Hey
I was holding my phone, taking some pictures and I though to myself, wouldn't it be a lot better if the volume up or down key could be used as a shutter release button, rather that the stiff, hard to press trackpad.
Now my question is, is it TECHNICALY posible to do this?
Is there anyway to "map" thoses keys to do something else but just in the camera app?
If you think it is possible, then I might try to document myself and hack this into the desire.
But if you are positive that it is impossible then ... I won't ^^
Bye
I'm not sure if you know that you can touch the screen for a half a second or so and then let go (wherever you want to focus) to take a picture by default already ?
Yes I know that, it was the same on the hero. The thing is, the phone focuses on whatever you are pointing at so you have to get your hand in an ackward, shacky position in order to focus on the right object/region.
On the other hand, the sound up button is easily accesible and can easily be pressed without shaking the phone to much. I going to read through the Android doc, si if I can find anything.
This would be even more awesome as the sound up/down buttons arent used for anything in the camera app
I totally agree. That would be the best way to reduce camera shake. You would get a significantly higher sharp picture ratio this way.
-------------------------------------
Sent from my HTC Desire
Would it be somehow possible to decompile the HTC camera apk and had code to it?
I don't find the trackpad a hard to press button, in fact it's nicer than camera phones I've had in the past.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f44/app-to-remap-physical-keys-28868/
Over here someone mentions 'Button Shortcut' on the market, haven't tried it myself but if it does what they say it does, it might be exactly what you're looking for.
EDIT: Also just from reading through this thread again, are you guys holding the camera with the trackpad button on the left? Try holding it the other way (if you're right handed).
I had found that thread before posting this question (yes I did do research beleive it or not), has it turns out it is not relevant to what I want to do.
I am holding the phone the way the camera app wants you to hold it, hence trackpad on the right. The trackpad isn't hard to press per se, but the amount of pressure you have to use to press it means that the phone is more shacky than if you had to press the volume key.
This sounds like a very good idea. Keep us posted if you find anything.
Yes, I agree with all of your aforementioned points.
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- Sent via my HTC Desire -
I was looking around the forum and noticed this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=850464 It's called ButtonRemapper. It's in Beta and it should work for your purpose if your phone is one of the supported devices and is Fully Rooted.
I too agree with all mentioned issues/drawbacks at the present and possible benefit of using vol-up key for taking photos. There are already some apps giving user a similar option to change vol rocker buttons functionality for instance some browsers have this option to scroll up-down pages whilst some keyboard apps have it to move cursor upper-lower lines within a text. You dont need to root to use those apps. So, why not?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Related
Hey all, I am an iphone convert. Recently purchased the HTC outright. Great phone. Coming from a jailbroken iphone there are a couple of features that I miss. They're not deal breakers but they are really convenient in my opinion..
I love using my phones as a media player. And although there's no equalizer on the desire, I think the quality is pretty good assuming you're using reasonable earphones.
I found an app on cydia for iphone which reassigned my volume rocker.
If I just tap the volume up or down, it changed the volume as normal.
If I hold the volume key up or down, it skipped the track forwards or backwards.
I was hopeful that a developer might see this as a good addition to the Desire and be able to emulate such a function for the volume keys.
Thanks!
Hmm i'm guessing that you don't use the stock headphones with inline controls then. I'm hoping when the device is rooted a lot of hacks should surface. I want to use the optical trackpad press to bring up the lockscreen for instance. And a flashlight app that actually uses the flash and not a bright white screen lol.
nope. Those earphones are way to large for my ears! I can't even fit the buggers in!
But I agree, being able to wake the phone with the trackpad is a must.
Here's hoping sooner rather than later
ephumuris said:
Hmm i'm guessing that you don't use the stock headphones with inline controls then. I'm hoping when the device is rooted a lot of hacks should surface. I want to use the optical trackpad press to bring up the lockscreen for instance. And a flashlight app that actually uses the flash and not a bright white screen lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drewsta_j said:
But I agree, being able to wake the phone with the trackpad is a must.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Grab the application "No Lock" from the market - works perfectly on my Desire.
drewsta_j said:
Hey all, I am an iphone convert.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drewsta_j said:
If I just tap the volume up or down, it changed the volume as normal.
If I hold the volume key up or down, it skipped the track forwards or backwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent idea. There is currently application with proves key rebinding is possible without root (Tasker), unfortunately it doesn't have volume keys and I do not have time now to try implementing a solution for this.
I will personally look into this in a month (extremely busy atm) as a hobby, and hopefully the device will have been rooted by then making this definitely possible. I'm not an amazing dev., but I can hack around to make things work
Went from Dream to iphone, but Android pulled me back with the Desire.
We are all waiting for root indeed! Shouldn't take too long I reckon. It is definately a must to wake up on menu/trackpad or home key. Anyone has some ideas?
No lock also bypasses the lockpattern, too bad. And it looks as if it runs in the background and only turns off the screen. Feels like it wil drain the battery, but maybe I am mistaking.
NoLock is okay, but any key turns the screen on. This could be a pain if it's in your pocket and you accidentally press the volume keys, for instance.
When I had the tweak that allowed me to skip tracks with the volume keys, it took away most of my needs to turn the screen simply to skip tracks. This helped save the battery.
Not only that, it also helps if you are running a different application. You wouldn't need to go back to the home screen to use the widget.
Just a couple more benefits
Hi all,
My 1st post on xda
I'm no developer, and haven't coded anything since ages, but after some digging I think may be possible to implement such a feature.
According to the android developer reference on (sorry, I'm a new user so I can't post links)
KeyEvent
KeyEvent.Callback #onKeyDown
Dialog #onKeyDown
And those forums (search for this on google)
anddev org disable_volume_keys-t10191.html
google groups android developers Long-press hard volume keys
Tell me if I'm wrong, but those links indicate that it is possible to replace the behavior of a key press ("intercepting" it before it gets interpreted by the system that changes the volume setting). Then once you intercepted it, you can check if it is a normal key press (short), in which case you would still allow to "forward" the information to the system. BUT, if you detected that it is a long press, you activate the action "next track" and do not forward the volume information to the system.
Something like (syntax is nor correct, of course)
Code:
public boolean onKeyDown(int keyCode, KeyEvent event) // the way I understand this line, it will replace the default behavior of the onKeyDown routine
{
if (keyCode == KeyEvent.KEYCODE_VOLUME_DOWN // if the key pressed down is vol_down
...
if the key press is long // don't know the code for that
do the action for next track
return true; // means that you do not forward the keypress to the system
else // if the keypress is not long
return false; // you have not intercepted the keypress, so you forward it to the system
...
else return super.onKeyDown(keyCode, event); // if any other key is pressed, forward it directly
}
Any opinions on that? Is the xda forum the right place to talk about code, or are other forums more suited to discuss about that?
Interesting..
If the code looks like that I might have to take up a hobby in learning how to code. It doesn't appear to be tooo difficult at all.
It does look like you may be on the right track there Bricolo_fr..
Cheers for looking into it.
Drew.
I see a potential problem though. You'd need to know what media playback program is actually being used, and it needs to support receiving messages from other programs so that you can tell it to skip to the next track. This might even require different coding for every player program available, if they receive messages in different ways.
In other words, you could end up having to write your own media player program.
FloatingFatMan said:
I see a potential problem though. You'd need to know what media playback program is actually being used, and it needs to support receiving messages from other programs so that you can tell it to skip to the next track. This might even require different coding for every player program available, if they receive messages in different ways.
In other words, you could end up having to write your own media player program.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, well surely there must be a simple solution?
Why can't we say create an app where you could select which media player you are using (only have a few of the main ones) then we would be able to amend the code as per which option they select before it was implemented?
drewsta_j said:
Ok, well surely there must be a simple solution?
Why can't we say create an app where you could select which media player you are using (only have a few of the main ones) then we would be able to amend the code as per which option they select before it was implemented?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure you can do that; buy you'd have to examine each of those apps, work out if they accept messages, and work out what format said messages need to actually be in.
One would hope they would implement standard interfaces, but that's all it is, a hope.
Well personally, I use the stock player. It ain't the best but it gets the job done. So if it was just created for that at least I'd be more than happy
Thanks for the comments.
FloatingFatMan you are indeed right. I didn't know that all media players don't behave the same. So not all of them accept incoming messages, and not with the same protocol? Hum...
Does that mean that widgets for media player control are only compatible with a specific media player, also?
About the code itself, do you guys think can work?
I'm quite new here, is xda a place about writing code or should we discuss that in another place where people are more used to that?
Cheers
now that the Desire can be rooted...
on the Nexus one (probably other devices too) with the cyanogenmod roms, this feature is availale. just long press vol+ or vol- and you get next/prev track
can this be done with a moded rom on the desire also? what kind of changes need to be applied to the stock rom to add this function?
Bricolo_fr said:
now that the Desire can be rooted...
on the Nexus one (probably other devices too) with the cyanogenmod roms, this feature is availale. just long press vol+ or vol- and you get next/prev track
can this be done with a moded rom on the desire also? what kind of changes need to be applied to the stock rom to add this function?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. am really liking forward to his feature now the phone is rooted.
ephumuris said:
Hmm i'm guessing that you don't use the stock headphones with inline controls then. I'm hoping when the device is rooted a lot of hacks should surface. I want to use the optical trackpad press to bring up the lockscreen for instance. And a flashlight app that actually uses the flash and not a bright white screen lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try Flashapp on the Market. I can post URL yet but you'll find it...]
Another excellent example that long press on a hardkey can be implemented without root is Quick Settings (great app btw): it can be brought up anytime, no matter what app you are running by longpressing the search key.
Did anyone ever get any further with this?
ephumuris said:
And a flashlight app that actually uses the flash and not a bright white screen lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies as I know it's a bit OT for this thread, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of the LED Desire Light app (http://www.appbrain.com/app/nostovic.android.desire.ledLight) - the latest version even has a nice wee widget to put the flash on/off, but the main app also offers SOS and turning text into Morse code!!
oxygen mod - based on cyanogen has:
* Skip tracks with long press volume up/down
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=829734
update: it's a cyanogen feature, so all mods based on cyanogen have this
it works with screen locked.
Hey everyone. I was using the camera app the other day, and it got me thinking that it would be incredibly convenient and practical to be able to use the volume rocker to take pictures instead of the optical trackpad. I've done a bit of searching, and I haven't seen anything about this in the Incredible forum, so if anyone has a solution or idea, feel free to let me know!
I agree. The optical jog is terrible. Almost impossible to hold the camera steady and use it.
marcmarshall said:
I agree. The optical jog is terrible. Almost impossible to hold the camera steady and use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto.
Maybe even be able to rotate the camera app so the volume buttons are in the traditional location of the shutter button.
its like one of three things i miss about my blackberry storm. the camera button, the way that profiles and settings were consolidated into one space, and batch actions for messages (delete all, mark all unread, etc)
i hope that someone comes up with something for this. especially allowing camera to rotate would be great.
Camera zoom fx
Check it out in the android market
It works great.
yujikaido79 said:
Check it out in the android market
It works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check what out?
mrlanrat said:
Check what out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its in the title of his post, which doesn't show up in most places except the main forum....camera zoom fx i think it was?
Is there any way to turn off the screen while recording video?
Is there any way to remap the power button as the shutter when taking photos?
I know some other Android phones have apps and mods but I havent found anything for the EVO.
Is there any way to turn off the screen while recording video?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think so, but there are apps in the Market that allow recording with the screen off.
Is there any way to remap the power button as the shutter when taking photos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power button, no. There are ways to use the volume keys or the search button, however they require root and a custom rom.
Lmao sounds like your trying to make a dirty video candid style .
reaper24 said:
Lmao sounds like your trying to make a dirty video candid style .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my first thought too.
I too would like something to make my volume buttons a shutter button when the camera is activated. Self pics are a nightmare when you have to try to push the screen when it's turned away from you. I'm rooted running Chogardjr v3.12 on an Evo 4G if it matters.
reaper24 said:
Lmao sounds like your trying to make a dirty video candid style .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not everyone on this board acts like a two year old in the real world.
I actually use the phone to log track sessions on a dashboard mount in my car. The video screen always on can be distracting.
The shutter button is a no brainer. The touch screen button is a PITA to use since you have to hold the camera a certain way to take any picture.
Thanks for your lack of help, Ill search around for some apps.
Hi,
If enough people will want this app Tigger31337(WildChild ROM) said he would look in to it..
Please post a reply if you're interested.
Tnx!
Camera
That would be awesome. Having to touch the screen actually makes it a little harder to snap a quick picture.
That would be great!
Yes i want it too
Me too want this cam
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium
Count me in.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium
Me Too
Yes me too :thumbup:
Tigger is my favorite developer
And his Rom is the best
Send from my HTC Wildfire S
ROM. Wildchild. v2. 0
Me tooo
Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xda premium
Me too
Sent from my Wildfire S A510e using xda app-developers app
meee tooooo :laugh:
Me too, please!
(Oh, wait... )
So, now that the WildChild Sense is 99.9% finished (look for it soon) I promise to give this some attention.
Off the top of my head, it seems trivial to remap the VolUp key to be a global Camera Shutter key (if anyone's desperate for this, I can release it in about 5 mins!) but I have the feeling that we all want the VolUp key to release the shutter only from within the Camera app itself. That will require some fancy footwork. I've yet to see it done for a Sense 2.1 ROM so... no promises, but I will take a look at it shortly.
Thank you, all, for voicing your request.
Enjoy the weekend,
Tigger31337 said:
Me too, please!
(Oh, wait... )
So, now that the WildChild Sense is 99.9% finished (look for it soon) I promise to give this some attention.
Off the top of my head, it seems trivial to remap the VolUp key to be a global Camera Shutter key (if anyone's desperate for this, I can release it in about 5 mins!) but I have the feeling that we all want the VolUp key to release the shutter only from within the Camera app itself. That will require some fancy footwork. I've yet to see it done for a Sense 2.1 ROM so... no promises, but I will take a look at it shortly.
Thank you, all, for voicing your request.
Enjoy the weekend,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for this!!
We really appreciate the effort.. And looking foreword for updates..
Have a great weekend.
Hi, I can give U a temporary solution.
Download this software
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7x58xb2orf1n1s/BR0.2.4.1.apk
Install it.
Remap the keys as you like (you can only remap volume up and volume down shown as Media next and media previous in the soft).
U just need to know what state means. 3 states are there, Wake, Wake_dropped & none. For camera button I'd prescribe U should select NONE.
Wake = Means they will work even when screenlock is on
Wake Dropped = Means will work only when screenlock is off
You can alternatively do the same by editing /system/usr/keylayout/marvel-keypad.kl
Same process but in that case u have to do it manually. Just a little more time consuming. And revert back is a click away in that software(check >Menu>Settings). or in the second process delete marvel-keypad.kl and rename marvel-keypad.kl.bak as marvel-keypad.kl!!!
finance.resat said:
Hi, I can give U a temporary solution.
Download this software
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7x58xb2orf1n1s/BR0.2.4.1.apk
Install it.
Remap the keys as you like (you can only remap volume up and volume down shown as Media next and media previous in the soft).
U just need to know what state means. 3 states are there, Wake, Wake_dropped & none. For camera button I'd prescribe U should select NONE.
Wake = Means they will work even when screenlock is on
Wake Dropped = Means will work only when screenlock is off
You can alternatively do the same by editing /system/usr/keylayout/marvel-keypad.kl
Same process but in that case u have to do it manually. Just a little more time consuming. And revert back is a click away in that software(check >Menu>Settings). or in the second process delete marvel-keypad.kl and rename marvel-keypad.kl.bak as marvel-keypad.kl!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate ..
But I want to remap the Vol.up only for the camera app..
finance.resat said:
Hi, I can give U a temporary solution.
Download this software
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7x58xb2orf1n1s/BR0.2.4.1.apk
Install it.
Remap the keys as you like (you can only remap volume up and volume down shown as Media next and media previous in the soft).
U just need to know what state means. 3 states are there, Wake, Wake_dropped & none. For camera button I'd prescribe U should select NONE.
Wake = Means they will work even when screenlock is on
Wake Dropped = Means will work only when screenlock is off
You can alternatively do the same by editing /system/usr/keylayout/marvel-keypad.kl
Same process but in that case u have to do it manually. Just a little more time consuming. And revert back is a click away in that software(check >Menu>Settings). or in the second process delete marvel-keypad.kl and rename marvel-keypad.kl.bak as marvel-keypad.kl!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't download the s/w, but if it behaves the way you say, then that won't quite work. For starters, I need to map volume to more than just WAKE or MEDIA (it has to be CAMERA). If your s/w can't do that, then I can just do it by hand (very easy). The problem, as I described earlier, is that it will be a GLOBAL change. Nobody wants that. The goal is to get Vol+Up to Shutter only from within the camera apk.
Second, your description of WAKE vs. WAKE_DROPPED isn't entirely accurate. It has nothing to do with screen on/off. It has to do with whether or not the h/w button function will be passed along to the app after the WAKE call. (WAKE sends the h/w call to the app, but WAKE_DROP does not).
Anyway, gimme another couple of days and I'll start working on this. Sorry about the delay.
Just a little teaser...
I'm able to get the HTC camera app to take a picture with the Volume rocker... but I don't like it.
I must have broken something else in the process because I (sometimes) get visual artefacts on the bottom of the picture (green bars). Also, the layout looks a bit wonky but still functional.
And finally, it's unpredictable when the camera will zoom and when it will actually take a snapshot when the vol keys are pressed. It seems like a long press will zoom and a short press will release the shutter (which is what i wanted) but it doesn't always work that way.
Now here's the real issue. I always thought that a h/w shutter button would be better than tapping the screen. But, after hacking around with it, it turns out that tapping the screen generated less shake for me! Try it yourself. If you hold your phone steady and press the Vol Up button, for me, there is a very slight movement on the camera. But if I'm holding the phone the same way (by all 4 corners) and then use the tip of my index finger to tap the shutter icon, I get practically no motion == clearer shot. (Maybe that's just me!)
In any case, I'm quite happy with the touchscreen shutter (and I'm busy as hell) so I'm not really driven to complete this project. That being said, I will glady spend a few more days on it and then release whatever I have for some other keener, smarter folks to complete.
Thanks dude..
We'll appreciate what ever release you'll give us..
A small motivation..
I was trying to take a pic of me and my gf yesterday..
It just impossible with the touch shutter..
But in the other hand.. Why ruin the view with my ugly face
It'll be fine if you simply disable the volume zoom function. Its digital zoom anyways, so we can always crop the pic later. So you can maybe map volume down to re-focus & volume up to click!
maoz59 said:
Thanks dude..
We'll appreciate what ever release you'll give us..
A small motivation..
I was trying to take a pic of me and my gf yesterday..
It just impossible with the touch shutter..
But in the other hand.. Why ruin the view with my ugly face
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC's self-portrait is amazing. Its got face detection, try it out!
Hi all
Tigger U r the boss and I m just a noob. I hardly know anything about android.
Anyways, here is another temporary solution... Hope U like it or hope U not But i'm using it currently so ill just post that, glad if it help anyone.
Download camera360 and this S/W
The camera is better than stock I think. Use the longpress camera key shortcut as any volume control software (I use hide it pro). And long press search key as the Aneq Equalizer free so that U can switch equalizer when u listening to music. I use vol up as next track and vol down as camera. works pretty well for me. Vol up press after remap is also used to change radio stations.. I m having good fun.:good:
I haven't read this anywhere, and I may have skipped it when I didn't bother to look at the manual...
But did everyone notice that in camera mode, the volume key acts as a hard camera shutter button.
Anyway, I apologize in advance if it's been posted somewhere before.
But if you didn't know, it can be pretty handy.
l0ng0ne said:
I haven't read this anywhere, and I may have skipped it when I didn't bother to look at the manual...
But did everyone notice that in camera mode, the volume key acts as a hard camera shutter button.
Anyway, I apologize in advance if it's been posted somewhere before.
But if you didn't know, it can be pretty handy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes in camera mode volume keys can as a shutter button
Sent from my L-01E using xda premium
l0ng0ne said:
I haven't read this anywhere, and I may have skipped it when I didn't bother to look at the manual...
But did everyone notice that in camera mode, the volume key acts as a hard camera shutter button.
Anyway, I apologize in advance if it's been posted somewhere before.
But if you didn't know, it can be pretty handy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, much nicer than having to press the on-screen shutter button. Way easier to keep the shot framed and less motion.
And thanks a bunch for the help on IRC today, got my device downgraded and re-rooted.
Ok here is an another one.
Vol down + up opens the qmemo, but its kinda complicated to press both buttons, so you can just press them at middle
Tim4 said:
Ok here is an another one.
Vol down + up opens the qmemo, but its kinda complicated to press both buttons, so you can just press them at middle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so that's why quick memo kept popping up. Good to know.
Sent from my 101D using xda app-developers app