The Huawei P9's Lock Screen: A Subtle yet Cool Experience

One of the standout features of the Huawei P9 is its lock screen, which offers a subtle yet cool experience. When you wake and sleep the device, the lock screen comes to life with a soft glow that indicates it's active. The device also features a zoom in effect when you swipe up to unlock it, which may seem like a minor detail but adds a nice touch of elegance to the overall design.

In addition to the basic functionality of the lock screen, Huawei has also added some extra features to enhance the user experience. For example, swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen allows you to quickly access common functions such as the sound recorder, calculator, flashlight, and camera. This feature is particularly useful for those who want to quickly access frequently used apps without having to navigate through multiple screens.

Another notable aspect of the lock screen is its display of notifications. The P9's notification area is treated with a transparent SL frosted glass effect that not only looks sleek but also allows your wallpaper to shine through, giving it a more elegant appearance. This subtle touch adds a lot of polish to what could have been a basic and utilitarian feature.

Customization Options

While Emotion UI deviates significantly from stock Android, there are still some customization options available for users. One of the most notable features is long press on the home screen, which allows you to access customization options such as wallpapers and widgets. Users can also change the home screen transition animations to something more animated and adjust the home screen grid size to fit more apps and widgets onto a single screen.

However, it's worth noting that the customization options available are somewhat limited compared to other devices with Emotion UI. While users can customize the look and feel of icons, wallpapers, and the lock screen through built-in themes, there is no full-fledged theme engine or theme store like those found on Samsung or HTC devices.

Knuckle Sense: A Feature in Need of Improvement

One feature that Huawei has been working on for several years is Knuckle Sense, a gesture-based interface that allows users to interact with the device using their knuckles. The feature is still available on the P9 and offers some useful gestures such as double-tapping with one or two knuckles to take a screenshot or start/stop a screen recording.

However, despite its promise, Knuckle Sense feels somewhat gimmicky and inconsistent. To get the best results from the feature, users need to use the very back of their knuckle, which doesn't feel natural or intuitive. Even then, there are times when it struggles to detect when you're using your knuckle, leading to frustration.

Camera Software: A Clean and User-Friendly Interface

The camera software on the P9 is another notable aspect of Emotion UI. The interface is clean and easy to use, with all navigation based on swipes. Swiping up from the bottom or left side opens up different shooting modes, while swiping in from the opposite side takes you to the camera settings.

One feature that sets the P9's camera software apart is its Pro mode, which allows users to manually control ISO, exposure, shutter speed, and autofocus. This adds a level of flexibility and control to the camera app that's not always available on other devices.

Conclusion

Overall, I think there's a lot to like about Emotion UI on the P9. Despite deviating from stock Android, the device offers some useful features and customization options that enhance the user experience. However, Knuckle Sense feels somewhat gimmicky and in need of improvement, and the limited customization options may not appeal to everyone.

That being said, I believe Huawei has made a solid effort with Emotion UI on the P9, and fans of the device will likely appreciate its unique features and design. As always, if you have any thoughts or opinions about Emotion UI on the P9, feel free to share them in the comments below, and don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow us on social media for more Android news and reviews.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys lawn here from Android authority and today we're taking a closer look at the Huawei P9 more specifically the software experience on the P9 now if you want a more in-depth video on the P9 as a whole make sure to check out the full review which will either be linked in the description below or up top in a card with that being said let's go ahead and check out Huawei software on the P9 and see exactly what the experience is like so the P9 is running on Android marshmallow out of the box but unlike the Nexus 6p another Huawei made device the P9 is not running on a Pure Stock Android experience instead you have huawei's emotion UI or em UI and on the P9 you're getting version 4.1 if you've used a Huawei made device in the past especially some of the more recent ones the software experience will feel very familiar there's really no getting around it Huawei skin on top of android looks and feels a lot like iOS and even functions a little bit like iOS there's no app drawer obviously which is nothing new to Huawei devices or any Chinese OEM for that matter so there's not much in the way of organization outside of Simply using folders the icons are rounded off squares that are slightly colorful and cartoonish and you can even swipe down on any home screen to start a search just like IOS as far as the rest of its appearance it hasn't changed drastically from the last couple of versions of emotion UI there's a lot of transparencies across the board like the folders the widgets and the notification panel which still features the typical Huawei setup with a panel for notifications on the left side and a separate panel for common shortcuts like Wi-Fi GPS and Bluetooth on the right side the shortcuts can also be edited to your liking and replaced with a selection of a few other shortcuts that you may find more useful over the default shortcuts even though Huawei skin feels very similar to iOS and changes a lot of what we know from stock Android there's actually a lot to like here let's start from the outside and work our way in starting with the lock screen so the first thing you'll notice about the lock screen are these highquality wallpapers that Huawei calls covers which we've seen before in other Huawei phones they change each and every time you wake and sleep the device and when you swipe up to unlock it does this zoom in effect it's very subtle but it looks really cool you can also manually switch between covers by swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen and hitting the previous or next buttons if you want you can customize these covers by adding your own wallpapers or even use photos that you've taken with the camera swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen also gives you quick access to some common pretty useful functions like the sound recorder calculator flashlight and the camera what I really like about the lock screen though is how it displays notifications for the most part it looks a lot like stock Android lock screen notifications but they've been treated with this transparent SL frosted glass effect to match the rest of the transparencies that you see across the entire OS it's just a really nice touch that makes the notifications look a little bit more elegant and still allows your wallpaper to shine through now even though emotion UI is aesthetically a very heavy skin and changes a lot about Android the version that's on the P9 surprisingly comes with very little bloat outside of the basic applications there's not a whole lot that comes pre-installed on the P9 and the only real bloatware that you'll find is this folder full of really cheesy games but thankfully WWE does let you uninstall them there isn't a whole lot in terms of customization that emotion UI allows you to do but there are a few things that you can change up long press on the home screen will give you the typical customization options like wallpapers and widgets but you can also change the home screen transition animations to something more animated and the home screen grid size can be bumped up to as high as 5x5 to allow you to fit more apps and widgets onto a single screen there are built-in themes to let you customize the look and feel of the icons wallpaper and lock screen but it's not a full on theme engine or theme store like you would find on a Samsung or HTC device it would have been nice to have more themes to pick from but you do have a few options so it's still better than having nothing at all a feature that Huawei has been working on for the last couple of years is called knuckle sense and it's still available here on the P9 if you're not familiar with knuckle sense it's a feature that allows you to use your knuckles to do various different gestures for specific functions for example you can double tap with a single knuckle to take a screenshot or if you want to start and stop a screen recording you can do so by double tapping with two Knuckles knuckle sense also lets you crop out areas of the screen take a scrolling screenshot and open specific applications by drawing letters on the screen but this is where it gets inconsistent and feels really gimmicky in order in order to get best results you have to use the very back of your knuckle which just doesn't feel natural or intuitive and even then it still has a hard time detecting when you're using your knuckle some of the gestures like double tap to take a screenshot work really well but the other more complex gestures really shows that knuckle sense definitely still needs some work before it can become a reliable feature one of the biggest and most notable changes to em motion UI is the camera software which also had a lot to do with the new camera sensor on the P9 it's really clean and easy to use and navigating the interface is all based on swipes so if you swipe up from the bottom or left side if you're in portrait this will open up all the different shooting modes and the P9 has a lot to offer when it comes to shooting modes swiping in from the opposite side will take you to the camera settings where you can adjust the resolution audio and other typical camera functions if you swipe outwards from the shutter button you can access the camera's Pro mode and I really like this because it makes it really quick and easy to switch back and forth between Auto and pro the pro mode is exactly what you would expect it gives you manual control over ISO exposure shutter speed autofocus and white balance just like you would get on a DLR but that's really going to do it for this feature focus on the Huawei P9 overall I think there's a lot to like about it despite the fact that it deviates a lot from stock Android but what do you guys think about emotion UI on the P9 let us know in the comments below and as always if you enjoyed this video give it a thumbs up subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and follow us on social media like Twitter Instagram Snapchat go+ all that that good stuff will be linked down below and feel free to follow me on Twitter as well and check out the website androidauthority.com because we are your source for all things Androidwhat's up guys lawn here from Android authority and today we're taking a closer look at the Huawei P9 more specifically the software experience on the P9 now if you want a more in-depth video on the P9 as a whole make sure to check out the full review which will either be linked in the description below or up top in a card with that being said let's go ahead and check out Huawei software on the P9 and see exactly what the experience is like so the P9 is running on Android marshmallow out of the box but unlike the Nexus 6p another Huawei made device the P9 is not running on a Pure Stock Android experience instead you have huawei's emotion UI or em UI and on the P9 you're getting version 4.1 if you've used a Huawei made device in the past especially some of the more recent ones the software experience will feel very familiar there's really no getting around it Huawei skin on top of android looks and feels a lot like iOS and even functions a little bit like iOS there's no app drawer obviously which is nothing new to Huawei devices or any Chinese OEM for that matter so there's not much in the way of organization outside of Simply using folders the icons are rounded off squares that are slightly colorful and cartoonish and you can even swipe down on any home screen to start a search just like IOS as far as the rest of its appearance it hasn't changed drastically from the last couple of versions of emotion UI there's a lot of transparencies across the board like the folders the widgets and the notification panel which still features the typical Huawei setup with a panel for notifications on the left side and a separate panel for common shortcuts like Wi-Fi GPS and Bluetooth on the right side the shortcuts can also be edited to your liking and replaced with a selection of a few other shortcuts that you may find more useful over the default shortcuts even though Huawei skin feels very similar to iOS and changes a lot of what we know from stock Android there's actually a lot to like here let's start from the outside and work our way in starting with the lock screen so the first thing you'll notice about the lock screen are these highquality wallpapers that Huawei calls covers which we've seen before in other Huawei phones they change each and every time you wake and sleep the device and when you swipe up to unlock it does this zoom in effect it's very subtle but it looks really cool you can also manually switch between covers by swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen and hitting the previous or next buttons if you want you can customize these covers by adding your own wallpapers or even use photos that you've taken with the camera swiping up from the bottom of the lock screen also gives you quick access to some common pretty useful functions like the sound recorder calculator flashlight and the camera what I really like about the lock screen though is how it displays notifications for the most part it looks a lot like stock Android lock screen notifications but they've been treated with this transparent SL frosted glass effect to match the rest of the transparencies that you see across the entire OS it's just a really nice touch that makes the notifications look a little bit more elegant and still allows your wallpaper to shine through now even though emotion UI is aesthetically a very heavy skin and changes a lot about Android the version that's on the P9 surprisingly comes with very little bloat outside of the basic applications there's not a whole lot that comes pre-installed on the P9 and the only real bloatware that you'll find is this folder full of really cheesy games but thankfully WWE does let you uninstall them there isn't a whole lot in terms of customization that emotion UI allows you to do but there are a few things that you can change up long press on the home screen will give you the typical customization options like wallpapers and widgets but you can also change the home screen transition animations to something more animated and the home screen grid size can be bumped up to as high as 5x5 to allow you to fit more apps and widgets onto a single screen there are built-in themes to let you customize the look and feel of the icons wallpaper and lock screen but it's not a full on theme engine or theme store like you would find on a Samsung or HTC device it would have been nice to have more themes to pick from but you do have a few options so it's still better than having nothing at all a feature that Huawei has been working on for the last couple of years is called knuckle sense and it's still available here on the P9 if you're not familiar with knuckle sense it's a feature that allows you to use your knuckles to do various different gestures for specific functions for example you can double tap with a single knuckle to take a screenshot or if you want to start and stop a screen recording you can do so by double tapping with two Knuckles knuckle sense also lets you crop out areas of the screen take a scrolling screenshot and open specific applications by drawing letters on the screen but this is where it gets inconsistent and feels really gimmicky in order in order to get best results you have to use the very back of your knuckle which just doesn't feel natural or intuitive and even then it still has a hard time detecting when you're using your knuckle some of the gestures like double tap to take a screenshot work really well but the other more complex gestures really shows that knuckle sense definitely still needs some work before it can become a reliable feature one of the biggest and most notable changes to em motion UI is the camera software which also had a lot to do with the new camera sensor on the P9 it's really clean and easy to use and navigating the interface is all based on swipes so if you swipe up from the bottom or left side if you're in portrait this will open up all the different shooting modes and the P9 has a lot to offer when it comes to shooting modes swiping in from the opposite side will take you to the camera settings where you can adjust the resolution audio and other typical camera functions if you swipe outwards from the shutter button you can access the camera's Pro mode and I really like this because it makes it really quick and easy to switch back and forth between Auto and pro the pro mode is exactly what you would expect it gives you manual control over ISO exposure shutter speed autofocus and white balance just like you would get on a DLR but that's really going to do it for this feature focus on the Huawei P9 overall I think there's a lot to like about it despite the fact that it deviates a lot from stock Android but what do you guys think about emotion UI on the P9 let us know in the comments below and as always if you enjoyed this video give it a thumbs up subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and follow us on social media like Twitter Instagram Snapchat go+ all that that good stuff will be linked down below and feel free to follow me on Twitter as well and check out the website androidauthority.com because we are your source for all things Android\n"