Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app

In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..

Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?

All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
when I get up.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA
https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

> Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
>
> In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
> I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
> is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
> over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
> the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
> was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
> 2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..
>
> Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
> need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?
>
> All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
> alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
> up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
> settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
> when I get up.

The Samsung proximity sensors is both an infrared light-emitting and
light-recieving sensor. Infrared light reflected from physical objects
is used to measure distance between objects and phone. It is way your
phone's screen turns off when you hold your phone close to your ear to
save power, and eliminate accidental touches.

Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.

Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?

How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?

Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
the proximity sensor.

I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts,
alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
>
> In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
> I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. The description
> is "Mute incoming calls and alarms by putting your hand
> over the screen or turning your phone face down." I put
> the phone face down on my nightstand, and at midnight
> was awakened by a text message. It happened again about
> 2:30 AM, and that was it for my night's sleep..
>
> Am I missing something -- is there some other setting I
> need to adjust? Or does the feature just not work?
>
> All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
> alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
> up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
> settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
> when I get up.

There seems to be a conflict between what the settings says and what
you want. It doesn't mention 'text messages' (assuming you mean SMS),
which you do want to mute, and does mention alarms , which you do not
want to mute.

Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb',
either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
in case you go to sleep early.

On 10 Oct 2023 13:52:41 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
>
> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> > Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
> >
> > In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
> > I have "Mute with gestures" turned on. [but it doesn't
> > behave as I wanted and expected]
> >
> > All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
> > alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
> > up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
> > settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
> > when I get up.
>
> There seems to be a conflict between what the settings says and what
> you want. It doesn't mention 'text messages' (assuming you mean SMS),
> which you do want to mute, and does mention alarms , which you do not
> want to mute.
>
> Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb',
> either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
> toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
> in case you go to sleep early.

Thanks, Frank. You're absolutely right. I couldn't believe that
"calls and alarms" really meant calls and alarms because silencing
them while allowing text messages to make noise seemed utterly
useless. And I was stuck in my assumption that what you get by
putting the phone on a table is do not disturb, as it was on my
previous phone (Moto e5+), but that was fuzzy thinking on my part.

Following your lead, I found "do not disturb" (DND) already present
in the Quick Panel (a/k/a "Quick Settings"). It's not quite as
convenient as simply putting the phone down upside down, but more
convenient than navigating the Settings menu at least once every 24
hours.

Thanks for setting me straight.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
>
> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
> > Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
> >
> > In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
> > I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.
> >
> > All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
> > alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
> > up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
> > settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
> > when I get up.
>
> Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
> or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
> surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
> absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.
>
> Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?
>
> How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?
>
> Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
> settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
> the proximity sensor.

Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
(probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
cover.

Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it
"armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
"proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.
> I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
> phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts,
> alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
> be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
> flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.

That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
posting.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:

> On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>
>>> Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
>>>
>>> In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
>>> I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.
>>>
>>> All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
>>> alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
>>> up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
>>> settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
>>> when I get up.
>>
>> Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
>> or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
>> surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
>> absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.
>>
>> Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?
>>
>> How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?
>>
>> Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
>> settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
>> the proximity sensor.
>
> Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
> (probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
> cover.
>
> Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it
> "armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
> "proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.
>
>> I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
>> phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts,
>> alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
>> be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
>> flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.
>
> That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
> myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
> posting.

From my online reading of the Samsung A54, it has the following sensors:

Accelerometer
Compass (magnometer)
Gyroscope
Fingerprint (optical under display)
Barometer (USA only)

See https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a54-12070.php. I don't know
what "virtual proximity sensing" means. From reading, virtual proximity
sensors means there is no physical/hardware proximity sensor. They gyro
and accelerometer are used to detect when you place the phone near your
ear. Alas, virtual proximity sensing is unreliable. For example, users
complain of the phone trying to unlock, like when bicycling or riding in
a car, and tries so many times that your phone locks up due to violating
the maximum number of login attempts.

The online articles are somewhat unclear if the A54 has a real or
virtual proximity sensor. The A52 and A53 were virtual. Seems the A54
is also virtual.

Also, proximity sensing may only be used to determine when to save
battery power, like when the phone is near your ear or face-down on a
table, but may not interfere with making noise for calls, texts, and
notifications. Depends on what the phone maker decided to link which
events or behaviors to their [virtual] proximity sensing.

In the settings, the word "proximity" may not be used. For example,
there is a Pocket Mode setting that helps prevent accidental input from
what would otherwise be detected as touches. The phone would have to
detect it is in your pocket which means the proximity sensor gets used.

https://www.samsung.com/in/support/mobile-devices/how-does-the-proximity-sensor-works/

That shows where is the under-display location of the hardware proximity
sensor in some Samsung smartphones near the earpiece. They also mention
it can detect the angle of the phone, like if it is within so many
degrees from vertical to know when the phone is near your ear, or laying
on a table. However, the video talks about a real sensor, not a virtual
one trying to combine 2 other sensors (gyro and acceleromter). With a
real sensor, you can place your finger or hand over the location of the
under-display sensor to get the phone to turn off the screen. You
already said you tried putting your hand over the screen (presumably
where would be the location of the under-display sensor), and that did
not work, so it looks like you're stuck with Samsung combining 2 sensors
to make up for not adding a real proximity sensor.

In the Phone app -> menu -> [call] settings, is there an option to "Turn
off screen during calls"?

Samsung notes that screen protectors will interfere with a hardware
proximity sensor, and recommends peeling them off. Possibly a screen
protector designed specifically for the A54 model would have an opening
in front of the proximity sensor location under the display, but then it
looks like the A54 doesn't have a real proximity sensor. I've looked at
a couple of A54 screen protectors, and there is no hole in the guard
where would be the under-display sensor's location further evidencing
there is no real proximity sensor on the A54. Or, screen protector
makers never leave a hole there hoping they won't interfere with real
proximity sensors.

If you're sleeping at the same hours, what about using the DND (Do Not
Disturb) setting? You can configure during which hours the phone
remains silent. Callers go straight to voicemail. Notifications, like
for texts, should also be squelched during DND. If you don't want to
schedule hours during which DND is active, you can swipe down (once or
twice) from the top of the screen to see the various options, like
tapping on a DND icon (mine looks like a hazard symbol that is crossed
out when not active). You could enable/disable DND from the swipe menu
on demand.

For my ancient phone, DND has its own settings on what it will block.

- Total silence, or priority only (allows alarms & priority alerts).
- Priorities: App notifications (select which apps that generate
notifications can make noise), Calls from (Contacts), Repeated calls
(silence 2nd, and later, calls from same caller within 15 minutes),
and Messages (Contacts) aka texts.
- Schedule automatic DND enable. I have mine at 11PM to 7AM every day.
You can have multiple schedules, like one for weekdays, and another
for weekends. I just use the same schedule for every day.

Manual DND is also handy for silencing your phone in the theater, doctor
office, class, seminar, meeting, etc. I use it instead of Airplane
mode, because when I disable Airplane mode the Bluetooth radio doesn't
come back active (and I want my phone linked to my car). Because my
menu screen (swipe down) has 2 levels (basic, all), I moved the DND icon
before the Airplane icon since I prefer DND over Airplane.

VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote:

> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:17:42 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
>>>
>>> Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Samsung Galaxy A54, Android 13, Google Messaging app
>>>>
>>>> In Settings > Advanced Features > Motions and Gestures,
>>>> I have "Mute with gestures" turned on.
>>>>
>>>> All I want to do is use the phone to wake me with an
>>>> alarm, but not make any other sounds until I pick it
>>>> up. I would hope I don't need to change multiple
>>>> settings before I go to sleep and then change them back
>>>> when I get up.
>>>
>>> Is it a glass table (transparent)? Or a shiny surface (mirror)? Clear
>>> or shiny surfaces make distance approximation difficult. Or is the
>>> surface opaque? If opaque, is it white or dark? Dark matte surfaces
>>> absorb infrared. No idea what the nightstand has for a top surface.
>>>
>>> Do you have a protective cover on the screen? How about an armor case?
>>>
>>> How dirty is the screen? Is the screen cracked?
>>>
>>> Is the proximity sensor enabled? On some phones, you go to Android
>>> settings -> Display -> Proximity Sensor where you can enable or disable
>>> the proximity sensor.
>>
>> Those were good questions. The night stand is wood veneer over
>> (probably) particleboard, a kind of light oak color. There's no glass
>> cover.
>>
>> Yes to screen protector, yes to rubber case though I wouldn't call it
>> "armor". Screen is not cracked and not visibly dirty. I searched
>> "proximity" (no quotes) in Settings, but there were no results.
>>
>>> I don't about your phone, but the "flip to silence" feature on some
>>> phones only mutes the phone on incoming calls. Nothing else. So texts,
>>> alarms, and other sound events still make noise. For example, it would
>>> be useless to set an alarm on the phone to wake you up, but the mute on
>>> flip feature would prevent sounding the alarm, so you oversleep.
>>
>> That's the answer. See my reply to Frank Slootweg for how I confused
>> myself. But now I'm straightened out. Thanks to both of you for
>> posting.
>
> From my online reading of the Samsung A54, it has the following sensors:
>
> Accelerometer
> Compass (magnometer)
> Gyroscope
> Fingerprint (optical under display)
> Barometer (USA only)
>
> See https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a54-12070.php. I don't know
> what "virtual proximity sensing" means. From reading, virtual proximity
> sensors means there is no physical/hardware proximity sensor. They gyro
> and accelerometer are used to detect when you place the phone near your
> ear. Alas, virtual proximity sensing is unreliable. For example, users
> complain of the phone trying to unlock, like when bicycling or riding in
> a car, and tries so many times that your phone locks up due to violating
> the maximum number of login attempts.
>
> The online articles are somewhat unclear if the A54 has a real or
> virtual proximity sensor. The A52 and A53 were virtual. Seems the A54
> is also virtual.
>
> Also, proximity sensing may only be used to determine when to save
> battery power, like when the phone is near your ear or face-down on a
> table, but may not interfere with making noise for calls, texts, and
> notifications. Depends on what the phone maker decided to link which
> events or behaviors to their [virtual] proximity sensing.
>
> In the settings, the word "proximity" may not be used. For example,
> there is a Pocket Mode setting that helps prevent accidental input from
> what would otherwise be detected as touches. The phone would have to
> detect it is in your pocket which means the proximity sensor gets used.
>
> https://www.samsung.com/in/support/mobile-devices/how-does-the-proximity-sensor-works/
>
> That shows where is the under-display location of the hardware proximity
> sensor in some Samsung smartphones near the earpiece. They also mention
> it can detect the angle of the phone, like if it is within so many
> degrees from vertical to know when the phone is near your ear, or laying
> on a table. However, the video talks about a real sensor, not a virtual
> one trying to combine 2 other sensors (gyro and acceleromter). With a
> real sensor, you can place your finger or hand over the location of the
> under-display sensor to get the phone to turn off the screen. You
> already said you tried putting your hand over the screen (presumably
> where would be the location of the under-display sensor), and that did
> not work, so it looks like you're stuck with Samsung combining 2 sensors
> to make up for not adding a real proximity sensor.
>
> In the Phone app -> menu -> [call] settings, is there an option to "Turn
> off screen during calls"?
>
> Samsung notes that screen protectors will interfere with a hardware
> proximity sensor, and recommends peeling them off. Possibly a screen
> protector designed specifically for the A54 model would have an opening
> in front of the proximity sensor location under the display, but then it
> looks like the A54 doesn't have a real proximity sensor. I've looked at
> a couple of A54 screen protectors, and there is no hole in the guard
> where would be the under-display sensor's location further evidencing
> there is no real proximity sensor on the A54. Or, screen protector
> makers never leave a hole there hoping they won't interfere with real
> proximity sensors.
>
> If you're sleeping at the same hours, what about using the DND (Do Not
> Disturb) setting? You can configure during which hours the phone
> remains silent. Callers go straight to voicemail. Notifications, like
> for texts, should also be squelched during DND. If you don't want to
> schedule hours during which DND is active, you can swipe down (once or
> twice) from the top of the screen to see the various options, like
> tapping on a DND icon (mine looks like a hazard symbol that is crossed
> out when not active). You could enable/disable DND from the swipe menu
> on demand.
>
> For my ancient phone, DND has its own settings on what it will block.
>
> - Total silence, or priority only (allows alarms & priority alerts).
> - Priorities: App notifications (select which apps that generate
> notifications can make noise), Calls from (Contacts), Repeated calls
> (silence 2nd, and later, calls from same caller within 15 minutes),
> and Messages (Contacts) aka texts.
> - Schedule automatic DND enable. I have mine at 11PM to 7AM every day.
> You can have multiple schedules, like one for weekdays, and another
> for weekends. I just use the same schedule for every day.
>
> Manual DND is also handy for silencing your phone in the theater, doctor
> office, class, seminar, meeting, etc. I use it instead of Airplane
> mode, because when I disable Airplane mode the Bluetooth radio doesn't
> come back active (and I want my phone linked to my car). Because my
> menu screen (swipe down) has 2 levels (basic, all), I moved the DND icon
> before the Airplane icon since I prefer DND over Airplane.

I just noticed Franks mentioned the DND feature. Using the menu screen
(swipe down) to tap the DND icon isn't quite as convenient as automatic
muting when putting the phone onto a table, but it's not that much more
a nuisance. I was using the DND icon in the menu screen for quite a
while before I dug into the settings for DND which allows me define
schedules, like when I'm sleeping. But the manual DND icon is still
handy when you need the phone to shut up, like in a meeting, theater,
doctor's office, in a class, etc.

Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> On 10 Oct 2023 13:52:41 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
[...]

> > Anyway, why don't you just use (Notifications ->) 'Do not disturb',
> > either manually or on a Schedule? You can move the 'Do not disturb'
> > toggle to your main 'Quick panel', so it's easy to switch on manually,
> > in case you go to sleep early.

[...]
> Following your lead, I found "do not disturb" (DND) already present
> in the Quick Panel (a/k/a "Quick Settings"). It's not quite as
> convenient as simply putting the phone down upside down, but more
> convenient than navigating the Settings menu at least once every 24
> hours.

Just in case you missed it or/and I wasn't clear, you don't have to
toggle 'Do not disturb' on the 'Quick panel' if you have a more or less
fixed sleep schedule. If so, you can set a (do not disturb) sleep
Schedule:

Settings -> Notifications -> Do not disturb -> Schedule

There you can set a Schedule start and end time, etc. and then flip
the adjacent switch to on.

So there are *two* functions, 'Do not disturb' and 'Schedule', which
are seperate functions.

If you are on your set sleep schedule, you don't have to do anything.

If you're not on your set sleep schedule - for example go to bed
earlier or want to sleep later -, you can change the schedule or use 'Do
not disturb' instead of or in addition to 'Schedule'. For 'Do not
disturb' you can set the 'For how long?' time, so that can easily
override or one time replace the 'Schedule'.

> Thanks for setting me straight.

You're welcome!

BUT I should follow my own advice, because last night I was woken by a
series of WhatsApp messages/photos from our relatives in Australia (9
hours ahead of our NL time)! :-) So I have some configuring to do!

On 11 Oct 2023 12:43:10 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> BUT I should follow my own advice, because last night I was woken by a
> series of WhatsApp messages/photos from our relatives in Australia (9
> hours ahead of our NL time)! :-) So I have some configuring to do!
>

I have a lesser version of the same problem. My brother and sister
are three hours ahead of me, and they love sending out group texts
early in the morning (for them), which is the middle of the night for
me. That, and my bank sending alerts around midnight (my time) for
activity during the previous day.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

On 11 Oct 2023 12:43:10 GMT, Frank Slootweg wrote:
> Just in case you missed it or/and I wasn't clear, you don't have to
> toggle 'Do not disturb' on the 'Quick panel' if you have a more or less
> fixed sleep schedule.

I didn't miss it, but I didn't comment because my sleep schedule is
very inconsistent from one night to the next.

For the same reason, I don't program my thermostat but adjust the
temp as needed when I go to bed and when I get up.

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...