Would this be the case? I enjoy having good selection of ROMs with different looks
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Can't see why that would be the case, unless you're thinking about Gingerbread roms, which would make no sense.
FISKER_Q said:
Can't see why that would be the case, unless you're thinking about Gingerbread roms, which would make no sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its a dumb question but would htc and samsung etc make phones with no buttons? I believe you can use ics with physical buttons as shown on nexus s.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
jay_993 said:
Would this be the case? I enjoy having good selection of ROMs with different looks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well why would you want a Gingerbread ROM ported to the Galaxy Nexus? That's the only way you'd have an issue.
Once custom ROMs are based on 4.0, it'll already have the hooks to run with on-screen buttons and not hardware buttons. That's part of ICS, not just this particular release.
Problem solved...
jay_993 said:
I know its a dumb question but would htc and samsung etc make phones with no buttons? I believe you can use ics with physical buttons as shown on nexus s.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but all ICS releases will be made for phones with no buttons, unless you're anticipating someone building ROMs on Android 2.3 for some reason.
Any custom ROM that comes out will be ICS based, so there's really no reason to worry. The ONLY one that might be in some trouble at first is MIUI, but I'm sure some intrepid dev out there will fix it.
SomeGuyDude said:
Yeah, but all ICS releases will be made for phones with no buttons, unless you're anticipating someone building ROMs on Android 2.3 for some reason.
Any custom ROM that comes out will be ICS based, so there's really no reason to worry. The ONLY one that might be in some trouble at first is MIUI, but I'm sure some intrepid dev out there will fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt ICS releases will assume phones have no buttons. The emulator in the SDK for ICS is still button-based. I think the ICS base software will be agnostic to the button arrangement, and then vendor-specific hardware drivers will then determine whether virtual buttons or physical buttons are used to interface with the OS.
Chirality said:
I doubt ICS releases will assume phones have no buttons. The emulator in the SDK for ICS is still button-based. I think the ICS base software will be agnostic to the button arrangement, and then vendor-specific hardware drivers will then determine whether virtual buttons or physical buttons are used to interface with the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well of course the emulator will be button based, as you can't touch the screen of your laptop
But yes, I get your point. The idea is the manufacturer chooses whether to use buttons or not. I think they'd be stupid to include buttons though, when the soft buttons will obviously make the experience much better.
jay_993 said:
Would this be the case? I enjoy having good selection of ROMs with different looks
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS will work if you have or don't have physical buttons.
http://gizmodo.com/5853298/will-your-android-phones-buttons-still-work-with-ice-cream-sandwich
I think the focus is ports such as MIUI... but either they'll include the hooks for the buttons or 3rd party controls... or custom launchers like the ICS launchers we have now.
Not to worry
G2x - 2.3.7 CM7
Transformer - 3.2 Revolver OC/UV
martonikaj said:
Well of course the emulator will be button based, as you can't touch the screen of your laptop
But yes, I get your point. The idea is the manufacturer chooses whether to use buttons or not. I think they'd be stupid to include buttons though, when the soft buttons will obviously make the experience much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didn't really think through your point...
If you can't simulate touchscreen input on the emulator, how are you going to perform all those touch-based actions in Android on the emulator? Did you think that on the emulator, you press buttons to do everything?
The answer is that with the emulator, you use mouse presses to simulate touchscreen input. Which means that, if the softkeys are a standard, always-present part of ICS, then in the emulator for ICS those softkeys would be on the screen. However they are not, which means ICS works just fine with hardware buttons, and hides the softkeys when they are present.
Chirality said:
You didn't really think through your point...
If you can't simulate touchscreen input on the emulator, how are you going to perform all those touch-based actions in Android on the emulator? Did you think that on the emulator, you press buttons to do everything?
The answer is that with the emulator, you use mouse presses to simulate touchscreen input. Which means that, if the softkeys are a standard, always-present part of ICS, then in the emulator for ICS those softkeys would be on the screen. However they are not, which means ICS works just fine with hardware buttons, and hides the softkeys when they are present.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was making a joke about it. Easy tiger.
They're just simply running 4.0 in the old emulator so the emulator interface is the same whether you're running a 2.3 or 4.0 AVD.
martonikaj said:
I was making a joke about it. Easy tiger.
They're just simply running 4.0 in the old emulator so the emulator interface is the same whether you're running a 2.3 or 4.0 AVD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought you might have been making a joke, so I wasn't overly critical, but tone doesn't come across well over the web...
Sure, they reused the old emulator interface. But that already tells you everything you need to know. If ICS doesn't work with physical buttons, then they would either need to revamp the emulator, disable the physical buttons and put on-screen buttons on the emulator display, or just leave the physical buttons there, but they would do nothing and on-screen buttons would be displayed. The fact that the emulator works without change, already tells you that ICS supports physical buttons and can hide the on-screen buttons when they are not needed.
Chirality said:
I thought you might have been making a joke, so I wasn't overly critical, but tone doesn't come across well over the web...
Sure, they reused the old emulator interface. But that already tells you everything you need to know. If ICS doesn't work with physical buttons, then they would either need to revamp the emulator, disable the physical buttons and put on-screen buttons on the emulator display, or just leave the physical buttons there, but they would do nothing and on-screen buttons would be displayed. The fact that the emulator works without change, already tells you that ICS supports physical buttons and can hide the on-screen buttons when they are not needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I'm 100% sure ICS is set up to work with either on-screen or hardware buttons. Its pretty well exemplified by the SDK ports of ICS running just fine on a Nexus S with hardware buttons, and the fact that manufacturers are saying old phones (pre GN) are getting ICS upgrades. I think Goog would be stupid to make it only work on all-screen phones.
All I was saying is that I think manufacturers would be dumb to make new phones with hardware buttons and ICS, as the software buttons work so much better. Just as we saw with honeycomb, a few tablets used a hardware home key or something like that, but most just used on-screen buttons.
Most likely we will see more phones with hardware based buttons in the future. The button-less design will be standard for high-end phones but on the smaller phones with smaller screens where the size of software buttons will take up to much space. I think that the option to use hardware buttons will stay as an options for years to come.
martonikaj said:
Oh I'm 100% sure ICS is set up to work with either on-screen or hardware buttons. Its pretty well exemplified by the SDK ports of ICS running just fine on a Nexus S with hardware buttons, and the fact that manufacturers are saying old phones (pre GN) are getting ICS upgrades. I think Goog would be stupid to make it only work on all-screen phones.
All I was saying is that I think manufacturers would be dumb to make new phones with hardware buttons and ICS, as the software buttons work so much better. Just as we saw with honeycomb, a few tablets used a hardware home key or something like that, but most just used on-screen buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly do software buttons work better? I would much prefer hardware buttons with real tactile feedback because it's much harder to accidentally press them.
Chirality said:
How exactly do software buttons work better? I would much prefer hardware buttons with real tactile feedback because it's much harder to accidentally press them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well for one they're dynamic, meaning they can adapt to whatever changes in lighting, orientation, etc.
They can also be changed after the fact, for example if Google decides that there should be a search button instead of, or in addition to, the button(s), then they will adapt it on the software side.
Failure of the buttons is also dependant on the touch sensor failing, and not just wear and tear from the user, i know the trackball on my Nexus One was becoming increasingly frustrating because of that.
Lastly as for the con that it's easier to accidentally press, i disagree. I can't speak for Google's implementation, but there are a variety of software options to prevent stuff like that from happening.
For example the already existing capacative buttons cannot be activated unless you actually click on them, or atleast that's how it is on my phone, yes the touch required is otherwise light, but could likewise be adjusted in the software.
FISKER_Q said:
Well for one they're dynamic, meaning they can adapt to whatever changes in lighting, orientation, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no advantages to this. If you have hardware buttons with real tactile feedback, you can press them in your pocket without looking at it. You don't need fancy virtual buttons that change icons and dim, all you need are real, physical buttons.
FISKER_Q said:
They can also be changed after the fact, for example if Google decides that there should be a search button instead of, or in addition to, the button(s), then they will adapt it on the software side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While this is a potential pro, the chances of this happening are slim to none. For this to work, Android would have to truly do away with physical buttons and make software buttons an integral part of the platform. Physical buttons and virtual buttons remain viable options for the platform, which means that the platform can't make changes to the button specification at will.
FISKER_Q said:
Failure of the buttons is also dependant on the touch sensor failing, and not just wear and tear from the user, i know the trackball on my Nexus One was becoming increasingly frustrating because of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to see some statistics to back up the claim that physical buttons fail before touchscreens do.
FISKER_Q said:
Lastly as for the con that it's easier to accidentally press, i disagree. I can't speak for Google's implementation, but there are a variety of software options to prevent stuff like that from happening.
For example the already existing capacative buttons cannot be activated unless you actually click on them, or atleast that's how it is on my phone, yes the touch required is otherwise light, but could likewise be adjusted in the software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchpanel makers have been trying for years to master the technology to prevent accidental presses, but none of them work as well as a real button that you have to depress to activate. I think if you were honest with yourself you'd agree with this, any reasonable person would.
Lil Jones said:
Most likely we will see more phones with hardware based buttons in the future. The button-less design will be standard for high-end phones but on the smaller phones with smaller screens where the size of software buttons will take up to much space. I think that the option to use hardware buttons will stay as an options for years to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you're thinking this through. When you remove the hardware buttons, the screen gets larger. The net real-estate you have for screen+buttons stays the same, but now the buttons can change/move.
Chirality said:
How exactly do software buttons work better? I would much prefer hardware buttons with real tactile feedback because it's much harder to accidentally press them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you don't need the buttons (games, videos, camera, etc.) they go away. Leaving you with MORE screen then you had before.
Software buttons can dynamically change. They get brighter or dimmer with the screen, they rotate with the phone, and the buttons can change (add or remove menu button for legacy apps) depending on where in the OS you are.
Not to mention that with ICS software buttons, the positioning is standardized. No more rearranging of the buttons from android device to android device and manufacturer to manufacturer.
---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------
Chirality said:
There are no advantages to this. If you have hardware buttons with real tactile feedback, you can press them in your pocket without looking at it. You don't need fancy virtual buttons that change icons and dim, all you need are real, physical buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why do you need to press the home/menu/back/search buttons on your phone in your pocket?
While this is a potential pro, the chances of this happening are slim to none. For this to work, Android would have to truly do away with physical buttons and make software buttons an integral part of the platform. Physical buttons and virtual buttons remain viable options for the platform, which means that the platform can't make changes to the button specification at will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its pretty clear that ICS is moving Android towards a buttonless design. When the Nexus comes out with no physical buttons, I think they're sending a pretty serious message about what they want manufacturers to do and what Google sees as the future of Android.
martonikaj said:
When you don't need the buttons (games, videos, camera, etc.) they go away. Leaving you with MORE screen then you had before.
Software buttons can dynamically change. They get brighter or dimmer with the screen, they rotate with the phone, and the buttons can change (add or remove menu button for legacy apps) depending on where in the OS you are.
Not to mention that with ICS software buttons, the positioning is standardized. No more rearranging of the buttons from android device to android device and manufacturer to manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sense there is some conceptual confusion here. Both you and FISKER_Q said something about on-screen buttons being dynamic and can change with what the software is doing. Let's clarify things a bit.
We are actually talking about two different kinds of buttons here. The first kind are the button widgets displayed on the screen, they can have different appearances and functions and appear and disappear depending on what the software is doing. Let's call them dynamic buttons. The second kind are buttons that are always present and always do the same thing. Let's call them static buttons.
Obviously a touchscreen mobile device needs dynamic buttons, they are an integral part of the current UI paradigm. But does it need static buttons? Well...it needs at least one, the power button. Without it, you won't be able to turn the phone on. But does it need a second one? The answer is yes, it needs a home button. Without it you won't be able to return from a full screen application that wasn't designed with an exit function. This is why the iPhone has a giant button underneath the screen. And in fact, in ICS, the three virtual buttons only go away during video playback. They are still there, possibly dimmed, during any games or other apps. And this is only because the video playback app is a standard part of the OS, so it's safe to let that app hide the home button until a user taps the screen. Imagine if any app could hide the home button. Then you can write a malicious app that hides the home button and doesn't let you exit the app, forcing you to restart your phone.
So we established that a mobile device needs at least a second static button. Now the question becomes, given that you need this button to be always present and always doing the same thing, why make it into a dynamic, virtual button? Why do you need it to dim, change orientation, change function, move around? You want this button to be static, predictable, easy to locate. Users should be able to press this button without any graphic indicating what and where it is. This is why I said physical buttons can be pressed in your pocket without looking at it: not because you would ever need to do that, but because with a physical button, particularly as few as 1 to 3, they are so easy to locate and press that you don't even need any lights or graphics indicating where they are.
Obviously Android realizes the necessity of at least two static buttons, that's why they designed the home button to behave the way it does on ICS, where it is treated differently from other buttons. Now it is the decision of the Android designers to include not just one, but three static buttons as a standard part of the system. But here we are not concerned with this design choice, what we are concerned with is the fact that there needs to be at least one of these static buttons besides the power button, and the properties that these buttons must have. Given these properties, why should these static buttons be dynamic, be able to dim, be able to change orientation, be able to change function based on context? Why shouldn't they simply be physical buttons that can always be easily located, easily pressed, and difficult to trigger accidentally?
Chirality said:
Obviously a touchscreen mobile device needs dynamic buttons, they are an integral part of the current UI paradigm. But does it need static buttons? Well...it needs at least one, the power button. Without it, you won't be able to turn the phone on. But does it need a second one? The answer is yes, it needs a home button. Without it you won't be able to return from a full screen application that wasn't designed with an exit function. This is why the iPhone has a giant button underneath the screen. And in fact, in ICS, the three virtual buttons only go away during video playback. They are still there, possibly dimmed, during any games or other apps. And this is only because the video playback app is a standard part of the OS, so it's safe to let that app hide the home button until a user taps the screen. Imagine if any app could hide the home button. Then you can write a malicious app that hides the home button and doesn't let you exit the app, forcing you to restart your phone.
So we established that a mobile device needs at least a second static button. Now the question becomes, given that you need this button to be always present and always doing the same thing, why make it into a dynamic, virtual button? Why do you need it to dim, change orientation, change function, move around? You want this button to be static, predictable, easy to locate. Users should be able to press this button without any graphic indicating what and where it is. This is why I said physical buttons can be pressed in your pocket without looking at it: not because you would ever need to do that, but because with a physical button, particularly as few as 1 to 3, they are so easy to locate and press that you don't even need any lights or graphics indicating where they are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, we didn't establish anything. You established that you think the phone needs a 2nd static button. And why? Because you're worried about malware taking over the buttons? You can write a malicious app now that disables your hardware home button (or any other button, for that matter) too. How is that ANY different? Just because its hardware doesn't mean that it doesn't link to software at some point. If you think about it, Android already has software buttons, they're just linked to hardware switches on the front of the phone....
Obviously Android realizes the necessity of at least two static buttons, that's why they designed the home button to behave the way it does on ICS, where it is treated differently from other buttons. Now it is the decision of the Android designers to include not just one, but three static buttons as a standard part of the system. But here we are not concerned with this design choice, what we are concerned with is the fact that there needs to be at least one of these static buttons besides the power button, and the properties that these buttons must have. Given these properties, why should these static buttons be dynamic, be able to dim, be able to change orientation, be able to change function based on context? Why shouldn't they simply be physical buttons that can always be easily located, easily pressed, and difficult to trigger accidentally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, android actually hasn't realized the necessity for at least 2 buttons. Its actually quite the opposite. They've gone from wanting 5 static buttons, to ICS+Galaxy Nexus only having 1, the power button. The home button will always be in the same place when you need it, it is just able to disappear in full-screen apps to allow them to use the full real estate of the phone's front panel (and not just movies. Books, games, web pages, etc.).
You make it sound like because the software buttons are able to rotate with the phone or fade out during watching a movie or reading a book that they won't come back when you need them in the exact same spot when you're done with the full-screen task. It is just as easy for a user to remember where a software button is as it is to know where a hardware button is. Software just brings more consistency across the platform, where software buttons will always be in the same spot.
Related
Sorry if this was mentioned before but there is a way to create a d-pad using the AE Button Plus
http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php
I did it using the increase and decrease volume and changed them to up and down scrolling,
Thanks
pantelis25 said:
Sorry if this was mentioned before but there is a way to create a d-pad using the AE Button Plus
http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php
I did it using the increase and decrease volume and changed them to up and down scrolling,
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason Rhodium doesn't have a D-pad in the first place is because you are suppose to use the phone with the qwerty keyboard out most of the time.
poetryrocksalot said:
The reason Rhodium doesn't have a D-pad in the first place is because you are suppose to use the phone with the qwerty keyboard out most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't have a dpad because a) they thought it didn't need one because dpads are so 2005 and b) there wasn't room for everything and reviewers are already fond of calling it a brick.
I didn't notice AEB+ using the zoom bar as a dpad, but that's the hack I'm hoping for. Maybe it can capture the zoom bar action, I'm just not sure.
fortunz said:
It doesn't have a dpad because a) they thought it didn't need one because dpads are so 2005 and b) there wasn't room for everything and reviewers are already fond of calling it a brick.
I didn't notice AEB+ using the zoom bar as a dpad, but that's the hack I'm hoping for. Maybe it can capture the zoom bar action, I'm just not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just trust me on this...the reason is that the keyboard qwerty is good enough"
Think about PLEASE!!!!!
Why the hell would you buy a phone with qwerty keyboard, ctrl, arrow keys, and proper function indicators? Obviously because you rely on those.
And if you rely on those than you obviously already have a D-Pad called "Arrow Keys" and "Enter/Select Key"
Also don't you find it absolutely ****ing pointless to have a volume control keys be used as a scroll wheel when you lack a freaking "select" button?
Man what are you people thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why would you use up and down with volume rocker just to highlight an item and then tap on the same exact item to select it.
Why would you use a freaking volume rocker to scroll down a page when you obviously can do it better with a freaking stylus?
The same goes for the zoom bar!!! That ludicrously illogical to use zoom bar to highlight items and then having to get the stylus out to tap it. Waste of time and efficiency without a freaking "enter/select key"
Think aF***ingBout It! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
poetryrocksalot said:
Why the hell would you buy a phone with qwerty keyboard, ctrl, arrow keys, and proper function indicators? Obviously because you rely on those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to type. It is entirely possible, and preferable to some to navigate without always having it open.
Now, about your caffeine intake...
fortunz said:
In order to type. It is entirely possible, and preferable to some to navigate without always having it open.
Now, about your caffeine intake...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha that's hilarious
DPad Desire
I just got my TP2 a few days ago, my personal desire would be a DPAD app that uses the whole keyboard, so generically pressing rowards the left of the keys is left (like Q,W,A,S,D), towards the top is up (like 4,5,6,R,T,Y) etc. etc.
Then an assignable button for select, like space bar or FN.
Anyway, it would make sense to me and be easier to use especially for games , I find the DPAD being on the bottom right a bit annoying but they've done a good job fitting it all in!
Calm the hell down! How old are you, 12? The dpad is nice when you are only holding the phone with one hand. It is nearly impossible to use it with one hand while open. If your reasons why it doesn't have a dpad were true then the last 4 generations of HTC sliders wouldn't have a dpad. It doesn't have a dpad for multiple reasons including the iPhone's lack of a dpad, how a USABLE (Touch Pro!) dpad doesn't look good, and the lack of room on the front.
Up/Down without enter is still somewhat useful if you are reading something while only holding the phone with one hand. You can always map something else to be enter, like long press on start or back. I will DEFINITELY experiment with this once AT&T releases the Touch Pro 2 since I still do use it on my TP.
If only they put a ball or sensor like tbe Samsung Epix and new Blackberries have it would have greatly increased one handed usability.
so HOW can you map different actions to the zoom slider? like scroll?!
petard said:
Calm the hell down! How old are you, 12? The dpad is nice when you are only holding the phone with one hand. It is nearly impossible to use it with one hand while open. If your reasons why it doesn't have a dpad were true then the last 4 generations of HTC sliders wouldn't have a dpad. It doesn't have a dpad for multiple reasons including the iPhone's lack of a dpad, how a USABLE (Touch Pro!) dpad doesn't look good, and the lack of room on the front.
Up/Down without enter is still somewhat useful if you are reading something while only holding the phone with one hand. You can always map something else to be enter, like long press on start or back. I will DEFINITELY experiment with this once AT&T releases the Touch Pro 2 since I still do use it on my TP.
If only they put a ball or sensor like tbe Samsung Epix and new Blackberries have it would have greatly increased one handed usability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He spaced the hell outta himself one time.. pissing of an employee at SE so he wouldnt give us valuable info anymore on a new phone that comes out in the end of the year
pantelis25 said:
Sorry if this was mentioned before but there is a way to create a d-pad using the AE Button Plus
http://ae.inc.ru/aebplus.php
I did it using the increase and decrease volume and changed them to up and down scrolling,
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pantelis if you need a d-pad on a tp2.. try the acer m900.. it looks like the tp2 and has a fingerprint scanner that you can use as d-pad.. better camera with flash too.. but no tilting, ****ed up RAM, and a ****ed up KB
poetryrocksalot said:
Just trust me on this...the reason is that the keyboard qwerty is good enough"
Also don't you find it absolutely ****ing pointless to have a volume control keys be used as a scroll wheel when you lack a freaking "select" button?
Man what are you people thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why would you use up and down with volume rocker just to highlight an item and then tap on the same exact item to select it.
Why would you use a freaking volume rocker to scroll down a page when you obviously can do it better with a freaking stylus?
QUOTE]
this may be your oponion, but that's no reason for putting other people down.
personnaly i use the volume buttons as up/down. thsi works very wel if you are scrolling in your emails. if i want to clean up my mailbox i can scroll the mails and delete them with my left soft-key. ik i tap the email is opened, but i dont always want to open the mail because this is time-consuming.
So you see, for some people these functions can be very usefull.
So please have an open mind en don't think you opinion is the only one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xdadJeroen said:
pantelis if you need a d-pad on a tp2.. try the acer m900.. it looks like the tp2 and has a fingerprint scanner that you can use as d-pad.. better camera with flash too.. but no tilting, ****ed up RAM, and a ****ed up KB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive seen the reviews. The OS is bs its generally a bs phone. Wouldnt bother with it. Although fingerprint scanner is very cool.
On topic: SCROLL WITH ZOOM BAR! Had the wheel as a scroller on my TP and i want similar on my TP2
poetryrocksalot said:
The reason Rhodium doesn't have a D-pad in the first place is because you are suppose to use the phone with the qwerty keyboard out most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the Topaz? It doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard or a D-pad.
poetryrocksalot said:
Just trust me on this...the reason is that the keyboard qwerty is good enough"
Think about PLEASE!!!!!
Why the hell would you buy a phone with qwerty keyboard, ctrl, arrow keys, and proper function indicators? Obviously because you rely on those.
And if you rely on those than you obviously already have a D-Pad called "Arrow Keys" and "Enter/Select Key"
Also don't you find it absolutely ****ing pointless to have a volume control keys be used as a scroll wheel when you lack a freaking "select" button?
Man what are you people thinking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why would you use up and down with volume rocker just to highlight an item and then tap on the same exact item to select it.
Why would you use a freaking volume rocker to scroll down a page when you obviously can do it better with a freaking stylus?
The same goes for the zoom bar!!! That ludicrously illogical to use zoom bar to highlight items and then having to get the stylus out to tap it. Waste of time and efficiency without a freaking "enter/select key"
Think aF***ingBout It! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG. Somebody is a grumpy-pants and got up on the wrong side of the bed.
This phone would be almost perfect if it had a scroll wheel or a D-pad. This device uses WM6.1 and this is the norm for WM6.1 (this may change with WM6.5)
I can easily envision how the use of the zoom bar or the volume buttons as a scroll wheel or d-pad replacement could work efficiently and better than the "freaking" stylus. All because you lack the vision to make it work doesn't mean that it cannot work well.
For example. The zoom bar could have five zones: up, left, select, right, & down. Just put some tape over the zoom bar with the map, and viola.
Also, what about phones like the Topaz? Where's the "freaking" arrow keys or the enter/select key?
You may be content with the phone, but others may not.
android phones are prone to hangs due to incompatible and poorly managed apps, i have custom roms installed, all optimized and stuff but occasionally i still need to restart my phone using the three button combo because my phone wont respond at all, the home button is a physical button that is sure to send a signal to the underlying hardware which is very useful for overriding stuff, in the event of hangs, how does the gnex deal with it? the power and down button is already reserved for screenshot..sigh..guess be prepared to take out the battery then..
another thing is, the home button is a quick go to action for exiting no matter what you're doing and its location is fixed, with a software home button, it changes location and even hides, not very intuitive..
if they really have wanted a maximum real estate, why didnt they just put the home button at the top or the side but maintain it as a hardware button
i guess well just have to see from reviews when the gnex comes out, after all honeycomb tablets have no physical home buttons anyway
Maybe they use the same thing as on the sgs II. Long press of the power button and it reboots.
And I like the fact that it doesn't have hardware buttons (except volume and power) because of two things:
1. Clean front (looks great).
2. Hardware buttons could brake.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Keep in mind that apps run in a java virtual machine but the buttons will probably run in the OS itself. Meaning home will still be an override.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using XDA Ultimate App
LordButtersI said:
Keep in mind that apps run in a java virtual machine but the buttons will probably run in the OS itself. Meaning home will still be an override.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but that is the problem
how would "home" button work, if the screen is hung, and the buttons are not responding, when say you were in a game or playing a video, and it hung, then you have no access to the "home" button
that's why i prefer a real button or at the very least the capacitive buttons, than a software button
Remember that when it comes down to it, hardware buttons on the front interface with the phone's software too. If the screen is hanging, the hardware buttons won't work any better than a row of software buttons would.
martonikaj said:
Remember that when it comes down to it, hardware buttons on the front interface with the phone's software too. If the screen is hanging, the hardware buttons won't work any better than a row of software buttons would.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had many many cases where the app/game whatever hung, but the hard button or capacitive buttons were still responding
so i was able to summon Taks Manager to kill the hung app, that would not let me switch to other apps
so in this scenario when you have no buttons to press, you wont be able to invoke the Task Manager to kill the hung app
AllGamer said:
i had many many cases where the app/game whatever hung, but the hard button or capacitive buttons were still responding
so i was able to summon Taks Manager to kill the hung app, that would not let me switch to other apps
so in this scenario when you have no buttons to press, you wont be able to invoke the Task Manager to kill the hung app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess what the other posts are trying to say is this:
Even if a specific app may freeze completely, the software buttons should still work. Crashing apps normally don't freeze the whole OS because they're running in a Java Virtual Machine, but since they're often fullscreen, you need to press the HOME to exit the app. This should still work with the software buttons (as long as they're visible in the app) because they're running outside the frozen Virtual Machine.
I have an ASUS Eee Pad Transformer since its release. It runs Honeycomb and comes without hardware buttons as well. But the Transformer never got totally unresponsive, some apps froze, but the software buttons still worked perfectly normal.
edit: the post below this one is actually a better explanation than this, read it and you'll get it
AllGamer said:
i had many many cases where the app/game whatever hung, but the hard button or capacitive buttons were still responding
so i was able to summon Taks Manager to kill the hung app, that would not let me switch to other apps
so in this scenario when you have no buttons to press, you wont be able to invoke the Task Manager to kill the hung app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchscreen presses are captured by the OS and then passed onto app event handlers. With past Android versions, when an app hang, the OS is still responding to and dispatching touchscreen events, but because the app in the foreground handling the events isn't doing anything, it looks like the system is not responding to touchscreen events.
With ICS, the OS has handlers for touchscreen events, not just apps, due to the software buttons. The OS makes sure that if the system bar is hidden, any sort of interaction with the system, including touchscreen events, bring up the system bar. Thus if the foreground app hangs, touching the screen should still bring up the system bar and let you press one of the three keys.
if that works as designed, then it should be safe to have software button
My phone only has power and volume hardware keys, then 4 captive touch. People keep freaking out about this but it's not all that different. The captive touch are sensors but they only react with the OS (and sometimes freeze up).
They are looking at it from the point of view that most phones are using captive touch buttons, which is very similar tech to the rest of the screen so they just made it a little adaptable. Now you can theme all your buttons (minus power and volume).
I don't know, I am probably being naive, but I see little difference between on screen and captive buttons. I have been just fine with the later so I see no issues and only new possibilities.
degeneration said:
My phone only has power and volume hardware keys, then 4 captive touch. People keep freaking out about this but it's not all that different. The captive touch are sensors but they only react with the OS (and sometimes freeze up).
They are looking at it from the point of view that most phones are using captive touch buttons, which is very similar tech to the rest of the screen so they just made it a little adaptable. Now you can theme all your buttons (minus power and volume).
I don't know, I am probably being naive, but I see little difference between on screen and captive buttons. I have been just fine with the later so I see no issues and only new possibilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they are very similar. The problem is that both are sub-optimal solutions. One the one hand you don't get physical keys with tactile feedback. On the other hand you don't get to use the space taken up by the buttons to display other things when the buttons aren't needed. If Google's goal in designing ICS/GN is to maximize the screen real estate through the use of hideable system buttons, then they went halfway and stopped short and ended up with a solution that isn't particularly good for anything. To go all the way with this idea, you'd need a dedicated home button somewhere else, like on the side as the OP suggested. Then the system keys can truly become part of the application, rather than a constant part of the system, and can be hidden, customized, etc. depending on application context, and allows full screen apps to truly take advantage of the screen real estate. As it stands now, only video playback can take advantage of the whole screen, with anything else you are frequently interacting with the device and the buttons will pretty much be there the whole time.
They take up quite a bit of screen real-estate. If they could be auto-hidden without popping back up every time you touch the screen, it would be vastly superior. I still maintain there should be an option for a bezel swipe gesture to show the buttons, which would auto-hide after 5 seconds or so of disuse.
Or at least, make them smaller. I checked out a Galaxy Nexus screenshot on my Droid 2 - the on-screen keys occupied more vertical space than the capacitive keys on my phone, and that's on a screen a full inch smaller.
In any case it isn't going to turn me off the phone - I'm sure some clever developer will make a 'fix' for it (and will definitely receive a donation from me when they do ) and it's still an unbeatable screen besides.
Also, I don't terribly mind the lack of bezel-reduction, because the phone still looks so damn slick.
I'm sure someone will come up with a ROM that hides the buttons etc. fairly shortly.
I've had a year with the Nexus S, and the only real difference is on that the buttons are etched onto the bezel - it's still handled in software exactly the same way. Never had an issue with it.
On my tablet, software buttons are really handy since the charging cable is (for me) on the wrong side.. so I hold it the other way up and the buttons obligingly flip onto the other side for me.
Sjael said:
Or at least, make them smaller. I checked out a Galaxy Nexus screenshot on my Droid 2 - the on-screen keys occupied more vertical space than the capacitive keys on my phone, and that's on a screen a full inch smaller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your thinking might be a tad flawed there. Due to the greater pixel density of the screen, the buttons will actually be smaller in absolute size than they were on your Droid 2's screen. They will take up a smaller percentage of the screen as a result.
mastapsi said:
Your thinking might be a tad flawed there. Due to the greater pixel density of the screen, the buttons will actually be smaller in absolute size than they were on your Droid 2's screen. They will take up a smaller percentage of the screen as a result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took a 100% screenshot from the Nexus and viewed it on my Droid 2 at my screen's native res (854x480, 16:9 just like the nexus.) Difficult to describe what I mean, so have a photo:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
The ICS buttons in the screenshot are pretty much the same size as the Droid 2 capacitive keys, however on the Nexus, that very same image will be displayed but 1" larger, so the buttons will be quite a bit larger on the Prime.
Also I erroneously said that they were bigger than the capacitive keys in my last post, which isn't correct on second inspection.
AllGamer said:
if that works as designed, then it should be safe to have software button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty big "if". I'm a bit miffed that the search button is gone now as well. I use it more than I think do; let's just say.
My home button never hangs on my xoom so im sure all will be ok.
the_colombian said:
My home button never hangs on my xoom so im sure all will be ok.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for my Galaxy Tab.
Have had some apps crash/hang using custom rom on it but the home button have still worked so I think we are safe with SGN
I really use my search button a lot. On home screen I use it to bring up a Google search bar, in other apps I use it to search within the app itself.
So its kinda stupid of Google to basically shoot themselves in the foot and cripple their own OS and hardware spec for no apparent reason. There's plenty of room down there for a search icon.
I'd really like to know their thought process on this one.
Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk
Tornlogic said:
I really use my search button a lot. On home screen I use it to bring up a Google search bar, in other apps I use it to search within the app itself.
So its kinda stupid of Google to basically shoot themselves in the foot and cripple their own OS and hardware spec for no apparent reason. There's plenty of room down there for a search icon.
I'd really like to know their thought process on this one.
Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the homescreen the search bar is on every screen.
In the app, they expect devs to implement a search button/bar within the app (or its options menu). It's really not that hard to understand.
I love everything about the One series, wish they'd used software buttons like ICS is supposed to have.
e.g. on most legacy apps, we'll now have a whole bar just to show the menu button. Thus you have a row for the menu button, and below it another for the capacitive ones. With soft-keys, they get combined and you have more screen space.
Plus software can modify the button bar to put other details and buttons, change orientation etc. Soft-keys are simply better.
ECrispy said:
I love everything about the One series, wish they'd used software buttons like ICS is supposed to have.
e.g. on most legacy apps, we'll now have a whole bar just to show the menu button. Thus you have a row for the menu button, and below it another for the capacitive ones. With soft-keys, they get combined and you have more screen space.
Plus software can modify the button bar to put other details and buttons, change orientation etc. Soft-keys are simply better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't disagree more. Legacy apps will be updated over time; physical buttons don't need anywhere near as much power to backlight as an LCD display, and require essentially no processing power to operate. By placing the buttons on the screen, you're requiring an inefficient LCD backlight to light those buttons, wasting processing power on rendering the screen, and not to mention that since those on-screen buttons can't be disabled, you're permanently wasting valuable LCD real-estate (and hence forcing a non-standard screen aspect ratio, since LCD panels are an off-the-shelf part and aren't typically designed to add extra menu bar pixels to the standard aspect.)
This will in not too long provide a better aspect ratio and more on-screen real estate in well-coded apps, doesn't sacrifice any screen real estate over a screen that always has the menu bar because it lacks physical buttons, and it will measurably improve battery life over a display providing the same real estate for apps *plus* a full-time LCD menu bar.
It's a big win, as far as I'm concerned, that is largely misunderstood so far by people not thinking about the bigger picture.
Software buttons can be disabled for more screen real estate.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
joshnichols189 said:
Software buttons can be disabled for more screen real estate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They certainly can't in ICS on tablets, I must admit I haven't tried an ICS phone yet.
Of course they can be disabled, e.g in video playback they go away. And there are ICS api's developers can call to modify the buttons. There are custom rom's that features such as search button to the button bar, which isn't possible with hard buttons of course.
ECrispy said:
...e.g in video playback they go away...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know about on a phone but on a tablet they don't go away they are just replaced with very small dot. So the bar is still there and you still lose the screen space.
I really like hardware buttons, I don't like the "menu" bar but as you said this is for legacy apps so the pressure should be put on the app developers to update their apps inline with ICS.
Like said prev, hardware buttons give more screen, correct aspect ratios, use less power, and in the long run the menu button will become redundant.
ECrispy said:
Of course they can be disabled, e.g in video playback they go away. And there are ICS api's developers can call to modify the buttons. There are custom rom's that features such as search button to the button bar, which isn't possible with hard buttons of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They certainly don't "go away" on ICS tablets. The bar is still there, the buttons are just replaced with less-distracting dots.
I love the physical touch buttons on the bottom, rather have them than touch screen ones anyday
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA
Google themselves have said that Android is moving in a direction where there should be no physical buttons. e.g. lets say Jellybean removes/adds a button, now some phones will need to be redesigned for it, just like they had to remove search & menu when moving to ICS. But a phone with software buttons doesn't need to change the hardware. It's more future proof.
I think this kind of change will take a while but eventually it will happen. There are still many people who prefer hw buttons and HTC wanted to accomodate them I guess.
I don't have an ICS tablet, I'd guess the reason is there is enough space on a tablet screen so they don't go away.
I prefer hardware buttons, BUT:
If using soft button means that the phone actually gets smaller,
i choose soft buttons.
ECrispy said:
But a phone with software buttons doesn't need to change the hardware. It's more future proof.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankly, future-proofing is meaningless for as long as Google requires that end users go through a carrier and/or a manufacturer to get updates, and in the process guarantees that almost all Android products will be abandoned by the wayside before they've even stopped being sold (and the few that get updates will get them late, if ever.)
I just don't understand why they had to abandon the menu button, it was perfect...
I don't understand why we need a multitask button when you could just keep home pressed for the same result.
I didn't use a GN so won't comment on the software buttons much, I think it could really work if they added options for it in default ics so people who don't use custom roms and such could deal with them as they wish.
as for the menu bar on htc one.. it will eventually have a option to hide it (a V arrow on the bar)
it did in a previous software version but I guess they forgot to add it in the final build
and if you wanted it back all you had to do is keep multitask button pressed
@OP: drop by GNexus forum, there's quite some guys not happy with the screen size they loose with softbuttons. There's even an option on AKOP ROM to disable softbar.
I'm quite happy with hard buttons on One X, I just find stupid the solution HTC found to replace the menu button.
Disabling the soft buttons on the Galaxy Nexus is a commonly requested feature because tons of app developers haven't yet updated their apps to hide them while in full screen, not because of some half-baked idea that the loss of that extra 84 pixels of height somehow detracts from the user experience. Furthermore, the loss of screen real estate doesn't mean anything when 99% of the current apps are configured for the old 5:3 aspect ratio. Lots of old games look funky when you disable the soft buttons, because all the OS does is stretch it to fit.
Soft buttons are better because nobody can make up their minds on the design of the UI, so you might as well just leave it open to customization. Don't blame Google, blame the app developers.
HTC listened...
Maybe HTC listened to the majority of the HTC users and followed through with hardware buttons or maybe it is an HTC thing to keep hardware buttons as to Apple with their Home button.
I just want my search button back... that was perhaps the one (and only )good addition the US carriers made to their devices. IMO.
I can't find the article but an HTC executive was quoted as saying it's necessary to support Sense.
I'm happy they did it. The buttons on the galaxy nexus look like crap, the black isn't black enough to use it for passive buttons.
H-Cim said:
I'm happy they did it. The buttons on the galaxy nexus look like crap, the black isn't black enough to use it for passive buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The.majority of GN roms alow you to change both the brightness and colour of the on-screen buttons so that isn't an issue for most people. I actually prefer them, particularly as you can add or change the configuration of the buttons easily.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I picked up the ATT One X, I'm loving it. I'm not one of those folks that feel a need to root my phone, so that bootlock thing doesn't bother me. What does, however, is when I download a launcher, there's a little black bar that acts as a menu button. I can't seem to get rid of it.
Should I return the phone, wait for the S3, or is anyone aware of how to work around stuff like this?
A dev will need to copy the same procedure used on the Tegra version to remap the Recent Applications to a Menu key (and put the Recent Applications on a long press of the Home key). If there's no physical menu button, ICS requres that there be a legacy three dot menu.
On ICS phones without hardware buttons, that three dot menu shows up on the right of the Back/Home/Recent Apps software buttons and isn't so intrusive since that space is already "wasted".
And that will require root at the very least, but more likely a custom recovery, which will require an unlocked bootloader.
Showt3k said:
I picked up the ATT One X, I'm loving it. I'm not one of those folks that feel a need to root my phone, so that bootlock thing doesn't bother me. What does, however, is when I download a launcher, there's a little black bar that acts as a menu button. I can't seem to get rid of it.
Should I return the phone, wait for the S3, or is anyone aware of how to work around stuff like this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly? You are just looking for an excuse to switch phone.
All those launchers are not tweaked for ICS. I believe you are talking about the black bar at the bottom?
Sense is not that bad. But a lot of people will ask you to try APEX. This one works with ICS *without* the annoying black bar. And it's smooth though it still has some weird behaviours (to me) which may not affect you.
Showt3k said:
I picked up the ATT One X, I'm loving it. I'm not one of those folks that feel a need to root my phone, so that bootlock thing doesn't bother me. What does, however, is when I download a launcher, there's a little black bar that acts as a menu button. I can't seem to get rid of it.
Should I return the phone, wait for the S3, or is anyone aware of how to work around stuff like this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking about the three dot settings bar at the bottom, it appears in apps not fully updated for ICS. Samsung will have to handle the issue somehow, I don't think anyone's commented on their approach yet. ICS is still on 5% of Android devices so it might be a while before everything you use gets updated. The GN doesn't have hard buttons and uses a different approach to handling what's displayed and how.
BarryH_GEG said:
If you're talking about the three dot settings bar at the bottom, it appears in apps not fully updated for ICS. Samsung will have to handle the issue somehow, I don't think anyone's commented on their approach yet. ICS is still on 5% of Android devices so it might be a while before everything you use gets updated. The GN doesn't have hard buttons and uses a different approach to handling what's displayed and how.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung handled the issue by including the same hardware key set up found on the S2, including a menu key. That is why nobody has commented on their approach! Will be a non issue on GS3 but will continue to plague HTC's new line up, which all sport the same capacitive buttons.
Regards.
lynxboy said:
Samsung handled the issue by including the same hardware key set up found on the S2, including a menu key. That is why nobody has commented on their approach! Will be a non issue on GS3 but will continue to plague HTC's new line up, which all sport the same capacitive buttons.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So they replaced HTC's "recent apps" with a "menu" key that pops up settings? What does long pressing the h/w button do? I kind of like the recent apps button because the image is large enough to read without maximizing the app when you're trying to toggle for phone numbers and such. Samsung's solution's a waste once apps start behaving correctly unless it provides some other function too.
BarryH_GEG said:
So they replaced HTC's "recent apps" with a "menu" key that pops up settings? What does long pressing the h/w button do? I kind of like the recent apps button because the image is large enough to read without maximizing the app when you're trying to toggle for phone numbers and such. Samsung's solution's a waste once apps start behaving correctly unless it provides some other function too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they just maintained the same layout as the GS2, which means a menu button, a home button, plus a back button (in that order). They are not following the new ICS convention.
.
Closed, please read the forum rules and post in proper section
This is the one thing that really annoys me about the One X!
Is it easy to fix and remove, will doing so (rooting) affect future OTA updates?
Any guides for it anywhere? Thanks in advance.
the problem is that remove it all together will make some apps unusable as sometimes you need the menu
I guess the best think would be to map the mutlitasking button to the Menu key instead, then remove the 3 dots
or make a floating 3 dot icon in the corner
somehow...
Me and another XDA member we talking about this yesterday. I'm wondering if it's because we have physical buttons vs the Gnex that has screen buttons. In addition, there is no physical "menu" button anymore (I'm coming from an Inspire 4G which had one) so they needed to put it somewhere for functionality. It also probably depends on the App. For example, Gapps like Google+ has the three dots in the top right corner of the screen with everything else. We'll just have to wait for app developers to adopt this idea since we don't have on screen buttons.
Dtguilds said:
This is the one thing that really annoys me about the One X!
Is it easy to fix and remove, will doing so (rooting) affect future OTA updates?
Any guides for it anywhere? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that it affects the OTA updates.When i wanted to update from 1.28 to 1.29 the 1.29 update kept stopping and i didn't know why.After i found an old 1.28 nandroid backup i've restored it and after that the 1.29 update worked.So i think that the OTA updates don't work if you have mods installed allready,so my advice is to make a nandroid backup of the stock rom without any mods on it in case the OTA doesn't work (like in my case).
I've used a fix found on these forums to remove the 3-dot menu and replace the "multitasking button" with a menu button. The phone has been a LOT more enjoyable for me now
Requires root though.
This has been discussed to death. You can modify it to disappear when a small arrow is clicked, you can kill it off and remap to the multitasking button with multitasking mapped to a long press. These require root and modification.
The menu button is indeed displayed because we have hard buttons, normally it would share the space with the back, home and recent apps.
The thing that worries me is that I'm not sure that app developers will make the change because on handsets without hard buttons (most of them) it doesn't seem out of place at all next to the back, home and recent apps buttons.
I have been talking to the writers of Dolphin browser about it and they do intend to integrate the menu function in to their UI. The best thing we can do is give apps low scores and reviews which mention the issue on our HOX's but even that may not get the devs to take it on.
It is a minor issue but an irritating one none the less. I actually wish we didn't have the hardware buttons, or, that we had a menu button, which clearly in NOT obsolete in ICS, that'd be a quick solution for everyone but we do, so we must hope the devs change their apps. I will root after a month or two if nothing is changing and remap to the recent apps button but that is the only temptation to root for me at the moment.
farnsbarns said:
I actually wish we didn't have the hardware buttons, or, that we had a menu button, which clearly in NOT obsolete in ICS, that'd be a quick solution for everyone but we do, so we must hope the devs change their apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more. I do prefer hardware buttons vs onscreen buttons but now I really see the pros to having on screen buttons and wish they became the norm for all ICS devices. More Fragmen... I can't bring myself to say it...
otakonx said:
Me and another XDA member we talking about this yesterday. I'm wondering if it's because we have physical buttons vs the Gnex that has screen buttons. In addition, there is no physical "menu" button anymore (I'm coming from an Inspire 4G which had one) so they needed to put it somewhere for functionality. It also probably depends on the App. For example, Gapps like Google+ has the three dots in the top right corner of the screen with everything else. We'll just have to wait for app developers to adopt this idea since we don't have on screen buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fact, we do have screen buttons. If you try and test your touchscreen (Developer Options in Settings), you can see that the lower part of the screen is also responsive to touch. Therefore, I assume I'd be possible to strap a small part of the lower bar with buttons, to a menu-button-function. You just can't see the button, but I'd be still there.
i don't mind the button at all....am i the only one?
yeah its annoying aswell.. although i do not want to root just yet.. only had HOX for a week.
So i take it, this affects off phone with hard buttons... and that the GSIII will be fine as they have a menu button instead of a back button? (if thats what i see in the screenshots)
So it really only the HTC ones that will look rubbish on.?
Dtguilds said:
This is the one thing that really annoys me about the One X!
Is it easy to fix and remove, will doing so (rooting) affect future OTA updates?
Any guides for it anywhere? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is ! wait till the app you are using becomes ICS truly compatible...
Yeah, I really don't see HTC's thinking here.
You have to understand that it's part of the ICS design style to have the 3 dot menu somewhere in your app. Those apps that pull up the black bar on the bottom like that, aren't designed properly for ICS.
However, HTC decided to go with hard buttons rather than using a full action bar all the time, but they decided to leave out the menu button, so now you get the silly action bar with just the 3 dot menu button on apps that aren't properly designed to the ICS standard. In a perfect world, everyone would upgrade their apps and this wouldn't be an issue. In a realistic world, HTC made a design decision that's sure to be obnoxious for quite a while to come.
I agree though, the best thing to do is write your app developers and ask them to upgrade their app to fit the ICS style guide with the 3 dot menu in the app somewhere so this doesn't have to pop up. Other than that, you can do some mods to get rid of it, change functionality, or be able to hide it, but all of those could result in loss of some kind of functionality of the phone.
even if the Design guide for ICS is to use the 3 dots and no Menu button... it still make no big deal to have a Menu button key as most of the time you want to go in to the program options, so the button as a quick way to it.
the multitask button is useless.. its just so pointless to have and could easily have been a long press on another button.
and a few times i have seen Youtube have the 3 dots at the bottom, usually i think when its launched from a link in the browser.
any ho.. very annoying and once thing too look forward to when rooted (although not for a long time yet)
kazgor said:
even if the Design guide for ICS is to use the 3 dots and no Menu button... it still make no big deal to have a Menu button key as most of the time you want to go in to the program options, so the button as a quick way to it.
the multitask button is useless.. its just so pointless to have and could easily have been a long press on another button.
and a few times i have seen Youtube have the 3 dots at the bottom, usually i think when its launched from a link in the browser.
any ho.. very annoying and once thing too look forward to when rooted (although not for a long time yet)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I wish they'd just keep the 4 capacitive buttons. I don't want an action bar like on the GN, I definitely don't want an action bar JUST for the menu. If no one has done it by the time I get my phone, I may look into making the multitask button a menu button on click and multitask on long click. I think it's been replaced, but I don't think it's been replaced with a long press to still get to multitasking. I would like to keep that feature if at all possible since I've become to accustomed to it.
I wonder what will happen with all the 2.3 devices that get ICS later, will the also get the 3 dots + there hardware Menu button or no 3 dots?
kazgor said:
I wonder what will happen with all the 2.3 devices that get ICS later, will the also get the 3 dots + there hardware Menu button or no 3 dots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think nearly all 2.3 devices have a hardware menu button, so they wouldn't get that.
I recommend that you root your phone, pick a custom rom and enjoy the HOX as it was meant to be.
Faster, smoother and no 3 dots.
The OTA updates are not an issue as all you need to do is revert to stock and flash an RUU to get the latest Radio and Hboot.
Then, reflash the custom rom again.
Voiding the HTC warranty is why I pay insurance.
Just my opinion
Just noticed this mod: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1582506
It does remap the recent apps, and to home which, honestly for me is a better spot since I'm used to Samsung devices that have the task manager mapped to home long press in pre-ICS versions and is the task switcher in ICS builds. Looks like the best solution to me. Didn't notice before that it did that. I'm still browsing around and seeing what you guys have done so far.
I don't know why people get their panties in a wad over this. The Galaxy Nexus has the same issue, only worse since that bottom bar is ALWAYS there. The SGS3 wont be the bees knees when in 6 months when its hardware menu button doesn't do anything in most apps.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
NO, the gal nex has a soft menu, so the 3 dots appears dynamically in the row of buttons and there is no extra screen taken up punching you in the face