One of the touch screen issues I sometimes experience is when swipes are "broken" and register as shorter swipes and taps. This makes me think maybe the accidental touch protection, which is supposed to be triggered by the proximity sensor, is being triggered when it shouldn't. We all have read complaints about how the proximity sensor does not work very well.
So on a hunch, last time I had this issue (trying to swipe in gboard), I stuck my finger on the front-facing camera, and interestingly, swiping worked fine (I expected the screen to be disabled - guess that only actually is supposed to happen when you're on a call?).
Since this issue is so random it's hard to really test it. But I've had quite an experience with the proximity sensor.
I wanted the AOD to turn off when the phone is in my pocket, which is the norm on other phones I've used but for some reason Samsung does not do. So I set out figuring out how to do this in Tasker. I got a sensor test app and noticed the proximity sensor basically has two values: 0.0 and 5.0. It is very slow to respond (slower for "uncover" events) and seems to only switch to 0 if my finger is right on the camera. So I set up Tasker to turn the AOD off if the proximity sensor value is < 1, or on if it is >= 1. I also made it vibrate briefly so that I could tell when the sensor was toggling even if I couldn't see the AOD.
At first it worked fairly well. If I manually covered and uncovered the camera, the AOD would dutifully toggle (not instantaneously). But in "real life" practice, it turned out to be quite unreliable. There would be phantom proximity changes while I was using the phone or carrying it -- most interestingly, it often toggles the AOD off briefly when I pick up my phone -- but I didn't really notice any surprise vibrations while the phone was in my pocket. After a couple hours, when my living room got darker (not completely dark), the whole thing went crazy and the AOD would toggle every few seconds with the phone sitting on a table.
So I think the whole "let's ditch a dedicated proximity sensor and use other things to get the same result" is not quite mature yet. And perhaps it is buggy enough to cause one of the issues we think of as a touchscreen one.
Related
I've been wondering, would it be possible to make an app that kicks in when you're on a call, that uses the light sensor as a proximity sensor.
The basic idea is, you put the phone to your ear, it blocks light and the screen locks, take it away from your ear, it detects more light, and unlocks the screen so you can enter numbers etc.
I was also thinking instead of being set at specific light levels (less than 50 for off, over 50 for on etc) it could work on a factor of relative brightness, so if it gets 5 times brighter it knows to unlock the screen.
Does this sound possible?
I don't think this can work. What happens during the night?
very old idea
phone must have bio sensor near speaker which touch to ear, so only hardware solving
using light sensor will work only with light, at dark place\time it doesnt work
another way is to make sensitive top of sensor display for touching but other part of display must be blocked
deadend
Tha X1 speaker is right next to the earpice, it's almost part of it, that's why gave me the idea.+As for dark places, that's why I suggested it measures a differennce in brightness, rather than specific values. Obviously at a certain point, it won't detect any change, I guess then the programdetect darkness up until the point of answering the call, and disable itself.
Or maybe there's a way to use the backlight to create a lightsource but have the touch part off...
Brightness would increase as the phone approached the ear, then drop off as it got there, then similar when you take it away.
Actually, based on the intention, I think it would be sufficient if the phone app is active, the screen is on and locked if phone app is inactive. Touching cheeks, etc are all not real problems in my opinion.
xperia tweak
xperiatweak will fix this issue.
So here is my problem: Some time ago i was using the "in pocket detection" and it was working perfectly fine, then i disabled it, then yesterday i enabled it and it wouldn't work :/
Since i thought it has something to do with the proximity sensor i downloaded some app that checks sensor output data and it reports value either 3.0 when i move something towards the sensor or 100.0 when i move away. I was wondering if that's the normal behavior. (not increasing linearly but rather acting more like a switch 1-0 behavior)
Also, i have no problems with screen blacking out during calls (it turns off and back on as expected), proximity lock works fine with an external app, but not with the "In Pocket Detection" in settings/display.
Any clues on what could be causing the problem and any suggestions how to fix it?
It is by no means critical but I just want to figure out what's wrong.
I think it's the correct behavior. The proximity sensor works more like a switch. I belive the In Pocket Detection also uses the camera and/or the accelerometer for the "detection" ...
Thanks for your reply.
Well, in the end i just flashed CM7 on it so i don't have the in pocket detection anymore
I was wondering if someone has noticed similar behavior on their G3. My G3 is 100% stock and is only a week old. Wherever I wake up my device, about 5 seconds after turning it the screen has a small flicker and the screen seems to auto adjust or calibrate. This only happens once every time I wake up the device. My auto-brightness is set to off and the screen is at 100% brightness. I did some tests and noticed that when I wake up the device with the top sensors covered (proximity, front camera etc), that the screen doesn't have this flick to it. Is there some sort of "outdoor" mode or something on these where the screen will self calibrate when it notices it's in a bright situation?
Please test on your devices and let me know if you see anything similar to this. I tried taking a video but it's so quick and subtle that the video doesn't show it.
mine does same. vzw. covered sensors, still brightness adjustment.
only just now noticed today, but could have been happening all along.
I think it has something do with the proximity sensor. If you cover the sensor with a note pad you cannot turn on the screen, prob a tap to wake feature so it doesn't turn on in your pocket. But if you lift the note pad just enough to turn the screen on and quickly cover it, mine does not flick. I have tried this many times and worked 100% of the times.
My friend who works for at said that his does the same as well as the demo. Must be a weird firmware issue. Hopefully its resolved in the next ota
How many times are you gonna make this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/help/screen-flicker-t2826882
I am not sure if the sensor is working or the screen protector is making it ineffective but when I am on a call the screen doesn't blackout and I get phantom touches from my cheek and either notification panel or something else opens or it ends the call. I tried few hardware testing apps but none register hand movements over proximity sensor area! How to work out of I even have a sensor on the device?
Cheers
Maybe you accidentally turned on "Sensors Off"? I don't know your device, but mine has such an icon in quick settings.
I just upgraded from an S8 to a 21 FE, I had this setup where my screen will turn off using the proximity sensor, so when I open my case cover or lift it up from the table it just turns on automatically.
Upgrading, I notice the apps I used (Gravity Screen, Smart Screen On Off) are not working as they used to. In most tests, I did seem to suggest the proximity sensor only responds when the front lens is covered by my thumb instead of just hovering over with my hand like before. I did the *#77692# test and the Proximity sensor is working fine then WHEN I enable it so I'm at a lost here, is this a technical issue, is this by design
EnigmaXtreme said:
I just upgraded from an S8 to a 21 FE, I had this setup where my screen will turn off using the proximity sensor, so when I open my case cover or lift it up from the table it just turns on automatically.
Upgrading, I notice the apps I used (Gravity Screen, Smart Screen On Off) are not working as they used to. In most tests, I did seem to suggest the proximity sensor only responds when the front lens is covered by my thumb instead of just hovering over with my hand like before. I did the *#77692# test and the Proximity sensor is working fine then WHEN I enable it so I'm at a lost here, is this a technical issue, is this by design
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Didn't you find the gesture to double tap the screen to wake up?
ze7zez said:
Didn't you find the gesture to double tap the screen to wake up?
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I did, but I'm used to waving my phone awake with both my hand and by opening my phone case, but it seems the more recent Galaxy phones don't allow the same use of the proximity sensor
EnigmaXtreme said:
I did, but I'm used to waving my phone awake with both my hand and by opening my phone case, but it seems the more recent Galaxy phones don't allow the same use of the proximity sensor
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A touch sensor while the screen is locked can consume less power than a proximity sensor placed in a camera, for example.