Either download it directly on the projector, or copy it to a USB stick, then use the File Manager to install the .apk.
After installing it will show up as a new app called “Launcher Beta” with its own settings (well, just the wallpaper).
To remove, just uninstall it.
What is changed
Alpha 1
battery level (percentage) is displayed next to the icon when not charging.
if you press up from the apps list, you’ll see what’s supposed to be the new built-in settings section. Here you’ll see the time remaining when on battery, and percentage charged when plugged in.
the charging icon is changed, now no longer shows the 3 bars, but just a “charging” icon.
the 3 bars in the battery icon, when discharging, now matches the settings app.
New in alpha 2
Battery time remaining estimate should now better match reality
There are also a bunch of shortcuts added for various parts of the settings screen. To access them, just go up from the apps list. Note that the graphic design is not finished, it’ll be in alpha3 or perhaps directly in v1.1.0
The “AirPlay” shortcut will now take you back to the mirrored screen in case you “lost” it. If nothing is being mirrored it’ll show AirPlay settings.
You can switch between 12-hour and 24-hour time format regardless of language setting. Just click the clock, or go up to it with the cursor keys and press OK on it to toggle.
What to test
I’d like to continue getting feedback on how accurate the “time remaining” is.
Also any feedback on the settings shortcuts, what would you like to rearrange or remove? My opinion is that too many shortcuts are present and some can be removed.
Thanks.
PS: as it’s a test version the new feature is only available in English at the moment.
I tested this a bit last night. Battery estimates were all over the place. First check with 100% battery, right after switching off the USB PD power supply: 136 hours estimated life! In some cases, while letting the screensaver “colors” be shown, or playing a video from local SMB source for 15+ minutes, I would go back to the home screen, and the battery life estimate would be longer after some battery % used up, not shorter.
So yes, I would agree with the suspicion that this battery estimation method is not accurate.
I do, however, really like the battery percentage display, so do keep that!
This is expected as the power usage goes lower, remaining time can get higher. E.g. when you switch from normal to eco mode or stop using a power-hungry app.
FYI, the included Firefox browser on the PPM does not actually download / save files from the wetransfer site. Either PPM should include a more feature complete browser, or pick a different file transfer site. Having to download to a separate device and transfer to the PPM is unnecessary extra steps. Help us help you test!
Battery indicator in the settings app still doesn’t show that it’s charging. It’s fully charge though so not sure what to expect but the point is the battery indicator in home and the settings app are different.
Not sure how the new quick settings/menu will look or work but my initial reaction is that it will be difficult/harder to reach it if I have many apps and I’m somewhere in the middle or the bottom. Maybe it’s better to put the trigger on the sides? Actually I’m thinking the side bar for the current settings would be a good place for the quick settings.
The gray “Start-End” line is the linear, mathematical prediction line extrapolating from the start of battery-powered operations to the actual shutdown moment
The blue “Remaining time” line plots the remaining time as indicated on the launcher screen against the battery percentage indicated.
The orange “Deviation” line plots the deviation of the predicted time from the actual shutdown time, against the battery percentage indicated.
I performed a FW update to 1.0.29 between 00:26 and 00:33, which most likely accounts for the wonky datapoints around that time. For the rest of the night I used Kodi to watch some 480p content streaming from my Synology NAS using a 5GHz WiFi network, while listening to the audio via Sony WH-1000XM3 BT headphones.
The graph shows that initially the predictions are a bit off, and as usual get better as the battery level drops further.
I have also made some measures today. Quite consistent with @IvoGrijt insights.
Mine were done with normal mode, 1.0.29, playing Netflix (5GHz wifi) and muted. Battery last 2h47min
In my opinion, it would be better to have a prediction which is a little bit more pessimistic than the reality :
Nobody will be frustrated to have a little bit more juice than predicted, but the contrary will maybe interrupt a cool experience and worry people…
Thanks for the super useful testing, guys! You’re awesome!
So it seems there’s consistent overestimation in the beginning, which gets more accurate towards the end. I’ll adjust the slope and send another update.
@Philips_Support_P can you reupload the APK? I’m facing more and more weird behavior in battery mode and would like to test a bit more:
A few minutes ago I started again a Netflix Video (battery icon showed 2 “bars”) and 2 minutes later the PPM shut down immediately. This happen so often that it doesnt feel normal.
ok this needs to be fixed.
!
