topic Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ??? in Get Support

LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

mobileguy — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:00:00 GMT

Hi,

Does anyone here have the Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL phones and are using an independent app to get an LED notication on their phone? Really miss this feature when I had the Nexus 4 and looking for alternatives to try and get something similar on the new Pixels. I tried NotifyBuddy which is not too bad but always looking for suggestions.

Thanks.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

srlawren — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 21:07:32 GMT

@mobileguy wrote:
Hi,

Does anyone here have the Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL phones and are using an independent app to get an LED notication on their phone? Really miss this feature when I had the Nexus 4 and looking for alternatives to try and get something similar on the new Pixels. I tried NotifyBuddy which is not too bad but always looking for suggestions.

Thanks.

@mobileguy I tried a few when moving from my old OnePlus 5T (with notificaiton LED) to OnePlus 7 (without), but none worked reliably for me. One (I forget which one now) came really close except it delayed the lock screen every time I turned on the screen, which was a non-starter for me. Eventually I just got used to not having one.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

sheytoon — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 11:42:04 GMT

I don't think Pixel 3a has a notification LED.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

mobileguy — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 16:12:39 GMT

@sheytoon , yes, that is correct. There is no LED notification bulb on the Pixel 3a. However, there are independent apps that can simulate the LED notification (ex: NotifyBuddy). I tried it and it's OK but just wanting to see if there are any others that users here have tried.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

fujiyama — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 22:44:45 GMT

I saw these mentioned on other forums but I've not used them myself. Maybe give them a try?

Pixel Pulse:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.compass.pixelpulse

Always on Edge - Egde Lighting:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.used.aoe

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

mobileguy — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 03:26:36 GMT

@fujiyama , thanks for the suggestions. I tried both of them. AOD appears like it's developed more for the Samsung Galaxy series of phones and I couldn't get it working on the Pixel 3a. Pixel Pulse worked, but only sporadically for me. Of the three, my preference right now still leans towards NotifyBuddy.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

srlawren — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 16:44:07 GMT

@mobileguy wrote:
@fujiyama , thanks for the suggestions. I tried both of them. AOD appears like it's developed more for the Samsung Galaxy series of phones and I couldn't get it working on the Pixel 3a. Pixel Pulse worked, but only sporadically for me. Of the three, my preference right now still leans towards NotifyBuddy.

@mobileguy I never tried the edge lighting apps as yeah they are aimed at Samsungs. NotifyBuddy was close for me too except for the issue with the lock screen. I'm not sure how it works on your Pixel but my OnePlus device (7, and I still use the older 5T for a few things), I can tap the power button (or double-tap the screen) to wake the screen, and it lights up immediately, and in less than a second (provided enough ambient light) it recognizes my face and lets me right in. With NotifyBuddy, there was a noticeable delay even lighting up the screen, I think it was 2-3 seconds if I remember. This also affects fingerprint unlocking, which is normally also lightning fast on both devices. For me, this was a non-starter as I unlock my phone A LOT on a typical day. Still searching!

Pixel Pulse was close too, trying to remember the issue. There was definitely something about it that annoyed me enough to make it unusable for me, but I forget what now.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

mobileguy — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 17:59:25 GMT

@mobileguy I never tried the edge lighting apps as yeah they are aimed at Samsungs. NotifyBuddy was close for me too except for the issue with the lock screen. I'm not sure how it works on your Pixel but my OnePlus device (7, and I still use the older 5T for a few things), I can tap the power button (or double-tap the screen) to wake the screen, and it lights up immediately, and in less than a second (provided enough ambient light) it recognizes my face and lets me right in. With NotifyBuddy, there was a noticeable delay even lighting up the screen, I think it was 2-3 seconds if I remember. This also affects fingerprint unlocking, which is normally also lightning fast on both devices. For me, this was a non-starter as I unlock my phone A LOT on a typical day. Still searching!

Pixel Pulse was close too, trying to remember the issue. There was definitely something about it that annoyed me enough to make it unusable for me, but I forget what now.

@srlawren Yes, NotifyBuddy does have a lag but not when unlocking the screen. The lag for me is when the light flashes on and off. I even changed the setting to 1 second but it still seems to be 3 seconds between flashes. The Pixel 3a doesn't have an in-screen fingerprint reader so that's not a consideration for me. I will play a bit more with Pixel Pulse to see if I can get it working more consistently. In the meantime, I decided not to have anything installed and will check for notifications by picking up the phone or double-tapping. Thanks.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

pmmobile — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 03:53:06 GMT

@mobileguy I know a solution has already been marked. I'm not sure if you've tried already, but your phone may have an always-on display function that displays the time, missed calls/texts if this suits your needs.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

mobileguy — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 18:30:37 GMT

@pmmobile wrote:
@mobileguy I know a solution has already been marked. I'm not sure if you've tried already, but your phone may have an always-on display function that displays the time, missed calls/texts if this suits your needs.

@pmmobile , yes, I tried the AOD function and it works well. My concern is the battery being zapped and the possiblity of burn-in on the screen.

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

pmmobile — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 03:08:42 GMT

@mobileguy If it's an OLED screen it will only light up the parts that are not black which is very good on battery; however, you're it will still consume lit bits of battery and it is still using your screen unnecessarily even if it move around versus a led notification light

Re: LED notification for Pixel 3a or Pixel 3a XL ???

srlawren — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:22:15 GMT

@pmmobile wrote:
@mobileguy If it's an OLED screen it will only light up the parts that are not black which is very good on battery; however, you're it will still consume lit bits of battery and it is still using your screen unnecessarily even if it move around versus a led notification light

@pmmobile while true, there's also the possibility of inefficiently written software. This is compounded becasue in order to use apps like this consistently, you have to tell the OS not to optimize their battery usage. I'm not saying any particular ones suffer from bad coding, but it's at least a possibility.