Develop Bugs

[Q] The light sensor dont work

Hi,
I noticed that the light sensor dont work and there isnt even a setting for this.
What i know:
in android version 2.3.5 the sensor works. there is a setting for automatic light intensity. but it doesnt works right -> the light sensor control just goes to lower light intensity, that means if you go for example in a dark room, the light goes down, but when you go then in a clear room the light intensity doesnt goes up.
since android version 2.3.6 there isnt even a setting for automatic intensity -> the light sensor is completly disabled.
What it means:
it should be just a software problem.
What i wanted to ask:
does the light sensor works in any custom roms? or does it works on cm9 (i cant ask in this thread, because i dont have the permissions, it would be fine if someone can ask arcor for that)? or is there some other solution?
bye, thanks and sorry for my english.

See this post/thread.....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=21514657
Unfortunately, we concluded....
there is no light sensor in GT-i8150
Sent from my SGW GT-I8150 using Tapatalk!!

irishpancake said:
See this post/thread.....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=21514657
Unfortunately, we concluded....
there is no light sensor in GT-i8150
Sent from my SGW GT-I8150 using Tapatalk!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.android-hilfe.de/samsung...playhelligkeit-automatisch-geregelt-wird.html
its in german. someone says there (rom2007) if he run with his fingers about the sensor the light goes down. also here http://www.android-hilfe.de/samsung...510-samsung-galaxy-w-kinderkrankheiten-3.html some other guys says the same (also in german).
that means the samsung galaxy w should have a light sensor. also some guys from the support approve this. i can be wrong but how do you explain this?
usermanual: i think the first usermanual in your thread is maybe the usermanual from android 2.3.5 and the other from 2.3.6?

Fensterbank said:
http://www.android-hilfe.de/samsung...playhelligkeit-automatisch-geregelt-wird.html
its in german. someone says there (rom2007) if he run with his fingers about the sensor the light goes down. also here http://www.android-hilfe.de/samsung...510-samsung-galaxy-w-kinderkrankheiten-3.html some other guys says the same (also in german).
that means the samsung galaxy w should have a light sensor. also some guys from the support approve this. i can be wrong but how do you explain this?
usermanual: i think the first usermanual in your thread is maybe the usermanual from android 2.3.5 and the other from 2.3.6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is proximity sensor instead of light sensor. It will only dim the display rather than adjust the brightness.

Don't worry dude there's nothing wrong with your phone. It doesn't work on my phone either. Well just one of those things I don't understand. How much does it cost to include this kind of thing? Why don't we have led light for notifications along with light sensor? Sometimes I just don't understand you Samsung :-D
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA

MAMUTHcz said:
Don't worry dude there's nothing wrong with your phone. It doesn't work on my phone either. Well just one of those things I don't understand. How much does it cost to include this kind of thing? Why don't we have led light for notifications along with light sensor? Sometimes I just don't understand you Samsung :-D
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Light sensor is not a crucial component in a hp device anyway. It is not there, we just learn to have a good habit of adjusting brightness.
The reasonable price of SGW is also an obvious reason saying why all those things are not included. It is certainly worth having good performance rather than more sensors.

MAMUTHcz said:
Don't worry dude there's nothing wrong with your phone. It doesn't work on my phone either. Well just one of those things I don't understand. How much does it cost to include this kind of thing? Why don't we have led light for notifications along with light sensor? Sometimes I just don't understand you Samsung :-D
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think with over $5 billion in profit,it becomes hard to care about customers and what they want.However,I'm pretty sure if they continue like this,Sammy will soon decline and learn the value of good customer care.
Sent from my Wonder

Yes that should be right. I thought we could have a special gp2a sensor where is a light and a proximity sensor in one lol...
But in my opinion its really ***** that in a lot of online shops they say that there is a light sensor and even samsung says that there is a light sensor.
Gesendet von meinem GT-I8150 mit Tapatalk

Fensterbank said:
Yes that should be right. I thought we could have a special gp2a sensor where is a light and a proximity sensor in one lol...
But in my opinion its really ***** that in a lot of online shops they say that there is a light sensor and even samsung says that there is a light sensor.
Gesendet von meinem GT-I8150 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But Samsung Manual does not say there is light sensor....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21648526&postcount=23
Sent from my SGW GT-I8150 using Tapatalk!!

Even the latest htc one X doesn't come with light sensor. That might have reason for it. Mayb size of the sensor or whatever.

yewsiong said:
Even the latest htc one X doesn't come with light sensor. That might have reason for it. Mayb size of the sensor or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in spec sheets the htx one x has a light sensor.
but however, I sent a e-mail to samsung and I expect the same wrong answers, but maybe I get a surprising one.

Business rulezzzz
Who will buy s2 if W will have 1G ram and light sensor and amoled?
In price light sensor and more RAM is a few dollars in price of the device but that businness rulezzz... Would not be suprised that light is off only by software and detuned too.
Odesláno z mého GT-I8150 pomocí Tapatalk

i can understand less RAM slower CPU and worse built quality...after all this is a mid range phone with quite reasonable asking price. Heck, I can even live without LED notification...however absent light sensor is beyond my understanding...this cheap piece of hardware is even on much cheaper phones (for example my girlfriend's wildfire s). This has nothing to do with Samsung trying to lower the price...it's just stupidity. Don't get me wrong, I love my Wonder! I just can't understand why a mid range phone doesn't have this completely basic feature.

MAMUTHcz said:
i can understand less RAM slower CPU and worse built quality...after all this is a mid range phone with quite reasonable asking price. Heck, I can even live without LED notification...however absent light sensor is beyond my understanding...this cheap piece of hardware is even on much cheaper phones (for example my girlfriend's wildfire s). This has nothing to do with Samsung trying to lower the price...it's just stupidity. Don't get me wrong, I love my Wonder! I just can't understand why a mid range phone doesn't have this completely basic feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats not that what makes me pissed. its the fact that in every data sheet there is for the galaxy w a light sensor, and on the website from samsung there isnt a information from any sensors, dont even from a proximity or a acceleration sensor.
it seems, that even samsung dont know what they obstruct in their devices. (look for example the answers from the support relating to the sensor, or the false data manuals from samsung)

It can be too focused on market.
For west europe will release other fw with more features and for east other with less features.
That is why they not say all in spec.
Remember galaxy s came with amoled and tft display for other countries hope remember it well. S2 had some diferents too.
Odesláno z mého GT-I8150 pomocí Tapatalk

Light sensor slow to respond to change

Has anyone noticed how slow the light sensor is at picking up changes in lighting conditions? Sometimes I have to turn off the phone and turn it back on for the sensor to recognize light change faster. Or wait more than few seconds for it to automatically pick up the change. I have a HD7 and Titan neither are that slow to respond to light change. It happens pretty much instantly. As well, the device slows down (you can tell by scrolling the home screen) when the screen brightness is adjusting. Is it just me?

Yeah, I have seen it too. I notice it from being inside and then going outside and it takes a bit to adjust. Slower then my Focus was but its ok.

cwiley2566 said:
Yeah, I have seen it too. I notice it from being inside and then going outside and it takes a bit to adjust. Slower then my Focus was but its ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so I'm not going crazy. And yeah, going from inside to outside (or vice versa) is when you really notice it. It's ok, but man I hope they at least try to fix it as I'm in and out all day

Ditto on that.

kwill said:
Ok, so I'm not going crazy. And yeah, going from inside to outside (or vice versa) is when you really notice it. It's ok, but man I hope they at least try to fix it as I'm in and out all day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...I see it too....but good luck on fixing that....I doubt this would make the limited fix list. But fingers are crossed.

Speaking of the light sensor. Does anyone know where it is? I know where the prox sensor is located, but not the light sensor. Also, not test for it in Diagnostics. Is there something built into the screen that we don't know about.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

It's in the front by the ff camera.

jimski said:
Speaking of the light sensor. Does anyone know where it is? I know where the prox sensor is located, but not the light sensor. Also, not test for it in Diagnostics. Is there something built into the screen that we don't know about.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's immediately adjacent the proximity sensor, near the FFC. There is a test for it in diagnostics as well. It's called "ALS" and reports the current ambient light in mlx.

Thanks. Didn't notice that ALS test. I have tried covering the FFC area without any screen response. But the test does react to light changes. Something else to play with.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express

Mine is slow as well so it seems it's 'by design'

jimski said:
Thanks. Didn't notice that ALS test. I have tried covering the FFC area without any screen response. But the test does react to light changes. Something else to play with.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noticed the same. Test reacts perfectly fine. So what lies between the sensor detecting change and the screen adjusting brightness?

Really? My Lumia 900 usually takes no longer than 5 seconds to adjust...

Barometer vs GPS. Who has the better accuracy?

As title.
I have made some try with my galaxy nexus with an electronic altimeter as reference.
GPS has far better accuracy than barometer when talking about altitude.
If you know how a barometer work you know that a barometer is a sort of altimeter, it's really strange that the barometer inside the gnex is so bad at the point that also the GPS is able to give more accurate results.

What app did you use to compare altitude? If you come to think of it, GPS can provide spot on altitude, as it can pull precise data based on the location and online reference map. Barometer, even if properly calibrated can only provide approximate altitude as atmospheric pressure is not only depended on the how high you location is compared to sea level.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

netscorer said:
What app did you use to compare altitude? If you come to think of it, GPS can provide spot on altitude, as it can pull precise data based on the location and online reference map. Barometer, even if properly calibrated can only provide approximate altitude as atmospheric pressure is not only depended on the how high you location is compared to sea level.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS test tor GPS and SyPressure Pro for barometer.
As far as I know, GPS test give the data of the GPS sensor without any help from maps or location.

sblantipodi said:
As title.
I have made some try with my galaxy nexus with an electronic altimeter as reference.
GPS has far better accuracy than barometer when talking about altitude.
If you know how a barometer work you know that a barometer is a sort of altimeter, it's really strange that the barometer inside the gnex is so bad at the point that also the GPS is able to give more accurate results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Barometer working as an altimeter is a workaround, it is not a proper altimeter, reasons already explained by netscorer.
You should not bash barometer's precision based on altitude readings, altimeter vs barometer vs gps, but, you should get another barometer (a good, calibrated, reference one) and compare results...
P.s.: I'm obviously wrong and altimeters are barometers... So, all that is left to do is to check if the software you are using to translate barometer reading into altitude readings is calibrating itself correctly, it seems that there are several stations that send the current pressure at sea level in several locations in order to increase the realiability / calibrate altimeters... If it is, them, the barometers inside the phone is really not good... Now I also remember someone from Google saying that the barometer in its tablets and phones are not really meant to work accurately... So you probably are right about that.

Barometer, and temperature

Whoa, I didn't know our phones did this. How cool!

Yeah it definitely has it, but it's not advertised because of how woefully inaccurate it actually is.

Didn't know that either, thanks!

Actually mine works fine. Temperature is withing 1 degree as long as I don't use my phone much, so it doesn't heat up skewing the results, barometer also seems fine, the couple times I checked at airports or from weather channel and adjusting for altitude, it was within couple mbars. At least with barometer, you can adjust it to correct value, if the error is big, where with temperature the main issue would be to keep the phone at ambient, so don't get surprised at error if you kept it in your pocket, or played game. There is also humidity sensor and I was shocked when it showed 100% humidity on a foggy evening, as it should, so that seems to be working fine as well.

I haven't had similar experiences with mine, although perhaps not using the phone could provide slightly more accurate readings. I live in a pretty humid area and have found even on the most humid of days it doesn't register properly.

You must have newer hardware -- I don't think either my 900T or 900V have humidity and air pressure sensors.
Frank

I found a sweet app called Thermometer Plus. The reason I like it is mainly the selection of semi-transparent widgets (displaying different sensors). I have the one with temp and humidity (set to update every 5 mins I think) on my main home screen so I use that to adjust my AC, etc. accordingly, mainly to keep humidity in a reasonable range.
Galaxy Sensors is also cool to see all of the device's sensors. It also has a widget, but it only displays the temp.

Frank Westlake said:
You must have newer hardware -- I don't think either my 900T or 900V have humidity and air pressure sensors.
Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine in November so it's not that new, I think all N3 have it, but they don't show normally.
If you check Antutu benchmark under hardware, it should show all sensors.
Androsensor program will show all sensors readings, or type *#0*# on stock dialer, then click sensor, should show all the hardware and if it's working.

Pete is correct, all variants have it.

Moto X like Ambient display?

I have a Moto X 2013. It doesn't have all the fancy features of the Moto X (2014) or even the Nexus 6, but I believe it made use of its sole proximity sensor to perform a really slick implementation of Moto Display. It used the proximity sensor to identify when you are picking up the phone or when your hand is close to the phone and accordingly show the time on the screen. It also pulsated the notification on screen when there was a notification. Very responsive and efficient. Is there some app that can emulate this for the Nexus 5X? Why not use the Nexus's proximity sensor all the time like the Moto X to identify when we are picking up the phone? What is the limitation here?

litetaker said:
I have a Moto X 2013. It doesn't have all the fancy features of the Moto X (2014) or even the Nexus 6, but I believe it made use of its sole proximity sensor to perform a really slick implementation of Moto Display. It used the proximity sensor to identify when you are picking up the phone or when your hand is close to the phone and accordingly show the time on the screen. It also pulsated the notification on screen when there was a notification. Very responsive and efficient. Is there some app that can emulate this for the Nexus 5X? Why not use the Nexus's proximity sensor all the time like the Moto X to identify when we are picking up the phone? What is the limitation here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
since Moto X 2013 used an Amoled display. It could turn on few pixels on the screen to show you pulsated notifications and not drain the battery or heat up the device, Nexus 5x unfortunately uses a LCD screen so turning on few pixels on the screen is out of the question even if someone force the feature onto N5X it'll led to Huge battery drain + Heat up so in short ITS NOT POSSIBLE.

djkido316 said:
since Moto X 2013 used an Amoled display. It could turn on few pixels on the screen to show you pulsated notifications and not drain the battery or heat up the device, Nexus 5x unfortunately uses a LCD screen so turning on few pixels on the screen is out of the question even if someone force the feature onto N5X it'll led to Huge battery drain + Heat up so in short ITS NOT POSSIBLE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 2015 Moto X has a LCD display and functions just as the 2013 Moto X did with an AMOLED display. The '15 didn't heat up and the battery drain wasn't as bad as you would think. However, the whole display turning on was annoying and one of the reasons I turned Moto Display off and eventually sold the phone.

I wasn't even talking about '15 version. Though you answered it yourself.

djkido316 said:
since Moto X 2013 used an Amoled display. It could turn on few pixels on the screen to show you pulsated notifications and not drain the battery or heat up the device, Nexus 5x unfortunately uses a LCD screen so turning on few pixels on the screen is out of the question even if someone force the feature onto N5X it'll led to Huge battery drain + Heat up so in short ITS NOT POSSIBLE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does not answer my question. I am fully aware that due to the LCD screen, it cannot just turn on some pixels. But, what I want is an app that can use the proximity sensor to identify when we are using the phone or picking up the phone and then turn the screen on for displaying the notification. That should be doable right?

djkido316 said:
I wasn't even talking about '15 version. Though you answered it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You suggested that the 5X would heat up and it would kill the battery because of the screen tech. You are wrong. The 2015 moto x is the proof. RIF, princess.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

litetaker said:
I have a Moto X 2013. It doesn't have all the fancy features of the Moto X (2014) or even the Nexus 6, but I believe it made use of its sole proximity sensor to perform a really slick implementation of Moto Display. It used the proximity sensor to identify when you are picking up the phone or when your hand is close to the phone and accordingly show the time on the screen. It also pulsated the notification on screen when there was a notification. Very responsive and efficient. Is there some app that can emulate this for the Nexus 5X? Why not use the Nexus's proximity sensor all the time like the Moto X to identify when we are picking up the phone? What is the limitation here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to take a look at Gravity Screen, from the Play Store.

I use Dynamic Notifications on my old GNex that I have lying around. It works pretty much like the moto x's active display. There are options to have it sense when its pulled out of your pocket or picked up off a table, but I don't remember if those are only in the full version or the free one as well.

mic_he said:
You might want to take a look at Gravity Screen, from the Play Store.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I tried it and seems to work. But also, it seems to be a little aggressive with the turning the display off thing that my display seems to turn off very very quickly even when I am using it.
MurdocZero said:
I use Dynamic Notifications on my old GNex that I have lying around. It works pretty much like the moto x's active display. There are options to have it sense when its pulled out of your pocket or picked up off a table, but I don't remember if those are only in the full version or the free one as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try this out as well.

@PiousInquisitor I assume you haven't tried Tap2wake feature on ElementalX ? It eats alot of battery life hence heating up my device not that much but still. Do your research before you reply kid
BTW With Moto X 2014 there is something with the Display that doesn't cause it to heat up. Just like on G2,G3,G4.

djkido316 said:
@PiousInquisitor I assume you haven't tried Tap2wake feature on ElementalX ? It eats alot of battery life hence heating up my device not that much but still. Do your research before you reply kid
BTW With Moto X 2014 there is something with the Display that doesn't cause it to heat up. Just like on G2,G3,G4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tap to wake and Moto Display are two different things, tiger. Try again.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Is Ambient display like on stock marshmallow what you want then?
Lights up the screen in a sort of monochrome to display time/notifications only on lock screen when you pick up the phone.

"AC display" app is a great substitute for moto display. Combined with double tap2wake when phone is out of pocket and you're all set.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

djkido316 said:
@PiousInquisitor I assume you haven't tried Tap2wake feature on ElementalX ? It eats alot of battery life hence heating up my device not that much but still. Do your research before you reply kid
BTW With Moto X 2014 there is something with the Display that doesn't cause it to heat up. Just like on G2,G3,G4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does not eat *a lot* of battery, just a tiny bit. And does not heat your device at all.