[SystemUI] Status Bar/Notification Drawer issues after modifications - Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Greetings people,
As TW Lollipop has landed, most of the devs have been trying to brew ROMs for the people, and unfortunately there is no control as what MODS should be included, i have found it terribly difficult to choose a ROM as it didnt feel normal to use mods that made no sense (or at least have a minority audience).
Particularly,what annoys me a lot, is dealing with the mods that change the visual space available, now there is no need to blame devs here at all, but rather Sammy should be here to blame for just trying to make a normal UI into a complex useless UI in to their own, and they have effed it up with the new Notifications Drawer.
While i noticed a lot of devs have found options/parameters to change the view of the notification drawer, a lot of ROMs include a very annoying feature called Quicklaunch, however im pretty sure a lot of people like it. While Quicklaunch in my personal opinion sucks, it looks way better compared to S-Finder and Quick Launch buttons. I personally lack any kind programming/scripting skills, but luckily, thanks to a nice dev called @alfaroolg with a similar taste, he brewed it for me straight away.
This is what i planned on seeing:
Remove S-Finder and Quick Connect
Remove 3minit Quicklaunch
Remove the Brightness Bar
Currently, im on @g00h s Note 4 Port, which makes me believe that the Brightness Bar is not removable anymore as i could not find the setting on either the Display settings or Notification Panel editor, HOWEVER, the brightness bar disappears if under 5% battery so you cant push the brightness up, and to my surprise, found out sammy screwed up adopting to the Lollipop rules.
This is how it looks without S-Finder/QuickConnect and Quicklaunch: First Pic
This is what happens with the same configuration, under 5% battery after the Brightness Bar disappears: Second Pic
And to my surprise, if there are any Notifications going on, things return well: Third Pic
Is this a general issue Sammy mustve skipped? quite an eye catcher. Also, the area where the brightness bar disappears, usually Notifications get the place, and the first Notification is not Swipeable, i end up clicking the notification rather then removing it, and it can result in very unpleasant moments.

Related

WP 8 Notification Centre Ideas

I know this is a hot topic and there may be other threads on this, but hear me out for a second...
This is a cleaner version of a thought I had posted in a WP7 I started a while back (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1925656), influenced by news that MSFT is planning to add a notification centre to the joy of many - i rather they added more functionality to the lockscreen but to each his own. After more thoughts, I figured it was more appropriate to give this its own thread an post it here.
Here's what I'd do as an option for a notification centre while maintaining the OS look and not going the Android/iOS route:
1. Use the solid bar when a more than one type of notification comes in to maintain the minimalistic UI look. Use the following statement to be shown in the bar: "you have x notifications".
- Color code this bar to a shade of color that couls be specific to the app. If Twitter is purple, you would see a purple bar if there is one tweet waiting, but once there is more than one unread tweet or other another unread notification comes in, the color of the bar can either:
a) Shifts to the standard accent color for the whole UI chosen by the user.
b) Retain the color associated with the original app
2. Allow swipes to remove that notification bar. This means:
a) The only ways to access the notifications are:
- swipe left once from the home screen
- swipe twice if starting from the applications list
- double tap the special notification icon on the lockscreen (more on double tapping below)
b) the bar would be permanently removed from the top of the lockscreen. This avoids making the lockscreen look too “cluttered” or “busy”.
3. Use a special icon for the notification bar. This will be visible both in the notification bar itself AND on the lock screen. This means MSFT keeps the up to 5 icons limit and the double tapping on the 6th icon (the notification) allows transitions that open the notifications hub.
4. Double tap on ANY notification icon to open the the associated app itself from the lockscreen. If you've got dual cores, let them work via pretty transitions! Also, double tap reduces accidental press from single tap.
5. Have the following options in settings called Notifications:
- Allow the user to decide how long they want that solid notification bar to be visible on the home screen and app list screen in the same way you have the screen blackouts after inactivity. Conversely, MSFT could determine that for the user.
- Vibrate only, LED flash only or LED and Vibrate after "x amount of time for x number of times" to remind user of notifications. This allows OEMs to build LEDs if they want to take advantage and add to differentiation. Or, MSFT could just standardize the vibrations and LED flashes without taking away the OEM option to build the LED into the handset.
Either way, this ties into the option of having the solid notification bar too above. For example, if the user feels the phone vibrate with the screen off, then they will see either the solid bar or notification icon on lockscreen. If they were on a call or in an app the vibration would help them exist and thus seeing the solid status bar.
- Level of detail: MSFT can either a number count for the notification of a preview of the notification. This should not be user determined in the settings. If preview is activated, and multiple notifications come from different people for the same app (i.e. texts or tweets from separate people) show name and number count.
- Give the user the option in settings to either use the different colors or choose the notifications to have the same accent color as the rest of the UI. Place this either under Notifications or Accent colors.
6. From the start screen, swiping left brings up a notification hub automatically as a standard action.
a) Give this simple hub look by giving each app with notification its own shade of a color separate from the chosen UI color. - This color would apply for single shade in the notification list here, as well as in the bar mentioned in point #1 above.
Or:
Instead of each app having its own shade, use group accent colors based on app types listed in the Windows Store. For example, one shade of yellow for social media apps, one shade for Navigation apps, etc.
b) split the notification hub in half: have a top part of the hub with the following icons: WiFi, Bluetooth, Tethering, Battery percent, Kids mode, and settings (this should not be user selected). Display each options as either:
- Tappable words and the same switches we see to activate/deactivate in the setting already, or
- Use some tappable icons + the switches.
c) Allow each tab (whether tappable word or icon) to open directly to its own specific option within the settings hub - that way you're not digging through extra menus.
d) make tapping the bar and or the notification icon open the transition window to come from the left.
7. When kid mode is active, if there are double taps on icons on lock screen let password prompt come up to access the notification first.
8. If you want the Notification hub to be a full fledge hub itself to make the ideas above seem less cluttered, it can be a three paned hub with the following:
- main start pane has recent notifications
- swipe left for the toggles to get to the following icons: WiFi, Bluetooth, Tethering, Battery percent, Kids mode, and settings.
- swipe right for similar apps relating to settings such as system information (this can be optional)
9. More lockscreen functionality: Double tap the name of the song playing to open the music app directly.
I wish I could do same screen shots for all the stuff I laid out, but I’m not that great with graphics like that…:crying:but I could post shots of existing apps that show the visuals to some of my ideas above.
WP8 could be the minimum requirement for some or all of these ideas. Some of these might be more customization options like Android and some MSFT could just user decide. Either way, it’s still in the same framework to allow that middle road of options WP offers to users in comparison to Android and iOS.
Thoughts?
Just license the Notification center from Nokia, specifically how it was used and implemented on the N9.
bmstrong said:
Just license the Notification center from Nokia, specifically how it was used and implemented on the N9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure how well that would go over...maybe MSFT doesn't want to use too lunch Nokia stuff at the expense of upsetting the other OEM partners...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
trappxl said:
I'm not sure how well that would go over...maybe MSFT doesn't want to use too lunch Nokia stuff at the expense of upsetting the other OEM partners...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought they pit elop there to run Nokia into the ground, then buy the company for pennies and use ALL their patents... why not start early with some navigation?
I'm not too bothered about notifications. It's a feature that started to annoy me with iOS, all the constant updates and screen coming on all of the time. I found my life to be a lot more productive since getting a Windows Phone. The only notifications you really need are messages and calls and they're both shown on the screen, it's not life or death if you miss what someone is saying on twitter.
ohgood said:
I thought they pit elop there to run Nokia into the ground, then buy the company for pennies and use ALL their patents... why not start early with some navigation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps...but because Nokia needs money other than the handouts from MSFT, they pushed the Lumia brand really hard when they jumped into WP. If you notice now, when people think of WP they first think of Nokia. MSFT doesn't want that, which is why they teamed up with the old partner HTC who was more than willing to back to its past tactic: make a phone with another company's brand name in the title - hence the WP8X by HTC. MSFT also used HTC like that because they have better pull with US carriers than Nokia right now, especially with VZW.
So people in the know (OG WP adopters) will lean more to Nokia...Nokia now powers the whole WP maps. It makes no sense for MSFT to license a notification centre from Nokia, and they would only run Nokia into the ground to buy it if Nokia's WP are the ONLY ones that sell. Nokia shouldn't allow that, even with Elop there, because they are one of the OG companies (Moto the other) and having a more controlling owner like MSFT might hurt both companies' brands...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
gilesjuk said:
I'm not too bothered about notifications. It's a feature that started to annoy me with iOS, all the constant updates and screen coming on all of the time. I found my life to be a lot more productive since getting a Windows Phone. The only notifications you really need are messages and calls and they're both shown on the screen, it's not life or death if you miss what someone is saying on twitter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, that's one of the beauties of the design of WP I like, and many others do. But there are folks who love the annoying notifications and their phone blowing up with all sorts of activity. This is why MSFT is compelled to add a notification centre to appeal to more folks and get the cross over adopters and new smartphone buyers who have friends with Android and iOS that are used to notifications. I could live with a notification centre in WP, but I think design wise they are in a fresh and unique place...perhaps a decentralized setup by adding more functionality to the live tiles, toast bar and lock screen is better than that all in one status bar notification...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
trappxl said:
See, that's one of the beauties of the design of WP I like, and many others do. But there are folks who love the annoying notifications and their phone blowing up with all sorts of activity. This is why MSFT is compelled to add a notification centre to appeal to more folks and get the cross over adopters and new smartphone buyers who have friends with Android and iOS that are used to notifications. I could live with a notification centre in WP, but I think design wise they are in a fresh and unique place...perhaps a decentralized setup by adding more functionality to the live tiles, toast bar and lock screen is better than that all in one status bar notification...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's a lot of words instead of :
" turn off notifications in app settings that don't matter"
you don't need a "hub" to do this if its implemented well inside each app.
ohgood said:
that's a lot of words instead of :
" turn off notifications in app settings that don't matter"
you don't need a "hub" to do this if its implemented well inside each app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. You're right...I've got a rambler's habit whenever I get the juices flowing talking technology...
I agree with that approach of simply improving the notifications in each app. I like not having a hub because I don't need to be notified of every little occurrence. But, since MSFT wants to make cash they will cave in an put a notification hub in. I'm not sure if they will give us the option to turn it off fully if they do.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
A swipe to the left of the main home screen for home screen and quick settings.. thats what i thoght of..

POLL ....Toggles or short-cuts on 4.2 JB notification bar

i had a bit of discussion with one of the Google android team on G+ regarding the shortcuts on the notification bar instead of actual toggles.
he is convinced that that how it should be ,he is against having toggles of wifi ,gps, Bluetooth on the bar and only allowing the auto rotate and aeroplane mode to be toggles ,some feature that i think are not used as much as the other are.
https://plus.google.com/112413860260589530492/posts/fv9FBtjo1ts
i may be wrong but i believe allot of user would prefer actual toggles instead!
what do you think
Oh my gosh!! I voted too soon!! I thought they were real toggles and not shortcuts!! Oh my gosh!! Why would they do that!? Why would they make me take 2 steps to turn off WiFi!? =.S
I prefer the Toggles... Take one and move it to the other answer. =.P
Toggles for me too.
Defenitely toggles
the android developer on my link thinks we are all wrong ,i love their work but sometime i think they just don't see the obvious !
I just read through that G+ page. At first I was on your side... By the end I was convinced that they had made the right decision. Google is all about prediction and toggles mean the phone has failed to predict what you wanted. Ideally the system would predict when you want things on and off (look at auto brightness) and the devs are trying to make it all automated. The rotation is a toggle, because they can't predict whether you want it locked or not, etc.
I too wish there were toggles, but I see where they are going... Automate everything.
That's an interesting conversation. I understand the rationale behind settings instead of toggles, but I too am a toggler. You can tell me all day that leaving WiFi (BT, GPS) on all the time will not reduce my battery life but I still won't believe you. I suppose I should try it.
scottjb said:
That's an interesting conversation. I understand the rationale behind settings instead of toggles, but I too am a toggler. You can tell me all day that leaving WiFi (BT, GPS) on all the time will not reduce my battery life but I still won't believe you. I suppose I should try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true. I leave them permanently on on my Nexus and HTC Desire S.
Sent from my Nexus 7
anthonycr said:
I just read through that G+ page. At first I was on your side... By the end I was convinced that they had made the right decision. Google is all about prediction and toggles mean the phone has failed to predict what you wanted. Ideally the system would predict when you want things on and off (look at auto brightness) and the devs are trying to make it all automated. The rotation is a toggle, because they can't predict whether you want it locked or not, etc.
I too wish there were toggles, but I see where they are going... Automate everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ugh! That is even worse. I'm on android specifically BECAUSE they let you micromanage unlike a certain other smartphone maker...
That said while I voted toggles I do see the utility in easily being able to get to things that often need to be configured quickly like WiFi or blue tooth. I actually have toggles set up in the notification area with extended settings and also use the 4.2 shortcuts. My only wish is that they would give us the option to configure the shortcuts. I never use bluetooth. But a GPS short? That would actually be handy!
Toggles.
hurled from my AOKP'd Evo LTE. Enjoy.
guinnes.s said:
i had a bit of discussion with one of the Google android team on G+ regarding the shortcuts on the notification bar instead of actual toggles.
he is convinced that that how it should be ,he is against having toggles of wifi ,gps, Bluetooth on the bar and only allowing the auto rotate and aeroplane mode to be toggles ,some feature that i think are not used as much as the other are.
https://plus.google.com/112413860260589530492/posts/fv9FBtjo1ts
i may be wrong but i believe allot of user would prefer actual toggles instead!
what do you think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not have both? Have them all toggles and then when you hold it, its a shortcut. I think this is the best idea. Sometimes I just want to toggle it, but if I want to choose a different WiFi network for example, I just hold on the WiFi toggle and it gets me directly there. I think this is more natural too.

[Q] Custom quick settings tiles (as in slimroms): How do you get those?

Hello,
I'm using Slimkat 4.4.4.8269 since its release. It has a neat feature called the custom tiles which is the feature that keeps me on that rom because I was unable to find a similar function in another ROM.
The Slimroms custom tiles basically lets you set unlimited "custom" tiles in the quicksettings which you can set with apps, os functions or whatever. They take a second action for a long press and they can cycle through multiple apps on that one tiles.
This is basically a quickstarter for apps. The thing that makes this marvelous is actually that opening an app doesn't get that app into the foreground, that statusbar stays in the foreground such that I can open a second and third, etc. app through very few taps.
An example what I use this for: My worst but not rare case here:
Navigation+speedcam warner+mozilla stumbler(wifi and cell existance to gps mapper)+openwlanmap.org (wifi to gps mapper)+openbmap.org (wifi and cell to gps mapper).
The best approach is to use a directory on the homescreen, if my launcher supported it. This way i don't have to search in the app drawer.
So I would open the directory, start app 1, press home screen, start app 2 and so on.
Until i started the 5 apps, I have done (swipes and presses+ app-open-taps combined) 15 actions.
Using custom tiles as slimkat offers it in the status bar I swipe to open the quick settings and then open my apps, 1 swipe+5 taps=6 actions.
This is for me much faster and allows me to pay much less attention to my phone while starting what I want.
However, I would like to update to Lollipop or M, anyways, go with CM most likely but that feature isn't there. I found out that the GravityBox with the xposed framework offers some kind of similar features but it only features 2 custom apps, currently I have a bit more than 20 in my status bar.
I could use "Tasker" for this approach as well, but actually that configuration is rather weird and static to one action/app (condition) which I first have to fulfill. That approach fails if one of the apps is already started and I only want to start one app especially if that meets Taskers condition. I end up using the app drawer and search for my app.
This post pretty much covers the configuration and outcome of the custom tile in Slimroms in two pictures:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/orig-development/rom-slimkat-hammerhead-stable-5-0-t2511512/post51495728#post51495728
Have you seen any other ROM with decent updates (that seems to be only CM for the hlte at the point of writing) or way to accomplish something similar? It doesn't need to be in the statusbar, even though that is quite easy to access.
Parts of my post I took from my post to a CM feature request at JIRA:
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-2227?jql=text%20~%20%22custom%20tiles%22
Thanks in advance!
Try Layers, http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4/themes-apps/systemui-overlays-5-0-t3025183
Thanks for the reply. I think layers is some sort of theming app overlaying the normal icons with other colors. This is something new to me and interesting, but not what I wanted in this thread.
I found something that goes a bit in that direction: Hangars. It displays some appbar in the notification area. Upon opening an app the area disappears and I would have to open the notification area again. Still better than the homelauncher and its folders.
Something I tested previously going into the same direction is the PIE control as well as some sidelaunchers like omnirom and such. Still the custom tiles allow a faster operation.
If anyone is interested in those, you could vote for this as well:
https://jira.cyanogenmod.org/browse/CYAN-2227, It enclosed this feature.
From time to time I changed to CM or something like it, but return very quickly to my custom quick tiles as they are irreplacible and other roms waste time and I can hardly operate them blindly like slimkat.
Just heads up, Google finally may have thought those tiles to be useful and they were added in Marshmallow. You can only go there using the System UI tuner (google for it, if you don't know what it is. You'll need another app to configure those nicely, like custom quick settings. Due a bug you can't add more than 18 tiles in total, but if you like it and don't need more go ahead. Right now I have 40+ and they're in color.
So far I can't think of changing from the lovely slimkat.

6.0.1 customization advice

Have: Nexus 6P stock 6.0.1. Need: some customization. Items in green have a solution.
I've enabled Developer Mode and System UI Tweaker. I'd like to do this without root, or anything that would affect individual Google Play-installable apps. (The reason is, I need this device for final user release testing, so it should be what users have just from factory reset + install apps and normal OS upgrades):
Different wallpaper on Lock Screen than behind icons and widgets. (Tried: http://forums.androidcentral.com/an...-lock-screen-wallpaper-help-how-can-i-do.html - No triple dot menu visible in Wallpaper)
Full brightness on Lock screen instead of 90%, independent of brightness settings. ("OK" option: same brightness as manual brightness in Settings) (http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/home-lockscreen-brightness-t1704705 - no Lock Screen Options in Settings)
Disable peeking globally. ("OK" option: put them in the statusbar like 4.4.4) (I don't want to disable peeking for every new app I install: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Here...ifications-in-Android-6.0-Marshmallow_id75408) Temporary solution: I will manually disable peeking for every new app that shows them.
Global saturation setting for icons. (They're all saying "click ME!", that's an icon designer's job. With an excellent high-contrast screen like this, it's a crowd shouting.) ("OK" option: some other way of getting icons to look more Zen.) Icon packs for launchers are that "OK option", browsing tons on Google Play left Hexacon and Dual Shadow. So Hexacon.
Remove the Google Now bar from my Home Screen (without disabling any services). (As in, I taught the device my voice, so I don't need it there for me to tap. Tried: https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-remove-the-google-search-bar-from-your-android-homescreen - it's not long-tappable nor draggable, nor does it appear under Google Apps in Widgets.) Best solution so far: Nova Launcher.
I'd like to be able to do this:
Some quick way (preferably swipe) to access a more compact Quick Settings widget, like on my Xperia Z. I've reduced it to 9, can't remove "Invert Colors" and Location toggles.
Global Night Mode for everything in the System UI - to make it look similar to the Quick Settings. (This is a "like to" only because it's been promised in N. I really need it like, now. ) Best solution so far: Nova Launcher.
Basically I have the greatest phone, so I want it to look good at all times, and with the aim Clean, Fresh, Zen.
I posted here bc the forum was most specific. Feel free to refer or advise me how to best get answers as I joined tonight.
Any & all advice on single questions is appreciated Not possible is a valid answer, and I'm also prepared to wait for N if that's the answer.
I used to think of "ok google" as a novelty but its become more polished and if it remains reliable Ill continue to use it more& more. As it applies to keeping things clean it sort of does eliminate need for extra widgets.
If you have ok google everywhere u can just say " ok google...launch settings". Same goes for music apps, podcasts, youtube videos etc.
Started using a new app other day you might like called sesame edge. I set it on the right edge, virtually invisible and it brings up quick access to apps.
KLit75 said:
I used to think of "ok google" as a novelty but its become more polished and if it remains reliable Ill continue to use it more& more. As it applies to keeping things clean it sort of does eliminate need for extra widgets.
If you have ok google everywhere u can just say " ok google...launch settings". Same goes for music apps, podcasts, youtube videos etc.
Started using a new app other day you might like called sesame edge. I set it on the right edge, virtually invisible and it brings up quick access to apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, trying it out. Also tried Sesame in the hope that it would let me set a different lock screen wallpaper, but it only had "their automatic lock screen wallpaper or off" as setting. I sent feedback to them, so let's see.
HenrikErlandsson said:
Thanks, trying it out. Also tried Sesame in the hope that it would let me set a different lock screen wallpaper, but it only had "their automatic lock screen wallpaper or off" as setting. I sent feedback to them, so let's see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont use a lockscreen but on Pure Nexus which Im using now there is an option to set lockscreen wallpaper.
I use action launcher 3 which doesnt allow me to remove google bar (i dont think) but nova will let u do that. I like the bar cuz on action launcher i can put several shortcuts for whatever i want.
ASAP launcher is very minimal. Again you cant REMOVE the bar but swipe down and it turns into a simple clock widget.
KLit75 said:
I dont use a lockscreen but on Pure Nexus which Im using now there is an option to set lockscreen wallpaper.
I use action launcher 3 which doesnt allow me to remove google bar (i dont think) but nova will let u do that. I like the bar cuz on action launcher i can put several shortcuts for whatever i want.
ASAP launcher is very minimal. Again you cant REMOVE the bar but swipe down and it turns into a simple clock widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx, tried Nova and it gives me Night Mode. Thanks for that Still, no way to have a different wallpaper on the lock screen than on the home screen, and I can find no Prime option for it either. Pure Nexus requires CM.
Can I mix and match this type of apps? Will they interfere with each other? Sesame seems to work with Nova at least.
What about Hi Locker? http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/get-back-lock-screen-customization-android-lollipop-0160204/
Can custom lock screens lock me out of my phone, make me butt dial, hog battery? I just want to change the gdmn background!
As I wrote, if some feature comes in N I'd rather wait than mess up my new phone.
HenrikErlandsson said:
Thx, tried Nova and it gives me Night Mode. Thanks for that Still, no way to have a different wallpaper on the lock screen than on the home screen, and I can find no Prime option for it either. Pure Nexus requires CM.
Can I mix and match this type of apps? Will they interfere with each other? Sesame seems to work with Nova at least.
What about Hi Locker? http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/get-back-lock-screen-customization-android-lollipop-0160204/
Can custom lock screens lock me out of my phone, make me butt dial, hog battery? I just want to change the gdmn background!
As I wrote, if some feature comes in N I'd rather wait than mess up my new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems Im constantly tweaking things and having problems recalling exactly what I used. I know making lockscreen different from desktop is something Ive done many times. Do u have xposed? Pretty sure gravitybox has that option.
As far as butt dials, I use sweep to wake & it was a problem. Always remember to put it in your pocket screen facing out. I also need to do that when using bt headphones or else i get distortion. Anyways if i find something relevant Ill let u know.
Thx for suggestions!
I want weather, clock, and a background that matches my high-end case on the lock screen AND NOTHING ELSE, and then wherever there are icons I want a neutral background or just a color so I can see them properly. I think that's being a normal user with sensible demands.
Right now a huge dark gray or white slate COVERS the background anyway. I don't mind it, it lets me see the icons of all manner of variety and quality against something neutral, still... just allowing a background to set behind your icons seems to be an easy addition... since Froyo... Anyway, end rant about Simple Things. Android at least lets you customize them.
I'm battling notifications now. Light Manager is recommended for the 6P - testing it out now for notifications that are actually important, will report.

My Android P DP2 Experience

Just wanted to add my 2 cents on the DP2 of Android P.
So far my favorite thing is how fluid it is and how nice the animations are (it's more fluid than Oreo in every way -- animations, scrolling, opening apps, switching windows, etc.) . The animations are especially nice when using the Pixel launcher. You lose certain animations when using 3rd party launchers. I've always used third party launchers since 2011 because stock ones never have the features I want but The Pixel launcher on Android P is pretty dang cool. I still miss options like no widget padding, icon packs, icon and folder resizing, gestures, custom desktop and app drawer spaces, but even losing all that is worth it with how amazing Android P runs with the Pixel launcher.
My battery life was terrible the first 2 days and I was considering going back to Oreo but it seems to have settle down now. I still feel I was getting slightly better battery life on Oreo but I can't say for sure. I know others have said they are getting better battery life on P but so far that hasn't been my experience.
I haven't run into any major bugs and have only experienced a couple minor issues like brief freezing (1-2 seconds and has only happened a few times), and had recent apps freeze up twice but hitting the home button fixes it. I know some have reported a lot of apps crashing but I don't use many apps and haven't had any issues there.
For me it's a DD. Wi-Fi Tethering, calling, texting, bluetooth, and GPS all work with no issues.
I'm not a fan of some of the new UI changes but overall it definitely seems like a good step up from Oreo. I can't wait to see how it develops over the next 6 months.
Nice write up! Agree this P is getting better and better!
I know Facebook isn't the best app in the world, and I'm a beta tester for the official app. I cannot get it to install for the life of me. Very odd errors.. keeps throwing error 504
jbarcus81 said:
I know Facebook isn't the best app in the world, and I'm a beta tester for the official app. I cannot get it to install for the life of me. Very odd errors.. keeps throwing error 504
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't personally use facebook but I just checked it out because of your post and it installed fine. I also logged in and scrolled through it a bit and it worked fine. Not sure why it's giving you issues :/
imucarmen said:
I don't personally use facebook but I just checked it out because of your post and it installed fine. I also logged in and scrolled through it a bit and it worked fine. Not sure why it's giving you issues :/
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Could be an issue with the beta... I never thought much about it.
I beta test FB as well, and had issues trying to get the app to install too. I have it installed on my s9+, but couldn't get that one to update, so I found the apk for the version that's on the s9+, and it was able to install on the Pixel 2xl DP2. This leads me to believe it's the FB app itself, and not the phone.
Moostafa29 said:
I beta test FB as well, and had issues trying to get the app to install too. I have it installed on my s9+, but couldn't get that one to update, so I found the apk for the version that's on the s9+, and it was able to install on the Pixel 2xl DP2. This leads me to believe it's the FB app itself, and not the phone.
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Perfect! Now to hunt down the latest beta APK .. looks like 172.0.0.51.93 is the latest version.
I went back to Oreo the same day I flashed P DP2. This was the same day DP2 was released. I don't remember every detail but here are the things that made me go back:
- A handful of apps would simply not work/open. I forgot which ones they were.
- I don't like the way the Quick Settings look.
- I don't like it that the Quick Settings wont open a quick detailed view and instead just open the settings app. Seems minor, but is a step-back if you ask me.
- QS icons in landscape mode are out of place.
EDIT: - Accessing the settings app via notification drawer now requires you to pull down the drawer completely. That's because the gear icon becomes only visible/accessible when it's fully expanded, while in previous Android versions, like O, the gear icon was visible even on a collapsed notification drawer.
I reeeeally love the new sound controls!
very ugly LTE icon
Literally the only thing I don't like is that the gesture bar is still eating up screen space like the nav bar did and WTF on the LTE font/icon. There is no reason to not expand displayed content all the way to the edge of the display and have the pill hover over the content. Also I see no reason for the back button. If swiping in one direction takes you back to the last used app, make swiping the other direction the back button inside an app. Other than that, I much prefer the roundness of the UI seeing the the display corners of my Pixel 2XL are rounded. It just looks more cohesive. I was a huge fan of Flux Ui, so P taking on that styling cue is another plus to me. Also the animations are much better. I haven't tested a full day of usage for screen on time yet without my phone touching a charger at some point, but the fact that I'm consistently getting a 1 to 2 percentage battery drop overnight is already better than any android version I've been on.
nitrous² said:
I went back to Oreo the same day I flashed P DP2. This was the same day DP2 was released. I don't remember every detail but here are the things that made me go back:
- A handful of apps would simply not work/open. I forgot which ones they were.
- I don't like the way the Quick Settings look.
- I don't like it that the Quick Settings wont open a quick detailed view and instead just open the settings app. Seems minor, but is a step-back if you ask me.
- QS icons in landscape mode are out of place.
EDIT: - Accessing the settings app via notification drawer now requires you to pull down the drawer completely. That's because the gear icon becomes only visible/accessible when it's fully expanded, while in previous Android versions, like O, the gear icon was visible even on a collapsed notification drawer.
I reeeeally love the new sound controls!
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I agree on all your points but for me the fluidity and animations more than make up for it. Hopefully some of those things you mentioned get addressed. I definitely do not like the new QS style.
darkoj2007 said:
very ugly LTE icon
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Agreed. That's is one of the new ui changes I'm not a fan of at all. It looks like it belongs on a phone from 6 years ago. Perhaps they did for people who are far sighted but it would be nice to have the option to use the old little LTE and 3g icons.
AndrasLOHF said:
Literally the only thing I don't like is that the gesture bar is still eating up screen space like the nav bar did and WTF on the LTE font/icon. There is no reason to not expand displayed content all the way to the edge of the display and have the pill hover over the content. Also I see no reason for the back button. If swiping in one direction takes you back to the last used app, make swiping the other direction the back button inside an app. Other than that, I much prefer the roundness of the UI seeing the the display corners of my Pixel 2XL are rounded. It just looks more cohesive. I was a huge fan of Flux Ui, so P taking on that styling cue is another plus to me. Also the animations are much better. I haven't tested a full day of usage for screen on time yet without my phone touching a charger at some point, but the fact that I'm consistently getting a 1 to 2 percentage battery drop overnight is already better than any android version I've been on.
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Click to collapse
The gesture bar needs some refinement. I hate the back button as well. They need to at least make it have rounded corners and solid to match the rest of the ui. The sharp corners and hollow look really doesn't match and looks awful.
LTE and 3G icons are awful.
For some reason my battery just isn't performing as well on P as it did on Oreo. Especially the AOD -- it chews my battery up. It still easily get through the day with plenty of juice to spare and I work at home and always have a charger handy so it's not a problem.

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