former 2014 moto x owner has a few questions about ambient display

[ddorbuck]

hey guys, I had a first gen 2013 Motorola Moto x then the followup 2014 Moto x. I loved the active display with wake up screen with a hand swipe over it then the notifications i could dismiss or get more info from the locked display. I skipped the 2015 Moto x due to lack of fingerprint sensor (and lack of timely security updates) but how good is this feature on the 6p? I know the device does not have the sensors to support waving to wake and i read you have to lift the device to show any new notifications. Any users who came from the moto x line love it, hate it? I need to make a trip to my local best buy to see one in person but if anyone has any opinions i would love to hear them.

Thanks. Doug

 

[bespinct]

It's OK, but it doesn't seem as quick to me as the Moto way of doing things. Not disappointing, just different. I was so used to a hand wave to check the time that it took a day or two for me to lose the muscle memory and just pick up the phone.

If I miss anything from my Droid Turbo, it's the sensors. My work phone is a G4, and I also like the tap to enable display better than the motion detection. It's a simple thing, but being enable the display without having to pick up the device is nice while reading and studying.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Mikey D_PhD]

Had a droid turbo, which is similar. Love the 6p. I missed the hand wave to see notifications at first, but have gotten used to it. The 6p is a beast of a phone. Fingerprint sensor is awesome. Camera is very good. I was concerned about battery since the turbo had a 3900mah one, but battery issues have been nonexistent for me. Overall, I'm happy with the switch.

 

[Lawbreaker]

I had every Moto X including this year's version. It takes some getting used to. Active Display on Moto X is a great feature. The move to LCD from AMOLED on the 2015 Moto X is actually one of my reasons for not keeping it. Its just not the same when the whole screen lights up on the new version, even if it is lighting up "black".
The nexus ambient display style is I good substitute, but not quite as good if you ask me. The move I miss is taking the X out of my pocket and seeing the time instantly without doing anything.
But you probably will get used to it quickly. And as someone else said, the rest of the phone is such a beast that it more than makes up for it.

Now the Bluetooth to car connection issues..... that's a more painful, angry story for another thread.

 

[Cant Miss]

Any users who came from the moto x line love it, hate it?

Nexus 6P Advantages:
1.) I like that I can actually dismiss a notification from the lock screen.
2.) Prefer seeing more notification info without having to touch each of the notifications.

Moto X Advantages.
1.) Like not having to actually touch the phone to see them (front sensors).
2.) Phone screen does not need to be locked (just off) to see them.

As for taking your phone out of your pocket and having the notifications shown, taking out the nexus of my pocket invariably results in my finger touching the Imprint scanner so the phones is unlocked and awake. I much prefer this.

 

[cane prevost1]

Ambient display is fairly useless. Can't seem to get it to display when I pick up the phone or nudge it. Moto's was brilliant. Wish they'd release it to the larger android community.

 

[Robisan]

Ambient display is fairly useless. Can't seem to get it to display when I pick up the phone or nudge it. Moto's was brilliant. Wish they'd release it to the larger android community.

Sadly, pretty much this. With ambient display it's virtually impossible to read an entire notification without causing the full screen to light up because the default display message is truncated. Opening the full notification message on the lock screen causes the entire screen to light. Kind of defeats the purpose and in the end it's just as easy to instantly fingerprint unlock and read them normally. Also, getting the ambient display to show notifications is much more hit and miss. Getting it to stay on long enough to read even the truncated notification causes the full screen to light. In short, it's pretty much useless.

I really miss Moto's active display and being able to touch the notification icon to have the notification pop up without the entire screen lighting. I'd pay for a Moto-like display app if someone would develop it.

 

[cbreze]

I'm comparison testing both phones right now and gotta say the moto really gets the win for the ambient display feature. Something I use alot and the 6P's ambient display gets frustrating alot of the time.

 

[jasoraso]

I used to have a Moto X 2014 too - one thing that helps me is having "swipe to wake" on my 6P (using the EX Kernel). This lets me briefly touch the phone to see notifications, especially in the car when the phone is in a mount - without needed to push any buttons or access the fingerprint reader on the back.

 

[ddorbuck]

thanks for all the comments. I appreciate it. i need to go mess with a 6p at bestbuy to see for myself.

thanks again for all the input! doug

 

[dirtyjudo]

It does not work nearly as well as on the 2014 Moto X. I have both.

 

[hallux]

I had (have still but don't use) a 2013 Moto X. I agree that the ambient display isn't as responsive as Moto's Moto Display feature. However, there are some benefits to the way the Nexus handles the lock-screen notifications and I've grown to like that way of doing it. I'm another of the "when I pull it from my pocket my finger naturally touches the fingerprint sensor and the phone unlocks" people. What I miss is being able to just nudge my phone to see the notifications.

The other part I miss is Moto Voice, and the text read-outs from touchless control while driving.