Light Flow version name changes and why....

With the latest version of Light Flow the versions of the app have had some name changes as follows:


  • Light Flow becomes Light Flow Pro
  • Light Flow Lite become Light Flow
  • Light Flow Legacy keeps the same name
To understand the versions, here's a little history......
Light flow started out 5 1/2 years ago back in the days of Android Froyo. Things have changed a little since then. At the time in app purchases didn't exist and the very first versions of the app were paid for only.

About a year later a Lite free version was created so users could see what the full version could do but with a reduced feature set.

This simple model worked well but meant that if somebody wanted to upgrade they had to remove the lite version and install the standard version - loosing their settings or having to transfer or back them up.

Therefore once available in-app-purchases were added to the lite version to allow for a simpler upgrade path.

This was all fine until Android 6 came out with some breaking changes to the way the app would work for showing the LED. From android 6, any app built for Android 6 (ie with android 6 features) required a persistent notification. I'm really aware that people didn't like this (I'd guess this would be an issue and customer feedback certainly emphasized it), so Light Flow Legacy was built. 

Legacy works on Android 6 in a kind of compatibility mode allowing notifications to work without a persistent notification (but it does miss a few android 6 specific features).

I didn't want people to have to pay for Legacy so came up with a method to prevent people paying again, but it means having the full and legacy version both installed.


As you can tell, things started to get complicated and if people wanted to move between the standard version and legacy it was a real pain.


Therefore this week we've introduced
  • Light Flow (License only)
This allows users to purchase the license to obtain full features and easily switch between versions.
Therefore the names were changed so that hopefully most users will initially install either
  • Light Flow or
  • Light Flow Legacy
Then if they like the app they can just purchase the license. 

The Pro version ideally wouldn't exist, but with over 100,000 people using it and Google providing no simple migration path both versions need to exist.


Anyone wanting to move to the new License only from the Pro version can get in touch and a license can be provided. Just let us know your google order Id of the purchase when getting in touch.

Samsung Light Flow migration guide

Versions of Light Flow prior to 3.65.0 worked around issues with Samsung leds in a way which has now been greatly improved in the later releases.

The app should keep running in the old way by default, so if you want to update to working in the improved way follow the steps below:
Note if you already have the paid for pro version of the app, if you leave that installed on your phone and install Light Flow Legacy you'll be able to keep the full features without paying again.

You can then either set the app up again from its default settings. To do this:

Follow the steps below:
  • Go into your phone settings
  • Click on "Applications" from the list
  • Click on "Application manager"
  • Choose Light Flow Legacy
  • Select "storage"
  • Choose "clear data"
The app will now be reset to its default state. Then when you run the app it'll set all the settings automatically for this version


If you have a lot of settings already set up in Light Flow, then it's possible to manually change all the settings for the new release.

To do this, follow these steps:
  • Go Into your phone settings,
  • Select "accessibility"
  • Switch "Light Flow Legacy" off
  • Launch Light Flow 
  • Go into "Settings"
  • Select "Device Settings and Root"
  • Switch off "Samsung 5.1.1 workaround"
  • Switch on "Samsung - Switch screen on"
  • Switch on "Reset color before change"
  • From the main menu, select "Notification settings"
  • Select "SMS"
  • Set the following:
  • Switch On SMS Monitoring method - Monitor SMS Conversations - to OFF
  • Switch On SMS Monitoring method - Monitor notification bar - to ON
  • Switch Off SMS Monitoring method - Monitor SMS Conversations - to OFF
  • Switch Off SMS Monitoring method - Monitor notification bar - to ON

Samsung Light Flow migration guide

Versions of Light Flow prior to 3.65.0 worked around issues with Samsung leds in a way which has now been greatly improved in the later releases.

The app should keep running in the old way by default, so if you want to update to working in the improved way follow the steps below:
Note if you already have the paid for pro version of the app, if you leave that installed on your phone and install Light Flow Legacy you'll be able to keep the full features without paying again.

You can then either set the app up again from its default settings. To do this:

Follow the steps below:
  • Go into your phone settings
  • Click on "Applications" from the list
  • Click on "Application manager"
  • Choose Light Flow Legacy
  • Select "storage"
  • Choose "clear data"
The app will now be reset to its default state. Then when you run the app it'll set all the settings automatically for this version


If you have a lot of settings already set up in Light Flow, then it's possible to manually change all the settings for the new release.

To do this, follow these steps:
  • Go Into your phone settings,
  • Select "accessibility"
  • Switch "Light Flow Legacy" off
  • Launch Light Flow 
  • Go into "Settings"
  • Select "Device Settings and Root"
  • Switch off "Samsung 5.1.1 workaround"
  • Switch on "Samsung - Switch screen on"
  • Switch on "Reset color before change"
  • From the main menu, select "Notification settings"
  • Select "SMS"
  • Set the following:
  • Switch On SMS Monitoring method - Monitor SMS Conversations - to OFF
  • Switch On SMS Monitoring method - Monitor notification bar - to ON
  • Switch Off SMS Monitoring method - Monitor SMS Conversations - to OFF
  • Switch Off SMS Monitoring method - Monitor notification bar - to ON
Note that Samsung HQ have just informed me (3 November 2016) that the issues such as the default blue led and having to switch the screen on are fixed in their build of Android 7

 
Copyright Reactle Ltd