the stock rom
if you can't/don't want to root here are some tips for getting along better with your x
for the quick settings - use two fingers to pull down the notification shade (xposed / gravitybox will allow you to customize the tiles in the quick settings page)
Screenshot - volume down and power (hold together for ~3seconds)
reboot - there are apps on the play store that can give you a shortcut for a reboot (or again Xposed will give you the advanced power menu that you are missing)
Kill apps - press the recents button and swipe the app away
I hope you find this helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, sounds good I am rooted so thats a plus.
So I wont get an increase in speed/response by going to a ROM than?
I'll just get Xposed and add my power widgets (hoping screen rotation is one of them)
And that's really great, I didn't know that you can press power + vol down by default or that swiping apps away kills the process (i thought it just clears it from your most used)
1dtms said:
Alright, sounds good I am rooted so thats a plus.
So I wont get an increase in speed/response by going to a ROM than?
I'll just get Xposed and add my power widgets (hoping screen rotation is one of them)
And that's really great, I didn't know that you can press power + vol down by default or that swiping apps away kills the process (i thought it just clears it from your most used)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly i havent checked out any rom for the X, i have done it on previous devices because the battery life was ****, but i dont feel like i need a custom rom with this device, infact it would probably break things i like, such as active display and touch-less control.
yeah its always cool learning new things i didn't know about the two finger shade pull-down till i lost root on my droid maxx.
Xposed has other great modules as well, such as;
"Gravitybox" - the must have, just about everything you want from a custom rom
"moto tether" to easily enable wifi tethering
"preference injector" will put your modules into the settings page, to make it feel more like their cooked in
"Greenify" to keep those pesky background processes at bay
"root cloak" incase you want to use apps that don't like when your rooted (verzions ISIS payment app doesnt like root)
...Just to name a few.
I was worried about the battery life with switching to the moto X DE, but this thing rocks!
I would also suggest checking out Eclipse ROM. It's stock based so you don't so you don't lose any of Moto's goodies like active display but it adds most/all of the things your looking for using X Control as well as getting rid of the bloat. I'm running it via safestrap and I love it.
I would go with Eclipse!
Eclipse blur ROM. The benefit over a stock ROM using gravity box vs. using eclipse blur ROM is that eclipses ROM is all code. Not a hack and slash overlay code.
I think I might have to go with a ROM because I went here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2431768&highlight=stopped
to try and install xposed and it kept giving me crashes
So which ROM will still allow me to use "ok google now" and twist twice for camera and touchless notifications?
Tasker and the stick power toggle widget will do all/most of what you ask. If there's not something you really need root for, why go through all the hassle?
1dtms said:
I think I might have to go with a ROM because I went here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2431768&highlight=stopped
to try and install xposed and it kept giving me crashes
So which ROM will still allow me to use "ok google now" and twist twice for camera and touchless notifications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjiXfQkuKng
you'll have to do to downloads inside xposed and grab gravitybox, the video doesnt show this
Teksu said:
http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjiXfQkuKng
you'll have to do to downloads inside xposed and grab gravitybox, the video doesnt show this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Teksu Thank you!'
It worked and I see a lot of options I was originally looking for!
One last thing I suppose, by default kitkat has 5 screens. I'm only using 3. How can I remove/delete the extra screens?
I couldn't find it in gravity box (from quick glance), is there another module to add that can do this or what would you suggest?
1dtms said:
Teksu Thank you!'
It worked and I see a lot of options I was originally looking for!
One last thing I suppose, by default kitkat has 5 screens. I'm only using 3. How can I remove/delete the extra screens?
I couldn't find it in gravity box (from quick glance), is there another module to add that can do this or what would you suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you should use a different launcher. You want something like stock launcher grab the Google now launcher or formerly called Google experience launcher, there is a xposed module for the Google now launcher which you to customize. Or use nova prime launcher. That's what I use and I love it, fast easy and simple.
Download Google now launcher.
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-now-launcher-renamed-343048/
MOTO X Slapped
1dtms said:
Teksu Thank you!'
It worked and I see a lot of options I was originally looking for!
One last thing I suppose, by default kitkat has 5 screens. I'm only using 3. How can I remove/delete the extra screens?
I couldn't find it in gravity box (from quick glance), is there another module to add that can do this or what would you suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[email protected] said:
I think you should use a different launcher. You want something like stock launcher grab the Google now launcher or formerly called Google experience launcher, there is a xposed module for the Google now launcher which you to customize. Or use nova prime launcher. That's what I use and I love it, fast easy and simple.
Download Google now launcher.
http://www.androidauthority.com/google-now-launcher-renamed-343048/
MOTO X Slapped
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I preffer Nova launcher, but if you go with GEL (google now launcher, or google experience launcher, whatever you wanna call it) There is a xposed module that adds some options like that, though as i don't use it, i can't confirm that you can edit the number of home screens.
Edit: somehow totally missed that Hovax mentioned the xposed module in the previous post.
Teksu said:
I preffer Nova launcher, but if you go with GEL (google now launcher, or google experience launcher, whatever you wanna call it) There is a xposed module that adds some options like that, though as i don't use it, i can't confirm that you can edit the number of home screens.
Edit: somehow totally missed that Hovax mentioned the xposed module in the previous post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I decided to go with something simple (instead of downloading module and another apk just for reducing 2 screens) and went with Nova launcher (i like the description that it's performance driven, i hope thats true).
So now I got gravity box module and I love it! Does exactly what I want it to do with the power buttons when you swipe from the top and what I love even more, it gives me an option to swipe on a corner to instantly bring up the toggle buttons (instead of swiping down and than clicking the button or using two fingers). And the performance is smooth and not noticing any slowdowns. Which is exactly what I'm looking for. Fast, smooth, simple, and functionality.
Unless there is a ROM thats faster than it already it is right I think I'm sold with stock + gravity box (and nova launcher to do something as simple as reducing home screens)
1dtms said:
Well I decided to go with something simple (instead of downloading module and another apk just for reducing 2 screens) and went with Nova launcher (i like the description that it's performance driven, i hope thats true).
So now I got gravity box module and I love it! Does exactly what I want it to do with the power buttons when you swipe from the top and what I love even more, it gives me an option to swipe on a corner to instantly bring up the toggle buttons (instead of swiping down and than clicking the button or using two fingers). And the performance is smooth and not noticing any slowdowns. Which is exactly what I'm looking for. Fast, smooth, simple, and functionality.
Unless there is a ROM thats faster than it already it is right I think I'm sold with stock + gravity box (and nova launcher to do something as simple as reducing home screens)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can set nova launcher animations to faster than light and its really fast. You can also set gestures for things, I have swipe up on the screen so I can get to the app drawer so I don't have to have the little icon. If your on Verizon check out eclipse ROM.
MOTO X Slapped
Hopefully I get bonus points for not posting the typical 'Halp! I bricked my Gear!' or 'Halp! I can has no roots!' type threads. :laugh:
I've been searching and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I've got my Gear rooted w/Recovery & null 23 flashed. Generally that's the hard part of rooting but I've never done this on a watch before and now I'm not sure how to set it up. I have a Sony Smartwatch 2 also and really like most of the functionality of that watch but wanted something that didn't look quite so... dated. I got a Gear and the functionality was a joke in comparison so I opted to root/flash it to get it to do what I want it to do. Now that I've done that I'm not really sure where to go but I'd like it to function similar to my SW2 with a little bit more customization. For instance, when I flashed null 23 there were a LOT of options I wasn't sure if I wanted and needed. I did some searching but all I could find was mostly people having difficulty doing the processes I've already done. Nothing on post-root/flash setup.
Which launcher do I want? I have Nova & Apex and I'm not really sure which one is better and why.
Notifications? How do I set these up? On my SW2 I really like how it handled notifications for apps like Gmail, Hangouts, SMS, etc. and I'd like to replicate this on this watch too. When I go into my Gear Manager on my phone all of the apps under notifications are grayed out. I'm assuming this app no longer controls my watch or perhaps it does when the stock launcher is activated?
Is there a description somewhere that explains each of the options when you flash the ROM? I have a feeling that I installed a LOT of things I don't need but since it was my first time and I hand't yet messed with it I erred on the side of more than less so I could maybe see what it all was.
I would like a home/watch screen with a custom watch of some sort, the current weather conditions, & a few shortcuts maybe. I miss how I could double tap the power button and set that to launch an app. I used this for the Media Controller app which allowed me quick access to controlling the audio on my phone which is one of the big features I need.
I guess in all I'm just confused by what all I want/need since it's basically a Motorola Droid on my wrist w/o a cellular or WiFi radio or GPS and rather than a full featured device I just need a better smartwatch. If someone can point me in the right direction via some links or something or if a few people want to hold my hand through a few more specific questions I have while I get this figured out I would appreciate it.
Thanks for reading.
OstrichSak said:
Which launcher do I want? I have Nova & Apex and I'm not really sure which one is better and why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Up to the user. I like apex these days (phone and watch), used to use nova
Notifications? How do I set these up? On my SW2 I really like how it handled notifications for apps like Gmail, Hangouts, SMS, etc. and I'd like to replicate this on this watch too. When I go into my Gear Manager on my phone all of the apps under notifications are grayed out. I'm assuming this app no longer controls my watch or perhaps it does when the stock launcher is activated?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't sound right. What phone/rom are you using?
Is there a description somewhere that explains each of the options when you flash the ROM? I have a feeling that I installed a LOT of things I don't need but since it was my first time and I hand't yet messed with it I erred on the side of more than less so I could maybe see what it all was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trial and error. I haven't installed it ina long time, but I'm pretty sure it was self explanatory
I would like a home/watch screen with a custom watch of some sort, the current weather conditions, & a few shortcuts maybe. I miss how I could double tap the power button and set that to launch an app. I used this for the Media Controller app which allowed me quick access to controlling the audio on my phone which is one of the big features I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using custom launcher allows you to add any widgets you like to a home screen. Power button [annoyingly] isn't really a power button; there is details how to change this in null faq. People like gesture or pie control type apps for launcher programs
[/QUOTE]
Brendo said:
Up to the user. I like apex these days (phone and watch), used to use nova
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why? What would you say are the primary differences?
Brendo said:
That doesn't sound right. What phone/rom are you using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SGS4. Rooted but factory ROM still.
Brendo said:
Trial and error. I haven't installed it ina long time, but I'm pretty sure it was self explanatory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they aren't. I watched a video on how to install and all of the options he had while installing were self explanitory. My install of null 23 had lots of screens of options and I only understood what about half of them did. I would like a page somewhere that explains what they all do so I can make up my mind prior to installing and know what I want & don't want.
Brendo said:
Using custom launcher allows you to add any widgets you like to a home screen. Power button [annoyingly] isn't really a power button; there is details how to change this in null faq. People like gesture or pie control type apps for launcher programs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand adding any widgets I want but I see other people's screens and their screen looks much different than anything I've seen on an Android device so I'm not sure how to go about that.
1. Can't remember. They are similar
2. Hmmm... 4.3+ rom? Latest gear manager?
3. The few I can remember; choice of launcher, gapps (google based apps - people, calendar, play services, etc), power button mod (power button turns screen on/off), stock Samsung apps
4. No matter how it looks, it's exactly the same as phone if not using touchwiz launcher. Touchwiz launcher is not really customisable. I use the stock weather clock widget on home screen, shortcuts on second screen (app drawer, media controller, notifications, camera, tasgear), zooper widget with notification counts on third screen
I'd like to know the differences because I can choose which one of the two to install during ROM flash and I'd rather not flash the one that I'm not going to use.
Yes, 4.3 and the latest version of Gear Manager. However I just noticed something quite odd... the 'Other Notifications' on/off slider was set to off this time. I know for a fact that it wasn't last time because I checked that when I checked on 'Additional notifications' and they were gray. I went back and for a few times checking and it was set to 'on' and green. After a reboot they were grayed out again but this time I noticed that little slider on the previous screen was set to off. Slid it on and now all of my additional notifications are active and I can check and uncheck them. So I've got Gmail, Hangouts & one other one checked. I should be getting notifications on the watch now?
I know what Gapps is and I found what the power button mod thingy does in another thread. Seems if you want the power button to function on the 3rd party launchers the way it does on the stock launcher you need that installed. I did see where this can create issues at times with other functionality so I will keep an eye on that to see if it's going to create any issues for me. Still not 100% clear on that but I think I chose the right option. I also installed the stock apps because there's a media player controller and a couple of others that I really like as they are.
I guess I just keep seeing people with screens that look entirely different than mine. Mine the clock is kind of cut off on the top and the bottom and I know the top is cut off because I selected to install the status bar at the top (which I would likely not do next time I flash the ROM.. kinda pointless) but I can't understand why the bottom part is cut off. I disabled the little dots that show which home page you're on and it still gets cut off by the dock. Not really sure what I'm doing wrong.
So how will this work for notifications and phone controls? Like I know with my SW2 I could enable/disable WiFi, BT as well as a few other options and even mute, silence and normal my ring tone. Can I do this somehow from this watch with these launchers? What about notifications? I've enabled those as I stated earlier while I was typing this and still haven't got a single notification on the watch. Do I have to install the full Gmail & Hangouts APK to get the notifications and if this is the case I'm not sure it's going to behave the way I'm looking for. I really just want basic popups with the sender and the message the way my SW2 does and I'm not sure that a miniature Android device is going to be able to do this. Edit: while I was typing this I just got a notification for Hangouts & it was a full screen pop-up with the sender and the message for a few seconds so maybe this will do what I need it to do. Nothing for Gmail yet though.
Also, since I know I want the status bar across the top gone I will likely boot into recovery & flash the ROM again with that feature disabled. When I do that I will take the time to list each option that I see as well as if I know what it is or not and maybe someone can answer the questions I have about it and then I can go through with the flash with the options I want and don't want correctly set.
You'll really have to have a play yourself. I'd suggest downloading both to your phone and checking them out on an easier to use (ie bigger) screen
Yeah, sometimes it can turn off like that. I'd suggest clearing gear manager data/cache, uninstalling gm, reboot, install gm. If it's ticked, you should get notifications (when screen is off)
Correct. It's either one or the other
You'll need to play with settings to get that correct. Widget padding I believe
I think you may need to reset watch as well as reinstall gearmanager just to get rid of the gremlins it sounds like you have. The watch hardly controls anything on the phone (only what you see in gm). For bidirectional stuff, give tasker a try and check apps in themes and apps section
Yep, just reflash if you want to change any settings
When I use the trusted devices feature, I'm constantly uneasy with the idea that there's no lock screen. Not because of security but because of usability. I'm worried about pocket activations. I also miss the lock screen when playing music. I wake the phone to change the track and I see Chrome or whatever I was last using, instead of the beautiful KK lock screen. Basically, I'd like a way for my trusted device to unlock the door without removing the door. Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere for requiring a swipe or something like that on the lock screen?
UnknowingOcean said:
Basically, I'd like a way for my trusted device to unlock the door without removing the door. Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere for requiring a swipe or something like that on the lock screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're asking if there is a stock setting in the phone to do this, then the answer is no. At least, not with the current version of Trusted Devices (TD).
However, there is a workaround that involves third party lock screen replacement apps. To use your analogy of the door, what you could do is put a screen door in front of the main door. Then when TD removes the main door completely, as it does now, your screen door will remain to do what you wanted. It's a bit quirky though. I tried this with free version of Holo Locker (HL), very small minimalist one-permission KK lockscreen. You can try others but I'll refer to HL in this example.
So to make this work I find you need to do two things:
1) set HL to lock only, no security. if you set HL security TD will treat it like the regular lock screen and disable it. So you can't just disable the stock security and use HL by itself with security enabled.
2) after you install HL and have it running, you have to re-enable your regular security. That is, go into security and redo your pattern lock or pin or whatever. if you don't do that your stock security lock will stay replaced by HL, even when TD is not running. Note that when everything is working, and when TD is not running, you will have two doors, a screen door and a main door. of course, you can set the main door to only close at certain intervals. Like, if you set the stock security lock to thirty minutes, you'll basically be only dealing with the screen door HL most of the time. when TD is running of course you'll only deal with HL.
what about the question regarding music, not wanting to see the last app you were on but rather go elsewhere instead?
Most 3rd party lockscreens have shortcuts for this sort of thing. Even the free version of HL let's you replace the search and camera shortcuts, and since it let's you replace them with whatever app, you can choose your music app and go directly there. HL also has the Home button visible, so you can use that to go directly to the home screen.
Another option for music is to use a music app that has its own lock screen replacement. For example, Rocket Player has such a setting, not on by default, third option under Operations->Lockscreen Options. if you use your music app's lockscreen you'd probably not want another third party lock screen like HL on top of that, or at least turn turn it off while running the music app.
Like I said, Holo Locker was just the example i tried to experiment with. There are tons of such apps in the play store with different features, try a few. There's even an open source one called Pi Locker here on xda check it out too.
Wow, that's really helpful. Thanks.
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,
I wanted to create a thread to share some tips and little tricks I've found and to everyone to share what you found to make the overall experience better, so here's what I've found, most of them you have to be using EMUI launcher (I gave up Nova so I can use native gestures):
1. To unlock when you use fingerprint but it doesn't recognize it at first try, face unlock will kick in and most of the time you'll see a screen saying "slide to unlock after successful facial recognition" the little trick is: you don't have to lift finger from screen then slide, so to make a smother experience I'm trying to make an habit to unlock to do this movement: press+hold+slide(as soon as you see screen turn on) and it unlocks 95% of the time.
2. Raise to wake works better and faster if you stop your natural movement ABRUPTLY and at the end of me movement the phone is tilted a little in upright position when it is in front of you. If I don't do this I just keep staring like a fool for a few seconds at the always on display and end up using fingerprint sensor or power button.
3. GESTURES:
*For the back gesture you have to start from the very edge to work, if you're using a case try to tap on the actual case then slide
*Similar for the home/recents gesture try to place your finger outside the screen on the small black bezel/chin then slide
*For the home gesture just slide and release quickly but to make the recents gesture work better, slide up then the little trick is (okay this is a big deal for me so I'll just bolds) to turn HORIZONTALLY (see screenshot attached for example path) as soon as you turn horizontally it'll lock recents app (you'll feel the vibration) if you just slide up and don't do the little turn you have to wait a while until it locks
UPDATE: I think it works even better and faster if you slide straight up around 1/6 of the screen then slightly straight down.
4. There's no double tap to lock which is something I missed but if you're using EMUI launcher there's is a lock scren widget which you can use to lock the screen without any delays like third party apps usually do with 5 seconds timeouts. Pretty handy little icon!
5. If you're using native launcher and want to rearrange icons, first press and hold in an empty area then you can select several icons to move in batches to a folder or even moving one by one you don't have to tapal and hold for a long time before you can start sliding to move icon (see screenshots).
6. For additional gestures (previous app, start split screen, google assistant, show volume slider, etc.) I'm using the "Edge gestures" app, obviously horizontal functions do not work because it will trigger the native "back" gesture instead but vertical gestures work pretty well without delay (see screenshot).
7. Best browser experience I've found since Samsung internet browser is unusable (4-8 seconds delay to switch tabs) is:
Yandex browser + Adguard extension app
because of this MUST haves for me:
*It actually blocks ads
*It supports split screen
*It's fast
*It has controls on the bottom of the scren instead of on top for a lot easier one hand operation
8. Use "SystemUI tuner" app to hide icons on status bar such as bluetooth, NFC, wifi, etc and make room for notifications
9. Use NCleaner app to hide unwanted permanent notifications such as "X app is displaying over other apps"
10. This isnpretty general and not just of this phone but in case someone uses youtube frequently and uses original app, do yourself a favor and download YouTube Vanced (from vanced website) and vidmate if you need to download videos.
I might be returning this phone and going back to Note 9 because of the awful screen, tinny speakers, terrible ram management, not so great signal strength in my area and all the EMUI bugs but I'll update this post if I find extra tips, please share what you've found!
11. How to avoid EMUI system from closing apps running in the background:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-pro/how-to/guide-how-to-avoid-emui-closing-apps-t3862911
I'd suggest Brave for ad-blocking browser instead.
vwite said:
7. Best browser experience I've found since Samsung internet browser is unusable (4-8 seconds delay to switch tabs) is:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Samsung Internet Browser Beta and get only about 1 second delay to switch tabs (with Adblock extension installed).
Maybe if the number of open tabs is large the delay might increase.
randomA said:
I'd suggest Brave for ad-blocking browser instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this before but didn't like it, I don't remember if it was controls on the very top of the screen or that it didn't support split screen, but what advantages does it have compared to Yandex with AdGuard?
themissionimpossible said:
I use Samsung Internet Browser Beta and get only about 1 second delay to switch tabs (with Adblock extension installed).
Maybe if the number of open tabs is large the delay might increase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm, that's weird, I tried both the regular and the beta and tried uninstalling and installing them again and both take a very long time to open the tabs menu, even with only one tab opened. On my Note 9 it also has around 1 second delay (for opening all tabs, if you just swipe on bar to switch to next or previous tab is faster) so I think that's normal but 4-8 seconds is unusable for me
On the mate 20 pro I am on build .122, which one do you have?
9.0.0.122 patch02
Mate 20 Pro no brand
vwite said:
I've tried this before but didn't like it, I don't remember if it was controls on the very top of the screen or that it didn't support split screen, but what advantages does it have compared to Yandex with AdGuard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you earn BAT for using it, it's a chrome fork (basically a chrome clone), has a builtin ad-suppressor , doesnt track you, etc. without having to donwload other apps/extensions.
themissionimpossible said:
I use Samsung Internet Browser Beta and get only about 1 second delay to switch tabs (with Adblock extension installed).
Maybe if the number of open tabs is large the delay might increase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest kiwi browser. Adblocking, bottom bar, black theme, open source, chromium based, super fast
henihazbay said:
I suggest kiwi browser. Adblocking, bottom bar, black theme, open source, chromium based, super fast
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazing find, thank you! I already switched back to Note 9 so I'm using samsung browser beta again but this is the first chrome based I've tried that has the option to show bar on the bottom of the screen, I'll test how ad blocking works but I might actually switch from samsung broswer to this! Night mode is also nicer since it changes the colors but doesn't decrease brightness
vwite said:
.
I might be returning this phone and going back to Note 9 because of the awful screen, tinny speakers, terrible ram management, not so great signal strength in my area and all the EMUI bugs but I'll update this post if I find extra tips, please share what you've found!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny thing is I'm having none of those issues you mentioned. Ram management is great, screen is great and the speakers are good enough. I knew EMUI would be this phones Achilles heel so it my expectations were properly set.
Sent from my HUAWEI LYA-L0C using XDA Labs
HI, I tried Tip #6 but for me Edge Gestures does not work for me at all.
Not one Gesture does work on my phone.
EDIT: SORRY ... my fault ... it works
'1. To unlock when you use fingerprint but it doesn't recognize it at first try, face unlock will kick in and most of the time you'll see a screen saying "slide to unlock after successful facial recognition" the little trick is: you don't have to lift finger from screen then slide, so to make a smother experience I'm trying to make an habit to unlock to do this movement: press+hold+slide(as soon as you see screen turn on) and it unlocks 95% of the time.'
Much easier to go to Settings > Security & Privacy > Face Recognition and then selecting Direct Unlock. This way, it will unlock the screen direct from Face Recognition without having to slide.
This is an accident find but haven't read about it anywhere - apologies if it's widely known.
Long pressing the "trash can" in the Recent Apps section brings up All Apps - nice shortcut.
ero69 said:
This is an accident find but haven't read about it anywhere - apologies if it's widely known.
Long pressing the "trash can" in the Recent Apps section brings up All Apps - nice shortcut.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I didn't know that. Cheers.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
where can I find NCleaner?
charliebigpot said:
where can I find NCleaner?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.easy4u.ncleaner
Nice tips.. Any other tips?
vwite said:
Hey guys,
(...)
9. Use NCleaner app to hide unwanted permanent notifications such as "X app is displaying over other apps" (...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really nice!
mrnovanova said:
Funny thing is I'm having none of those issues you mentioned. Ram management is great, screen is great and the speakers are good enough. I knew EMUI would be this phones Achilles heel so it my expectations were properly set.
Sent from my HUAWEI LYA-L0C using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree - no issues at my end too.
One thing I just found out that in face unlock settings There is a require eye contact setting. I've tried closing my eyes and asked a family member if my screen unlock, it doesn't and as soon as I opened them it unlocked.
Sent from my HUAWEI LYA-L09 using XDA Labs