Locus Map Gold is too dark

[freischneider]

I think we're getting away from the problem now.

The problem does not occur in the shade, at dusk or at night, but when I use the app during the day and the sun is shining.

Otherwise there are no brightness problems.

Apparently Menion has now recognized the problem, which in my opinion should occur with all Samsung users (see his article).

I hope he can find a solution. In any case, LM 4 cannot be used on Samsung devices.

I used my Blackview 9700 pro yesterday. LM 4 runs great here and does not differ in brightness from LM 3.

Thats not really correct. I use LM4 on Samsung S8. I have 100% brightness at sun. Not as described only 75%.
If the problem occurs with you, what have you been in% for a brightness. I'm still thinking about Samsung.

[michaelbechtold]

Agreed, freischneider.
I just reran my test in bright sunlight. No difference of absolute brightness between LM4 and LMP on my S10, regardless of %.
Definitely not all Samsungs suffer from this problem, only some - fortunately.
However, with Menions analysis of code in mind, I would assume there is some weird "optimization" on Samsung Android side that tries to do good, but turns bad in reality. Today, too many things happen under the hood in both, Android and iOS, claiming to "help" users ... but backfire in detail.
Fingers crossed.
Cheers
Michael

[Holger]

Interesting how everyone tests the settings on the device.
Why does you change the settings? If both apps show different results in equal settings, it can not be on the device!
That can not be it! I tried LMPRO and LM4 in parallel and individually. Without changing anything to the device settings. It gets really clear in the car. LMPro is easy to read at any time while driving. But with LM4 hardly a cache can be seen.
Since it has always been tested with the same settings, it can only be LM4.

[Wole]

Hello Freischneider, hello michaelbechtold,
I think you still don't understand the problem. The point is not to measure whether LM 4 has 100 or 75% brightness, but that LM 3 can be read much better in bright sunlight than LM 4 (without changing the settings).

As Holger says, it can only be due to the app, because otherwise the brightness should be identical.

LM 4 is actually unusable in bright sun.

Menion himself has now found that out.

Apparently you only ever compare LM 4. Install both variants and then compare in bright sunlight. LM 4 shows the full bar for the brightness, but is not readable.

In this respect, Holger is absolutely right.

Why are we still discussing here when Menion has recognized the problem and hopefully is looking for a solution.

We can only get ahead with one of these.

[michaelbechtold]

Holger, wole,
the manual brightness settings were an interesting observation that COULD contribute to the issue resp. its understanding. Hence worth evaluating. But that is not the essence of the findings!
Of course the ABSOLUTE, VISUAL brightness is of relevance in practical terms.
And this is what I tested - in darkness, and in bright sun.
No difference in brightness between LM4 and LMP with manual max in the night - nor with max triggered by direct sun!
Hence having a Samsung device does NOT mean that you have this problem.
And as the Locus App code itself for the devices is the same, the difference most probably is in the device dependent libraries - and its inteference of settings, AI, optimization, all this jungle that is hard or near impossible to debug from outside.
Maybe Menion nevertheless has an idea to analyze deeper.
Cheers
Michael

[freischneider]

Jack Russel has written so with him the brightness is not 100%. He is only at 75%

So you have a display 100% and still badly readable? ?

I think it's a Samsung .... as Michael says.
Samsung presents different settings, depending on which app, time, etc. is used.

How do you see the samung settings from: Smart Stay and Adaptive Brightness.
Are these both disabled?

[michaelbechtold]

I just did a bit of Google towards Samsung and brightness.
One advise was to try resetting all SETTINGS (not the whole device!!!) Fromer may still be a pain, but maybe someone can try on an affected phone?

[Wole]

Jack Russel has written so with him the brightness is not 100%. He is only at 75%

So you have a display 100% and still badly readable? ?

I think it's a Samsung .... as Michael says.
Samsung presents different settings, depending on which app, time, etc. is used.

How do you see the samung settings from: Smart Stay and Adaptive Brightness.
Are these both disabled?

Both functions are deactivated.

It may be that the problem lies with the Samsung, but why not with LM 3? This app from the same developer runs perfectly on the Samsung with the same settings.

Another interesting attempt in the living room last night. The sun was shining through the window from behind. I took my Samsung S 21 ultra and opened some apps:
All apps got brighter after opening, only LM 4 got darker. I repeated the experiment several times, always with the same result.

To be honest, I don't really care whether it's just the Samsung or the app. Samsung is not an exotic product that is only used by a few.

I expect a solution from the developer, otherwise I will certainly not extend my subscription, but will continue to work with the old, very good app.

[JackRussel]

Jack Russel has written so with him the brightness is not 100%. He is only at 75%

On both Smartphones (S7, S20) is the brightness 100%. Immediately the brightness drops to 75% within 30 seconds. But I do not know the exact brightness (75%, 65 %, ?). Not readable in the sun, you can see the darkened display in the shade.
The controller is still at 100%.

When I put LM4 in the background, the brightness rises to 100% within 30 sec.

For my tests, all energy-saving modes were deactivated.

Next Test. On my S7, all energy-saving modes are activated. LM3 is on Android 8 preferences App "optimized". LM3 has no problems and stays on max brightness. LM4 on my S7 = problems.

But even in the shade you can see the difference. However, it is not immediately noticeable.
The display is darker, but remains readable.

For my last tour I used LM3  (on my S20). The display remained at 100%. I no longer knew this brightness. Wonderful.
Max. brightness and all is easy readable. The whole time.

In my opinion, the problem has other causes. This is what you should pay attention to.

It is not the one Android version or one Device. Different devices (for me S7 and S20, for Wole different devices) , different Android versions (8 and 11 and perhaps other versions).

The problme is not "one" Android version or "one" Device (for example only Samsung S20).
The problem or context is the difference. And not all devices are affected. Why ?

The next consideration. Samsung will bring a comprehensive update in 2 months. But the S7 or S8 will not get this update. So a Samsung update does not help.

In this different one would have to search (perhaps LM3 to LM4 or what LM4 functions concerns "many" Android versions )

I know. That is not easy. Sorry.

[JackRussel]

Interesting how everyone tests the settings on the device.
Why does you change the settings? If both apps show different results in equal settings, it can not be on the device!

That´s correct But it may be a help for Menion to find the reason.

[JackRussel]

Hence having a Samsung device does NOT mean that you have this problem.
And as the Locus App code itself for the devices is the same, the difference most probably is in the device dependent libraries - and its inteference of settings, AI, optimization, all this jungle that is hard or near impossible to debug from outside.
Maybe Menion nevertheless has an idea to analyze deeper.

I do not think so.

Topic same Code : Then the problem should exist with LM4 and LM3.

Topic device dependent libraries :
Then the problem with the devices should change, for example : On S7 max. brightness stays with LM4 and not on my S20 or with Andorid 11 max. brightness stays and not with Android 8.

There are too many different devices libraries are affected. But overall few devices.
Or only few people noticed that LM3 had more brightness. Just like with me.

I initially thought that the poor visibility was normal with LM4.
After LM4 and now with LM3 it is a difference like day and night.

[Menion]

I've spent on this weird issue almost whole day ... and I still have no idea, sorry.

The issue happens to me as well on mentioned SGS7. The nice test is a slider with the brightness that does not react in LM4 in last red segment ... wtf 

[Wole]

Thanks Menion for clarifying once again that the problem is with the Samsung devices.

If you read some posts, you already lose faith in yourself.

Even if I repeat myself, I found the problem with the S 6, S 8, S 10+ and the S 21 ultra, so you can really say that it exists with all Samsung devices.

It would be nice if you could solve the problem, because I want to continue using both LM 4 and my Samsung devices. I also believe that Samsung is not an exotic product, but is used by many users.

Of course, it is astonishing why so few reports are received. Either the users have never used LM 3, so that a direct comparison is missing, or they do not attach particular importance to readability in bright sunlight, but only record the tours.

[michaelbechtold]

Hi Wole,
definitely no need to lose faith, but rather look at the very details of the fact collection.

There is an impressive collection of Samsung MODELS that MAY suffer from the issue (you named them below).
But NOT ALL of the DEVICES of those models suffer the issue!

So, same Samsung model, but different behaviour - with the exact same software (as far we can tell - there is a lot of jungle beneath the surface and the app code of a smartphone).

And we can assume that the issue is not hitting the majority of the devices of those models. Otherwise there would be much more complaints. And believe me, if my Samsungs were affected, I would be loud and clear (Menion knows a bit of that :-)

Up to now, nobody knows what differentiates a device of the same model having the problem from one that does not suffer.

A typical strategy in IT for such situations is to revert to a safe ground. Which here can mean two things:
1) a factory reset: heavy impact to the user (and not yet done yet, if I screened all the thread pages correctly). Only realistic for devices not regularly used. Maybe someone has such.
After restart NOT apply Google recovery of ANY kind. ONLY install LMP and LM4 and then re-test.
2) an Android SETTINGS reset, which should be possible at least in newer Android releases on Samsung devices. To be accurate and take out assumptions as far as possible, backup the SETTINGS in LMP and LM4. Import settings of the other kind to LMP or LM4. Test. Then use the other settings backup for both, LMP and LM4. Test.

After 4 decades in IT and SW trouble shooting I learned to not believe in magic. Not regarding the root causes, nor for the remedy of issues. But that it can be tedious, lenghty, yet SYSTEMATIC work.

Good luck and cheers
Michael

[JackRussel]

Next Test :

I have LM4 installed on a friend's S7. Same problem.
New and clean install. No own profil. Max. manual brightness.

I have disabled most google services on my S20 and S7.
The S7 of my friend has no restrictions, other preferences and other apps.

Now I have 3 Devices with problems (2x Samsung S7 and 1x Samsung S20).
I have tested all Devices with a brigthness meter.

All devices have a different max. brightness.
But all devices have the same dimming. 35% darker than max brightness (34-36%)

There is a reason why many user do not report. It is hardly noticeable under normal conditions.
Only in direct Sunshine is the Display unreadable. But LM4 is a Outdoor app.