Help SMS Notifications - SG2 worst EVER phone

[leightos]

Its now been almost 10 days w/ this new phone (transfer from HTC Desire) and I cannot stand the lack of sophisticated SMS Notifications.
Not only does this phone lack a blinking LED for notifications (for example, when you were in the shower and return to look - always have to open up the phone) - I just noticed that the audio notification will continue until you acknowledge the SMS.

I just figured out why my phone's power went down 50% in an hour - the audio notification kept going off.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong (wouldn't be the first time ) but, I'm Android savvy and phone savvy. I've been all through the menus, and can't find a way to have the audio alarm for SMS notification (using Handcent) go off only one time...

there were some things that Nokia did right, and this was one of them.

I'm glad there are plenty of people at work who want my phone - I'll sell it to them

regards

 

[XplosiV]

Try loading the stock messaging app, where you see your list of messages/contacts, press your menu button and select settings. Here you can change sms/mms settings, alerts, tones, vibration etc.

Tbh putting down a phone so bad just because it sites not have an LED? Seriously? When all you have to do is hit a button to wake the phone so you can se if you have a message.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Your persistent notifications problem sounds weird, sounds like its faulty to me, because it shouldn't be doing that (could be a Handcent problem, but I would have thought others would also have reported that by now, since it has many users). Your power drain also sounds suspicious for some problem, no way a recurring notification sound would drain battery that much (or anything else for that matter).

 

[elektrobix]

I'd try removing Handcent temporarily to see if that fixes the battery drain and install NoLED to give you on screen alerts to new messages. It's what i use and i have no battery problems or repeating audio alerts.

 

[trick202]

Not only does this phone lack a blinking LED for notifications

I just figured out why my phone's power went down 50% in an hour - the audio notification kept going off.

regards

Did you notice the lack of LED before buying the phone? It's YOUR responsibility to make sure what you are buying will do the job for YOU - not sammy's.

If your phone's battery went down 50% in an hour (down TO 50% or down BY 50%??) then it's hardly down to a short sound file being played is it??

I think you have buyer's remorse - which is understandable.

 

[mrvirginia]

the only negative i have about the phone is it not having an LED notification. still getting it because one negative doesn't outweigh the plethora of positives. i'll be using this app
https://market.android.com/details?id=net.everythingandroid.smspopup&feature=search_result

has a reminder feature as well

 

[XplosiV]

I am somewhat confused by all of you that have a "need" to use an app, for something that the phone already does. It has a notification strip along the top of the screen, and as such, an sms icon, is displayed (can be turned off) when you have an sms ... Same for battery widgets, theres already an icon.

So you hit a button when your phone is "asleep" and you get your lock screen, with your notifications strip, and you can see any alerts, so why do you "need" to waste your time with apps to tell you the same thing as is already displayed?

Maybe it's just me? I just don't see the logic of it.

 

[Gibbyson]

I am somewhat confused by all of you that have a "need" to use an app, for something that the phone already does. It has a notification strip along the top of the screen, and as such, an sms icon, is displayed (can be turned off) when you have an sms ... Same for battery widgets, theres already an icon.

So you hit a button when your phone is "asleep" and you get your lock screen, with your notifications strip, and you can see any alerts, so why do you "need" to waste your time with apps to tell you the same thing as is already displayed?

Maybe it's just me? I just don't see the logic of it.

They want a notification that they can see even when the phone is asleep. An LED would do this for you, as would NOLED, and many other notification apps. I don't use it too much myself, but that is to what they are referring.

 

[XplosiV]

Ah right then ... Thanks for that.


[sarcasm]So soon I'll be noticing an influx of topics/posts about battery drain, due to the screen being on needlessly, from this fix then, all because people don't want to press a button to find out if they have a text. Where will it end ... Lol [/sarcasm]

 

[shaunydub]

I too missed the Notification light on my Desire but now use NOLED and find it works great...not sure the effect on battery vs and LED but I can live with it.

I think there is a setting in Handcent that you can choose amount of times it replays notification - it's called Reminders....

I have moved from Handcent to GO SMS which is very similar.

 

[daivik]

Look for an app called Cute LED (I think).

A guy made it for the Galaxy S and it looked really good. Just flashed the menu and back button to show a message/call.
I know someone else has emailed him. If he gets a few, hopefully he'll update the app to work with the GSII. That's what I'll be doing when I get my GSII.

 

[mrvirginia]

I am somewhat confused by all of you that have a "need" to use an app, for something that the phone already does. It has a notification strip along the top of the screen, and as such, an sms icon, is displayed (can be turned off) when you have an sms ... Same for battery widgets, theres already an icon.

So you hit a button when your phone is "asleep" and you get your lock screen, with your notifications strip, and you can see any alerts, so why do you "need" to waste your time with apps to tell you the same thing as is already displayed?

Maybe it's just me? I just don't see the logic of it.

some of us want to be right on top of a notification when it comes without turning the phone on all the time.
here's an example...

i love to leave my phone sitting around the house. a lot of people, like myself, don't carry their device around 24/7. so if it's not in your pocket, hand, or not within hearing distance, you miss that notification right? without an LED, or some type of reminder, who knows how long it will be before you actually wake your phone up. i don't know about you, but i'm not obsessive with turning my phone on and poking it.

this is where sms popup comes in for me. you can set it to actually wake the phone up and show part of the message. you can also set it to display said message on the device for a desired period of time (mine is set to 1min). and then, if i still somehow miss it, i have a reminder set for 5min after. and yes, i've totally relied on a reminder beep before to notify me a second time.

so it's not about needing an LED, is about wanting one so you can get back to people in a quickly fashion without obsessively turning your phone on to check for said notifications.

but i agree with others... you bought the phone, and possibly at a ridiculous price, so you were prob aware that it didn't have an LED. so why say it's the worst phone when you paid for it knowing it didn't have one? that just seems silly to me.

i still have yet to hear a valid complaint, not personal preference, as to why someone doesn't like the phone. that's a good thing
so excited and can't wait for mine to get here!

 

[nexxer]

Good suggestions to go around the lack of LED notification - coming from the N900 I am positive I will miss this when I start using the S2, but knowing how wide the variety of apps is I was sure there would be some workaround with another visual cue.

I receive *alot* of SMS (Nagios certainly ..nags) so I've disabled the SMS audio alert on the N900 and instead rely on the LED which keeps blinking until I acknowledge the SMS(es). This way I don't have to hear some beep every few minutes while not at work, and I can just turn my head towards the phone to instantly see if there's any missed call or SMS. It's also more discreet in darkness (eg movies) to peek in a pocket and see if the LED blinks instead of turning the screen on and blasting everyone around me with its light.

All in all a very useful feature that I will miss, but I'm sure one of the apps suggested above will work just nicely so thanks all.

 

[EarlyMon]

Well, hi there.

Here's the deal at AndroidForums.com - it's really simple, and new or old member here, please note.

Prime directive - Please be polite.
Paraphrase of posting rules: Attack issues, not each other and please stay mostly on-topic.

The OP is within his rights to express opinions and seek guidance to solve problems.

ONLY MOD STAFF determines if threads are acceptable.

Seems to me that each and every one of you were new at something first.

Further catcalling because a bloke is trying to find his way through his phone darkness will skip the small stuff and go immediately to the infraction of failure to heed staff warning - probation.

OP - Handcent has lots of options under the hood for notifications. Turn 'em all on to max, and it will drain battery. I like and use Handcent myself, but others find GO SMS to be a better choice. And as advised earlier - lots of folks seem to like NoLED for notifications, regardless.

 

[brisance]

Ah right then ... Thanks for that.


[sarcasm]So soon I'll be noticing an influx of topics/posts about battery drain, due to the screen being on needlessly, from this fix then, all because people don't want to press a button to find out if they have a text. Where will it end ... Lol [/sarcasm]

As a small business owner, I require a notification light so I don't have to stop working in order to continuously poke my phone to see if a client contacted me. A notification light during meetings is critically important to me, as well. In addition, I enjoy being made aware that I've missed a message in case it's an emergency call. For me, it's similar to my oil gauge on my car. I'd rather look at a gauge than having to physically check my oil levels all the time. It's too bad RIM has produced garbage over the last 2 years or I'd stick with them. With so many business people leaving RIM, Android phones are being used for business more and more, so hopefully they'll accommodate the business community in the future. Apple has done this with the iPhone, but I will never purchase an Apple phone. For consumers who use their phone for entertainment, Android is perfect. Without a notification LED, this Samsung phone is worthless to me. I'm not looking for entertainment. I use my phone as a business tool. I'm not sure why some people here become so rude and enraged over a perfectly logical issue about the S2 and other phones missing a notification light.

Because this phone doesn't have a notification light, I won't buy it. Perhaps in future releases, Samsung will, as I already stated, accommodate the business community.

 

[daivik]

As a small business owner, I require a notification light so I don't have to stop working in order to continuously poke my phone to see if a client contacted me. A notification light during meetings is critically important to me, as well. In addition, I enjoy being made aware that I've missed a message in case it's an emergency call. For me, it's similar to my oil gauge on my car. I'd rather look at a gauge than having to physically check my oil levels all the time. It's too bad RIM has produced garbage over the last 2 years or I'd stick with them. With so many business people leaving RIM, Android phones are being used for business more and more, so hopefully they'll accommodate the business community in the future. Apple has done this with the iPhone, but I will never purchase an Apple phone. For consumers who use their phone for entertainment, Android is perfect. Without a notification LED, this Samsung phone is worthless to me. I'm not looking for entertainment. I use my phone as a business tool. I'm not sure why some people here become so rude and enraged over a perfectly logical issue about the S2 and other phones missing a notification light.

Because this phone doesn't have a notification light, I won't buy it. Perhaps in future releases, Samsung will, as I already stated, accommodate the business community.

Off topic, but I suggest you wait half a year, (at most - I think) for a BB torch/bold/touch that has a 1.2Ghz processor. If your happy with the form factor, that'll certainly bring RIM to the "top-level" and would appear to meet your needs.

 

[erikhave]

They want a notification that they can see even when the phone is asleep. An LED would do this for you, as would NOLED, and many other notification apps. I don't use it too much myself, but that is to what they are referring.

NOLED is cool. Thanks for the tip.

 

[daivik]

check this vid out. Email the dev and hopefully he'll update.
YouTube - ‪Cute SMS Blinker‬‏

 

[ziggy]

NOLED is fab!

Not only does it display a variety of different icons for miss calls, texts, emails, (something a flashing led cannot do), it also displays the number of unread emails too!

 

[EarlyMon]

Thanks moderator for deleting my post.

But with all due respect my reply stating that the poster should research that a phone had an led blinker is no worse than stating that the gs2 is "the worst EVER phone"

How would you like it if I said, with all due respect, you should have researched the SGS2 before having a volume problem.

Telling someone to go back in time and do things your way is not respectful, it's kind of like rock throwing.

Please be polite.

 

[nexxer]

As a small business owner, I require a notification light so I don't have to stop working in order to continuously poke my phone to see if a client contacted me. A notification light during meetings is critically important to me, as well. In addition, I enjoy being made aware that I've missed a message in case it's an emergency call. For me, it's similar to my oil gauge on my car. I'd rather look at a gauge than having to physically check my oil levels all the time. It's too bad RIM has produced garbage over the last 2 years or I'd stick with them. With so many business people leaving RIM, Android phones are being used for business more and more, so hopefully they'll accommodate the business community in the future. Apple has done this with the iPhone, but I will never purchase an Apple phone. For consumers who use their phone for entertainment, Android is perfect. Without a notification LED, this Samsung phone is worthless to me. I'm not looking for entertainment. I use my phone as a business tool. I'm not sure why some people here become so rude and enraged over a perfectly logical issue about the S2 and other phones missing a notification light.

Because this phone doesn't have a notification light, I won't buy it. Perhaps in future releases, Samsung will, as I already stated, accommodate the business community.

I always held that business users who don't care for the entertainment factor that such large full-touchscreen phones provide may be better served with a rugged phone with a half-keyboard and a few days of battery life, like the Blackberries or the Nokia E series. Thus, after Apple implemented proper Exchange support to cater to their needs, I was actually surprised by the number of executives using the Iphone. I had forgotten that they are people too with their vanities and need for pretty gadgets

I still think that business users are better served by something that doesn't need re-charge every 1-2 days and won't need extra care to not break or get scratched (eg during travel), but with the fancy new phones offering business features they're becoming a viable solution.

brisance, if the lack of LED is your only reason to stay away from such Android phones, take a look at the various apps suggested in this thread like NoLED and the Cute Blinker video embedded above. They provide the same visual hint that something's up by using various lights, and in fact are programmable.

 

[mystvearn]

I'd try removing Handcent temporarily to see if that fixes the battery drain and install NoLED to give you on screen alerts to new messages. It's what i use and i have no battery problems or repeating audio alerts.

Thanks for the NOLED app. Was never bothered about notification light, but having one is quite nice.

 

[kk335]

settings > display > notification flash , should have a checkmark

 

[Slug]

If it were that simple, my friend, there wouldn't be 22 posts discussing how to do it. The Galaxy S2 has no notification LED to flash.

 

[leightos]

I'm the one who started this thread - oh man did I open a can of worms. Sorry for all that...
my update is that I finally sold the S G S2. I gotta tell ya, that not having a notification light is that important. The GS2 has the greatest screen, but, couldn't handle all the little things that drove me crazy.
I have been waiting for a new HTC w/ NFC and LTE connection. Unfortunately the new Nexus has this ...but, they dropped back to a 5MP camera and no SD card (for what I've heard). How do Engineers (and I'm an Engineer for a major international company) design phones that go backwards in specifications like that? Both Samsung and HTC drop the ball like this...
cheers... good luck
Leightos