Screen timeout / sensor frustration

[fshine]

I've read through the deluge of threads that have sprung up since Friday's Droid release. However, I have only seen this issue listed within longer conversations about frustrations. I wouldn't call this a frustration as much as I would a quirkiness of the Moto Droid that I'm hoping some similarly-annoyed person out there has developed an app to overcome this.

The issue is with the screen lock and the auto-dimming on the phone. The first issue with the lock screen is not a device-specific issue as far as I can tell, but it is insanely annoying not to have a lock timeout setting within the OS. I should not have to unlock my phone every single time the screen dims from the timeout setting. Every other phone I've ever owned that has a screen lock does not have this limitation and, if someone were to mention that the iPhone has the same issue, I would point out that they suck.

As for the other issue, and the far worse one, how in the world is the proximity sensor when on a call so damn finicky!? I have read this complaint multiple times on various forums, but no concise list of solutions. The screen goes black when you have the phone to your ear, but when you move it away from your ear, the screen should *consistently* re-light so the user can have access to the keypad, etc.. This is not working at all as I would expect. I did find an app in the marketplace that allows you to set the screen timeouts by application, but if I set it to not timeout on the phone app, the screen will stay lit when I have the phone to my ear, which would defeat the whole purpose.

This seems like a huge bug to have missed in all the testing that occurred before releasing the phone, especially for such a basic feature. I expect customers to go nuts on Verizon for this one (my fiance is far from a technical user and has the Droid and has yelled at me to "fix it" referring to this problem.. uh oh.. I'm in trouble, HELP! )

Thanks,
FBS

 

[c2beatty]

+1 (or since it's two aggrevating issues is it +2)?? Sill love my DROID!

 

[benmackie]

I can't find the APP you were talking about. What's the name of it? Screen timeout by application? I want NO timeout when the music is playing. Thanks in advance.

 

[MotoDroidHelpandInfo]

I've read through the deluge of threads that have sprung up since Friday's Droid release. However, I have only seen this issue listed within longer conversations about frustrations. I wouldn't call this a frustration as much as I would a quirkiness of the Moto Droid that I'm hoping some similarly-annoyed person out there has developed an app to overcome this.

The issue is with the screen lock and the auto-dimming on the phone. The first issue with the lock screen is not a device-specific issue as far as I can tell, but it is insanely annoying not to have a lock timeout setting within the OS. I should not have to unlock my phone every single time the screen dims from the timeout setting. Every other phone I've ever owned that has a screen lock does not have this limitation and, if someone were to mention that the iPhone has the same issue, I would point out that they suck.

As for the other issue, and the far worse one, how in the world is the proximity sensor when on a call so damn finicky!? I have read this complaint multiple times on various forums, but no concise list of solutions. The screen goes black when you have the phone to your ear, but when you move it away from your ear, the screen should *consistently* re-light so the user can have access to the keypad, etc.. This is not working at all as I would expect. I did find an app in the marketplace that allows you to set the screen timeouts by application, but if I set it to not timeout on the phone app, the screen will stay lit when I have the phone to my ear, which would defeat the whole purpose.

This seems like a huge bug to have missed in all the testing that occurred before releasing the phone, especially for such a basic feature. I expect customers to go nuts on Verizon for this one (my fiance is far from a technical user and has the Droid and has yelled at me to "fix it" referring to this problem.. uh oh.. I'm in trouble, HELP! )

Thanks,
FBS

For your first complaint. You could just set the dim to wait a little longer. Or just wait until google responds. For your second complaint, i've had no problems with it. It seems very responsive to me, maybe your a ghost? Or its defective.

 

[AbeFrohman]

Check out the Screen Mode Widget. There are a few posts I made about it already, but if you put it in "Awake Stay" mode, the screen lock slider is no more. You can always put it back on.

 

[benmackie]

Ok, I found one. ScreenOn. It works, but I still want the screen to dim/turn off, but not lock me out of the phone. Any ideas? I want it to work like my old ass iPod. Touch the screen during music mode and come back on. I think it is imperative that the phone timesout since it's a touch screen, but while the music is playing it should be on AND not draining battery life with a lit screen.

 

[phaze3131]

Can you please link me which one you are talking about.

Thanks!

 

[benmackie]

Can you please link me which one you are talking about.

Thanks!

Is this directed at me? I don't know how to link to the Market. Just search for "ScreenOn".

 

[fshine]

I was actually referring to KeepScreen, but I would imagine ScreenOn works much the same way.

I tried the ScreenWidget mentioned in the thread earlier, but it doesn't work - when I put it on "AwakeStay" none of the soft keys or hard keys (other than the lock/power button) result in the screen turning back on. If it is working, my pressing the lock button will lock the phone and it defeats the whole purpose.

I doubt my unit is defective as I have now heard this complaint from three others who purchased the Droid.

Is there an app that will reassign the hardware keys on the device? Namely the camera key (since the lock/power button should really be played with)? If it could be remapped to act like a "Send" key, it would go a long way to toggling the screen and not inadvertently locking it.

 

[gadgetmom88]

The issue is with the screen lock and the auto-dimming on the phone. The first issue with the lock screen is not a device-specific issue as far as I can tell, but it is insanely annoying not to have a lock timeout setting within the OS. I should not have to unlock my phone every single time the screen dims from the timeout setting. Every other phone I've ever owned that has a screen lock does not have this limitation and, if someone were to mention that the iPhone has the same issue, I would point out that they suck.

As for the other issue, and the far worse one, how in the world is the proximity sensor when on a call so damn finicky!? I have read this complaint multiple times on various forums, but no concise list of solutions. The screen goes black when you have the phone to your ear, but when you move it away from your ear, the screen should *consistently* re-light so the user can have access to the keypad, etc.. This is not working at all as I would expect. I did find an app in the marketplace that allows you to set the screen timeouts by application, but if I set it to not timeout on the phone app, the screen will stay lit when I have the phone to my ear, which would defeat the whole purpose.

FBS

I'm frustrated by this as well, why on earth does the screen lock when I'm talking on the phone. This makes one handed operation almost impossible when talking on the phone - very frustrating. I'm also having problems with the screen randomly dimming, not completely, just slightly, enough to be really annoying. Not sure if this has to do with the autobrightness feature, or if it's just a bug. Anyone else having trouble with this?

 

[reckoner]

I agree with this frustration -- when you are on a call and the screen shuts off, you should be able to tap the screen to turn back on. and i don't want to have to download an app for this, this should be a bug fix....

Little consolation -- in addition to the power button, during a call you can wake the screen up with the volume button on the side of phone...

 

[wbbgjr]

I found that the screen dim thing would sometimes not work right if I were holding the phone with my left hand. I believe the left hand is triggering the sensor. I haven't had a problem holding the phone with my right hand.

 

[c2beatty]

Okay, this is what I did this afternoon that seems to help. I went into sound and display (under settings) and change the Brightness so that it does NOT auto brightness,...

Now, this is where it gets interesting. I caught this from a widget I added to one of my side home pages,... for power settings. it allows you to toggle between differnet screen power levels.

Now it sounds like some folks don't quite get the frustration with the proximity sensor,... the deal for me is very annoying, because I join bridges all day long. Meaning, I dial a number, listen for the prompt, enter an access code, listen for a prompt, enter a leader code,... listen for a folks to join,... each time I go to my ear the screen blanks,.. I'll pull the phone away and the screen is dark - it will light for a split second and grow dark again. I press teh power nothing,... wait there it lights,... then goes dark before I can press the screen. No rhyme or reason and can't keep the screen lit long enought to press keys on the screen,...

So back to my second paragraph answer,... when I turn off the auto brightness, the proximity sensor works just fine (goes dark when next to my ear and brightens when I pull it away). The difference is (at least so far with a 1/2 day of heavy usage) it seems to stay lit when I am done and pull away from my ear!! Yippee!! If that keeps up, I have my answer,... for now - don't auto dim / bright.

 

[fshine]

Interesting suggestion regarding the auto screen dimming. I will give that a try along with the shake awake app and see if it solves the problem. I too am on conference calls all day so should know if it works consistently very quickly. Funny that this phone is allegedly the first attempt at wooing business users to android yet it lacks security policy support for exchange and obviously the phone function wasn't tested by heavy business users.

 

[Chillout]

I realize I'm digging up an old thread here but hopefully it might help someone else besides me. When I make phone calls, the screen won't always turn on when I pull it away from my ear, especially on longer calls. I would rather have the screen on the whole time while I'm on the phone so this should do the trick.

I did try Screebl which actually worked great for me, but it absolutely killed my battery, to the point that it was a necessity to stop using it. Hopefully this one does the trick for me.

 

[Lock-N-Load]

I use Screebl, no battery issues at all for me. none. how would it cause battery issue? you forget it is in orientation and stays on? that would be more user error. did you enable stillness timeout so it shuts down if it sense no movement?

 

[Pale_Flyer]

certain features can be exemt from the screen lock, i have not had this issue yet, so i am not concerned. nor have i looked into this issue, but if you dig around in the settings, then you may be able to find a way to exempt the phone "app" from the screen lock out.