Do IR sensors wake up device if its in your pocket or a bag etc?

[Johnny Fever]

Was at the corporate store and asked that question and the rep said that it wouldnt wake it.
It wasnt until later that it didnt make sense to me. For example, in a completely dark room and the alarm goes off, you can wave over it and silence the alarm. So, why wouldnt it get awoken in a dark pocket while walking or moving around in a bag.

You can awaken the phone if its flat face up and you move it side to side also.

I guess the reason I am even thinking about this is b/c of inappropriate wake ups and battery charge loss. Wonder if the constantly active sensors and repeated awakening is killing the battery life...

 

[Rukbat]

The sensor itself draws so little energy that just disconnecting it would save you about 2 seconds of battery from 100% to 0%. When it wakes the phone, it wakes it for a fraction of a second, not using much battery. If it's in your pocket, facing your body, it senses the same heat constantly, there's no change, so it doesn't wake the phone. If it's in a bag it doesn't sense a fast change in heat (unless you have something warm in the bag or you dropped a lit cigarette into it), so it also doesn't wake the phone. (Slow changes, like the temperature dropping when the sun goes down, don't trigger anything.) Leaving the GPS, Bluetooth or Wifi radios on when you're not using them takes FAR more power.

 

[Johnny Fever]

Thanks.

Is the device supposed to awaken by moving it from side to side when it is face up with nothing in the way except for the ceiling? I tried this a few times with my arm extended way out there...and was able to get the clock to light up.

Not saying that its bad but just wondering...

 

[Jeff Hager]

There are 2 ways that the display will light up (not including new notifications and "breathing"), from what I have experienced.

First is with the IR sensors. I didn't really notice any difference as far as orientation of the phone. Any position that I tried, activated the display whenever I waved my hand over it. I personally don't use this feature because it's a bit to sensitive for my taste. I also noticed that if you cover the proximity sensor, near the camera, it will sense darkness and not turn on. That probably explains why wave to silence alarm feature never worked for me. (I get up before the sun does during the winter.)

Second seems to be by motion. With the approach feature turned off, just moving the phone will get the display to activate. I like this as I rarely have to touch my power button. I just pick it up and it's ready to go. I didn't look very hard, but I didn't see a setting to turn the motion feature on or off. I did notice however, that putting the phone in a vertical position, like inside a pocket or holster, I can shake the phone all I want and the display won't turn on. I also noticed that if you cover the proximity sensor, near the camera, it will sense darkness and not turn on, much like the IR sensors.

So with a combination of a vertical position, a heat signature that doesn't change, and a dark environment, like the previous poster noted, I think you wouldn't have to worry about the phones display activating in a pocket or bag. It's all kinds of smart like that.

 

[mightyfacundo]

If I keep my hand positioned over the phone, very close to the screen, and then move my hand back and forth, the active notification isn't triggered. So I have to think that when it's in my pocket, resting against my leg, the notifications aren't triggered either. But of course, I can't say for sure that that's the case 100% of the time.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[doogald]

In addition to the three ir sensors, the turbo also has a proximity sensor. It's used to sense when you are holding the phone against your face during a phone call, to keep the display off and prevent unwanted touchscreen actions, and to keep the phone display turned off when it's in a pocket, bag, purse, etc.

 

[Danny1Bears3]

Was at the corporate store and asked that question and the rep said that it wouldnt wake it.
It wasnt until later that it didnt make sense to me. For example, in a completely dark room and the alarm goes off, you can wave over it and silence the alarm. So, why wouldnt it get awoken in a dark pocket while walking or moving around in a bag.

You can awaken the phone if its flat face up and you move it side to side also.

I guess the reason I am even thinking about this is b/c of inappropriate wake ups and battery charge loss. Wonder if the constantly active sensors and repeated awakening is killing the battery life...

The IR sensors are disabled when the proximity sensor detects something close up. So when it is in your pocket, the proximity sensor tells the IR sensors to not activate. When it detects there is nothing close by, it tells the IR sensors they can activate and that's when the active display is running.

Turbo Shot

 

[sashazur]

All I can add is that the screen always wakes up (just to show time and notifications) when I take it out of my pocket, or when I get close to the phone - and I haven't had any pocket dialing or seen the screen already on when I take it out, plus the battery is lasting nearly as long as advertised.

So overall whatever the phone is doing is working fine.

 

[mmohn01]

All I can add is that the screen always wakes up (just to show time and notifications) when I take it out of my pocket, or when I get close to the phone - and I haven't had any pocket dialing or seen the screen already on when I take it out, plus the battery is lasting nearly as long as advertised.

So overall whatever the phone is doing is working fine.

You can turn that off in the Moto App. Go into settings and turn off Moto Display.

 

[sashazur]

You can turn that off in the Moto App. Go into settings and turn off Moto Display.

Thanks for the tip - but I like how it works now and wouldn't want to turn it off.