There’s a lot to like on Motorola’s new Moto X — we reviewed the Moto X last week and called it one of the most amazing smartphones ever built — but the new Active Display feature is easily one of the coolest Android software enhancements on Google’s new smartphone. But why should Moto X owners have all the fun? Thanks to some handiwork from Android developer Great Bytes Software, a similar feature is now available on all other modern Android phones for free.
ActiveNotifications is currently available in the Google Play app store for all Android phones running Android 4.1.2 and later. According to the developer, the app “allows you to receive important notifications when your screen is off. When you miss a call or receive a new email/SMS, the display will discreetly light up to let you know, without needing to unlock the device. Most phones only have a pulsing notification LED that doesn’t actually tell you anything about the incoming notification – with ActiveNotifications, you can immediately decide if something is important enough to act.”
Other key features from the app’s description:
- Notifications don’t light up when your phone is in your pocket, purse, or face down to avoid accidental unlocks
- Select which app-notifications you’d like to receive via ActiveNotifications
- “Sleep at night”: Don’t show notifications at night (Premium feature)
- “More privacy”: Hide additional notification details (e.g. SMS text, sender) (Premium feature)
- “Adjust screen brightness”: Select how bright the ActiveNotifications screen should be (Premium feature)
- Automatically switch off screen when dismissing notifications(Premium feature)
The premium features listed above can be unlocked for a one-time payment of $0.99, which is made as an in-app purchase.
A video showcasing ActiveNotifications follows below and the app can be downloaded from the ActiveNotifications page in the Google Play store, which is linked below in the source section.
