The HTC 1 M8: A Mixed Bag of Impressions

As I began using my HTC 1 M8 as my primary Android phone, I was impressed with its overall performance and features. However, there were some aspects that caught my attention, particularly the placement of the power button at the top of the device.

The first thing I noticed about the power button's position was how awkward it seemed. To access it, I had to stretch up, which made it a bit uncomfortable. This was one of my initial gripes with the phone, but fortunately, HTC has implemented some gestures that mitigate this issue. For example, if you just lift the phone and swipe in a certain way, you can unlock it. While this feature is convenient, I couldn't help feeling that the power button's placement should be more intuitive.

Another area where I found the phone lacking was in its sleep functionality. Unlike some other Android phones, such as those from LG, the HTC 1 M8 doesn't have a built-in double-tap gesture to put it to sleep. This meant that I had to rely on a third-party app, called Knock Lock, to achieve this feature.

Knock Lock is a free app available for download from the Android Play Store, and it's specifically designed to provide the functionality I was missing in my HTC 1 M8. The first step in using Knock Lock was to give it admin permissions and grant it access to certain Android services. Once I had done this, I could navigate to the settings and configure the app to recognize a designated "Hot Zone" on my screen.

This Hot Zone is essentially an area that can be customized to perform specific actions when touched or double-tapped. In my case, I assigned this zone to put my phone to sleep, and it worked remarkably well. The interface of Knock Lock was slightly different from what I was used to, but once I got familiar with its layout, I found it intuitive.

One important consideration when using Knock Lock is that the Hot Zone must be placed in a location where it won't interfere with other app functionality. For example, if you place it near the keyboard, you may find that certain gestures or actions are affected by the phone's screen protector. In my case, I kept the Hot Zone near the volume rocker to avoid any potential conflicts.

One of the most significant advantages of Knock Lock is its ability to work with any Android phone, not just the HTC 1 M8. This makes it a versatile solution for anyone looking to add this feature to their device.

In conclusion, while the HTC 1 M8 has some notable features and performance characteristics, there are also areas where it falls short. The placement of the power button and the lack of built-in sleep functionality were two issues that I had to address through the use of a third-party app like Knock Lock. However, once I found a solution, I was able to enjoy the benefits of this feature on my phone.

Over the past ten days of testing Knock Lock, I've been impressed with its reliability and effectiveness. It's clear that the developers of this app have put thought into creating a user-friendly interface that doesn't require extensive technical knowledge. If you're looking to add a double-tap gesture or similar functionality to your Android phone, I would highly recommend giving Knock Lock a try.

As I continue to use my HTC 1 M8 and explore its features, I'm excited to see how this phone will perform in the coming months. With Knock Lock as an integral part of my daily routine, I feel more confident that I'll be able to get the most out of my device.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi there this is Ranjit and I have this HTC1 M8 and I've been using this uh phone as my primary Android phone for the last couple of weeks and overall I'm very impressed with this phone uh but uh as you notice the phone is pretty long and HTC decided to put this power button at the top and it's actually pretty awkward position you got to stretch uh so that's one gri but luckily HTC has enabled some guestures for example if you just lift the phone like this and just swipe like this you can unlock uh and it works fine but uh to make it go to sleep you don't have any guesses like double tap like this uh for example on LG phones we see that we don't have something like that there is one guesture for example if it's in standby if you just double tap it'll uh open it up and if you double tap here it'll put it to sleep but if you unlock the phone like this then this double tap gesture does not work and I don't know why HTC hasn't enabled that but fortunately I was able to get that done using a third party app for example you don't need your phone to be rooted or anything silly like that it works perfectly for example uh This Is The Hot Zone I have assign and if I just uh double tap over here you'll notice that it puts my phone to sleep and it works actually pretty brilliantly uh again everything is not perfect with this app the thing is that you have to assign a Hot Zone it's customizable but the thing is that whatever Hot Zone you have assigned for example I've assigned a very small Zone over here uh and that will not work with the touch screen uh uh it only works uh for sleeping the phone for example like this and let me show you the app actually it's a uh free app you can download from the Android play store and the name of this app is knocklock and the first time you install this app you have to give it admin permissions um and you have to go to this Android Services over here and give it permissions do that once you have done that uh the interface is a little bit different uh the thing is that you need to press this one at the settings and open this noock settings and here you see this K this is The Hot Zone Wherever Whenever I just click double click on this one it will put it to sleep you can customize it you can move it around up and down like this whatever you want uh but uh one caution is that uh put it in a place where you do not touch a lot for example don't put it here because keyboard generally comes here uh and you can customize it for example you can increase its with width like this height like this Etc uh but I would suggest that don't keep it too big or because obviously uh if you keep it very big I just kept it near the volume rocker so if I just uh am right now here I just double tap here it puts the phone to sleep and I have been testing this for now almost 10 days it's working perfectly but again as I told you uh that area that we have assigned uh is simply not accessible by any other app for example if you play a game or something and this area of the screen is to be used that won't be usable so yes you can make this double tap to go to sleep work on this HTC 1 M8 and actually this app works with any Android phone it's not specific to HTC 1 M8 uh but again it's not a perfect app so if you are looking to have this uh double tap to knock ability have a serious look at this Knock Lock uh it's a free app from the Android play store I'll also be doing a full in-depth review of this sttc 1 M8 I've already made a couple of other videos also for this one links for those videos will be in the YouTube shown notes if you found this uh video helpful I'll appreciate if you can click the like button thank you for watching this video this is Ranjit and I hope to see you in my next videohi there this is Ranjit and I have this HTC1 M8 and I've been using this uh phone as my primary Android phone for the last couple of weeks and overall I'm very impressed with this phone uh but uh as you notice the phone is pretty long and HTC decided to put this power button at the top and it's actually pretty awkward position you got to stretch uh so that's one gri but luckily HTC has enabled some guestures for example if you just lift the phone like this and just swipe like this you can unlock uh and it works fine but uh to make it go to sleep you don't have any guesses like double tap like this uh for example on LG phones we see that we don't have something like that there is one guesture for example if it's in standby if you just double tap it'll uh open it up and if you double tap here it'll put it to sleep but if you unlock the phone like this then this double tap gesture does not work and I don't know why HTC hasn't enabled that but fortunately I was able to get that done using a third party app for example you don't need your phone to be rooted or anything silly like that it works perfectly for example uh This Is The Hot Zone I have assign and if I just uh double tap over here you'll notice that it puts my phone to sleep and it works actually pretty brilliantly uh again everything is not perfect with this app the thing is that you have to assign a Hot Zone it's customizable but the thing is that whatever Hot Zone you have assigned for example I've assigned a very small Zone over here uh and that will not work with the touch screen uh uh it only works uh for sleeping the phone for example like this and let me show you the app actually it's a uh free app you can download from the Android play store and the name of this app is knocklock and the first time you install this app you have to give it admin permissions um and you have to go to this Android Services over here and give it permissions do that once you have done that uh the interface is a little bit different uh the thing is that you need to press this one at the settings and open this noock settings and here you see this K this is The Hot Zone Wherever Whenever I just click double click on this one it will put it to sleep you can customize it you can move it around up and down like this whatever you want uh but uh one caution is that uh put it in a place where you do not touch a lot for example don't put it here because keyboard generally comes here uh and you can customize it for example you can increase its with width like this height like this Etc uh but I would suggest that don't keep it too big or because obviously uh if you keep it very big I just kept it near the volume rocker so if I just uh am right now here I just double tap here it puts the phone to sleep and I have been testing this for now almost 10 days it's working perfectly but again as I told you uh that area that we have assigned uh is simply not accessible by any other app for example if you play a game or something and this area of the screen is to be used that won't be usable so yes you can make this double tap to go to sleep work on this HTC 1 M8 and actually this app works with any Android phone it's not specific to HTC 1 M8 uh but again it's not a perfect app so if you are looking to have this uh double tap to knock ability have a serious look at this Knock Lock uh it's a free app from the Android play store I'll also be doing a full in-depth review of this sttc 1 M8 I've already made a couple of other videos also for this one links for those videos will be in the YouTube shown notes if you found this uh video helpful I'll appreciate if you can click the like button thank you for watching this video this is Ranjit and I hope to see you in my next video\n"