Nexus 4 Owners Thread - apps, tips & tricks!

jester77

I'll start this rolling, a separate thread for owners to share tips, tricks, issues and experiences that they are having.

jester77

How are people finding battery life?

I've noticed that when I'm on wi-fi for most of the day and in a very good reception area, then I can get 2 days of moderate use out of it.

Once I am out of wi-fi range and moving around in average mobile reception areas then it can struggle to just get 1 day of moderate usage.

lord lucan

I got my 8GB N4 just over 2 weeks ago. The first week the battery life was atrocious,often barely getting 10 hours out of it with some texting,moderate internet browsing and Google Now/Gmail etc. all syncing.

Now it's a lot better,seems like the battery needed conditioning and a good few charge cycles to show its true potential. Strangely Android OS is often the biggest battery hog above the screen. There's some discussion over on XDA about wakelocks keeping the phone from going into a proper deep sleep.

Overall i love the phone. Feels great in the hand and looks the business too. Having being running HTC's for the last 3 years it takes a bit of getting used to having a non-Sense ROM. I finally jumped from HTC because of their ridiculous wait times in implementing new updates. It's great knowing that when the next iteration of Android is released or if there are some software glitches or bugs in the N4 that Google will push out an update that i'll get straight away.:)

wayne040576

I was planning to buy one of these but after seeing the review on the phones show, I think I'll hold onto my Galaxy nexus for now. He's usually fairly spot on with the reviews.
The fact the screen on the Galaxy nexus still looks better is a bit of a turn off.

harney

Anybody else get sim errors asking you to reinsert the sim and reboot? I got it about 1 week after I got the phone. After resetting it all is right with the world again.

jester77

I haven't experienced that but the USB cable I got seems to be dodgy. I had a few issues where the phone would charge to 80% and then would start cycling though charging/not-charging. Changing the cable sorted that out.

Getting back to the battery, it seems that once you are in a weak mobile signal the phone just eats the battery. I was out Friday evening in a place with poor signal. My phone ended up dying before I got home, even though it had plenty of juice when I went out. That's the first time I've had a phone run out of battery on me in years.

lafors

harney wrote: »

Anybody else get sim errors asking you to reinsert the sim and reboot? I got it about 1 week after I got the phone. After resetting it all is right with the world again.

Nope, no problem for me. Don't think I've seen it mentioned on XDA either...but XDA's first page changes so often it'd be easy to miss it.

jester77 wrote: »

I haven't experienced that but the USB cable I got seems to be dodgy. I had a few issues where the phone would charge to 80% and then would start cycling though charging/not-charging. Changing the cable sorted that out.

Getting back to the battery, it seems that once you are in a weak mobile signal the phone just eats the battery. I was out Friday evening in a place with poor signal. My phone ended up dying before I got home, even though it had plenty of juice when I went out. That's the first time I've had a phone run out of battery on me in years.

I actually ran down to about 8% this afternoon. Turns out it was Copilot live eating it. I was testing it for use in the US next month and I closed it but it was still active in the background. It only stopped it when I swiped it away in the multitask menu.

I've just taken the bumper off there, the phone is just too sexy to have a bumper on it. It felt like any other phone with it on but its amazing without it.
I'll keep it for when I'm travelling for when it might get knocked about but its staying naked the rest of the time

jester77

lafors wrote: »

I've just taken the bumper off there, the phone is just too sexy to have a bumper on it. It felt like any other phone with it on but its amazing without it.
I'll keep it for when I'm travelling for when it might get knocked about but its staying naked the rest of the time

I didn't bother with the bumper. I got the iphone 4 on release day and they gave out bumpers with it shortly after. I used it for a few days before getting rid of it. The iphone is still in perfect condition even though I've never covered it. The nexus 4 is made of similar materials so I will leave it as it is. IMO, it's already a bit too big without adding more bulk to it.

lord lucan

The LED notifications can a be a bit hit and miss,i'd recommend this free app that lets you customise them.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlite&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5yYWdlY29uc3VsdGluZy5hbmRyb2lkLmxpZ2h0Zmxvd2xpdGUiXQ..

youcancallmeal

lord lucan wrote: »

The LED notifications can a be a bit hit and miss,i'd recommend this free app that lets you customise them.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflowlite&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5yYWdlY29uc3VsdGluZy5hbmRyb2lkLmxpZ2h0Zmxvd2xpdGUiXQ..

Does the LED on the nexus 4 flash or is it always on? Also what colours can you get from it?

jester77

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Does the LED on the nexus 4 flash or is it always on? Also what colours can you get from it?

With that app you can set it to always on or set it blink at whatever interval you want. It's a great app, you have access to the full spectrum of colours for the LED.

It's well worth paying for it, the developer is a really nice guy. I've contacted him recently regarding some features I would like to see added and he got back to me within 10 mins and said he would add these features in the next version, should be out next week.

mac09

Does anyone have any insight into when the wireless orb charger will be available?

mac09

Any recommendations for a screen protector from those who already have the phone?

harney

I just ordered 10 nfc tags for use with the phone. I was thinking of using 1 of the tags to enable my xbmc remote. on a side note both my nexus 4 my nexus 7 are playing
fantastically well with my raspberry pi.

S.M.B.

First a few basic question as I'm jumping from Froyo to Jellybean.

Is there any way to modify the dialler so you can use the numerical pad to search contacts?

Has anyone looked at rooting the device? I forgot how irritating ads are on free only apps and could do with hiding them again.

jester77

harney wrote: »

I just ordered 10 nfc tags for use with the phone. I was thinking of using 1 of the tags to enable my xbmc remote. on a side note both my nexus 4 my nexus 7 are playing
fantastically well with my raspberry pi.

Just be careful with the tags you order, the popular Mifare classic tags are not supported.

lafors

harney wrote: »

on a side note both my nexus 4 my nexus 7 are playing
fantastically well with my raspberry pi.

Oh tell me more, I still have a raspberry pi in its little box, only put rasberium on it to try it out.

harney

lafors wrote: »

Oh tell me more, I still have a raspberry pi in its little box, only put rasberium on it to try it out.

It is a practically out of the box setup. I am using Rasbmc and it is flying away. I just downloaded the official remote from the Android store and away I went. I do get the odd error message about passwords, but if you just click OK it is fine. The official remote worked fine with it on both the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 4.

There seems to be enough power from the Palm charger I am using to power a usb stick also, so I am able to read files from there or just use SSH and Filezilla to drop files onto the 16GB Class 10 SD card I am using. I have not paid the few pounds / euros for the video licensing and am not sure what I would need it for yet. Google shall be my friend at some stage on that one

mac09

anyone hearing a clicking noise when making a call?

Something like this:

http://mashable.com/2012/11/25/google-nexus-4-defect/

its quite annoying to be honest

TPD

Received mine this evening - very fast! A little lighter than I was expecting but I'll get used to that.

EGriff

Anybody rooted theirs yet? I'm thinking of getting it out of the way now so I don't lose months of data down the line.

Any way to make sure I don't lose my progress in games and stuff?

TPD

Has anybody noticed a slight flex in the plastic at the bottom edge by the microphone?

EGriff

TPD wrote: »

Has anybody noticed a slight flex in the plastic at the bottom edge by the microphone?

Not there but I have some flex just above the volume buttons. Not a big deal for me anyway.

Gran Hermano

Interesting read on one apple fan boy's move to the nexus 4

http://gizmodo.com/5973073/an-iphone-lovers-confession-i-switched-to-the-nexus-4-completely

Must say I'm loving the performance of mine.

EGriff

Anyone put a ROM on yet? It was real easy to root it with the nexus 4 toolkit from XDA.

I like the look of the paranoid android one that let's you use the tablet UI or a mix of both.

OmegaRed

Got my nexus 4 last night. Girlfriends parents brought it back from the states for me. Loving it so far and a big step up from my Nexus S.

Just wondering where people have bought bumpers? The official LG one on ebay is extortionate and i don't fancy the full gel cases. Any idea on where to buy a nice black bumper for it?

lafors

OmegaRed wrote: »

Got my nexus 4 last night. Girlfriends parents brought it back from the states for me. Loving it so far and a big step up from my Nexus S.

Just wondering where people have bought bumpers? The official LG one on ebay is extortionate and i don't fancy the full gel cases. Any idea on where to buy a nice black bumper for it?

I got the bumper and used it for a while but it makes it feel big and its too nice a phone without it so I stopped using it.

OmegaRed

lafors wrote: »

I got the bumper and used it for a while but it makes it feel big and its too nice a phone without it so I stopped using it.

I agree but i'm to afraid i'll drop it and break the glass!

MiCr0

just sending this TTT as it looks like lots of us are about to get our new phones.

What cases has anyone got on order?

youcancallmeal

MiCr0 wrote: »

just sending this TTT as it looks like lots of us are about to get our new phones.

What cases has anyone got on order?

I ordered this. Took about a week to arrive from the US and cost about €14 inc delivery.

Gran Hermano

I picked up a couple from http://tpu-cases.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=46_76
Very similar to few others I picked up on amazon UK and DX

MiCr0

i just ordered a TPU and the slim hard case.

If you order from their website, use XDA as a redemption code for 10% off :-)

youcancallmeal

Only got it last night but must say I'm very happy so far. Using this case and it feels like its barely there. Still a shame to hide the back of it though.

One thing I must mention is the maximum volume wasn't enough for me, I have crappy earphones and use them in a noisy environment. Got an app called volume+ and the free version let me increase it enough so that I don't have to buy new headphones

TPD

I haven't used a case on mine at all so far, had it since Christmas. I'd be tempted by the bugatti skinny xl coal pouch though.

MiCr0

maybe i'm being a bit dim, but does anyone know is it possible to:
1/ reboot the phone, rather than powering it off and then on again?
2/ modify the power control widget? I'd like to include mobile data, and i never use bluetooth

Thanks,
MiCr0

Gran Hermano

MiCr0 wrote: »

maybe i'm being a bit dim, but does anyone know is it possible to:
1/ reboot the phone, rather than powering it off and then on again?
2/ modify the power control widget? I'd like to include mobile data, and i never use bluetooth

Thanks,
MiCr0

Latest version of android only has power off or air plane mode, unlike earlier which also had reboot.

Have a look on the play store for power toggles, great widget and will allow you to customise which settings you want.

lord lucan

MiCr0 wrote: »

maybe i'm being a bit dim, but does anyone know is it possible to:
1/ reboot the phone, rather than powering it off and then on again?
2/ modify the power control widget? I'd like to include mobile data, and i never use bluetooth

Thanks,
MiCr0

Power + Volume down with phone on only knocks it off and restarts it. You have to power down the phone to reboot/boot into recovery.

I haven't found a way of changing the widget,like yourself,i very rarely use Bluetooth and would love to substitute it for something else.

talking_walnut

EGriff wrote: »

Anybody rooted theirs yet? I'm thinking of getting it out of the way now so I don't lose months of data down the line.

Any way to make sure I don't lose my progress in games and stuff?

I'm currently debating it. Got the drivers installed and backed up my apps. Only thing stopping me is everything has been working really well so far so I'm afraid to mess with that. Really miss ad blocking though.

Check out XDA-Developers forums for instructions on how to root. Someone even made a toolkit to ease the process.

EGriff

talking_walnut wrote: »

I'm currently debating it. Got the drivers installed and backed up my apps. Only thing stopping me is everything has been working really well so far so I'm afraid to mess with that. Really miss ad blocking though.

Check out XDA-Developers forums for instructions on how to root. Someone even made a toolkit to ease the process.

Yeah I rooted it with the Nexus 4 toolkit from XDA a few weeks ago. It was totally painless and playing games with the PS3 controller over bluetooth is pretty cool.

I'm thinking of trying the paranoid android rom with the on-screen buttons removed, but like you said I don't wanna mess things up, my desire really went downhill after I started putting roms on.

fiacha

Go for it.

I followed this guide. Quick, clean and easy to do.

NOTE, this guide only boots you into the custom recovery to allow you to root the device. It does not overwrite the stock recovery, so you will still get OTA updates from Google.

It's a good option if you just want to root the device, but don't plan on installing customs roms.

talking_walnut

fiacha wrote: »

Go for it.

I followed this guide. Quick, clean and easy to do.

NOTE, this guide only boots you into the custom recovery to allow you to root the device. It does not overwrite the stock recovery, so you will still get OTA updates from Google.

It's a good option if you just want to root the device, but don't plan on installing customs roms.

I ended up rooting mine yesterday. Couldn't resist. It's nice to have ad blocking back.

Is "stock recovery" the only prerequisite for OTA updates? Don't have much interest in custom ROMs since the Nexus has vanilla Android. It would be nice to still get the updates.

lord lucan

TPD wrote: »

I haven't used a case on mine at all so far, had it since Christmas. I'd be tempted by the bugatti skinny xl coal pouch though.

I've had mine since early December and tbh i don't want to cover up the back of it. It feels great in the hand and looks the biz,don't want to mess with it at all.

Because of the glass back i've been paranoid about dropping it. I can honestly say i've never dropped a phone so much in my life. It's hit the floor at least 6 times and fell from the mantlepiece once whilst charging and the only mark on her is a little chip on the side from where it hit the side of the fireplace. Touch wood,she's holding up well to the abuse.

iggy

Has anyone used this toolkit from xda
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1995688

Should have my N4 shortly and want to root it and have it ready to flash custom ROMs at some stage before I put loads of apps, photos etc on it.

talking_walnut

iggy wrote: »

Has anyone used this toolkit from xda
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1995688

Should have my N4 shortly and want to root it and have it ready to flash custom ROMs at some stage before I put loads of apps, photos etc on it.

Ya that's what I used. Worked great. If you're definitely going to do it I'd recommend unlocking the bootloader early as it does a factory reset. Not a huge issue but saves backing up and restoring, etc.

iggy

talking_walnut wrote: »

Ya that's what I used. Worked great. If you're definitely going to do it I'd recommend unlocking the bootloader early as it does a factory reset. Not a huge issue but saves backing up and restoring, etc.

Cheers
I'm goin to do it straight away as I know I will end up constantly tinkering with ROms.

youcancallmeal

Anyone know how to view a photosphere after you've taken it? From googling apparently there is supposed to be a photosphere symbol below the photo in the gallery but I'm not seeing it? I've only taken one, maybe I didn't save it properly, it just looks like a big stretched out photo?

Edit: took a few more and it seems I just didn't save the first one I took correctly

budhabob

youcancallmeal wrote: »

Only got it last night but must say I'm very happy so far. Using this case and it feels like its barely there. Still a shame to hide the back of it though.

One thing I must mention is the maximum volume wasn't enough for me, I have crappy earphones and use them in a noisy environment. Got an app called volume+ and the free version let me increase it enough so that I don't have to buy new headphones

Where did you purchase the case from? I searched for it using the name on your linked article but couldn't find it (saying that, it is early and I haven't had my coffee yet).

Technophobe

Is SKY GO working alright for people on the N4?

MiCr0

Any one for a way to disable email notifications during certain times?

listermint

MiCr0 wrote: »

Any one for a way to disable email notifications during certain times?

Yep. Power button

Gran Hermano

MiCr0 wrote: »

Any one for a way to disable email notifications during certain times?

If it is to disable during the night, I've been using battery widget reborn for months on several devices including n4. Nice looking battery widget and also allows you to set it so it will switch on flight mode for a set time each night.