• "Mute with gestures" not working

    From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to All on Tue Oct 10 03:50:03 2023
    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
    is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
    over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
    the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
    was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
    2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..

    Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
    need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA
    https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Tue Oct 10 07:17:42 2023
    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
    is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
    over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
    the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
    was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
    2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..

    Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
    need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    The Samsung proximity sensors is both an infrared light-emitting and light-recieving sensor. Infrared light reflected from physical objects
    is used to measure distance between objects and phone. It is way your
    phone's screen turns off when you hold your phone close to your ear to
    save power, and eliminate accidental touches.

    Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
    or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
    surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
    absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.

    Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?

    How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?

    Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
    settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
    the proximity sensor.

    I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
    phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts, alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
    be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
    flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Frank Slootweg@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Tue Oct 10 13:52:41 2023
    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
    is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
    over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
    the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
    was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
    2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..

    Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
    need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    There seems to be a conflict between what the settings says and what
    you want. It doesn't mention 'text messages' (assuming you mean SMS),
    which you do want to mute, and does mention alarms , which you do not
    want to mute.

    Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb',
    either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
    toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
    in case you go to sleep early.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to Frank Slootweg on Tue Oct 10 11:28:25 2023
    On 10 Oct 2023 13:52:41 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:

    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. [but it doesn't
    behave as I wanted and expected]

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    There seems to be a conflict between what the settings says and what
    you want. It doesn't mention 'text messages' (assuming you mean SMS),
    which you do want to mute, and does mention alarms , which you do not
    want to mute.

    Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb',
    either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
    toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
    in case you go to sleep early.

    Thanks, Frank. You're absolutely right. I couldn't believe that
    "calls and alarms" really meant calls and alarms because silencing
    them while allowing text messages to make noise seemed utterly
    useless. And I was stuck in my assumption that what you get by
    putting the phone on a table is do not disturb, as it was on my
    previous phone (Moto e5+), but that was fuzzy thinking on my part.

    Following your lead, I found "do not disturb" (DND) already present
    in the Quick Panel (a/k/a "Quick Settings"). It's not quite as
    convenient as simply putting the phone down upside down, but more
    convenient than navigating the Settings menu at least once every 24
    hours.

    Thanks for setting me straight.

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Tue Oct 10 11:42:17 2023
    On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
    or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
    surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
    absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.

    Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?

    How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?

    Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
    settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
    the proximity sensor.

    Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
    (probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
    cover.

    Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it
    "armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
    "proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.

    I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
    phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts, alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
    be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
    flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

    That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
    myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
    posting.

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Tue Oct 10 15:22:16 2023
    VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:

    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
    or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
    surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
    absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.

    Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?

    How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?

    Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
    settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
    the proximity sensor.

    Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
    (probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
    cover.

    Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it
    "armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
    "proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.

    I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
    phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts, >>> alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
    be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
    flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

    That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
    myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
    posting.

    From my online reading of the Samsung A54, it has the following sensors:

    Accelerometer
    Compass (magnometer)
    Gyroscope
    Fingerprint (optical under display)
    Barometer (USA only)

    See https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a54-12070.php. I don't know
    what "virtual proximity sensing" means. From reading, virtual proximity sensors means there is no physical/hardware proximity sensor. They gyro
    and accelerometer are used to detect when you place the phone near your
    ear. Alas, virtual proximity sensing is unreliable. For example, users complain of the phone trying to unlock, like when bicycling or riding in
    a car, and tries so many times that your phone locks up due to violating
    the maximum number of login attempts.

    The online articles are somewhat unclear if the A54 has a real or
    virtual proximity sensor. The A52 and A53 were virtual. Seems the A54
    is also virtual.

    Also, proximity sensing may only be used to determine when to save
    battery power, like when the phone is near your ear or face-down on a
    table, but may not interfere with making noise for calls, texts, and notifications. Depends on what the phone maker decided to link which
    events or behaviors to their [virtual] proximity sensing.

    In the settings, the word "proximity" may not be used. For example,
    there is a Pocket Mode setting that helps prevent accidental input from
    what would otherwise be detected as touches. The phone would have to
    detect it is in your pocket which means the proximity sensor gets used.

    https://www.samsung.com/in/support/mobile-devices/how-does-the-proximity-sensor-works/

    That shows where is the under-display location of the hardware proximity sensor in some Samsung smartphones near the earpiece. They also mention
    it can detect the angle of the phone, like if it is within so many
    degrees from vertical to know when the phone is near your ear, or laying
    on a table. However, the video talks about a real sensor, not a virtual
    one trying to combine 2 other sensors (gyro and acceleromter). With a
    real sensor, you can place your finger or hand over the location of the under-display sensor to get the phone to turn off the screen. You
    already said you tried putting your hand over the screen (presumably
    where would be the location of the under-display sensor), and that did
    not work, so it looks like you're stuck with Samsung combining 2 sensors
    to make up for not adding a real proximity sensor.

    In the Phone app -> menu -> [call] settings, is there an option to "Turn
    off screen during calls"?

    Samsung notes that screen protectors will interfere with a hardware
    proximity sensor, and recommends peeling them off. Possibly a screen protector designed specifically for the A54 model would have an opening
    in front of the proximity sensor location under the display, but then it looks like the A54 doesn't have a real proximity sensor. I've looked at
    a couple of A54 screen protectors, and there is no hole in the guard
    where would be the under-display sensor's location further evidencing
    there is no real proximity sensor on the A54. Or, screen protector
    makers never leave a hole there hoping they won't interfere with real proximity sensors.

    If you're sleeping at the same hours, what about using the DND (Do Not Disturb) setting? You can configure during which hours the phone
    remains silent. Callers go straight to voicemail. Notifications, like
    for texts, should also be squelched during DND. If you don't want to schedule hours during which DND is active, you can swipe down (once or
    twice) from the top of the screen to see the various options, like
    tapping on a DND icon (mine looks like a hazard symbol that is crossed
    out when not active). You could enable/disable DND from the swipe menu
    on demand.

    For my ancient phone, DND has its own settings on what it will block.

    - Total silence, or priority only (allows alarms & priority alerts).
    - Priorities: App notifications (select which apps that generate
    notifications can make noise), Calls from (Contacts), Repeated calls
    (silence 2nd, and later, calls from same caller within 15 minutes),
    and Messages (Contacts) aka texts.
    - Schedule automatic DND enable. I have mine at 11PM to 7AM every day.
    You can have multiple schedules, like one for weekdays, and another
    for weekends. I just use the same schedule for every day.

    Manual DND is also handy for silencing your phone in the theater, doctor office, class, seminar, meeting, etc. I use it instead of Airplane
    mode, because when I disable Airplane mode the Bluetooth radio doesn't
    come back active (and I want my phone linked to my car). Because my
    menu screen (swipe down) has 2 levels (basic, all), I moved the DND icon before the Airplane icon since I prefer DND over Airplane.

    I just noticed Franks mentioned the DND feature. Using the menu screen
    (swipe down) to tap the DND icon isn't quite as convenient as automatic
    muting when putting the phone onto a table, but it's not that much more
    a nuisance. I was using the DND icon in the menu screen for quite a
    while before I dug into the settings for DND which allows me define
    schedules, like when I'm sleeping. But the manual DND icon is still
    handy when you need the phone to shut up, like in a meeting, theater,
    doctor's office, in a class, etc.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Tue Oct 10 15:18:41 2023
    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

    Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

    In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
    I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.

    All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
    alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
    up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
    settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
    when I get up.

    Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
    or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
    surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
    absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.

    Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?

    How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?

    Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
    settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
    the proximity sensor.

    Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
    (probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
    cover.

    Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it "armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
    "proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.

    I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
    phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts,
    alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
    be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
    flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

    That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
    myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
    posting.

    From my online reading of the Samsung A54, it has the following sensors:

    Accelerometer
    Compass (magnometer)
    Gyroscope
    Fingerprint (optical under display)
    Barometer (USA only)

    See https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a54-12070.php. I don't know
    what "virtual proximity sensing" means. From reading, virtual proximity sensors means there is no physical/hardware proximity sensor. They gyro
    and accelerometer are used to detect when you place the phone near your
    ear. Alas, virtual proximity sensing is unreliable. For example, users complain of the phone trying to unlock, like when bicycling or riding in
    a car, and tries so many times that your phone locks up due to violating
    the maximum number of login attempts.

    The online articles are somewhat unclear if the A54 has a real or
    virtual proximity sensor. The A52 and A53 were virtual. Seems the A54
    is also virtual.

    Also, proximity sensing may only be used to determine when to save
    battery power, like when the phone is near your ear or face-down on a
    table, but may not interfere with making noise for calls, texts, and notifications. Depends on what the phone maker decided to link which
    events or behaviors to their [virtual] proximity sensing.

    In the settings, the word "proximity" may not be used. For example,
    there is a Pocket Mode setting that helps prevent accidental input from
    what would otherwise be detected as touches. The phone would have to
    detect it is in your pocket which means the proximity sensor gets used.

    https://www.samsung.com/in/support/mobile-devices/how-does-the-proximity-sensor-works/

    That shows where is the under-display location of the hardware proximity
    sensor in some Samsung smartphones near the earpiece. They also mention
    it can detect the angle of the phone, like if it is within so many
    degrees from vertical to know when the phone is near your ear, or laying
    on a table. However, the video talks about a real sensor, not a virtual
    one trying to combine 2 other sensors (gyro and acceleromter). With a
    real sensor, you can place your finger or hand over the location of the under-display sensor to get the phone to turn off the screen. You
    already said you tried putting your hand over the screen (presumably
    where would be the location of the under-display sensor), and that did
    not work, so it looks like you're stuck with Samsung combining 2 sensors
    to make up for not adding a real proximity sensor.

    In the Phone app -> menu -> [call] settings, is there an option to "Turn
    off screen during calls"?

    Samsung notes that screen protectors will interfere with a hardware
    proximity sensor, and recommends peeling them off. Possibly a screen
    protector designed specifically for the A54 model would have an opening
    in front of the proximity sensor location under the display, but then it
    looks like the A54 doesn't have a real proximity sensor. I've looked at
    a couple of A54 screen protectors, and there is no hole in the guard
    where would be the under-display sensor's location further evidencing
    there is no real proximity sensor on the A54. Or, screen protector
    makers never leave a hole there hoping they won't interfere with real
    proximity sensors.

    If you're sleeping at the same hours, what about using the DND (Do Not
    Disturb) setting? You can configure during which hours the phone
    remains silent. Callers go straight to voicemail. Notifications, like
    for texts, should also be squelched during DND. If you don't want to
    schedule hours during which DND is active, you can swipe down (once or
    twice) from the top of the screen to see the various options, like
    tapping on a DND icon (mine looks like a hazard symbol that is crossed
    out when not active). You could enable/disable DND from the swipe menu
    on demand.

    For my ancient phone, DND has its own settings on what it will block.

    - Total silence, or priority only (allows alarms & priority alerts).
    - Priorities: App notifications (select which apps that generate
    notifications can make noise), Calls from (Contacts), Repeated calls
    (silence 2nd, and later, calls from same caller within 15 minutes),
    and Messages (Contacts) aka texts.
    - Schedule automatic DND enable. I have mine at 11PM to 7AM every day.
    You can have multiple schedules, like one for weekdays, and another
    for weekends. I just use the same schedule for every day.

    Manual DND is also handy for silencing your phone in the theater, doctor office, class, seminar, meeting, etc. I use it instead of Airplane
    mode, because when I disable Airplane mode the Bluetooth radio doesn't
    come back active (and I want my phone linked to my car). Because my
    menu screen (swipe down) has 2 levels (basic, all), I moved the DND icon
    before the Airplane icon since I prefer DND over Airplane.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Frank Slootweg@21:1/5 to Stan Brown on Wed Oct 11 12:43:10 2023
    Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
    On 10 Oct 2023 13:52:41 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
    [...]

    Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb', either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
    toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
    in case you go to sleep early.

    [...]

    Following your lead, I found "do not disturb" (DND) already present
    in the Quick Panel (a/k/a "Quick Settings"). It's not quite as
    convenient as simply putting the phone down upside down, but more
    convenient than navigating the Settings menu at least once every 24
    hours.

    Just in case you missed it or/and I wasn't clear, you don't have to
    toggle 'Do not disturb' on the 'Quick panel' if you have a more or less
    fixed sleep schedule. If so, you can set a (do not disturb) sleep
    Schedule:

    Settings -> Notifications -> Do not disturb -> Schedule

    There you can set a Schedule start and end time, etc. and then flip
    the adjacent switch to on.

    So there are *two* functions, 'Do not disturb' and 'Schedule', which
    are seperate functions.

    If you are on your set sleep schedule, you don't have to do anything.

    If you're not on your set sleep schedule - for example go to bed
    earlier or want to sleep later -, you can change the schedule or use 'Do
    not disturb' instead of or in addition to 'Schedule'. For 'Do not
    disturb' you can set the 'For how long?' time, so that can easily
    override or one time replace the 'Schedule'.

    Thanks for setting me straight.

    You're welcome!

    BUT I should follow my own advice, because last night I was woken by a
    series of WhatsApp messages/photos from our relatives in Australia (9
    hours ahead of our NL time)! :-) So I have some configuring to do!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to Frank Slootweg on Wed Oct 11 17:41:15 2023
    On 11 Oct 2023 12:43:10 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
    BUT I should follow my own advice, because last night I was woken by a series of WhatsApp messages/photos from our relatives in Australia (9
    hours ahead of our NL time)! :-) So I have some configuring to do!


    I have a lesser version of the same problem. My brother and sister
    are three hours ahead of me, and they love sending out group texts
    early in the morning (for them), which is the middle of the night for
    me. That, and my bank sending alerts around midnight (my time) for
    activity during the previous day.

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stan Brown@21:1/5 to Frank Slootweg on Wed Oct 11 17:42:16 2023
    On 11 Oct 2023 12:43:10 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
    Just in case you missed it or/and I wasn't clear, you don't have to
    toggle 'Do not disturb' on the 'Quick panel' if you have a more or less
    fixed sleep schedule.

    I didn't miss it, but I didn't comment because my sleep schedule is
    very inconsistent from one night to the next.

    For the same reason, I don't program my thermostat but adjust the
    temp as needed when I go to bed and when I get up.

    --
    Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
    Shikata ga nai...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)