WaveUp

juanitobananas

About this app

WaveUp wakes up your phone—switches the screen on—when you wave over the proximity sensor.

I built this app because I got tired of pressing the power button just to check the time (a surprisingly frequent habit). Inspired by the great Gravity Screen On/Off. I looked for an open-source alternative and just couldn’t find one. So I made it myself!
Checkout the code: https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/wave-up
A possibly more more up-to-date README: https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/wave-up/#waveup

Features

▸ Wave mode: Turns the screen on when you wave over the proximity sensor.
▸ Pocket mode: Turns the screen on when you pull your phone out of a pocket or bag.

Both are enabled by default but can be turned off in settings.

▸ Screen lock: cover the sensor for a second (or your chosen time) and the phone locks. Off by default, but easy to enable.

Wait, what's a proximity sensor?
It’s that invisible little thing near your phone’s earpiece that turns off the screen when you’re on a call.

Known Issues
Some phones keep the CPU running while listening to the proximity sensor and this drains battery (blame your phone, not me). Most phones don’t, so battery use is minimal.

Accessibility Services

▸ Purpose: Starting with Android 9, WaveUp utilizes the Accessibility Services API to allow users to switch off the screen.
▸ Privacy and Security: WaveUp uses the Accessibility Services API exclusively for this purpose and only if the 'lock' option is enabled. No personal data is collected, stored, or shared through this service.
▸ Permission Scope: The Accessibility Services permission is strictly used for enabling the screen lock feature. It does not monitor or interact with any other aspect of device usage.

Permissions (yep, quite a few)

▸ WAKE_LOCK – turn on the screen
▸ RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED – auto-start on boot
▸ READ_PHONE_STATE – pause during calls
▸ BLUETOOTH / CONNECT – avoid pausing when on a Bluetooth call
▸ IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS etc. – stay alive in the background
▸ FORCE_LOCK – lock device (Android 8 and below)
▸ ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE – lock device (Android 9+)
▸ DELETE_PACKAGES – let the app uninstall itself if needed

Uninstalling (Android 8 and older)
WaveUp uses Device Admin permissions, so it won’t uninstall the usual way. Use the 'Uninstall WaveUp' button in the app to remove it properly.

Fun fact

This is my first Android app and my first open-source contribution! I'd love your feedback or help—especially if you're into translations or just enjoy tinkering.
Open source rocks!

Translations

Help translate WaveUp! Even the English version could use improvements.
https://explore.transifex.com/juanitobananas/waveup/
https://explore.transifex.com/juanitobananas/libcommon/

Acknowledgments
Thanks to all who contributed: https://gitlab.com/juanitobananas/wave-up/#acknowledgments

Ratings and reviews

Pretty good. Works most of the time and doesn't seem to impact my battery life much (thank goodness, because the Samsung GS6 has a tiny battery). However, the app sometimes... I don't know... it goes to sleep or something and stops working. So all day long it will work as intended, but if I don't touch my phone for an hour or so it just won't work at all until I open the app. I suspect my phone is putting the app to sleep, but I already disabled battery management for this app, so I don't know what's going on. Other than that, it's perfect!

If it would consistently work, it would be exactly what I want. Sometimes the pocket mode works, other times no. Sometimes the 1 wave works, other times no. I'll be the 1st to admit I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'd be curious to find out if others have experienced same issues. I have Android 10 on the Moto2052. If it makes a difference, I'm using the wallet style case cover to simulate the pocket. I really do like this app & thank you for your work.

This app is great! No ads at all and all you have to do is to enable it and there you go. The only problem is that when I wave up, It just doesn't listen but it's actually fine! It's not too frequent and maybe it's just because it's a bit dark and can't see my hand. Also, I lost my phone's Power button so I downloaded this app and it helped! I really like it, thanks for making the app.

What’s new

New in 3.2.33

★ Update Arabic and Russian translations.

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New in 3.2.31

★ Fixed screen not turning on when a wave is detected in some cases.
★ App list now shows a loading spinner on startup instead of appearing empty.
★ App list loads faster.

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New in 3.2.17
★ Remove 'Excluded apps' option (Google Play only). F-Droid ones remain fully functional. Google doesn't allow WaveUp to read installed apps, which is necessary for this.

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