Some WP7 "Mango" annoyances (LG Optimus 7, Build 7.10.7720.68) - Windows Phone 7 General

(Note: these are some items that I've noticed on my phone, and may well be due to the fact that I have an unofficial Mango RTM build on my LG Optimus 7. I may be running final code, but the release didn't come from LG themselves, which may or may not be an issue.)
Just wanted to post some "annoyances" that I've noticed with my LG Optimus 7 running the Mango 7720.68 build. Perhaps these issues are unique to my phone? I don't know.
Also, I'm concerned that with some of these "bugs", if in fact they are bugs, they cannot be patched outside of major WP7 releases. Is this still the case, or has this been changed moving forward?
Finally, I'm a *big* fan of WP7, so don't take this list as a bashing. I could post much, much more on the things that I really, truly enjoy about WP7. It's a great OS, and I enjoy it much more than the iPhone 3GS that I owned, or the three Android handsets I had. I've used it all, and I prefer WP7
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In no particular order:
MUSIC GOES "BACK" TO REVIEWS
This is a strange one, but here's what happens: I open the Music+Videos Hub, select Music, choose an artist, choose an album, and finally select a song -- like as if I want to start with track #3, rather than playing the album from the beginning. If I lock my phone and unlock it again, I'll see the song playing (as expected). If I click the Back button, however, it shows me the "Reviews" screen for that artist, rather than the Song listing of Albums listing. Very strange and obnoxious -- plus it creates an extra "Back" press that I shouldn't have to do. Argh.
LOCK SCREEN MUSIC CONTROLS AREN'T IMMEDIATELY RESPONSIVE
If I'm playing music (screen locked) and then hit the Power button to see the lock screen music controls, I usually have to wait a moment before the FWD, BACK or PAUSE/PLAY buttons are truly usable. Even better, sometimes the control itself will move as if it's been properly pressed, but it won't actually perform the action. I have to hit it a second time.
SCREEN OFF > CAMERA BUTTON ON ACTION SOMETIMES ALLOWS OLDER PICTURES TO BE VIEWED
My understanding is that with Mango you can press + hold the camera button (if the screen is off) to launch the camera -- fine, this is expected -- at that you are not supposed to be able to see older (than this current session) pictures you've taken if you slide from the left to the right. I don't like the feature, personally, but I understand the "security" measure behind it. To be honest, I think that feature should be a toggle
Anyhow, I notice that sometimes this process doesn't let me see ANY of my older pictures, other times I can see SOME older pictures (like ones taken today only, and other times -- like right now as I tested it -- I can see ALL of my old photos. In all cases, the screen was off and I held the camera button down to bring up the camera interface. It's just not consistent.
SEARCH BUTTON ALWAYS GOES TO BING SEARCHWith the initial release of WP7 *and* with NoDo, the Search button was context sensitive -- it would bring up Search with the People Hub if you were in the People Hug, or Search with the Marketplace if you were in the Marketplace, etc., but that's changed with Mango. Now the Search button always goes to Bing -- no matter where you are. I guess they think this is more consistent, but I prefer having the context sensitive Search button. Perhaps a long-press of the Search button could go to Bing instead? Personal preference, I suppose.
HITTING VOL WHILE HITTING POWER RESULTS IN AUTO VOLUME DOWN
Difficult one to reproduce, but it's happened to me about four times. Screen is off + music is playing. I'll accidentally hit the volume button while hitting the Power button to turn the screen on, and all of a sudden the volume starts turning down by itself until hitting "0". I can't turn the volume back up again until I turn off the screen and turn it back on. Weird.
PICTURES HUB BACKGROUND PHOTO ONLY SHOWS FAVORITESI love that Mango will change the Pictures Hub background photo automatically. Very cool, and the slight movement of the photo is a nice touch as well. That said, I added a single picture to the Favorites portion of the Pictures Hub, and soon found that the background photo was only that particular picture and wouldn't change to anything else. I finally had to add some other pictures to the Favorites section so that it would change to something else. Strange, if you ask me, and not expected behavior.
MUSIC + VIDEOS "HISTORY" PORTION LINKS TO SINGLE SONG INSTEAD OF ALBUM
File this under personal preference, I suppose, but if I open the Music+Videos Hub, select an artist, select an album, and then choose a track directly (rather than starting the entire album from the top), it is then added to the History pivot within the Music+Videos Hub as a single track, rather than the album. So, if I open the Music Hub again, pivot over to History and scroll down, I see what looks like the album, but when I press on it to play, it plays only that single song -- and the rest of that album isn't even in the list. I have to then click on the artist name, go to that artist, click on the album, and then choose the full album or track that I want to hear.
NO WAY TO GET BACK TO ARTIST/ALBUMS LISTING USING BACK (IN MANY CASES)
Coming from the Zune HD (about a year ago), I liked that I could always get back to the song listing, album listing, or artist listing -- no matter what. This isn't true with WP7. For instance, I'm in my email and then hit the Volume button to bring up the media controls, I can actually click on the artist's name right there (handy trick!) to go to that song or songlist. Unfortunately, if I then wanted to change albums or artists, I can't simply click the Back button. I have to click Home, scroll down (in my case), hit the Music Hub, and dig in from there. I *really* wish there was always a way to go backward in the Music Hub to view the songlist, album list, or artist listing. Not possible in Mango (or previous WP7 versions, to be fair).
RECENT VIEW IN THE PEOPLE HUB SHOULD BE DISPLAYED VERTICALLY
The horizontal pivoting in WP7 is very nice, but with Mango some of those lists became vertical -- a wise move, if you ask me. For instance, in the Music Hub you'll notice that the History and New music pivots are both shown vertically, which is easier to use. Unfortunately, the Recent view pivot in the People Hub is still fully horizontal, rather than a vertical list that you scroll. I'm not sure why this is, and it really appears to have been overlooked. Not consistent.
WIRELESS NETWORK ICON SHOULD BE CLICKABLE
Personal preference, but getting to the wifi networks control takes too long. You should be able to simply press on the icon in the notification bar (when viewable) to get to that control. Some would argue that the other icons should be clickable as well, but I don't (personally) care much about that.
GAPLESS PLAYBACK FOR MUSIC
Why is this missing? Honestly, I don't understand. How difficult is this feature to implement. It should be standard for ALL music devices/players everywhere.
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Thanks for reading,
Yip

The photos thing makes sense. I really don't think that's an issue, and it really shouldn't even require explanation.
WP7 needs a Notification pane with quick controls, period. There's only so much you can put on the home screen before the experience starts to go south.
A lot of the music hub related stuff is just sad. They want to replace Zune HD with WP7 devices, but they always seem to regress in usability going from old product to nw product. It's really unfortunate.

yipcanjo said:
RECENT VIEW IN THE PEOPLE HUB SHOULD BE DISPLAYED VERTICALLY
The horizontal pivoting in WP7 is very nice, but with Mango some of those lists became vertical -- a wise move, if you ask me. For instance, in the Music Hub you'll notice that the History and New music pivots are both shown vertically, which is easier to use. Unfortunately, the Recent view pivot in the People Hub is still fully horizontal, rather than a vertical list that you scroll. I'm not sure why this is, and it really appears to have been overlooked. Not consistent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with this. it forces you to tap the screen twice just to get past this. annoying

Not only is it annoying as ****, but it's wildly inconsistent now... They need to fix that, ASAP. I know they love their panes view and like showing stuff "running off the screen," which is an interesting and oftentimes attractive effect. But they really need to make conscious decisions IRT usability.

For the wireless network icon.. you might want to check an app called Network Dashboard, which does pretty much exactly what you want. It's free too.

for the " SCREEN OFF > CAMERA BUTTON ON ACTION SOMETIMES ALLOWS OLDER PICTURES TO BE VIEWED", don´t you have password set? Because if you do, it lets you only shoot images, not view them until you unlock the device

N8ter said:
The photos thing makes sense. I really don't think that's an issue, and it really shouldn't even require explanation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again... I understand what it's SUPPOSED to do, but it's not working that way for me. From the screen off, if I press the Camera button to wake the phone and take a photo, it should *only* show the photos I'm currently taking -- and nothing before that. Problem is, sometimes it's doing that, other times it's not. I even tested it while writing this post, and got two different results. Wha??
N8ter said:
A lot of the music hub related stuff is just sad. They want to replace Zune HD with WP7 devices, but they always seem to regress in usability going from old product to nw product. It's really unfortunate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with this. Although I like a *lot* of what the Music Hub offers, I feel it's mostly a step backward from the Zune HD.
Snake. said:
for the " SCREEN OFF > CAMERA BUTTON ON ACTION SOMETIMES ALLOWS OLDER PICTURES TO BE VIEWED", don´t you have password set? Because if you do, it lets you only shoot images, not view them until you unlock the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a password set. Never have. In fact, this "security feature" should really only kick in if you *do* have a password set -- so that folks can't open your phone via the Camera button and view a bunch of your photos. If you don't have a password, though -- such as in my case -- it's a pretty silly security element, if you ask me.
Again, it is inconsistent.
---------- Post added at 10:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 AM ----------
debug77 said:
For the wireless network icon.. you might want to check an app called Network Dashboard, which does pretty much exactly what you want. It's free too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll check that out.

Music goes back to reviews:
I was unable to replicate this on my Focus. Not sure what's up for you on that one.
Lock Screen Delays:
Yeah, I have this problem as well- not just for music controls, but for everything on the lock screen. Takes a second to be visible. I heard there was going to be a related firmware patch to fix this.
Camera Button, See pictures:
It's supposed to launch the camera app, so you should have access to the other pictures in the hub if you don't have a password set? I guess? And no access if the PIN is set? Not sure what the intention is here. I've tried a few times and I have also seen inconsistency in how this actually works out. Sometimes I can see other pictures, sometimes not. (I also do not have a PIN set.)
Volume:
Never had this issue.
Wireless Control
Neat idea, wonder how it would work out in practice. In the meantime, try out Connectivity Shortcuts in the marketplace. I'm using that now.

I would be curious to know if the inconsistent camera behavior persists when you do have the PIN set. And, if it behaves correctly (and consistently) with the PIN set, what happens if you then remove it? Does it revert to the inconsistent behavior, or does it then begin to behave as it should?
As for the network connectivity idea, it is what many of us have been requesting for months. Tapping on the status bar when it is visible (or more likely tap-and-hold, to prevent interfering with apps) could pop up a menu that shows the current state of each of the network settings, with a button on the right to toggle that setting on or off. The shortcuts app is a nice workaround, but having the feature built into the OS would be much better. Oh, and the menu could include the battery percentage as well, and a button to turn battery saver mode on or off.

I have removed all pics from my favorite section... So I guess when I get mango it will show all pics and not just blank...
And the history section in music and apps only play that particLar song in my nodo too... Its annoying .. Sometimes it shows same album cover for two tracks played from same album as a history... They should have made it to play feomthat album beginning ...
Sent from my OMNIA7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

RoboDad said:
I would be curious to know if the inconsistent camera behavior persists when you do have the PIN set. And, if it behaves correctly (and consistently) with the PIN set, what happens if you then remove it? Does it revert to the inconsistent behavior, or does it then begin to behave as it should?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting test. Again, in my mind it should 1) allow you access to your older pictures *if* no PIN is set, or 2) not allow access to your older pictures if a PIN is set.
My phone had been in my pocket for awhile, so I grabbed hit (screen is off), held the camera button, and allowed the camera to spring to life. I was, in fact, able to scroll back and see older Camera Roll photos. I then added a PIN, turned off the phone, held the Camera button, got the camera interface, and there was a "Lock" symbol in the lower-left corner, which I've only seen a few times. When I clicked on the "Lock" symbol, I was prompted for my PIN. After entering it, I could see my older photos.
Great. This is what I would expect from the phone, but this isn't what I'm seeing everytime. Now that I've toggled the PIN on and off again, we'll see if it sticks to one type of behavior. Still, it seems like a bug.
---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------
Purple11 said:
And the history section in music and apps only play that particLar song in my nodo too... Its annoying .. Sometimes it shows same album cover for two tracks played from same album as a history... They should have made it to play feomthat album beginning ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't necessarily mind if it plays that single song by default. I can see how some people would download an album, play a single song (their favorite, or whatever), and then expect that the History would like to that single song. Perhaps they want to keep playing it and have easy access to it? I don't know.
Regardless, it shouldn't look as if that's the only song in that album, which is what seems to be going on. Link to the song -- sure -- but if I then click the track list (below the album art), show me the rest of the songs in that album too.

As for only displaying favorite pictures in the Pictures Hub Background:
I often saw pictures there that weren't really that great and so I personally like the idea of only displaying ones favorites. This makes even more sense given that people very often complained of pictures being shown on their Start Screen they DID NOT WANT ANYONE to see (I guess they were talking of more private pictures).
As for Connectivity Shortcuts, Network Dashboard and the other Shortcut Apps that are emerging: if they are installed on the majority of phones I guess that will convince Microsoft that it really has to add this functionality at the System Level. I personally would like to have that menu bound to a long press of the power button (along with the swipe to turn off feature).

StevieBallz said:
As for only displaying favorite pictures in the Pictures Hub Background:
I often saw pictures there that weren't really that great and so I personally like the idea of only displaying ones favorites. This makes even more sense given that people very often complained of pictures being shown on their Start Screen they DID NOT WANT ANYONE to see (I guess they were talking of more private pictures).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. I guess it's only obnoxious when you have just a few Favorites, as I do, and get tired of seeing those same ones over and over.
Perhaps this could be a feature to Enable or Disable?

On my LG Optimus 7 the compass has stopped working since the update to Mango pre-release.
I was hoping to get a fix from LG with the final release but it doesn't seem the case...
Ok, I can survive without the compass but it really sucks!

Related

Improving IE9

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this. And I believe there are some alternatives in the marketplace that do something similar (surfcube coming to mind). But here is what I think IE9 should do to make getting to your open tabs easier. You could also use this same concept to pivot to your favorites.
There will be a problem when you are zoomed in.
The gesture will conflict with scrolling.
One way around that is you only get to tiles when fully zoomed out, but then the idea is not that great anymore, it will be confusing for some people.
nizzon said:
There will be a problem when you are zoomed in.
The gesture will conflict with scrolling.
One way around that is you only get to tiles when fully zoomed out, but then the idea is not that great anymore, it will be confusing for some people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said "Edge-Pixel-Detection", so you have to swipe from outside the screen into the screen to complete this gesture, which would work perfectly
Great idea. I would also add a similar page for bookmarks on the other side.
Or just give us Opera
DeathLamp said:
He said "Edge-Pixel-Detection", so you have to swipe from outside the screen into the screen to complete this gesture, which would work perfectly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not very intuitive now is it?
There must be many better ways than this.
There are a lot of similar features hidden throughout Windows Phone that you have to just find or learn from someone else.
Not really when it comes to gestures, right?
nizzon said:
Not really when it comes to gestures, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually there are quite a few gesture and tap-and-hold type of features that are not at all intuitive (meaning, most people would probably not discover them on their own, unless by accident). Just look at the features of the SIP. I would bet that at least half of WP7 users still don't know that you can tap-and-hold the symbols toggle, and then slide your finger over a symbol to select it, which causes the symbol key set to be dismissed and returns to the alphabet key set.
but there might be problems in landscape mode, where some phones have capacitative buttons at the bottom it would get annoying if you accedentally hit the back button every time u wanted to switch tabs
epkfaile said:
but there might be problems in landscape mode, where some phones have capacitative buttons at the bottom it would get annoying if you accedentally hit the back button every time u wanted to switch tabs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I was actually thinking about this, especially after seeing the video of Windows 8, where they actually have this implemented. On Win8, it is from the top and bottom, and I was thinking, that wouldn't work on the phone because of the capacitive buttons. The solution my thoughts ended on was that when in landscape mode, it would work like Win8, and you would slide from the top and bottom (which is really the side, the same side that in portrait mode you would be sliding from). So the only thing that would really change is the gesture your hand is performing would change from a horizontal one to a vertical moving gesture.
RoboDad said:
Actually there are quite a few gesture and tap-and-hold type of features that are not at all intuitive (meaning, most people would probably not discover them on their own, unless by accident). Just look at the features of the SIP. I would bet that at least half of WP7 users still don't know that you can tap-and-hold the symbols toggle, and then slide your finger over a symbol to select it, which causes the symbol key set to be dismissed and returns to the alphabet key set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly sure what this SIP feature you are talking about but there is a big difference with features having multiple gestures for the same feature, than haveing two different features with almost exactly the same gesture.
Thats not the same thing, its more confusing.
tiny17 said:
I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this. And I believe there are some alternatives in the marketplace that do something similar (surfcube coming to mind). But here is what I think IE9 should do to make getting to your open tabs easier. You could also use this same concept to pivot to your favorites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you try our SurfCube browser for WP7, you can see that we have already implemented this and a lot more, with an added 3D twist.
Here is a demo video:
Cheers,
András
All I need is a back button (cause seriously who uses forward) and a tab button and IE9 would be awesome. I like the idea of using your finger to swipe and view tabs, but instead it would be smarter to use a multi-fingered gesture. As said before, scrolling would get interfered with, and because you only scroll with one finger a two finger swipe would work.
Good idea.
But there are tons of simpler, if less effective, ways of opening tabs or favs. Instead, they chose to simply replace them with menus on Mango, as well as removing the very cool top black address-bar, replaced with a huge and ugly grey one, even in landscape. ù
So, my impression is that they simply borked the interface because they don't have a clue, and any good suggestion like yours will go into the trashbin, if anyone that matters actually reads it.
Also the single page for favs and history was very cool. And ie9 doesn't load most wordpress mobile-view comments. Way to go ie team, nice direction.
Edge-pixel detection is one of Nokia's more stupid ideas. Even the people who are being paid to demo the handsets mess up quite regularly, swiping from the edge when they want to scroll, resulting in unwanted app switching. It's a badly thought out concept, which is why nobody else has done it.

My findings

I've been using my SGN now about a week.
Excellent phone with only a few issues that I can find.
I had the ghost volume yesterday but I turned on and off and not had it since.
I seem to be missing my return button(next line) in my text message service, could be me missing something but when I send a text I don't get the large arrow at the bottom right. Its there on all other input methods.
Keep picking the phone up upside down.
I can't use the phone without a case really really slippy.
Other than that the phone is lightening fast responsive and the screen is too die for.
Get one , I love mine......
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Great to see a well written post of your thoughts.
Thank you
My findings are the same as yours apart from the Vol issue, I havnt had it (im on Orange)
Phone is slippy
I too kept picking it up upside down but after now 3 days im instinctivly feeling for the hump on the back to orientate that to the bottom to get it the right way up.
I too dont have an enter key for texting, wtf?
In general use like browsing, the back round the camera gets really hot.
Phone is lightning fast but ive had far too many lock ups already, half a dozen ish. I hope the issues get resolved, I'll keep forwarding error reports. Im sure its just teething probs with the new OS. I hope its not the phone, im not exactly sold on Samsung quality.
Got my Samsung Galaxy Nexus last 18th of November and these are my comments
The Bad
- had that volume bug - awaiting for the update
- can not make video call, even with skype front cam not working (pls update)
- mp3 songs can not be set as ringtone
- some of my apps not working, like viber, currency converter
- no flash support - awaiting for it
- silent button needed in the power widget
- low volume, can't really hear it if phone is in my pocket
The good: http://media.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon14.gif
- super fast
- nice panoramic mode in the camera
- camera is fast, not a problem with 5 mpx
- lovely screen res
- unique face unlock (but face not detected in low light/dark areas/at night time)
- battery lasted for 13 hours (depends on the user)
http://media.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon11.gif i love this phone
amstradeu said:
The Bad
- had that volume bug - awaiting for the update
- can not make video call, even with skype front cam not working (pls update)
- mp3 songs can not be set as ringtone
- some of my apps not working, like viber, currency converter
- no flash support - awaiting for it
- silent button needed in the power widget
- low volume, can't really hear it if phone is in my pocket
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MP3 can be set as ringtones, BUT they need to be in the ringtones directory. Workable idea is to use Ringdroid (or similar) to crop the portion of the MP3 you want from your Music directory and save it separately in Ringtones.
Plenty of widgets to control volume/profiles. Audiomanager Pro lets you create profile widgets. I use Extended Controls which lets you build your own widget with exactly the controls you want on it. It's not perfect (as it hasn't been updated for ICS yet) - GPS toggle and APN toggle take you into the settings menus - but it has been (and will be once updated) a top notch widget.
Volume - Try Volume+.
My findings:
Pro:
- Great screen, however, I really dont think it's a big leap in quality over my old Galaxy S, let alone the S2.
- Great speed, hasnt slowed down once, nice and fast and no crashing.
- Good interface. Love ICS
- Good reception and call quality
Cons:
- Low ringer volume and notification sounds
- LED notifications only flash once, would be nice for it to keep flashing intermittenly so you know you've got a notification, rather than having to turn it on.
- The pull down notification bar does not have quick access to the power bar (as per Galaxy S). That was really useful, so if you're in an app you can turn on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS etc, rather than having to go to the home page and doing it from there. Very annoying!
- No native video player to recognise .avi, .mkv files. Had to buy Dice Player.
- No Swype!!!
- No return key when texting
- No external storage
- Annoying browser experience. If you want to go to a bookmark, you have to press a button to go to the tabs, then another button to go to favourites, then another to select the favourite! Very poor process.
- Poor widgets for the homescreen (I want a nice looking clock). Wont pick up my location automatically, either, for weather updates.
- Poor camera application.
I realise the phone is in it's infancy, with many updates to come, but coming from a very accomplished phone, it's taking some getting used to, and some things which are a step backwards!
arun1uk said:
My findings:
- The pull down notification bar does not have quick access to the power bar (as per Galaxy S). That was really useful, so if you're in an app you can turn on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS etc, rather than having to go to the home page and doing it from there. Very annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a touchwiz thing. however lots of apps do this in market place. I use notifications shortcuts.
arun1uk said:
- Poor widgets for the homescreen (I want a nice looking clock).
Again lots of apps in market place to have a clock. I use one more clock - had hundreds of themes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My led flashes mire than once ....... ?
scooby8272 said:
I seem to be missing my return button(next line) in my text message service, could be me missing something but when I send a text I don't get the large arrow at the bottom right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android has never had a carriage return button on the stock keyboard for text messages. Manufacturer modifications to Android may have this feature, but that would be down to the specific variant (HTC Sense, Samsung TouchWiz, etc).
amstradeu said:
The Bad
- mp3 songs can not be set as ringtone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was true with Nexus S too. The solution is to create a folder "/media/audio/ringtones/" and copy your mp3s there. The other option is to use an app.
Hope this helps...
ruthlesset said:
This was true with Nexus S too. The solution is to create a folder "/media/audio/ringtones/" and copy your mp3s there. The other option is to use an app.
Hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posts #5 and #6: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=19655514#post19655514

[Q] Soft Key Mod to make them disappear completely?

its a shame to have the soft keys display while youre playing a game or watching a video. Any way to make them disappear completely and get a true full screen experience?
i was thinking maybe configuring it so that you gently tap the power button to make them go away(come back) & for normal power button use do a long press instead.
Probably a pointless bump/post from me, but this is something that I'd really like to have too.
Soft buttons sounded cool, but after getting the phone, they seem to be somewhat permanent and not particularly customisable either.
Videos seem to be the only application where they hide, but even then, simply tapping the screen _anywhere_ brings them back up again (even with screen control lock enabled).
I watch videos with subtitles and being a slow reader, tend to pause videos fairly regularly. It's annoying to have the video bounce around when I do so because of the soft buttons popping up.
Really would appreciate if anyone knows of a method to kill these soft buttons!
Yep I would love this as well, an option to enable this feature.
It would auto hide the soft keys, then a swipe up from the bottom will overlay the keys on top of the existing screen (so the app isn't resizing itself - like HD videos do when the keys come back).
Then we can use the full smexy 4.65" screen and real 720p.
it is up to the developer of the app to add the full screen code.
Dice Player was the first to add this and when you play videos, it automatically goes fullscreen and then a tap brings the buttons back.
i don't think that any mod or app could do it. You could probably make a mod that forces them to always hide in landscape, but the problem would be that they're always gone, even when you want them there.
neok44 said:
it is up to the developer of the app to add the full screen code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I presume that an app can only indicate that the buttons should be hidden, and really doesn't have much more control than that?
So basically, unusable in games.
neok44 said:
i don't think that any mod or app could do it. You could probably make a mod that forces them to always hide in landscape, but the problem would be that they're always gone, even when you want them there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely there must be some sort of modification (even if it needs to go back to the kernel (forgive my ignorance if I'm totally off)) to allow us to do it?
I can understand that an app is restricted to the API provided to it, which is why I think an OS level mod needs to be done here.
I get it that this could be less convenient / more confusing, so believe that this shouldn't be in a stock ROM, but if I want to mod my phone this way, I should be able to, right?
i would love a rom that has a setting where i can choose certain apps that can hide the buttons on whatever apps i want. that would be awesome. dont know if its possible. especially on slingplayer. its a $30 app which rarely gets updated. who knows when they will update it. its a good thing i sideloaded it and didnt pay for it. i dont see how it can work on games though because tapping the screen is the way to get the buttons there. unless there is some sort of gesture to bring em back. i do think we will see a lot more out of soft buttons but it will take a while.
youtube seemingly does this for me....
I too think its a total waste having the buttons never move or disappear. Its a great concept, but google didnt take advantage of it at all. I just find it wasting space. Would love if they could be hidden.
/人◕‿‿ ◕人\ said:
I presume that an app can only indicate that the buttons should be hidden, and really doesn't have much more control than that?
So basically, unusable in games.
Surely there must be some sort of modification (even if it needs to go back to the kernel (forgive my ignorance if I'm totally off)) to allow us to do it?
I can understand that an app is restricted to the API provided to it, which is why I think an OS level mod needs to be done here.
I get it that this could be less convenient / more confusing, so believe that this shouldn't be in a stock ROM, but if I want to mod my phone this way, I should be able to, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't think so. the code is there to hide them, but in video apps they show back up on simply a touch. The game developers could add code to say that they only come up when you press pause. I don't see why that wouldn't be possible.
on a system level i'm sure it could be done, but as we've both said. it'll be much less convenient and more confusing.
heres an example, what happens if you enable that to play a game full screen, but that game has no exit option. You now have no way out of the game. The only way to get back to your homescreen is to shut off the phone.
so then, another mod would be required, you'd need a link to the home screen from the powermenu.
so your already up to two mods to do something that most people would not want.
The better thing is to just have the keys dim when playing a game like they do in honeycomb, and not just disappear.
i would also like a ability to hide them!
I think it would be cool if the soft keys had a transparent backround maybe the buttons could fade to dots like I have seen them do.
neok44 said:
i don't think so. the code is there to hide them, but in video apps they show back up on simply a touch. The game developers could add code to say that they only come up when you press pause. I don't see why that wouldn't be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't looked at the API, I'm just going on a hunch from what I've seen how apps react.
For example, if apps had such control over the buttons, why would they still show on touch even if screen control locking is enabled? Just a bug in the application, or perhaps just cannot be done?
neok44 said:
on a system level i'm sure it could be done, but as we've both said. it'll be much less convenient and more confusing.
heres an example, what happens if you enable that to play a game full screen, but that game has no exit option. You now have no way out of the game. The only way to get back to your homescreen is to shut off the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take the example in the first post - erhaps an option to toggle the buttons in the power menu.
One would presume that if you're playing a game, you're not looking to exit it every minute, so it's not like you exactly need a convenient exit button. If the toggle is done through the power menu, then it makes logical sense to go back there if you with to show the buttons again.
Of course, there'll probably be people who forget about where they turned off the buttons, so yes, slightly more confusing to newbies, but if there's a custom mod which allows this type of functionality, it would be really helpful to those who do understand. (after all, if you've gone to the effort to enable such a mod, you're sure to know about it)
neok44 said:
so then, another mod would be required, you'd need a link to the home screen from the powermenu.
so your already up to two mods to do something that most people would not want.
The better thing is to just have the keys dim when playing a game like they do in honeycomb, and not just disappear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure about the "two mods" proposition - you can't really have one without the other so I'd think it would be classed as one, but I don't really want to debate about semantics here (neither can I really say anything about low level requirements to perform this mod).
As for most people not wanting it, perhaps, though I think the responses in this thread shows that there are people out there interested in this, and it's not only me. The value proposition is up to someone else to decide though.
Dimming the keys does not enable more screen space, which is the whole point of completely hiding them.
i dont have a problem with them, they hide automatically on things like netflix and need for speed shift...
Galaxy Nexus Stock
/人◕‿‿ ◕人\ said:
I haven't looked at the API, I'm just going on a hunch from what I've seen how apps react.
For example, if apps had such control over the buttons, why would they still show on touch even if screen control locking is enabled? Just a bug in the application, or perhaps just cannot be done?
Take the example in the first post - erhaps an option to toggle the buttons in the power menu.
One would presume that if you're playing a game, you're not looking to exit it every minute, so it's not like you exactly need a convenient exit button. If the toggle is done through the power menu, then it makes logical sense to go back there if you with to show the buttons again.
Of course, there'll probably be people who forget about where they turned off the buttons, so yes, slightly more confusing to newbies, but if there's a custom mod which allows this type of functionality, it would be really helpful to those who do understand. (after all, if you've gone to the effort to enable such a mod, you're sure to know about it)
I'm not sure about the "two mods" proposition - you can't really have one without the other so I'd think it would be classed as one, but I don't really want to debate about semantics here (neither can I really say anything about low level requirements to perform this mod).
As for most people not wanting it, perhaps, though I think the responses in this thread shows that there are people out there interested in this, and it's not only me. The value proposition is up to someone else to decide though.
Dimming the keys does not enable more screen space, which is the whole point of completely hiding them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
honestly not sure. could be a bug or how it'd designed. since the galaxy nexus has no other way of letting you control it, most likely it's designed so that theres no way to perminately hide them.
If you added an option in the power menu to show/hide them, then that would make it just one mod. The two mods idea was just one to make them always hide in fullscreen apps, and then another one that would give you a home link in the power menu.
but having a link in the power menu to show/hide the buttons is actually a better idea. assuming it would work. And doing it this way would allow you an easy way to turn them on and off.
Might be NSFW for wallpaper.
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.
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This is the closes I can get it to hide, but it's still not full screen on games. Changed the color to black. It blends in with the background, but the highlighted button press is still there. Like hidden buttons.
Using Codename Android 1.0.1 ROM, it has the option to change the color built in, as does AOKP ROM.
RogerPodacter said:
I too think its a total waste having the buttons never move or disappear. Its a great concept, but google didnt take advantage of it at all. I just find it wasting space. Would love if they could be hidden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually google did take advantage of it. they added it to their own apps like youtube and gallery during video. and on other apps like phone during a call and gallery viewing pictures they hide.

[Concept][08/01] Android 4.0 Concept User Interface Improvements

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I'll be designing various UI concept improvements for Android and I'll keep them uploaded here.
If you have any ideas then please, let me know
8th January - Notification Concept Improvements Part 1
My first concept interface is done and ready for viewing - as well as feedback and comments.
This concept goes over some of my notification concepts which I feel would make Android a little more functional and fluid. Let me know what you think.
This user interface concept improvement video covers 3 simply tweaks, which I feel improve the functionality of Android.
1) Bigger Notifications
These bigger notifications show the contact picture,and are large enough so the message can be read. They appear over the top of the default notification bar to save space.
Clicking on the notification takes you to the application for which the notification is for. In this case, its the Messaging App
2) Quick Reply
Something I feel that has been missing from Android for some time. When the message arrive, clicking on the message itself will open quick reply.
Quick Reply extends the notification area so you can reply to the message right from the notification area, without leaving the application you are currently in.
3) Swipe to Close/Mark
Notifications have already easy to close in Android by either pressing the 'X' or in Android 4.0, by swiping the notification away.
However, there is no way to mark a message or email as read if you close it from the notification area. This concept means that you can do this. Simply wipe the notification to the left to close it, or swipe it to the right to mark it as read and close it.
There were 2 other videos that didn't make it into the final video - the only reason for this is that they are longer and the size of the video came to about 600mb for a HD one. Hence why they were left out of this video.
You can find more information about these at this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21179299&postcount=62
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All feedback and comments are welcome. Feel free to message me on any of the sites above.
These are just concepts, unfortunately I dont have the coding skills required to make this a reality. However if I can get ideas and make concepts up, a dev from the forums, the cyanogen mode team or perhaps Google themselves if we're lucky will see this and help make them become a reality.
If you would like to incorporate these ideas into a ROM, application etc, then please contact me first
Find me on the following websites:
Twitter
Google+
Facebook
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
They need to add the ability to get rid of the Google Search bar on all homescreens or make it less intrusive on the homescreen.
Evostance said:
All,
Just doing a bit of research.
Even though we all love Android, its still got its gripes. One of those for me is that the interface isn't as fluid or as function as it could be.
As many of you have seen ICS now, what type of enhancements to the interface would you like to see?
To give you an idea of what i'm after: I personally still dont like the notifications. I feel that they are a bit limited as to whats on offer, so I would like to see more function added to them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixing notifications is easy. Just drag and drop custom sounds into notifications, alarm and ringtones folder. Using same nokia notification for text ever since my first smartphone. I have the usual buzzer alarm since ics didnt include it. I would also like option of no search bar or at least pinning it to desired homescreen. It would be nice if google included more in house options for themes, colors and backgrounds. Sms, gmail, calendar and email are ridiculously white. I'd like more black background white text options. We also need a toggle for the gpu clocks or coolbho3000 to hook us up in setcpu. Options for amount of home screens. 32GB and/or micro sd. Better clock options. Damn pogo pins car dock already.
My grandma beat me down and took my nexus. Sent from a jitterbug with beats by dre.
tsunami1609 said:
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stole the words out of my mouth. It sounds like nit-pickey stuff but it really would bring it all together nicely.
tsunami1609 said:
Honestly there isn't much I'd change right now. I haven't noticed much that I would change.
In terms of performance, they NEED to fix the autorotate function. Yes, it's nice now that it shows an animation, but it takes waaaay too long to rotate. This was the same gripe I had with Honeycomb tablets. I'm positive that it's intentional by Google, because other phone running ICS with skins rotate faster (I have a Sensation to compare).
This second one is gonna get a bit long.
Second, they need to change the response time of the recent apps button. After extended use and several apps running, there will be a slight delay between pressing the button and the list opening up. I'm actually fine with the fact that there's a delay, it's just where the delay is. The way it runs is you touch the button, there's a delay(lag, whatever you want to call it), then the phone vibrates, the button lights up, and the list comes up. What google needs to do is change the way it functions. Make sure the haptic feedback functions and the button lights up the instant your finger touches it. Then it can delay and the list can come up. In other words G needs to make the illumination and haptic feedback first priority. Then it could work on the multitasking process.
I think if it was done in this manner, the lag would be much less noticeable. It's the same as showing some sort of screen or animation when starting an app. If you touch an app and nothing happens (the screen doesn't change at all, not even a press animation) until the apps fully loaded and running it'll be seen as lag. If you touch an app and immediately see a loading screen or an animation (just examples) then you know the app started up already, and it's perceived as loading instead of lag.
Phew. That was a mouthful. It needed to be said. Come on now Google. All of both of these are just a little tweak in software. Entirely doable. Or maybe it's already done. I don't know for sure since I'm still running 4.0.1
Other than that ICS is great.
EDIT: oh and Google should change the notification to mirror that of tablets. I don't see why they removed the quick settings; it seems unlike them. Just the basics like in Honeycomb: wifi toggle, brightness, bluetooth and autorotate. I've seen mods include it, so I'm sure they could come up with an elegant solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your second point is fixed in 4.0.3
I agree with the OP I hope google does something new with the notifications.
Even just adding them to the lockscreen like iOS would be awesome
I also dislike how the notifications have a character limit, it would be cool if you had the dropdown open long enough the text would scroll
- I'd love to have swiping away a text or email mark it as read. And while we're on notifications I don't get why contact pics don't display in the drop-down bar for texts, only for emails.
- Swiping away a recent app actually kills it
- Option to easily switch between the phone & people apps
- Option to mute shutter sound right in camera menu
- Notification bar toggles like in CyanogenMod or AOKP
daandman said:
- I'd love to have swiping away a text or email mark it as read. And while we're on notifications I don't get why contact pics don't display in the drop-down bar for texts, only for emails.
- Swiping away a recent app actually kills it
- Option to easily switch between the phone & people apps
- Option to mute shutter sound right in camera menu
- Notification bar toggles like in CyanogenMod or AOKP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiping away apps actually does kill them, you can see the process dying in the logs when removing from recent app list
I would like a new SMS app theme. The current one is pretty ugly. Something like Windows Phone 7's messaging theme would be much nicer.
BlackDino said:
Your second point is fixed in 4.0.3
I agree with the OP I hope google does something new with the notifications.
Even just adding them to the lockscreen like iOS would be awesome
I also dislike how the notifications have a character limit, it would be cool if you had the dropdown open long enough the text would scroll
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I ask is im just doing a concept design for ICS. Not a custom launcher but actual improvements to stock.
For notifications i actually meant the looks and functionality of it. The first concept ive done is to change how the text notifications work.
I don't like the character limit or how restrictive it is, so I've changed it.
Hopefully when I've got my concepts together, someone will be able to help make them a reality, be it a dev, the cyanogen team or google themselves lol.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I would really like a change to the lockscreen while listening to music. I want the bottom half of the screen to be transparent, or to show the wallpaper instead of beeing black. I have been searching through SystemUI, framework-res and android.policy.jar to try and find it, but haven't as of yet.
tristan202 said:
I would really like a change to the lockscreen while listening to music. I want the bottom half of the screen to be transparent, or to show the wallpaper instead of beeing black. I have been searching through SystemUI, framework-res and android.policy.jar to try and find it, but haven't as of yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean where the soft buttons would sit?
You'd like to see music controls in there?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Soft button area supporting gestures
I came to Android from webOS after HP shot themselves in the foot several times and one of the things I miss most is the gesture bar you had at the bottom of the screen. With the advent of the soft button area in ICS I see a real option to enable the area to work in a similar fashion.
For those that are unfamiliar with it it's basically an area at the bottom of the screen blocked off from apps that registers simple finger gestures. This made the basics of actually using a device a breeze and pleasure i.e. no looking for a particular button / tapping the wrong button when you weren't looking and the gestures were consistent no matter what app was running.
The gestures were:
A single swipe up would show you your running apps.
Swiping 2 fingers up would show you the launcher (app drawer).
A leftward swipe would go back.
A full swipe across the entire area going either right or left would take you to the next or previous running app.
Besides the wireless charging the gesture area was one of the webOS killer features you very quickly learned to take for-granted. So yeah, I'd like the soft button area to handle gestures in case you haven't guessed already
Northernmost said:
I came to Android from webOS after HP shot themselves in the foot several times and one of the things I miss most is the gesture bar you had at the bottom of the screen. With the advent of the soft button area in ICS I see a real option to enable the area to work in a similar fashion.
For those that are unfamiliar with it it's basically an area at the bottom of the screen blocked off from apps that registers simple finger gestures. This made the basics of actually using a device a breeze and pleasure i.e. no looking for a particular button / tapping the wrong button when you weren't looking and the gestures were consistent no matter what app was running.
The gestures were:
A single swipe up would show you your running apps.
Swiping 2 fingers up would show you the launcher (app drawer).
A leftward swipe would go back.
A full swipe across the entire area going either right or left would take you to the next or previous running app.
Besides the wireless charging the gesture area was one of the webOS killer features you very quickly learned to take for-granted. So yeah, I'd like the soft button area to handle gestures in case you haven't guessed already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok ill see what I can mock up. I've done a basic notification text, just need to add another feature before i finalise it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Go you! I was hoping this was something Matias Duarte would bring to Android himself.
Evostance said:
Do you mean where the soft buttons would sit?
You'd like to see music controls in there?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's the black part of this screenshot I'd like changed.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
tristan202 said:
No, it's the black part of this screenshot I'd like changed.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wow. Thats actually what it looks like when playing music
I think that black part may be for album art?
Evostance said:
Oh wow. Thats actually what it looks like when playing music
I think that black part may be for album art?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it just shows the album art at the very top. Up where the media buttons are.
tristan202 said:
No, it just shows the album art at the very top. Up where the media buttons are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How stupid. Definitely a tweak that should be there
Honestly, the only two things I want to be changed in terms of the UI are
1.) The ability to hide the soft keys at will for example, if I'm playing a game I want to be able to utilize the entire screen. I think a gesture to hide + bring back the soft keys is the solution. Highly unlikely to be implemented anytime soon
2.) Such as many launchers which have the functionality to have scrollable docks, I would like the soft keys to be scrollable. It would be pretty awesome to be able to have different toggles such as wifi, Bluetooth and even apps always available since unlike the notification bar, the soft keys never disappear regardless of the current app.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

FireOS tips and tricks

As a long time Android user, I (like most others) had a bit of a hard time getting used to using the Fire Phone's FireOS. Having used the OS for a couple of weeks now, it's not quite so bad once you get used to a few things and learn a few new tricks. Just wanted to start a thread for collecting these types of things that will help others making the transition to FireOS. I'm purposely omitting the fact that google play store can be side loaded whenever possible (sideloading the play store is something I highly recommend everyone with this phone do) so that I can focus on tips and tricks that actually relate to transitioning to FireOS.
Side panels Most everyone at this point is probably aware of the extra info panels that can be accessed by swiping in from the left or right edge of the screen. I have mixed feelings on this myself, as it's used well in some apps (like swiping from the right edge while typing a text message to add pictures), and not very well in other apps (and yet not at all in some apps). Additionally, it's not always obvious if an app does support this feature, or if a certain app will put these options in either the left panel, right panel, or both.
Back Button There is no back button on the Fire Phone. This was a cause of confusion at first. The back button has been replaced with a "swipe up" from the bottom of the screen to go back. This can be a bit finicky at times, but I've found that if I start a short swipe up from the top edge of the home button, it works nearly every time. Additionally, some apps seem to treat this a little differently, as from time to time I will see "back" and "menu" soft-buttons appear at the bottom of the screen when this gesture is used.
Screen Shots You can take a picture of whatever is on the screen by pressing the power and volume down buttons at the same time
App Switcher This is usually accessed on a NORMAL Android phone by long holding the home button. In FireOS, the same is accomplished by double-tapping the home button (the long hold in FireOS brings up voice search). This is the fastest way to switch between apps and gets you around having to navigate the carousel. Also, while in the app switcher, you can swipe individual apps up to kill the process AND remove them from the carousel. I like the Fire Phones implementation here much better than stock Androids. You can double-press the button very fast and this is much less disruptive to workflow while multitasking than pausing for a long press. I think Amazon implemented the switcher and action of the home button beautifully.
Home Button I initially found the behavior of the home button weird. On first press (from a running app), it will take you to the carousel. Additional presses from this point will cycle between the Carousel and the app tray.
App Tray Aside from subsequent presses of the home button, the app tray can be slid up by touching and dragging the bottom row of quick launch icons upward while in the carousel. Likewise, you can continually drag the app tray downward to eventually reach the carousel at the top. It will seem more logical if you picture in your mind that the Carousel sits at the top of the app tray.
Another App Tray annoyance is the lack of alphabetical sorting of apps. While I've found no way to do this automatically, apps can be dragged and dropped in the app tray in any order you like. Apps can either be dragged on top of eachother to create collections (folders), or dragged in between other apps for changing the sorting order. A bit of a pain initially, but pretty easy to keep up with once you get your current collection sorted initially.
Lastly, to get the most from your 4 quick launch icon slots - you can use collections (folders) there as well! This is a feature I'm really using a lot lately to make navigating and the lack of a normal launcher much easier! For example, currently I have the following 4 quick launch collections: "Communication","News","Organize" and "Media". Within the "Communication" collection, I have Phone, Contacts, Messaging, Email, Facebook, Messenger, and Snap Chat. Within the "News" collection, I have Yahoo, Silk Browser and Weather. Within "Oganize" I have Notes, Calendar, and Our Groceries. Within Media I havePhotos, Music, Prime Music, Instant Video, Plex and Netflix. Since using collections in the quick launch area, I find that I rarely ever use the app tray, as my most frequently used apps are right there, easily accessible from the Carousel.
Facebook Mesenger If you're used to using the floating chat heads, and missing them in FireOS, here is a tip. Go to messenger, and enter the settings. Navigate to "Chat heads", ensure the switch is set to "On" and that the "Hide when using apps that take up the full screen" checkbox is NOT checked. For some reason the FireOS launcher/carousel is treated like a full-screen app.
Music Fire phone comes with a "Music" app. But don't confuse this with Amazon's own "Prime Music" app - they are actually two different apps! For those that use the prime music service, do yourself a favor by installing "Prime Music" right from the Amazon App Store. Why this isn't on the phone by default is beyond me!
Cellular usage data As most of us have to keep tabs on our data usage, I find this to be a nice built-in feature (though not the easiest to find). You can set your monthly limit and view current usage under "Settings->Wi-Fi & Networks->See your cellular data usage"
Carousel I'm not a huge fan of the carousel, though I'm finally starting to adapt to it.
EDIT: I'm starting to become a huge fan of the carousel. It has forced me to become organized, and the ability to do simple actions (delete emails for example) without opening an app is just awesome once you get used to it.
There is one cool feature, and that's "pin to front". You can make any number of apps appear at the beginning of the carousel by long-pressing and selecting "pin to front". This has limited utility, as this is only efficient for pinning a few frequently used apps to the front of the list, but still useful once you start using it.
Also, the dragging and dropping apps from the app tray works to replace the default quick launch apps that appear at the bottom of the carousel.
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
For Pinned items, you can reorder them kind of crudely with a long press and using the "Move to front" option
Status Bar By default, the status bar auto-hides. You set it to always be visible in Settings->Display
Lock Screen This actually has a very little-knows and very cool feature called a "Locket". This allows you to add a number of photos that can easily be accessed from the lock screen. The utility of this isn't immediately obvious, so consider this scenario:
You bump into an old friend in the mall and they ask how your family is doing. Instead of pulling out your phone, getting to the app tray, pulling up the "Photos" app and searching for pictures to show - you can use the locket feature to do this much more efficiently.
To setup and/or access the photo locket feature, from the lock screen, simply swipe from right to left (instead of swiping up to unlock). This enters the photo locket, where you can add more photos, or swipe left and right to view the collection of photos in your locket. It's actually a really neat feature and has some real utility (I can't count how many times I've had to fumble through navigating through my entire photo collection to show pictures of my kids to someone I haven't seen in a while. This really makes it easy)
Silk Browser Another thing I'm not very keen on - though if you plan on using stock FireOS, learning to properly use the app will help.
EDIT: Ok, the browser is growing on me now.
It can be a bit confusing since there is a menu button in the upper-right hand corner, a different menu in the left panel (accessed by swiping in from the left edge of the screen), and other options such as tab switching that are only visible at the bottom of the screen only at certain times. I'll try to detail some of the common functions here:
Bookmarking pages Bring up the page you want to bookmark, then use the menu button in the upper-right hand corner to add the bookmark
Desktop View Use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and navigate to "Request another view", which will allow you to select the desktop view
Clearing browsing history Access the menu in the left panel, and go to settings, then "Your Data" -> "Clear Browser Data". From here you can clear just history, or anything else such as cookies, etc. You can also clear sites from the history list one at a time by using the left panel menu->History and long pressing the entries you wish to delete.
Tab Management This took me quite some time to figure out. Sometimes I would notice the tab switcher at the bottom of the browser, other times I wouldn't. To make these tab controls visible again, simply start scrolling the current web page back towards the top of the page and the tab controls will appear.
Private Browsing Mode This keeps websites from saving to your history, saving cookies, etc. Like other options, it's not easy to find in the Silk browser. To go into private browsing mode, use the Tab Management above to enter the list of tabs. On this screen you will find the option for private browsing.
Offline Reading One interesting feature that is useful (but poorly implemented) is "Reading Lists", which stories/web pages for offline reading. It's confusing, because you use one menu system to save to the reading list, and yet another menu to access the saved items. To save a page for later viewing, use the menu button in the upper right-hand corner and choose "Save to Reading List". To access the actual reading list to either read, or remove items, use the left panel menu->"Reading List"
Default Search Engine The search engine can be changed from the default (Bing) to either Google or Yahoo by going to the left panel->Settings->Search Engine
Cloud Photos Prime members get unlimited storage for backing up photos. Unfortunately, it's poorly implemented in FireOS and ONLY allows for automatic uploading of ALL new photos at this time. But what if you want to be able to specifically select only the photos you want stored on the cloud? Unfortunately in stock FireOS this isn't yet possible. However, if you have installed the Google Play Store or are familiar with side loading, look for the "Amazon Cloud Drive Photos" app - which oddly enough is published by Amazon for general Android devices, but not available to their own Fire Phone via their own App Store. At any rate, this is how to get around the limitation of the default implementation.
I'd love to hear tips from others and continue learning to use FireOS more efficiently. The tips I outlined above have made this a very usable OS for me, even though I flat out hated it at first. I'll try to keep up adding tips and tricks from others to this master list.
Edited the first post a bit. FireOS is really starting to grow on me and I'm actually more productive now on my Fire Phone than I was on my Galaxy Note II. Amazon still has some work to do on FireOS - but once you get the hang of it its a nice efficient OS
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
Thanks. Your tips made a real night and day difference between using Fire phone.
jondecker76 said:
Found another tip. I'll add it here and to the original post:
For non-app items (books, music, etc) that appear in the carousel, long-pressing will reveal an addition option of "Pin to app grid", which will pin the book/music/whatever into the app grid for easy access just as if it were an app.
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Click to collapse
Thanks JonDecker. Your tips made a difference of actually liking and using Fire phone. Couldn't find such information anywhere else.
Not a problem
After being with the phone for quite some time now, I actually cringe when I have to use my wife's LG G2 for anything. Once you learn a how to use FireOS , it's really pretty good!
Good stuff!!! I personally think that the interface is not that bad... and it is very smooth and quick... i like the phone. No tricks from me at the moment but i will share if i found any ?
Sent from my SD4930UR using XDA Free mobile app
If you have NFC turned on and tap it against your PC (with NFC as well) you can share the whats currently on your phones screen. I found this by accident. The screen shot pop's up in your pc's browser.
Increasing Battery Life
I have found that disabling Dynamic Perspective increases the duration of my phone charge significantly. This can be done by going to Settings (swipe from top) > Display > Configure low motion settings > Dynamic Perspecitve.
I'm glad to see a thread dedicated to this. I'd like to share a review I wrote on this phone a while ago as I feel it adds to the already terrific thread topic.
Below, in no particular order, is a list of things I hated out of the box. Following will be my feelings, along with tips & tricks, on the same items.
1. The Home Screen - I didn't like how the apps were randomly scattered on the home screen. It was difficult for me find what I was looking for.
2. No Google Play Store - I understand the logic behind this from a business prospective. However, from a consumer prospective, there are apps I use on a daily basis that were not available in the Amazon App Store. As bad as this sounds, it means I'd have to change my life style to accommodate this device. One thing that kind of floored me on this is that Google doesn't block the Amazon App store on their OS.
3. The grid - It scrolls up and down, where I've been used to scrolling left to right. Also, there is no way to easily sort the applications by alphabetical order. It simply displays them as they are installed.
4. The lack of soft keys - I've been accustomed to soft keys to open the menu, go home, view recently used apps, and to go back.
5. Notifications - The notification bar doesn't keep a log of icons of notifications. For example, if I get a KIK message it drops down, previews it, and vanished. Unless I open up the notification panel there is nothing to remind you of this. This bothers me as I often don't review them straight away and forget it even happened.
6. Keyboard - There is absolutely no way to install another keyboard. I've been a long time user of Swift Key and I keep find myself hitting the period instead of the space bar.
Due to the above I decided to try to make the phone a bit more what I'm used to. This was easy as I simply had to side load a few apps. This mainly included the apps that were not in the Amazon App Store along with a launcher to replace the Amazon Home screen. After installing several launchers I found one that I was happy with as it permitted me to use custom Widgets. I used it this way for a week or so and was happy to have my old Style back.
Now that I didn't feel held back, or limited by the device, I wanted to give it a go on how it was intended to be used. I changed my default home launcher to the Fire OS launcher. After using it a bit, and exploring it, it's my default launcher with no plans of going back to the standard Android Launcher! Below are the same 6 items listed above, but including how I feel about them now. It will also include what I consider to be tips & tricks, things I wish I knew out of the box.
1. The Home Screen - The use of Dynamic Perspective to access menus is amazing! The apps that are created for this OS have beautiful home screen widgets that I'm not sure I could go with out now. I love the fact I can read SMS messages on the home screen, emails on the home screen, a flip of the wrist shows me the current weather, my upcoming appointment and reminders, and much more. Although there is no easy way to change the apps listed, you can pin apps to the front. So simply pin the app that you want listed last first, and the first app last. This will put them in the order that you'd like.
2. No Google Play Store - As others have mentioned, installing the Google Play Store is very simply on this device. There is no downgrading required. Simply side load a few APK files. I won't go into detail on this as it can be found in a lot of other places.
3. The grid - I don't mind scrolling up and down now. It's second nature now. However, you still can not sort the apps. You must go through the tedious process of moving them one at a time by clicking and dragging it. I did this so they are sorted alphabetically. If I install a new app I now simply drag it where I feel it should be.
4. The lack of soft keys - I'm so used to swiping up now it's odd to use a traditional Android phone's back button! The physical home button works fine, especiall8y now that I discovered the "Quick Switch" menu by double pressing the home key.
5. Notifications - I've toggled all the options regarding notifications in the settings. My original complaint still exists. This was a HUGE set back for me with this device. Luckily, with a lot of trial and error, I found an app that works well for me. It's call NotifierPro Free. I configured it so a bar drops down and stays under the status bar. I also configured it so these notifications remain until I swipe them away. This has been a HUGE help in allowing me to adapt to this device.
6. Keyboard - There is still no way to change the default keyboard, even after side loading one. Amazon told me they made an update to their Kindles which allows the use of changing keyboard applications, so there will be an update that allows the Fire Phone to do the same.
Tips & Tricks / Q & A
1. Switching between running apps quickly.
- To do this simply press the home button twice quickly. You will be presented with a menu called "Quick Switch" where your most recently used apps can be found.
2. How do I quit apps that I'm not using at the moment to extend battery life and free resources?
- If you double click the home button to access the "Quick Switch" menu you can swipe up which will close the app, remove it from the quick switch menu, along with removing it from the cluttered home carousel.
3. Can I group applications together?
- Yes you can! Inside the home menu click and drag an application over another. It will ask you to give the new collection a name and they are then in a group. This is a great way to keep things together and sorted. You can also drag these "collections" into the home screen dock.
4. Any tips for the Camera?
- Yes! I've read about this "best shot" feature, but it didn't seem to do anything for me once I enable it. However, which viewing the photos you already have taken you will have a "best shot" option you can click on. This will show you the 3 photos the camera took, allowing you to select the one that you like the best.
- Burst Feature - The Amazon pages states you can click and hold the camera button to take a burst of photos. This doesn't work for me as it opens up Fire Fly. However, if you press and hold the soft key this feature works.
5. Amazon App Store or Google Play Store?
- I suggest you use the App from the Amazon App Store if available. Some of these apps are created specifically for the Fire Phone and give home screen widgets that the standard app does not support. For example, if you install KIK from the Amazon App Store it allows you to read messages on your home screen, where if you install it from the Play Store it does not.
6. Is the battery really as bad as people say?
- Maybe originally prior to the newest update. The newest update bring out amazing battery life, compared to my old phone at least. I can easily get through an entire day on a single charge. This is under moderate use such as messaging, emailing, browsing eBay, the web, and normal app use. I do not use the device to watch movies or television shows.
As I continue finding things about this phone that I feel are worth mentioning, I'll be sure to update this review. Outside of that, if you have bought this device but initially installed the Google Home Launcher, I strongly suggest you open your mind and give the Amazon Home Launcher a shot. It's truly amazing.
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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I'm not sure if it's against any site rules, so I'll PM you.
---------- Post added at 05:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 AM ----------
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
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My apologies, and thanks for pointing this out. I had the app name wrong. It's actually NotifierPro Free!
Look at alternative markets or use a website to remotely download apks from the google appstore.
I have 1mobile market installed on my phone and it has it and it works.
Btw. Go Launcher Ex + Go Notifier works for notification badges (unread count at the app icon) and all widgets (you have to pull them onto the screen after every restart though) but has not wallpapers.
I use it, since I disliked the huge bar that Notifier used.
Now it almost feels like normal Android, I just wish I could deactivate the standard lockscreen... I already tried a lot of stuff via ADB, but I guess it needs root for it.
Since I do not want to root my phone as long as there is not notification bar like in stock android, I am fine now.
ractar28 said:
Can you post a link to "notification pro free"? I can't find it in the amazon store and my google-fu is failing me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like having found this thread, I had my fire phone for about a month now and I still can't get used to not having the back and menu soft buttons. Otherwise I do like the phone quite a bit and that is having to use it along with my Galaxy Note 3 work phone.

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