Develop Bugs

Control the LED notification light!

[APP][ROOT][1.6-4.0] ButtonLED​
EDIT: I figured out that we can actually control the LED notification light with this app now. Instead of using the file for the capacitive buttons, just substitute it for one of the LED files.
Green - /sys/devices/platform/msm_ssbi.0/pm8921-core/pm8xxx-led/leds/led:green/brightness
Red - /sys/devices/platform/msm_ssbi.0/pm8921-core/pm8xxx-led/leds/led:red/brightness
Remember to also enable it in Accessibility! It still doesn't work well for any time less than 1 second, but I don't feel like that's a huge deal.
If you want to use the button LED, you can still use that file as well.
Since the OG's notification light (or frequency) is shameful to say the least, I just discovered this app today and it's sooooo handy for our phones even though it was meant for phones with no LED at all. Basically, it uses the capacitive buttons as a notification light.
Download the HDPI version and install it.
When you first open it, you have to tell it where the button backlight file is since it's different on every phone. Ours is located at /sys/devices/platform/msm_ssbi.0/pm8921-core/pm8xxx-led/leds/button-backlight/brightness.
Lastly, scroll down in the main menu to where it says "Enable ButtonLED in accessibility" and click on it. It'll take you to the system accessibility settings where you just have to toggle it on.
It took me a little while of playing with the settings to get it working how I wanted, and you can do the same. I have noticed a few issues here and there, but overall it works pretty great. One thing I found was that if you try to set the LED on time to anything less than 1 second, it just does a real quick flash, regardless of what length you chose. Personally, I like 1 second on, 1 second off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for posting. :good:
Have you noticed any change in battery life? Reading the developer's posts, when the notification lights are active the phone doesn't sleep.

signal34 said:
Have you noticed any change in battery life? Reading the developer's posts, when the notification lights are active the phone doesn't sleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No difference so far, but I don't think that I've had a notification that I haven't seen and cleared within five minutes. I'd be interested to see what the drain is if it goes unmonitored for a couple of hours.

Scotty_Two said:
No difference so far, but I don't think that I've had a notification that I haven't seen and cleared within five minutes. I'd be interested to see what the drain is if it goes unmonitored for a couple of hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the biggest difference in the world but it is affecting it its always at the top of the battery stats
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda app-developers app

I can't even get this app to let me change where the led is located. How did you get it to work?
Edit: never mind I simply had to update my busy box version
BTW: I love you for finding this app

LOL, nevermind, nice find!

Jxt. said:
Hey thanks I've been looking for this, but if you've tried cm10 the led notification is kinda amber greenish, i wanted to know if i can get that same color, is it possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not with this app unfortunately. You can either tell it to use the green color or the "red" (orange) color for the LED and that's it.

Works on stock kernel?
Is this supposed to work with stock ZVC kernel?
Test works, and the logs show that ButtonLED detects and processes my notifications, but it won't light the led.
I tried everything, what he says here too:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=37134835&postcount=338
But terminal gave me an error creating the path.
does that means it's not supported?

LED notification

Hey guys,
I just wanted to check if Moto Z play has LED notification. I just read somewhere that this device does not have one. But wanted to confirm.
If this is true, I have to look for another device.
Thanks

No doesn't have notification light more a on screen notification , like if a gumtree message comes through and the screen is off It shows a tree in a dim white at the bottom
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

Moto hasnt had led notification since they had moto display.
Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

It actually has a hidden LED as every moto device. On CyanogenMod I've already repurposed it as notification LED.

Alberto97 said:
It actually has a hidden LED as every moto device. On CyanogenMod I've already repurposed it as notification LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already a cyanogem for our device? Care to share?
Enviado de meu XT1635-02 usando Tapatalk

If it's like the Droid Turbo it has a "charging LED" that can be used with root

If u root there's a app that can make the front flash work as a notification
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.megawave.flashalerts
I use this in my moto x style

Thank you guys for sharing the information

I saw the LED on our Moto Z play, when you connect the turbocharger with the phone turned off, you can clearly see a white led (not the flash) blinking briefly in the zone of the proximity sensors.

Yeah there is something between the front camera and speaker, maybe someone can configure it for notification

I used led control app to make it work. It is only white. And it didn't make it work for notifications. Only when charging, or usb, or using internal, or external memory.

brun3llo said:
I saw the LED on our Moto Z play, when you connect the turbocharger with the phone turned off, you can clearly see a white led (not the flash) blinking briefly in the zone of the proximity sensors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every moto has that it's a battery indicator not a notification led
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

We don't need a notification LED when we have the awesome Moto Display.

FreedFromDeath said:
We don't need a notification LED when we have the awesome Moto Display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, but to see if I've a notification I've to wave the screen while the LED is "automatic"
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

Tasker is capable of using this LED and you can set it up to function as a notification light. I do it with my Droid Turbo.

Cobra04 said:
Tasker is capable of using this LED and you can set it up to function as a notification light. I do it with my Droid Turbo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you post the steps in the tasker for making the led work as notification led? I tried writing the commands in the console but nothing happen

2wire50 said:
Could you post the steps in the tasker for making the led work as notification led? I tried writing the commands in the console but nothing happen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may or may not work on the Z Play. You will need root.
BACKUP FIRST JUST IN CASE!
I have it setup to only turn on if the screen is off.
Task 1 (LED on): if %SCREEN ~ Off
Set light - set charging to 1
End if
Task 2 (LED off): set light - set charging to 0
For profiles do this for each app you want to have set off the LED if you don't want it going off for every notification. Otherwise don't choose an application and it'll go off for any notification:
event > UI > notification. Choose an application (optional) then have this profile perform Task 1.
To turn off the LED I have it go off when I turn the screen on.
Event > display > display on and have this perform Task 2.
I'm sure this can be improved but this is how I have it set up right now.

Lightflow Issues

Has anyone noticed any issues while using Lightflow? I have been having issues where my phone won't turn on for about 20-30 seconds sometimes and I have turned everything off and Lightflow was the last that I turned off and so far I have not had this issue again yet. I'm just wondering if anyone else had seen this as well.

I had an issue where I would charge my phone at night. I would wake up in the morning and try to turn the screen on but it would stay off. I would have to reboot it to get it to work. The second time I unplugged the phone and could tell it was unlocking with the finger print reader but the screen would not come on. I forced the reboot and when it came back up I had a notification that lightflow was using more battery than it should. Uninstalled it and haven't had the problem since.

Yeah that app got wayyyy to complicated years ago.
I use Lightmanager now. Much simpler havent had any issues

Light Flow seems to be working well on my 2XL.
As far as Light Flow being complicated, it does have a lot of options but that's a good thing IMO, not a negative.
The devs are attempting to make a program that works well with all brands of phones and Samsung, HTC and LG seem to have different methods for controlling the LED.
Light Flow can bypass the OS to control the LED.
I would suggest you email the developer before you give up or move to another program.
I think Light Flow used to have their own forum here on XDA and maybe they still do.

Seems Navigation Bar Hider can have that same effect. Just installed it last night, and had my first experience with that effect. It's a lot less scary now that I know it's not just my phone, or just one app doing it. I wonder if it's the phone, the OS, or the Apps implementation on the OS. I personally think it's more software based though.
Update: Just looked at Light Flow (never used it personally). It looks like it has an effect with the lock screen. It's a theory, and I don't actually plan to test it if I don't have to, but I THINK both it and Nav Bar Hider having an effect with lock screens (with how I had it set up to be active with everything) is what causes it to not come on when you unlock after extended time. Since i have tuned hider to specific apps instead of generically on by default for everything, the symptom has not come back.

Are you on 8.1? A lot of users have been having a similar issue on the beta.

I've had better luck on Pixels with Light Flow Legacy: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlegacy

no issues for me with lightflow on 8.0 or 8.1 so far...

Working fine on mine with 8.0.

uicnren said:
no issues for me with lightflow on 8.0 or 8.1 so far...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have anything enabled under Device Settings and Root, or LED control? Been hit or miss for me on 2 XL, have root enabled.

bigknowz said:
Do you have anything enabled under Device Settings and Root, or LED control? Been hit or miss for me on 2 XL, have root enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not, not rooted.
only thing checked there is the nexus 5 setting, it must have been enabled by default, I don't remember ticking it.

Hows the battery usage with lightflow anymore? I abandoned it when I got my Nexus 6P as the device would never sleep with lightflow.

91ludesit said:
Hows the battery usage with lightflow anymore? I abandoned it when I got my Nexus 6P as the device would never sleep with lightflow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive never had an issue with it, using it since Nexus 5.

No issues here with my 6p or pixel2 other then it seems to go to sleep if my phone is motionless. Once I wake the screen the led comes on. No battery drain either.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Hello everyone,
I seem to be only able to get Light Flow(Paid version) to work but only while the screen is off and not while the screen is on. I am rooted and I tried setting the options for both root on and root off and I have the option set for the LED to be always on while the screen is on, but again I can only get the LED to show with the app while the screen is off. I'm hoping that someone here can help me out by sharing their settings that they are using that enable them to have the LED on while the screen is either on or off. Maybe they could even share their own settings backup file if they have the app working while the screen is on?

I don't use light flow but I do use immersive mode for the navigation bar and I too have the same issue with the screen not coming in once I plug the charger in. I have to hard reboot the phone. I thought it was the Root causing the issue but it's not. I think it happens when hide the navigation bar

mackentosh said:
I don't use light flow but I do use immersive mode for the navigation bar and I too have the same issue with the screen not coming in once I plug the charger in. I have to hard reboot the phone. I thought it was the Root causing the issue but it's not. I think it happens when hide the navigation bar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a hiding the nav bar issue. The dev behind "Custom Navigation Bar" has supposedly figured out the problem and said that it doesn't happen when using that app for immersive mode.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

sharkie405 said:
It is a hiding the nav bar issue. The dev behind "Custom Navigation Bar" has supposedly figured out the problem and said that it doesn't happen when using that app for immersive mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir I'm now using the custom navigation bar app and I have not had any issues so far.

Hello everyone,
I asked a question last week but I think it may have been missed or overlooked, so I am bumping it in hopes of getting an answer.
is anyone here able to get the paid version of this app to show/change the notification LED while the screen is on? I am able to change the color of the LED and it shows for all the notifications that I have set while the screen is off, but no matter what I do, I'm unable to get the LED to light up with my notifications while the screen is turned on, even though I have the setting enabled to do so.
So I would like to know what settings ppl are using to enable the LED to light up while the screen is either off or on? because ppl have mentioned in this thread that they have the app working for both screen off and on, so if someone that has this working could please share how they have the app configured, or what they did to get this feature working, then it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot guys...

Life without Notification LED

I tried NoLED but the immersive mode only last half a minute or so (tried tasker setting immersive mode to hide both when display is on ) and im afraid of battery drain and burn in.
tried glimpse notifications and ambi tuner with little luck (was trying to get pulsing ambient display when having a notification, otherwise off), but pulsing didnt work
what i have settled for so far is using secure settings and tasker to turn on always on display when i have a notification and turn off always on display when i remove a notification. its called doze_always_on in tasker>plugins.>secure settings>device setting (paywall)>system table>secure list>doze_always_on. where 0 is off and 1 is on. I had to set the wake screen up for notifications setting on for this to work.
here is a video jon2jay made of another method of using tasker without need of secure settings (watch in silent): https://ufile.io/fv287
if someone has a better idea that woudl be great. i was thinking about using the notches as notification leds, when you can switch between colors for different app notifications, and even use different "ears" of the notch. the dev of ambi tuner says hes working on pixel 3 xl compatibility.
looks like samsung pie has colored notificaitons on their ambient display. would love that, if it was only on when notifications were there.

Lack of Led alternative
Coming from the original Pixel, I too can't get used to not having an led. I have been using LED Blinker pro with acceptable success. Many customization options. Test mode does not seem to work, but the app works flawlessly.

With all the supposed focus on digital well-being, eliminating the notification LED was a really poor choice. Now we're forced to pick up the damn phone to see what a notification is. I'm going to have to try out some of the options you guys mentioned.

An app that makes a color near the notch would be great, you know something similar to the battery color around the notch. This on AOD would kinda replace the need for the LED...
Sent from my OnePlus5 using XDA Labs

dipstik said:
I tried NoLED but the immersive mode only last half a minute or so (tried tasker setting immersive mode to hide both when display is on ) and im afraid of battery drain and burn in.
tried glimpse notifications and ambi tuner with little luck (was trying to get pulsing ambient display when having a notification, otherwise off), but pulsing didnt work
what i have settled for so far is using secure settings and tasker to turn on always on display when i have a notification and turn off always on display when i remove a notification. its called doze_always_on in tasker>plugins.>secure settings>device setting (paywall)>system table>secure list>doze_always_on. where 0 is off and 1 is on. I had to set the wake screen up for notifications setting on for this to work.
if someone has a better idea that woudl be great. i was thinking about using the notches as notification leds, when you can switch between colors for different app notifications, and even use different "ears" of the notch. the dev of ambi tuner says hes working on pixel 3 xl compatibility.
looks like samsung pie has colored notificaitons on their ambient display. would love that, if it was only on when notifications were there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish google could read this. No one should have to bend over backwards and jump through hoops to enable something as simple as a stupid blinking light! Google failed us so hard by removing the LED.
Now, I can't even tell if my phone is charging without waking the screen. Worse, I have no clue if the battery is low and need to charge without also waking the screen. No clue if I missed a call, or a calendar event... NOTHING! unless I turn on the screen. I shouldn't have to actively interact with my phone to get passive information. If I wanted that, I would have purchased an iPhone.

Doesn't bother me, I've had phones with and without LED. My life hasn't changed

Time to fix that LED
PuffDaddy_d said:
I wish google could read this. No one should have to bend over backwards and jump through hoops to enable something as simple as a stupid blinking light! Google failed us so hard by removing the LED.
Now, I can't even tell if my phone is charging without waking the screen. Worse, I have no clue if the battery is low and need to charge without also waking the screen. No clue if I missed a call, or a calendar event... NOTHING! unless I turn on the screen. I shouldn't have to actively interact with my phone to get passive information. If I wanted that, I would have purchased an iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey. I love to develop and will make this my mission. Since the display is an OLED wich make it possible to turn on and off idividual pixels this should not be that hard. Keep you updated.

I hate not having an LED. Turning the display on to simply check for notifications is becoming aggravating.
Someone please come up with something.

deepsurge said:
Hey. I love to develop and will make this my mission. Since the display is an OLED wich make it possible to turn on and off idividual pixels this should not be that hard. Keep you updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So there are some apps that already do this; however, they all struggle to play nicely with the default lock screen. If you can get around this limitation, I would gladly make a financial contribution.

Haven't missed it one bit. I use the AOD though. If I didn't, I would definitely want the LED.

PuffDaddy_d said:
So there are some apps that already do this; however, they all struggle to play nicely with the default lock screen. If you can get around this limitation, I would gladly make a financial contribution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will look in to this, as an old embedded engineer i will try to solve this, i love a challange.

deepsurge said:
I will look in to this, as an old embedded engineer i will try to solve this, i love a challange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM me if you need a beta tester

Or some app that would show the Notification Icon on the top of the screen. Just the icon blinking on the all black OLED screen.

I think Samsung's implementation is cool. It takes the colors from the app and uses that as the icon on the screen. Being able to customize that even further would be awesome. Like make all unimportant white and urgent ones red.

kauemelhado said:
Or some app that would show the Notification Icon on the top of the screen. Just the icon blinking on the all black OLED screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those apps exist. They just don't play nicely with the lock screen.

killakarl said:
I think Samsung's implementation is cool. It takes the colors from the app and uses that as the icon on the screen. Being able to customize that even further would be awesome. Like make all unimportant white and urgent ones red.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I initially receive a notification with the AOD on, the icon is colored like that. For Textra it colors the icon the color of the conversation, which is neat. I can tell at a glance who messaged me. For Facebook the icon is blue, Gmail is red, etc.
When the notification goes away and the AOD has the normal display of clock and the icons, it's all that muted shade of gray/white

Hooray!
I am glad this was pointed out, I always found the notification LED on my old Samsung to be mildly annoying but not worth the effort to completely disable. I am glad this phone doesn't have one, easy enough to tap the screen to see what apps the notifications are from and expand if needed. The blinking light was irritating when sleeping or in a dark room. Thanks for pointing this out, one more reason I love my new Pixel 3 XL :laugh:

dipstik said:
I tried NoLED but the immersive mode only last half a minute or so (tried tasker setting immersive mode to hide both when display is on ) and im afraid of battery drain and burn in.
tried glimpse notifications and ambi tuner with little luck (was trying to get pulsing ambient display when having a notification, otherwise off), but pulsing didnt work
what i have settled for so far is using secure settings and tasker to turn on always on display when i have a notification and turn off always on display when i remove a notification. its called doze_always_on in tasker>plugins.>secure settings>device setting (paywall)>system table>secure list>doze_always_on. where 0 is off and 1 is on. I had to set the wake screen up for notifications setting on for this to work.
if someone has a better idea that woudl be great. i was thinking about using the notches as notification leds, when you can switch between colors for different app notifications, and even use different "ears" of the notch. the dev of ambi tuner says hes working on pixel 3 xl compatibility.
looks like samsung pie has colored notificaitons on their ambient display. would love that, if it was only on when notifications were there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey could you please share your tasker profiles? I think that you are having 2 different profiles right? I'm trying to do the same but can't seem to find the doze always on in secure settings :S
This would do until someone manages to customize the ambient or make an app that makes something blink or i dunno what

I've just created an app called Pixel Pulse. I could use some testers if anyone is willing to give it a try. You can select the apps you want to have the app pulse your Ambient Display. There's paid customization for icons and colors but the core functionality of the app is free.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.compass.pixelpulse
If you had previously purchased Ambi-Turner, it has been updated for the new permissions, but because it was written for 8.0 and when Google's ambient display worked differently I decided to leave it as it is. You may however transfer your purchase status of Ambient Display to Pixel Pulse using both apps.

grokus said:
I've just created an app called Pixel Pulse. I could use some testers if anyone is willing to give it a try. You can select the apps you want to have the app pulse your Ambient Display. There's paid customization for icons and colors but the core functionality of the app is free.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.compass.pixelpulse
If you had previously purchased Ambi-Turner, it has been updated for the new permissions, but because it was written for 8.0 and when Google's ambient display worked differently I decided to leave it as it is. You may however transfer your purchase status of Ambient Display to Pixel Pulse using both apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. If I understand correctly, Pixel Pulse works alongside Ambient Display? It appears that PP adds the pulse customization that AD does not have?

How to use LED notification on the Moto G Power - root required.

Edit: It can be done, see these videos!
https://youtu.be/fdvkuyd491w?t=72
https://youtu.be/FK6Bn8E_j1Q

harryspar said:
Edit: It can be done, see these videos!
https://youtu.be/fdvkuyd491w?t=72
https://youtu.be/FK6Bn8E_j1Q
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw the notification light as well and enabled it via e x kernel manager apk.
Your suggestion and instructions was spot on.
Thanks...
Works great!!!

I watched the videos. It almost appears the LED blinks in the 2nd video. But am I correct in saying the notification LED does not blink?

zapjb said:
I watched the videos. It almost appears the LED blinks in the 2nd video. But am I correct in saying the notification LED does not blink?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm curious about this also. If notification doesn't blink this is useless.

jhjhjhjhjhjh said:
I saw the notification light as well and enabled it via e x kernel manager apk.
Your suggestion and instructions was spot on.
Thanks...
Works great!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you enable it using EX kernel manager?

I've tried this. It doesn't blink. Within the software, the Charging LED doesn't have a blink option, only solid.
I'd personally set the LED to only be on when I've missed a call or text since I don't care about emails.

Yes, I remember it being the same way on the G7 Power, and then I found out that it had a LED by installing one of the custom roms which had taken the time to add some custom features allowing full control of it. If it can be solid, it can also blink, it's just a matter of programming it that way, perhaps a developer could figure it out.