Voice Alerts While Screen Off

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Voice Alerts While Screen Off

Author	Message
johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/19/2024 7:34:12 AM HOT Topic Details Share Topic
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	I have a SkyEcho2 and am using SkyDemon on an iPad 6th gen. For a couple of reasons, I like to turn the iPad screen off unless I really need to look at it during flight. For example, there are long legs where I have a clear visual reference, and there is simply no need to be looking at the screen at all. Turning it off means: - I can stow if off somewhere within easy reach, without worrying about wrong screen touches as I'm doing that. - It runs much cooler with the screen off. I guess partly because of the energy saved from the display, but also the energy saved not having to use compute power to keep rendering SD. - For the same reasons as the previous point, this big one: battery lasts longer. What I've noticed in this state though, is that the connection to the SkyEcho2 breaks, and therefore traffic voice alerts come through, and also track logging seems to break. Is this "screen off" functionality better supported on some Android devices? Is there any way to have the screen off but still receive traffic alerts and airspace alerts? Does anyone else fly this way?
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Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 6/19/2024 9:18:50 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9K	What you're calling "screen off" is actually you locking the iPad. That means all apps, including SkyDemon, are suspended. This is beyond our control. There is a special "background mode" if you're navigating using iOS location services, but since you're using a SkyEcho 2, this is not available to you. Android is, in general, must more customizable and it wouldn't surprise me if it were more flexible here too, but I don't know for sure, sorry.
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johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/19/2024 2:49:11 PM Post Details Share Post
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	+x Tim Dawson - 6/19/2024 9:18:50 AM What you're calling "screen off" is actually you locking the iPad. That means all apps, including SkyDemon, are suspended. This is beyond our control. There is a special "background mode" if you're navigating using iOS location services, but since you're using a SkyEcho 2, this is not available to you. Android is, in general, must more customizable and it wouldn't surprise me if it were more flexible here too, but I don't know for sure, sorry. Hey thanks Tim. That makes sense to me. Have you considered other ways of letting the pilot put SD in a "low energy" mode, where it perhaps stops rendering (or downgrades the resolution) and dims the display? Of course only if this helps keep the device cooler and/or battery draw lower.
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Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 6/20/2024 9:51:39 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9K	Have you tried simply dragging the screen brightness all the way down to low? SkyDemon uses a fraction of energy compared to lighting the display on your device.
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johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/20/2024 11:57:02 AM Post Details Share Post
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	+x Tim Dawson - 6/20/2024 9:51:39 AM Have you tried simply dragging the screen brightness all the way down to low? SkyDemon uses a fraction of energy compared to lighting the display on your device. That's a good idea, I will try. Still it would be nice to abstract this behind an easy to see on-screen "standby" button if possible and allow SD to figure out what to do (e.g. dim screen, or something else). If only to spare pilots from fiddling with the control centre during flight. Bonus points for making smart auto-standby this an optional setting.
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Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 6/21/2024 8:42:10 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9K	Hmm. I'm actually not sure it would help all that much. We could make the screen black, sure, but does that actually turn off the backlight, thus saving all that energy?
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johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/21/2024 9:15:23 AM Post Details Share Post
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	+x Tim Dawson - 6/21/2024 8:42:10 AM Hmm. I'm actually not sure it would help all that much. We could make the screen black, sure, but does that actually turn off the backlight, thus saving all that energy? There is a brightness API: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiscreen/1617830-brightness
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Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 6/24/2024 10:13:07 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9K	Interesting. Well, we will certainly bear that in mind should others request this feature.
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johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/25/2024 7:51:02 AM Post Details Share Post
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	Thanks Tim. Would it be ok if I start a new post about the feature request with a more specific title and a concise summary of the idea and rationale? Otherwise, is there another process for collating feature requests and collecting votes? Just a bit concerned that the start of this topic doesn't really capture where we landed.
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johnichio	j johnichio posted 6/25/2024 8:54:16 AM Post Details Share Post
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 13, Visits: 2	FWIW posts related to iPads overheating seem to get a lot of interest already. See for e.g.: http://forums.skydemon.aero/Topic9855.aspx http://forums.skydemon.aero/Topic26017.aspx What's more, there seems to be consensus that turning down screen brightness alleviates this. See https://www.google.com/search?q=ipad+screen+heat I hope that helps firm up the case for this somewhat.
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