[Greedog]

Hey!
I'm new to Pixel 4XL. Like I just got it today. That said.. any advice is welcome.
Do I need to use Greenify any more?
And Nova Launcher. I've been using it since 2014 and don't really know how to use anything else. I'd like to try and get used to the stock launcher but I'm not liking it so far.
BTW... I came from an LG V20.

[B. Diddy]

Probably the best approach would be to use the phone without Greenify for a little while and see if the battery life is satisfactory for you. If not, you could install Greenify and freeze some of the apps you're used to freezing.

I went back to Pixel Launcher for a while when Android 11 came out, but I always go back to Nova, because of its versatility and icon pack compatibility.

[Greedog]

Thanks. I'll try that.
What about Action Dash and/or AccuBattery?
I've always used SwiftKey as well. Any advice?

[Greedog]

Probably the best approach would be to use the phone without Greenify for a little while and see if the battery life is satisfactory for you. If not, you could install Greenify and freeze some of the apps you're used to freezing.

I went back to Pixel Launcher for a while when Android 11 came out, but I always go back to Nova, because of its versatility and icon pack compatibility.

Is there any tricks to getting Nova to work properly? I can't seem to get the phone to default to Nova.

[B. Diddy]

I've seen some threads about problems with keeping Nova as the default launcher, but that's never happened to me (on a 3 XL). If you go to Settings>Apps>Advanced>Default Apps>Home App, Nova is selected there as default?

AccuBattery can be helpful in terms of troubleshooting if something seems to be draining the battery, or if you want to test the health of your battery (i.e., how many charge cycles it's been through). It can also set it to give you an alarm when the battery has reached a preset level, in case you want to keep the charge level in the 40-80% range -- although this is technically the best way to prolong a battery's life, I find it to be generally unfeasible in real world usage (and the benefit you'd see with that strict limit would probably only be if you plan to keep the phone for longer than 2-3 years).

It's been a long time since I used SwiftKey -- I think Gboard is perfectly fine typing.

[mustang7757]

Thanks. I'll try that.
What about Action Dash and/or AccuBattery?
I've always used SwiftKey as well. Any advice?

I have Nova , but on my pixels I always liked Google launcher, I use Nova on my other andriod phones along with swiftkey or Google gboard. So you can't go wrong with any of them, if you like Google feed to the left on Nova launcher , use Nova Google companion app for that to work.

[bkdodger2]

Nova prime user here forever ..you can definitely run it on Pixel but I've noticed if you are using Google gestures instead of nav buttons on Pixel phones there is slight draw / delay at times when swiping home from a app...at least with my testing ..that said I'd rather run 3rd party than stock launcher ..

Also a nice lightweight launcher which looks same as Pixel launcher with plenty of options ..

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...lawnchair.plah

[Greedog]

Google gestures? Nav buttons? I'm not following...
Help me out here.
Thanks...

[Morty2264]

Welcome to the world of Pixel! Ii will definitely be hard to leave, it is such a great product line!

I, too would recommend giving the Pixel Launcher a try. It ended up being one of my favourite launchers. I loved its look and simplicity.

[B. Diddy]

Google gestures? Nav buttons? I'm not following...
Help me out here.
Thanks...

He's referring to gesture navigation for going Home, Back, etc.: https://support.google.com/pixelphon.../6073614?hl=en

[bkdodger2]

Apologies I didn't clarify ...you are probably using the navigation buttons at the bottom...as stated above you can change in settings to gestures

[Greedog]

Hey! Thanks! I was Not using the three button navigation and was confused on how to get to apps I had opened. Now I know. I can get used to the gestures feature.
Awesome!
Really starting to like this phone.
The forum is a big help.

[Greedog]

I have another question..
What is the glowing at the top of my screen indicating?

[mustang7757]

I have another question..
What is the glowing at the top of my screen indicating?

Glowing?
You can get a screen shot?

[Greedog]

It indicates that "gestures" is either available or has just been activated.
A part of Android since Pie, I believe.
That's what I read anyway.

[mustang7757]

Hmmm..It still be helpful seeing a visual

[B. Diddy]

Are you talking about a notification icon in the status bar at the very top of the screen?

Here's how to post a screenshot, in case you're not sure: http://forums.androidcentral.com/gen...d-central.html

[Greedog]

I think I managed to get a screenshot of it.

Are you talking about a notification icon in the status bar at the very top of the screen?

Here's how to post a screenshot, in case you're not sure: http://forums.androidcentral.com/gen...d-central.html

[B. Diddy]

(I deleted the two other posts you made with the same screenshot.)

That looks like it has to do with the Soli hand gestures: https://support.google.com/pixelphon.../9517454?hl=en

[Greedog]

Thanks!

(I deleted the two other posts you made with the same screenshot.)

That looks like it has to do with the Soli hand gestures: https://support.google.com/pixelphon.../9517454?hl=en

Yes! That's what it is. After some digging I learned some other cool things as well.

[bkdodger2]

Thanks! Yes! That's what it is. After some digging I learned some other cool things as well.

What case are you using for the phone...

[Greedog]

It hasn't arrived yet.

What case are you using for the phone...

ESR Essential Zero Case Compatible with Google Pixel 4 XL, Slim Clear Soft TPU Case Protective Cover [Anti-Scratch][Slim Fit] for The Google Pixel 4 XL, Clear

[bkdodger2]

It hasn't arrived yet. ESR Essential Zero Case Compatible with Google Pixel 4 XL, Slim Clear Soft TPU Case Protective Cover [Anti-Scratch][Slim Fit] for The Google Pixel 4 XL, Clear

Nice... Post up when you get it...

[Rukbat]

Greenify will save some battery, but if the phone isn't rooted, you still have to kill apps by hand. (Greenify will list them for you and make killing them easy. But rooting a Pixel is trivial with Magisk. [Very trivial way of doing it.] And unrooting it leaves no trace. [Not that Google cares - I had to send them a core dump once, to troubleshoot a problem. I did the dump with the phone rooted. The developer just asked me to send him another dump - after I had unrooted - then root again.])

[fwn]

I use Greenify on my unrooted phone and just sharing my latest battery stats via a screen shot.