Help Wake without pressing power button?

[OUJukebox]

Shot in the dark here, because I am pretty sure the answer is "No," but has anybody found a way to wake the device without pressing the power button or saying "Hi Galaxy?"

For example, the Moto X and new Droids light up the screen with a lock logo when you pick them up, and then you can swipe to unlock without pressing any actual buttons. It isn't a really big deal, but I figure it would save wear and tear on the physical buttons if you didn't have to use them as much. I also dislike having to use the physical home button to reach the task switcher or home screen, compared to a capacitive button or softkey, again because of wear-and-tear concerns.

The power button and volume down button on my Galaxy Nexus started to be a little finnicky after I had it for a while, so I guess I am just concerned the build quality won't hold up over 2 or more years of use.

Is there any 3rd-party app that can use the accelerometer to add the ability to wake without using the power button?

 

[Rukbat]

Are you talking about waking from a complete power-off condition? Then no. If you're talking about waking from a blank screen, I think (but don't hold me to it) that there are a few apps that do that with the sensors - turn the phone face up, or shake it or something like that. But you'd have to spend time in the Play store looking.

 

[OUJukebox]

Not wake from completely turned off, just bring up the swipe to unlock screen when you pick it up or shake it, like the Moto X and Droids. I have looked around on the Play Store and haven't found anything, so I just wondered if someone else had found it already and could help me out.

Anybody out there find an app on the Play Store that does this?

 

[OUJukebox]

Are you talking about waking from a complete power-off condition? Then no. If you're talking about waking from a blank screen, I think (but don't hold me to it) that there are a few apps that do that with the sensors - turn the phone face up, or shake it or something like that. But you'd have to spend time in the Play store looking.

Actually, since you mentioned "shake" I searched again and found a couple options that sounds like they could work. I will download them, try them, and report back in case others are interested.

 

[OUJukebox]

Shake Screen On Off Free looked promising, but despite the emphasis from the developer that it won't hurt battery life, it seems to be a battery hog so far. I turned off wifi and 4G at 11:30 last night with about 55% battery left, and woke up 7 hours later with only 15%. In the 13+ hours I had been off the charger, the Shake app was the second biggest battery user behind Android Services.

I am charging my phone to full right now, and will leave the Shake app on to see how much of a battery hog it is this cycle.

 

[drexappeal]

If you press the home button, that also wakes the device up from standby.

 

[OUJukebox]

Yes, it does, but then I would be putting the wear and tear on the home button instead of the power button. I was looking for a "button-free" way to wake and unlock the phone that also did not rely on voice controls. The app I mentioned above works, but I've yet to determine if it is going to be a problem for battery life.

I also found the app "Swipe Home" that allows me to get to the home page and the recent apps without pressing or long-pressing the home button. It is good to know these options are out there in case either the physical power button or physical home button break or get stuck.

 

[drexappeal]

Yes, it does, but then I would be putting the wear and tear on the home button instead of the power button. I was looking for a "button-free" way to wake and unlock the phone that also did not rely on voice controls. The app I mentioned above works, but I've yet to determine if it is going to be a problem for battery life.

I also found the app "Swipe Home" that allows me to get to the home page and the recent apps without pressing or long-pressing the home button. It is good to know these options are out there in case either the physical power button or physical home button break or get stuck.

I see...well, I've been searching to find an app that's similar to the software that allows the tap twice (turn on) function that the LG G2 has and found this app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.maicas.android.wsleep&hl=en

Haven't downloaded it yet, but it's another option you might want to try out.

 

[drexappeal]

Here's another app that would allow turning the screen on without the power or home button

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexnor.gravityscreenofffree&hl=en

 

[drexappeal]

And another, involving the proximity sensor

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.android.smartscreenonlite

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.android.smartscreenon

 

[Caker188]

I wrote in another post about an app I installed on my phone called note buddy. I have it set up so when I pull the S-pen out it wakes and insert it - it sleeps. Kinda cool. Just throwing that out there.

 

[drexappeal]

Here's another
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omd.autoscreenon

 

[OUJukebox]

Thanks Drex. I'll check those out.

 

[drexappeal]

I wrote in another post about an app I installed on my phone called note buddy. I have it set up so when I pull the S-pen out it wakes and insert it - it sleeps. Kinda cool. Just throwing that out there.

Completely forgot about that. I don't use it to turn the device on, but I do use Note Buddy (f.k.a. S-Pen Helper), so that I can change the sound that the device makes when the S-Pen is taken out. I also changed the notification message that is displayed

 

[drexappeal]

Thanks Drex. I'll check those out.

No problem. Your thread prompted me to continue my search for an app that'll allow the same function as the LG G2, but all of the ones I posted seem to involve the proximity sensor. I might try the one that uses the proximity sensor to detect when I've pulled the phone out of my pocket or when pulling it off my stand.

 

[OUJukebox]

Well, looks like Shake Screen On Off isn't going to work - too much battery usage. I went off charger late morning yesterday and before bed I had 18% left. My batter stats showed 13h on battery, Android OS used 24%, Shake Screen On Off used 17%, the Screen used 17% (I believe that was about 2.5 hours screen on time, which is probably about typical for me). I don't think being the second or third biggest battery user is acceptable for an app like that.

I think I am going to give Gravity Screen - On / Off a try.

 

[drexappeal]

Well, looks like Shake Screen On Off isn't going to work - too much battery usage. I went off charger late morning yesterday and before bed I had 18% left. My batter stats showed 13h on battery, Android OS used 24%, Shake Screen On Off used 17%, the Screen used 17% (I believe that was about 2.5 hours screen on time, which is probably about typical for me). I don't think being the second or third biggest battery user is acceptable for an app like that.

I think I am going to give Gravity Screen - On / Off a try.

I'm actually going to try it as well. As much as I like certain software concepts that Samsung has on Touchwiz for stuff like this, Gravity Screen On/Off seems like I'd benefit from it (if it works as stated on the reviews).

 

[OUJukebox]

Gravity is working well for me today but I don't yet know if it is going to have an adverse effect on battery life. The screen shuts off when it is supposed when I put the phone in my pocket or face down. When I pull the phone out of my pocket or flip it over, it wakes.

If I place it on the table face up, the next time I want to wake it I just cover the proximity sensor momentarily and when I uncover it, the screen wakes. If it isn't a battery hog, I think this one will work for me.

 

[Scootmien]

Gravity is working well for me today but I don't yet know if it is going to have an adverse effect on battery life. The screen shuts off when it is supposed when I put the phone in my pocket or face down. When I pull the phone out of my pocket or flip it over, it wakes.

If I place it on the table face up, the next time I want to wake it I just cover the proximity sensor momentarily and when I uncover it, the screen wakes. If it isn't a battery hog, I think this one will work for me.

I've just downloaded gravity to give it a try. i'd love to hear your thoughts on how/whether it's worked for you please.

Cheers

 

[drexappeal]

Gravity is working well for me today but I don't yet know if it is going to have an adverse effect on battery life. The screen shuts off when it is supposed when I put the phone in my pocket or face down. When I pull the phone out of my pocket or flip it over, it wakes.

If I place it on the table face up, the next time I want to wake it I just cover the proximity sensor momentarily and when I uncover it, the screen wakes. If it isn't a battery hog, I think this one will work for me.

I couldn't quite get my settings right, so I will try it again when I have more time

 

[munimula]

New Note 3 user here...
As Caker188 mentioned, pull the S-pen out and it wakes. Doesn't sleep when inserted for me, though.

I do have a few note-taking apps installed (colornote, evernote, etc) so I don't know if the apps are tied to S-pen removal/wake process.

 

[OUJukebox]

Drex -

Sorry for such a delay in responding. The gravity app worked well for me and didn't seem to be much of a battery hog, but...I decided the Note 3 was just a little bigger than manageable for me, so I traded it in for a Droid Maxx. I am liking the active notifications and touchless control on the Maxx, and the ability to wake the phone without pressing any physical buttons is baked into the Maxx, so that is nice too.

 

[drexappeal]

Drex -

Sorry for such a delay in responding. The gravity app worked well for me and didn't seem to be much of a battery hog, but...I decided the Note 3 was just a little bigger than manageable for me, so I traded it in for a Droid Maxx. I am liking the active notifications and touchless control on the Maxx, and the ability to wake the phone without pressing any physical buttons is baked into the Maxx, so that is nice too.

No worries. I tried some of the apps I had recommended to you, but ultimately none of them really worked for me because of the security pin that I'm required to have on my phone. Using those apps, automatically triggered the pin to be active, after the phone went into standby, and by using Widgetlocker, I could at least delay the pin from being active for 30 minutes, which is much better for me (especially when I'm using my phone frequently throughout the day).

 

[dan330]

frankly.. I like the .. home button wake.
don't need the fancy wake up apps.

the "hi galaxy".. cant see me using that .. when others are around. silly.
the wave across the screen.. more work than pressing the home button
move to wake... what if it is in my pocket or backpack?

 

[drexappeal]

frankly.. I like the .. home button wake.
don't need the fancy wake up apps.

the "hi galaxy".. cant see me using that .. when others are around. silly.
the wave across the screen.. more work than pressing the home button
move to wake... what if it is in my pocket or backpack?

It's funny because I absolutely hated S-voice, when I had the Note 2. Problem is, Samsung took out the software that immediately read out text messages (while in hands free mode) and forced people to use S-voice, to have text messages read out loud...so, I turned S-voice back on (on my Note 3), just for the purposes of being able to tell the phone to read my text messages. I've already had a couple instances, while not in the car and the phone is sitting at my desk, where it thought I said "Hi Galaxy" and woke up S-voice...very annoying...LOL.

I've been searching and searching to find a way to not need S-voice again...

Oh, and I must say that I have gotten used to being able to push the home button to take the phone off standby. Only thing I can hope for with that, is the ability to customize the amount of pushes, so that my phone doesn't wake up when in the pocket (I'd love to be able to set the home button for 2 pushes to wake the phone, rather than just 1...that would resolve the issue for me).