Solved Verizon Marshmallow Issues

[Ghostwheel]

I got the Verizon OTA a few days ago, and have been noticing a few issues here and there.

1. No browsing access using Windows 7. This is a biggie. When I plug my S5 in, the standard autoplay popups happen, but when click on it in Explorer, all I get is a phone icon - no files, nothing. Not for internal storage or SD. It's like Windows doesn't have access to it. Is this one of the new granular permissions somehow?
   
2. LightFlow app is completely broken. I can't get any version of it (neither current Lite, Legacy, nor even old .apks I had saved) to control the LED anymore.
3. Opening photos by pressing their icons from within a folder in My Files sometimes breaks the Gallery, in that it won't swipe from photo to photo within that folder - it acts like that's the only photo there.

Help, pointers, or sympathy appreciated...

 

[MattE303]

1. When you connect to the PC, do you get the 'USB mode selection' notification event when you open the status bar (on the phone)? When I connect to my Win10 machine it always defaults to "USB Charging" and I have to change it to one of the other modes (e.g. "Media device (USB 3.0)") to file browse. I also noticed that it leaves my phone in Airplane Mode when I disconnect from the PC, kinda annoying!

2. I don't use LightFlow, but LightManager seems to work fine for me under MM. Did you make sure LightFlow is enabled under Settings->Sound and notification->Notification access?

3. the behavior you describe is what I see too, does it behave differently under MM on other phones?

 

[Ghostwheel]

1. I hadn't noticed any notifications, but I'll check the status bar the next time I try to connect. It's been so long since the Lollipop OTA, maybe I forgot that that needed to be set the first time I connected then, too. Never had the airplane mode under Lollipop, but thanks for the warning, I'll watch out for that.
2. I did have that enabled for LightFlow, but it didn't help. It probably also doesn't help that I use Verizon's Messege+, which supposedly handles text notifications differently than most apps. I know LightFlow has become a patchwork of fixes for all the different phones, Android versions, and messaging apps, so maybe it's finally reached the limit on being able to keep up with everything. I'll give LightManager a try.
3. Under Lollipop, it used to let me flip through all the photos in a particular folder after opening one from within My Files. In MM, it seems to work in some folders, but not others.

Another MM change I don't like is the lack of abilty to associate an app with an action "just this time." For example, to follow a link from the Twitter app, LP used to open a popup to ask which installed browser app I wanted to use, and if I wanted to set it as the default app, or just to use it this one time. The latter is no longer there, and each time now MM forces me to choose a default app.

 

[MattE303]

I use Chomp for text messages, never tried the Verizon app. Is LightFlow only broken for text message notifications under MM? In other words, are you able to use LightFlow to customize LED behavior for other things, like missed call notifications? If that does work, the problem might be changes in Message+ (under MM). Definitely try LightManager though, great app!

I haven't tried following links out of Twitter, but I do get the the same app association behavior as Lollipop for other things, for example clicking an address to get driving navigation, it will let me choose Google Maps or Waze, "just once" as long as I haven't chosen "always" and set a default yet.

 

[Ghostwheel]

I only used LightFlow to get different LED colors for different people's SMSes, not other notifications. I got LightManager installed and set up, and it seems to be working fine and doing exactly what I wanted, so thank you for that.

I still can't get a "just once" for anything. It wants me to create a permanent app association the first time I do anything - click a link, open a .jpg (or other file type)... pretty much anything where it needs to ask which app to use to complete the action, it sets it up permanently and there's no more "just this time" option in the popup. Are you running Verizon's MM on S5? Also, there's apparently no more option to not have a default browser. I like to be asked each time I open a link - I like different browsers for different sites. MM seems to have done away with that.

 

[MattE303]

Glad LM is working out for you! Yes, I'm running the latest downloaded Verizon MM (6.0.1) on my S5.

Not sure about the app associations, have you tried going thru the list under Settings->Applications->Default applications->Set as default and clicking Clear Defaults for various apps (eg. browsers, Photos/Gallery, etc.)?

 

[Ghostwheel]

Tried it several times. Then the next time I perform the action, it just automatically re-associates whichever app I choose, and tells me how to go to that menu to undo it.

 

[MattE303]

Tried it several times. Then the next time I perform the action, it just automatically re-associates whichever app I choose, and tells me how to go to that menu to undo it.

hmm, I do see the behavior your describing in some cases (eg. getting driving directions from an address in contacts, it forces me to pick an app, then uses that from then on.). I know there are other scenarios where it does ask though (I get the "just once" option), I'll have to start paying more attention to the specific situations.

 

[mikekhelxD]

Go dl Better Open With so you can choose which app you want to open certain things everytime as before.

 

[dezymond]

Considering marshmallow was a major update have you tried an FDR? I know it's a pain but it will ensure the update was applied appropriately and hopefully resolve any issues you're having.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Go dl Better Open With so you can choose which app you want to open certain things everytime as before.

Thanks, that seems to have gotten me closer to how things used to be before Marshmallow changed it.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Considering marshmallow was a major update have you tried an FDR? I know it's a pain but it will ensure the update was applied appropriately and hopefully resolve any issues you're having.

No, I never did an FDR. I save that as a last resort for major issues, and I always try to find other solutions beforehand. I think all the issues I'd been having in my original post have been resolved now. Just to recap, for anyone with similar issues who searches and finds this thread:

1. Solved by the pulldown, as described by MattE303 in his first reply.
2. Marshmallow seems to have broken LightFlow, so I switched to LightManager. Works exactly as I'd hoped.
3. Set JustPictures as the image default instead of the native Gallery app.
4. For the issue I described in post #5 with the default app settings, mikekhelxD's recommendation of the Better Open With app does the trick and restores the pre-Marshmallow ability to choose default app with each use.

Thanks guys!

 

[cr6]

IIRC, some other folks have mentioned having problems with Lightflow on MM.


S5 tap'n

 

[MattE303]

IIRC, some other folks have mentioned having problems with Lightflow on MM.


S5 tap'n

I never used LightFlow, but I definitely recommend LightManager, it does everything I want, works great on MM, and the dev updates it frequently and is very responsive to questions and comments.