For devices with no Notification LED is it possible to use flashlight instead?

sixwheeledbeast

Would it be possible to have an option to trigger the flashlight as a subtle notification LED.
Ideally as part of UT but open to other temporary solutions.

sixwheeledbeast

Comparing with flashlight on and off.

Off
/sys/class/led/led:switch_0/brightness = 0
/sys/class/led/led:torch_0/brightness = 0
/sys/class/led/led:torch_3/brightness = 0

On
/sys/class/led/led:switch_0/brightness = 1
/sys/class/led/led:torch_0/brightness = 127
/sys/class/led/led:torch_3/brightness = 127

I'll need to test if changing these will trigger the light, certainly just making switch_0 = 1 doesn't work.
Not sure if this is the correct way to interface with these.

As for monitoring for new messages I'm wondering if dbus-monitor could be used...

ikoz

@sixwheeledbeast On android the screen is used as a notification led. It works better on amoled screen as only a little circle on the top (where the led used to be) is on, and the rest of the screen is off.

sixwheeledbeast

This isn't a feature in Ubuntu Touch yet either is it?
Would there be any burn in concerns using the screen?
I certainly miss having a flicker of a notification led every few seconds for missed calls and messages.
I didn't expect to miss a small feature so much on this device.

ikoz

@sixwheeledbeast

This isn't a feature in Ubuntu Touch yet either is it?

No, it isn't a feature of UT, at least not on any of my devices.

I don't know of that feature is used in android of FP5 either. I have just seen it on another device and thought it is a better idea than using the flashlight.

Would there be any burn in concerns using the screen?

I don't think that it can cause significant burn-in to the screen as it is on very briefly. Also, while using the device that part of the screen is mostly black.

Keneda

@ikoz
That's exactly what I expected to see with amoled smartphone and no led.
And for preventing burning problems, changing the pixels used every flash.

sixwheeledbeast

To progress further with the initial flashlight idea, controlling the flash directly appears to work fine in the following way.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

flashOff() {
	printf '%s' "0" > /sys/class/leds/led:torch_0/brightness
	printf '%s' "0" > /sys/class/leds/led:switch_0/brightness
}

flashOn() { # 2 appears to be the minimum brightness value possible
	printf '%s' "2" > /sys/class/leds/led:torch_0/brightness
	printf '%s' "1" > /sys/class/leds/led:switch_0/brightness
}

So with a loop I can have a nice flashing pattern at the minimum brightness.
Just need to find what to hook into so I can have it only running only while there is a green notifications icon.

As for using the screen, I think the green envelope icon, possibly slowly moving along the top edge of the screen (to minimise any burn in); would be a nice option there.