ShakeFlashlight

Zenith Astronomy Ltd

About this app

Features:
Simple UI - only needed for configuration.
Lightweight - minimal battery usage.
Tunable detection settings.
Free - No adds, No mobile/cell data usage, No personal data collection, No analytics, No ID, login or registration. The only data stored locally is the preferences you set in the app.
Works from locked / powered down screen.
Optional auto start for load on reboot.

Red Light mode:
Intended for Astronomy use where red light can help preserve your eye's dark adaptation. Volume buttons control brightness and this is a stored setting.
Note: Red Light mode started from a powered off screen requires a touch to exit. Exiting in this state will show your lock screen which may be brighter than the red screen. To preserve dark adaptation it is recommended to touch the power button to hide rather than exit this mode. You can then unlock and exit the red screen at a later time after your observing session. This is due to a deliberate security restriction within Android that prevents apps from turning off the screen.

Permissions:
This is why the app requires each permission.
- Camera, required to access the flash light
- Notifications, required to run the shake detection as a background service
- Overlay, optional, only required to draw the red light mode screen over other apps.

Notification:
When the service is running a notification is displayed in the status bar. This is a requirement for running a background service in Android. The notification icon has the addition of a start when the Red Light Mode is toggled on.

Device optimisation:
You control the detection parameters - shake count, sensitivity, total gesture time, and time between detections.
It may be necessary to set battery/power/background optimisation exclusion for this app to function from a screen off state. This is dependant on your specific phone manufactures optimisations and customisations.

Motivation:
Inspired by the Motorola "Fast Flashlight" feature and disappointed by the alternatives available, I decided to write my own app. As I development progressed I realised that I could combine this functionality with my Astronomy hobby to provide a convenient Red Light mode for dark adaption preservation.

Background:
I am not a professional coder. I have made extensive use of several AI tools to write and optimise the code and inspire the iconography. I am a contributor to several open source projects, particularly in the field of Astronomy. I intend to open source this application once it is released.

What’s new

Beta 1. All features available.