Activate screensaver by pressing "back" while on the home tab
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Peter Rabbit
I can't seem to find or enable the screensaver/Ambient Mode. With a stock Google Chromecast, you just hit back while on the homescreen and it goes into screensaver mode.
This is an absolutely necessary feature for my family, we have Google Photos cycling in Ambient mode, and I can't live without my photos of kids, pets and food.
UPDATE: I left the TV on while on the home screen of the Dispatch Launcher, and it eventually went into Ambient Mode, hooray! So it does work, I just can't trigger it manually. If I could trigger it manually, the only thing I have to say is "shut up and take my money!"
Paul Dhaliwal
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Scott
Paul Dhaliwal I just wanted to let you know that the shortcut to activate the ambient screensaver mode by pressing the back button on the remote while the home tab is highlighted did not work for me in v1.0.06 or the new version v1.0.07. I'm using a Google TV Streamer and the option is enabled in Setting>Experience. I wanted to let you know and see if other users experience the same problem.
Paul Dhaliwal
Scott Thanks for reporting this. I tried last night on my ccwgtv, shield, and bravia tv, and it worked on all 3. Perhaps it's an issue with this newer device only? I'd be surprised, but it's possible.
If you want, you can make a post on the subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/dispatchlauncher/) asking if other users with this device are able to activate the screensaver via the back button, but if you don't use reddit, I can make the post myself and follow up with you later.
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Scott
Paul Dhaliwal I'll do it later, no problem.
Paul Dhaliwal
Scott: After looking into it, unfortunately, this looks like a new limitation in Android 14. As far as I can tell, no workaround is possible.
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Scott
Paul Dhaliwal Ok, I appreciate you taking the time to look into the issue. Thanks.
Paul Dhaliwal
Scott: In a future release, I will change the behaviour so that the screen goes black when this option is used on Android 14 devices.
That should alleviate OLED burn-in concerns some people are having.
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Scott
I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but on my Google TV Streamer, if I press and hold the home button, the Google Home quick pannel appears and I can select Screensaver and/or Google Home shortcut in this way, even if I'm in Dispatch. A shortcut until this function is integrated into Dispatch.
Paul Dhaliwal
in progress
Miyagi
Love this feature to easily get into ambient mode :-)
Paul Dhaliwal
Hello! I wasn't aware the default chromecast had this behaviour via the back button. I'm not sure if it's something that can be controlled programmatically, but if so I will look into it. I will rename this issue to better reflect the missing functionality. That way others can vote on it and I can track it's popularity.
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Peter Rabbit
Thanks! I'm a software developer too, so when you said 'I didn't know you could do that', I can completely relate. End users do the darndest things. I'm really excited to be a QA on something instead.
DanielDeni
Paul Dhaliwal it’s the same for all Google TV’s. I have four Sony Bravia TV’s with the same on the original launcher. Projectivy Launcher does the same when pressing back button twice, while on Home screen.
Sadly in the current state I cannot use Dispatch as the automatic timeout for Screen Savers is at least 5mins and I have OLED TV’s. It would also be nice to have an automatic dim function after a set time, so the screen dims when on the home screen. This option is available in Projectivy as well.