Nexus 5 Owners Thread - apps, tips & tricks!

JKGT

Aubrielle Wailing Against wrote: »

Perhaps no 4G coverage where you are? And it's a Rest Of World version N5 and not a US version ?

Yeah rest of the world version bought from the UK play store and I'm in Dublin city was checking the signal while traveling through and I've a full "H" Signal now Ill give meteor a ring later and make sure its fully active.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

Ah, yeah give them a ring. I would be interested in knowing how you get on as I'm just out of contract and looking at a 4G plan.

JKGT

Aubrielle Wailing Against wrote: »

Ah, yeah give them a ring. I would be interested in knowing how you get on as I'm just out of contract and looking at a 4G plan.

Apparently there is a tech issue at the min not sure if it's with the account or the network but they said give it 24h :-(

Anybody else with meteor with 4G Like to chime in?

Hannibal6.0

Anyone found any decent wallpapers that bring out the full quality of the screen?

What apps are people using for SMS, I am using hangouts but would very much welcome an update that would allow me to use FB messenger instead.

Anyone tried installing Xposed using this method?

kaimera

I went onto the 4G meteor plan; idk if I'm just not near enough to a mast or what but defo not getting 4g speeds at home; ~2Mb on 'H'; havent seen a 4g symbol at all (should I?)

LTE selected under "mobile networks"

My change to 4G plan isn't updated on the website yet but guy in store said the 4G should be active anyway

JKGT

Yeah should have the 4g or lte symbol when its available where you based?? And your plan should be changed deffo.

Technophobe

Hannibal6.0 wrote: »

Anyone found any decent wallpapers that bring out the full quality of the screen?

What apps are people using for SMS, I am using hangouts but would very much welcome an update that would allow me to use FB messenger instead.

Try HD Wallpapers

Dudda

Looks like the poor reviews of the Nexus 5 are due to the new software not finished in time. Hopefully we'll see burst mode, RAW format and other software improvements soon to the camera not that I'm finding it as terrible as some of the reports would have you believe although I won't say no to an update.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/11/google-is-working-on-a-new-android-camera-api-supports-camera-raw/

kaimera

JKGT wrote: »

Yeah should have the 4g or lte symbol when its available where you based?? And your plan should be changed deffo.

D5 at home,

D18 for work.

JKGT

kaimera wrote: »

D5 at home,

D18 for work.

Might be worth your while giving meteor a ring as well to be sure, I found the reps in the store hadn't a clue when I was getting the new sim, and I actually had to ring there loyalty dept to change onto the new plan as they couldn't do it in the store...

JKGT

Think I'm going to go with the poetic borderline bumper again as soon as its available I had one on the N4 and I'm not liking the look of any other cases.http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00FNWM2GU/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

projectgtr

JKGT wrote: »

Think I'm going to go with the poetic borderline bumper again as soon as its available I had one on the N4 and I'm not liking the look of any other cases.http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00FNWM2GU/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

i got the Spigen Ultra Hybrid, have to say i love it! cheap enough too, i love the clear back, im gonna use one of the templates to make a Kevlar back for it, have always wanted a kevlar back since seeing it on the Moto Droids in the US. Should look pretty nice against the black.

Gokei

Hannibal6.0 wrote: »

Anyone found any decent wallpapers that bring out the full quality of the screen.

http://www.nexus-wallpaper.com/nexus-5/

lafors

I enabled ART instead of Dalvik last night (Settings>Developer Options>Select Runtime)
I rebooted after I made the change and got the Android is updating screen.

I'll let you know in a couple of days if it makes any difference to battery life, though I've been getting great battery life already.

kaimera

lafors wrote: »

I enabled ART instead of Dalvik last night (Settings>Developer Options>Select Runtime)
I rebooted after I made the change and got the Android is updating screen.

I'll let you know in a couple of days if it makes any difference to battery life, though I've been getting great battery life already.

I use whatsapp a lot so can't ART yet

Be interested in the battery life tho; aside from google location services (and using maps as sat nav) my battery has been pretty good

@JKGT - had to ring meteor CS about my 4G; I won't get the speeds till my contract switches over (25th of this month)

I was pretty sure I'd still get the 4g speeds tho but no, the lte flag on the account isn't activated till I'm on the 4g plan.

lafors

kaimera wrote: »

I use whatsapp a lot so can't ART yet

Be interested in the battery life tho; aside from google location services (and using maps as sat nav) my battery has been pretty good

@JKGT - had to ring meteor CS about my 4G; I won't get the speeds till my contract switches over (25th of this month)

I was pretty sure I'd still get the 4g speeds tho but no, the lte flag on the account isn't activated till I'm on the 4g plan.

Yeah its google services (location) that's draining my battery.
I just checked https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/ and it never use to track me but on the day I got my Nexus 5 I can now see where I was the whole time.
Did they turn on something like latitude permanently? Anyone know what I should turn off?

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

What sort of battery life are you getting? I can barely get 16 hrs out of mine with moderate usage. I've turned off all that I can to save on the battery but I'm seriously cheesed off having to turn most of the smart phone features off.
Also, is anyone using a wireless charging unit, or recommend one?

lafors

Aubrielle Wailing Against wrote: »

What sort of battery life are you getting? I can barely get 16 hrs out of mine with moderate usage. I've turned off all that I can to save on the battery but I'm seriously cheesed off having to turn most of the smart phone features off.
Also, is anyone using a wireless charging unit, or recommend one?

I'm getting around 2 days. I wouldn't be a heavy user really, use spotify while driving to/from work, about 50/60 mins total, maybe an hour of calls a day, plenty of texts, use the camera most days.

Here's 2 other things I found on a website that will help increase battery life..
"Turn off Wi-Fi scanning – With Android 4.3, Google introduced a small change that allowed apps and Google Play services to determine a user’s location using Wi-Fi, even when it is switched off.

On KitKat and the Nexus 5, this option is also enabled by default. While allowing apps and Google to automatically determine your location via Wi-Fi is a very handy feature, it is also very taxing on the battery. Turn off this feature by going to Settings -> Wi-Fi -> Tap the menu overflow button on the bottom right and then removing the tick from the ‘Scanning always available’ option.

Turn off LTE - By default, the Nexus 5 is configured to work across 2G, 3G and LTE networks. However, if LTE network is non existent in your area, make sure to turn it off on your Nexus 5 to save some precious battery juice.

Head over to Settings -> More -> Mobile Networks -> Network Mode and select 3G or 2G depending on the network reception in your area. "

I've had both of these off from the start, maybe it'll help you.

Dudda

lafors wrote: »

Turn off LTE - By default, the Nexus 5 is configured to work across 2G, 3G and LTE networks. However, if LTE network is non existent in your area, make sure to turn it off on your Nexus 5 to save some precious battery juice.

Head over to Settings -> More -> Mobile Networks -> Network Mode and select 3G or 2G depending on the network reception in your area. "

I've had both of these off from the start, maybe it'll help you.

Cheers for the tip about LTE. I'm not on a LTE contract as it's not in my area yet but it was turned on.

marcbrophy

Turning off LTE was the first thing I did

Good tip though, otherwise the radio in the device is constantly looking for 4g towers to connect to. Serious battery killer right there!

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Yeah the first week the battery life did worry me a bit alright. I'd be a moderate user I suppose. But I'vr had it roughly 10 days now and it seems to be getting a bit better. On day one it was down to 5% by charging time, roughly 16 hours off charge. Now I'd comfortably get 24 hours out of it with >10% battery left. Did turn off Google now and the location services as well as the LTE scan so maybe all that helped too.

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

2 days?! I was getting 2 days with my SGS3 with some serious usage, so I'm fairly disappointed with the N5.

Cheers lafors. I already had WiFi scanning off but I've just changed to 3G mode to see if that helps.

marcbrophy

Oh, you can also enable Battery Saving Location mode.
If you do use location, you can change it to battery saving mode, so that it doesn't access the GPS chip while trying to locate you.

Settings > Location > Mode > pick Battery Saving. This is the least draining location mode, if you do use it

god's toy

lafors wrote: »

I enabled ART instead of Dalvik last night (Settings>Developer Options>Select Runtime)
I rebooted after I made the change and got the Android is updating screen.

I'll let you know in a couple of days if it makes any difference to battery life, though I've been getting great battery life already.

Yep enabled that last week and so far so good.
Battery looks to be about the same but app switching feels faster now for sure. Loading times are about the same. No incompatible apps found yet.

projectgtr

I couldn't give a toss once my battery lasts the day but after Day I tend to be around the 50-60% mark where my galaxy nexus would have to be plugged in shortly after getting home from work. I have most things on with auto brightness

Tragedy

How often do you guys use your phones? :O I struggle to get 12 hours of moderate usage out of mine.

bren2001

Tragedy wrote: »

How often do you guys use your phones? :O I struggle to get 12 hours of moderate usage out of mine.

I agree. I just about get the full day out of mine with LTE off, GPS off etc. I do use it a bit, plenty of texts, maybe 30 minutes of calls, fair bit of music (3-4 hours). It is the only thing that bothers me about the phone (well that and I seem to hit the volume buttons a lot, missed a few calls as it went to silent).

projectgtr

bren2001 wrote: »

I agree. I just about get the full day out of mine with LTE off, GPS off etc. I do use it a bit, plenty of texts, maybe 30 minutes of calls, fair bit of music (3-4 hours). It is the only thing that bothers me about the phone (well that and I seem to hit the volume buttons a lot, missed a few calls as it went to silent).

You signal quality matters a lot. You will find battery drains quicker in low signal areas

Technophobe

I get a full day out of mine............

bren2001

projectgtr wrote: »

You signal quality matters a lot. You will find battery drains quicker in low signal areas

Im in Dublin, I have close to full signal all the time. I've read plenty of stuff online about lengthening the battery life, none of it has worked for me.

Tragedy

I'm usually sitting on 4 bars of LTE, battery life seems similar to the Nexus 4 (which my OH has), and nowhere near the LG G2 which features a 3000mAh to the N5's 2300mAh battery (see here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7251/lg-g2-and-msm8974-snapdragon-800-a-quick-look/3 )

The phone had been growing on me, but overall I still prefer my Note 2 - I can't notice the difference in resolution and SAMOLED is still superior to IPS in phone screens imho.

I'll hopefully have my N5 sold this evening!

JKGT

kaimera wrote: »

I use whatsapp a lot so can't ART yet

Be interested in the battery life tho; aside from google location services (and using maps as sat nav) my battery has been pretty good

@JKGT - had to ring meteor CS about my 4G; I won't get the speeds till my contract switches over (25th of this month)

I was pretty sure I'd still get the 4g speeds tho but no, the lte flag on the account isn't activated till I'm on the 4g plan.

Yeah I had to wait for the contract to roll over before mine change too.. I'm just about to give them another ring now cause its still not active. Still only getting hspa.

Shooter_galway

Is there anyways of getting notifications to pop up in the screen and just not along the top?

IrishStuff09

Shooter_galway wrote: »

Is there anyways of getting notifications to pop up in the screen and just not along the top?

Not natively, there should be some on the Play Store though, that use the Accessibility setting.

Xposed beta now available for 4.4. Just installed it with an experimental version of Gravity Box and seems to be working smoothly.

Michael D Not Higgins

My phone dropped out of my pocket into the toilet yesterday. I'm so pissed off with myself. It's been sitting in rice since it happened but it won't turn on. Any ideas?

Lardy

Is the N5 worth the switch from the N4 at the moment? I've not had my N4 long, and can't really find fault with it. Is the N5 that much of a jump up to warrant spending the money to upgrade?

Cheers.

MuppetCheck

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

My phone dropped out of my pocket into the toilet yesterday. I'm so pissed off with myself. It's been sitting in rice since it happened but it won't turn on. Any ideas?

Leave it sitting there a while without turning it on or charging. Dont keep trying it. Anytime I've water damaged a phone the battery has usually been goosed afterwards:(

Michael D Not Higgins

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Leave it sitting there a while without turning it on or charging. Dont keep trying it. Anytime I've water damaged a phone the battery has usually been goosed afterwards:(

I'm gonna leave it there for another day maybe and see what happens. I've only had the phone a couple of weeks , back to the SGS2 for the moment.

JKGT

I've been using LTE for the past week or so now and I don't find any difference with the battery been used up anymore than usual, still getting just about a day out of the battery with a fair bit of usage.. I don't see any issue with a days usage as I charge overnight anyway...

What smart phones out there now can go for over two days now anyway???

madmoe

JKGT wrote: »

I've been using LTE for the past week or so now and I don't find any difference with the battery been used up anymore than usual, still getting just about a day out of the battery with a fair bit of usage.. I don't see any issue with a days usage as I charge overnight anyway...

What smart phones out there now can go for over two days now anyway???

How are the speeds mate!? Have you tried a speed test? Does a 4G symbol appear in your signal bar??

Michael D Not Higgins

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I'm gonna leave it there for another day maybe and see what happens. I've only had the phone a couple of weeks , back to the SGS2 for the moment.

I think it's officially dead. Won't turn on won't respond when charger plugged in. Any ideas how much I can get for a broken one or is it worth trying to open it to dry it further?

AIR-AUSSIE

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I think it's officially dead. Won't turn on won't respond when charger plugged in. Any ideas how much I can get for a broken one or is it worth trying to open it to dry it further?

This website shows how to open it up. I wouldn't be too optimistic though
Nexus 5 Teardown

Michael D Not Higgins

AIR-AUSSIE wrote: »

This website shows how to open it up. I wouldn't be too optimistic though
Nexus 5 Teardown

I've checked the mobile recyclers and been quoted £40-60 for a broken one. Don't know if I'd get higher in a private sale. It's still too early to gauge prices as not many broken ones are on eBay and the like.

JKGT

madmoe wrote: »

How are the speeds mate!? Have you tried a speed test? Does a 4G symbol appear in your signal bar??

Best I've got with full signal was 36mb down and 20 odd up..slowest with one bar is 9mb down and 3 up I'm impressed... LTE symbol is what's showing up on mine not 4G..

5starpool

JKGT wrote: »

Best I've got with full signal was 36mb down and 20 odd up..slowest with one bar is 9mb down and 3 up I'm impressed... LTE symbol is what's showing up on mine not 4G..

You are connected to wifi in that picture are you not?

Gokei

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

My phone dropped out of my pocket into the toilet yesterday. I'm so pissed off with myself. It's been sitting in rice since it happened but it won't turn on. Any ideas?

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I'm gonna leave it there for another day maybe and see what happens. I've only had the phone a couple of weeks , back to the SGS2 for the moment.

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I think it's officially dead. Won't turn on won't respond when charger plugged in. Any ideas how much I can get for a broken one or is it worth trying to open it to dry it further?

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

I've checked the mobile recyclers and been quoted £40-60 for a broken one. Don't know if I'd get higher in a private sale. It's still too early to gauge prices as not many broken ones are on eBay and the like.

How long did you leave it in the rice?
Try putting it into a sealed ziplock bag of rice and leaving it in the hot press for a couple of days.

JKGT

5starpool wrote: »

You are connected to wifi in that picture are you not?

That's just a picture of a screen grab I done while connected to wifi, if you look at the symbol beside the date in the picture that's the symbol you should be looking at.

Gokei

Gokei wrote: »

Aviate is good.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tul.aviate

I have 3 invites left if you want one

Or sticking with the stock launcher, Power Toggles sits nicely where the Touch Wiz shortcuts go..