Hi all,
New g2 user, but old android hand.. first time using a phone with a physical keyboard, already fell in love with it. Found out how to remap the keys to some more useful stuff, XDA rocks.
On sense roms, when I hit the "alt" or "shift" keys on the physical keyboard, an icon appears in the status bar ("EN", "FN"), but CM7-based roms simply modify the cursor from a I to a I with a carrot at the top (etc). I believe this is the "standard" android way.
Is there a program or mod or system setting or some file to edit that would do the icons in the statusbar when I use alt, shift, etc, instead of modifying the cursor?
Thanks in advance.
Related
is there another keyboard that has arrows like the one on the bottom of the stock 2.2 keyboard? i like the stock keyboard in all but its not like the multitouch droid keyboard. i wish someone could put those arrows on that keyboard
Swype has a special editing keyboard, by swyping from the Swype key to the SYM key.
Alternatively, there's a keyboard called Full Keyboard in the market. It's not great for day-to-day typing, and doesn't have a horizontal mode, but it has all of the editing keys you could want (arrows, del, insert, etc.) as well as Ctrl+*letter* keys, making it great for SSH sessions in ConnectBot.
I've been using the demo of Smart Keyboard, available in the Market. You tap the number key twice and it brings up a screen with arrows, a delete key, Tab and and Enter key. Then you switch back by hitting the ABC key. The skin I'm using is the iPhone skin. It has small spaces between the keys. It works for me.
I really like SwiftKey the best. It not only guesses the words you're typing, but also the next word. Works really well, but no arrows.
I also found a useful little app that allows you to have a virtual trackball, called Virtual Trackball. It's useful for moving around when you're trying to edit text. It also allows for a virtual d-pad. It's in the Market and costs .99 Euro. I think it's worth it. The developer is very responsive and is adding more features. I used to have trouble with it going away when running a lot of apps, but the new update seems to have made it persist better. If it disappears, you just hold on the home key to bring up recent apps and turn it on again.
Recently moved away from IOS JailBreak to Android, and can't say im used to the new FileSystem! I am trying to map keys specifically while the lockscreen is active. Most of my searches are littered w/ the global keylayout method. I noticed how the camera app remaps vol and pwr hard buttons (to zooming and controls lock respectively), while lockscreen nulls the 4 touch keys but keeps the global hard buttons, except camera. IOS JB had "activator". It is able to set button and gesture actions for the lock screen, home screen, while an app was active, and global (across the other 3). I dont need the full "activator", just wish to do lockscreen specific remappings to better utilize unused keys that otherwise have a good function. Anyone know a good FS mod shortcut or does the lockscreen.apk it's self need to be altered to achive this?
You can simply pull the key mapping file off the phone itself and edit it in notepad, save it, and send it back on. You need root though, I believe. Follow this guide and mix it up yourself! There are many tutorials on how to do this, if this certain one isn't too helpful. This one specifically is for the G1 but the steps should be very similar.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=551344
Post #4 of http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1046761. Epic specific button mapping file.
Thanks, but those are, what I refer to as, the global keylayout, because it affects the phone's lockscreen, homescreen, and where ever else applicable. For Example, I am trying to mod the lockscreen camera buttons to control music, but it goes back to the camera buttons @ homescreen. I would also like to set the 4 touch buttons that are normally blocked on the lockscreen to do Media stuff as well. The keylayout overtakes too much. I'm lookin a bit more into the filesystem to day, might look into the AOSP work for better insight. Still open to any suggestions on where 2 look.
I'm coming from a phone with a trackball... a MyTouch 3G that I had kept current thanks to CyanogenMod. This is much better lol.
I used that trackball though, all the time, mostly for selecting text that I'd screwed up... or to move the cursor between words where I wanted to add a sentence. But sometimes was nice too, for moving to the next form field, or scrolling focus to the "submit" button, etc.
I'm pretty happy with my Swiftkey X keyboard - it's got an option to enable arrow keys. I'm surprised Swype doesn't? I'm used to Swype and really would like to use that.
So my question is twofold:
Any other good keyboards with either a simulated trackpad or arrow keys?
and/or...
How do you live without it? I can adapt if I know the tricks.
geolemon said:
I'm coming from a phone with a trackball... a MyTouch 3G that I had kept current thanks to CyanogenMod. This is much better lol.
I used that trackball though, all the time, mostly for selecting text that I'd screwed up... or to move the cursor between words where I wanted to add a sentence. But sometimes was nice too, for moving to the next form field, or scrolling focus to the "submit" button, etc.
I'm pretty happy with my Swiftkey X keyboard - it's got an option to enable arrow keys. I'm surprised Swype doesn't? I'm used to Swype and really would like to use that.
So my question is twofold:
Any other good keyboards with either a simulated trackpad or arrow keys?
and/or...
How do you live without it? I can adapt if I know the tricks.
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Hackers keyboard is nice. Has the four arrows and a number row. Plus you can enlarge or reduce the keys.
The best solution I have found so far is an app called GameKeyboard. The dpad simulates the repeated keypress of a held down arrow key, or joystick (which is essential for many games).
However, it has bugs, and the qwerty mode is slow (you swipe horizontally across the keyboard to switch between gamepad mode and keyboard mode). I enable it specifically for games, and then switch back to my main keyboard (i.e. swype) for everything else.
Here's a link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.locnet.gamekeyboard
in swype there is an arrow option. swype from the swype/option button to the sym/123 button and a arrow keypad comes up. also from sym/123 button to "f" brings up a number pad.
thumb keyboard has arrows
so i'm currently using a t-mobile g2, but i'm definitely considering the galaxy nexus being my next phone. might even switch to verizon for it (but most likely will just wait for it on t-mobile).
my question is, and this really probably applies to all ICS phones, but for now, mainly to the galaxy nexus, is what happens with the menu button with all my current apps? i'm sure that many devs will be updating their apps to take advantage of and deal with any and all changes, but as it is, like 99% of my apps using the menu button, and since there is none now, i was curious how that works... i know from what i've read that alot of the main system apps (browser, camera, email/gmail, calendar, etc) have a menu button built into the layout... but what about 3rd party apps?
this is just something i was wondering about. i'm sure once i have one in my hand it will all make sense, but figured i'd ask
Dave
My best guess is it will show up in the bottom bar, similar to how it works in Honeycomb.
jayzeroeee said:
My best guess is it will show up in the bottom bar, similar to how it works in Honeycomb.
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ok now i haven't messed with honeycomb at all, so does that mean the bar with the back/home/multitasking buttons is context sensitive and it could potentially change to include a menu button when needed with older apps?
thats what i was guessing...
polarbearmc said:
ok now i haven't messed with honeycomb at all, so does that mean the bar with the back/home/multitasking buttons is context sensitive and it could potentially change to include a menu button when needed with older apps?
thats what i was guessing...
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Click to collapse
Menu button will be there most of the time like in honeycomb
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
rdy2go said:
Menu button will be there most of the time like in honeycomb
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i saw three or four hands-on and the bottom bar buttons have always been those three.
as far as i could understand, the menu is now raised by the "three dots" that appears contextually, often in the upper-right...
if i am right, it is at least a questionable choise i guess.
lorenx said:
i saw three or four hands-on and the bottom bar buttons have always been those three.
as far as i could understand, the menu is now raised by the "three dots" that appears contextually, often in the upper-right...
if i am right, it is at least a questionable choise i guess.
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Click to collapse
I think you are right.. menu is going to be included in the app itself.
androidbuff123 said:
I think you are right.. menu is going to be included in the app itself.
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That only works for apps that are built for ICS. For apps that still rely on the hard menu button there will have to be some way to bring up the menu.
In honeycomb if there is a menu button present in the app there wont be a menu button on the bottom of the screen. If there is no menu button present in the app there will be one on the bottom of the app.
I'm sure it'll be just like that.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
In ICS applications the menù button is "3 dots" in somewhere in the app.
In Gingerbread applications that runs in ICS, in the bar with back, home and multitasking buttons, will appear the "3 dots" button, that is like the "menù" button in GB.
esxuse me for my english.
source: hdblog.it
if the app doesn't support the menu button within the app, then you'll see a "three dots button" near the three soft button.
yea looks like a few of you have confirmed what i thought. the main "button" bar at the bottom is context sensitive and as needed a 4th, menu button will appear. but i'm sure most devs will start rebuilding their apps for ics in the future to not need it.
thanks!
actually starting to get really excited for this change.
I got a certain idea that since the buttons are from the screen, and therefore, rendered, modders will find a way to include more or less buttons, and even change their icon. I wouldn't be too surprised.
Quick screenshot from the second video of the mentioned HDblog showing the "three dots" menu button in apps that are not optimized for ics.
You can find it in the second video at around 7min 30 sec.
Here's also some good info regarding the soft-buttons and ICS from the SDK.
Controls for system UI visibility
Since the early days of Android, the system has managed a UI component known as the status bar, which resides at the top of handset devices to deliver information such as the carrier signal, time, notifications, and so on. Android 3.0 added the system bar for tablet devices, which resides at the bottom of the screen to provide system navigation controls (Home, Back, and so forth) and also an interface for elements traditionally provided by the status bar. In Android 4.0, the system provides a new type of system UI called the navigation bar. You might consider the navigation bar a re-tuned version of the system bar designed for handsets—it provides navigation controls for devices that don’t have hardware counterparts for navigating the system, but it leaves out the system bar's notification UI and setting controls. As such, a device that provides the navigation bar also has the status bar at the top.
To this day, you can hide the status bar on handsets using the FLAG_FULLSCREEN flag. In Android 4.0, the APIs that control the system bar’s visibility have been updated to better reflect the behavior of both the system bar and navigation bar:
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_HIDDEN flag. When set, this flag enables “low profile" mode for the system bar or navigation bar. Navigation buttons dim and other elements in the system bar also hide. Enabling this is useful for creating more immersive games without distraction for the system navigation buttons.
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_VISIBLE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_VISIBLE flag to request the system bar or navigation bar be visible.
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION is a new flag that requests the navigation bar hide completely. Be aware that this works only for the navigation bar used by some handsets (it does not hide the system bar on tablets). The navigation bar returns to view as soon as the system receives user input. As such, this mode is useful primarily for video playback or other cases in which the whole screen is needed but user input is not required.
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Does anyone have a link to this keyboard with the arrow keys, and better yet with the arrow keys in a black theme? I would love this!
take a look here to see if this is what you are looking for
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416
Go to gimpsta.com
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Well I went with Smart Keyboard. It has the options to add the arrow keys to landscape and/or portrait, gives you different skins such as iPhone, Android, Gingerbread, Galaxy, HTC, etc. But I found a free one called Glow Legacy Red Keyboard. Basically this keyboard has everything I want. It'd still be nice to totally customize the key layout to what you use most, but this one is very good.