yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] _mysiak_:
Hm, that's strange, but thank you for trying. Btw. I have Mi A3 phone which is a part of Android One program with basically stock Android. It should behave as Pixel phones with Android 10, but maybe Xiaomi changed (or forgot to change) something, wouldn't be the first case with them. :)
[Android Apps and Games] ivanvi:
I would like to add few more things that I found, they might be related only to Xiaomi and MIUI, but I don't have any other phone to test it.

When I reset the phone, VAB service doesn't work afterwards. If I try to re-run it, app will start, it will track the light on the graph, but it will not control brightness - app data reset is needed. Similar situation will happen if I try to use MIUI RAM cleaner (which will kill the VAB) or when I run MIUI junk cleaner. Behavior will be the same and app data reset will be needed afterwards.

So, for now:

- Phone restart

- MIUI RAM cleaner

- MIUI junk cleaner

- Enabling proximity sensor option in the VAB

will somehow "corrupt" the app. I believe that all those things will reset VAB permissions, app will continue to work but service will not be able to do its job.

With the same phone and with the latest stable VAB version from the Play Store I think that RAM/Junk MIUI cleaner did only reset the VAB application but it continued to work after that reset. Also with the old version - rebooting the phone didn't start the app on boot - you needed to run it manually, but it worked normally afterwards.
[Android Apps and Games] _mysiak_:
Check in system settings if VAB retains accessibility service after a reboot. Normally when you kill an app, accessibility permission is automatically revoked and must be manually granted again. At least I noticed this behaviour on stock Android.
[Android Apps and Games] ivanvi:
I checked and after reboot VAB retains accessibility service. Also, "Display over other apps" and "Usage access" are allowed after reboot, while "Modify system settings" is not allowed - but on my phone it was not allowed even before reboot when VAB service worked properly.

I tried to do a clean install of VAB, but allowed "Modify system settings" manually after installation. In that case I can see that after reboot VAB will work. In this configuration, when MIUI RAM/Junk cleaner is ran, app will not start by itself but it will work normally when it's started manually afterwards.

So it seems that "Modify system settings" permission is needed in order to fix this.
[Android Apps and Games] Lexey77:
Maybe you need to add the ability to hide the application icon in the notification bar? This is not to disable interactive notification.
[Android Apps and Games] _mysiak_:
Today I received a new phone (Xiaomi Mi 10T lite) and tried your app with fresh installation. Currently waiting one week to be able to unlock the bootloader, so I still have fully stock MIUI 12 ROM. I think that I narrowed it down to "superdim" feature. It's simple to replicate:

1. set superdim threshold to 0, open chrome with light theme on -> white status bar + black/dark text & icons

2. set superdim threshold to 50 (or basically anything else than 0), lower the brightness below this value, open chrome with light theme on -> white status bar + white text & icons

Sometimes I need to open chrome two times to "refresh" the status bar, but I get pretty much 100% hit ratio for this bug. I suppose it's caused by the additional overlay used during super dimming. Not sure what magic does OLED saver app use, but it doesn't cause this anomaly (so it is possible to fix it "somehow", unfortunately I have no idea how :\).
[Android Apps and Games] sctanf:
For the proximity sensor the behavior is too fixed, no way to change where it jumps back to when it is triggered, or change the duration of ignoring light changes.

AOD on my rom uses the brightness of the phone, but Vab is not working when the AOD is active. However it starts working immediately when I enter the lockscreen.
[Android Apps and Games] Astoria:
On my Samsung S10 Android 10 (without root) there is wrong data of sensor, and I don't know, how to force it to update. I have tried both last versions from this thread and from G Play, and both don't change the sensor readings when another app does.

I tried changing the settings, reinstall, off and on autobrightness oprtion, force stop, reboot, grant all permissions, *#0*# (this has helped sometimes before), but there is no result.. it is unclear how the data is changing.

See the screenshots..

Maybe I will try the hard reset sometime in the near future...

Or maybe there is a known reason here?

PS. Sorry for my bad English

View attachment 5178773View attachment 5178775View attachment 5178777View attachment 5178779
[Android Apps and Games] sergiodrumond:
Guys, what is the advantage of this app over native auto brightness? I'm on poco x3
[Android Apps and Games] nathanadams4429:
The only auto brightness app that works on my tablet light sensor! Exactly what I need.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Got stomped with regular work again and was so unable to do the one additional thing I really wanted to do: support a method of rewarding for you guys - the ones that help me develop the app. I guess it will have to wait just a little while longer.

In the mean time, 4.70.253 is now published to beta on play store.
[Android Apps and Games] Klosiak:
Hi @velis74,

Stable version of the app was not working correctrly with my Xiaomi Mi6 with Android 9 (MIUI12). Screen brightness was very low and brightness changes were not noticeable at all. I have added myself to beta program for your app and will test beta versions. If find anything worth mention I will let know here. So far beta version works fine on my phone and fixed MIUI12 issue with too low screen brightness. Many thanks for your work on the app!

Cheers!
[Android Apps and Games] Enismirdal:
Excellent to see VAB finally get an update, I'm very glad it hasn't been abandoned! The basic functionality is still excellent, and has been for the five or so years I've used it.

I would suggest asking for all permissions at first start, with explanations including their purpose and which are optional. Regardless, I'd suggest leaving in the prompts when attempting to use features that require a permission that isn't enabled.

I've seen a couple issues so far. A few times, the app has stopped functioning, with the graph displaying the default curve, the notification closing, and changing profiles/toggling auto-brightness not working. Android showed the accessibility service 'malfunctioning'. The only fix for this was a force close each time it happened.

I have a short wishlist for the app in terms of UI tweaks, and a suggestion for a widget, if the UI is still in development.
[Android Apps and Games] wonghyf:
I updated to the latest version from the playstore today. The app doesn't revert to autobrightness after switching from excluded app to non-excluded app. I have to toggle autobrightness to make it work again.
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
I can see only system apps on Excluded Apps menu... No user apps. Latest beta (the one from Playstore) and Android 11.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Don't think I can do much about this one. Please try clearing app data.

This one is a problem: I have a task open to try and fix this one. The pproblem is that the API I'm using to retrieve app list has become castrated with android 11. I need to find a working alternative. The task is pretty high in the list, so should be done relatively soon.
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
Could be the same problem some file explorers face on Android 11. Access to android/data folder needs additional permission. See screenshot, hope it helps.
[Android Apps and Games] BB.:
Good & important app! Especially on OnePlus mobile, this app can help brightness to Own suitable!

But there are still a few flaws, I'm use OnePlus 7T (Android 10, Stock Oxygen OS, rooted with Magisk), the new version 4.70.253 & old version 4.65.234 also can't effect in system setting items, eg: Press / Enter "WiFi, Bluetooth, Display, Sound, App & Notification, Battery, Location, Storage, Account..." also no auto brightness effect, so the screen will be dark! But back to main menu, it was effect again!

I haven't exclude any app in Velis setting.

New Discovery:

In "Google Play Services (GMS)", this app will cover up screen, so touch screen not effect, need deactivated Velis to touch screen effect! I try to exclude "Google Play Services (GMS)" in Velis setting, but also can't!
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
Hey, @velis74, any progress maybe? 😉
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Unfortunately, I'm a disaster right now. Looking for another programmer at work, serious illness at home. But I would like to do another publish in March, so I'll try to squeeze something in ASAP.
[Android Apps and Games] jmh2002:
Sorry to hear of the serious illness at home. Velis development can wait. I'm sure all of us here at the XDA community send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to your family :)
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
Sorry to hear that. Actually I'm staying at home for over a week now, fighting this corona crap, so I'm with you.
[Android Apps and Games] BB.:
Hope you get well soon and regain your health! Velis is a major program on some mobile phones with automatic brightness problems. Mobile phones are now a necessity. Of course, brightness is also a very important part of it. So your program is a great contribution. Thank you for your efforts! My OnePlus phone, everything is good, but I am troubled by the automatic brightness problem! Looking forward to your recovery and the release of the new Velis! !​
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
@bb

It is not me that's sick, but my wife. I'm just between a rock and a hard place as a result.

Anyway, I shoved something into this week's sprint, so I'm hoping to have a small update at the end of it.
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
View attachment 5263519

Wait, what?
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
@wonsky21 I'm probably not supplying notification time as I should. Added a task to check
[Android Apps and Games] wonsky21:
It is not an issue at all. I was just surprised when I noticed this glitch, because I'm not even this old 🤣
[Android Apps and Games] Chrisu02:
Hello @velis74

I hope all are fine at your home again :)

I`m looking for a brightness app since long that will work with automotive Android headunits for long time.

since they don`t have a brightness sensor and no camera, i was hoping that your app will help there.

I saw that it has listed support for cameras :)

I tried it on my pixel 2 , but it i do not see any camera option ? is this a feature that will be implemented in the future ?

If yes, it would be cool to have an option to choose which camera to choose, it would be awsome if it would be possible to just attach some Android compatible usb webcam to use this as brightness sensor.

sincerely Kri
[Android Apps and Games] ivanvi:
Hi Kri, I have only the old version installed at the moment and in this version you can enable camera support if you tap and hold current proximity reading value, as in the screenshot attached. Then you will get more options in the settings screen. I don't know if this will work for you, but you can try it until you get the correct answer from velis74.

Ivan
[Android Apps and Games] Chrisu02:
Thanks for that information, that helped me :)

For what i see the app is hard coded to front/back camera of the android device, no additional camera selection is possible.

I already started searching for a camera and also bought one cheap for test.

It seems that all that usb plugin cameras do rely on UVC not the camera2api :/

Most sellers do advertise to install USB Camera App from ShenYoa from Playstore.

View attachment 5297935

It would be awsome if it would be possible to add usb cameras as brighness sensor to the app :)

Kri
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Agree that this might be awesome. I have recorded the request in the backlog, but TBH, priority is below sea-level. With current pace of development, this will not be supported for a long time.
[Android Apps and Games] Chrisu02:
I understand that this is a very low priority, anyways thanks for the open answer :)

Sincerely Kri
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
I AM intrigued though: how did you end up with an Android device that doesn't have its own cameras and you are using USB ones? I mean, I work with such devices at my day job, so I know they are there, but for professional use, not off-the-shelf consumer devices.
[Android Apps and Games] Chrisu02:
The answer is easy, it is not a Mobile device, it is an Android Headunit for a car :D

If you google for "BMW Snapdragon 625 Headunit" you will find those devices ;)

Those headunits don`t have a built in brightness sensor for the display, which is a real issue at night :(

At the moment i have cf.lumen installed, but this does only change brightness by time and only when i open the app, not automatically at background.

I bought a cheap inspection camera just for the specific test to use it as brightness sensor, nothing else :D

Kri
[Android Apps and Games] Lexey77:
Forgive me if this is not appropriate, but I would like to know - is the project more re-developing?
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
The project is alive. But it's not in heavy development. Even "light" doesn't really describe it.

I'm trying to figure out a way to spend at least a few hours per month on it. So far I'm not managing to reach that goal.
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
I don't know if this is answered, but in silent notifications (android 11), at the beginning the notification shows the lux and the current percent screen brightness, but some time later, maybe some days, then appears just a text saying "Velis auto brightness . 51 years ago", a little strange, isn't it? Thank you.View attachment 5371707
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
The 51 years ago thingy is known, but not yet fixed. Not sure if I'll succeed, but I'm hoping that specifying a notification timestamp is also going to keep the phone from just displaying how old it is...
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
Thank you(y) The app continues changing the brightness screen automatically, it's just that the notification appears with just a plain text and doesn't display the levels of lux and % of brightness screen.
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
@velis74 in Android 9 there is a process and a service in execution services, but in Android 11 there is no execution service nor process in the background for Velis app, maybe is for that the lux and % of brightness screen disappear from silent notifications after some time.
[Android Apps and Games] ywj601:
Because of Android11's "data" file access restrictions, "Excluded apps" of "Velis Auto Brightness" can only read system applications, but cannot read user-installed applications.

When and how to fix this problem?
[Android Apps and Games] orb3000:
OP last thread edit:

Last edited: Sep 28, 2012

🤤🤪
[Android Apps and Games] jmh2002:
Actually, the OP posted just 4 posts up, on Jul 29, 2021 at 6:20 PM, and also mentioned Covid related issues earlier in the year ... :)
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
You're not reading correctly: the thread was CREATED on that date. Last edit date is mentioned at the bottom of the OP.
[Android Apps and Games] THRUSTer:
@velis74 I have the Pixel 6 now, and it seems whenever I enable Velis Auto Brightness, it forces the display to 60hz in all apps (even if I turn on "force 90hz" in Developer Options).

Could you maybe look into this and why it could be doing that, and whether there's a way around it?
[Android Apps and Games] THRUSTer:
I figured out the reason.

Apparently enabling the proximity sensor causes this... This wasn't an issue on the Pixel 4 or Pixel 5.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Just ordered the Pixel from a "new" retailer. Hopefully they didn't just take my money :D After that I might find some time to actually work on it. I'm approaching a wrap up on a major project I had and hopefully there won't be another "aaaaaaahhhh the world is going to end" project coming up right after it.
[Android Apps and Games] THRUSTer:
Well I'm not sure there's anything you can do about it. It seems if the proximity sensor is in use, the display is locked to 60hz. I'm not sure why they did this though. I've disabled this feature, but it's pretty nice to have to prevent false dimming.
[Android Apps and Games] ztenski2:
So I upgraded to android 12 today, and I was wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

When velis is on auto brightness, and is allowed to display over other apps, the touch screen stops working with the exception of dragging the top bar down and on the lock screen. Not even the home button works. I managed to get the phone restarted so I could disable it before it starts, and as soon as I did so the touch screen started responding.

I can see in the app store that only up to android 11 is supported, but wanted to ask to make sure it's not a setting that I've overlooked.

Love the app and have used it for several years, so looking forward to it hopefully working again. Thanks for the hard work :)
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
I think this has to see something with the overlay feature or not overlay in the settings of the app, or maybe with putting the above all apps in the settings of system. It happened to me and disabling one of those things it got right again.
[Android Apps and Games] ztenski2:
Yup, misconfiguration on my part. In case it happens to anyone else:

My phone: samsung s21 ultra, android 12, Nov1 patch

- in velis app settings (in android settings) turn "appear on top" off

- in accesibility apps, enable velis

- in velis internal settings,

--- auto brightness - on

--- disable system handler - on (optional)

--- only use system brightness for adjustment - on

--- interactive notification - on (if your phone keeps killing it)

Now I get my nice curves back :). Thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
TBH, I'm still struggling with getting it to work on Pixel 6 at all. Glad you got yours to work. By now I really ache to be able to work on it a bit: pixel's auto brightness really isn't all that good.
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
Now that you have a Pixel 6 in your hands, can you put a permanent service on Android 11 and 12? In my Realme 8 (Android 11) there is no permanent service of the app at all. Thank you (y)
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
You'll have to elaborate on that, please. VAB already does about 20 things, including having an accessibility service flag in order to try to be as permanent as possible.

Can you explain what you meant some more?
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
Well, in Realme 8 (Android 11), to see the permanent services, I have to go Settings/ Additional settings/ Developer options/ Execution services , here I see the execution services at the moment and there is no one for the Velis app, I think a permanent service is needed, thank you.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
I have a Mi 11 here with Android 11, MIUI Global 12.5.7. I just went through the settings twice and I can't find anything like you describe. Does "execution services" actually mean "running services", as in: services that are currently running?

If VAB is not running for you, you need to enable it first, enable it as an accessibility service. Then it should run.
[Android Apps and Games] josejoa:
Yes must be "running services" (I have in spanish my GUI). In accessibility I have Velis auto brightness service activated, but as I said before, in "running services" there is no Velis app at all.
[Android Apps and Games] chelomei:
Hi there! Will VAB support dual ambient light sensor devises?
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Do you know of any such devices?

Otherwise, VAB is currently receiving too little love: I have promised to have something by April, but that was 9 months ago!!!

The project is still alive, but my regular job just requires too much: We're almost doubling in size with this hiring round that I'm starting today.

Maybe by THIS year's April, I will have actually been able to do something about VAB too...? It would definitely be nice: pixel's auto brightness isn't working nice for me and VAB won't even function on it :(
[Android Apps and Games] blackpowder1818:
well I love your application which solved my problem on poco x3 pro. but I can't adjust the 3 taps. impossible even in the XMP file.

if I type 3 times quickly brightness changes directly. c is painful with the keyboard. a solution? that I wouldn't have thought? thank you
[Android Apps and Games] janbenes:
Dear sir, I do not know how to send intent in Macrodroid to switch autobrightness profile. I tried to do it by some older post here but I cannot get the syntax right. Can you help please?
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
As we discussed over the email, I'm not sure I can help you here. The required syntax you mention is just not using terms I would recognise from programming the Tasker / locale plugin.
[Android Apps and Games] noone100:
I'm running Auto Brightness on an old Android 5 tablet that does not have a light sensor. Since the last Google Play update I'm facing an issue that the Auto Brightness service stops working twice right after the device has been booted. The service then stays terminated. In the log I see the following exception:

3 20:43:11.715 D/DisplayPowerController( 2550): Animating brightness: target=26, rate=2000 (PSM:false, AB limit:(-1 ~ -1) MB Limit:(-1 ~ -1) MAdj:(0, (0, 255)))
03-03 20:43:11.720 I/velis.camSupport.takePicture( 7165): Taking pic camSH==null: false queue size: 1 takingPic: false mCamera is null: true
03-03 20:43:11.725 W/velis.CameraSupport.takePicture( 7165): taking picture on camera 1 front
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): FATAL EXCEPTION: CameraTakePictureThread
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): Process: com.velis.auto.brightness, PID: 7165
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): java.lang.NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method 'java.lang.Object java.lang.ref.WeakReference.get()' on a null object reference
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): at com.velis.library.d0.b.g(SourceFile:1)
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): at com.velis.auto.brightness.b$b.s(SourceFile:1)
03-03 20:43:11.725 E/AndroidRuntime( 7165): at com.velis.auto.brightness.b$a.run(SourceFile:2)

Does this exception get catched somewhere or might this be the root cause of the service termination?

If I start the app manually after the system is fully started, the service works without issues.

Any help would be highly appreciated!
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
I will try to investigate this. Can't promise though: not sure I properly stored those map files all that time back. I'm having a hard time digging myself out of work in my day job to spend some quality time on VAB. Has been showing for "a while" now. Sorry.
[Android Apps and Games] RandomRegistered:
People who got this app working on Android 12 - how does it behave? What ROM are you on? Doesn't work on CrDroid 8.2 (it's based on LineageOS), can't even open an app.
[Android Apps and Games] velis74:
Starts up on my Pixel 6, though it doesn't work properly. What phone do you have?
[Android Apps and Games] RandomRegistered:
Sorry, it was mistake on my part. I used microG instead of Google Play Services and it didn't come with Play Store, once I installed it the app started to work. Haven't noticed bugs yet. Using the latest alpha from Google drive link. The phone is Redmi 9T.
[Android Apps and Games] Icetea:
@velis74

nice to see, that the further development seems to be possible. I hope you will find more time to continue your work to VAB.

i use VAB on Android 12 without recognizing some problem.