Root Is this even possible?

[Steven58]

One thing I miss on my DX from other phones is a battery charging light. Perhaps it's already on the market, but I was wondering if you young geeky android app writers could write one, if it's not? I pay for it. I'd bet others would too? Just a thought.

You young guys have no babies to feed, diapers to change, mouths to feed, or college kids to pay for, so take care of this old guy. God will reward you for it.

 

[tom108]

i have heard the app "tasker" can turn an led on for charging.

 

[Steven58]

as I understand it, tasker is big bulky. Take a look at me. Do I look like the bulky type?

 

[tom108]

Do I look like the bulky type?

green maybe. bulky, no.

 

[mjd515]

tranquility has a charging light bu thats a whole change in roms for you but it does have it so im assuming it is a script in the code somewhere ask fab he might know or p3

 

[Trooper]

Cool idea but that LED would keep me up at night!

I want an app that will change LED colors based upon specific contacts. Does that exist?

 

[sund0wn]

yep. the new rom has this.

 

[Steven58]

tranquility has a charging light bu thats a whole change in roms for you but it does have it so im assuming it is a script in the code somewhere ask fab he might know or p3

I will... fab's a bit busy with 2.2.1, about now, so I won't bother him.

 

[eulerphi8]

Oh wow, this is a little off topic, but I checked out tasker, and it's amazing. Now I don't have to blast out my ears every time when I plug in my headphones and the media volume is set on max for the external speakers.

Why is it bulky? Does it takes up a lot of resources?

 

[Exiled]

Just tried using tasker to set up a green notification light while charging. Seriously you should give tasker a try. its amazing. I also have it set to turn wifi on while charging, among many other tasks.

 

[Deleted User]

Tasker is one of the most outstanding apps I have ever seen for any mobile OS.

It's certainly not bulky. If you set up lots of events that require GPS positioning, you'll drain the battery as the phone will use GPS a lot - but that's not Tasker's fault.

I don't use any GPS events and my battery life is superb despite having several tasker triggers set.

 

[Steven58]

hmmm...ok ty.

 

[scary alien]

Steven,

No promises, but I'm going to play with this tonight and see what I can do...very intriguing app...I'd like to have this too (the method seems simple enough, but will need to figure out a way to poll and run the app without overly consuming battery).

This functionality should already be there though...VZW/Motorola dropped the ball on leaving this out, IMO.

Cheers!

 

[Neubsauce]

+1 on Tasker

My Car Dock profile alone is worth the price of admission:

• Connects Bluetooth
• Fires up Pandora
• Sets Media Volume
• Updates GTalk Status to Busy: Driving
• Reads Incoming Texts over car stereo

Don't know how I got by without it!

 

[Steven58]

Steven,

No promises, but I'm going to play with this tonight and see what I can do...very intriguing app...I'd like to have this too (the method seems simple enough, but will need to figure out a way to poll and run the app without overly consuming battery).

This functionality should already be there though...VZW/Motorola dropped the ball on leaving this out, IMO.

Cheers!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! I was hoping you'd say that!!!!

 

[scary alien]

Steven,

Worked on this on and off all weekend (between Thanksgiving leftovers, of course )...

It was a bit tricky, but I think I've got it (by George ).

Gotta polish a few things, but I hope to publish something to the Market (free, of course) still yet today.

The first version will be pretty basic:

1) when the app/service is launched, you'll press the "Start Monitoring" button

2) the app will monitor the battery state to see what its charging state is

3) if charging, the LED will be turned RED

4) if fully-charged, the LED will be GREEN

5) if discharging, the LED will be turned OFF (although I tested using BLUE, which was really cool, IMHO)

6) when done monitoring with the app, press the "Stop Monitoring and Exit" button

Please note that the LED indicator only lights-up when the screen is off (I think everyone already knows this--this really made is wonky to test, btw).

Here's my punch-list for updates to this:

1) set your own polling interval (currently defaults to 10 seconds)

2) display the percent charged in the app (simple to do, but I didn't want to add the extra I/O in the first version or unless the user selected)

3) set your own LED state/color (or OFF) assignments

Also note, there's two things that make this Droid X-specific:

1) Its probably not needed for other phones since we know the X doesn't show the battery status via the LED indicator, but other phones do

2) The battery status file that I monitor is in a specific location that is not necessarily the same for other phones

More later... Cheers!

 

[Steven58]

Steven,

Worked on this on and off all weekend (between Thanksgiving leftovers, of course )...

It was a bit tricky, but I think I've got it (by George ).

Gotta polish a few things, but I hope to publish something to the Market (free, of course) still yet today.

The first version will be pretty basic:

1) when the app/service is launched, you'll press the "Start Monitoring" button

2) the app will monitor the battery state to see what its charging state is

3) if charging, the LED will be turned RED

4) if fully-charged, the LED will be GREEN

5) if discharging, the LED will be turned OFF (although I tested using BLUE, which was really cool, IMHO)

6) when done monitoring with the app, press the "Stop Monitoring and Exit" button

Please note that the LED indicator only lights-up when the screen is off (I think everyone already knows this--this really made is wonky to test, btw).

Here's my punch-list for updates to this:

1) set your own polling interval (currently defaults to 10 seconds)

2) display the percent charged in the app (simple to do, but I didn't want to add the extra I/O in the first version or unless the user selected)

3) set your own LED state/color (or OFF) assignments

Also note, there's two things that make this Droid X-specific:

1) Its probably not needed for other phones since we know the X doesn't show the battery status via the LED indicator, but other phones do

2) The battery status file that I monitor is in a specific location that is not necessarily the same for other phones

More later... Cheers!

I'm honored, scary. I'll even buy you a chocolate milk!

 

[scary alien]

Okay, let's give this a try...I've published the app in the Market (free), just search for "BattMonX".

Check it out and let me know what you think. I've tested it as much as I could, but I'm sure you eagle-eyes out there will find something.

Please note, the app does not require root, but will check to make sure that its running on a Droid X (it'll just give you a warning and allow you to continue if your not). My Droid X that I tested it on is rooted but not themed or overclocked.

This initial (beta, really) version has a polling interval of 10 seconds. I let it run on my phone last night for 10 hours with the LED lit (on purpose) and the app's service running. Battery life and CPU time reported by system panel did not seem at all out of line with how I would it would normally be the next morning.

Also, notifications that come in while the app is running will be displayed / honored after the app has been exited (the are queued-up, apparently). So, just run the app when you've got it charging.

Assuming that VZW/Motorola doesn't fix the issue that this apps tries address in the next OTA update, then I'll continue to work on it and make a few upgrades to it.

I'll create an app thread soon (when I get a little time ). Cheers and enjoy!

 

[gcobb]

Just tried using tasker to set up a green notification light while charging. Seriously you should give tasker a try. its amazing. I also have it set to turn wifi on while charging, among many other tasks.

This ^^^^^ is too true.

I played with it for 2 days solid, love what it does and how much fun it can make using my phone. There's a big thread with examples of what we have our phones doing.

I can send my phone a text with a code word, have it turn on and test GPS then send me a reply with my GPS coordinates after locking the phone and putting a password on it.

I have my own icon on a screen (made with tasker) that shows my battery usage that updates every 30 minutes.

Some weather widgets also show battery power.

 

[scary alien]

This ^^^^^ is too true.

I played with it for 2 days solid, love what it does and how much fun it can make using my phone. There's a big thread with examples of what we have our phones doing.

I can send my phone a text with a code word, have it turn on and test GPS then send me a reply with my GPS coordinates after locking the phone and putting a password on it.

I have my own icon on a screen (made with tasker) that shows my battery usage that updates every 30 minutes.

Tasker does sound amazing. Its on my list of things to check out when I get more time. Sounds like a Swiss Army Knife for your phone.

Thanks and cheers!

 

[Steven58]

Works GREAT!!! Where do I donate the chocolate milk or did you want a banana split?

Also, thank you for the acknowledgement. That was very kind of you.

Steven

Edit: I tried that site listed in the app and it wasn't up yet, so I went to the root directory hoping for a place to donate. No such luck. You don't make this easy.

Thanks again!

 

[scary alien]

Works GREAT!!! Where do I donate the chocolate milk or did you want a banana split?

Also, thank you for the acknowledgement. That was very kind of you.

Steven

Edit: I tried that site listed in the app and it wasn't up yet, so I went to the root directory hoping for a place to donate. No such luck. You don't make this easy.

Thanks again!

Lol, you are very welcome! Nah, there's no donate button... ...I haven't had time to build the page for the app on my Google site. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow (the documentation for an app sometimes takes longer than doing the app itself, lol).

Again, it was fun to do...learned a lot along the way.

Cheers!

 

[Diz]

Doesn't play nice with my Rubix.

 

[scary alien]

Doesn't play nice with my Rubix.

How does it behave? (I might still be able to tweak it...its still relatively "beta").

I tried it on my Eris, lol, and it "worked", but it was blinking instead of staying a solid light.

Let me know...

 

[Steven58]

Lol, you are very welcome! Nah, there's no donate button... ...I haven't had time to build the page for the app on my Google site. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow (the documentation for an app sometimes takes longer than doing the app itself, lol). Again, it was fun to do...learned a lot along the way. Cheers!

You're not getting away with that again bro. I'll get you back!Issues so far: doesn't display correctly in horizontal mode.Doesn't seen to shut off when selecting stop monitoring and exit.Doesn't make me my morning coffee.