Develop Bugs

Can you offer a run down on what I should do with my new 10.5?

So, I just found out my girl got me a Tab S 10.5 for Valentine's Day (best girlfriend EVER!).
She got me the SM-T800NTSEXAR, which is the 32GB version from Best Buy. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-10-5-32gb-titanium-bronze/7093009.p
I am coming from an iPad, which I use to watch movies on, use Alien Blue to read Reddit, play light games on, and read comics and books. I plan to retire this iPad, and use suitable Android apps to replicate my use.
I also have a Note 4. for my everyday phone I will use DataSync to replicate my saved games that Google doesn't mirror automatically (I play mostly Arc: Redux, Sky Force, Zombie Gunship, and Galaxy On Fire 2 HD), MightySMS Tablet (to send SMS from my tablet to my phone), SideSync to actually view my phone screen, Google Books to read ebooks (I wish they allowed folders in that app), and MX Player to view my 1080p MKVs. Oh, and I am using Nova Prime as my launcher and Google Chrome Remote Desktop to RDP into my home server.
I purchased a 128GB microSD to save all the movies and comic (CBR) to (I still have to figure out which comic viewer to use, that allows you to read comics easily off external SD).
Lastly, I have to figure out what is the best method to wirelessly tether from my T-Mobile Note 4 (rooted and ROM'd) using my unlimited data plan, and not my tether plan.
What my question for you fine folk, is which ROM would you guys recommend to use off the bat for this model Tab S? I want to keep it TouchWiz so I don't lose any features like multiwindow, so no Cyangenmod.
Also, any apps or other suggestions you may have?

The rom I would recommend is Iron rom. It has all the touchwiz features and all that. Its smooth and way better than stock. It can also help with battery life (if you tweak the kernel).
Some apps I would suggest is titanium backup for backing up app data on your internal storage or sd card. Another app I would use is greenify. It can hibernate apps that open for no reason which can also save battery. Other than that, I dont know any other apps.
Enjoy your tablet!

Sidesync is a great addition for Samsung devices. I also have the Tab s 10.5 and Note 4 and use both all the time. Its nice to use the tablet to send and receive text messages when away from the phone, like in the kitchen, cooking.... I can only recommend the stock roms, and the newest one from Sam Mobile (T800 - firmwares) which is from Hong Kong (Most are multilingual) and its been the best one so far. I can idle this tablet for days or perhaps weeks and not lose crazy battery. Of course you'll need root (please, with the Knox warranty hardware repair fable...) since Samsung likes to improve the user experience by having dozens and dozens of applications running leading to the lag some mention.
Mine usually has like 5-6 apps running making the tablet insane with no lag and a beautiful screen. I'm using this thing like mission control! Its a remote, I have a Plex server so I can view and stream movies to my various devices around the house (Chromecasts, WD Lives, Samsung TVs), playing music and games, surfing the web, and an excellent book reader (check out Moon Reader Pro)... Oh also my shopping lists (Out of Milk) synced across devices when out in the field. Its a great tablet if you know what your doing with it, and take the time to tweak it a little. And Lollipop is coming soon......

Itchiee said:
Sidesync is a great addition for Samsung devices. I also have the Tab s 10.5 and Note 4 and use both all the time. Its nice to use the tablet to send and receive text messages when away from the phone, like in the kitchen, cooking.... I can only recommend the stock roms, and the newest one from Sam Mobile (T800 - firmwares) which is from Hong Kong (Most are multilingual) and its been the best one so far. I can idle this tablet for days or perhaps weeks and not lose crazy battery. Of course you'll need root (please, with the Knox warranty hardware repair fable...) since Samsung likes to improve the user experience by having dozens and dozens of applications running leading to the lag some mention.
Mine usually has like 5-6 apps running making the tablet insane with no lag and a beautiful screen. I'm using this thing like mission control! Its a remote, I have a Plex server so I can view and stream movies to my various devices around the house (Chromecasts, WD Lives, Samsung TVs), playing music and games, surfing the web, and an excellent book reader (check out Moon Reader Pro)... Oh also my shopping lists (Out of Milk) synced across devices when out in the field. Its a great tablet if you know what your doing with it, and take the time to tweak it a little. And Lollipop is coming soon......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice. I have a Plex server as well (I have 84TB in my server at my place), but will also copy movies to the external SD so I don't kill the battery.
How bad is the battery drain using SideSync? For the phone and the tablet?
Are you using the Note 4 as a wireless tether for LTE data when you are out? If yes, how bad is the battery drain? What software are you using for that tether?
Does Moon Reader Pro put books that are in a collection in 1 folder? Say I have a bunch of Tom Clancy books, can I put them in order in a folder? (this is one of the things Google Books doesnt allow you to do)
Thanks again.

Moon reader has a file manager so you can put them anywhere. I don't usually carry my tablet around outside, but I can tether from my Note 4 to the tablet if needed (Galaxy Tools v3.0.4). Sidesync creates a WiFi direct network between your phone and tablet so it can drain, but the phone takes a bigger hit then the tablet.
Also you'll never find a better case then the Samsung Tab S Book Cover (You can find a deal on them from time to time)... I've had many tablets with various cases and none were even close... Its nicely textured, closes completely, has 3 different angles, and access to all ports and buttons, without much additional weight.

Itchiee said:
Moon reader has a file manager so you can put them anywhere. I don't usually carry my tablet around outside, but I can tether from my Note 4 to the tablet if needed (Galaxy Tools v3.0.4). Sidesync creates a WiFi direct network between your phone and tablet so it can drain, but the phone takes a bigger hit then the tablet.
Also you'll never find a better case then the Samsung Tab S Book Cover (You can find a deal on them from time to time)... I've had many tablets with various cases and none were even close... Its nicely textured, closes completely, has 3 different angles, and access to all ports and buttons, without much additional weight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you link Galaxy Tools? I am finding too many other apps on Google with the same name

Its in our own forum!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not.../app-one-click-hotspot-enabler-menus-t2816159
Although it might be limited to Sprint devices, the creator proclaims "IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER CARRIER PLEASE MSG ME TO ADD SUPPORT!"
So there's that then....

Itchiee said:
Its in our own forum!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not.../app-one-click-hotspot-enabler-menus-t2816159
Although it might be limited to Sprint devices, the creator proclaims "IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER CARRIER PLEASE MSG ME TO ADD SUPPORT!"
So there's that then....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is for Sprint only. But thanks.

Wrong thread

EvanWasHere said:
I am coming from an iPad, which I use to watch movies on, use Alien Blue to read Reddit, play light games on, and read comics and books. I plan to retire this iPad, and use suitable Android apps to replicate my use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give Reddit News a try. It is about the best Reddit app for tablets.
Earth&Moon Pro is a cool 3D live wallpaper. I usually get a "wow" when people see it.

nicholb said:
Give Reddit News a try. It is about the best Reddit app for tablets.
Earth&Moon Pro is a cool 3D live wallpaper. I usually get a "wow" when people see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Reddit is fun, Reddit News, Reddit Now, Reddot Sync, Red Reader Beta, Bacon Reader, Flow, and Pro Reader for Reddit all on my phone. Still haven't picked a favorite yet... Need to get used to something different after spending thousands of (wasted) hours on Alien Blue on my iPad.
As for wallpapers, I have Tornado 3D on my Note 4.. I can't wait to see it on my tablet https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.maxelus.tornadolivewallpaper&hl=en
But I will try Earth&Moon as well as Reddit News. Thanks!

LOVING the tablet. So much faster than my iPad 4.. Screen is crisp... music sounds louder (due to the 2 side speakers).. and soo much lighter.
As of right now, I am using stock ROM and Reddit News for Reddit. My girl is spending the weekend, so no time to nerd out and root and get my tablet totally customized.
One issue though, is the soft keys. When viewing Reddit or on websites, we always use it portrait style.. Every time my girl uses it, she hits the soft keys with her finger. Because of this she has decided she does not like the tablet (which is great as this means she wont keep grabbing it out of my hands..lol).. but this is an issue.
I saw this for disabling the softkeys and using on screen keys http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...-disable-softkeys-enable-navbar-root-t2803900 But I am hoping someone has figured on how to disable the keys when it is portrait and re-enable when it is landscape, which makes a lot more sense.

Wrong thread

Rooted and installed IronRom last night.. then used Titanium to restore apps and data from my phone to my tablet. It is working GREAT.
One thing I should mention, is that I thought the wifi in my apartment sucked because of my iPad low wireless speed. In my bedroom, I would only get 1MB-2MB of speed., so I installed a repeater, and only got 10MB-20MB using that. Now with this tablet, I consistently get 20MB speed WITHOUT using the repeater. My 1750AC wireless router just arrived today, and I can't wait to see the speed I get with that.
One more question.. I've had two "crashes" so far. Once when closing tabs on Samsung Web Browser and once when closing a game. The screen just hung for 1-2 minutes (with the game, the game play sound kept going). I tried hitting the menu key, the power key, etc but nothing happened. Finally after the 1-2 min, the screen and menu's would pop up really fast as they finally caught up to my button mashing. I was playing the game during a break and when an associate came by, i hit the home button to get out of the game, and the fact that the sound kept playing, and I couldnt kill it, was not great.. and I couldnt lower the sound volume either. Is there a control-alt-del similar button sequence on this tablet so I can kill anything running?

EvanWasHere said:
Rooted and installed IronRom last night.. then used Titanium to restore apps and data from my phone to my tablet. It is working GREAT.
One thing I should mention, is that I thought the wifi in my apartment sucked because of my iPad low wireless speed. In my bedroom, I would only get 1MB-2MB of speed., so I installed a repeater, and only got 10MB-20MB using that. Now with this tablet, I consistently get 20MB speed WITHOUT using the repeater. My 1750AC wireless router just arrived today, and I can't wait to see the speed I get with that.
One more question.. I've had two "crashes" so far. Once when closing tabs on Samsung Web Browser and once when closing a game. The screen just hung for 1-2 minutes (with the game, the game play sound kept going). I tried hitting the menu key, the power key, etc but nothing happened. Finally after the 1-2 min, the screen and menu's would pop up really fast as they finally caught up to my button mashing. I was playing the game during a break and when an associate came by, i hit the home button to get out of the game, and the fact that the sound kept playing, and I couldnt kill it, was not great.. and I couldnt lower the sound volume either. Is there a control-alt-del similar button sequence on this tablet so I can kill anything running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold Power,home,volume up and down buttons at the same time for about 20 seconds. Then it should force a reboot and not run the game.

EvanWasHere said:
Rooted and installed IronRom last night.. then used Titanium to restore apps and data from my phone to my tablet. It is working GREAT.
One thing I should mention, is that I thought the wifi in my apartment sucked because of my iPad low wireless speed. In my bedroom, I would only get 1MB-2MB of speed., so I installed a repeater, and only got 10MB-20MB using that. Now with this tablet, I consistently get 20MB speed WITHOUT using the repeater. My 1750AC wireless router just arrived today, and I can't wait to see the speed I get with that.
One more question.. I've had two "crashes" so far. Once when closing tabs on Samsung Web Browser and once when closing a game. The screen just hung for 1-2 minutes (with the game, the game play sound kept going). I tried hitting the menu key, the power key, etc but nothing happened. Finally after the 1-2 min, the screen and menu's would pop up really fast as they finally caught up to my button mashing. I was playing the game during a break and when an associate came by, i hit the home button to get out of the game, and the fact that the sound kept playing, and I couldnt kill it, was not great.. and I couldnt lower the sound volume either. Is there a control-alt-del similar button sequence on this tablet so I can kill anything running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you do a clean flash or dirty flash?

Comic rack hands down best comic viewer and also get MxPlayerPro to replace the stock movie viewer. You can thank me later

uf21 said:
Did you do a clean flash or dirty flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a clean flash.
The tablet is running amazing. Only having 3 issues.
1.) The keyboard that came with Iron Rom from the Note Pro, when typing in emails, would not show suggested words, and auto suggest itself the wrong words constantly. I fixed this by installing Google keyboard.
2.) I set the tablet to use my AC wifi in my house. Using SpeedTest.net app, I successfully tested my speed to hit 150Mb/150Mb (the max of my Verizon FIOS speed). But for some reason (and of course when I was showing it off to a friend), when I tested it, the max speed I could achieve was 20/20. I disabled the 2.4Ghz and made sure the 5.8Ghz was the only one on, changed the channel, etc.. nothing worked. Only when I rebooted the tablet, did I have no issue. This has so far not repeated, but I am not continuously testing my network speed either.
3.) I've had another freeze up. Doing the vol up/down menu and power button reset the tablet. This is the third time this happened.. At first it gets really slow.. my animated wallpaper slows to a crawl or completely stops, and then the buttons stop working. I've installed a CPU task monitor app so I can see what is eating the CPU at that moment as well as a catlog app so I can log it. I have a LOT of apps installed (that I Titaniumed over from my Note 4), so this could be the fault of one of the apps and not the ROM or hardware of the Tab S.
Even with the 3 issues above, I consider this tablet 5 stars and think it is MUCH better than the iPad it replaced. I will try and make a video later of what I can do with it, especially against the iPad. The ONLY concern I have is if Samsung announces their new tablet on March 1st, so I am keeping the receipt in case of that.

Ccieslin said:
Comic rack hands down best comic viewer and also get MxPlayerPro to replace the stock movie viewer. You can thank me later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. Using both.. But thanks!

Wrong thread

JY-UL128N2 now available

I emailed Joying again yesterday to ask about UL128N2, and they responded by adding the unit to their webpages and accepting orders.
Canada website (Canadian $):
http://www.joying.ca/best-joying-ne...t-pip-sleep-model-bluetooth-4-0-dab-obd2.html
Global website (US $):
https://www.carjoying.com/new-andro...h-4-0-gps-navigation-professional-head-u.html

and the website is down. As usual.
If the website isn't down, it's their forum. Sigh.

morgish said:
and the website is down. As usual.
If the website isn't down, it's their forum. Sigh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well its back up now. Or at least its working for me.
Sometimes international routing through the great firewall can be a bit.... spotty.

Has anyone bought already?
Is it better than the ones with bezel and volume knob?

KamaL said:
Has anyone bought already?
Is it better than the ones with bezel and volume knob?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sitting on the fence with this purchase, any-chance you could do a video review with these units?

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That dot was terrible. I also disabled it immediately, thankfully they gave an easy option to turn it off, unlike many of the other things that are obfuscated(such as disclosing to owners the hardware keycombo to boot into recovery).
Upon receiving my unit the capacitive buttons weren't always responding even when pressed perfectly, but after holding down RST till reboot they haven't had the issue again.
When inquiring about a larger touch area for the capacitive buttons I got "Hi friend, Nice day Yes, you can choose the bigger or small touch area in below settings:" with this picture attached.
Increasing the delta values in Settings of the Key Study app doesn't seem to do a whole lot but I think the trigger area is a bit bigger. Unfortunately the border values are for the entire touch screen not per button area.

tally3tally said:
I am sitting on the fence with this purchase, any-chance you could do a video review with these units?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I don't do video.

rcll said:
That dot was terrible. I also disabled it immediately, thankfully they gave an easy option to turn it off, unlike many of the other things that are obfuscated(such as disclosing to owners the hardware keycombo to boot into recovery).
Upon receiving my unit the capacitive buttons weren't always responding even when pressed perfectly, but after holding down RST till reboot they haven't had the issue again.
When inquiring about a larger touch area for the capacitive buttons I got "Hi friend, Nice day Yes, you can choose the bigger or small touch area in below settings:" with this picture attached.
Increasing the delta values in Settings of the Key Study app doesn't seem to do a whole lot but I think the trigger area is a bit bigger. Unfortunately the border values are for the entire touch screen not per button area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one looks like the buttons (and their corresponding areas) are considerably larger than with the 7". They are surprisingly small on this! I might see if I can disable them altogether, since I suspect that it would likely interfere with "slide finger in from left" gestures.

Ok, so got the thing installed last night.
Well, sortof.
Seems that China can't make up its mind regarding how far the front of the radio sticks forward relative to the mounting holes. So my first attempt to mount it resulted in the radio's face sticking so far forward that my DDIN face plate wouldn't have been able to make it down to the dashboard.... assuming that the holes fit. More on that later.
Second attempt, I moved the radio back to the next set of holes on the mounting bracket, which are a bit more than 1/2" behind the holes that I had the UL135 mounted with. Ok, well depth is *better*, but now a bit too far back. Middle of the night, so as long as I can use the thing to route my way to work in the morning, I'm ok with that. Maybe on the weekend, I'll drill another set of holes about half way between the two sets I tried so far. That should line it up OK.
So the DDIN sizing. Another thing that China can't make up its mind on. The UL135 fit in the Toyota Tacoma Metra dash kit... very snugly in horizontal direction, roughly 1mm clearance in the vertical direction. This UL128N2 is about 2-3 mm too big to fit in that dash kit in BOTH directions. They *claimed* the UL135 to be 100mm x 178mm. They *claim* the UL128N2 to be 102mm x 178mm. I will tell you that the UL128N2 is WIDER than the UL135, despite the claimed equal width. And given the 2mm (actually more) increase in height and that I had at least 1mm of available vertical space, I *should* have been able to force it in. NOPE. The difference is much greater than that, and in both directions. If the UL135 really is 100mm x 178mm, then the UL128N2 is probably 104mm x 180mm. WHY? Oh, the reason is absolutely HILARIOUS, it is because they have a thin plastic ring around the glass digitizer. They ordered the GLASS to have dimensions matching the DDIN target, but didn't compensate for the thin (~1mm) plastic ring around it! Very typical of the way that China manufacturing works. Ok, so I was able to grab a file and open up the dash kit a little bit to make it fit, and now its ok.
So next up... actual functionality.
First observation; the AM radio frequency standard is set to something that is most decidedly NOT North American standard. The closest frequency I could get to my preferred station was off by 2 kHz. While it was adequate to get the station and understand, without TYPICALLY an overabundance of noise or added sound from the next station over, it definitely sounds bad. Thanks so much China, for giving me a well working AM radio tuner! With any luck, I'll be able to hack the program to tune the proper frequencies.
On the physical utility of the unit, when you look past the "size" issue, its not bad. As expected, the screen is much more convenient without the deep bezel around it as the UL135 had. In order to achieve this, they replaced the physical control buttons with a row of capacitive buttons. Those buttons are pretty well useless, you can't reliably press them without focusing carefully on them. That is what is often called "distracted driving". I would go so far as to say that this row of buttons is DANGEROUS to try to use. Not only that, but the row of buttons is ***COMPLETELY REDUNDANT***. After all, they are just duplicates of the home/back/volume buttons that are already present on the SystemUI upper panel anyway, and, of course, the STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS (for those who have them hooked up). Why did they even bother to include that row of buttons? Because.... CHINA! Oh well.
Next up; there are some serious bugs when it comes to AUDIO ROUTING. If the radio is playing, and GPS voice comes on; radio mutes. Oh, it STAYS muted until you go BACK into the radio application, which seems to trigger a reset of the audio routing. This improved once I set google maps as the default nav application, now it just volumes down the radio to "pretend" to play the GPS sounds, and volumes it back up after.
Well, starting with the "included" ancient version of google maps... while it does make sound, it gets clipped by about 3 seconds at the start of the sound. So you miss about the first 3 seconds of the instruction. Update google maps to the latest version, and no sound comes out at all. Ok, what is happening with the newer one is that it is trying to use an audio pathway that is obviously BROKEN on these units. So that means that there isn't going to be any voice nav from google maps until either (a) THEY fix the audio routing problems, or (b) WE fix the audio routing problems. I'm not sure yet if there is an audio routing policy file that we can configure, or if this is something hard baked in somewhere. That's very annoying, but something I can live with for now. I prefer the newer google maps enough to live with the lack of voice guidance, rather than to try to use the ancient version.
DPI: Obviously, Android believes that the screen is as large as a TELEVISION. The fonts are all incredibly small, even if you set it to HUGE font. Ok, so right angle triangle has H = root(1024*1024+600*600)=1186.83 pseudopixels. Divide that by 7, makes 170 DPI. Its set to 160 DPI, so Android thinks that the screen is 7.4 inches. Ok, that's not really too far off from reality, but it IS in the wrong direction, to make everything look SMALLER than it should be. The problem is that the screen is roughly 3 feet away from your face. Take a tablet and how far do you hold it away? Roughly 1.5 foot. So lets figure out how big Android should *THINK* the screen is, in order to blow things up to the same scale as a 7" tablet at 1.5 foot.
We're dealing with right triangles again, 7:3 = x:1.5, x = 3.5. Android should think that the screen is 3.5 inches. That puts it up at 338 DPI. Ok, so these numbers are pretty rough, since I'm just guessing the viewing distances, but you get the idea. Crank that DPI WAAAAAAAY UP! Only problem I see, however, is regarding how they coded the SystemUI. If they followed the Android design guidelines, then they coded it with DP's (density independent pixels), which means that when you crank the DPI far enough to make applications look proper, it will make the CHINA look HUGE. Think about it -- they designed their SystemUI panels to show at a "normal" size when the DPI is set way too low. I can see bad things happening.
I wonder if it would be practical to just SWAP OUT the chinese SystemUI for one built from source? That might actually be a practical way of repairing the UI. Might also be nice to rebuild the System Settings application from source. I'll have to go over it again, but I don't recall there being anything special about System Settings -- they just colorized it, broke the bluetooth part, and added a password to developer options. WHY???!?!
Like the American proverb says... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" That ESPECIALLY goes for China, since if it ain't broke, they're GOING to break it.
And now, to BLUETOOTH.
Well, knew going into it that they futzed up the bluetooth settings as badly as they possibly could. Why? Because... CHINA. The good news is that they tried so hard to break it as badly as they could, that it was EASY to fix.
In fact, I had written up the most important fix WELL before I even had these head units. I will refer to my fix thread HERE: http://forum.xda-developers.com/and...elopment/bluetooth-settings-launcher-t3504526
There are two obvious problems with bluetooth on these units;
1) They deleted the System Settings button that brought up the Bluetooth settings. That is what I fixed in above thread.
2) They BROKE the bluetooth pairing pin prompt. On a normal Android device, when you try to pair with something from it, it will first try one or two "standard" pairing pins, and they don't work, then it will pop up a dialog requesting that you enter the device's pin. This one does NOT do that. It JUST tries to pair using whatever pin is hardcoded in the CHINESE bluetooth application. So while I haven't "fixed" this, there is at least a reasonably easy (if not particularly convenient) workaround. When it doesn't pair, you go into the chinese bluetooth application, change the pin there, and try again.
So the good news is this; the REAL MEAT of the bluetooth stack, is the product of INTEL. Not China. That means that once you work around the severely broken UI (again, WHY BREAK it when you can just leave it be and have it ACTUALLY WORK?), it actually works WONDERFULLY! That means you can connect to AND USE multiple devices at the same time. I.e., torque + **ANY** OBD device, while simultaneously a voice call AND bluetooth data tethering.
Hmm, what else....
Bootup.... this is a very dramatic change from the UL135.
A full bootup takes about 20 seconds.
So when you get into your car in the morning to go to work, after it has been sitting all day, you turn the key, and it is IMMEDIATELY UP. Wait, what? Its wired correctly -- if the +12 and IGN were reversed, then it would lose power with the ignition switch off, which means that it would have to do a full bootup. If the IGN wasn't connected at all, then the screen will never turn on -- when the IGN turns off, the screen goes off, radio stops playing, and another thing I observe, is that bluetooth connections are lost. So, either the thing is only doing a partial shutdown and proceeding to "drain the battery" mode, or they have actually made it sleep *correctly*, switch off all the parts that suck down the power, put the CPU into deep sleep (clock off), and sit there draining negligible power until it receives a wakeup interrupt (IGN line powers up). If that is so, then I am VERY pleased, at least with this element.
On performance and stability;
Its better than the UL135 across the board here. This thing is no rocket, the CPU is actually quite a TURD, though definitely better than RK3188 (despite lower benchmarks). The increased RAM helps with keeping things in memory and responsive. The stability is a night and day improvement over the UL135, which I believe to be attributable to the INTEL element. eMMC performance is abysmal.
Summary so far;
1) The front panel is bigger than DDIN.
2) The front panel sticks out a different amount than UL135.
3) The audio routing policy is BORKED.
4) The UI is ALL CHINA.
5) The Bluetooth stack is INTEL
6) Performance is "OK". Nothing special.
7) Wakeup after sitting all night is INSTANTANEOUS.

More on the GMaps audio routing.
While I haven't yet tried out the latest system update, I HAVE found a way to make GMaps actually speak.
Unfortunately, the "way" is by being on a PHONE CALL.
Yep. When you're on a PHONE call, google maps is HAPPY to speak to you. In fact, the damned thing will NEVER SHUT UP. Obviously. When better to harass you then when you're trying to listen to someone else? Or when you're trying to speak, since it shuts off the microphone in order not to echo back the nav prompts.
(fortunately, there is a setting to tell it not to issue nav sounds during call).
Oh yeah, gmaps also speaks LOUDER than the phone call.
EDIT: people on the joying forum are indicating that the newest update will fix the gmaps voice.

Ok, on to the December 8th UPDATE.
First off, I have NOT really run the update yet. Supposedly, it fixes the GMaps sound problem.
I can confirm that they have NOT (yet) caught on to Blueballs.apk that I wrote (and shared) to regain access to the System Settings --> Bluetooth activity, so bluetooth functionality has not been degraded.
First the install process;
Take their install archive and EXTRACT it to a uSD or USB disk. Either is fine. I used USB.
msdos type partition table, ONE partition, formatted as fat32.
Power on the vehicle, stick in the card or USB, and wait until it prompts you to install the update.
Now is where things get scary....
Starts by updating the MCU, fine, then proceeds to update the Android image. The progress bar moves about a 3rd of the way across, and STOPS. And it just sits there. For about 10 minutes. The only indication that the device isn't completely crashed out is that the little websphere thing is still spinning in the little robot's hands. Ok, eventually it goes, then it says to yank out the disk and it will reboot itself. OK, no problem.
You do it. And it reboots. It plays the boot animation, right up to the last frame... and stops. It just sits there saying "ANDROID" across the screen. Now you're thinking to yourself that THIS THING IS JAMMED UP AND YET WE HAVE NO WAY TO GET INTO RECOVERY!!!!! Crap. Ok, lets just let it be. It sits, and it sits, and about 15 minutes later, the panel lights go out. Ok, at least something changed. Wait another minute and it finally boots. So WHAT THE BLOODY HELL CHINA? Obviously, it must have been optimizing application number 27 of 258, so WHY DID YOU DELETE THE PROGRESS DIALOG, CHINA? WHY?????
So it boots back up, and you notice something funny right off the bat. It has returned to the china launcher. Ok, that's minor. Keep on moving, we can reset it to google launcher momentarily. So now you go into something like k9mail, and it asks you to sign in.
HUH?
But the program remained installed.
THE BLOODY MORONS..... THEY DELETED EVERYTHING FROM /data/data/. They kept /data/app/, but they deleted /data/data/. So everything you've set up now has to be reset. GEE, THANKS SO BLOODY MUCH, CHINA.
So my suggestion... if you're going to update to the Dec8 system image, the sooner you do it, the less of your settings you will lose, because the less of your settings you will have actually SET.
Quick observations;
1) They have NOT fixed the frequency selection on the AM radio. I'm still stuck 2 kHz away from my target frequency.
2) There were THREE phases to the system install; MCU, Android, and "Allapp.pkg".
3) Allapp.pkg contains Settings.apk. Yet there was a Settings.apk in the Android update. Hmmmmm..... wonder if we could just force back the REAL Settings.apk and have a proper functioning system?
4) Allapp.pkg *also* has a SystemUI.apk. Could it be? Could the one in the Android update actually be... no, it couldn't. There's no way that they would actually *include* an AOSP SystemUI, is there?
This is the list of all of the apk files in Allapp.pkg:
Code:
EasyConnectedFY07.apk
assets/CarMan.apk
assets/CarManNotChinese.apk
assets/EasyConnServer.apk
Gmail2.apk
JY-1-C9-BT-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Guide-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Launcher-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-MUSIC-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Radio-V1.0.apk
JY-1-C9-Video-V1.0.apk
JY-2-C9-Launcher-V1.0.apk
Maps.apk
PlatformServerSofia.apk
Settings.apk
SFY-1-C9-Steer-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Aux-V1.0.apk
sofia-1-C9-CarMark-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-FileManager-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Gallery-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-RightCamera-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-Server-V1.0.apk
Sofia-1-C9-TV-V1.0.apk
SystemUI.apk
SYU-1-5009-FloatBtn-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Calculator-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Caliration-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Canbus-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-CarRadio-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-CarUi-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Graphics-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Navi-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-SubServer-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-UIServer-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Update-V1.0.apk
SYU-1-C9-Widget-V1.0.apk
SYU-2-C9-CMSettings-V1.0.apk
SYU-2-C9-EQ-V1.0.apk
Notice... CarMan.apk and CarManNotChinese.apk, LOL.
Oh, and "SYU-1-C9-Caliration-V1.0.apk" is also pretty cool.... ***CALIRATION***

doitright said:
My two units arrived. Played with one of them on the kitchen table late last night.
The row of capacitive buttons are thoroughly pointless -- touches to them don't register at all if your finger doesn't touch it absolutely perfectly.
Having said that, I like them better than the one with the knobs, for the reason I've already mentioned to you -- the lack of deep bezels.
Better? It is definitely a matter of preference. I don't need the capacitive button row, so that doesn't bother me at all.
Note: they have this weird dot thing stuck in the UI as configured by default. Touching the dot brings up a set of buttons -- back, home, menu, etc. So.... CHINA. Obviously, unless you have AT LEAST three copies (SystemUI header bar, row of buttons, the weird dot thing, steering wheel controls) of every button, somebody is going to miss it. Fortunately, there is a control application in the application menu that allows you to disable the stupid dot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 10" version and I got the buttons to work 100% after relearning the touch keys. Open "carmediasettings" then click on Panel keys assignment. Hope that helps =)

xlinkx said:
I have the 10" version and I got the buttons to work 100% after relearning the touch keys. Open "carmediasettings" then click on Panel keys assignment. Hope that helps =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue on the 7" isn't the button calibration, just the physical size of the touch areas.
Doesn't matter anyway, since the buttons are all available in other places -- systemui bar and steering wheel.

So today installed the second UL128N2 into the wife's Subaru Forester.
Popped out a parrot asteroid smart (obsolete). The dimensions of the parrot are about a full quarter of an inch in both horizontal and vertical directions. Really had to do a job on the ddin dash adapter on that one, but fortunately was able to avoid having to cut up the actual dashboard.

doitright said:
Summary so far;
1) The front panel is bigger than DDIN.
2) The front panel sticks out a different amount than UL135.
3) The audio routing policy is BORKED.
4) The UI is ALL CHINA.
5) The Bluetooth stack is INTEL
6) Performance is "OK". Nothing special.
7) Wakeup after sitting all night is INSTANTANEOUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news on the instantaneous wake up after a full night? No car battery issues after several nights? I would be very interested in measurements of power consumption when the car is switched off.
Regarding the small font settings, would you suggest to buy the 8" unit if it fits in the car? I guess that the UL138N2 has the same hardware as the UL128N2 only with an 8" screen? And I hope that it has also the instantaneous wake up?
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA-Developers mobile app

nomailing said:
Any news on the instantaneous wake up after a full night? No car battery issues after several nights? I would be very interested in measurements of power consumption when the car is switched off.
Regarding the small font settings, would you suggest to buy the 8" unit if it fits in the car? I guess that the UL138N2 has the same hardware as the UL128N2 only with an 8" screen? And I hope that it has also the instantaneous wake up?
Sent from my SM-N910F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I wouldn't suggest that. I would just suggest changing the DPI setting on the 7" to something more suitable.
The UL138N2 WILL NOT fit in a DDIN dash adapter. Its basically a DDIN *box*, with a TABLET bolted out in front of it. Unless your car is an ugly beater, you probably won't want to install something that ugly into it.
As far as overnight power consumption, I have not had any opportunity to test more than a 24 hour stretch. No issues, nor, frankly, do I expect any. They appear to be sleeping the unit correctly, so all of the wireless signals are turned off, and CPU is in clock stopped mode, so like a good quality tablet with the wifi turned off, it'll go for months like that. On a battery as big as a car has, possibly years (assuming that the car battery didn't self discharge in that time, which it will).

doitright,
With your help I was able to get full system menu. Thank you! I was wondering if you were able to get "Ok Google" to work on any screen. It only works on the home screen for my 10" head unit.

xlinkx said:
doitright,
With your help I was able to get full system menu. Thank you! I was wondering if you were able to get "Ok Google" to work on any screen. It only works on the home screen for my 10" head unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no interest in retard mode, so no. I have not.

doitright said:
DPI: Obviously, Android believes that the screen is as large as a TELEVISION. The fonts are all incredibly small, even if you set it to HUGE font. Ok, so right angle triangle has H = root(1024*1024+600*600)=1186.83 pseudopixels. Divide that by 7, makes 170 DPI. Its set to 160 DPI, so Android thinks that the screen is 7.4 inches. Ok, that's not really too far off from reality, but it IS in the wrong direction, to make everything look SMALLER than it should be. The problem is that the screen is roughly 3 feet away from your face. Take a tablet and how far do you hold it away? Roughly 1.5 foot. So lets figure out how big Android should *THINK* the screen is, in order to blow things up to the same scale as a 7" tablet at 1.5 foot.
We're dealing with right triangles again, 7:3 = x:1.5, x = 3.5. Android should think that the screen is 3.5 inches. That puts it up at 338 DPI. Ok, so these numbers are pretty rough, since I'm just guessing the viewing distances, but you get the idea. Crank that DPI WAAAAAAAY UP! Only problem I see, however, is regarding how they coded the SystemUI. If they followed the Android design guidelines, then they coded it with DP's (density independent pixels), which means that when you crank the DPI far enough to make applications look proper, it will make the CHINA look HUGE. Think about it -- they designed their SystemUI panels to show at a "normal" size when the DPI is set way too low. I can see bad things happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried some changes to the dpi in build.prop. I went up to 180 and the ui looks alright still. Then I decided what the heck and went to 300 since my galaxy s5 is at 480...bad idea. The screen gets stuck on the kill apps screen and you can't open anything. Luckily I was able to open es file explorer using adb and edit the build.prop. After rebooting, all os well again.
Moral of the story, don't try anything over...maybe 200?

Azpen Hybrx A1160 Remix OS 2.0 laptop discussions

Just wanted to start a thread to discuss this device. For those not familiar with it, it's a very inexpensive 11.6" laptop that runs RemixOS 2.0 from the factory. It does NOT have a touchscreen and the display is a low resolution (1366x768) TN panel display. The CPU is an Allwinner A64 Cortex A53 quad-core 64-bit processor.
The device I purchased (via their Kickstarter campaign) has 2gb RAM and 32gb storage - and it costs me $89.
Some interesting things I've found so far...
1. To disable the damn "click" sound every time you select something (via the touchpad or a mouse), download the QuickShortcutMaker application from the play store. Then expand the Settings items under the Activities section and find the "Other Sounds" activity. Once you click on the Other Sounds activity, click on "Try" on the right-hand side - this will open the "Other Sounds" dialog where you disable "Touch Sounds"! You can also disable some other sounds here. No idea why Remix doesn't allow access to these sound options. Explore the other Settings activities - there are some other cool things you can do. I also used this app to create "Shortcuts" to specific forums in Tapatalk (something that you do via widgets in standard Android). This QuickShortcutMaker app is pretty damn useful on this device!
2. I've found that I was able to connect my Apple USB->Ethernet adapter to this device and it works! However, it doesn't seem to work with ALL apps. For example, Tapatalk doesn't work with it for some reason - but so far, every other app has worked. You can also access ethernet settings via the QuickShortcutMaker app mentioned above.
3. Enable "Experimental Features" by clicking on the "Kernel Version" section of Settings->About. Once you do this, enable the "Use mouse wheel to simulate swipe gesture". This allows you to zoom in and out of things like web pages, images, etc. To do this, hold down CTRL+ALT while moving the mouse wheel. Apparently, the touchpad on this device does NOT provide pinch-to-zoom functionality, so without this setting, there is no way to zoom in and out in most apps! Kind of a big issue! Unless there is another way that I just don't know about. I know you can CTRL- and CTRL+ to zoom in and out in web pages, but that really just increases the size of the text - not really a true zoom in/out.
4. Gmail app. If you open the Gmail app as a window, you don't get the "split-screen" that you get if you open the app in full screen. But if you open in as a full-screen window and then "restore" it to a smaller window, the split-sceen function still works. I usually just leave Gmail minimized in order to keep the split-screen function active for Gmail.
5. Sometimes, the screen comes back on if you put the device into standby with the power button and then close the lid. I haven't been able to find the exact circumstances where the screen comes back on when closed, but it seems that when it does come on when it's closed, it stays on! Need to figure out why this occurs..
6. Bottom of device gets REALLY hot after any extended use. May be a long-term issue...
7. By default, wifi is set to turn off when in standby (unlike tablets) - unless the device is plugged in - then wifi will stay on. This can all be changed under Settings->Wifi->Advanced. I actually set mine to always turn wifi off when in standby since it seems that the device doesn't actually work while in standby anyway (again, unlike tablets). May help avoid wifi failure over the long-term.
8. I have run into websites (such as microcenter.com) where when you open a drop-down list, there is no way to "scroll" the list if it goes off the screen. To see what I mean, go to microcenter.com and try to set the store location - it opens a drop-down list that goes off the screen and there is no way to scroll down in the list! The "work-around" is to use the down arrow key, but it doesn't work very well (web page wants to update every time you press the down arrow)....
That's about it off the top of my head... It's a shame that this device cannot upgrade to RemixOS 3.0, like was stated in the kickstarted campaign (and later "retracted").
Anyone know how to root this thing?
It's an interesting device for the cost, but what I *really* want is a similar, large'ish device with a higher-quality, higher-resolution touchscreen that is removable from the keyboard - with at least 2gb of RAM (10" and 1gb of RAM isn't enough for RemixOS!) and runs RemixOS 3.0 - so far, I can't seem to find such a device...
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

I got the same model 2GB w/32GB storage. Do you or anyone know how to get it to charge and or power on. Mine only worked for 2 days, now nothing. I contacted Azpen over a week ago about it and still haven't heard from them. Please help.

Cerealius said:
I got the same model 2GB w/32GB storage. Do you or anyone know how to get it to charge and or power on. Mine only worked for 2 days, now nothing. I contacted Azpen over a week ago about it and still haven't heard from them. Please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just plugged mine in and it charged fine (blue LED next to charging port turns on when charging and turns off when fully charged).
To turn mine on, I just held down the power button on the keyboard for a while... You can also fully power it off that way as well (if it gets hung or something, which I have managed to do a few times now).
I've *really* put this thing through it's paces over the last few days. Overall, it's a decent device for the price. Personally, I'd rather spend a little more for one with a better, higher-res, removable touchscreen though.
I also have a HP Slatebook 10 x2 - and it's a great device, but stuck on Android 4. Otherwise, it has a MUCH nicer, removable touchscreen and even an extra battery in the keyboard (that charges the tablet when attached). Just wish it was a little bigger (13" or so) and was running Remix OS.
But, for $89, I can't complain, my A1160 actually runs pretty well for what it is...Luckily, I haven't had any issues with mine.
Sent from my HP SlateBook 10 x2 PC using Tapatalk

Hello...
@jtrosky, thanks for starting this thread, i've already gotten something out of it... getting rid of that damn clicking every keypress.
It was also nice to find that quickshortcutmaker, thats really a cool app that seems to allow more access than I could find...
Everyone else, hello!
I am an PC user since 84' and an Apple iPad user since, well the day the ipad 2 came out and now I'm on the iPad now. The only reason I say any of this is because the reason I got this Azpen A1160 was to help learn a bit about android and linux. I would also like to figure out how to get to the root...
Knock on wood but I got this three days ago and have literally beaten the software out of it loading, looking, deleting, and I thought I had screwed it up several times but it just keeps on ticking. The back does get a little warm, I haven't actually measured it yet but I'm going to, but I dont think it's too bad. I've run six full charges on battery and worked on it plugged in. (which it doesn't seem to like)
I'm happy with it right now and I think its going be a fun ride. I bet this is going to be a fun place to be in the next couple of months...
Buddy

Oh - one more thing I found out - and this may be well known already for those more familiar with RemixOS. If you click and hold on the little icons on the bottom-right of the taskbar, you can move them around. So, for example, you can make it so the brightness, volume, bluetooth and wifi icons are always visible, even when that section is "collapsed"...
Also - I *love* having the key to disable the touchpad (the key next to the arrow keys). Since I usually use a bluetooth mouse, it's so nice being able to disable the trackpad so quickly and easily!
Oh - and the Prtscr button on the keyboard brings up the very cool screen capture tool, which let's you select what area of the screen to capture. Very handy tool!
Still not sure what the "Pausc" button does - I'm assuming it's actually a misprint and it's supposed to say "Pause". Gotta love cheap electronics that are made in China!
So far, this device is definitely working well for me. Although, I'm not so sure the screen is big enough to truly take advantage of the RemixOS windowing capabilities... But, it's still better than not having any windowing capabilities.
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

One more quick tip - there are apps out there that will let you boost the volume of the device. Right now, I'm using Music Volume EQ to boost the volume, but there are probably better apps out there for this purpose... Will explore more later and post an update if I find a better app.
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

Hello guys, thank you for creating this thread.
Did anyone have any issue by setting up a password for the lock screen?
I did, and it worked for a couple of times, then it started not to recognize the password (password was correct, no caps lock...). Of course it didn't work after reboot as well.
The only option was to remotely reset the device using the google's tool from another pc. Very annoying. Since then never tried to set another security system for the screen lock.
I'm also getting an a problem after turning off the screen: when I try to turn it on again, most of the time I get a blank screen. I have to try several times to get back to remix os.
Did anyone faced this issue as well?
Regards

sephitoor said:
Hello guys, thank you for creating this thread.
Did anyone have any issue by setting up a password for the lock screen?
I did, and it worked for a couple of times, then it started not to recognize the password (password was correct, no caps lock...). Of course it didn't work after reboot as well.
The only option was to remotely reset the device using the google's tool from another pc. Very annoying. Since then never tried to set another security system for the screen lock.
I'm also getting an a problem after turning off the screen: when I try to turn it on again, most of the time I get a blank screen. I have to try several times to get back to remix os.
Did anyone faced this issue as well?
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tried setting up the lock screen (I just leave mine unlocked). And no, I have not had any issues with a blank screen when turning the device back up. What's strange is that the device does not automatically turn on when opening the screen - at least not on my device - I have to press the power button.
Your issues are probably because of the poor quality control with these device. Somehow, I lucked out and got a "good one", but many people seem to be having build-quality issues with them...
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

Great posts and many thanks to the OP.
I got a US 2 pin power plug instead of a UK plug. Does anyone know of a similar products power lead that will fit our A1160?

Need help...
Hi,
First, thanks for creating this thread and posting your tips. Obviously there are not a lot of people using this device yet so it is great to find useful info on it.
Since there is no known root solution yet, I tried installing NetGuard as an adbllocking solution that does not require root. I have used it before without any issues. Unfortunately, on the Azpen, every time that I enable it, it blocks all internet access (it is obviously not supposed to do that). I even tried alternative apps like AdClear and got the exact same result. There is something strange going on with the Azpen. I would really appreciate it if anyone had any pointers as to how I could resolve this.
Thanks...

Welp! I had much higher hopes for this device and I haven't even received mine yet! Will this be rootable?

Thanks for creating this, used both your sound clicking tip and the pinch to zoom in. A bit annoying having your fingers in multiple place to zoom in, but what can you do? I'm a college student and have found that I can't access the net with this device due to it's mac address changing each time. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this or if mine is the only one. Just thought I would share that.

HyugaSho said:
Thanks for creating this, used both your sound clicking tip and the pinch to zoom in. A bit annoying having your fingers in multiple place to zoom in, but what can you do? I'm a college student and have found that I can't access the net with this device due to it's mac address changing each time. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this or if mine is the only one. Just thought I would share that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is *really* interesting! Sure enough, if I disable and re-enable the wifi, the MAC address does change!! That makes absolutely no sense - I've never seen such a thing!
I'll look into that a little more - but without root, I doubt there is anything that can be done about it. So strange!
One possible option - set wifi to stay enabled all of the time - maybe that way the MAC will stay the same. You can set that in the wifi settings advanced options. I've found that you have to reboot after setting it to always stay active....
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

So far I have been impressed for the cost of this unit. I have a few concerns and wanted to see if anyone had input:
1. Since the length of the power chord is so short. Is it possible to use a USB to Barrel jack type of adapter to power this? That way you can attach to a portable power bank?
2. battery power, I find it to not last that long and I find it takes forever to charge. I thought that this would last 5-7 hours unplugged, nope. It was supposed to charge within in a hour, nope. Any ideas on this?
I use an external mouse and click on the trackpad disable button. I find it much easier to use the computer when typing.

I'm looking at Pinebook, a notebook having the same AllWinner processor (CortexA53).
It seems this notebook can run all OSs suppoted by Pine64, such as Android, some linux distro, Windows IOT and they are working on a Chroimum porting (try to have a look at the pin64 forum).
Do you think it would be possible to do the same with A1160 ?
Another solution could be PhoenixOs (as pointed out in some comment on Kickstarter).
There are already some devices with CortexA53 processor running PhoenixOS out of the box.

I honestly don't know what OS's can be ported over to this device yet. I have a feeling that it's never going to have a huge user base though, so I wouldn't expect much from the developers out there.
Now that Chromebooks can run Android apps, this device just isn't quite as interesting as it once was. Basically, you can now get an inexpensive, *high quality* Chromebook and still have most of the advantages of this device, plus the high quality and frequent updates part.
To be completely honest, I have very low expectations for this device in the long-term. With how hot it gets after any real usage, I expect the mainboard to fail in short order. We'll see. Although, so far, I've really been using it pretty heavily and it does seem to be holding up, but it's only been about a week....
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

Something else I recently noticed - and this may already be a well-known thing with RemixOS... If you close an app by clicking the back arrow on the top-left of the window, you continue to get notifications for that app. But if you close it by clicking the "X" in the top-right of the window, it seems to completely the kill the process and you no longer receive notifications (or if it's an app that stays around and puts a "permanent" notification in the notification tray, the "x" seems to completely stop the app as well and removes its notification item).
At least that's what seems to happen...
Also noticed that even if you setup wifi to stay active even with power off, the unit eventually goes into a "deep sleep" where you will no longer get new email notifications, etc. It even seems to turn wifi off after a while (even though it's set to stay on all of the time).
Lastly, if you have an external mouse connected, close the laptop lid and then move the mouse, it turns the screen back on - even while closed!
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

Hi All,
Saw this in the comments and thought I would chip in with my experience so far.
I got the 64GB version and so far it is the computer I have paid for.
The track pad as everyone said is very crappy, but I just use an external mouse instead so its not a big problem.
I seem to have a good unit and don't have any problems with the unit.
My only gripe is that the battery kinda sucks and after using it intensive for like 3-4 hrs, it will have almost no battery. I wish it came with my UK adapter instead of the US one, but its okay.
Furthermore, is there anyway to put widgets on it? or Use another launcher?
Has anyone tried to root it or tried to install another OS on top of it? I heard that PhoenixOs is possible?

MindlessManiacs said:
Hi All,
The track pad as everyone said is very crappy, but I just use an external mouse instead so its not a big problem.
Furthermore, is there anyway to put widgets on it? or Use another launcher?
Has anyone tried to root it or tried to install another OS on top of it? I heard that PhoenixOs is possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what it's worth, my trackpad actually works really well. I was surprised to read all of the complaints about it. I'm guessing that a lot of them are defective?
Regarding the widgets, no - there is no way to use Widgets in Remix OS 2.0 (not sure about 3.0), which is a huge limitation. Widgets are one of the things that make Android so powerful - and I miss them big time in Remix OS...
I too would like to know if there is a way to load PhoenixOS on this device. I thought I saw it mentioned somewhere that it would be possible (maybe one of the updates on Kickstarter?). I will see if I can email Azpen about this. RemixOS 2.0 is really good, but not quite "finished" in my opinion...
Sent from my A1160 using Tapatalk

Hi! Does somebody receive a blank white screen when laptop booting or waking up?
Every time when I push power button I get a blank white screen... How I can fix it?

1 Month with the PD - thoughts

It has been a month since I got the PD.
Some brief thoughts based upon my experience with the phone.
I was an Apple user since they launched the iPhone in 2007. Nothing to do with the perpetual Apple vs. Android debate, just iOS suited my purposes, that's all.
I was using the HTC 10/BB DTEK50/Priv for a while, as a second phone.
I got fairly used to the operating system and to be honest, they are all very similar. But carrying 2, sometimes 3 phones was becoming a right pain, so looked for a good dual sim phone that would run two What's app accounts simultaneously.
Enter the PD. Easily love at first sight. I said this was my "jumping off point".
Wasn't very easy to get hold of, where I live, so had to wait almost a month and PAID-A-LOT-!! LOL
What a truly beautiful phone. I have used every Apple phone ever made, every BB phone made, 2 Vertu's (UGHH), and hand on my heart can say, I still cannot stop looking at it.
I had a major issue after setting it up, which is discussed in another thread.
I had no home screen icons or apps visible, only a blank screen that allowed calls and messages to come through in the status bar, could enter settings, but that was it.
The eventual solution, after almost suffering a heart attack, was to load both sims in, and then ejecting the sim tray. The apps just popped up instantly. Very strange, indeed.
After that, everything has been super easy.
-Stellar Battery (and I am a heavy user)
-2 whatsapp accounts running - awesome.
-What a lovely screen!
-No complaints with the camera. I like it. Even the slightly synthetic "Leica" look in the Wide Aperture Mode.
-The Fingerprint sensor is absolutely instant.
-EMUI is easy and nice to navigate
-The ability to edit the quick launch(?) icons in the pull down menu is excellent.
Now the bits that are bugging me.
1) No firmware updates. The last one was, I believe, in December, and I still am on B138. This is something that Huawei needs to look into post haste. I have written to them 5 times, till today. No response whatsoever.
2) Notifications - this is the elephant in the room. They are random at best.
All the Settings - Unlimited data Access, Battery Optimizations, Battery Ignore Whitelists, Priority Notifications, etc. are all on, as is oft discussed, and checked, but whatsapp and emails sometimes still do not give me a notification, until I open the app. This IS an issue for me. I am missing time constrained messages all the time. If anyone has a fix or solution for this, I will be very grateful.
3) Keyboard, Sometimes, the keyboard will freeze if the screen sleeps whilst the keyboard is open in an app, and I reopen it.
I have to collapse the keyboard and bring it up again. Not a huge deal, but an annoyance, none the less. Maybe a GBoard thing?
4) Screen Auto Brightness - Takes an age to organize itself. In the dark, it will blind you, before thinking to itself, that it is, indeed, night, and the screen should be a wee bit less bright. The exact opposite in the day - Very dim and then will eventually get off its backside and decide to brighten up the screen. Very annoying.
5) How do I change the name of my phone. It's not the Bluetooth and Wifi name. My car still picks it up as Huawei LON-L29, as do apps like Photosync and whilst connecting to my Mac.
6) Photos. Now this may not be a PD Specific issue, but when I transferred my 22,000 images across, they all came as a big jumbled mess. No date-wise organization. So looking for specific images, is well, impossible.
7) Music - No equalizer settings in the stock music app. For my specific purposes, unusable, because in my car's bluetooth radio, the bass is overwhelming.
So, apart from these minor points (and 1 big one), I love the phone. I wonder how they could possibly improve it...Firmware, Huawei! Firmware!

For photos delete the cache. That'll sort the jumbled up mess.
For Music Player Google removed the EQ option a few months ago, I hate Play Music now. I use Captune. It has its shortcomings but its the best EQ.
Keyboard - I use Swift with no problems.
My worst issues are the crappy screen protector (GG3) and the lack up updates. I'll be selling it shortly.

I'm enjoying my phone,the only gripe I have with it is the UPDATES.
As for keyboards Try downloading Blackberry Keyboard or Google Keyboard.

Thank you for your suggestions, guys.
I tried clearing the cache, but no joy there. I tried an app called Quickpic, that is apparently supposed to deal with this. Didn't help either.
I was wondering, even if I had to reimport all my image and video files, is there any way they could be sorted by date taken?
This is turning out to be as big of an issue as the notification one, as I depend on images and videos, to send and discuss with my clients. And needless to say, I can't find anything. So am relegated to carrying an iPhone 6s+ just for my media, so I can send the required files via email or WhatsApp. Really, Not an ideal situation.
I will try the BB Keyboard.
Regarding the packaged screen protector, agreed, it is appalling. Before I buy the 2.5/3D tempered glass screen protector, has anyone had any experience with it?
Bonerp, Captune works for me, Thank you.
Have any of you'll worked around the notification bug?
For example, WhatsApp notifications sometimes do not wake the screen, but when a second or third WhatsApp message comes through, it may wake...Or not.
Seriously, if this is such a widely publicized bug, why is Huawei not looking into this?

ap10046 said:
Thank you for your suggestions, guys.
I tried clearing the cache, but no joy there. I tried an app called Quickpic, that is apparently supposed to deal with this. Didn't help either.
I was wondering, even if I had to reimport all my image and video files, is there any way they could be sorted by date taken?
This is turning out to be as big of an issue as the notification one, as I depend on images and videos, to send and discuss with my clients. And needless to say, I can't find anything. So am relegated to carrying an iPhone 6s+ just for my media, so I can send the required files via email or WhatsApp. Really, Not an ideal situation.
I will try the BB Keyboard.
Regarding the packaged screen protector, agreed, it is appalling. Before I buy the 2.5/3D tempered glass screen protector, has anyone had any experience with it?
Bonerp, Captune works for me, Thank you.
Have any of you'll worked around the notification bug?
For example, WhatsApp notifications sometimes do not wake the screen, but when a second or third WhatsApp message comes through, it may wake...Or not.
Seriously, if this is such a widely publicized bug, why is Huawei not looking into this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a curved tempered glass protector and it was awful so binned it. It had tape on the edges and just didn't look good and lost sensitivity.
Have you tried clearing cache at the boot screen or from settings/storage? Might help with the notification bug.
I've sent Huawei several things to fix and just had a 'thank you' response and nothing more. I'm not aware of a notification bug though. I definitely had one on the mate 9 until the first pre release fix was received, but not on this one.
Only other thing I can suggest re pics is delete data, or delete google account, delete cache then add your account again.

How do you guys work around the copy-paste thing?
I mean to having to bring out a paper and pen for copying an email address, phone number, passage from a message or an email is just unacceptable, when this is a widely utilized convenience on other platforms and, I believe, some Android UI's too?
I have tried a few apps that claim they can do this, but no joy.
Also, sharing contacts from the contacts app, only allows vcard, text message and attach to email, no What'sApp, Outlook or any app, for that matter. Can this option be changed somewhere?

quick question
I am looking to get the mate 9 pro; which is the same phone as the PD, just without the fancy branding..
Are any of you on Tmobile in the USA, and, do you get 4G/LTE?
The reseller I have been emailing with on Amazon says you do NOT get 4GLTE on Tmobile in the USA with this phone, but I have read that you do.
Thanks if you can help with this! :good::good:

Loading oem pixel platform to s20

2 week old s20 ultra, my first samsung and I heard someone say you can either have good hardware with garbage software (samsung) or good software with junk hardware (google pixel) and I'm finding that to be very very true.
My past (pixel 2) was very intuitive, the samsung not so much.
Issues I have so far that I would like to correct with using the pixel rom? Is that the right word?
Having to hit the power button then the volume key to snooze the alarm because the volume keys aren't enabled when the screen is off?
A giant empty lock screen with no easy options of going to the next track or pausing different media sources without scrolling through them all.
Bixby is worthless.
My power button doesn't act as a power button
The OEM pixel messages app doesn't work properly on the s20u, freezes when launched and eventually comes back.
At a glance works most of the time.
You can't easily copy of phone number with the samsung dialer. Only (delete) that's it
Can't easily report spam calls (I get 7+ a day)
All of this seems trivial to my girl, saying I need to get used to it, but it's like taking 2 steps backwards in the software world.
Any opinions on getting rid of the stock build? It's driving me insane.
Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks in Advance!
H guy -htx

hvguy said:
2 week old s20 ultra, my first samsung and I heard someone say you can either have good hardware with garbage software (samsung) or good software with junk hardware (google pixel) and I'm finding that to be very very true.
My past (pixel 2) was very intuitive, the samsung not so much.
Issues I have so far that I would like to correct with using the pixel rom? Is that the right word?
Having to hit the power button then the volume key to snooze the alarm because the volume keys aren't enabled when the screen is off?
A giant empty lock screen with no easy options of going to the next track or pausing different media sources without scrolling through them all.
Bixby is worthless.
My power button doesn't act as a power button
The OEM pixel messages app doesn't work properly on the s20u, freezes when launched and eventually comes back.
At a glance works most of the time.
You can't easily copy of phone number with the samsung dialer. Only (delete) that's it
Can't easily report spam calls (I get 7+ a day)
All of this seems trivial to my girl, saying I need to get used to it, but it's like taking 2 steps backwards in the software world.
Any opinions on getting rid of the stock build? It's driving me insane.
Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks in Advance!
H guy -htx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surely you should have done some research about samsung one ui before you start complaining. Why dont you try to adapt to what you have. You are best suited to stock android so maybe the pixel is for you.
Failing to adapt try this link.
https://www.xda-developers.com/how-...-gsis-on-samsung-galaxy-devices-without-twrp/

It would appear finding versions of messages etc that will run on this oem software is my best option.
Thank

hvguy said:
2 week old s20 ultra, my first samsung and I heard someone say you can either have good hardware with garbage software (samsung) or good software with junk hardware (google pixel) and I'm finding that to be very very true.
My past (pixel 2) was very intuitive, the samsung not so much.
Issues I have so far that I would like to correct with using the pixel rom? Is that the right word?
Having to hit the power button then the volume key to snooze the alarm because the volume keys aren't enabled when the screen is off?
A giant empty lock screen with no easy options of going to the next track or pausing different media sources without scrolling through them all.
Bixby is worthless.
My power button doesn't act as a power button
The OEM pixel messages app doesn't work properly on the s20u, freezes when launched and eventually comes back.
At a glance works most of the time.
You can't easily copy of phone number with the samsung dialer. Only (delete) that's it
Can't easily report spam calls (I get 7+ a day)
All of this seems trivial to my girl, saying I need to get used to it, but it's like taking 2 steps backwards in the software world.
Any opinions on getting rid of the stock build? It's driving me insane.
Sorry for the long winded post. Thanks in Advance!
H guy -htx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such thing as a "perfect device". If you didn't research the S20 prior to purchase why complain now? Did you opt for a Carrier Branded device or is your bootloader unlocked? If so you can modify the OS for some desired adaptations. International variants are better suited for a cleaner android experience. The S20 has numerous advantages over Pixel devices. Display, battery, internal memory, better processor, 5G capability, cost is comparable and the cameras with all features considered is on par with Pixel 4 XL. Skin on the S20 has improved since TouchWiz but it isn't pure android for better or worse. Your hope of merging the best of both devices for the most part isn't an option.