Here's How To Get Always On Display On Samsung Nougat Phones
With both LG and Apple switching to OLED displays, there will be some attention that will be given to features like always on displays or AOD. Samsung, however, has been doing OLED, specifically AMOLED, screens for years now but it was only recently that it really made AOD a headlining feature. Even then, it has limited the feature to its more recent premium models. Fortunately, XDA member Sachin Kumar53 took it upon himself to do the heavy lifting to make AOD available to any recent Samsung Galaxy phone, provided it meets some requirements.
First is that it only works on a Samsung phone naturally. This is probably for the best, as most Samsung phones use OLED screens already. The phone, however, has to be running Android 7.0 Nougat or later. And not just any version of Android mind, but Samsung's TouchWiz version. And lastly, you have to be willing to install unverified APKs and use software that's still in heavy development and, therefore, potentially buggy.
Those caveats aside, users have mostly been reporting favorable experiences, with a few kinks here and there. All that you need to do is to install two APKs, an Always On Display and an Always On Display Plugin Service. Once that's done, simply head on over to the Settings app and Display section to see the new option for Always on Display.
The options for this unofficial AOD is identical to the official versions on the Galaxy S8, Galaxy Note 8, etc. You can choose from a variety of layouts, themes, and widgets, including one that will let you set an image of your own. You can also set when AOD will be enabled during the day, which is a good way to save battery by turning it off at night when you know you'll be sleeping.
That last bit is probably going to be the biggest question mark to this app. Samsung claims that it is only making AOD available on its higher-end phones because only those have had their hardware optimized for using the feature. While having an OLED screen is already a distinct advantage, it might indeed be the case that this third-party AOD port might incur a slightly higher battery hit than normal.
VIA: XDA