How to increase the time the lock screen stays on for

[Sunny Rio]

I'm referring to the time between pressing the power button to switch on the screen, to the time the screen goes off again if I don't enter the PIN/pattern.

It used to annoy me a little, if the phone was slow doing BOINC, it would time out before it had acknowledged my pattern.

But now I've found a bigger annoyance, one which is not so unique to me. I switched on the ability to read a text on the lock screen. How the hell do I read a text in 5 seconds? What were Google thinking?!

It would appear there's no setting for this apart from using the front camera to stay awake while you're looking at the phone. But my front camera got cracked....

There's an app called Caffeinate but as per usual with Google's over the top security on modern versions of Android, it's no longer compatible.

Any ideas?

 

[ocnbrze]

Why are you always blaming Google? Why not also blame the manufacturer? They add more stuff to your device than Google does. What phone do you have?

Samsung has an Always On Display which i love. it will not only display the time, but also any notifications that comes thru.

 

[Sunny Rio]

I blame Google because all phones do this. And I doubt Samsung would adjust my timeout to make it unusable.

Always on? Doesn't that use the battery up with the backlight? Or is it unlit?

Anyway we don't all have such luxuries.

 

[ocnbrze]

I blame Google because all phones do this. And I doubt Samsung would adjust my timeout to make it unusable.

Always on? Doesn't that use the battery up with the backlight? Or is it unlit?

Anyway we don't all have such luxuries.

Always on display does drain the battery, but it is minimal.....never been an issue with me. works great on my lockscreen as i can see my notifications when they come in.

 

[Sunny Rio]

Can anyone have an always on display? Make the phone (with an app?) leave the screen on, but leave the light off? Or does it need a special type of screen?

 

[nickdalzell]

There's an app on Play Store called Always On Edge, that will run on any Android phone, but Always-on-display is more effective on an AMOLED display since there's no backlight and the AOD uses the few minimal pixels to display its info. So it's only going to exist on an AMOLED and likely a more expensive phone.

Always On Edge works on any phone but since an IPS LCD that's on many Android phones uses a full-grid LED backlight, the battery drain on such a display will be worse than on an AMOLED display. However, this app has a setting to turn itself off if the battery drops below a user-defined percentage level. I used to use it on a Galaxy A01 and it worked alright.

The last phones that utilized a display that didn't need a backlight were using what's called a 'transreflective LCD display' which meant in the right light it could still display info (such as the clock or a screensaver) but with the backlight off. It was almost like e-paper. The last smartphone I remember that used that was the Nokia N95.

 

[Sunny Rio]

There's an app on Play Store called Always On Edge, that will run on any Android phone, but Always-on-display is more effective on an AMOLED display since there's no backlight and the AOD uses the few minimal pixels to display its info. So it's only going to exist on an AMOLED and likely a more expensive phone.

Always On Edge works on any phone but since an IPS LCD that's on many Android phones uses a full-grid LED backlight, the battery drain on such a display will be worse than on an AMOLED display. However, this app has a setting to turn itself off if the battery drops below a user-defined percentage level. I used to use it on a Galaxy A01 and it worked alright.

The last phones that utilized a display that didn't need a backlight were using what's called a 'transreflective LCD display' which meant in the right light it could still display info (such as the clock or a screensaver) but with the backlight off. It was almost like e-paper. The last smartphone I remember that used that was the Nokia N95.

Will any of those apps allow the lock screen to stay on for say a few minutes, but then go off?

 

[Sunny Rio]

<<Bump>>
Really annoying me when the phone is busy running science apps, took me 7 attempts to unlock the screen, since it can't take my input to draw the security pattern within 5 seconds, as it's low on RAM and has to do some paging first.

 

[nickdalzell]

Always on edge only replicates an AOD with some features that add to the more limited versions offered by the manufacturer if so, such as notification balls/dots, weather info, gesture-based music controls, but not a way to keep the lock screen on longer sadly. I think the reason for short timeout is one part avoiding pocket interaction, another part 'security' which is the oft-used buzzword to make tech worse it seems.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 at least has a cover display which works with the fingerprint reader and with an app such as Cover Screen OS, you can basically use the phone closed and compact for anything, including launching apps, replying to texts, playing music, and making phone calls. It is one way to help me digitally detox, and is far more one-hand friendly, but sadly after three days the fingerprint reader is disabled, forcing me to open the phone and enter my PIN anyway. The Galaxy S5 never did that.

 

[Sunny Rio]

I can't see how it's more secure or pocket friendly. No way a pattern could be drawn by mistake in a pocket.

I saw a phone (dunno if yours is like this) where the screen actually folds in half when you closed it, then you're presented with another smaller screen. I would never buy it, I reckon the screen being folded would eventually snap, like if you bend a piece of metal 10 times and it snaps.

Oh well, I've gone for a new phone (Moto G31 to replace Samsung A10). £54 (2nd hand) for double the RAM, double the disk space (why the hell does Android not let you install apps to the SD card like you can in Windows to a second hard disk?!), a functional front camera, no cracked screen, quadruple MP on both cameras, twice the CPU power, charging circuitry which doesn't randomly change from "cable" to "slow" and can't even power the CPU fully, and hopefully the swipe your credit card function will also work. This phone will be relegated to science only. FFS I only upgraded a year ago.

 

[nickdalzell]

The lockscreen timeout helps for those who don't use a secure lock. I lost count at the many times my Galaxy SIII woke up, unlocked itself in my pocket, dialed contacts, or opened an untold number of apps, or sent eahoaejfoaeofjaioefj to someone as a text. The security argument for shorter timeout that can turn the screen off before you finish PIN or Pattern is intended to stop or a least deter brute forcing it. I didn't say I agreed with it. If someone wants to get into your phone that badly you got larger problems than your phone's security or you're a high profile government employee that's likely got a hit out on ya.

 

[Sunny Rio]

The lockscreen timeout helps for those who don't use a secure lock. I lost count at the many times my Galaxy SIII woke up, unlocked itself in my pocket, dialed contacts, or opened an untold number of apps, or sent eahoaejfoaeofjaioefj to someone as a text.

That used to happen to me before smartphones were invented, and my stupid phone just needed you to hold one button in the corner for a while, which happened if I leaned against something. Often the next thing I'd lean on was the number 9, hence lots of 999 calls. I wonder if that's why America uses 911, which is harder to dial by accident?

But it's insane not to use a lock screen on your smartphone, as you've just proved.

The security argument for shorter timeout that can turn the screen off before you finish PIN or Pattern is intended to stop or a least deter brute forcing it.

Wouldn't work. Notice if you get the pattern wrong, the screen doesn't go off. The timeout is 5 seconds after you last touched the screen, you can try many patterns in a row, although it does make you wait a bit between each try, so you can't just wave your finger about randomly and get in.

There's actually a lot more combinations than you think of drawing a pattern in a 3x3 square of dots, although I bet most folk make predictable common shapes, like an L or an r. I don't use it for security anyway. I prefer to prevent someone stealing the phone in the first place, same as I try to prevent people stealing my wallet instead of putting a padlock on it.

My Aunt uses her face to unlock it. Weird idea, I'd be unlocking it by mistake.

I didn't say I agreed with it. If someone wants to get into your phone that badly you got larger problems than your phone's security or you're a high profile government employee that's likely got a hit out on ya.

More likely it's the government after you.