Light Flow LED Control [Android App Review]

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I absolutely adore my Galaxy Nexus. It's fast, has a gorgeous screen, and perhaps most of all, has a notification LED that supports more than three colors. While that might sound a tad bit ridiculous, when I caught wind of the fact that I could potentially have a custom LED color for specific types of notifications, I clicked my heels with joy.
Enter Light Flow LED Control. If all you want to do is customize your LED colors, you'll get all that and more out of Light Flow.
Once you've opened up the app, you're presented with a pretty bland menu screen. You've got general settings, a list of additional apps Light Flow supports that you don't have installed, and even a tools menu, but notifications is where the magic really happens.
Hop into the notifications menu and you're greeted with a pre-populated list of notifications your phone can already handle and what color the LED will flash for them. Changing an LED color is as easy as pie. Select the notification you want to change and you'll move into a notification-specific menu.
Within this menu you can turn the notification on and off, designate what clears the notification, and most importantly, select your color. Light Flow boasts an impressive list of colors (18 plus the ability to have a custom color), so in the event you've got more than 18 notifications you want to customize, you're not out in the cold.
You can also set how quickly the LED will flash and how long it will last before automatically turning off, and if you're so inclined, enable sounds and vibration patterns. It's very cool for Light Flow to give you the option, but be aware: the sounds and notifications you set within Light Flow can conflict with the standard notifications, so you'll either have to turn one set off or deal with double of everything.
If you're curious what the various colors look like, Light Flow has an "all enabled LEDs test" within the tools menu. It's cool to look at, fun to show off with, and if you're just getting started, the fastest way to get an idea of what all the colors show up as on your phone, so you can get your notifications set the first time.
If you're as OCD as I am about controlling your phone (or just like the idea of having lots of cool, custom colored LEDs), then Light Flow LED Control is the app for you. It's got a simple, easy-to-use interface, supports more than 200 applications, and essentially works like a charm.
Light Flow LED Control is $1.99 in the Google Play Store. We've got download links after the break.
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Since going from the Nexus One to the Nexus S I REALLY missed the LED Notifications, so I was very happy to see it back with my Galaxy Nexus.
I love this App & can't go back to an Android device that lacks LED Notifications! -
I agree, great app on the Galaxy Nexus and I've become so dependent on Light Flow (especially at work) that it could keep me from moving to the HTC One X if its LCD doesn't support multiple colors.
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I love this app too, but it doesn't seem to work for calendar notification on my Galaxy Nexus. How about you?
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tried this on my Evo 3D. it doesnt work so hot when you only have two colors. in fact, it screws up the timing of the normal notifications, makes it blink on and off instantly. just wanted to let people know, its useless unless you know you have more that 2 colors.
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thanks. i was tempted to try this on my OG EVO but will pass.
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They used to have a free "lite" version of the app, but I think the OG EVO used HTC's half-assed LED too.
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Yeah, I hate that about HTC. I loved this app on my Droid X. I used separate color notifications each for SMS/MMS, e-mails, missed calls/voicemails, Google Voice, Google+/Twitter, Facebook, & Words with Friends. It was great because if I came back to my desk & saw a blinking notification I would know without looking if it was potentially something I needed to deal with right then or could wait. The app even allowed for separate color notifications based on an individual contact. On my HTC device, all I have is green & red.
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PSA: This app requires basically TOTAL access to your device, which makes sense given its functionality, *but* certainly should be highlighted here as it has major security and privacy implications. Take a look at all the permissions a user must agree to: https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F... I'm hoping Google releases something similar, as trusting this third-party developer with total access to my device completely outweighs any benefits this app may provide.
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The app doesn't have internet access, so it can't do anything with the access.
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Just because it can't transmit doesn't mean it can't wreak havoc. I installed the paid version and its asking for root access left and right. Hopefully it doesn't do anything bad, but it would have been nice to know.
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This is a great app, but it doesn't work 100% of the time. There are times that I get a notification and the LED doesn't blink. Vibrations are spotty as well.
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thanks. was going to load this on my new G-Nex but will pass. i need 100% reliability for notifications.
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I've been using this with my G-Nex for about 6 months now, and it's never missed a notification. It works 100% of the time for me.
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Same with me on my Droid X for over a year. This app is flawless.
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It works 100% of the time. Its an amazing app. you can set up a color for each contact in your contacts so you know who called or text you. Any issues or errors are user errors not the app. Everyone with a Nexus HAS to get this app
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This app made me love my Nexus all over again when I downloaded back in January. I'm glad to see it, however simple in concept, get the recognition it deserves.
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This is my single favorite Android app in terms of functionality. Motorola phones are the bomb when it comes to LEDs. My Admiral can use something like 15 different colors and the app has been working 100% of the time for months now. Worth every penny x 10.
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I started using Light Flow when I upgraded my DX to Gingerbread. Someone forgot to make sure the LED notifications worked correctly (looking at you Motorola). It's absolutly wonderful! I can look at the LED and see if I got an email, text, or package update (I do a lot of shipping for my company). I can also feel it too with the vibration patterns. And the dev is amazing! I had a problem with the app where it just wasn't working properly. Not only was he fast in responding, but he also created a custom version for me to use until he could find a permenant fix and update the official app. Talk about service. This is definatly an app I will take with me to my new phone when I retire my DX.
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How did you get a proper menu icon in your soft-button list?! That looks so much better. I'm on 4.0.4. I'm assuming that's a custom ROM? AOKP or CM9 Kang?
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It's an app for an ICS phone, yet it still highlights selections in orange?
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No...it's an app for any phone with an LED notification light. Anyway...who cares?
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FINALLY! I have been hoping an app like this would come out ever since joining the ranks from Blackberry. BBuzz by Bellshare was my favorite app. Seems someone beat them to the punch.
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Yup, same situation here. I too had BeBuzz on a Blackberry and this was the answer on Android. Working great on my Droid3.
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Love the app. Now they just need to add multiple color options(like flash blue then green) to an alert and it would rock.
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Back when the original Atrix came out for AT&T, the developer was in the Atrix forums creating this app. :-) He's a great guy, very responsive and seriously wants to help his customers out if they have issues!
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Does this work for the Epic 4G Touch?
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Thanks for all the review and comments. Someone asking for support mentioned this post so I thought I'd have a look. I'm the author of the app by the way! @Sing1gniS if you get in touch with me using the contact form at www.rageconsulting.com/lightflow I'm happy to look into the issue you are having. There's also a list of known issues on the site by going into FAQ -> Issues. @boilr - yes there's a lot of permissions but as I knew it'd needed a lot I made a conscious decision when designing the app to make sure it never used the internet. That's why the free version doesn't have adverts. @dman977 - the next version all orange will have gone on ICS and it'll have a more ICS style to the menus :-) @th3gh05t - to be honest I can never remember! You "may" need to be rooted and use "direct mode" in the app. The color choice will be limited as well due to the limited LED hardware. I've had HTC phones since the HTC magician back in windows mobile and the only reason I changed away from HTC after the nexus one was because of the lack of decent led hardware in their phone. Plus to even use their limited hardware the phone has to be rooted. @palmcrash - thanks for the pointer to the review
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Thanks for this post! Just what I'd been looking for on my Verizon GN. Bought the paid version just now, and informed the dev about this post.
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Why this over the app noled? I've been using it for a couple years and it's great-it's free but works so well I've donated a couple of times
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or you could try customLED https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F... which allows you to customize for all apps for free