ScreenDim 1.01 for reading in darker surroundings

[pruss]

Originally Posted by jschall

I did have one problem, though. The default ''Min.'' value of 0.4% turned my screen completely dark, even in a dark room at night. Luckily I sort of remembered where the slider was, and got it back to 25% without having to reboot. Perhaps the default minimum should be higher, say, 1.2%?

That is why there is a warning when you first start the app that the lowest setting may make the screen too dark to see. :-) In any case, randomly tapping different places on the screen should pretty quickly restore brightness if this happens.

Which setting the screen turns off at depends on the device. I set it to the lowest possible setting (it's an integer scale, 0-255, where 0 turns off the screen, and 1/255 = 0.4%), but you can change it for your comfort to 1.2% using the menu option to adjust the lowest setting.

The default settings are perfect for the Kindle Fire, which probably represents about 80% of my sales.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by pruss

That is why there is a warning when you first start the app that the lowest setting may make the screen too dark to see. :-) In any case, randomly tapping different places on the screen should pretty quickly restore brightness if this happens.

Which setting the screen turns off at depends on the device. I set it to the lowest possible setting (it's an integer scale, 0-255, where 0 turns off the screen, and 1/255 = 0.4%), but you can change it for your comfort to 1.2% using the menu option to adjust the lowest setting.

The default settings are perfect for the Kindle Fire, which probably represents about 80% of my sales.

I have adjusted mine to 1.2% on my Kindle Fire.

Carol

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by jschall

ScreenDim is working well on my unrooted Acer Iconia A100 running Android 3.2.1. Thanks, pruss, for a very useful program. I gave it five stars on the Market.

I did have one problem, though. The default ''Min.'' value of 0.4% turned my screen completely dark, even in a dark room at night. Luckily I sort of remembered where the slider was, and got it back to 25% without having to reboot. Perhaps the default minimum should be higher, say, 1.2%?

As mine will turn off at 7%, why not make it 7%?

Different devices have different cut-off points, and as ScreenDim does warn, I think it's fine. It's a shame that it doesn't really work with my device, because it's a nice program.

[pruss]

Could people do me a favor and test ScreenDim 1.05-SO?

It's a 3-day trial version with a slightly different way of doing the dimming which may be more reliable at overriding other things that may be happening on the device. In particular, it might help with a hard-to-reproduce problem that three users (one of them myself!) have noticed where suddenly the screen brightens up for a short time and then goes back to dim. (Unfortunately, it doesn't help with the problem where the screen brightens up seven seconds before timing out. I spent hours working on that problem, and no luck.)

[pruss]

I just produced ScreenDim 1.05 beta 1.

The link downloads a 10-day trial version (yes, I know, it says 3, because that's what it'll be once it's out of beta).

New stuff:
- Potentially more powerful method for dimming the screen (can override more brightness settings from other sources), equivalent to 1.05-SO.
- You can now name your presets. When you save a preset, you will have a chance to edit its name.

[jschall]

I installed the new trial version last night,

I believe I have experienced the temporary brightening a couple of times. I will try uninstalling/deactivating Widgetsoid 2, it may be conflicting with ScreenDim...

Acer Iconia A100, Honeycomb 3.2.1

Update:

I uninstalled Widgetsoid and re-booted. I started ScreenDim Trial, setting it to 2.4%.

After about 30 minutes, the screen went to ''normal'' brightness for about 5s, then back to 2.4%.

It's a bit annoying, I hope it can be fixed.

[pruss]

I hope it can be fixed.

The problem seems to be that when the OS was short on memory it killed ScreenDim to save memory. And then the OS realized ScreenDim was supposed to still run so it restarted it five seconds later.

Try 1.05 beta4 which tells the OS it's a foreground application that shouldn't be killed unless the OS is really desperate. That should help.

[jschall]

I installed the latest beta, and I have not experienced any temporary flashes after a couple of hours use.

[pruss]

1.05 has been uploaded to Market and Appstore. An extended 10-day trial is available here (it still says "3 days", tho').

[pruss]

Looking at a competing dimmer, I thought people might appreciate a more compact screen layout, so that you can see the underlying application of you launch ScreenDim from, say, the book reader.

You can try the 1.06 trial beta.

To activate the compact display mode, press Menu | Compact. To go back to the full screen mode, press More options | Compact.

Question: Do most users know how to use the menu key, or should I add a "More options" button to the layout in full screen mode, too?

[jschall]

@pruss:

I certainly know how to use the ''Menu'' key in Android apps!

But the link to 1.06 beta is not working...

[pruss]

Originally Posted by jschall

@pruss:

I certainly know how to use the ''Menu'' key in Android apps!

But the link to 1.06 beta is not working...

Better now?

[pruss]

I posted a bit of an update to 1.06.

One thing I am wondering about is if it's clear that you can exit the compact version window by tapping outside it.

[CharlieBird]

pruss, I really like the compact option. The ability to see the underlying application is one of the reasons I keep trying each new version of MoonReader (even tho I always end up reverting to CoolReader). Assume you will incorporate it into the paid version? Nothing happens on either my PE or the Thrive when I tap outside of the compact version (w/either Active or Inactive enabled). No big deal.

I haven't been able to figure out the function of the "Button backlight" though?
d

[pruss]

Originally Posted by CharlieBird

pruss, I really like the compact option. The ability to see the underlying application is one of the reasons I keep trying each new version of MoonReader (even tho I always end up reverting to CoolReader). Assume you will incorporate it into the paid version?

Of course. I would just like another report from a Kindle Fire user before I do that, because the Kindle Fire accounts for 80% of my sales, or so.

Nothing happens on either my PE or the Thrive when I tap outside of the compact version (w/either Active or Inactive enabled). No big deal.

Yeah, I think the tap-outside is a Kindle-specific way of getting out of a dialog. On your devices, you probably need to press the back button.

I haven't been able to figure out the function of the "Button backlight" though?

A lot of phones have glowing BACK, MENU, HOME and SEARCH buttons. The "Button backlights" option toggles those.

I don't know how to tell if a given device has such buttons, and as a result I have the option on every device other than the Kindle (I have it hard-coded to hide the option on the Kindle--again, the Kindle is special as it's most of the sales).