Custom sunset/sunruse schedule - default is not OK for me.
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@Jacob-Johnston said:
This REALLY needs attention. I know 4 months is not long in developer time but it seems like this wouldn't be a major fix unless you're operating on spaghetti code. You just need a method to override the the scheduling and a little addition to the interface...
My situation is that in the winter, we get down to an 8-hour day and 16 hour night. It's neat that f.lux knows when the sun goes down, but when it goes down at 4:30pm I REALLY don't want my screen to dim. In fact, I'd prefer it to dim at about 9 or 10 pm year around. I just don't understand why there's not a custom timer setting. Even my phone app has it. What gives? Do I need to find a different app? Do you guys need a developer?
You need to know that f.lux is owned and operated by just two people: a husband and wife team. They don't have anyone else involved. So, please try to be patient.
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@TwoCables That's completely irrelevant, and when you see how much is about to come out, you will understand what I mean. My point stands - if we were a thousand person team, someone who cares about the product would still have to go through the forums and read his note. There are positive ways to ask for things that get you what you want and then there's, well, this.
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My problem is, people treat you like you have a big team or something. They expect faster responses, they expect faster implementation of new ideas, faster deployment of new versions, etc. They treat you like you're a big company. Some even treat you poorly until they find out that it's just you and MIchael. I guess I'm tired of seeing you put up with it because I can clearly see how it upsets you.
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It's just fine if we look like a big company. (But talking to a big company that way won't get you what you want either.) I'm pretty excited about what's coming up though. We could keep 10 people very busy but it's pretty fun to still be small. Clearly it doesn't seem to some people like we're moving fast. I get the frustration. The new stuff is fantastic. I'd be mad too if I weren't already using it ;)
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Yeah, you guys are doing an amazingly good job that honestly leaves me speechless. Here you are just you and Michael and yet it really does feel like you're a well-established small business with a good-sized team of dedicated and caring individuals. I just love you both! There, I said it. :)
I'm really looking forward to the new version. I know without even looking at it that it's going to be absolutely fantastic!
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Here's another user that lives in area where sunset happens really early. The program itself works fantastic and it's a major innovation (and probably lot of work) to include time-zone specific feature!
All that said, user-specifiable "sunset" time and "sunrise" would mean all the difference in the world for people like me. I usually use my computer quite late, much beyond the real sunset (I would like to start "night" for f.lux about two hours before bedtime). At summer, on the other hand, the problem is the opposite. The only thing I can do, is set the coordinates exactly at the equator, where is 12-hour cycle all year round. But even this does't solve the core problem, as most of us are awake a lot more than 12 hours. (If I place my location to the southern hemisphere, this problem obviously disappears, but requires manual coordinate shifting all the time).
Several older messages tells about the same issue. I post it once again to stress the severity of this problem. I'm also quite conviced that adding two boxes for "daytime" and "nighttime" is quite easy to implement, given that the coordinate-based system must have been difficult work, and yet it is a success.
While waiting eagerly the solution, could someone tell about "Windows Task Scheduler"? I know how to schedule a program, but I don't know how to automatically kill it once running.
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More about Windows Task handler. Windows scheduler's TASKKILL command (flux.exe) or closing flux.exe via Windows Task Manager seems to close the program, but doesn't restore the normal colours.
My computer has Win7 and AMD display adapter.
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Why do that when you can just exit f.lux using its Notification Area icon's context menu (right-click the icon)? Or why not just manually switch f.lux to 6500K?
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@TwoCables They want automation.
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@timpster said:
@TwoCables They want automation.
lol I know that. Come on man, I'm not that dumb. :)
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I really hope that you all are beta testers for the new release. I am very excited about it!
It is difficult to give everyone exactly what they need and still have an interface that's usable for 99% of everyone. But we're going to do our best and we are going to need your help in feedback and testing ^_^
@lorna
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Count me in!
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Great to have a quick response and even greater if you can add the "manual control". Btw, UI looks nice, altough at first I didn't realize, when I was in the "operating mode" and when in the "settings" page (that's my mistake - most programs have so messy settings page that it's impossible not to distnguish the two. Excellent work!). However, finding the same settings in the menu (three stripes on the upper-right corner) and the main/settings interface is not necessary and can even be somewhat confusing.
This, of coure, is kind of off-topic, but since your concern about making f.lux look "too messy", you could simply drop out some of the double options. Thus, you'll have "room" for adding the new features without the cost of simplicity and usability.
In the taskbar icon's right-click menu it's probably a good thing to keep the options - as we users are a diverse group and some want to do the same things in a different way.
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OK, I have a workaround that is far from elegant, but theoretically should work.
PROBLEM: killing f.lux in any other way than manually right-click leaves the setting as it currently is (dimmed or brightened).
ASSUMPTION (correct if i'm wrong): using TASKKILL actually does exit f.lux, the colour just left "uncorrected" when program is forced to terminate
SOLUTION
- Set your location to equator (12-hour day all the year) and pick a timezone that suits your needs (for example sunrise 7am, sunset 7pm).
- Open Task Scheduler (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools) and make two schedules:
a) [install path]\flux.exe
b) TASKKILL /F /IM flux.exe - Because taskkill doesn't restore colours, it must be executed "after sunrise" when the colour is normal, let's say at 12 noon (any time when your computer is on and the colours are normal, will do). This should be invisible to user, but actually should kill f.lux.
- After sunset (7pm in our example) the program is still off and doesn't do anything.
- Now, for the second scheduled event, pick a convenient time (for example 11pm). Then f.lux starts and notices that it's night; changing the colour appropriately. This continues until "sunrise" kicks in and brightens the display (example 7am).
- The sceduled taskkill terminates program once again at noon until the other schedule starts it up again at 11pm (or whatever you choose).
- Because f.lux is killed every day, you shouldn't get a thousand of copies running.
I made some tests, but until the full cycle has run, I can't be sure if it actually works. My computer is on 24/7, so I didn't think, what happens if you're used to shut down your computer. Hope this helps as many as possible until the new version f.lux is available.
Happy New Year!
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I discovered that TASKKILL can actually be used to exit the app the right way (restoring original brightness). Just drop the /F parameter. So "TASKKILL /IM flux.exe" would do the same and makes things a lot easier. Just use Task Scheduler to handle the starting and stopping f.lux (you still need create two tasks: one for the morning and the other for evening). But that way, you don't need to worry about timezones. Just set day and night brightness equal, and Windows Task Scheduler takes care of the rest.
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Sorry @Jari-Kolehmainen we'll have a beta for you soon.
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Hi all, first off thank you very much devs for f.lux. It saved the day previously for me with an excessively bright/blue tablet that made my eyes hurt.
I don't wish to cause offence as I think f.lux is great, but some of the points made in this thread do resonate for me, and people's requirements differ so greatly that I can't help thinking many users would prefer more control, which would probably be easier to implement. I guess the problem is that sunrise and sunset don't affect our routines - I sit in a fluorescently lit office for another two or three hours after sunset at this time of year, and in the summer when the sun sets late and rises early it's kept out by blackout curtains, so I have control over my lighting conditions and routine and want f.lux to allow me the same!
Personally I'd be very happy just to be able to create a few "quick modes" (I'd have day, night fluorescent and night dim incandescent) with buttons to quickly switch between them. If I could also set times to change from day to night and back that would be fab. If the night mode was selected based on my location or ambient lighting as well as time that would be amazing.
Looking forward to new features in the upcoming beta. Is it just a case of keeping an eye on the forum or is there somewhere to sign up for it/notifications? Thanks again for all your work.
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@Lisa-Benham absolutely no offense taken. The Windows version has lagged the Mac in the custom settings for a while now and it's going to be fixed soon. One of our goals is to help people understand exactly what the light they see is doing, so that making the right choices for you will be much easier.
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Hey @lorna I sincerely apologize for my inappropriate tone. I really thought you guys were an established company with developers on hand. Congrats BTW that you manage to give off that impression with a well-polished app, great website and support, etc...
Regardless, it's no excuse for my behavior. Were I to give an excuse, it'd be that I was up late studying and coding and feeling irritable about more than just my screen dimming every hour, but I still could have come at it differently.
Incidentally, I love @Lisa-Benham's idea on quick modes. I'd like to be able to set a consistent schedule but even with that I'd probably still use quick modes frequently if they were available.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to your updates! If you don't despise me for my reprehensible remarks, I'd be interested in participating in the beta. Any special steps to take?
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@lorna To tag-team on the subject. My wife works until 11pm EST, I'm up at 4am. For this app to work (my kids' kindle Fires have this feature built-in, and I love it!), we need to set the exact times it comes on and off, for us, 11p-4a - I want full-bright at 4a!). Thanks for creating it!
