Replacing Droid Turbo with Pixel XL. Moto features baked in or available via 3rd party??

[rockdrummersrock]

Hey all,

I'm replacing my Droid Turbo with a Pixel XL and I wondered if anyone was in the same boat and could answer some questions in regards to whether these features are available or now baked into the OS itself.

Always On Display- This is the Google/Moto implementation of the screen responding when you wave your hand over it. It shows time and notifications over a black screen to save battery but also show notifications as they come up.

Camera Twist- Twisting the phone in your wrist launches the camera app. Great for getting quick shots.

Flashlight Chop- Making a "chop" motion with your phone turns your flashlight on, super useful as you can get the desired effect without turning your phone screen on and having to fiddle with it.

Thanks for your help!

 

[mightyfacundo]

Good question. I'm also coming from the Turbo and you named the 3 features that I'm going to miss. I'm gonna load up some apps that claim to do the same things on my old DNA to see if they work.

 

[mightyfacundo]

There's an app called "Shake" by ADL Dev that seems to work pretty well for opening the camera and turning on and off the flashlight.

I'm trying AcDisplay for active notifications. It says it has "wave to wake" but I'm still trying to get it to work. My dna might be the problem though. I'm also going to try Dynamic Notifications.

 

[Ry]

Is the Pixel smart enough to automatically know I'm driving, without needing to be paired to a car, and read me my incoming SMS messages?

 

[mightyfacundo]

Another good question. I can set my Bluetooth Headphones to do it, but I don't know about the Pixel

 

[deesugar]

Some of those gestures like launching the camera are baked into the Pixel as you can see from this video (Skip to 2m40s to get to the gestures):

https://youtu.be/T9-B2AjUoWs?t=2m40s

 

[atakin77]

Dynamic notifications is the closest for active notifications . I used this on my note 4 after moving from the 2013 and 2014 Moto X. It is pretty good, but not as fluid as the Moto, particularly for the wave to wake. I think the Moto phones/ software utilize or have additional sensors on the front of the phone which improve this functionality. I eventually stopped using this app and just use the native Google notifications now on my nexus 6p.

 

[mightyfacundo]

I did get the other app to work, but it's nothing like the Turbo. You have to cover the proximity sensor for a count of 5, and when you move your hand, the notification pops up. I'm gonna try Dynamic Notifications.

 

[ocholemke]

Did you make the switch?
I am thinking of doing the same. Is the pixel XL a better phone the turbo?
Thanks,

 

[zavandiver]

Ambi-tuner https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=com.compass.ambiturner&token=9SQj6s_z replicates the ambient display features pretty well. You can set it to activate when removing from a pocket, with a hand wave, or when picking up.

 

[bam52]

I just switched to Pixel to replace Moto Droid 2 Turbo. I would kill for a solid Moto Display alternative (or hack to put Moto Display on the Pixel) but so far haven't found anything worth writing home about. AmbiTuner is so far the leader of the pack but its "wave to wake" feature is no where near as good/useful/effective as Moto's. Though it is the only app so far that has a moderately useable wave to wake. This is hell, I don't know how I got on without this feature, to be honest. It is seriously one of the best things Moto offered, and I'm really surprised more people aren't begging for it on non-moto phones. Please share any info or ideas on getting this feature onto Pixel!

 

[JSOL1]

Coming from a MotoX, I knew the trade off would be losing Moto Display for getting Security/OS updates in a reasonable time.
However I can't believe how much I miss MD. I've tried to cobble together 3rd party apps, but can't get a reasonable display experience. It doesn't help that Ambient Display on the Pixel is buggy at best and pretty much useless in it's current state, I'm really not happy.
The only other issue for me is the size of the Z, just too big (Pixel owner).
Other than Ambiturn I'm Leary of the Adware apps out there...

 

[hal1]

None of those three exist natively on the pixel. I came from a turbo 2, and almost felt that this was a downgrade in that respect.

Lift to wake should be coming shortly, but I don't know about the ambient display with the breathe feature.

 

[hal1]

Ambi-tuner https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=com.compass.ambiturner&token=drpLB-tN replicates the ambient display features pretty well. You can set it to activate when removing from a pocket, with a hand wave, or when picking up.

Also try Gravity app. I have found the lift to wait, and the wave to activate screen to work a little better. Others prefer Ambi Turner. Ymmv

 

[sulla1965]

Google recently added back raise to wake and added double tap to wake screen to see notifications. I think only those in Canada has seen this upgrade thus far? Moto display is a Motorola feature, if you love it, sticking with a moto might be your best bet.

 

[JSOL1]

Agree. If it weren't for size and lousy release history Moto features would do it. Unfortunately all the 3rd party apps suggested here are either unstable or to intrusive with their Permissions...I do love my Pixel and will just have to get used to lack of the Moto functionality..

 

[DJM626]

As it's been stated two additional features will be coming in next week's update. Double tap and lift to wake. Looking forward to those being added