Develop Bugs

Possible to leave screen brightness on when charging?

When in the car, I would like my screen to stay on when charging.
I found a way to do this by going to Settings -> Applications -> Development -> Stay Awake
However the screen may stay on, but it still dims after X minutes (depending on the Time-out settings) so i cant see a thing on my phone during daytime.
I can ofcourse set the time-out to 30 minutes, but i dont want my screen to stay on full brightness for 30 mins when its NOT charging!
Anyone got an idea?
Thanks!

Setting profiles mate. You can set different profiles for when it is charging, including keeping the screen on, and when you unplug it, it goes back to normal. I've been using it for quite a while and it works spot on
Cheers
Ian
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

Sorry I'm a bit of a Droid newb. On my old 6,5 winmo there was a slider for brightness on battery and brightness on charge.
Is this profile setting stashed within the settings somewhere or is it an app?
Thanks for your help

Another way of doing this is to activate car dock mode when you're in the car. There are some apps that allow you to manually activate various dock modes, and I think when in car dock mode the screen stays on all the time at full brightness.
The app I used is called 'dock simulator' or something like that on the market, and it's free.

Sweet thanks. Any idea how to lose the logo?

Open settings, applications, development, and tick always on when charging, nice and easy

cgrec92 said:
Open settings, applications, development, and tick always on when charging, nice and easy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea but as already said in post 1 the screen dims.
found a problem with the dock app where it puts calls out on the loudspeaker, and you get the icon.... damn!

you can always download power manager from the market and set to never dim/timeout

Yes but then it eats the battery

[email protected] said:
Yes but then it eats the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok seriously what's wrong with you you've started a thread cos ur screen dims, get use to it! Of course if you keep your screen on your battery will die quick you can't have everything

I agree this is annoying, when you have the phone plugged into the charger it would be great if the screen didn't dim, happens sometimes when I'm reading ebooks on my phone, don't want to change the dim settings as I want the screen timeout to kick in when not plugged into the charger.

Is there any app that wont let the cpu go to sleep when the screen is turned off and wifi is running with file transfer? cuz no matter which program i try. Transfer speed always slows down to 40% once monitor off. I think the cpu is downclocked.

=cgrec92;6887568]Ok seriously what's wrong with you you've started a thread cos ur screen dims, get use to it! Of course if you keep your screen on your battery will die quick you can't have everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I thought this was a forum to help people over come issues. looks like you may be in the right place.
1. I never started the thread
2. the initial thread was started by some who has the same problem as me. This means I am not the only one with the problem and maybe it's worth solving
3. The thread was started because on power, in the car the screen dims and I want it bright as I can't see it in the sun. I want an app or a setting so when the device detects its on power it does not dim the screen.
quote from post 1
"I can of course set the time-out to 30 minutes, but i don't want my screen to stay on full brightness for 30 mins when its NOT charging!"
I know this is possible because dock simulator does this but has unwanted side effects ( phone on loudspeaker ) I know I could just fix the brightness on every visit to the car but this is a pain in the ass and I will forget to disable it and flatten my battery.
I could do this on win mo 6.5 and android is a much more flexible operating system.
Sorry if this post covered old ground but I found your last post rather provoking and I would prefer if you directed similar posts, elsewhere.
Thanks to everyone else who has guided in the right direction so far..

I have the same problem and when I asked before I got the same (none) answers.
It is one of the very few flaws I have with Android.
On WiMo I could leave the browser with the traffic site active and VISIBLE in my car charger and I could hit refresh now with android I have to touch the screen to activate the backlight and then refresh the site if I want an update.
I too just want the backlight to stay on ONLY when the phone is on external power, it can't be that hard and it shouldn't involve installing elaborate programs that consume more of the little precious memory I have left (until FroYo ...)

try an app called 'Caffine' from the marketplace its free and does the job perfectly

Thanks I'll give it a try.

[MOD] Notification led through OLED screen

I was thinking that since the OLED screen does not use any backlight, lighting up a few pixels just to form a little led blinking would not tax too much the battery.
I don't know, however, whether waking-up the phone entails significant increase in battery usage. A middle solution would be to wake it every 2 minutes for 10 seconds in order to display the notification and the let it sleep again.
What do you think?

Sounds good good but im not to sure about that... there was another post about having the illuminating back button flash, maybe both menu and back buttons.. alternating between each one with a speed setting?

i love the idea, but the screen is 'off' for a reason...
first of all i don't know if oled screens can 'burn' (meaning the pixels are still showing when they are suppost to be 'off', because they have been 'on' to long)
Also, if it means the chips that control the screen have to be active instead of inactive, your battery drain may be kinda big....

I don't know that OLED would have burn-in (that's more a CRT thing), but they might well burn out - they do have a finite lifespan.
But you're probably right, it would likely mean that the phone couldn't completely go to sleep.

Mithent said:
I don't know that OLED would have burn-in (that's more a CRT thing), but they might well burn out - they do have a finite lifespan.
But you're probably right, it would likely mean that the phone couldn't completely go to sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, in such a case we could rotate randomly the pixels to be lit up (as in real old time screensavers).
With regard to out of sleep battery consumption you have a point. Maybe we could just wake it up for a few seconds and then have it sleep again. In any case if we assume that the major battery draw is the typically screen, then such an arrangement might prove to be acceptable - at least in some cases.

Why not use the backlight on the menu and back button? They shouldn't use too much power or get burned?

Keychar said:
Why not use the backlight on the menu and back button? They shouldn't use too much power or get burned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - I agree this is a very good alternative - yet I do not know how bright these leds are.
Nevertheless, I noticed that the screen is able to display a big animated icon of the battery charging even when the phone is off! (I just received it and I put it in the charger). Thus, I assume there is some kind of control of what the display shows without having to wake-up the system (at least the whole of it).
If this is the case, we could have some led like notification even when the android is in sleep!!

what you say is not necessarily true.. that icon is when the phone is off. which does not translate to being able to display something on a sleeping phone when it is on.. two totaly different issues ..

lgkahn said:
what you say is not necessarily true.. that icon is when the phone is off. which does not translate to being able to display something on a sleeping phone when it is on.. two totaly different issues ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. I will check whether it is displayed when the phone is on sleep (still off and charging). It implies, however, that the screen can be controlled (also?) independently of the OS.
(all in all the touch buttons respond / light up when touched though the phone is off and charging).

Go guys!
I'm waiting this modification to buy this phone!
I belong to you!

Up !
Very funny topic one year later !
NoLED, BLN ...
The community is very powerfull !
Thank you all

Guys, just search NoLed on market and it's already made ^^. However, following neldar thread on BLN, NoLed use about 10% more battery per hour than off screen. BLN which is found in most of the kernel ( Except damianGTO one ) use about 1% more battery per hour and turn on the backlight of the touch key. Hope this will help you

Showing the time even when the phone is off like on the nokia lumia?

I was told that amoled displays have no problem (and doesn't take much energy) to show for example the time even when the phone is on stanbdy.
Would be pretty cool to have all black screen and just the time in white when the phone is on standby.
Is there something that does that already?

Fking1 said:
I was told that amoled displays have no problem (and doesn't take much energy) to show for example the time even when the phone is on stanbdy.
Would be pretty cool to have all black screen and just the time in white when the phone is on standby.
Is there something that does that already?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my SGS2 I use to use an app called noled free from market. It used to display the time on my dimmed lock screen but only when I got a notification. You could download it and just see if the option is there to show the clock all the time. Hope this helps a bit

Yes it does but only on dimmed display, i want something to show it when the display is off. From what i understood amoled can light only certain pixels up. And that way show the time on turned off display using power just for the pixels it uses to show the time.

Fking1 said:
Yes it does but only on dimmed display, i want something to show it when the display is off. From what i understood amoled can light only certain pixels up. And that way show the time on turned off display using power just for the pixels it uses to show the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, if you get it sorted would you mind sharing what you did? I would like that feature too.

Sure
........

Would appreciate some more input on that

Would love this....I am gonna go home and tinker with NoLED today...

You can do this with NoLEd.
Just go through the options.
Remember to enable NoLed from: settings/Accessibility

My only thing is it keeps the soft buttons on when it is displaying the time

works for me in 'test' mode, but outside that, no luck.
and yes in the test mode, soft keys are still shown ...

versd said:
works for me in 'test' mode, but outside that, no luck.
and yes in the test mode, soft keys are still shown ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to accessibility and turn it on

Doesn't the way noled keeps the screen dimmed kills your battery super fast?

True "always-on" ambient mode available on Moto 360 with the new LCA44B update

True "always-on" ambient mode available on Moto 360 with the new LCA44B update
Try this:
- Enable Ambient Mode on the watch
- Disable "Tilt to wake screen" setting in the Android Wear app
The screen will now stay on indefinitely, just like a regular watch. Until now, the Ambient Mode would always turn the screen off after a few seconds and there was no true "always-on" mode available.
PS: Battery drain seems to be the same as before.

Interesting battery life claim. did you get to verify it for more then 1 day?

HTML:
Cst79 said:
Try this:
- Enable Ambient Mode on the watch
- Disable "Tilt to wake screen" setting in the Android Wear app
The screen will now stay on indefinitely, just like a regular watch. Until now, the Ambient Mode would always turn the screen off after a few seconds and there was no true "always-on" mode available.
PS: Battery drain seems to be the same as before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost just like a regular watch.. Screen stays on but gets dimmed after a few seconds. At least: mine does.

So it stays on even with the watch down by your side? Pretty sure ambient mode kept the screen on before any time the watch was nearly level (like when looking at it).
Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk

doublej713 said:
So it stays on even with the watch down by your side? Pretty sure ambient mode kept the screen on before any time the watch was nearly level (like when looking at it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the watch always stays on in all positions.

Cst79 said:
Yes, the watch always stays on in all positions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... but dimmed after 10 seconds..

pietrucci said:
... but dimmed after 10 seconds..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand this. Of course the screen will be dimmed when always on, this is what happens for all smartwatches and even all the laptops by default when not actively in use. This is a sane thing to do. I wouldn't want my watch to glow in the dark when I'm walking.
Plus, are you able to tell the time when looking at your regular watch in the dark ? No. You have to press a light button (if present; if not, you are out of luck). With the Moto 360 you are able to see the information without pressing any button, even in the dark.
The purpose of the always-on mode is to have access to information with no delay at all times, and that's what it does.

Cst79 said:
I don't understand this. Of course the screen will be dimmed when always on, this is what happens for all smartwatches and even all the laptops by default when not actively in use. This is a sane thing to do. I wouldn't want my watch to glow in the dark when I'm walking.
Plus, are you able to tell the time when looking at your regular watch in the dark ? No. You have to press a light button (if present; if not, you are out of luck). With the Moto 360 you are able to see the information without pressing any button, even in the dark.
The purpose of the always-on mode is to have access to information with no delay at all times, and that's what it does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was referring to your comment "like a regular watch". A regular watch always has a clear display, has it?.
I monitored my battery usage. From 6Am till 2pm my usase was 33%, so about 4% per hour. After switching to ambient mode from 2pm till 7pm my usage was 54% so about 11% per hour. Now 9pm my watch is empty. Normally by this time my battery still is at 40%.
Could be coincidence (?)
But still thanks for your tip.

pietrucci said:
I monitored my battery usage. From 6Am till 2pm my usase was 33%, so about 4% per hour. After switching to ambient mode from 2pm till 7pm my usage was 54% so about 11% per hour. Now 9pm my watch is empty. Normally by this time my battery still is at 40%. Could be coincidence (?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it's not coincidence. Ambient mode drains battery faster, everyone knows this, the watch also tells you this when turning on the ambient mode. When I said the battery drain seems to be the same, I referred to the drain with the new "always-on" ambient mode versus the drain with the "old" ambient mode from before the update, when the screen still turned off after a few seconds but was more sensitive to movements than the regular mode.

i don't think i'll be using ambient mode with the moto360... so this new "feature" is useless to me (or those who need their watch to last a FULL DAY)

ShadowVlican said:
i don't think i'll be using ambient mode with the moto360... so this new "feature" is useless to me (or those who need their watch to last a FULL DAY)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you consider a full day a working day, it lasts a full day without any problem. Mine lasts 16 hours with Ambient Mode on and I get many email and chat notifications. It doesn't last 24 hours but anything between 16 and 36 is useless because the watch would die on you the next day in case you miss a night's charge.

With WatchMaker, you can control how the screen looks while dimmed, including keeping it on full brightness (maybe just removing the second hand so it doesn't have to refresh so much), but I agree this would not be a great option for the 360...

All Android Wear devices have always done with it seems this update does for the 360.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Darnell_Chat_TN said:
All Android Wear devices have always done with it seems this update does for the 360.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But none looked so good in the process

I'm considering using ambient mode but I'm not so sure. I'm using tilt to wake the device up. I heard battery life is similar to tilt to wake anyway when comparing tilt to wake and ambient mode together.
Sent from my trltetmo using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------
Has anyone confirmed ambient mode does noticeably have more of a battery impact?
Sent from my trltetmo using Tapatalk

MisterCoolBeans said:
Has anyone confirmed ambient mode does noticeably have more of a battery impact?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After testing the Ambient ON + Tilt OFF (true always-on) mode for about 3-4 days with varius settings, I came to the conclusion that this mode drains battery significantly more than Ambient ON + Tilt ON,
Ambient ON + Tilt OFF lasts around 12 hours.
Ambient ON + Tilt ON lasts around 16 hours.
Ambient OFF + Tilt ON can last around 22-24 hours.
However, the always-on mode improves the functionality and experience so much that I wouldn't consider switching back, I prefer to just live with the shorter battery life.
I feel that there can be so many improvements that could be made regarding the screen, for energy saving purposes, but Google and Motorola just don't think of them. For example, notifications wake up the screen but there could be an option to disable this and only wake up the screen when tapping or pressing the button.

Cst79 said:
After testing the Ambient ON + Tilt OFF (true always-on) mode for about 3-4 days with varius settings, I came to the conclusion that this mode drains battery significantly more than Ambient ON + Tilt ON,
Ambient ON + Tilt OFF lasts around 12 hours.
Ambient ON + Tilt ON lasts around 16 hours.
Ambient OFF + Tilt ON can last around 22-24 hours.
However, the always-on mode improves the functionality and experience so much that I wouldn't consider switching back, I prefer to just live with the shorter battery life.
I feel that there can be so many improvements that could be made regarding the screen, for energy saving purposes, but Google and Motorola just don't think of them. For example, notifications wake up the screen but there could be an option to disable this and only wake up the screen when tapping or pressing the button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange why do you think Ambient ON + Tilt ON gives out more battery life than with Tilt OFF?
Sent from my trltetmo using Tapatalk

MisterCoolBeans said:
That's strange why do you think Ambient ON + Tilt ON gives out more battery life than with Tilt OFF?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's normal, the Ambient ON + Tilt OFF keeps the screen on all the time, while Ambient ON + Tilt ON behaves like the old ambient mode, switching off the screen most of the time, just being more sensitive when you move your hand.

just so im using this right..
if i have ambient on and tilt OFF then the only way to WAKE the watch is to tap the screen?
the watch is dim and its great but to wake it, i have to tap the screen..
so is that how this setup works (ambient on tilt OFF)?

marctronixx said:
just so im using this right..
if i have ambient on and tilt OFF then the only way to WAKE the watch is to tap the screen?
the watch is dim and its great but to wake it, i have to tap the screen..
so is that how this setup works (ambient on tilt OFF)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.

Ambient Mode/Always On Behavior?

Can anyone help confirm if they see this behavior with their watch? I have always-on screen set to ON in the Android Wear app. (Tilt to wake and gestures are both OFF.) I have noticed that even on the stock Moon Phase face, if I don't touch the face for a while, the watch goes to sleep. By that I mean, the face is completely black, as if I turned off the always-on screen option.
I haven't determined yet if it's always after a specific amount of time. Seems to be at least 30 min, maybe an hour.
Is this normal behavior? I was under the impression that always on means always on, And that time in dim mode would always show.

You are correct.
bailyc said:
Can anyone help confirm if they see this behavior with their watch? I have always-on screen set to ON in the Android Wear app. (Tilt to wake and gestures are both OFF.) I have noticed that even on the stock Moon Phase face, if I don't touch the face for a while, the watch goes to sleep. By that I mean, the face is completely black, as if I turned off the always-on screen option.
I haven't determined yet if it's always after a specific amount of time. Seems to be at least 30 min, maybe an hour.
Is this normal behavior? I was under the impression that always on means always on, And that time in dim mode would always show.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, always on means always on, the only time the watch should sleep, is when you have it on the charger. You may have a bad install or worst case scenario a bad watch.

vvveith said:
You are correct, always on means always on, the only time to watch should sleep, is when you have it on the charger. You may have a bad install or worst case scenario a bad watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for confirming! I definitely have something wrong, then. I've factory reset several times and even taken off most apps, and it still happens. Looks like it might be the watch.

I have similar problem - always ON, gestures off, but after about 10 seconds it changes watchface to some dark/black one.

I believe the Always on Feature is not for having your watch face on all the time, but rather it dims your watch face but you still can tell the time with just the darker screen. It's not going to keep your watch face fully lit if that option is turned on.

Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.

rbs_uk said:
Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the folks that make the WatchMaker faces either just dim the face, or they make a dimmed mode face that looks like it has phosphorous markings. I personally make custom dimmed modes. My favorite method is to make a blood red version of the face with just the essential features. The moon phase ones can look BAD ASS with the blood red moon phase on a pure black background. This is the only watch I have ever actually gotten comments on in public. When people see it they notice that it ain't no normal watch, and it ain't no Apple watch.

rbs_uk said:
Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the battery life would just be too short if you left the face on all the time, all the time meaning the watch never went into dim mode. Just run tilt on, and don't wear the watch to loose. Especially at night if the watch never dimmed that would get annoying as hell it's so bright.

'god guys, really????
rbs_uk said:
I have similar problem - always ON, gestures off, but after about 10 seconds it changes watchface to some dark/black one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on guys you do understand ambient mode right? When the main screen of the watch face shuts down it goes into ambient mode, which is simply black and white. Just like any pure android device. (i.e. Nexus 6) If you do not understand of know of this behaviour please stop posting and do some research. 'The watch is acting as it is suppose to in Android Wear. Just like notifications on a Nexus device. Google is your friend.
So is YouTube and understanding the android system as of today. Come on, get a clue.

Yeah I think if it was on all the time you'd be lucky to get even a few hours of battery life out of it....

falcon26 said:
Yeah I think if it was on all the time you'd be lucky to get even a few hours of battery life out of it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I know what I personally thought was confusing is that "always on" isn't actually always on when charging. When on the charger, display turns off completely after a time. That's different behavior from what I'm used to based on the Moto X, which has AMOLED and still displayed ambient information on the screen when charging/docked. I find it a little odd that there is no built-in charging/docked display that uses the ambient (dimmed) display mode.
But to be sure, my watch definitely had something wrong with it. I just received a replacement unit yesterday, so I'll be testing it out today to see if it's able to stay dimmed as it should when off the charger.

Be attencion with "always on" mode, this is screen after four days (contrast on level 3).

I've had the "Ranger" watch face on with a full colour ambient mode and not experiencing any burn-in. Every minute it shifts the image somewhat in order to reduce any burn in effect. See https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.smartwatchface.watch.face.ranger.military .

Just to cease any confusion. Always On means the screen is always on. After a few seconds, the screen will dim and go into a black/white ambient mode to reserve power.
The OP says his screen is turning completely off. So it seems there is a problem there. Every Watch face has a different ambient mode. Perhaps the one you are using has a broken ambient mode and not displaying data.
I found the best way to make a watch face is to build one yourself. Purje Black is awesome for this (truely amazing app). I am not going to do a full review but the transition between full on and ambient mode is animated, looks fantastic, has lots of Hotspots to launch various apps like weather, Google Fit data, etc, and displays it in a awesome format.
But the best feature is that you can customize the ambient mode separately from the actual face. They also support community made themes, so just browse their Google Plus theme page, find one you like, customize it to how you want it and save it.
Just be careful with your AMOLED screen that you don't have any information that is static in ambient mode, like numbers, hour marks, etc. I prefer a Digital clock/Calendar date on my Amoled, but have a nice looking analog with various information on my full face.

The device going to sleep is normal. It will go from full on to ambient mode and from there if the watch isn't moved for 30 minutes it will shut the screen off. See below from Google.
"You can set the display to show the time or turn off completely when you're not using the watch. If set to turn off, the screen will turn on when you turn your wrist or touch the screen.*
Tip: Letting your screen turn off when you're not using the watch will help improve battery life. If the watch hasn't moved for 30 minutes, the screen will turn off even if you have it set to remain always on. To wake your watch, tilt it or press the power button."
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Hi
I'm trying to find an App for my watch that will keep the Watchface in Ambient mode for as long as i like (more than 24Hrs) even when it's not on my hand (not being moved).
Any ideas would be appretiated.

ausi said:
Hi
I'm trying to find an App for my watch that will keep the Watchface in Ambient mode for as long as i like (more than 24Hrs) even when it's not on my hand (not being moved).
Any ideas would be appretiated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off between the battery hit and possible screen damage I wouldn't recommend that. But I haven't seen any faces or apps that would accomplish this. And since that feature is inherent to wear it would probably take root to accomplish it anyway.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

crawrj said:
First off between the battery hit and possible screen damage I wouldn't recommend that. But I haven't seen any faces or apps that would accomplish this. And since that feature is inherent to wear it would probably take root to accomplish it anyway.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i have root..........but still cannot find an App to do this, i still would like to try.

Ho about limiting brightness to lower level than level 1. While I,m not using watch, just before it goes to ambient, I can See brightness dimmed to lower than minimum and after, ambient turns on, whitch is brighter. What can i do to use lowest levels all the time?

Stay Lit Wear
In case you haven't found it yet, search Google Play for "Stay Lit Wear."