Phone switches itself on

[AnotherElk]

@Tommy

I’m confused…
Are you trying to be funny?

Not really, but I apologise for playing the devil’s advocate perhaps.
I don’t see this issue here as an issue of right or wrong at all, so I found this line of arguing rather curious.
Anyway …

@Tommy

To AnotherElk, what is your opinion in this matter, straight without jokes. Just what do you personally want your phone to do?

I really don’t care either way, I don’t use this either way, I don’t need this to be either way, I’ll live with it either way.

I understand wanting the phone to stay off, I also understand wanting the alarm to sound even if it’s off, both lines of thinking are coming from somewhere, and I understand both. This really isn’t hard to do.

What I see is pretty simple:

There are devices behaving in a certain way.
There are devices not behaving in this certain way.

There are users wanting a device to behave the one way.
There are users wanting a device to behave the other way.

No arguing in whatever direction here in this context will make the devices go away which behave the respective other way.
No arguing in whatever direction here in this context will make the users go away who want a device to behave the respective other way.

Implementing or not implementing the behaviour one or the other way obviously is a choice for the powers doing it, because both ways are out there in practice.
So the obvious solution for users (if technically feasible) should be choice, too.
Which you want to deny users by being dogmatic about it, ok, so be it.
But what do you want to do now?

You or me or anybody asking anybody else about it will achieve nothing specific in this matter.
UX persons of anybody’s choice knowing anything will achieve nothing specific in this matter.

We will still have the device at hand in this topic (as well as other devices) behaving in a certain way one side of the argument including you find absolutely bizarre, with the other side finding it absolutely reasonable and desirable.

So, the constructive thing to do from my point of view would be … Put in a feature request to at least have a chance to make something specific happen in this matter … to get this changed to your liking, or to get a choice, or to get a specific explanation why this can not be done, or to get a specific explanation why this will not be done.

[AnneVanLeyden]

@AnotherElk

It’s an alarm, it’s obviously important,

That is your projection on how other people use their phone.

Why should an alarm always be important? I use my phone alarm for simple reminders.

If you’re going to a concert, whatever that alarm was supposed to remind you of, is almost by definition less important.

The only valid thing that would be allowed to disturb the music would be an extreme emergency call from a close relative or friend. But because it is not technically possible, the feature is not there.

This feature suffers very much from the mindset: “We can do it therefor we should do it.”

[AnneVanLeyden]

Made a feature request: Do not autonomously switch on phone for alarm or anything else

[AnotherElk]

@AnneVanLeyden

That is your projection on how other people use their phone.

If you look at the quote I was referring to, I was simply showing how easy it is for me “to believe that the people requesting a phone to turn on for an alarm are in actual fact not working around some other really big issue that really is bothering them.” … while others might find this “EXTREMELY hard to believe”.

@AnneVanLeyden

Made a feature request

Thanks for the effort to move things forward.

[Aizu]

In Advanced Privacy there is a setting

to disable the clock permission.

[AnotherElk]

@Aizu

In Advanced Privacy there is a setting

Brilliant find (the Settings search doesn’t find it for me looking for “power off” or even “power”, whyever).
Settings - Advanced privacy - App Permission Request - Additional permissions - Power Off Alarm

The Clock App seems to be allowed by default there … that should be it, just don’t allow it there, and the phone should stay off.

Edit: It didn’t work for me on the first try, but now the phone seems to stay off:

I first disallowed the Clock App in the setting mentioned above, then set an alarm, then powered off the phone … and it powered on for the alarm nonetheless.
I went back to the Clock App, which now immediately asked me whether I wanted to Allow or Disallow the setting I just disallowed, I disallowed again in this prompt, set a new alarm, powered off the phone again … and now it stays off.

So, make sure you get this prompt in the Clock App to really disallow … I guess …

[Tommy]

@AnotherElk

There are users wanting a device to behave the one way.
There are users wanting a device to behave the other way.

No arguing in whatever direction here in this context will make the devices go away which behave the respective other way.

I see where you are coming from. And I’m coming from a different direction

You seem to say that devices should do what people want them to do.

What I’m talking about is based on my decade in user experience design and knowing that what people ask one day may very well conflict with what the same person asks the next. People are like that.

So to me a handful of places on the Internet where people asked for a specific feature is really no reason to change software to do that. I refer back to my earlier statement about “yet another checkbox”. Weak leadership (unable to say NO) leads to lots of checkboxes and generally speaking dreadful software.

UX design should start from the core principles that are about consistency, simplicity and avoiding surprises.

So, yeah, from my stated first principles it is not just Ok to say NO to a feature, it is indeed wanted and preferred if that feature breaks one of the rules.

And this one does, it is inconsistent, it adds a lot of user-level complexity and it certainly can show some nasty surprises to actual end users.

[piero]

I was waiting for that feature since i leave my regreated symbian Nokia with physical qwerty keyboard ten years ago, for a BlackBerry, then a FirefoxOS device, an iPhone and finaly an /e/OS device.
I am forced to let my device ON during the night and i know flying mode is not a real radio OFF.

BUT i agree this feature should NOT be enable by default.
I think it is to promote it.
I supose it will not be enable by default in future versions as it can cause desagrements as you testified.