Notification Light (LED) Color

[Mr.Craig]

I haven't had success with the paid version. Most of the time my notification light didn't work at all. I ended up uninstalling.

The developer was quick to get back to me and suggested I do a factory reset which was more of a hassle than I was willing to go through to get a working app.

 

[Spey]

Greatly appreciate others experiences with this app (some who have got it working satisfactorily, and others not). My goal is not to bash the app, just to figure out if I have a device related issue, bugs in the software, or user related issues. Obviously, I have found some device related issues (like Lime color does not display correctly, possibly others too ...).

Sherri, appreciate your detailed responses. I would consider this a bug "The "tools/test settings" you see aren't bugs....Just don't work!". When a portion of your software does not work as it was designed, I consider this to be a bug. It has been reported back to me by the Developer that this feature does not work on some devices and they are working on it. I mean no disrespect here, and probably just showing my ignorance related to proper terminology and nomenclature related to app development.

STATUS - App is still not working correctly.

I uninstalled Light Flow Light, restarted the device, re-installed Light Flow Light the other day (as referenced in earlier post) in attempt to reset the device & the app to getting working correctly (my thought, maybe I made some bad selection on first install and after becoming more familiar with the app - including developer feedback - that a re-install might solve my issues). Spent a little time going through all the settings to get stuff setup based on what i'd previously learned (no Lime LED, how/when/how-long for indicators to turn on).

I am finally able to get more than one indicator light color to display, but app still appears to be screwed up (at least not performing to my understanding/expectation).
Example: I send a few emails & a few txt-msgs as tests.
Magenta = SMS Setting (during setup)
Green = Email Setting (during setup)
Results: Green Led flashes 8-1/2 times in a row then Magenta flashes 8-1/2 times in a row.
It is my understanding/expectation that the Green & Magenta LED Indicators should alternate one-flash-each.
The fact the color is flashing 8.5x per color, then switching color (when there are three of each msg. makes absolutely not sense to me).

Appreciate and constructive criticisms and/or comments.
thanks,

 

[Quick]

I am finally able to get more than one indicator light color to display, but app still appears to be screwed up (at least not performing to my understanding/expectation).
Example: I send a few emails & a few txt-msgs as tests.
Magenta = SMS Setting (during setup)
Green = Email Setting (during setup)
Results: Green Led flashes 8-1/2 times in a row then Magenta flashes 8-1/2 times in a row.
It is my understanding/expectation that the Green & Magenta LED Indicators should alternate one-flash-each.
The fact the color is flashing 8.5x per color, then switching color (when there are three of each msg. makes absolutely not sense to me).

I think you need the full version rather than the lite to get it to cycle faster?
Does the number if emails/sms matter? Is it just notification that you have one or more.

[I'm just following along 'cause I'm considering looking for an app like this. Looked at a couple a long time ago and never got back to it]

Successive notification colors, where the app cycles through all outstanding notification colors.
Lite Version - Change every 20 seconds
Full Version - Change up to every 2.5 seconds

 

[Spey]

I think you need the full version rather than the lite to get it to cycle faster?
Does the number if emails/sms matter? Is it just notification that you have one or more.

[I'm just following along 'cause I'm considering looking for an app like this. Looked at a couple a long time ago and never got back to it]

Full vs. Lite "cycle faster" (this is not really what I'm talking about here (see below), but in the Lite Version the Flash Cycle is not grayed out so would assume this is controllable).
No, personally I do not care about how many emails/sms with regard to the notification indicator. All I care/expect is that if I have one or more emails that I get a notification light + if I get one or more txt-msg that I get a notification light.
What is going on is Example: I get an email + txt-msg.
What happens is Green flashes 8.5 times (slowly) then Magenta Flashes 8.5 times.
So, I need to sit there staring at the indicator LED for 8.5 flashes (like 10 full seconds) to see if it changes color, then maybe next color (another 10 full seconds, etc., etc.

Evidently I must not have explained this well enough above, so it goes likes this I send a test email, then a test txt:
(Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, GreMagenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, MagGre, Green, Green, etc., etc.)
I would expect an app like this to directly alternate the LED colors based on the various notification in cue (Green, Magenta, Green, Magenta, etc., etc.).
Say you throw in a Social Network msg (that's user selected to be Blue): Green, Magenta, Blue, Green, Magenta, Blue, etc.

Yes being able to control the cycle rate would be a nifty carrot, but I'm just talking about simple basics of notification indicators.

The fact that the "tools/test settings" does not work (and by developers description should alternate all user programmed colors), seems to indicate there are problems related to "alternating notification colors".

This morning I had a flashing Magenta indicator after clearing all email, msg's, notifications. The only thing going on with the phone was the battery was below 30% (because I did not charge last night). Interestingly, in "Notification" I have Dark-Blue default selected for Low Battery. Go Figure - seems like bugs everywhere.

I am still interested in getting to the bottom of the issues here, and if can figure out what the heck's going on will bring the solutions to the OP#1 in this thread for others to learn from.

I have email exchange ongoing with developer, will post if get things working.
Appreciate any/all constructive comments.

Regards,

 

[sherri]

Daughter thinks I'm nuts for staring at led, but here goes.....She sent me a text. Flashes magenta. Called myself. Flashes red. Alternates M-R-M-R...

Sent me an email. Now M-R-O-M-R-O. New text comes in. M-M-R-O-M-M-O. (So far, as hoped and expected....)

Issue comes when same color us used for different notification. I also use red for low battery. So....my sequence ended up as: RRMMOCC(cyan as a gmail came in)RRMOOCCRRMMOOCCR....

App works well for me, as it lets me know what notifications to attend to. Colors switch as notifications come in....

Again, my phone model is different, but I would think app should work similarly....

Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Quick]

What is going on is Example: I get an email + txt-msg.
What happens is Green flashes 8.5 times (slowly) then Magenta Flashes 8.5 times.
So, I need to sit there staring at the indicator LED for 8.5 flashes (like 10 full seconds) to see if it changes color, then maybe next color (another 10 full seconds, etc., etc.

Evidently I must not have explained this well enough above, so it goes likes this I send a test email, then a test txt:
(Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, Green, GreMagenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, Magenta, MagGre, Green, Green, etc., etc.)
I would expect an app like this to directly alternate the LED colors based on the various notification in cue (Green, Magenta, Green, Magenta, etc., etc.).
Say you throw in a Social Network msg (that's user selected to be Blue): Green, Magenta, Blue, Green, Magenta, Blue, etc.

No. I understood you the first time. You have misinterpreted "cycle" in the reply.

Cycling through successive colors means changing colors.
Cycling is not referring to the led going on and off.
In your example above you are expecting it to cycle through Green, Magenta,Green, Magenta, ... It is doing that. And it is cycling to the next color approximately every 10 seconds (or whatever it is for the lite version) -- if there is more than one color to be notified then a color change takes place approximately every 10 seconds. It flashes one color for 10 seconds, then flashes the next color for 10 seconds, etc. It is working as advertised. If you get the full version then you can configure for a color change to occur approximately every 2.5 seconds (about 1 slow on/off).

Better?

 

[Spey]

Quick,

Thanks for your follow up.

You indicate the "full version" works correctly. Please confirm you have personal experience running Light Flow on Razr M and it works correctly? I am interested in "first hand experiences". Please don't read this as I'm being an ass, it's just that it seems there are a lot of "knowledgeable" folks out there who have no first hand experience (they read something works, it's in print - therefore it is ...).

For me (with respect for what I was expecting) "cycle" meant alternate. Your explanation is CORRECT - basically means alternate (like I was expecting), however, the confusion comes from the "cycle" happening on a time based value instead of a instance based.

Again for me, from a practical application point of view, seems ridiculous to have an indicator light flash same color multiple times (over a time-based period) before switching. I could understand a LED staying on for a time based period before switching. I would like to be able to glance at my phone, see an indicator light is on, watch for a second and see if second color flashes. To have to sit and count the flashes to know if it is just cycling the same color ... seems to be what would need to be done by your example. Again please let me know your first hand experiences and configuration (possibly your ideas related to how the app should run are better than my expectations).

IMHO, the provision should allow the LED Flash indicators to alternate one-flash per indication alternating color each flash for various message types that are in cue.

I have run the Lite version (multiple installs) plus 2 different Beta versions so far without satisfactory results. Currently with both the Beta versions I do not get any indicator LED to light for email (not gMail, but email). Interestingly, on the Lite version I was getting email notifications (set to Green in my examples in earlier posts, but the Lime was not working - Lime confirmed not to work in the Lite version running on the Razr M).

Again I appreciate any/all constructive comments.

Regards,

 

[Quick]

I have not confirmed it on a Razr M. I was just pointing out that the behavior you described is the expected/correct documented behavior for the lite version. And that the behavior you want (or very close to it) is claimed for the full version. With the lite version you have verified that the app is able to display the colors you have tried and that the app is able to change the colors in response to events. Seems very likely the full app will be able to decrease the cycle time as documented. And highly unlikely that capability would he platform dependent (changing from one color to another in less time).

Don"t you get 14 minutes or something to try and return? If so,

Backup your settings from the lite version.
Uninstall the lite version.
Buy and install the full version.
Restore your backed up settings.
Change or add configuration for the full version (like cycle time).
Get a return it if it doesn't meet your expectations.

 

[Spey]

RE: Light Flow.apk (NOT stock Notification Light (LED) Color)

Quick,
As I suspected, no first hand experience with this app running on the device we are discussing (Light Flow, and/or Light Flow Lite running on Razr M). Your last post leads me to believe that you have first-hand experience running Light Flow on a different device (what device, what version of the app, and your experiences positive/negative with regard to proper functionality)?

If you have any experience at all with Light Flow, I find it hard to believe that you would think a user could download this app, install it, and be able to fully test even 10% of the setting and performance of this app (for proper functionality and or user acceptable features) and post and receive a credit from the developer within 14-minutes. I have been working with this software for over a week now and have barely tapped into the user program-ability of the app. It's an extremely comprehensive software that goes a ways beyond just Notification LED Indicators. I truly hope to have a fully functional version of this software running on my Razr M's through forum participation & am willing to roll up my sleeves and work with the developer directly (then hopefully be able to share back to this forum positive results).

Quick, please don't get me wrong - I appreciate your advice's & comments, however I think it might be appropriate that when you give advice (in a forum thread specific to a particular device - Razr M in this case) that you state something that indicates your experiences and advice are with a different device, different operating system version, etc ... otherwise, at least in my case, I assume we are talking about the same device, same platform. Programming for each different device, and operating system version many times results different conditions & results. In this case it really seems to me that we are talking about these small differences and how they effect the performance of this particular app.

Discussions with the developer indicate there is not currently a "full" version, at least not for the Razr M, that has been released to date (user experiences running current downloads may differ, as I have experienced and as others have also experienced). I have already been through two "beta" versions that the developer has sent to me (both would not successfully perform as per my previous posts). Data logging for each sent back to the developer. Yesterday I rec'vd a 3rd Beta version to try, and am testing as I write this reply.

Please, no hard feelings - & I really do appreciate any/all constructive comments.

Regards,

UPDATE-1:
First trial run of 3rd beta version and notification indicator colors alternate on a 3-second interval (SMS alt. Email - Magenta alt. Green). Looks like may have some data that actually indicates progress. Will be sending data-log to developer. Will look to user setting to reduce the cycle-time to see if can get to one-flash per color.

UPDATE-2:
Still running 3rd Beta version as referenced in Update-1 above.
I have got alternating LED color working, and have tested various settings related to cycle-timing as follows:
Light Flow/Settings/Notification Method Charge & Battery (two different settings)
Slow = 4-3/4 flash same color then change (Green, Green, Green, Green, Gre-Magenta)
Med = 2-1/2 flash same color then change (Green, Green, Gre-Magenta)
Fast = 1+ flash same color then change (Green, Magenta, Gre-Magenta with a double-color flash every third cycle)
vFast = 1 flash same color then change (Green, Magenta, Green, Magenta, Green, Magenta with an occasional partial-color flash every 5th to 8th cycle)
It appears that vFast (Very Fast) is flashing the LED at about 2x the speed (I would guess this would have negative effect on battery life).
Fast appears to flash the LED at the same rate as stock (so guess no negative regarding battery life & will most likely be my setting of choice).

I have forwarded this info to developer, and hope to hear back on status of Beta transition to full version for Razr M.
Look forward to checking out numerous additional features of the app. now that I have basic LED color change dealt with.

 

[Quick]

I did say that I only looked at this briefly some time ago and then never got back to it. I only commented on the behavior you described as functioning incorrectly was in fact as described for the lite version. And what you were expecting was what was described for the full version. And since you had verified everything else with that function except changing the color cycle speed, that was extremely likely to be platform agnostic [Just a feeling that is likely based on over 20 years of embedded systems programming, mainly network signaling and control protocols including a number of device drivers (not the Razr M)]. And it seems you have just verified that with the beta version... which I assume includes the full version features? No offense taken.

My assumption was that your main issue was with the color cycling behavior and you had enough configured with the lite version to test enough functionality to make the decision to risk the $1.49 for the full version. You can save your settings in the lite version and restore them in the full version [disclaimer: I have NOT tried this on a Razr M. I only read this in the product documentation]. So... given that I thought your main concern was with the color cycle speed, 14 minutes should be ample time to install the full version, restore your saved settings, change just the speed, hit send on a prepared email and text msg, and return it if it failed. [See disclaimer above]. No offense taken.

I now gather you intend to do a comprehensive test of all or most of the full version features before making the decision to buy. I commend that and I will be subscribed to watch for your results because, as I mentioned, I have a passing interest in an app such as this for my Droid 4. I will buy the app regardless of the cross platform risk. It will be your tour through the features and configuration that will more than offset that risk.

Thank you for your efforts in this.

 

[Spey]

Quick - please check your PM's - sent unrelated question/request

RE: "since you had verified everything else with that function except changing the color cycle speed, that was extremely likely to be platform agnostic."
"Platform agnostic" ... I had to look that one up - No I have/had not verified everything else, and in no way would I assume things that control device hardware behavior to be cross platform identical from one device to the next and/or rom one version of software to another (maybe just my ignorance or lack of knowledge surfacing again). As I mentioned, if the software would not provide at minimum the capability to cycle notification LED colors (one color directly after the other), then I had no interest in pursuing the software any further.

I was unaware of the setting saving features, and the user ability to transfer from the Lite Version to a full version without loosing any settings (thank you again for this knowledge).

Ya a buck-forty-nine is not a huge investment (truth is I did not even pay attention to the cost of the Full Version). Typically, I will run a "lite" version of an app for at least a few days working through the various portions of the software to evaluate the product. The concern is never really about how much money for the app, it's more a matter of do I really want this app or is it just junk that I will not really use, or an app that after a few days or weeks I find creates conflict with something else I am running.

I do not know about my doing "comprehensive test of all or most of the full version features before making the decision to buy". There are a few things that I intend to investigate in this app like how many and what colors are supported between the app and the specific device (user programmable that will actually display on the Razr M), and the sound controls - in order of priority from what I've seen in this app so far. Reality is the default Motorola LED notification colors that seem to work without a complex app in the background may possibly be plenty (Green, Blue, Red, White, etc. & I really don't feel that I need to differentiate between multiple social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. where a social msg came from). Additionally, with the only version of the app that has met the basic requirements I had for the app (alternating LED colors) being a Beta (which is in reality an older version of the software than the current release) I'm kinda hard pressed to be able to even buy a paid version for my device ... so once again kinda back to it's not about the $1.49 in my mind at least, it's about do I want to run this software, or run the factory options, or maybe alternate app to provide simple LED control settings. The true goal for me would be user access to change registry settings as I have done on WinMo phones for years (I just do not yet have the knowledge base related to the Android OS to make these adjustments yet, so kinda falling short-term into the app market solutions). Still an Android Noob ...

Thank you again for your perspectives,

 

[hooman67]

Notification light on Yahoo Messenger

Hopefully somebody more historically vested in Motorola devices can chime in here (it's been since pre-Android that I owned a Moto-Device). Android use has been limited to Windows phone(s) dual booting to Android, plus work I've done to root/load Android on wife and daughters Nook-En-Droids.

Razr M was my jump-in point for committing to Android on a daily basis to handle all my MS-Outlook and MS-Office requirements on a phone.

So, I've been seeing different colored LED light colors emitting from the upper left-hand screen (left of the silver Motorola Badge on front side, and left of what I believe to be the light sensor). I've asked others to look at LED color (including Verizon reps) and they say it's just my eyes, the light is green either on/off. I see Green normally, but sometime looks Blue, even though others say it's green ...?

My guess so far is there are multiple different color notifications (maybe more based on device setup ...?):
LED On = New Notification
Green = Email, Calls, Txt's
Blue = Facebook & maybe various other "Social Network Msg's (Facebook, TwiDroid, Google+, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.)
Red = Low Battery (thanks calbrs04 - forgot that one)
White = While charging, indicates not enough power to turn on.

I would appreciate and additions and/or corrections.

Thanks,

PS: as additional LED colors and/or notification indicators are posted, I will update this OP#1 (along with credit to appropriate member) as a way of consolidating the related info into one location for future viewers.

Mine were flashing purple for Yahoo! messenger IM.

iNtresting,I love it!