How to make it more like Moto?

[Zorro1]

My wife's ready to swap her Droid Turbo (1) for the Pixel 2 XL...our first move away from a Moto phone in decades. I really like the quick wristflip to kick the camera on, and waving my hand over it while it's laying on a desk or counter to see time and/or notifications.

Are there apps or ways to mimic that in Pixel land?

 

[Danv1369]

You can double press the power button to quickl launch the camera.

As for the display you can use Always on Display which always shows the time or set it to turn on when you lift the phone. I have the Moto X 2014 and ordered my Pixel 2 on Monday. I think i will miss being able to wave my hand to see the screen but I think I will get you used to not having it pretty quick.

 

[JSOL1]

as a former Moto owner I can say I still do miss those features. when I finally moved to the Pixel I searched everywhere for something that would mimic the Moto features. I finally found Ambiturner and it did a great job of approaching Moto like functionality. Sadly the app stopped working with Oreo and the developer went MIA.
However overall there simply is no comparison to how much better the P is to the Motos...

 

[bacchus71]

Only thing I miss is Moto voice talk to me feature for true hands free texting while driving. It’s worked great since the Moto X, and really wished google assistant incorporated it.

 

[dmark44]

Just got the Pixel 2 XL yesterday to replace my Moto X Pure whose battery had severely degraded (shuts off 30 to 45 min off the charger.)

So far I LOVE the Pixel, but I also knew getting over losing some of my favorite Moto features will take some time.

The toughest to get used to is how "dead" the Always on Display feels vs Moto Display. I loved being able to expand a notification just by pressing on the icon, without going to the the lock or home screen.

The camera twist will also be sorely missed, though the 2-press the power button is almost as good. The Pixel camera app fires up lightning fast. The Moto method was just a touch more effortless when pulling the phone from your pocket and not having to find a button.

I will look into a flashlight app mentioned mentioned in another thread, haven't had a chance to yet.

Moto Voice only has a couple of things to miss now. With all the Google Assistant updates the past couple of years including Always Listening, there isn't much change in what I do with voice commands. The biggest is only having 2 launch phrase options.

 

[dmark44]

Oh also, I tried the squeeze the phone and say "Lumos" and "Nox" to operate the flashlight. Pretty slick! Though it was a little slow to figure out Nox. It displayed "Knox" then figured out I was saying the Nox command.

 

[PowrDroid]

Former Droid Turbo user here. I've found pulling the window shade down about an inch to tap on the flashlight icon is my replacement technique for turning on the flashlight. The Pixel 2XL has a broader beam and tends towards the warmer (yellow) frequencies of the light spectrum; the Droid Turbo is a whiter light and a bit brighter, having two LEDs.

 

[plumber75]

I also like the ability to tap the screen anywhere to trigger the shutter of the camera.
I can't find a way to do that with the Pixel2 XL.
Anyone know how?

 

[Morty2264]

Well, it won't necessarily be the same as waving your hand over the device to check notifications, but the Pixel 2 line does have a double tap to wake screen option; which is super convenient.

 

[dmark44]

I also like the ability to tap the screen anywhere to trigger the shutter of the camera.
I can't find a way to do that with the Pixel2 XL.
Anyone know how?

No, and I liked that feature too.

If you can find a 3rd party app to do it, it could be a good alternative for you. Soon 3rd party apps will benefit from the imaging chip that will be activated with the next OS update.

 

[LeoRex]

I also like the ability to tap the screen anywhere to trigger the shutter of the camera.
I can't find a way to do that with the Pixel2 XL.
Anyone know how?

As someone who uses that tap to refine focus and exposure, that would drive me crazy. If I want to take an easy, quick shot, I can just tap either volume button.

 

[dmark44]

I also like the ability to tap the screen anywhere to trigger the shutter of the camera.
I can't find a way to do that with the Pixel2 XL.
Anyone know how?

Camera ZOOM FX has the tap anywhere on screen to snap a photo feature.

 

[Chex313]

Only thing I miss is Moto voice talk to me feature for true hands free texting while driving. It’s worked great since the Moto X, and really wished google assistant incorporated it.

I use my voice to text on my P2 XL what am I missing?? I say hey Google send text to whoever...say my message....say send....

Worked the same way on my N6 and N5

 

[Zorro1]

Hey all, thanks so much for all the help. Glad I'm not the only one, but it does sound like moving to the Pixel will be a good experience. I don't mind the double tap to wake the screen, I use an app that does that on my tablet, so she'll get to like that, I think. Haven't played with Zoom FX for a couple phones, now, that might be worth looking at for some of those cam features we're used to...tho' I seem to recall it kept photos in different folders, making it hard to find what you wanted if you used both cameras.

 

[sixty_four]

I'm a huge fan of Moto's gestures and software touches and did miss them when I went from my Moto X 2013 to a Nexus 6P. However, I really wasn't interested in installing a hodgepodge of third-party kludges to make my 6P behave like my Moto X. I'm still not interested in doing so with my Pixel 2.

Justified or not, I don't put as much faith in the stability, security, speed and power efficiency of these third-party apps as I would in software developed in-house by Google or Motorola/Lenovo.

Ironically, I just picked up a Moto E4 Plus as a backup (awesome phone for $110!) and did install Nova and Another Widget so it looks more like my Pixel 2. I'm such a hypocrite.

 

[edison2012]

I, too, miss the Moto gestures. I've had my 2XL since November and I still find myself waving my hand over my screen to see my notifications. I also miss asking my cell to read my emails from the lock screen. I know there are apps which will do that, but as one user put it, I would prefer Google native Apps. My Pixel just says I can't do that now. Also does not show my Hotmail/Outlook emails when I ask it to read my emails. Only shows my Gmail emails, and doesn't read them. I will adapt.
edison

 

[idiotekniques]

Kin Screen will let you wave your hand over the screen to turn it on, plus it has a bunch of other great feature well beyond that.

DriveMode has great driving features, including reading your texts to you and being able to respond in kind.

 

[lynn02]

Yeah, I have found Kinscreen too. I'm also bought dynamic notifications to get the breathing or pulsing that Moto did. So far, I love my Pixel 2.

 

[Ry]

it's these little enhancements that keep me with Moto.

 

[edison2012]

I know, RY, but I wanted a bigger screen. My 2XL is roughly the same size as my Z Force Droid, but more screen size. I didn't realize how much Moto/Lenovo had forked.
edison