The Android Thread - He;pl - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Android Thread - He;pl

CLAM DOWN: Feb 13, 2007; nesaM killed Masen

Desk Lamp posted:

The pen menu should still pop up if you press the pen's button while hovering over the screen. Pressing the power and home buttons together should take a screenshot as well.

It's worth noting that the pen not only lets you take screenshots of just part of the screen, it'll also let you take screenshots that are multiple screens long such as a thread or conversation.

All this info rocks, thank you very much. The actually found where I had accidentally disabled the pen thing, so I'm all set.

For what it's worth, after like 2 weeks on it, Touchwiz on the Note 5 is not nearly as bad as I expected, and I actually like a number of the changes. It's not like stock Android doesn't have its major issues too.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 04:23

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# ? May 20, 2024 14:20

Trammel: Dec 31, 2007; .

I just got the Nexus 6P (direct from Google) and I'm finding it has absolutely terrible battery life. Taking off charge at about 7am, it'll last until 5pm or so. A typical battery screenshot:

I've uninstalled a bunch of apps, and tried to reduce it to bare necessities, but something is killing my battery.

I used to use a OnePlus 1, which had similar problems, and I was hoping the 6P would resolve them. However, after wiping the OnePlus, it then lasted 5 days without use, just being connected to Wifi, without a SIM. Previously, my OnePlus would last about 7 hours at most.

So, both my new Nexus 6P and OnePlus have poo poo battery life, when actually being used. Any ideas on how to track down what's causing these problesm?

# ? Nov 16, 2015 04:36

DemonMage: Oct 14, 2004; What happens in the course of duty is up to you...

Factory reset the phone and don't install any apps. Try it for a day. Then slowly add an app or three. You're not quite constantly wake locked but unless you were listening to music or similar there's no reason for so much awake with so little screen time.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 04:46

Desk Lamp: Jun 30, 2014

Trammel posted:

I just got the Nexus 6P (direct from Google) and I'm finding it has absolutely terrible battery life. Taking off charge at about 7am, it'll last until 5pm or so. A typical battery screenshot:

I've uninstalled a bunch of apps, and tried to reduce it to bare necessities, but something is killing my battery.

I used to use a OnePlus 1, which had similar problems, and I was hoping the 6P would resolve them. However, after wiping the OnePlus, it then lasted 5 days without use, just being connected to Wifi, without a SIM. Previously, my OnePlus would last about 7 hours at most.

So, both my new Nexus 6P and OnePlus have poo poo battery life, when actually being used. Any ideas on how to track down what's causing these problesm?

Considering the "awake" graph is almost a solid line I'd say start looking into what's keeping your phone awake so much. Android tends to use a lot more battery than usual in the first few days while it's basically mapping out your entire life but I don't remember it ever being quite that bad.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 04:47

GokieKS: Dec 15, 2012; Mostly Harmless.

Both have poo poo battery life because you probably have the same app(s) that have wakelock issues on both - see the bar for Awake not matching up with the bar for Screen on.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any easy or good way to find the offending app(s) without root access. If you don't want to root (which I wouldn't blame you for), you might have some luck just by going through your apps and doing a search for "$APPNAME$ wakelock" and see if others have noticed issues with it, and then uninstalling them and see if that resolves the problem.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 04:53

LifeLynx: Feb 27, 2001; Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time; Grimey Drawer

I'm coming from an iPhone 5s and my new 6P has had amazing battery life. I used it nonstop today and it was still at 40% when I got home.

So, things I miss from the iPhone:

1. I keep my phone on my desk next to me while I work. When my iPhone got a text, the screen lit up for a second and a notification bar popped up with the sender's name and the first few words of their message. It was enough to glance down and see the gist of it and if I should pick up and respond. This phone doesn't do that; it just makes a noise, blinks the notification LED (oh how I missed that) and it's up to me to pick up the phone and see what's what. Lock screen notifications would be nice too... though to be honest, I haven't missed those at all because the fingerprint unlock is so, so quick.

2. A solid vibration. This might be a hardware specific thing that can't be changed, but is there a way to make the vibration feel different, say by having a pattern instead of one little wimpy kick?

I'm wary of installing apps that fix these issues because I'm still feeling out what's safe and not safe in the Android app market. The Android App thread is four years old, hasn't had its OP updated in almost two years, and is 750+ pages, so it's hard to find good recommendations there.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 05:35

Cozmosis: Feb 16, 2003; 2006... YEAR OF THE BURNITZ, BITCHES

BJPaskoff posted:

I'm coming from an iPhone 5s and my new 6P has had amazing battery life. I used it nonstop today and it was still at 40% when I got home.

So, things I miss from the iPhone:

1. I keep my phone on my desk next to me while I work. When my iPhone got a text, the screen lit up for a second and a notification bar popped up with the sender's name and the first few words of their message. It was enough to glance down and see the gist of it and if I should pick up and respond. This phone doesn't do that; it just makes a noise, blinks the notification LED (oh how I missed that) and it's up to me to pick up the phone and see what's what. Lock screen notifications would be nice too... though to be honest, I haven't missed those at all because the fingerprint unlock is so, so quick.

2. A solid vibration. This might be a hardware specific thing that can't be changed, but is there a way to make the vibration feel different, say by having a pattern instead of one little wimpy kick?

I'm wary of installing apps that fix these issues because I'm still feeling out what's safe and not safe in the Android app market. The Android App thread is four years old, hasn't had its OP updated in almost two years, and is 750+ pages, so it's hard to find good recommendations there.

Screen Notifications (app) used to work for turning the screen on for the first part. Not sure how it works in Marshmallow.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 05:45

GokieKS: Dec 15, 2012; Mostly Harmless.

The 6P's vibration motor is indeed quite weak. I've had it in my pocket on vibrate mode walking around a store and not felt a call come in.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 05:47

chocolateTHUNDER: Jul 19, 2008; GIVE ME ALL YOUR FREE AGENTS

ALL OF THEM

BJPaskoff posted:

I'm coming from an iPhone 5s and my new 6P has had amazing battery life. I used it nonstop today and it was still at 40% when I got home.

So, things I miss from the iPhone:

1. I keep my phone on my desk next to me while I work. When my iPhone got a text, the screen lit up for a second and a notification bar popped up with the sender's name and the first few words of their message. It was enough to glance down and see the gist of it and if I should pick up and respond. This phone doesn't do that; it just makes a noise, blinks the notification LED (oh how I missed that) and it's up to me to pick up the phone and see what's what. Lock screen notifications would be nice too... though to be honest, I haven't missed those at all because the fingerprint unlock is so, so quick.

2. A solid vibration. This might be a hardware specific thing that can't be changed, but is there a way to make the vibration feel different, say by having a pattern instead of one little wimpy kick?

I'm wary of installing apps that fix these issues because I'm still feeling out what's safe and not safe in the Android app market. The Android App thread is four years old, hasn't had its OP updated in almost two years, and is 750+ pages, so it's hard to find good recommendations there.

I've been using Glimpse Notifications for #1, and it's great:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.nullgrad.glimpse

# ? Nov 16, 2015 05:49

LifeLynx: Feb 27, 2001; Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time; Grimey Drawer

chocolateTHUNDER posted:

I've been using Glimpse Notifications for #1, and it's great:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.nullgrad.glimpse

Perfect! I whitelisted my email and messenger and that's enough for me.

GokieKS posted:

The 6P's vibration motor is indeed quite weak. I've had it in my pocket on vibrate mode walking around a store and not felt a call come in.

I'd complain more if I didn't think this is going to be the foreseeable future of vibration motors as long as designers keep trying to make phones thinner.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 05:56

GokieKS: Dec 15, 2012; Mostly Harmless.

I mean it's not a deal breaker since I so rarely actually use my phone for calls, but it is a bit annoying.

And I had not heard of Glimpse Notifications - it looks quite useful.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 06:21

Theris: Oct 9, 2007

KingKapalone posted:

What case should I get for my Nexus 6P? My friend recommended this one: http://www.amazon.com/Spigen%C2%AE-Rugged-Resilient-Ultimate-protection/dp/B016CBFBVI/ but I also not Diztronic is recommended here and I have one on the phone I'm replacing.

I strayed from the righteous Diztronic path by buying the Adopted case from the play store. I was justly punished by the case gods for my unfaithfulness and shall never stray again. Not being able to take a screenshot or change the volume the way you'd like or even turn the screen off and on reliably because pressing one side button also presses all the others makes for a bad experience.

The Spigen case is probably pretty good, everyone that has it seems to like it. But I replaced the Adopted with the Diztronic and the diz is so much better it hurts.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 06:22

GokieKS: Dec 15, 2012; Mostly Harmless.

I've liked the Spigen case I've previously owned. I went with the Verus case for the 6P since it was Prime eligible and I would get it by the time I got my 6P, but the version I got had the USB port cutout that was too small and caused some issues with the stock cables (they'll still go in, just requires some care on insertion and removal). They said they're making a new revision and will send me another one, but who knows when that'll happen.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 06:55

Skarsnik: Oct 21, 2008; I...AM...RUUUDE!

BJPaskoff posted:

I'm coming from an iPhone 5s and my new 6P has had amazing battery life. I used it nonstop today and it was still at 40% when I got home.

So, things I miss from the iPhone:

1. I keep my phone on my desk next to me while I work. When my iPhone got a text, the screen lit up for a second and a notification bar popped up with the sender's name and the first few words of their message. It was enough to glance down and see the gist of it and if I should pick up and respond. This phone doesn't do that; it just makes a noise, blinks the notification LED (oh how I missed that) and it's up to me to pick up the phone and see what's what. Lock screen notifications would be nice too... though to be honest, I haven't missed those at all because the fingerprint unlock is so, so quick.

I'm wary of installing apps that fix these issues because I'm still feeling out what's safe and not safe in the Android app market. The Android App thread is four years old, hasn't had its OP updated in almost two years, and is 750+ pages, so it's hard to find good recommendations there.

You dont need to install an app, just turn on ambient display in display settings

It does exactly what you need and is already built in

If you're not getting lockscreen notifications it probably means they are turned off. Unselect 'hide sensitive information' from within security settings

Skarsnik fucked around with this message at 08:38 on Nov 16, 2015

# ? Nov 16, 2015 08:36

Super Dude: Jan 23, 2005; Do the Jew

Theris posted:

I strayed from the righteous Diztronic path by buying the Adopted case from the play store. I was justly punished by the case gods for my unfaithfulness and shall never stray again. Not being able to take a screenshot or change the volume the way you'd like or even turn the screen off and on reliably because pressing one side button also presses all the others makes for a bad experience.

The Spigen case is probably pretty good, everyone that has it seems to like it. But I replaced the Adopted with the Diztronic and the diz is so much better it hurts.

What? I can take screenshots, change the volume, and hit the power button without any issues.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 10:27

Rusty!: Aug 25, 2005; Play Up Pompey
Pompey Play Up

Chimp_On_Stilts posted:

On my new Nexus 6P I have the "OK Google..." hotword set to fire at any time, including when the phone is locked.

I would swear to you up and down that last week it was working with no trouble. However, for the past few days the hotword has only reliably worked when my device is unlocked and sitting on the home screen.

I can say it a dozen times to my locked device or when an app is open and nothing happens, but reliably it works first try on the home screen.

Any idea what gives?

My 6 did that the other week. Rebooted (for the Nov security patch) and all has been well since.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 12:59

Luchadork: Feb 18, 2010; Take a look at the masked man
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know
Chris Benoit killed his family

SIR FAT JONY IVES posted:

Anyone using a Nexus 5X and having bluetooth just destroy their battery life? It's far and away the highest consumer of my battery life. I have a fit bit, so maybe that syncing all day is killing my battery.

I've only had my 5x for three or four days so far, but I have yet to even see BT on the list, and I have a 1st gen Moto 360 and my car stereo on it.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 14:43

Super-NintendoUser: Jan 16, 2004; COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES; Soiled Meat

Require More Fire posted:

I've only had my 5x for three or four days so far, but I have yet to even see BT on the list, and I have a 1st gen Moto 360 and my car stereo on it.

Ugh. Mine is typically the highest power consumer, even greater than SoT.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 15:12

Maker Of Shoes: Sep 4, 2006; AWWWW YISSSSSSSSSS
DIS IS MAH JAM!!!!!!

Was there a services update or something over the weekend because jfc.

I'm lucky I had enough juice for my alarm to go off this morning.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 15:54

FAUXTON: Jun 2, 2005; spero che tu stia bene

It's Verge if that makes a diff but :lol:

oneplus:

Google engineer says you shouldn’t buy OnePlus USB Type-C cables

FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Nov 16, 2015

# ? Nov 16, 2015 15:59

Endless Mike: Aug 13, 2003

That's not really news. Like, the whole problem is that everyone is cloning OnePlus's lovely cables.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 16:16

ilkhan: Oct 7, 2004; I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

Endless Mike posted:

That's not really news. Like, the whole problem is that everyone is cloning OnePlus's lovely cables.

Pretty much, yes.

I just assume anything made by or a clone of OnePlus is crap.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:01

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

BJPaskoff posted:

The Android App thread is four years old, hasn't had its OP updated in almost two years, and is 750+ pages, so it's hard to find good recommendations there.

I just made a new one!

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3751764

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:02

Maker Of Shoes: Sep 4, 2006; AWWWW YISSSSSSSSSS
DIS IS MAH JAM!!!!!!

Thermopyle posted:

I just made a new one!

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3751764

Speaking of. I just don't have the drive to do the next Android thread so go hold wild?

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:04

WhyteRyce: Dec 30, 2001

Does anyone know of a non-root way to run a VNC server/Remote Desktop solution on Android? I want to be able to remotely view one of my Android devices and the (very brief) search I've done shows only remote control/manage solutions not desktop clone

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:08

ilkhan: Oct 7, 2004; I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

WhyteRyce posted:

Does anyone know of a non-root way to run a VNC server/Remote Desktop solution on Android? I want to be able to remotely view one of my Android devices and the (very brief) search I've done shows only remote control/manage solutions not desktop clone

I think team viewer just released an app for that?

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:50

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

Super Dude posted:

What? I can take screenshots, change the volume, and hit the power button without any issues.

I just found out I can't take screenshots thanks to this discussion. Dammit. I bought a diztronic too but gave it to my wife since I liked the feel of the Adopted.

Edit: if I put my nail on the very bottom of the volume it works.

UnfortunateSexFart fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Nov 16, 2015

# ? Nov 16, 2015 18:57

Theris: Oct 9, 2007

Super Dude posted:

What? I can take screenshots, change the volume, and hit the power button without any issues.

Like Reverse Centaur, if I got one nail on the very top of the power button, and one nail on the very bottom of the Vol- button, I could get a screenshot most of the time. Sometimes it would still randomly change the volume. Trying to turn down the volume worked if I hit the very edge of the Vol- button. Hitting the power button was a coin toss between actually toggling the screen or turning the volume up. Trying to turn the volume up without either turning off the screen or turning the volume down was effectively impossible.

I have none of these issues with the Diztronic.

Theris fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Nov 16, 2015

# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:18

Wrist Watch: Apr 19, 2011; What?

I'm going to be replacing my Nexus 5 soon and while the 5x was the obvious choice for a while I realized sense I was buying the phone outright I could get a moto x pure for around the same price. Besides update frequency/consistency is there any real reason I shouldn't get an x pure? Only real reason I thought of was dev stuff as I've been trying to teach myself how to write android apps but since I'm buying my next phone outright I'll always have my nexus 5 to gently caress around with.

I've been interested in the moto x series since they came out because of all the customization you can do designing it but hadn't been in the market for a new phone until now.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:35

Thermopyle: Jul 1, 2003; ...the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. �Bertrand Russell

Wrist Watch posted:

I'm going to be replacing my Nexus 5 soon and while the 5x was the obvious choice for a while I realized sense I was buying the phone outright I could get a moto x pure for around the same price. Besides update frequency/consistency is there any real reason I shouldn't get an x pure? Only real reason I thought of was dev stuff as I've been trying to teach myself how to write android apps but since I'm buying my next phone outright I'll always have my nexus 5 to gently caress around with.

I've been interested in the moto x series since they came out because of all the customization you can do designing it but hadn't been in the market for a new phone until now.

Camera is better on the 5x I think.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:40

Rastor: Jun 2, 2001

Wrist Watch posted:

I'm going to be replacing my Nexus 5 soon and while the 5x was the obvious choice for a while I realized sense I was buying the phone outright I could get a moto x pure for around the same price. Besides update frequency/consistency is there any real reason I shouldn't get an x pure? Only real reason I thought of was dev stuff as I've been trying to teach myself how to write android apps but since I'm buying my next phone outright I'll always have my nexus 5 to gently caress around with.

I've been interested in the moto x series since they came out because of all the customization you can do designing it but hadn't been in the market for a new phone until now.

It's rather bigger than the 5x, which is rather bigger than the 5.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/Google-Nexus-5,Google-Nexus-5X,Motorola-Moto-X-Pure-Edition-2015/phones/8148,9593,9694

# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:42

Super Dude: Jan 23, 2005; Do the Jew

Wrist Watch posted:

I'm going to be replacing my Nexus 5 soon and while the 5x was the obvious choice for a while I realized sense I was buying the phone outright I could get a moto x pure for around the same price. Besides update frequency/consistency is there any real reason I shouldn't get an x pure? Only real reason I thought of was dev stuff as I've been trying to teach myself how to write android apps but since I'm buying my next phone outright I'll always have my nexus 5 to gently caress around with.

I've been interested in the moto x series since they came out because of all the customization you can do designing it but hadn't been in the market for a new phone until now.

How important is a fingerprint scanner for you?

# ? Nov 16, 2015 20:42

Wrist Watch: Apr 19, 2011; What?

Thermopyle posted:

Camera is better on the 5x I think.

Not super big into cameras, honestly. The pictures I've seen from the pure look decent enough which is fine for me. I've never thought the pictures on my 5 looked particularly bad for reference, and I remember reading it wasn't supposed to be particularly great either. Obviously if like it were complete garbage or something I'd reconsider but the photos in the verge review don't look too terrible, certainly not worse than what I could take with my nexus 5 right now.

Rastor posted:

It's rather bigger than the 5x, which is rather bigger than the 5.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/Google-Nexus-5,Google-Nexus-5X,Motorola-Moto-X-Pure-Edition-2015/phones/8148,9593,9694

Yeah, I saw that. I used to have a note 2 and got my nexus 5 because of a combination of being fed up with samsung and the phone being too big, so I'm a bit wary about going back to a phone that big again even though the software side will at least be solid. I've been keeping an eye out to handle a pure any time I go to a store that carries phones but haven't seen one or a 5x to hold and get a feel for yet. I figure next time I'm at target or something I'll look at one of the notes to get a feel for holding gigantic phones and if I don't hate it just take the plunge. I'm 6'8'' so I could totally handle a huge phone if I needed to.

Worst comes to worst, I'll always have my nexus 5 as a backup and can just return/sell it. There's not anything particularly wrong with my 5, just think it's around time for an upgrade.

Super Dude posted:

How important is a fingerprint scanner for you?

There isn't one on my current phone so not much! It'd be neat to have but I don't think I'd miss it.

Wrist Watch fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Nov 16, 2015

# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:10

Must Love Dogs: May 6, 2005; and the sky is filled with light can you see it?

Wrist Watch posted:

There isn't one on my current phone so not much! It'd be neat to have but I don't think I'd miss it.

In all honesty? I'd never been all that interested in fingerprint scanners to unlock until I got the 5X. Now that I've gotten used to it, it's a really killer feature and well implemented on the 5X. It's utterly painless and works so rapidly I can't think of a time in the past week that I even touched the power button.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:30

Luchadork: Feb 18, 2010; Take a look at the masked man
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know
Chris Benoit killed his family

Must Love Dogs posted:

In all honesty? I'd never been all that interested in fingerprint scanners to unlock until I got the 5X. Now that I've gotten used to it, it's a really killer feature and well implemented on the 5X. It's utterly painless and works so rapidly I can't think of a time in the past week that I even touched the power button.

Yeah, this was my experience as well. Fingerprint scanner, yeah fine, who cares. Now I can't imagine not having one.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:39

CheddarGoblin: Jan 12, 2005; oh

The only thing I don't like about the fingerprint scanner on the 5x is that it's on the back. Sure it's great when pulling it out of your pocket but when the phone is face up on a table you have to pick it up to unlock (or use the damned pin).

# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:45

Skarsnik: Oct 21, 2008; I...AM...RUUUDE!

I occasionally have to touch it with a finger I haven't scanned to convince myself it's not just a big power button

# ? Nov 16, 2015 21:45

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

I have smart unlock with my watch so the fingerprint scanner is unused. But it is cool.

What is used is sms though and messenger is not sending texts to my wife's 6P. Every other person can receive my texts and I can see theirs. Same with her phone, apparently. Any ideas?

# ? Nov 16, 2015 22:00

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Reverse Centaur posted:

I have smart unlock with my watch so the fingerprint scanner is unused. But it is cool.

What is used is sms though and messenger is not sending texts to my wife's 6P. Every other person can receive my texts and I can see theirs. Same with her phone, apparently. Any ideas?

The part that never sat right with me with the watch smart unlock is that I could be within a decent distance of my phone and it'd still unlock. For instance, I leave it at my desk to go talk to a coworker, it's exposed.

The fingerprint is awesome as hell. Solid security with zero downside or inconvenience.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 22:16

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# ? May 20, 2024 14:20

TenaciousTomato: Jul 17, 2007; Interworld and the New Innocence

Definitely turned my 6P off inadvertently in my pocket today. Noticed like 45 mins later. Power off should only be available if the phone is unlocked, with a longer press, or both, imo.

# ? Nov 16, 2015 22:16

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The Android Thread - He;pl

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