Develop Bugs

Screen Pinning Huawei Mediapad M2 8

Hi
I am missing two Things on my mediapad, and that is multiusers (so that it can be the "coffeetable" tablet for the Whole Family) and screen pinning (so that my two year old son doesn't jump out of his games apps by mistake.
From what I am reading here on the forum, the multiuser will not come with the official update (bound for our tablets in the NeXT days/weeks), but with EMUI 4, we will be able to enable it (if rooted).
What about Screen Pidding? Is it already possible to enable this? If not will it be on EMUI 4?
It is a real "drag" that Acer have removed Screen Pinning on the tablet. Why on earth are they doing stuff like that?
(I am not rooted yet, but of course willing to, if it Means I would be able to enable these features.)

New to Pixel and Android

First Android device, coming from Apple. What do I need to do/know?

That you've made the right decision.
No really, what exactly do you want to know? You got a highly customizable device now

i Am new to all this tech, not sure what I can/want to do. I have seen a lot of talk about root and bootloader. Not sure if I will ever use root, should I still unlock bootloader? If I unlock bootloader what does it effect? Does it disable any functions that of the device? Looking for any advice or help.

E_TV said:
i Am new to all this tech, not sure what I can/want to do. I have seen a lot of talk about root and bootloader. Not sure if I will ever use root, should I still unlock bootloader? If I unlock bootloader what does it effect? Does it disable any functions that of the device? Looking for any advice or help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't unlock bootloader unless you root. You do miss out on some apps with unlocked bootloader as that causes SafetyNet to fail which some apps require passing. That'd be some banking apps, Android Pay, Netflix (last I heard), Pokemon Go, and others.

I would say at least have the option checked in Developer option.
You don't have to unlock it but it is always good practice to have it checked.
And what exactly do you want to do with your phone? like customization is pretty nice without root currently.
You will need to ask what you want to try to do since there is soo much you can really do on android.

My wife is an iPhone devotee and so I'm her default IT support person and as a result I'm very familiar with iOS and it's severely limited abilities.
The single biggest, and best, difference you'll discover is the ability to fully customize almost anything on the phone. Notifications indicators are alway visible at the top of the screen. You can place an app icon anywhere on the screen you want vs. iOS's infuriating mandatory top-left to bottom-right arrangement (ever have an adorable picture of your kid that you can see cause you can't move icons around?). Real widgets that range from daily schedule to weather to, well, just about anything and they can be placed anywhere on the screen and sized as needed (what iOS calls widgets are a joke). App settings are accessible from within every app so you don't have to, say, exit your calendar, go to settings, find the app settings item, make your change, and then go back to your calendar. Android let's you track battery usage in detail, either within Settings or via 3rd party apps (GSam is great for this). I mean it goes on and on and on with the central theme being: Android invests the user with much more control and personalization and Apple clamps the OS down to the point where 1) they all look the same (boring), and 2) they make it impossible for people to take a peek under the hood (every try to figure out why your battery drain is suddenly worse?).
By buying the Pixel, as opposed to any of the other Android brands, you are buying a device that is unencumbered by endless, basically useless, marketing-driven, whizz-bang features like Samsung's old "gestures" or poorly implemented iris or face-scanning that can fooled with a photo, etc..
Pixel's follow the Apple model (one of the few really good things about iOS) of owning both the hardware design AND the OS so you get regular updates directly from Google. On other devices, there are layers of software riding between you and the OS (so-called "Skins" and other hardware-related drivers) and they (Samsung/LG/HTC/etc.) have to devote resources ($$$) to modify these layers which adds, literally months, to the update cycle.
For example, the Samsung S8 was released in April of the this year (or thereabouts) running Android 7 Nougat, Android 8 was release this August and the S8 may not see that until early NEXT year, if ever. The LG V30 just released this month and is also running Nougat and they have an even worse record of timely updates.
I had a few months of pain when I jumped over about 5 years ago and back then Android wasn't anywhere near as capable as it is now. Android and iOS are converging and I prefer Android's philosophy of openness and customization to Apple's every phone is the same model.
Until you get accustomed to the OS don't spend any time thinking about rooting (in the Apple world it's called "Jailbreaking") or unlocking the bootloader to facilitate accessing under-the-hood aspects of the OS that, as a new Android guy who is not a 'techie', you really don't need to utilize it's full potential. Forget about that for now and have fun learning the new OS.

I think one thing you may wish to do is disable imessage, as if still enabled can cause loss or delay of sms messages, other than that, go ahead and enjoy the customisation of Android :good:

General XDA article: Google reportedly working on tap-to-transfer feature for media in Android 13

https://www.xda-developers.com/android-13-tap-to-transfer/
January 10, 2022 3:59pm Corbin Davenport
Google reportedly working on tap-to-transfer feature for media in Android 13​Android 12L hasn’t been officially released yet, but that isn’t stopping Google from working on the next major release, Android 13 (which is internally codenamed “Tiramisu”). We’ve already covered some of the features currently in the works for Android 13, but now details are public about another possible change — a “tap to transfer” feature for media playback.
Android Police has shared a supposed Google UI demo mockup for a new feature in Android 13, labelled as a “Media TTT” workflow — the “TTT” part is for “tap to transfer.” The screenshots show off a small message at the top of the display, which reads “Move closer to play on DEMO” in one image, and “Playing on DEMO” on the other. The latter popup also has an Undo button, presumably in case you accidentally walk close to a speaker and don’t want your music to start playing on it.
There aren’t any other details available besides what you see in the above screenshots. The functionality might work similarly to the ‘Hand off audio’ feature on Apple’s HomePod smart speakers, which allows you to hold an iPhone or iPod Touch close to a HomePod to set the speaker as the output. That feature uses a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but it’s not clear what mechanism Google will use if this functionality actually makes it into Android 13. Google could add this to the Chromecast functionality in Android, or bring it to standard Bluetooth wireless audio, or both. It’s unclear what technology this feature will use to share files.
Assuming a similar schedule as previous years, Android 13 will likely start rolling out in the fall of this year, with developer previews and beta releases in the coming months. Android 12L is supposed to arrive sometime before the end of Q1 2022, which can be anytime from now until March 31. Android 12 is still slowly rolling out to phones and tablets — Sony just started updating its devices, for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

roirraW edor ehT said:
https://www.xda-developers.com/android-13-tap-to-transfer/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wording is awkward. Gives the impression of something similar to Bluetooth file transfer. I suppose it could be some kind of selective playback over Bluetooth (as opposed to routing *all* audio over Bluetooth), but since google is really into reinventing the wheel and making things only compatible with their own crap, its probably just (chrome)cast.

Google needs to fix their current software first before working on their next chapter.

RetroTech07 said:
Google needs to fix their current software first before working on their next chapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is never going to happen that any company is going to drop everything they're doing and only work on one thing.

RetroTech07 said:
Google needs to fix their current software first before working on their next chapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Software is perfect for me...

roirraW edor ehT said:
It is never going to happen that any company is going to drop everything they're doing and only work on one thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely understand, and I don't expect that. I was being heavily sarcastic given the many issues users have experienced with the last software update that had to be pulled because of a radio issue. Google just has weird priorities at times.
P6P said:
Software is perfect for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been fine for me but I wouldn't say perfect. I've had some random reboots / glitches appear, and battery drain issues I can't explain.

Le Googs be like, 12 is a hot mess! Time to focus on 13 instead!

RetroTech07 said:
I completely understand, and I don't expect that. I was being heavily sarcastic given the many issues users have experienced with the last software update that had to be pulled because of a radio issue. Google just has weird priorities at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The radio issues are probably the responsibility of Samdung to deal with. I doubt that ANYONE at google is working on that at any depth greater than testing the updates received from samduck.
But even if google was doing actual work on the radio, do you really think that the same people have the knowledge and skills to work on radio firmware as those who work on UI or those who work on things like this feature? So you would do what? Lay off the UI and new features workers while waiting for the radio firmware people to fix their glitches?

Yup this is confusing because Google needs to fix stable 12 first but then they still developing 12L and now 13 lol I know they have different teams but I wonder if they will just merged 12L to 13 or just leave 12L for fold / flip devices.

General Android 12 update rolling out to Xperia 10 III (62.1.A.0.533)

Hello,
it seems we are close to get the update to Android 12 on our device:
Sony rolls out stable Android 12 update to the Xperia 10 III and Xperia Pro-I
Sony has started rolling out the stable Android 12 update to the Xperia 10 III and Xperia Pro-I. Read on to know more.
www.xda-developers.com

Has not been arrived yet on my device (EEA, germany). Any experiences with Android 12 on 10 III so far?

code010101 said:
Hello,
it seems we are close to get the update to Android 12 on our device:
Sony rolls out stable Android 12 update to the Xperia 10 III and Xperia Pro-I
Sony has started rolling out the stable Android 12 update to the Xperia 10 III and Xperia Pro-I. Read on to know more.
www.xda-developers.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, CUSTOMIZED EEA 62.1.A.0.533 (Android 12) was released ( https://xpericheck.com/XQ-BT52 ) 4 days ago, but according to the phone update check and Xperia Companion, no software update is available. Phone is using stock firmware, WiFi/4G is available and I have made several restarts. However when CUSTOMIZED EEA 62.0.A.9.11 (Android 11 update) was released month ago, I got it right away, at the same release day.
Based Reddit, a lot users are facing same problem. Some say that software repair using the Xperia Companion pushes update to phone. But I don't want to and I don't have time to reset my phone and set up everything, including every app settings from scratch.

ksuuk said:
But I don't want to and I don't have time to reset my phone and set up everything, including every app settings from scratch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After switching from 11 to 12 android, you need to make a mandatory reset to the factory with the removal of all data in order to avoid bugs.

liwetlt said:
After switching from 11 to 12 android, you need to make a mandatory reset to the factory with the removal of all data in order to avoid bugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is folklore, no such need at all.

I have received the update (62.1.A.0.533) this morning.
Installation took around 45 minutes.
Haven't had any technical issues per se so far, but am still struggling with the look and feel of Android 12.

i have been using the phone for almost a week now after the new update (62.1.A.0.533), i haven't done any factory resets, here is what i noticed:
1. Battery is draining a lot faster than Android 11
2. UI is a bit bulky, especially the toggle buttons. Definitely preferred Android 11
3. Screen Mirroring is not working for me. WFD service keeps crashing (that's a major issue because i mirror all my videos)
4. I had previously mapped the power button (click twice) to GCAM. Now it's not working. Only works with the stock Camera
Overall, a negative experience. I would not recommend the update.
If anyone else is facing issues please let me know

mangobanana said:
I have received the update (62.1.A.0.533) this morning.
Installation took around 45 minutes.
Haven't had any technical issues per se so far, but am still struggling with the look and feel of Android 12.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post some screenshots of Android 12 on your Xperia, please.
Do you have separate toggles for wifi and mobile internet?
@Elberens, the same question for you too )

Hi guys, please keep us informed on how Android 12 behaves on the Xperia 10 III.
Hope that the battery drain reported by Elberens is just an isolated case, did you realized what is causing the drain? The app Better Battery Stats can help in detecting the cause of an abnormal power consumption:
[APP][2.2+][11 Dec. 2022 - V3.1] BetterBatteryStats
I started BetterBatteryStats because I was missing the great battery history that Spare Parts allowed to call on Froyo. It has been a long journey since the first version. BetterBatteryStats provides an insight in following categories: - General...
forum.xda-developers.com

I got the update notification yesterday and installed last night. So far I'm not having any technical or performance issues. All seems to be working. Still, I find the new UI a big step backwards in comparison to Android 11. Everything is so much bigger (menus, quick settings) using lots of dead space.
There aren't separate toggles for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data internet. You can't turn on or off with one tap. You have to open a submenu now...
The quick settings toggles are way bigger. You get only 4 in two lines when sliding down (or 8 if you slide with two fingers or twice). Which means that you will be needing an extra step for some actions.
I'm missing the functionality where on Android 11 I could use Google pay right away when holding the power button. Now there is a toggle in the quick settings instead (again extra step to use). Instead there is just a restart, shutdown and emergency menu if you hold the power button.
I don't get the new features of android 12 or it just doesn't seem to make a difference for my uses. The new bigger quick settings are annoying for me and if I had known before, I wouldn't have updated. If there was an easy way to roll back to 11 I would happily do it. But I guess I can't do that without flashing an older firmware on the phone. Maybe a future update would allow to make the quick menus a bit smaller?

geokirby said:
There aren't separate toggles for Wi-Fi and Mobile Data internet. You can't turn on or off with one tap. You have to open a submenu now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've read somewhere that after factory reset the separate toggles for wifi and mobile data internet would show up.
::edit::
Sony's Android 12 update has separate toggles for Wi-Fi and Data, but only if you factory reset
The Android 12 update for the Sony Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III ships with separate toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data.
www.xda-developers.com
another way:
[....] if you want to get back a dedicated button to toggle your Wi-Fi, Mishaal Rahman shared a command on Twitter that you can execute via adb to get it back.
adb shell settings put secure sysui_qs_tiles "$(settings get secure sysui_qs_tiles),wifi"

Right this morning I got the message of a System Update from Sony (I live in Italy).
I think I'll wait some days before update, would be like to read more feedbacks on how the device behaves under Android 12, in particular concerning the battery draining, I quite happy with my Xperia 10 III that overnight (9pm to 8am) drains just a ridiculous 3%.

Elberens said:
i have been using the phone for almost a week now after the new update (62.1.A.0.533), i haven't done any factory resets, here is what i noticed:
1. Battery is draining a lot faster than Android 11
2. UI is a bit bulky, especially the toggle buttons. Definitely preferred Android 11
3. Screen Mirroring is not working for me. WFD service keeps crashing (that's a major issue because i mirror all my videos)
4. I had previously mapped the power button (click twice) to GCAM. Now it's not working. Only works with the stock Camera
Overall, a negative experience. I would not recommend the update.
If anyone else is facing issues please let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Recheck again app -s permissions, disable or uninstall unwanted ones, disable location wifi/bluetooth scan and wait for few days until the battery is calibrated and user habits/trends are known for the operating system.
Also You may try enable system cached apps under developer options -
https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS21/comments/r7tdta
2) It can't be changed, and you have to get used to it and hope that some update will fix/change it.
3) This is something new.
4) Have You tried XPERI+ for remap - https://github.com/ivaniskandar/shouko

You must agree this is a rather ingenious way of getting people to update their systems regularly. You're not told beforehand what the update changes, and only afterwards do you notice that the update was a downgrade in every single aspect. You want to swear that you'll never install a system update ever again, yet you know that you will have to do just that in the hopes that eventually some update will fix what the previous ones broke.

I must admit as much I agree that a proper changelog should be displayed before any update, I do like that android 12 update. Getting older (ok, I'm not that old) I'm pretty happy with the bigger/new layout

matmutant said:
I must admit as much I agree that a proper changelog should be displayed before any update, I do like that android 12 update. Getting older (ok, I'm not that old) I'm pretty happy with the bigger/new layout
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the stock Android 11 you can make the UI big from Settings > Display > Display size. This is in addition to and separate from Settings > Display > Font size. So I still think the forced size in Android 12 was not necessary...

I updated my device on Saturday, everything went OK. I'm rather satisfied with the new UI, display size and font size can be adjusted as in Android 11, some aspects are nice, some others less, on the other hand it's impossible to create a UI that is good for everybody. There are a lot of launchers and ways to customize the appearance of a smartphone, so this is not a problem in my view. Apart from the graphical aspect, Android 12 brings new interesting features and I think this is more important.
I appreciate that Sony kept the media volume steps equal to 30, which is finer enough for listening music. At the moment, the power usage seems to be as before, my device drained only 3% overnight (9pm to 8am) as with android 11, and that's great.
The smartphone seems responsive and fluid, I didn't explored all the functionalities yet, but I would say that this update is OK.

Is it just me or do apps 'reload' more often after the update? I feel like caching of background apps is worse but I'm not sure.
Other than that and the combined internet toggle, this update is alright.

The overall app managing should be more optimized in Android 12, however you could try the above mentioned option in the Developer settings (suspend execution of cached app).
There are just a couple of commands to be sent via ADB the to restore separate wifi/mobile toggles, I'm waiting to see how is to deal with the combined internet one.

Comakip said:
Is it just me or do apps 'reload' more often after the update? I feel like caching of background apps is worse but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noticed this too. For example, if I use "Simple Gallery Pro" from F-Droid to browse through some videos and I open a video with Kodi, then after I'm done watching the video and return to the Simple Gallery app, it will often reload, forcing me to navigate the folder structure once again.
I didn't have this issue with Android 11 - returning to the gallery app would bring me back to where I left when Kodi was launched. I'll try changing that setting mentioned above by @code010101 to see if it helps.

My Review of EMUI 12 on Huawei Mate 20 X

Last week EMUI 12 made its debut on my phone with some cosmetic improvements. The following are my thoughts on it as a 2 year user of huawei products. This should help users evaluate the attributes EMUI 12 offers to help them decide whether or not its worth to upgrade....
Control Center, Notification Area & Media Player
While my initial impressions of the control center were good they later turned poor with its function relative to the notification area from which it is split. Admittingly, it is a stunning feature visually no one can deny. But while both notification area and control center do not occupy the same space, many users are unimpressed and agape in frustration. To paraphrase a user regarding it, "its something we got to get used to."
At first I was disappointed by this split personality. But after a week playing with it, I'm still trying to get used to it. Although its somewhat convenient to swipe left to right at the top to switch between the two spheres, the smartest thing huawei should have done was extend this back and forth swiping to the bottom where its most frequently needed and far more accommodating. Had huawei added this functionality a lot of users would not be complaining about it especially since this is a tall phone with a big real estate display and one shouldn't have to suffer to reach all the way up with both hands. Just one swipe down for the control panel and another swipe across at the bottom to alternate between it and the notifications area on which your fingers rest naturally would have done the trick!
Regarding the controversial media player widget, the aim of its placement in the control panel is to add accessibility to MP3. Although admittingly it is wise to situate it there for easy access for media, the problem emerges when you must use huawei's own proprietary media player in order to play songs. Your favorite third party music players like Spotify and PlayerPro are not supported, sadly. Removal of the widget from view is not possible so it lingers in the corner like a dead satellite in orbit uselessly taking up unnecessary space.
Very disappointing that huawei failed to see this given their vested time in making the EMUI 12 project solid for its users. Perhaps this is a feature huawei may add in future updates.
Visuals
Noticeably, the screen is brighter under manual brightness setting which is a good plus. Images are evidently sharper than what they were under EMUI 11. However, auto brightness is still enabled by default at bootup which is another annoyance.
Concerning the font style huawei has imposed, unfortunately, there's no way to change that since it is etched in by corporate de facto decree. Yet another hindrance. Also, the feature to change the font size globally failed to impress since there was really no problem with the font size before.
Battery
On average, I charge my Mate 20 X every 5 - 7 days. After about a week's use of EMUI 12, I did notice slight battery improvement. It's not exactly earth shattering gain in juice but its nonetheless a slight enhancement since this is a phone whose battery life many have complained about for the past 4 years ever since it was first introduced to the public.
Sound
Sound quality is the same as in previous version iterations. It is much louder which is a tad ok despite the fact that it has always been loud. However, making a loud phone louder is barely considered an improvement.
'Double Tap to Wake' Feature
Huawei yet again omits the 'double tap to wake' feature about which folks have grumbled the phone lacks and needs. It would be enjoyable to possess it since the grand majority of the smartphones in the world have this feature already baked in from jump. Yet again, huawei continues to stick to their script of ignoring users' complaints and suggestions of improving this phone.
Other Issues
We all love notifications as a heads-up system that we can't do without. For comfort's sake, they must strike a delicate balance between short and informative without being overbearing. However, the frequent annoyance of 'network location' notifications that pokes at folks ad nauseum plagues their experience. Add to that, the sticky 'display over other apps' notification adds pain to injury especially when you cannot swipe these types of notifications away. Instead, you either grin and bear it or install from the playstore an app that removes them. The only issue with that is, the app will not be permitted to remove these notifications at boot up due to security restrictions introduced to Android versions 8 or 9 - the same security restrictions that by the way force these notifications in the first place. In such a case at boot up, you monotonously open up the app at each and every power cycle to zap them. This can prove to be a headache with automatic scheduled power management set on a daily basis but it's the only fix available given the system impediment.
Wishful thinking would have one fantasize about using powerful ADB commands to possibly cure the situation at the source. Unfortunately, not even it can help. The ideal way to resolve it without use of pesky 3rd party apps is by rooting the system. Regrettably again, huawei shamelessly decided to lock the bootloader of this 4-year old Mate 20 X with the advent of EMUI 10 preventing full benefits of rooting that otherwise extend the phone's hidden features, including bypassing the aforementioned annoying system-imposed security measure.
As for the multi-window dock that pops out from the side on EMUI 11, suggested apps never got pinned to the top as they unfortunately do now by default on EMUI 12. This adds unnecessary clutter to an already slim dock which might drive people to install 3rd party dock alternatives.
Personal Thoughts on Huawei
Unfortunately, in their eternal holy quest to emulate the iPhone o/s, huawei continues to repeat the crucial mistake of not adopting what huawei customers truly want to see on their huawei phones; instead, it prefers to prioritize its needs ahead of those of its loyal base. A real killjoy. Unlike samsung, they keep ignoring customers at the expense of their annoyances and stick them with whatever they think they want, even offering cheap incentives as compensation: the old stick and carrot trick. Huawei should keep it Android, not iPhone.
This is surely not the first time huawei shakes its finger at huawei customers after begging its software team to introduce long sought after features in future upgrades. It's actually a historical, ongoing internal problem the company is too stubborn to understand let alone address. Huawei, not Trump, was and is the reason behind the company's market share decline, fed up customers are switching to other competitive phones and struggles to keep up with major industry peers. To suggest that huawei is not a champion of the consumer is by far a gross understatement.
As one may have already observed, the word "annoyance" never ceases to spread its tentacles throughout this review. If you can deal with the drawbacks inherent in EMUI 12 then go for it, upgrade. If not, stay with EMUI 11 as it's still a "relatively" good version that makes people thankful they didn't upgrade.
Personally, I can tolerate EMUI 12's shortcomings to a certain point. Continued lack of much needed and missing features makes me doubt its keep and gives me reason to switch to either the Note 20 Ultra or S22 Ultra eventually. As always, blame huawei for it!

stick to EMUI11.

What exactly is a "sticky 'display over other apps' notification"?

zlaer said:
Last week EMUI 12 made its debut on my phone with some cosmetic improvements. The following are my thoughts on it as a 2 year user of huawei products. This should help users evaluate the attributes EMUI 12 offers to help them decide whether or not its worth to upgrade....
Control Center & Notifications Area
While my initial impressions of the control center were good they later turned poor with its function relative to the notification area from which it is split. Admittingly, it is a stunning feature visually no one can deny. But while both notification area and control center do not occupy the same space, many users are unimpressed and agape in frustration. To paraphrase a user regarding it, "its something we got to get used to."
At first I was disappointed by this split personality. But after a week playing with it, I'm still trying to get used to it. Although its somewhat convenient to swipe left to right at the top to switch between the two spheres, the smartest thing huawei should have done was extend this back and forth swiping to the bottom where its most needed and far more convenient. Had huawei added this functionality a lot of users would not be complaining about it especially since this is a tall phone with a big real estate display and one shouldn't have to suffer to reach all the way up with both hands. Just one swipe down for the control panel and another swipe across at the bottom to alternate between it and the notifications area on which your fingers rest naturally would have done the trick!
Very disappointing that huawei failed to see this given their vested time in making the EMUI 12 project solid for its users. Perhaps this is a feature huawei may add in future updates.
Visuals
Noticeably, the screen is brighter under manual brightness setting which is a good plus. Images are evidently sharper than what they were under EMUI 11. However, auto brightness is still enabled by default at bootup which is another annoyance.
Concerning the font style huawei has imposed, unfortunately, there's no way to change that. Sadly, it's etched in by corporate decree. Yet another annoyance. Also, the feature to change the font size globally didn't impress since there was really no problem with the font size before.
Battery
On average, I charge my Mate 20 X every 5 - 7 days. After about a week's use of EMUI 12, I did notice slight battery improvement. It's not exactly earth shattering gain in juice but its nonetheless a slight enhancement since this is a phone whose battery life many have complained about for the past 4 years ever since it was first introduced to the public.
Sound
Sound quality is the same as in previous version iterations. It is much louder which is a tad ok despite the fact that it has always been loud. However, making a loud phone louder is barely considered an improvement.
'Double Tap to Wake' Feature
Huawei yet again omits the 'double tap to wake' feature folks about which have grumbled the phone lacks and needs. It would be enjoyable to possess it since the grand majority of the smartphones in the world have this feature already baked in from jump. Yet again, huawei continues to stick to their script of ignoring users' complaints and suggestions of improving this phone.
Other Issues
We all love notifications as a heads up-system we can't do without. For comfort's sake, they must strike a delicate balance between short and informative without being overbearing. However, the frequent annoyance of 'network location' notifications that pokes at folks ad nauseum plagues their experience. Add to that, the sticky 'display over other apps' notification adds pain to injury especially when you cannot swipe these types of notifications away. Instead, you either grin and bear it or install from the playstore an app that removes them. The only issue with that is, the app will not be permitted to remove these notifications at boot up due to security restrictions introduced to Android versions 8 or 9 - the same security restrictions that by the way force these notifications in the first place. In such a case at boot up, you have to monotonously open up the app at each and every power cycle to zap them. This can prove to be a headache with automatic scheduled power management set on a daily basis but it's the only fix given the system impediment.
Wishful thinking would have one fantasize about using powerful ADB commands to possibly cure the situation at the source. Unfortunately, not even it can help. The ideal way to resolve it without use of pesky 3rd party apps is by rooting the system. Regrettably again, huawei shamelessly decided to lock the bootloader of this 4-year old Mate 20 X with the advent of EMUI 10 preventing full benefits of rooting that otherwise extend the phone's hidden features, including bypassing the aforementioned system-imposed security measure.
As for the multi-window dock that pops out from the side on EMUI 11, suggested apps never got pinned to the top by default as they unfortunately do now on EMUI 12. This adds unnecessary clutter to an already slim dock which might drive people to install 3rd party alternative docks.
Personal Thoughts on Huawei
Unfortunately, in their eternal holy quest to emulate the iphone o/s, huawei continues to repeat the crucial mistake of not adopting what huawei customers truly want to see on their huawei phones; instead, it prefers to prioritize its needs ahead of those of its loyal base. A real killjoy. Unlike samsung, they keep ignoring customers at the expense of their annoyances and stick them with whatever they think they want, even offering cheap incentives as compensation: the old stick and carrot trick.
This is surely not the first time huawei shakes its finger at huawei customers after begging its software team to introduce sought after features in future upgrades. It's actually a historical, ongoing internal problem the company is too stubborn to understand let alone address. Huawei, not Trump, was and is the reason behind the company's market share decline, fed up customers switching to other competitive phones and its struggles to keep up with major industry peers. To suggest that huawei is not a champion of the consumer is by far a gross understatement.
As one may have already observed, the word "annoyance" never ceases to spread its tentacles throughout this review. If you can deal with the drawbacks inherent in EMUI 12 then go for it, upgrade. If not, stay with EMUI 11 as it's still a "relatively" good version that makes people thankful they didn't upgrade.
Personally, I can tolerate EMUI 12's shortcomings to a certain point. Continued lack of much needed and missing features makes me doubt its keep and gives me reason to switch to either the Note 20 Ultra or S22 Ultra eventually. As always, blame huawei for it!
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I have been searching for reviews on EMUI 12 and I'm so happy I found this one. I'm using a Mate 20 Pro. I think EMUI 12's Control Panel is rubbish. I can't stand the fact that there is a music player "widget" there that doesn't even link to my default player, and when my bluetooth is on, the icon is too big so the "h" at the end of the word "Bluetooth" goes onto the next line which (as a designer) I think looks horrific. Then, to touch on the split betwen the notifications and the ctrl panel... As someone with small hands, this is impossible to navigate with one hand. I really hope that Huawei listens to the rants I have been posting all over and reverts some of these annoyances back to their perfectly functional predecessors... So other than these complaints, the UI is fine... It looks pretty but it needs inprovement.

ming64 said:
stick to EMUI11.
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Sounds good!

RemoWilliams said:
What exactly is a "sticky 'display over other apps' notification"?
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'Display over other apps' notification is one that "warns" you of a 3rd party app that displays its elements as an overlay over other apps.

Miss Gray said:
I have been searching for reviews on EMUI 12 and I'm so happy I found this one. I'm using a Mate 20 Pro. I think EMUI 12's Control Panel is rubbish. I can't stand the fact that there is a music player "widget" there that doesn't even link to my default player, and when my bluetooth is on, the icon is too big so the "h" at the end of the word "Bluetooth" goes onto the next line which (as a designer) I think looks horrific. Then, to touch on the split betwen the notifications and the ctrl panel... As someone with small hands, this is impossible to navigate with one hand. I really hope that Huawei listens to the rants I have been posting all over and reverts some of these annoyances back to their perfectly functional predecessors... So other than these complaints, the UI is fine... It looks pretty but it needs improvement.
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Appreciate your praise of my review. Aiming to please and educate folks out here.
Honestly, the control panel isn't entirely a horrible idea had huawei made it an effort to invest the proper time and research needed to make it function seamlessly with other apps and ergonomically finger-wise. Regrettably, its become a novelty to some, a little shop of horror for others - at this point it is more the latter.
Dolefully, huawei is not known for analyzing minute nuances of detail - which in many cases outstrips major ones - needed to make a great product function the way it should to the satisfaction of users. It doesnt understand how to get the drop on tech in step with other phone companies. They dont know how to ride the wave. Personally, I wish the company dissolves into utter extinction never to resurface its ugly head again as a text book example for teaching companies how not to run a company!

Installed the damn thing cos it kept bugging me to do so. And boy, yes, did they mess up the swipe down panel. Control panel looks like **** (at least give us an option to remove that music player crap!). And I'm right handed, so everytime I want to swipe down to see the notifications, I need to move my hand to the left of the screen. Utter crap. The swipe down panel was perfectly fine as it was, no need to mess it up like this. Other things I don't like: desktop icons are bigger. Would like to set it back to their previous size, but I haven't been able to find out how to do it, or if it's even possible. Furthermore, I fail so see the added value of the new "enlarge folder" thing. I didn't have any problems with the way it was before. All in all, totally unnecessary update for me. Only good thing is that it bumped the security patch from June 2021 to Feb 2022.

Just noticed: when setting an alarm, hour no longer changing when you're setting the minutes and crossing the 60 minute mark. Good to keep in mind, to avoid unpleasant surprises. They should have put effort instead to allow for setting default ringtone for new alarms, and also for the option to have vibration off by default.

RemoWilliams said:
Just noticed: when setting an alarm, hour no longer changing when you're setting the minutes and crossing the 60 minute mark. Good to keep in mind, to avoid unpleasant surprises. They should have put effort instead to allow for setting default ringtone for new alarms, and also for the option to have vibration off by default.
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Actually, thats a handy upgrade in EMUI 12. Under EMUI 11, I made mistakes setting the time which caused embarrassment with missed scheduled meetings because changing the minutes "beyond 60" also changed the hour without my awareness.

RemoWilliams said:
Installed the damn thing cos it kept bugging me to do so. And boy, yes, did they mess up the swipe down panel. Control panel looks like **** (at least give us an option to remove that music player crap!). And I'm right handed, so everytime I want to swipe down to see the notifications, I need to move my hand to the left of the screen. Utter crap. The swipe down panel was perfectly fine as it was, no need to mess it up like this. Other things I don't like: desktop icons are bigger. Would like to set it back to their previous size, but I haven't been able to find out how to do it, or if it's even possible. Furthermore, I fail so see the added value of the new "enlarge folder" thing. I didn't have any problems with the way it was before. All in all, totally unnecessary update for me. Only good thing is that it bumped the security patch from June 2021 to Feb 2022.
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The EMUI 12 upgrade is an iphone clone with minute internal tweaks.
Concerning your complaint about the control center, currently I'm testing all the system's APKs using ADB and have so far isolated about 60 of them for the purpose of upping battery juice. If I do come across an APK that's responsible for the control center I will alert you so you can remove that package. But honestly, I dont think it helps to remove it since the control center is a mutually exclusive feature from the notif area which cannot function either on its own or if it can it would lack the necessary panel upon which all the widgets of the present control panel are shown (i.e., wifi, bt, data, etc). Stay tuned.. will let you know.

zlaer said:
Actually, thats a handy upgrade in EMUI 12. Under EMUI 11, I made mistakes setting the time which caused embarrassment with missed scheduled meetings because changing the minutes "beyond 60" also changed the hour without my awareness.
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Yes, true, that's handy. But not if you've been used to the old behavior for years

zlaer said:
The EMUI 12 upgrade is an iphone clone with minute internal tweaks.
Concerning your complaint about the control center, currently I'm testing all the system's APKs using ADB and have so far isolated about 60 of them for the purpose of upping battery juice. If I do come across an APK that's responsible for the control center I will alert you so you can remove that package. But honestly, I dont think it helps to remove it since the control center is a mutually exclusive feature from the notif area which cannot function either on its own or if it can it would lack the necessary panel upon which all the widgets of the present control panel are shown (i.e., wifi, bt, data, etc). Stay tuned.. will let you know.
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Being able to swap notification panel and control panel would suffice for me. I need the notification panel on the right hand side!

RemoWilliams said:
Installed the damn thing cos it kept bugging me to do so. And boy, yes, did they mess up the swipe down panel. Control panel looks like **** (at least give us an option to remove that music player crap!). And I'm right handed, so everytime I want to swipe down to see the notifications, I need to move my hand to the left of the screen. Utter crap. The swipe down panel was perfectly fine as it was, no need to mess it up like this. Other things I don't like: desktop icons are bigger. Would like to set it back to their previous size, but I haven't been able to find out how to do it, or if it's even possible. Furthermore, I fail so see the added value of the new "enlarge folder" thing. I didn't have any problems with the way it was before. All in all, totally unnecessary update for me. Only good thing is that it bumped the security patch from June 2021 to Feb 2022.
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Ah, icon size can be adjusted: Settings > Home Screen & Wallpaper > Home Screen settings > Icon size.

RemoWilliams said:
Ah, icon size can be adjusted: Settings > Home Screen & Wallpaper > Home Screen settings > Icon size.
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Very good. Thinking about selling my 20 X and buying a note 20 ultra. It's about time

Sounds like an unmitigated disaster

MSK1 said:
Sounds like an unmitigated disaster
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If you're referring to EMUI 12, I kind of agree.

zlaer said:
If you're referring to EMUI 12, I kind of agree.
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Yep.
It's a shame... Was looking forward to that update

MSK1 said:
Yep.
It's a shame... Was looking forward to that update
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We all were.. Youre not the only one.

MSK1 said:
Sounds like an unmitigated disaster
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"Disaster" is a bit harsh IMO. After having used EMUI 12 for 10+ days now, for me, it has one positive aspect (updated security patch), and one negative aspect (split notification/control panel, with the notification panel being on the left side instead of the right). All other changes either don't bother me, or I don't really notice in my daily use.