Overall, I think the move from Blackberry to Android/Note was the right one but the transition has been painful in a few areas. I'll list them in this one post instead of inundating the forums with single posts with only one question.
Phone Application -
Admittedly, this is the most frustrating part about going with the Note (outside of the loss of a physical keyboard). The phone application is ridiculously inefficient compared to Blackberry.
Is there a way to prevent the phone from locking (PIN required) when I navigate away from the phone application while on a call? There is nothing more frustrating than having to enter my PIN to simply hang up a phone call. Also, while on a phone call only (meaning I don't navigate away from phone), the screen times out and turns off... forcing me to press the side key to get back into phone. Is there a program that can map the capacitive search key while on a phone call so I can hang up a call?
Regarding "Contacts", is there a way to default to keyboard entry upon opening Contacts? Does Android think the average person has only 6 contacts??... Because that's how many contacts show up when you enter Contacts. This forces me to press "search contacts" every single time I enter Contacts... and the magnifying glass is all the way at the tip top of the screen. Using one hand, it's impossible to comfortably extend my thumb all the way to the top of the screen after pressing my Contacts application icon on the very bottom of the screen. Then I am forced to pull all the way back down to the keyboard just to enter the first letter of the person I'm searching for! I call out of my Contacts list 50-100 times a day so this gets very, very cumbersome and time consuming.
Is there a way to change the text size in my contacts list? I'd like to see more than 6 contacts per page... the phone screen is HUGE!
Now this complaint I'm sure a lot of ex Blackberry people can relate with... Blackberry (via an available OPTION) would consolidate call logs into each individual contact. Android, for some strange reason, does not consolidate history to each individual contact. So when I pull up recent history, the top 100 entries can be from only 10 or 15 people Wouldn't it make more sense to have ONE entry PER CONTACT? I wouldn't have to go into Contacts as often if Android actually consolidated phone call logs into one log per contact because I could go into the phone log and call out people from there... instead of seeing a sea of missed, outgoing, incoming calls... from the same person. I really hope there is a way to consolidate these logs.
S Memo -
There is an option to pull up the S Memo pad in phone but for some strange reason, it always defaults to "drawing" mode instead of entering text. I'm often in a flustered state when on a phone call and/or listening to voicemail and trying to jot down notes... so having to punch that tiny little "T" at the very upper left hand corner of the screen is a pain.
Is there a way to decrease the font size? I never did understand why some native programs have no adjustments for font size... not everyone is 80 years old w/bad vision. I mean... what's the point of having such a high res screen if the font size is a quarter inch tall? Blackberry allowed text size to be adjusted in ALL native applications.
I'm assuming there is no way to increase the amount of text I can enter onto one S Memo page? It seems extremely limited (about ~100 words max).
Am I the only one that seems to have notes that don't save? I recall entering text into several notes and backing out supposedly automatically saves what was inputed... but often times the text is not there when I return to the note. Are others having this issue?
Finally, is there an alternative memo program that anyone could recommend that is as simple and easy to search as Blackberry's memopad?
Alarm Clock -
I realize that there are a ton of alarm apps out there but I've heard horror stories about apps that crash and/or don't work properly. I need a reliable alarm clock so would prefer to stick with the native application. It actually works perfectly... except that the alarm lasts for only 60 seconds. I've slept right through the alarm several times already. Is there any way to make it loop for a longer period? Say 5 or 10 minutes?
I have a ton of other questions but if anyone can help with these for now it would be much appreciated!
U have a button dedicated to search at the bottom. I use dw contacts. Not the cheapest solution but very customizable
There's an app to increase/decrease font size, I haven't used it but I saw someone mentioning it here the other day, the alarm is fine, I have never had any issues with any android alarm, and you can add as many alarms as you want, I get up at 3am to go to work and I can't ever be late so I have set like 4 alarms to go off in set times in order so if I don't hear one the others will follow.
As the issue with being able to reach the full length of the screen one handed , it is what it is, a big a$$ screen that for the most part demands two handed control.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Do you have to use a PIN?
Go to settings, display, screen timeout. You can change how quickly or slowly your screen times out on you.
On your contacts app, just hit the magnifying glass at the bottom right and it'll pull up your keyboard and search function. Or there's teh alphabet running down the right hand side, just click on the letter the name starts with. Or for more customization and ease, install exdialer. It looks good, easy to use, font is small, etc. Exdialer also consolidates your call logs.
There are a ton of memo apps in the market. Personally I love Gnotes. It syncs with google, saves everything, is easy to use, and you can inbed pics, etc.
I don't know about the spen. So far I've only used it to make cute pics to send to my wife and to draw up soccer drills and practice plans.
esincho said:
U have a button dedicated to search at the bottom. I use dw contacts. Not the cheapest solution but very customizable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll give it a try. Does the phone still maintain its ability to keep a log and back up the calls to my computer?
roloracer said:
There's an app to increase/decrease font size, I haven't used it but I saw someone mentioning it here the other day, the alarm is fine, I have never had any issues with any android alarm, and you can add as many alarms as you want, I get up at 3am to go to work and I can't ever be late so I have set like 4 alarms to go off in set times in order so if I don't hear one the others will follow.
As the issue with being able to reach the full length of the screen one handed , it is what it is, a big a$$ screen that for the most part demands two handed control.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the program Big Font but unfortunately while the font size decreases, it does nothing to decrease the size of the useless silhouette image next to the contact name. So I still only get 6 contacts per massive page. I'm hoping there is another solution.
kiltedthrower said:
Do you have to use a PIN?
Go to settings, display, screen timeout. You can change how quickly or slowly your screen times out on you.
On your contacts app, just hit the magnifying glass at the bottom right and it'll pull up your keyboard and search function. Or there's teh alphabet running down the right hand side, just click on the letter the name starts with. Or for more customization and ease, install exdialer. It looks good, easy to use, font is small, etc. Exdialer also consolidates your call logs.
There are a ton of memo apps in the market. Personally I love Gnotes. It syncs with google, saves everything, is easy to use, and you can inbed pics, etc.
I don't know about the spen. So far I've only used it to make cute pics to send to my wife and to draw up soccer drills and practice plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unfortunately I do need to use a PIN or some other form of security. I just don't think it makes any sense to require a PIN if I already entered one and then make a phone call. It's just silly that Android would require a PIN if you're clearly using the phone (on a call). Apparently Google thinks that using the phone does not include being on a phone call. Absurd.
As for your advice about using the magnifying glass, it doesn't work. Because if you pull up the contact via the magnifying glass, you cannot dial from it (swipe right for dial, left for text like you would if you clicked the text box at the top of the phone). You have to click on it and then click once again on what you would like to do. Not sure why it's like that but there are a lot of Android "features" that leave me scratching my head.
I'll give Gnote a try. Thanks!
pj737 said:
I tried the program Big Font but unfortunately while the font size decreases, it does nothing to decrease the size of the useless silhouette image next to the contact name. So I still only get 6 contacts per massive page. I'm hoping there is another solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't mix up Google and Samsung. You see Samsung customizes the Android OS, and the stock contacts app is different than the stock Google one. Everything you see is what Samsung did not Google.
If you don't like it I suggest you switch phones or you try third-party apps like exdialer(excontacts comes with it), and it is a very popular choice people use as an alternative. Also, I if you have rooted your phone you can change the DPI, so everything will be smaller and more things can fit on the screen, but like I said you will need ROOT. Download a DPI changer app and go for 240dpi.
Sent from my GT-i9220 using Tapatalk
Or if you're brave enough you can always change the lcd density in the build.prop but beware if you make a mistake editing It will brake the rom and unless you have it backed up like in cwm you'll be forced to flash it to bring it back to life.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
roloracer said:
Or if you're brave enough you can always change the lcd density in the build.prop but beware if you make a mistake editing It will brake the rom and unless you have it backed up like in cwm you'll be forced to flash it to bring it back to life.
Sent from my awesome Galaxy Note!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just use LCD resolution from the market. Much simpler for a novice
I'm not sure if it is possible but I have an idea of a widget:
It's a widget that contains another widget that will auto after a specific condition (perhaps with llama/tasker?)
Examples:
hide music widget of choice if there's no music playing or headset plugged in.
Hide (school) timetable if you're not at that location.
Show GPS/traffic widget if not at home/school/work.
You might think of another great use yourself.
This is just an idea, and since I'm no app developer myself, (at least not yet) I hope one of the great android developers that are on these fora will take an interest in this project.
Sent from my SHV-E160L 32GB with XDA HD
But why hide the widget? That space where the widget that hid the other widget is still unusable because the widget can become transparent, but it can not remove itself from the home screen and then put itself back, since adding widgets is a system level command. And if it could do what I just said it can't, what if you put apps/shortcuts/widgets in its place, where would they go? I might be over thinking this whole idea a little but that's just my two cents. I do have a similar idea now that I read this, though. Use Tasker to restore backed up Nova/Holo/Adw/Apex/Etc, settings and home screen layouts based on what you said in your first post. That is probably going to take way longer to do, but it get the same effect and could probably save battery that way too. I mean, if I make a Tasker profile set up so that whenever I connect to my schools wifi, that it restores a previous backed home screen and settings layout. My phone always dies at school, so my home screen would become blank, with no dock or status bar, and just have gestures set up so that I can still get to my apps (swipe up for drawer, down for notifications, two fingers up for phone app, and two fingers down for messaging). With nothing on my home screen, I save battery because the Launcher does not have to load any thing. Android itself might be a limitation for what we're saying here, but maybe Key Lime Pie could bring us closer to that.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the reply!
PenguinxEnjoi said:
But why hide the widget? That space where the widget that hid the other widget is still unusable because the widget can become transparent, but it can not remove itself from the home screen and then put itself back, since adding widgets is a system level command. And if it could do what I just said it can't, what if you put apps/shortcuts/widgets in its place, where would they go? I might be over thinking this whole idea a little but that's just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply, PenguinxEnjoi
I can see now that my idea can be a bit confusing.
I just had the idea to hide the widget when I don't need it so it doesn't clog up my lock/home screen.
If it means turning it invisible I'd like that just as much as removing it. I just don't want to see it.
PenguinxEnjoi said:
I do have a similar idea now that I read this, though. Use Tasker to restore backed up Nova/Holo/Adw/Apex/Etc, settings and home screen layouts based on what you said in your first post. That is probably going to take way longer to do, but it get the same effect and could probably save battery that way too. I mean, if I make a Tasker profile set up so that whenever I connect to my schools wifi, that it restores a previous backed home screen and settings layout. My phone always dies at school, so my home screen would become blank, with no dock or status bar, and just have gestures set up so that I can still get to my apps (swipe up for drawer, down for notifications, two fingers up for phone app, and two fingers down for messaging). With nothing on my home screen, I save battery because the Launcher does not have to load any thing. Android itself might be a limitation for what we're saying here, but maybe Key Lime Pie could bring us closer to that.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is possible it would totally be an option. Especially since I'm using widgetlocker and nova launcher.
This will probably be done using intents (if it's supported) but I've only begun using tasker (after llama) so I'm still not sure how they work.
Have you found the way to auto hide widgets for example with Tasker?
extension!?
I have been trying to find a way to recreate a menu pop down resembling the app drawer menu on my desktop and yes...there are many hurdles to be made through an auto hide feature. Why there cant be an app writin that works along with zooper pro or uccw (or done internaly themselves) that can acknowlege a widget name and link it to a static bitmap/icon within another widget as in a"press on" action is beyond me. I know that is probably the last thing those two companies wanna do but it would really make it fun for the average joe just trying to create something fresh and different for their own pride and joy. I havent had much luck getting any reaponse on this. Lol obviously due to a lack reason. And no im not talking about the chocolate covered carmel candy. Bit if any of you developers out there want to take a stab at it. Looks like there is a code writtin in a somewhat similar context that i believe could work. In the end. Its us vs. Them. Hope to see something more happen with this.
And of course..i am mot allowed to copy and paste outside links yet. Thanks XDA. but if you type in."auto hide widget" in google it should be the second link you see. Hope someone makes this a reality. Will be watching for developments.:silly:
Pop up widgets from the developer of the sslauncher. Does the trick nicely. Also you can use swipepad with the widgetpad addon. Works nice for me. Widget here, widget gone
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
tie7 said:
Have you found the way to auto hide widgets for example with Tasker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you could use overlays (paid version) which integrates in tasker (free version does not)
Hey guys, I am a long time iPhone user and I got a Black HTC one a few weeks ago and for the main part, I am LOVE the change and really love SENSE 5. I have messed around with the Apex Locker and some awesome UI's but would miss blink feed and some other SENSE issues.
I do have a lot of smaller issues I am hoping to figure out (which may not be a big deal to some people). I was told to come on here and poke around and ask questions for some answers.
Email:
I LOVE the stock/native email APP and cannot use GMAIL for business; however many emails do not shrink to fit the window like the GMAIL app or on my iPhone. I am really hoping we can figure this out
Google Voice:
Works amazing with google products and Google now but I am having an issue integrating it with HTC apps or other 3rd party apps.
Home/Back Buttons:
As many now these do not light up until in a really dark room. I use my phone a lot at home with the lights dimmed while watching TV and they still do not come on.
Lock Screen:
The Lock screen requires a swipe up to answer calls, which happens a lot when I pull the phone out of my pocket (even with the stock locker and accessability turned off). I think I would like a different way (sideways) to answer a call and unlock the phone.
Bloatware/Stock apps:
There are a lot of ATT apps I do not want on the phone and do not want to use, but all of the HTC apps I do want for the most part
So.....You pretty much have a problem with every single function of the phone.
Google voice, don't know don't use it.
Email, don't know don't use it
Home back buttons, what do you need them lit up for? You'll learn where they are.
Lock screen, not gonna happen with stock lock screen. Use a different locker or flash a Rom.
Bloatware, unlock bootloader, s-off, recovery and root.
This is also in the wrong section.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
pameister said:
Hey guys, I am a long time iPhone user and I got a Black HTC one a few weeks ago and for the main part, I am LOVE the change and really love SENSE 5. I have messed around with the Apex Locker and some awesome UI's but would miss blink feed and some other SENSE issues.
I do have a lot of smaller issues I am hoping to figure out (which may not be a big deal to some people). I was told to come on here and poke around and ask questions for some answers.
Email:
I LOVE the stock/native email APP and cannot use GMAIL for business; however many emails do not shrink to fit the window like the GMAIL app or on my iPhone. I am really hoping we can figure this out
Google Voice:
Works amazing with google products and Google now but I am having an issue integrating it with HTC apps or other 3rd party apps.
Home/Back Buttons:
As many now these do not light up until in a really dark room. I use my phone a lot at home with the lights dimmed while watching TV and they still do not come on.
Lock Screen:
The Lock screen requires a swipe up to answer calls, which happens a lot when I pull the phone out of my pocket (even with the stock locker and accessability turned off). I think I would like a different way (sideways) to answer a call and unlock the phone.
Bloatware/Stock apps:
There are a lot of ATT apps I do not want on the phone and do not want to use, but all of the HTC apps I do want for the most part
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't recall an iPhone lighting up the home button.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Well my lights work so something isn't right with your phone ?
To try to help you fix some of the issues on your HTC ONE you can choose not to have the lock screen go to settings--->Personalize----> lock screen style and choose no lock screen. the back and home buttons light up when the screen is on push the power button on top. I never had that issue with the htc email client my emails fit to the screen but then again I flashed a custom rom on my phone. Not sure if that makes a difference tho.The bloatware you can uninstall go to your app draw and hold down the icon of the app and drag it to the top of the screen you will see uninstall drag it to there and its off your phone. I cam from an Iphone too and I also love the change. I am not sure if you are aware but if you have a google account and you sign in the app store will keep a record of all apps on your phone so if you want it back you can easily re install it. I hope that helps.
Just to clarify re: the bloatware, you cannot uninstall these if you're not rooted. However, you can disable the apps, which will also hide them in the app drawer.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
mattyd578 said:
To try to help you fix some of the issues on your HTC ONE you can choose not to have the lock screen go to settings--->Personalize----> lock screen style and choose no lock screen. the back and home buttons light up when the screen is on push the power button on top. I never had that issue with the htc email client my emails fit to the screen but then again I flashed a custom rom on my phone. Not sure if that makes a difference tho.The bloatware you can uninstall go to your app draw and hold down the icon of the app and drag it to the top of the screen you will see uninstall drag it to there and its off your phone. I cam from an Iphone too and I also love the change. I am not sure if you are aware but if you have a google account and you sign in the app store will keep a record of all apps on your phone so if you want it back you can easily re install it. I hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't help. You are completely wrong about almost everything.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4
pameister said:
Hey guys, I am a long time iPhone user and I got a Black HTC one a few weeks ago and for the main part, I am LOVE the change and really love SENSE 5. I have messed around with the Apex Locker and some awesome UI's but would miss blink feed and some other SENSE issues.
I do have a lot of smaller issues I am hoping to figure out (which may not be a big deal to some people). I was told to come on here and poke around and ask questions for some answers.
Email:
I LOVE the stock/native email APP and cannot use GMAIL for business; however many emails do not shrink to fit the window like the GMAIL app or on my iPhone. I am really hoping we can figure this out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually find the native emaill app to be pretty sharp, but unfortunately it's too limited in functionality to do all the things i want for my corporate email. If you are a heavy Exchange user, I would recommend getting Touchdown. It's $20, but well worth it for detailed functionality in Exchange accounts. You will sacrifice much of the aesthic of the native mail app, though I find the function to be a worthwhile trade here.
pameister said:
Google Voice:
Works amazing with google products and Google now but I am having an issue integrating it with HTC apps or other 3rd party apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you be a little bit more specific with how you are hoping to integrate it and with which apps?
pameister said:
Home/Back Buttons:
As many now these do not light up until in a really dark room. I use my phone a lot at home with the lights dimmed while watching TV and they still do not come on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had this issue. Do you run your phone in power save mode often? This could potentially have an effect on the lights, though I doubt it. I've never seen issues with mine, so perhaps it's your unit
pameister said:
Lock Screen:
The Lock screen requires a swipe up to answer calls, which happens a lot when I pull the phone out of my pocket (even with the stock locker and accessability turned off). I think I would like a different way (sideways) to answer a call and unlock the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what to tell you here. I think it's just a function of Sense that you have to get used to. But I agree it can be a little tedious to deal with. I got used to it, though.
pameister said:
Bloatware/Stock apps:
There are a lot of ATT apps I do not want on the phone and do not want to use, but all of the HTC apps I do want for the most part
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just got to your settings > apps > all, and run down the list to disable as many of the att apps as you desire. most of them can be disabled, though none directly removed without root. disabling does the trick. you can also hide them from app drawer as mentioned above. I disable nearly all AT&T apps, among others.
Welcome to the One, it's a fantastic device. I have owned iPhones in year past but can definitely say you've made a great choice to convert. HTC has caught some slack recently with some tough financial times and sales figures, which is unfortunate because this phone is phenomenal. hopefully their big investment in (an odd Bob Downey, Jr) marketing campaign will help.
I've been using my HOX+ for almost six months now, fairly light use but I'm mostly happy with it. I'm still running unrooted stock, just installed the official 4.2.2 update. This is my first real smartphone, I had an unsubsidized $100 3.14" Android smartphone last year that I don't think really qualifies.
The big complaint I have with the jump to a 4.7" screen is that one-handed use is uncomfortable and requires me to stretch to reach the corners, where the buttons are often stupidly located, or sometimes even to slide the phone up and down in my hand to make the buttons accessible, not exactly easy to do with one hand without dropping the phone. I would really like a phone that is comfortable to use one-handed, but I don't want to compromise by buying a smaller screen phone, say 4.3" or god forbid the 4" size of the iPhone, as I'm not exactly thrilled with the "looking through a keyhole" quality of 4.7" either.
I think the right solution would be a thumbwheel UI in the bottom right corner, placed in the arc right where my thumb is, so I can use it one-handed with my thumb and not have to reach with my fingers. As long as it let me virtually hit all the buttons on the screen, even native app buttons like the menu button at the top or the tab switcher button at the top in Chrome, I could even buy a phablet if there was something like this, maybe a 5.5+ inch screen that I could use comfortably one-handed with just my thumb in the bottom-right corner.
The closest thing I've been able to find like this is the Splay launcher, but I don't think such launchers actually let me control menus within apps, only launch apps. This guy wrote a small app earlier this year to do something similar, seems to be a great article talking about the idea but I don't think that effort went anywhere.
Is there any effort within the xda community to integrate a one-handed control interface like this? This is a feature that would actually make me root and install a ROM, as I haven't had the need to go to the trouble yet. I'd love to see an effort like this on Android, wonder what everyone else thinks.
joakim_one said:
I've been using my HOX+ for almost six months now, fairly light use but I'm mostly happy with it. I'm still running unrooted stock, just installed the official 4.2.2 update. This is my first real smartphone, I had an unsubsidized $100 3.14" Android smartphone last year that I don't think really qualifies.
The big complaint I have with the jump to a 4.7" screen is that one-handed use is uncomfortable and requires me to stretch to reach the corners, where the buttons are often stupidly located, or sometimes even to slide the phone up and down in my hand to make the buttons accessible, not exactly easy to do with one hand without dropping the phone. I would really like a phone that is comfortable to use one-handed, but I don't want to compromise by buying a smaller screen phone, say 4.3" or god forbid the 4" size of the iPhone, as I'm not exactly thrilled with the "looking through a keyhole" quality of 4.7" either.
I think the right solution would be a thumbwheel UI in the bottom right corner, placed in the arc right where my thumb is, so I can use it one-handed with my thumb and not have to reach with my fingers. As long as it let me virtually hit all the buttons on the screen, even native app buttons like the menu button at the top or the tab switcher button at the top in Chrome, I could even buy a phablet if there was something like this, maybe a 5.5+ inch screen that I could use comfortably one-handed with just my thumb in the bottom-right corner.
The closest thing I've been able to find like this is the Splay launcher, but I don't think such launchers actually let me control menus within apps, only launch apps. This guy wrote a small app earlier this year to do something similar, seems to be a great article talking about the idea but I don't think that effort went anywhere.
Is there any effort within the xda community to integrate a one-handed control interface like this? This is a feature that would actually make me root and install a ROM, as I haven't had the need to go to the trouble yet. I'd love to see an effort like this on Android, wonder what everyone else thinks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A "Whole" UI made especially for one hand usage? Well I know the second best solution.
Install "Pie Controls" and assign it to any corner/side of the screen, it will allow you to launch apps but for the function that you want, you will need to root. Once you are rooted PIE has extra features like "Back, Home, Sleep, Menu, Recent Apps" ..etc.
A Second best is "LMT" launcher ALSO requires root. Once you have it, you will be able to have PIE Controls as well, PLUS a unique feature to have gestures working in all screens. You can swipe down to bring up the notification bar or swipe up for recent apps. The reason i put it as second best was because I don't really like it ..
Ofcourse there are normal launchers , like nova launcher ..etc. that allows you to swipe down to bring up the notifications but sadly that only works on the home screen.
There are also ROMS like AOKP (For us Carbon rom or something similar) which has a stock feeling but extra buttons in the Power menu. When you hold down the power menu , under the normal "Power off, restart, screenshot, airplane" you will also find "Back, Home, Recent apps"
I honestly think that PIE Controls is the best app to have out of them all since it works on all ROMs . Though for full features you should buy the Pro version.
P.S: All apps that you are looking for will require ROOT access.
Ghand0ur said:
A "Whole" UI made especially for one hand usage? Well I know the second best solution.
Install "Pie Controls" and assign it to any corner/side of the screen, it will allow you to launch apps but for the function that you want, you will need to root. Once you are rooted PIE has extra features like "Back, Home, Sleep, Menu, Recent Apps" ..etc.
A Second best is "LMT" launcher ALSO requires root. Once you have it, you will be able to have PIE Controls as well, PLUS a unique feature to have gestures working in all screens. You can swipe down to bring up the notification bar or swipe up for recent apps. The reason i put it as second best was because I don't really like it ..
Ofcourse there are normal launchers , like nova launcher ..etc. that allows you to swipe down to bring up the notifications but sadly that only works on the home screen.
There are also ROMS like AOKP (For us Carbon rom or something similar) which has a stock feeling but extra buttons in the Power menu. When you hold down the power menu , under the normal "Power off, restart, screenshot, airplane" you will also find "Back, Home, Recent apps"
I honestly think that PIE Controls is the best app to have out of them all since it works on all ROMs . Though for full features you should buy the Pro version.
P.S: All apps that you are looking for will require ROOT access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the info. I tried the Pie Control app by coolace based on your recommendation, but it didn't seem to do anything on my unrooted HOX+. I'll look into the other stuff you talked about.
joakim_one said:
Thanks for all the info. I tried the Pie Control app by coolace based on your recommendation, but it didn't seem to do anything on my unrooted HOX+. I'll look into the other stuff you talked about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How didn't it function?
Well here is a good video that will help you install it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBud1hk27Rw
Although to have full features you will require to BUY the pro version and root, the free version on an unrooted version should have some functions that will work like launching apps and other stuff. Try to clarify what you meant
Ghand0ur said:
How didn't it function?
Well here is a good video that will help you install it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBud1hk27Rw
Although to have full features you will require to BUY the pro version and root, the free version on an unrooted version should have some functions that will work like launching apps and other stuff. Try to clarify what you meant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed the app and set it to work on the left, right, and bottom, then configured two short-click apps in level 1. I would then long-press at those edges and nothing happened with pie control: HTC Sense would send me to widget configuration instead.
I just watched your video and he does a slight swipe from the edge, instead of the long-press I was trying. I just installed the app again and tried that on the home screen and within a couple other apps, again no pie controls. If I do it on the home screen, it starts to scroll to the next home screen, as it always did.
There may be something about HTC Sense that it's not giving control to the pie app for gestures, or maybe there's some other switch I have to hit somewhere to actually enable the pie gestures?
joakim_one said:
I installed the app and set it to work on the left, right, and bottom, then configured two short-click apps in level 1. I would then long-press at those edges and nothing happened with pie control: HTC Sense would send me to widget configuration instead.
I just watched your video and he does a slight swipe from the edge, instead of the long-press I was trying. I just installed the app again and tried that on the home screen and within a couple other apps, again no pie controls. If I do it on the home screen, it starts to scroll to the next home screen, as it always did.
There may be something about HTC Sense that it's not giving control to the pie app for gestures, or maybe there's some other switch I have to hit somewhere to actually enable the pie gestures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Although HOX+ and S3 have the same screen size, for the PIE to activate you just need to increase the activation area width. Just thought of installing Pie again after a while of not using it and just remembered. Now it's working fine
I remember there was a small bug of the activation area width being reset everytime you open the app if I can remember correctly. That or everytime you press on the activation width area. Can't really remember but my point is, while using the app if it suddenly doesnt appear anymore just increase the width again and it will work.
Sorry it took me a while to reply since I couldn't really remember
Sent from my HTC One x+ using XDA developers app
Ghand0ur said:
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Although HOX+ and S3 have the same screen size, for the PIE to activate you just need to increase the activation area width. Just thought of installing Pie again after a while of not using it and just remembered. Now it's working fine
I remember there was a small bug of the activation area width being reset everytime you open the app if I can remember correctly. That or everytime you press on the activation width area. Can't really remember but my point is, while using the app if it suddenly doesnt appear anymore just increase the width again and it will work.
Sorry it took me a while to reply since I couldn't really remember
Sent from my HTC One x+ using XDA developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, now it shows up. I'll mess around with it and let you know what I think.
Like the title states. I'm just wondering how well the v 60 does with gaming etc. Specifically cod mobile and pubg. Looking to upgrade my 7t pro McLaren and wondering if it's worth it to go to this phone. Is the screen easily viewed I'm bright sunlight? I read somewhere the screen is only a little more then 500 nits which compared to my McLaren isn't very good. How does the resolution look? Is it noticable that it's only 1080p? Is the 60hz refresh rate noticably slower or more laggy then 90 hz?
lendawg said:
Like the title states. I'm just wondering how well the v 60 does with gaming etc. Specifically cod mobile and pubg. Looking to upgrade my 7t pro McLaren and wondering if it's worth it to go to this phone. Is the screen easily viewed I'm bright sunlight? I read somewhere the screen is only a little more then 500 nits which compared to my McLaren isn't very good. How does the resolution look? Is it noticable that it's only 1080p? Is the 60hz refresh rate noticably slower or more laggy then 90 hz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen will be plenty bright enough compared to the McLaren, but other than being able to use the dual screen as a gamepad, I don't think you'd be gaining anything performance wise with this upgrade other than audio and battery life.
Ryano89 said:
The screen will be plenty bright enough compared to the McLaren, but other than being able to use the dual screen as a gamepad, I don't think you'd be gaining anything performance wise with this upgrade other than audio and battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you say gaming performance "feels" the same or worse than the McLaren?
lendawg said:
Would you say gaming performance "feels" the same or worse than the McLaren?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only used the McLaren for a couple of days, so I may not be the best judge. But I prefer the V60 because of the gamepad on the dual screen, and the flat screen. I didn't really use it long enough to judge whether you will notice the difference in refresh rate. I'm a OnePlus fan coming from a 6t, but the battery life, and dramatic curved screen bothered me. The battery life in the V60 when not using the dual screen is shockingly good. The other day, without gaming, I pulled 30hrs and 9.5 hrs of SOT. But the performance increase from an SD855+ to the 865 is going to be unnoticeable.
Ryano89 said:
I only used the McLaren for a couple of days, so I may not be the best judge. But I prefer the V60 because of the gamepad on the dual screen, and the flat screen. I didn't really use it long enough to judge whether you will notice the difference in refresh rate. I'm a OnePlus fan coming from a 6t, but the battery life, and dramatic curved screen bothered me. The battery life in the V60 when not using the dual screen is shockingly good. The other day, without gaming, I pulled 30hrs and 9.5 hrs of SOT. But the performance increase from an SD855+ to the 865 is going to be unnoticeable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that is insane battery life! Is 1080p noticable compared to QHD? Also, how is the software/UI? I had a v20 and the software/ui was terrible.
lendawg said:
Wow that is insane battery life! Is 1080p noticable compared to QHD? Also, how is the software/UI? I had a v20 and the software/ui was terrible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really notice the difference between 1080 and the QHD in my wife's Note10. I also had the V20 and the software is miles better than it was back then, but it's still not anywhere as clean and nice as OnePlus. Overall I'm very happy with the device as it's a big improvement over my 2yr old 6t in every way. Screen, camera, performance, battery, multitasking and audio are all better, but depending on the deal you get, and how much you value the dual screen, and superior audio, it may not be much of an upgrade over a much newer McLaren 7t pro.
Ryano89 said:
I don't really notice the difference between 1080 and the QHD in my wife's Note10. I also had the V20 and the software is miles better than it was back then, but it's still not anywhere as clean and nice as OnePlus. Overall I'm very happy with the device as it's a big improvement over my 2yr old 6t in every way. Screen, camera, performance, battery, multitasking and audio are all better, but depending on the deal you get, and how much you value the dual screen, and superior audio, it may not be much of an upgrade over a much newer McLaren 7t pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sharing some screenshots of the settings app, phone app, quick pulldown and message apps?
I've never used a OnePlus device, so I can't speak to a direct comparison between the MacLaren 7T Pro and the LG 60.
But I am coming from an open-market LG V30+ (which I rooted but kept on highly customized stock firmware). Even without root, I was able to adapt most of those customizations to the V60 without serious issue.
Heavily tweaked third-party launcher, icon pack, third-party gestures, beautiful live wallpaper, dark/black mode everywhere. You get the idea.
The LG V30+ had a smaller and higher resolution screen compared to the V60; so the combination of a significantly larger screen running at a lower resolution results in a fairly obvious DPI difference.
That said, we're not talking about a 65-inch TV here. These are largely devices with 4- to 7-inch screens, and the resolution change actually doesn't bother me (though it is noticeable). For these sizes, I find that 1080P suffices. YMMV.
And I have to say, the side benefits of having a 1080P screen running at a standard 60 Hz may well be worth the trade-off.
I've had this phone for a little over a month now, and I noticed last night when I went to plug the phone in before turning in to bed myself, that after around 15 hours of being unplugged, I still had 96% of my battery life.
Granted, I didn't use the phone heavily yesterday (I tend to disconnect a bit on weekends). But my aging V30+ never pushed numbers like. Not during its prime, and certainly not after 2.5+ years of daily use.
Mejilan said:
I've never used a OnePlus device, so I can't speak to a direct comparison between the MacLaren 7T Pro and the LG 60.
But I am coming from an open-market LG V30+ (which I rooted but kept on highly customized stock firmware). Even without root, I was able to adapt most of those customizations to the V60 without serious issue.
Heavily tweaked third-party launcher, icon pack, third-party gestures, beautiful live wallpaper, dark/black mode everywhere. You get the idea.
The LG V30+ had a smaller and higher resolution screen compared to the V60; so the combination of a significantly larger screen running at a lower resolution results in a fairly obvious DPI difference.
That said, we're not talking about a 65-inch TV here. These are largely devices with 4- to 7-inch screens, and the resolution change actually doesn't bother me (though it is noticeable). For these sizes, I find that 1080P suffices. YMMV.
And I have to say, the side benefits of having a 1080P screen running at a standard 60 Hz may well be worth the trade-off.
I've had this phone for a little over a month now, and I noticed last night when I went to plug the phone in before turning in to bed myself, that after around 15 hours of being unplugged, I still had 96% of my battery life.
Granted, I didn't use the phone heavily yesterday (I tend to disconnect a bit on weekends). But my aging V30+ never pushed numbers like. Not during its prime, and certainly not after 2.5+ years of daily use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sharing some screenshots of the software? Dialer, message app, quick pulldown, settings etc.
lendawg said:
Would you mind sharing some screenshots of the software? Dialer, message app, quick pulldown, settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick settings, and settings
lendawg said:
Would you mind sharing some screenshots of the software? Dialer, message app, quick pulldown, settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Messages settings and dialer
lendawg said:
Would you mind sharing some screenshots of the software? Dialer, message app, quick pulldown, settings etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, mostly. I've got a batch of screens for you to examine, but I left out the one with my messaging app because it's full of personally identifiable information.
It also appears that XDA is somewhat compressing the PNGs that the phone produces. I guess to avoid hitting filesize limitations.
I'll include Google Play Store links to everything I'm using below.
Note: I did not produce nor am I affiliated with any of the apps I link to below. I use (and if applicable, bought) them because I like them. That's all. I'm not shilling.
I've named the screenshots in a way that I think makes sense, but I'll go into more detail below.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Home Screen
Lots of things going on here (and I'll try to break it all down), but I've got a lot of software and tweaks powering a VERY minimalist desktop/home screen.
I'm using Nova Launcher Prime:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher
To replace LG Home, together with Whicons Icon Pack:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whicons.iconpack
And Fluid Navigation Gestures:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fb.fluid
To replace Stock Android 10's gestures. My live wallpaper is Fluid Simulation - Trippy Stress Reliever:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.paveldogreat.fluidsim
I like this one because by default it's pure black (great for OLED displays and contrasts perfectly with Whicons) but can be configured to display beautifully and brightly colored "fluids" as you tap and drag your finger(s) across the screen. When unlocking and/or returning to the home screen from an app, it'll also pop four or five random "fake taps" on the screen which quickly disperse. This first screenshot has captured the tail end of that dispersion (It's actually a lot prettier in motion than in this screen cap). I have it configured as my live wallpaper for Nova's home screen as well as my lock screen (which uses LG's stock Always On Display and Sidelight feature for notifications). Fluid Simulation has a ton of configuration options, including an option to constantly autoplay. But I would imagine that's a pretty big battery drain. Fluid Simulation's Google Play Store page probably has a video to check out, if you're interested. There's a free version too, but I'm not sure if that one can be configured as a live wallpaper.
And here's the best video I could find of this phone's Sidelight brief notifications feature in action, timestamped to show off the effect. You may watch the whole video to see how to configure it, if you wish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFNH6_mbCPk&feature=youtu.be&t=173
Back to the Home Screen for a second. You've got a standard dock with 4 icons on the bottom, and a fifth button to pull up all apps. (Swiping up from anywhere will also pull up all apps. I can also swipe down from anywhere to pull down the Notifications Shade. Great for one-handed use on a device with such a large screen!) Above that, in a vaguely pyramid shape, there are four folders called Google, Social, Fun, and Apps that contain my most commonly used apps within those four general categories. The folder icon is showing the first app in each category. If you tap on the folder, it'll launch that first app. If you swipe up from the icon, it'll open the folder and show you the rest of the folder's contents. This is Nova's version of Action Launcher's "Covers" feature, which I used to love before making the jump from Action to Nova.
Above that is my time/date/weather widget, provided by Chronus Information Widget:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dvtonder.chronus
And above that is the Google Search/Assistant bar as provided by Nova Launcher.
Edit - And above THAT, right at the bottom of the status bar, I have Energy Bar - A Pulsating Battery Indicator set up to, well, display my battery level as a percentage-based bar. Sadly, it's a hold-over from my LG V30 days, and this version of the app doesn't support the V60's front-camera notch. Not much we can do about that, but I still like the thing too much to eliminate it. It supports up to four colors/gradients at every 25% breakpoint IIRC, but I have the whole set up to be a straight white bar. I'm thinking of perhaps making the 75%, 50% and 25% breakpoints change to increasingly dimmer shades of gray, but I haven't managed to work up the energy (heh) to do so yet. That's funny. The Home Screen screen cap actually shows the full Energy Bar as if the notch wasn't there. On my actual device, in front of my face, the part of the Energy Bar that overlaps with the camera notch is simply sliced off. There's a gap right in the middle of it, representing perhaps 15% of the battery bar, give or take.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=you.in.spark.energy
NOTE: Nova Launcher, Fluid Simulation, and Fluid Navigation Gestures will NOT work on the dual-screen accessory. For now, it appears that the second screen is stuck using default LG software designed to match LG Home and other LG default software. If you plan on heavily customizing your home screen AND using the dual-screen accessory, just know that there will be a pretty significant disconnect between your experiences across the two screens commensurate with just how much you decide to customize your phone. Considering I've replaced the default launcher, navigation gestures system, and live wallpaper, the two screens clash horribly for me, and until/unless we can somehow manage to span these phone customizations across to the second screen, I've essentially retired my dual-screen accessory and just use the phone alone in a clear TPU case.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Notification Shade
Not much to say here. In Settings, LG comes with two default themes that you can select from, "LG" and "White." I'm using the darker "LG" theme.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Quick Tiles
Just an extension of the previous screenshot. Pull down the Notification Shade further to see additional Quick Tiles. There are plenty more available that I have hidden away due to lack of use.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Google Dialer
I replaced the LG Phone app with Google's Dialer app. I prefer it, even though LG and/or AT&T block me from using Google's stock Visual Voicemail app. I have AT&T's VVM app sideloaded, since it shows up on the Google Play Store as "not compatible" with my device. lol. It was a problem with when the V30+ was new as well, and it took a few months for AT&T to update their app to support the V30. Weird. And I didn't snap a photo of it, but I've also replaced the default SMS app with Google's Messages app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings Home
As mentioned, I have the theme in Settings set to "LG", which is the darker of the two default options that my phone shipped with.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings About
Just showing the current software version and security patch. The phone shipped with the Feb. 2020 security patch and received the Apr. 2020 security patch around two weeks later. Much faster than I would have expected for an LG phone. If they plan on matching last month's accomplishment, we should be getting the May 2020 security patch later this week. But I'm not holding my breath!
Some final notes. This is more or less a recreation of the final software environment I had on my beloved LG V30+ before I retired it. It was also using a custom dark/Material Design theme I purchased from the Google Play Store created specifically for that phone. I don't yet know if there are any available for the V60, nor do I recall if they require root. (My V30 was rooted, but running the stock LG OS). You need root (not available on this device) or know how to use Fastboot and ADB commands to grant Fluid Navigation Gestures the ability to hide the Navigation Bar. I do not believe that the phone will allow you to both disable Android 10's gestures AND hide the Nav Bar. It's either/or, unless you grant Fluid Navigation Gestures extra permissions via ADB.
For Nova Launcher Prime, I use two special integrations to add additional functionality. I use Sesame Shortcuts to create new shortcuts on the menu that shows up when you long-press on an app. This is available on the Google Play Store (link below). I also use Nova's Google Companion App to let the launcher display the Google Now/Discover/News Feed (whatever they call the thing now) when swiping right from the home screen. I believe this is a Pixel-like feature, and it requires downloading the integration straight from Nova's webpage, since they aren't allowed to offer it up on the Google Play Store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ninja.sesame.app.edge
https://help.teslacoilapps.com/nowcompanion
Whew! I guess that it! I wound up putting way more effort into this than I thought I would. I hope you find it useful. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about anything I've shown off here.
Mejilan said:
Not at all, mostly. I've got a batch of screens for you to examine, but I left out the one with my messaging app because it's full of personally identifiable information.
It also appears that XDA is somewhat compressing the PNGs that the phone produces. I guess to avoid hitting filesize limitations.
I'll include Google Play Store links to everything I'm using below.
Note: I did not produce nor am I affiliated with any of the apps I link to below. I use (and if applicable, bought) them because I like them. That's all. I'm not shilling.
I've named the screenshots in a way that I think makes sense, but I'll go into more detail below.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Home Screen
Lots of things going on here (and I'll try to break it all down), but I've got a lot of software and tweaks powering a VERY minimalist desktop/home screen.
I'm using Nova Launcher Prime:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher
To replace LG Home, together with Whicons Icon Pack:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whicons.iconpack
And Fluid Navigation Gestures:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fb.fluid
To replace Stock Android 10's gestures. My live wallpaper is Fluid Simulation - Trippy Stress Reliever:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.paveldogreat.fluidsim
I like this one because by default it's pure black (great for OLED displays and contrasts perfectly with Whicons) but can be configured to display beautifully and brightly colored "fluids" as you tap and drag your finger(s) across the screen. When unlocking and/or returning to the home screen from an app, it'll also pop four or five random "fake taps" on the screen which quickly disperse. This first screenshot has captured the tail end of that dispersion (It's actually a lot prettier in motion than in this screen cap). I have it configured as my live wallpaper for Nova's home screen as well as my lock screen (which uses LG's stock Always On Display and Sidelight feature for notifications). Fluid Simulation has a ton of configuration options, including an option to constantly autoplay. But I would imagine that's a pretty big battery drain. Fluid Simulation's Google Play Store page probably has a video to check out, if you're interested. There's a free version too, but I'm not sure if that one can be configured as a live wallpaper.
And here's the best video I could find of this phone's Sidelight brief notifications feature in action, timestamped to show off the effect. You may watch the whole video to see how to configure it, if you wish.
&feature=youtu.be&t=173
Back to the Home Screen for a second. You've got a standard dock with 4 icons on the bottom, and a fifth button to pull up all apps. (Swiping up from anywhere will also pull up all apps. I can also swipe down from anywhere to pull down the Notifications Shade. Great for one-handed use on a device with such a large screen!) Above that, in a vaguely pyramid shape, there are four folders called Google, Social, Fun, and Apps that contain my most commonly used apps within those four general categories. The folder icon is showing the first app in each category. If you tap on the folder, it'll launch that first app. If you swipe up from the icon, it'll open the folder and show you the rest of the folder's contents. This is Nova's version of Action Launcher's "Covers" feature, which I used to love before making the jump from Action to Nova.
Above that is my time/date/weather widget, provided by Chronus Information Widget:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dvtonder.chronus
And above that is the Google Search/Assistant bar as provided by Nova Launcher.
NOTE: Nova Launcher, Fluid Simulation, and Fluid Navigation Gestures will NOT work on the dual-screen accessory. For now, it appears that the second screen is stuck using default LG software designed to match LG Home and other LG default software. If you plan on heavily customizing your home screen AND using the dual-screen accessory, just know that there will be a pretty significant disconnect between your experiences across the two screens commensurate with just how much you decide to customize your phone. Considering I've replaced the default launcher, navigation gestures system, and live wallpaper, the two screens clash horribly for me, and until/unless we can somehow manage to span these phone customizations across to the second screen, I've essentially retired my dual-screen accessory and just use the phone alone in a clear TPU case.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Notification Shade
Not much to say here. In Settings, LG comes with two default themes that you can select from, "LG" and "White." I'm using the darker "LG" theme.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Quick Tiles
Just an extension of the previous screenshot. Pull down the Notification Shade further to see additional Quick Tiles. There are plenty more available that I have hidden away due to lack of use.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Google Dialer
I replaced the LG Phone app with Google's Dialer app. I prefer it, even though LG and/or AT&T block me from using Google's stock Visual Voicemail app. I have AT&T's VVM app sideloaded, since it shows up on the Google Play Store as "not compatible" with my device. lol. It was a problem with when the V30+ was new as well, and it took a few months for AT&T to update their app to support the V30. Weird. And I didn't snap a photo of it, but I've also replaced the default SMS app with Google's Messages app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings Home
As mentioned, I have the theme in Settings set to "LG", which is the darker of the two default options that my phone shipped with.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings About
Just showing the current software version and security patch. The phone shipped with the Feb. 2020 security patch and received the Apr. 2020 security patch around two weeks later. Much faster than I would have expected for an LG phone. If they plan on matching last month's accomplishment, we should be getting the May 2020 security patch later this week. But I'm not holding my breath!
Some final notes. This is more or less a recreation of the final software environment I had on my beloved LG V30+ before I retired it. It was also using a custom dark/Material Design theme I purchased from the Google Play Store created specifically for that phone. I don't yet know if there are any available for the V60, nor do I recall if they require root. (My V30 was rooted, but running the stock LG OS). You need root (not available on this device) or know how to use Fastboot and ADB commands to grant Fluid Navigation Gestures the ability to hide the Navigation Bar. I do not believe that the phone will allow you to both disable Android 10's gestures AND hide the Nav Bar. It's either/or, unless you grant Fluid Navigation Gestures extra permissions via ADB.
For Nova Launcher Prime, I use two special integrations to add additional functionality. I use Sesame Shortcuts to create new shortcuts on the menu that shows up when you long-press on an app. This is available on the Google Play Store (link below). I also use Nova's Google Companion App to let the launcher display the Google Now/Discover/News Feed (whatever they call the thing now) when swiping right from the home screen. I believe this is a Pixel-like feature, and it requires downloading the integration straight from Nova's webpage, since they aren't allowed to offer it up on the Google Play Store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ninja.sesame.app.edge
https://help.teslacoilapps.com/nowcompanion
Whew! I guess that it! I wound up putting way more effort into this than I thought I would. I hope you find it useful. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about anything I've shown off here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow thanks so much for such an I'm depth explanation! The software definitely looks much better then my old v20 and the way you have it set up looks great! I think I may be retiring my McLaren early lol.
lendawg said:
Wow thanks so much for such an I'm depth explanation! The software definitely looks much better then my old v20 and the way you have it set up looks great! I think I may be retiring my McLaren early lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. And you're welcome. I'm pretty fond of the look, and it does wonders for battery life. I wish I had an easy way of making a quick 30 (or so) second video of my software environment in action.
I edited my response above to include an app I forgot to mention. I've copied the relevant portion into this post.
Edit - And above THAT, right at the bottom of the status bar, I have Energy Bar - A Pulsating Battery Indicator set up to, well, display my battery level as a percentage-based bar. Sadly, it's a hold-over from my LG V30 days, and this version of the app doesn't support the V60's front-camera notch. Not much we can do about that, but I still like the thing too much to eliminate it. It supports up to four colors/gradients at every 25% breakpoint IIRC, but I have the whole set up to be a straight white bar. I'm thinking of perhaps making the 75%, 50% and 25% breakpoints change to increasingly dimmer shades of gray, but I haven't managed to work up the energy (heh) to do so yet. That's funny. The Home Screen screen cap actually shows the full Energy Bar as if the notch wasn't there. On my actual device, in front of my face, the part of the Energy Bar that overlaps with the camera notch is simply sliced off. There's a gap right in the middle of it, representing perhaps 15% of the battery bar, give or take.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=you.in.spark.energy
Mejilan said:
Not at all, mostly. I've got a batch of screens for you to examine, but I left out the one with my messaging app because it's full of personally identifiable information.
It also appears that XDA is somewhat compressing the PNGs that the phone produces. I guess to avoid hitting filesize limitations.
I'll include Google Play Store links to everything I'm using below.
Note: I did not produce nor am I affiliated with any of the apps I link to below. I use (and if applicable, bought) them because I like them. That's all. I'm not shilling.
I've named the screenshots in a way that I think makes sense, but I'll go into more detail below.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Home Screen
Lots of things going on here (and I'll try to break it all down), but I've got a lot of software and tweaks powering a VERY minimalist desktop/home screen.
I'm using Nova Launcher Prime:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslacoilsw.launcher
To replace LG Home, together with Whicons Icon Pack:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whicons.iconpack
And Fluid Navigation Gestures:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fb.fluid
To replace Stock Android 10's gestures. My live wallpaper is Fluid Simulation - Trippy Stress Reliever:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.paveldogreat.fluidsim
I like this one because by default it's pure black (great for OLED displays and contrasts perfectly with Whicons) but can be configured to display beautifully and brightly colored "fluids" as you tap and drag your finger(s) across the screen. When unlocking and/or returning to the home screen from an app, it'll also pop four or five random "fake taps" on the screen which quickly disperse. This first screenshot has captured the tail end of that dispersion (It's actually a lot prettier in motion than in this screen cap). I have it configured as my live wallpaper for Nova's home screen as well as my lock screen (which uses LG's stock Always On Display and Sidelight feature for notifications). Fluid Simulation has a ton of configuration options, including an option to constantly autoplay. But I would imagine that's a pretty big battery drain. Fluid Simulation's Google Play Store page probably has a video to check out, if you're interested. There's a free version too, but I'm not sure if that one can be configured as a live wallpaper.
And here's the best video I could find of this phone's Sidelight brief notifications feature in action, timestamped to show off the effect. You may watch the whole video to see how to configure it, if you wish.
&feature=youtu.be&t=173
Back to the Home Screen for a second. You've got a standard dock with 4 icons on the bottom, and a fifth button to pull up all apps. (Swiping up from anywhere will also pull up all apps. I can also swipe down from anywhere to pull down the Notifications Shade. Great for one-handed use on a device with such a large screen!) Above that, in a vaguely pyramid shape, there are four folders called Google, Social, Fun, and Apps that contain my most commonly used apps within those four general categories. The folder icon is showing the first app in each category. If you tap on the folder, it'll launch that first app. If you swipe up from the icon, it'll open the folder and show you the rest of the folder's contents. This is Nova's version of Action Launcher's "Covers" feature, which I used to love before making the jump from Action to Nova.
Above that is my time/date/weather widget, provided by Chronus Information Widget:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dvtonder.chronus
And above that is the Google Search/Assistant bar as provided by Nova Launcher.
Edit - And above THAT, right at the bottom of the status bar, I have Energy Bar - A Pulsating Battery Indicator set up to, well, display my battery level as a percentage-based bar. Sadly, it's a hold-over from my LG V30 days, and this version of the app doesn't support the V60's front-camera notch. Not much we can do about that, but I still like the thing too much to eliminate it. It supports up to four colors/gradients at every 25% breakpoint IIRC, but I have the whole set up to be a straight white bar. I'm thinking of perhaps making the 75%, 50% and 25% breakpoints change to increasingly dimmer shades of gray, but I haven't managed to work up the energy (heh) to do so yet. That's funny. The Home Screen screen cap actually shows the full Energy Bar as if the notch wasn't there. On my actual device, in front of my face, the part of the Energy Bar that overlaps with the camera notch is simply sliced off. There's a gap right in the middle of it, representing perhaps 15% of the battery bar, give or take.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=you.in.spark.energy
NOTE: Nova Launcher, Fluid Simulation, and Fluid Navigation Gestures will NOT work on the dual-screen accessory. For now, it appears that the second screen is stuck using default LG software designed to match LG Home and other LG default software. If you plan on heavily customizing your home screen AND using the dual-screen accessory, just know that there will be a pretty significant disconnect between your experiences across the two screens commensurate with just how much you decide to customize your phone. Considering I've replaced the default launcher, navigation gestures system, and live wallpaper, the two screens clash horribly for me, and until/unless we can somehow manage to span these phone customizations across to the second screen, I've essentially retired my dual-screen accessory and just use the phone alone in a clear TPU case.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Notification Shade
Not much to say here. In Settings, LG comes with two default themes that you can select from, "LG" and "White." I'm using the darker "LG" theme.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Quick Tiles
Just an extension of the previous screenshot. Pull down the Notification Shade further to see additional Quick Tiles. There are plenty more available that I have hidden away due to lack of use.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Google Dialer
I replaced the LG Phone app with Google's Dialer app. I prefer it, even though LG and/or AT&T block me from using Google's stock Visual Voicemail app. I have AT&T's VVM app sideloaded, since it shows up on the Google Play Store as "not compatible" with my device. lol. It was a problem with when the V30+ was new as well, and it took a few months for AT&T to update their app to support the V30. Weird. And I didn't snap a photo of it, but I've also replaced the default SMS app with Google's Messages app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.dialer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings Home
As mentioned, I have the theme in Settings set to "LG", which is the darker of the two default options that my phone shipped with.
Screenshot: LG V60 5G - Settings About
Just showing the current software version and security patch. The phone shipped with the Feb. 2020 security patch and received the Apr. 2020 security patch around two weeks later. Much faster than I would have expected for an LG phone. If they plan on matching last month's accomplishment, we should be getting the May 2020 security patch later this week. But I'm not holding my breath!
Some final notes. This is more or less a recreation of the final software environment I had on my beloved LG V30+ before I retired it. It was also using a custom dark/Material Design theme I purchased from the Google Play Store created specifically for that phone. I don't yet know if there are any available for the V60, nor do I recall if they require root. (My V30 was rooted, but running the stock LG OS). You need root (not available on this device) or know how to use Fastboot and ADB commands to grant Fluid Navigation Gestures the ability to hide the Navigation Bar. I do not believe that the phone will allow you to both disable Android 10's gestures AND hide the Nav Bar. It's either/or, unless you grant Fluid Navigation Gestures extra permissions via ADB.
For Nova Launcher Prime, I use two special integrations to add additional functionality. I use Sesame Shortcuts to create new shortcuts on the menu that shows up when you long-press on an app. This is available on the Google Play Store (link below). I also use Nova's Google Companion App to let the launcher display the Google Now/Discover/News Feed (whatever they call the thing now) when swiping right from the home screen. I believe this is a Pixel-like feature, and it requires downloading the integration straight from Nova's webpage, since they aren't allowed to offer it up on the Google Play Store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ninja.sesame.app.edge
https://help.teslacoilapps.com/nowcompanion
Whew! I guess that it! I wound up putting way more effort into this than I thought I would. I hope you find it useful. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about anything I've shown off here.
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Great write up! One question, doesn't Nova break multiwindow and pop out window functionality? When I used Nova, if I use the multiwindow feature, then exit out of it, it completely breaks the recent apps functionality
Ryano89 said:
Great write up! One question, doesn't Nova break multiwindow and pop out window functionality? When I used Nova, if I use the multiwindow feature, then exit out of it, it completely breaks the recent apps functionality
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Thanks! And nope! I tested this out a few weeks ago in another thread and had no issues with it.
But I'll test it again. Give me a minute...
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Still with me?
I just set up Chrome as a Pop-Up window, and Youtube as a Multi-Window, then made Chrome as a second Multi-Window.
Then I used Fluid Navigation Gestures to pull up Recents (swipe up from the bottom/middle of the screen and hold it for a second, before releasing), and had no issues closing everything out.
Now, when I repeat the gesture to pull up Recents again, it just says "No recent items" as it should.
Edit - I should probably clarify that I use FNG as my main replacement for Android 10's stock gestures. I've been using FNG since my Android 8-equipped V30+, fell in love with it, prefer it to Google's gestures, and made sure I could continue to use it on this phone. I only use two of Nova's gestures. Swipe down from anywhere to pull down the Notification Shade (great for one-handed use where I can't reach the status bar with one hand) and swipe up from anywhere to pull up the All Apps screen. But for everything else, I use FNG.
Mejilan said:
Thanks! And nope! I tested this out a few weeks ago in another thread and had no issues with it.
But I'll test it again. Give me a minute...
...
...
...
Still with me?
I just set up Chrome as a Pop-Up window, and Youtube as a Multi-Window, then made Chrome as a second Multi-Window.
Then I used Fluid Navigation Gestures to pull up Recents (swipe up from the bottom/middle of the screen and hold it for a second, before releasing), and had no issues closing everything out.
Now, when I repeat the gesture to pull up Recents again, it just says "No recent items" as it should.
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I figured out that it only does it if you use the stock gestures. Once I installed fluid gestures and ran the adb command the problem went away. Now I can use Nova again. Thank you
Ryano89 said:
I figured out that it only does it if you use the stock gestures. Once I installed fluid gestures and ran the adb command the problem went away. Now I can use Nova again. Thank you
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Fantastic. I love Nova. And my desire to play with navigation gestures on my V30 (when I knew we'd never get them officially) led me to research some third-party options.
FNG impressed me the most, and I've been using it, I don't know, probably close to two years now? To be honest, I never even gave the stock Android 10 gestures a try.
I immediately disabled them, installed FNG, did the ADB thing to hide the Nav Bar, and never looked back.
The little I've read of the stock gesture system that was introduced with Android 10... well, let's just say I wasn't exactly climbing out of my chair in anticipation of trying them out.
Not after having grown used to FNG over the years. I just love the LOOK of FNG, too. I've got the visual effect maxed out in Settings.
Is there much bloatware on the TMobile variant? Of so can you disable it?
lendawg said:
Is there much bloatware on the TMobile variant? Of so can you disable it?
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There were quite a few preinstalled games and crap. Almost all of which can be uninstalled or disabled