What half dozen quick access icons do you have set on Android 9?

[Arlen Holder]

To learn more from _your_ organizational thoughts and behaviors...
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLQFT6PR/quickaccess01.jpg>

o I ask what your half-dozen quick access icons are, in what order, & why.
<https://fossbytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Android-P-Block-frequently-dismissed-notifications.jpg>

I organize my Android phone as well as I can possibly plan.
o Where that bar only fits a half dozen icons]

So that we can learn from each other, I provide mine, & the why:
1. Airplane
2. GPS
3. Data
4. Wi-Fi
5. Do Not Disturb
6. Screenshot
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLQFT6PR/quickaccess01.jpg>

The why is that the first four are privacy switches I'm constantly
unsetting and setting as needed (where bluetooth was recently kicked off by
the instant-screenshotter sixth icon).

The Do Not Disturb icon is because it's a quick way to tone down the phone
at meetings and in classes or when at a restaurant or other social event.

The screenshot icon is because I take a _lot_ of screenshots, and on my
Moto G7, there's no other way to take an instant snapshot, unfortunately.
o Is there any way to set up 'autosave' for screenshots in Android Pie?
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/Vj67Y3mjr50>

To learn from your organizational thoughts and behaviors...
o I ask what your half-dozen quick access icons are, in what order, & why.
--
Usenet is so much more valuable, and pleasant, when people share ideas.

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 13 Mar 2020 01:45:54 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> The why is that the first four are privacy switches I'm constantly
> unsetting and setting as needed (where bluetooth was recently kicked off by
> the instant-screenshotter sixth icon).

Unfortunately, Android 9 can't shrink icons (like Nova launcher can, for
example), where, if I had my druthers, I'd love to add a couple more:
1. *Airplane Mode (for privacy)
2. GPS off (for privacy)
3. Data off (for privacy)
4. Wi-Fi off (for privacy)
5. Do Not Disturb (which has a setting to allow multiple repeat calls)
6. Screenshot (which I use a lot, but most probably don't use as much)
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLQFT6PR/quickaccess01.jpg>

To that half-dozen, I'd love to be able to add just two more, if possible:
7. Bluetooth off (for privacy)
8. Autorotate on (luckily Android 9 has an on-demand autorotate feature)

If anyone knows of a trick or hack that allows us to shrink the size of
those quicklaunch icons in the top swipedown bar of Android 9 so that we
can load 8 icons in that one top bar, that would be great information!
--
Usenet helps all of us improve our technical skills by sharing with others.

[Joe Beanfish]

On Fri, 13 Mar 2020 01:45:54 +0000, Arlen Holder wrote:
> o I ask what your half-dozen quick access icons are, in what order, &
> why.
> <https://fossbytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Android-P-Block-
frequently-dismissed-notifications.jpg>
>

Left to right:
* Rotation lock - habit, hardly ever unlock it any more
* WiFi - Checking and changing APs reqularly
* Battery save - Frequently away from a charger for extended periods
* Flashlight - Gotta see stuff, I'm a tinkerer and my eyes are old
* Bluetooth - Hardly ever use it, but want it handy when I do
* Blue filter - Least painful if accidentally touched

I'm on Android 10 now. What drives me bonkers is that if you pull the
quick access down to see more than one row, it also spreads them out
to 4 per row so everything shuffles. I'd like to have flashlight always
on the top-right, I use it many times a day, but if I do that for
single line of 6 it ends up in the middle of row 2 when expanded.

What about your bottom bar tho? There I have
* Phone - Because I use it as a phone
* Speed dial wife - duh
* SMS - Use this more than Phone
* Folder with: camera, grocery list, notes, calculator, timer
* Email - Use this more than SMS

[Arlen Holder]

On Fri, 13 Mar 2020 15:10:27 -0000 (UTC), Joe Beanfish wrote:

> Left to right:
> * Rotation lock - habit, hardly ever unlock it any more
> * WiFi - Checking and changing APs reqularly
> * Battery save - Frequently away from a charger for extended periods
> * Flashlight - Gotta see stuff, I'm a tinkerer and my eyes are old
> * Bluetooth - Hardly ever use it, but want it handy when I do
> * Blue filter - Least painful if accidentally touched

Hi Joe Beanfish,
Thanks for adding value to Usenet with your courteous added details.

I like your idea of rotation lock first and foremost, that I just changed
mine accordingly since it's one thing I constantly set & reset a lot:

Before:
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLQFT6PR/quickaccess01.jpg
After:
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yh2HCxn/quickaccess02.jpg>

I understand the need for Wi-Fi also, and Bluetooth, as those things are
constantly being turned off for privacy or to save on power.

It's interesting you use "Battery Save" frequently, as I'm not really even
sure what that does (I'll need to look it up). I generally get all day on a
battery, but I also don't use WiFi, GPS, cellular data, or bluetooth unless
I'm actually using it (which is why it's in the quickaccess icon area).

The "Blue Filter" is completely new to me, so I had to look it up.
o How to activate the blue light filter on Android
<https://www.androidpit.com/night-mode-blue-filter-android>
Interesting feature.

> I'm on Android 10 now. What drives me bonkers is that if you pull the
> quick access down to see more than one row, it also spreads them out
> to 4 per row so everything shuffles.

I agree if that's what happens on Android 10 when you quick swipe down.

I just checked Android 9 with three swipes, and this is what happens:
<https://i.postimg.cc/jq3XmVVB/quickaccess04.jpg>

> I'd like to have flashlight always
> on the top-right, I use it many times a day, but if I do that for
> single line of 6 it ends up in the middle of row 2 when expanded.

I understand the need for quick access to a flashlight (because it's dark
when you need it).

It's also nice to have the flashlight in a known location because, well,
because if you need it, it's gonna be dark so it needs to be in a set
location. What I do for flashlight, luckily, is use the "chop chop" motion
that comes native with my Motorola G7 as a motorola hack to Android 9.

Since you need quick access to the flashlight, I also always make the
flashlight app the _last_ item in the "system" folder which is always also
the _last_ item on the homescreen, on any Android phone I've ever owned, as
shown below:
<https://i.postimg.cc/cL6zXk3P/quickaccess03.jpg>

> What about your bottom bar tho? There I have
> * Phone - Because I use it as a phone
> * Speed dial wife - duh
> * SMS - Use this more than Phone
> * Folder with: camera, grocery list, notes, calculator, timer
> * Email - Use this more than SMS

Do you mean the dock?
<https://i.postimg.cc/4yh2HCxn/quickaccess02.jpg>

I'm using Nova free launcher which can have any number of icons in the dock
(or no dock at all) where I've set my dock to six (actually seven) things:
1. Contacts (plus phone and SMS if I want)
2. SMS
3. Phone
== (folder of other stuff)
4. Dashcam
5. Audiorecorder (Google offline recorder APK port)
6. Camera (Google GCam APK port)

I don't use "speed dial" as you do, but it's a good idea to set it up
(I use SMS "pinned" conversations to make speed-dial phone calls).

I need to figure out better how to use Speed Dial on Android.
<https://www.wikihow.com/Set-Speed-Dial-on-Android>
<https://www.dummies.com/consumer-electronics/smartphones/droid/how-to-speed-dial-on-an-android-phone/>
But I don't use any Google apps, so it would be on my privacy-based phone
app if I did set it up, I guess.

But it's a good idea to have a speed dial which I thank you for suggesting.

Like you, I have a folder in the dock, which does whatever I want.
I don't use Email, but it would be in the dock if I used it a lot.
(I have email in a folder, but I rarely use it.)

I _like_ your suggestions, and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to
suggest them for everyone's benefit.
--
Together we can learn far more than any one of us can by learning alone.

[Arlen Holder]

On Sat, 14 Mar 2020 06:59:05 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> I just checked Android 9 with three swipes, and this is what happens:
> <https://i.postimg.cc/jq3XmVVB/quickaccess04.jpg>

Actually, this morning I realized something significant from Joe's answer:
o Do others concur that these 10 are in almost all our quicklaunch bars?
<https://i.postimg.cc/s2YqXzn7/quickaccess05.jpg>

If we combine the answers to date, then we can tentatively conclude...
o Out of the dozens of possible icons, only these 10 seem often used!
1. Autorotate
2. Location
3. Mobile data
4. Wi-Fi
5. Airplane mode
6. Screenshot (delayed or instant)
7. Do Not Disturb
8. Bluetooth
9. Flashlight
10. Battery Saver

Do others concur that these 10 are in almost all our quicklaunch bars?

Hence, all we'd need, if it existed, is a method for "shrinking" the
quicklaunch icons so that 10 icons would show up on the first swipe.

That's pretty useful information for an Android developer to know.
o Maybe we should propose this to the Android developers?

Do others concur that these 10 are in your first line quick launch?
<https://i.postimg.cc/s2YqXzn7/quickaccess05.jpg>

[Joe Beanfish]

I almost never toggle location or mobile data or airplane mode.
I never use DND since I'm on call 24x7 and have family that might call
in an emergency.

I do screen shot with swipe gesture or the volUp-Power chord.

They'll only make the icons so small and close together for usability.
Too close together and you start hitting the wrong thing.

[Arlen Holder]

On Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:51:55 -0000 (UTC), Joe Beanfish wrote:

> I almost never toggle location or mobile data or airplane mode.

Hi Joe Beanfish,

You seem to care about decent setup, where I must ask a question of you on
that statement, since you didn't mention what the "default" state is.
o Is the default for "location" & "mobile data" on, or off?

> I never use DND since I'm on call 24x7 and have family that might call
> in an emergency.

Hi Joe Beanfish,

Ah. That makes total sense.

So you wouldn't have DoNotDisturb on, where, when I was deciding about
whether to put _both_ DND & AirplaneMode in my six quicklaunch icons, I was
wondering what's the "effective" difference in a business meeting
situation.

Sure, DND allows the calls to come in, they just don't make noise, while
Airplane Mode doesn't allow the call to come in, but there's a ton of
overlap if we consider the intention of DND is to just not do anything that
will cause us to use the phone (which Airplane Mode kind of sort of does
too).

> I do screen shot with swipe gesture or the volUp-Power chord.

I agree that screenshotting is critical to have _multiple_ methods, simply
because no one method suffices, where I recently wrote this tutorial:
o Tutorial to add over a dozen useful tweaks to Android screenshot
capabilities & four methods for screenshotting snapshots
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.photo.digital/myHx83MFV-U>

The four methods (actually five) of screenshotting I added are:
1. voice activated
2. quicklaunch icon
3. homescreen shortcut
4. Homebutton longpress (software)
5. Powerbutton longpress (hardware)

Note: I write a _lot_ of tutorials and I document well my responses such
that a modern basic screenshot capability is important to me to help others
and to learn from others to help myself be more efficient on Android.

> They'll only make the icons so small and close together for usability.
> Too close together and you start hitting the wrong thing.

Understood.
o It's too bad that there are only six.

I did think more about your six going to four and four on Android 10.
o Versus my six going to three and three on Android 9.

I _thank_ you and _agree_ with you that it would be obnoxious that the
"order" is messed with. They should simply divide in half in Android 10, as
they do in Android 9. <https://i.postimg.cc/jq3XmVVB/quickaccess04.jpg>

Personally, I find six quicklaunch icons just a tad too few. :(
<https://i.postimg.cc/s2YqXzn7/quickaccess05.jpg>

Eight might be the best compromise, perhaps, and then, your four and four
Android 10 second swipe would make sense! :)
--
Factual information allows us to make more intelligent adult decisions.

[Joe Beanfish]

On Mon, 16 Mar 2020 19:07:49 +0000, Arlen Holder wrote:

> On Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:51:55 -0000 (UTC), Joe Beanfish wrote:
>
>> I almost never toggle location or mobile data or airplane mode.
>
> Hi Joe Beanfish,
>
> You seem to care about decent setup, where I must ask a question of you on
> that statement, since you didn't mention what the "default" state is.
> o Is the default for "location" & "mobile data" on, or off?
>
>> I never use DND since I'm on call 24x7 and have family that might call
>> in an emergency.
>
> Hi Joe Beanfish,
>
> Ah. That makes total sense.
>
> So you wouldn't have DoNotDisturb on, where, when I was deciding about
> whether to put _both_ DND & AirplaneMode in my six quicklaunch icons, I was
> wondering what's the "effective" difference in a business meeting
> situation.
>
> Sure, DND allows the calls to come in, they just don't make noise, while
> Airplane Mode doesn't allow the call to come in, but there's a ton of
> overlap if we consider the intention of DND is to just not do anything that
> will cause us to use the phone (which Airplane Mode kind of sort of does
> too).

I have location and mobile data on all the time. It's a privacy
sacrifice for safety. Wife and I and kids can find each other
(or our lost phones) at any time.

I just run the volume all the way down to silent when necessary easy-peasy.
I'd also rather know I missed a call and from who than the obliviousness
of airplane mode. I only use airplane mode when I want to try some
app or action while ensuring it can't reach the internet.

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:38:17 -0000 (UTC), Joe Beanfish wrote:

> I have location and mobile data on all the time. It's a privacy
> sacrifice for safety. Wife and I and kids can find each other
> (or our lost phones) at any time.

Hi Joe Beanfish,

Thanks for answering the question where I suspect most people keep the

location and mobile data on all the time.

As you can imagine, I keep mine off all the time, where the only time they
get turned on is when I need them, which, usually, is when I need to do
navigation or send MMS pictures.

I'm not sure what happens when people send me MMS pictures as sometimes I
get them, and sometimes I don't, where I haven't figured out yet how that
happens.

As for "finding" the phone, it only cost $100 for this Moto G7 so I
wouldn't sacrifice my privacy for a hundred bucks.

> I just run the volume all the way down to silent when necessary easy-peasy.

I used to do that also! (It works, for sure.)

However, DoNotDisturb has more settings (e.g., allow calls through that
come in multiple times within a specified time period from the number).

> I'd also rather know I missed a call and from who than the obliviousness
> of airplane mode.

Understood. Airplane mode is a bit Draconian for anything but airplanes.

In further retrospect, I think I'll replace AirplaneMode with DND, which
keeps the phone alive, but silent (with options to allow emergencies
through).

> I only use airplane mode when I want to try some
> app or action while ensuring it can't reach the internet.

Yup. I use Airplane Mode a lot to test things too!

In summary, I agree with you that the shuffling of Android 10 would be
annoying, where I think Google should simply shuffle to half the number of
icons, where if the number of icons is six to a row, then the shuffling
into rows of half that would make sense.

In addition, I'd suggest to Google (are you listening Google?) to make the
quicklaunch area 8 icons, which would then shuffle to rows of 4. The reason
for 8 is that most people, I would think, wouldn't need _more_ than about
10, so 8 is perfect since 6 is, IMHO, too few.
--
Together we can learn far more than any one of us can by doing so alone.

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 14:02:20 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> In addition, I'd suggest to Google (are you listening Google?) to make the
> quicklaunch area 8 icons, which would then shuffle to rows of 4. The reason
> for 8 is that most people, I would think, wouldn't need _more_ than about
> 10, so 8 is perfect since 6 is, IMHO, too few.

BTW, Google could add an option, just like Windows 10 does, to have smaller
quicklaunch icons, and that would more easily allow people to have either 6
big ones or 8 smaller ones.

I wonder if Google heard that suggestion?
--
(Is there an _easy_ way to anonymously suggest Android improvements?)

[123456789]

Joe Beanfish wrote:

> I just run the volume all the way down to silent when necessary

You might consider an app that turns off the sound. One touch for off,
one touch for on. The volume stays set to where it was when you turned
it off. I use one called SoundOff.

> easy-peasy.

My app is easier-peasier... ;)

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:58:13 -0700, 123456789 wrote:

> You might consider an app that turns off the sound. One touch for off,
> one touch for on. The volume stays set to where it was when you turned
> it off. I use one called SoundOff.

o *Sound OFF*, by Jonghwa Jo
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rannsoft.soundoff>

or?

o *SOUND OFF*, by Sound Off
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soundoff>

Others exist but by other names so there's no confusion on them:

o Silent Mode Toggle, by cug apps
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dc7.SilentModeToggle>

o Mute, by MNO Company
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=muter.muter>
--
It's best to provide the unique app name when suggesting apps.

[123456789]

Arlen Holder wrote:
> 123456789 wrote:

>> You might consider an app that turns off the sound. One touch for off,
>> one touch for on. The volume stays set to where it was when you turned
>> it off. I use one called SoundOff.

> o *Sound OFF*, by Jonghwa Jo
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rannsoft.soundoff>
>
> or?
>
> o *SOUND OFF*, by Sound Off
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.soundoff>

I'm using Sound OFF by Jonghwa Jo.

AFTER INSTALLATION the app identifies itself as "SoundOff" on both the
home screen icon text and in the Settings>App list. But in the play
store it's listed as "Sound OFF". Weird. I hadn't noticed that name
discrepancy before...

[Arlen Holder]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 16:33:44 -0700, 123456789 wrote:

> I'm using Sound OFF by Jonghwa Jo.

A nice thing about that app from "Jonghwa Jo" is that it's:
o free
o no ads
o GSF independent

Whereas the similarly named app from "Sound Off" is:
o free
o no ads
o GSF _dependent_

Since we're on the topic, the seemingly similar "cug apps" is:
o free
o no ads
o GSF independent

While the "MNO Company" app is also:
o free
o no ads
o GSF independent

Given only that information, I'd suggest we test the "Sound Off" app by
"Sound Off" _last_, and only use it if the other apps fail for us.
--
As a matter of practice, it may be best to choose GSF independent apps.

[Arlen Holder]

On Wed, 18 Mar 2020 00:03:02 -0000 (UTC), Arlen Holder wrote:

> Given only that information, I'd suggest we test the "Sound Off" app by
> "Sound Off" _last_, and only use it if the other apps fail for us

I installed the three of the free, ad free, gsf independent apps to test:
<https://i.postimg.cc/Dz8kBhD2/mute01.jpg>

I concur that the "Sound OFF" app shows up as a "SoundOff" shortcut, where
we can easily change the name so that's not an issue.

1. A quick test of the "Jonghwa Jo" app is you press the icon.
That's it. You press it, and you see "Sound OFF" or "Sound ON"
I didn't see any options, although I may have missed them.

2. A quick tap on the "cug apps" app "Silent Mode Toggle" popped up
settings with three "Do Not Disturb" options of:
a. (none)
b. Total silence
c. Alarms only <== default

There were other settings such as the
o Toggle order
o Priority mode ringer
o Listen to changes made outside the app
o Do Not Disturb permissions

3. A quick tap on the "MNO Company" app named "Mute" asked first for
permission to modify system settings (which the others didn't ask).

Subsequent taps on the shortcut acted almost exactly as did the
"Jonghwa Jo" app, with "Mute On!" and "Mute Off!" showing up.

In addition though, the "Mute Off!" setting temporarily shows
the Android slider for the alarm and sound settings, which,
at this point, I'm not sure if they're useful, and, anyway,
they disappear quickly so you have to know what you want to set them to.

I didn't bother testing the GSF dependent app because the other three all
seem to be functional enough for our purposes.
--
Usenet allows purposefully helpful adults to share solutions with others.

[Joe Beanfish]

On Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:58:13 -0700, 123456789 wrote:

I also have volume ace with an icon for cycling off-medium-high volume.
Let's see
* unlock phone
* hold physical volume button down
vs.
* unlock phone
* swipe to get to page or notification area with volume icon
* tap icon

2 steps < 3 steps
I win - lol :)

[123456789]

Joe Beanfish wrote:
> 123456789 wrote:
>> Joe Beanfish wrote:

>>> I just run the volume all the way down to silent when necessary

>> You might consider an app that turns off the sound. One touch for off,
>> one touch for on. The volume stays set to where it was when you turned
>> it off. I use one called SoundOff.

>>> easy-peasy.

>> My app is easier-peasier... ;)

> I also have volume ace with an icon for cycling off-medium-high volume.
> Let's see
> * unlock phone
> * hold physical volume button down
> vs.
> * unlock phone
> * swipe to get to page or notification area with volume icon
> * tap icon

My current phone allows me to turn off the sound by simply swiping down
and touching the sound icon. It works from within any app, the Home
Screen, AND the lock screen. So I don't need to use Sound OFF on my
phone. But I used it on past phones and still use it on some of my other
Android devices. A very useful app (when needed) IMO.

> 2 steps < 3 steps
> I win - lol :)

Actually the wife wins. She can turn her phone's sound off with a flick
of a switch (1 step). But it's a (gasp) iPhone... 8-O

[Joe Beanfish]

On Wed, 18 Mar 2020 09:01:10 -0700, 123456789 wrote:

> Joe Beanfish wrote:
>> 123456789 wrote:
>>> Joe Beanfish wrote:
>
>>>> I just run the volume all the way down to silent when necessary
>
>>> You might consider an app that turns off the sound. One touch for off,
>>> one touch for on. The volume stays set to where it was when you turned
>>> it off. I use one called SoundOff.
>
>>>> easy-peasy.
>
>>> My app is easier-peasier... ;)
>
>> I also have volume ace with an icon for cycling off-medium-high volume.
>> Let's see
>> * unlock phone
>> * hold physical volume button down
>> vs.
>> * unlock phone
>> * swipe to get to page or notification area with volume icon
>> * tap icon
>
> My current phone allows me to turn off the sound by simply swiping down
> and touching the sound icon. It works from within any app, the Home
> Screen, AND the lock screen. So I don't need to use Sound OFF on my
> phone. But I used it on past phones and still use it on some of my other
> Android devices. A very useful app (when needed) IMO.

I guess I have the same thing. Still have to wake the screen tho, so
I'd call that 3 steps: wake, swipe, tap

> > 2 steps < 3 steps
> > I win - lol :)
>
> Actually the wife wins. She can turn her phone's sound off with a flick
> of a switch (1 step). But it's a (gasp) iPhone... 8-O

Well then, time to switch to iPhone I guess. lol