Develop Bugs

[Q] Removal of Softkeys on Stock Rom

Sorry in advance if this is in the wrong section.
I'm looking to buy the Galaxy Nexus but I truly hate the idea of a softkey bar as I feel there is little point to having such a beautiful screen only to remove some of it with a black bar.
Is there a way to remove them while staying on the stock rom? I already bought HoneyBar for Honeycomb on the 10.1/7+ but the dev appears to have given up on removing the softkey bar for ICS. I know that custom roms on the Galaxy Nexus have the option but I would appreciate any word on this. My only option aside from the Galaxy Nexus is...nothing as no other Verizon 4G LTE phone clicked with me.
I don't hate softkeys however. Button Savior is hands down my favorite app.

Without them there'd be no way of closing/opening/changing apps so they're kinda here to stay

EddyOS said:
Without them there'd be no way of closing/opening/changing apps so they're kinda here to stay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course

Half the time I forget they are part of the screen, they are so much better than the crappy Nexus One buttons

EddyOS said:
Without them there'd be no way of closing/opening/changing apps so they're kinda here to stay
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Click to collapse
Not true! Button savior can replace the soft keys.

z06mike said:
Not true! Button savior can replace the soft keys.
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Click to collapse
Fyi: Also LMT is capable of replacing the soft keys and is working on GSN. Gestures -> action:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1330150
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Custom roms don't have an option to remove the softkeys.

Thank you for the link being posted so quickly. I really appreciate it.
I'm going to go read the GummyNex thread more thoroughly to understand if its softkey option is what I wanted.
Thank you guys again.

In my opinion the soft keys are not a waste of screen real estate because they are only there when having the entire screen is pointless anyway. They go away when watching YouTube, Netflix, videos, looking at images, etc. So the entire screen gets utilized when it really counts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Accord281 said:
In my opinion the soft keys are not a waste of screen real estate because they are only there when having the entire screen is pointless anyway. They go away when watching YouTube, Netflix, videos, looking at images, etc. So the entire screen gets utilized when it really counts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use ADW and hide my notification bar(swipe down to open) and my dock (swipe up to open). The only thing left on my homescreen to hide are the softkeys. I just want them hidden on my homescreen.

Accord281 said:
In my opinion the soft keys are not a waste of screen real estate because they are only there when having the entire screen is pointless anyway. They go away when watching YouTube, Netflix, videos, looking at images, etc. So the entire screen gets utilized when it really counts.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but what about web browsing, remote desktop to name a couple? shame the soft keys stop you from using the whole screen

It'll happen. I don't think the issue here is removing them completely but hiding them on command like in Honeycomb.
It comes in handy for playing games like emulators and such. Certain apps can hide the bar so it is possible to issue that same command on demand.
I wouldn't hold up a purchase over something so trivial. It WILL happen but Google patched the trick in Honeycomb.
I think an auto hide would be cool then use a gesture to restore them or just use gestures as navigation. Could get ugly in certain apps though.
Maybe have a CM9 toggle...
LTE EX Galaxy Nexus - AOSP KANG
Asus Transformer - 3.2.1 OC/UV

Having a button in the notification bar to hide the buttons would be cool. But seriously must devs will update they're apps to utilize this feature as it goes.
Mx video did recently
Sent from my Google phone

[Request] Time in Navbar

wile playing with my Gnex phone the following idea poped into my head;
would it not be handy to have the time displayed in the ICS navigation bar, replacing the homekey grafics but not the function...
then you can keep track of time while playing games of running any other fullscreen application where the notificationbar is hidden.
what do you guys think?

I like it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Funny, I just had the same thought and saw this thread.
I would love to see the clock be displayed in the nav bar and persistently. I think it would look sick.
Is this even possible? I wonder ...

chewy74 said:
Funny, I just had the same thought and saw this thread.
I would love to see the clock be displayed in the nav bar and persistently. I think it would look sick.
Is this even possible? I wonder ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be. I forgot which rom had this but you were able to put music controls (previous, forward, play/pause) in the navi bar so it might be possible
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

You're right, I totally forgot about the music control on the nav bar! Good catch
xXJay_RXx said:
It might be. I forgot which rom had this but you were able to put music controls (previous, forward, play/pause) in the navi bar so it might be possible
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

then the question remains, is there any developer that can make this or is already working on it?

http://forum.aokp.co/tracker/
Go request it for AOKP.

good ideas but i need power menu soft key can use soft key from power menu

>.> Ummm bump? I like this idea too. perhaps not limit it to time but serve as a ticker?
I.e, normally it shows time, but it will show notification icons somewhere and a swipe will reveal the notification centre?
EDIT: On the top of my mind... we probably could get a couple of apps/mods to get something similar:
* There are full screen mods
* GMD gesturecontrol works on Gnex last time I tried.I suppose you can assign swipes and gestures to mimic the navbar buttons
* Only thing I don't really get is how we'd get a clock or notification area to show permanently at the bottom. Perhaps there are some apps that do this, Notifierpro plus does notification.. not time though.
* Paranoid android tablet UI, hide/remove the nav bar buttons, and try to move the notification area to the centre. Something like that...

There is a ROM that has all the features you are looking for:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1729942
However the base is CM9. I hope it will be upgraded to JB soon. I use it since a month and I prefer it over any other ROM.

xt720 said:
There is a ROM that has all the features you are looking for:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1729942
However the base is CM9. I hope it will be upgraded to JB soon. I use it since a month and I prefer it over any other ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty much exactly what I wanted! Thanks!! Waiting for jelly bean! I'll run PA until then.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

[Q] A few newbie questions.

Okay so I got my Note two and I've only just had today to have a play about with it.
I have a few questions if anyone (or more) can nudge me in the right direction.
Firstly is there an app that allows me more control over the track I'm playing? If I remember correctly but I could double click the volume button on my iPod Touch and skip forward or back depending on if it was volume up or down.
Is there anyway of changing the colours of the notification icons at the top of the screen or hiding them?
Is there anyway of setting the buddypage to an app. I like the music one but it always reverts to the stock player.
Last but not least it's the one that I find most annoying. I have a small tab light blue in colour which seems to come and go of it's own choosing. You can add different apps to it and move it to any side of the screen you want to. Is there any way of disabling it so it stops getting on my nerves?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Zumber,
Zumber said:
Okay so I got my Note two and I've only just had today to have a play about with it.
I have a few questions if anyone (or more) can nudge me in the right direction.
Firstly is there an app that allows me more control over the track I'm playing? If I remember correctly but I could double click the volume button on my iPod Touch and skip forward or back depending on if it was volume up or down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might take a look at an alternate music player like PowerAmp. I recall it having options to use hardware buttons to control playback.
Zumber said:
Is there anyway of changing the colours of the notification icons at the top of the screen or hiding them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I know of in the stock ROM. I can't say about other ROMS, I haven't tried them.
Zumber said:
Is there anyway of setting the buddypage to an app. I like the music one but it always reverts to the stock player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I know of in the stock ROM. I can't say about other ROMS, I haven't tried them.
Zumber said:
Last but not least it's the one that I find most annoying. I have a small tab light blue in colour which seems to come and go of it's own choosing. You can add different apps to it and move it to any side of the screen you want to. Is there any way of disabling it so it stops getting on my nerves?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're noticing the Multi-Window tab. You can either long-press the back button to hide the tab, or disable Multi-Window completely using the notification toggle.

Thanks for the speedy response mate.
Yeah that got rid of the annoying tab thanks very much.
Not sure what you mean by disabling it with the notification toggle.
But at least I know how to get rid of it when it pops up.
So thanks again. It was doing my head in.

Zumber said:
Thanks for the speedy response mate.
Yeah that got rid of the annoying tab thanks very much.
Not sure what you mean by disabling it with the notification toggle.
But at least I know how to get rid of it when it pops up.
So thanks again. It was doing my head in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. You hate the one feature that everyone was dying to have.
Pull down your notification bar on the top of the screen.
You will see your toggle buttons up top for various settings, such as Wifi,GPS, bluetooth etc.
Slide that toggle panel all the way across. On the far right end you will see the toggle for Multi Window. Just click it and the setting is turned off.
Sent from my Galaxy Note II using XDA Premium.

If you download and use another launcher, such as Nova, you can have full screen. That will hide the notifications, battery and clock…and everything else that shows at the top of your screen.
---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:03 PM ----------
I have the international Note II and this does not have a toggle for the multi-window menu bar in the notifications pull-down.

Good mention about Nova launcher. I use Apex launcher, and use two-finger swipe up to hide the notifications bar. I forgot that was in there.

Thanks for the answers guys it's very much appreciated.
I can confirm the back button works to get rid of the multiscreen.
A special thanks to mcphail for the pointers especially to Poweramp. What a hell of a player. I had given the note up as a decent music player. I thought also of replacing the earphones.
But the bass is great on poweramp. Fantastic program.

Persuade me with Ribbons and PIE

i thought i would ask what people really think of the PIE and RIBBONS features.
personally i find them quite useless and clunky whenever i WANTED to use them, but i am a simpleton who will do things the long way because it actually feels MORE convenient. i have my apps set up on my homescreen in neat named folders, i use the status bar when a notification comes through and the apps i use most are already in the Recent Apps menu.
i know i know i know, it's a customization thing. some people like them and others swear by them. yes they have their uses and functions but i already find it all too easy to do the same thing they offer right out of the gate without having to go to the settings menu and find the actual feature then configure how i want it to react and how big and where to put it and then getting used to where the triggers for them are so i dont keep opening them by accident while im doing something else and...
or i could just use the notification bar and the app drawer because im too lazy and it just feels more natural.
these are my thoughts. what uses have you found for PIE and Ribbons outside of what you can already do from the homescreen.
i don't want to argue and i do find these options neat, so please don't think im $h****ng on them! just want to find a reason to want or need to use them

If you don't use expanded desktop, then there's no need for pie. Simple.
a manta wrote this.

Man I love AOKP's ribbon feature. I can jump to any app anytime with a swipe. Of course you could always press home, tap your folder and launch an app but this is so convenient.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

bk201doesntexist said:
If you don't use expanded desktop, then there's no need for pie. Simple.
a manta wrote this.
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Click to collapse
yea, another cool feature that i just havent found a proper reason to turn on for more than 5 minutes

keith.mcintyre26 said:
Man I love AOKP's ribbon feature. I can jump to any app anytime with a swipe. Of course you could always press home, tap your folder and launch an app but this is so convenient.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like i said, actually having the feature is nice but no matter how much ive tried to "train" my thumbs right i just cant get the Ribbons to respond the way they should. its not a problem with my phone and its not that im afraid of change or anything, i just cant do it LOL.
Ribbons is like Swype to me. a good feature that is supposed to, and proven to, make a common task simpler and more fun to use. unfortunately for me, like with Ribbons, i just cant get around to using it at any point.

Ribbons have four quick access options. I use nav widgets app window screen off and torch. Apps on the left and quick toggles on the right.
Hated pie until it got the second layer. The extra screen real estate makes a difference. Hidden nav bar is actually useful now.
Only have one home screen and that only has zooper widget and status bar. All other widgets are hidden in the nav widget place.
Phone is inaccessible to most ppl, Ribbons and pie are a great way to really personalize your phone.
Persuaded yet?

namtombout said:
Ribbons have four quick access options. I use nav widgets app window screen off and torch. Apps on the left and quick toggles on the right.
Hated pie until it got the second layer. The extra screen real estate makes a difference. Hidden nav bar is actually useful now.
Only have one home screen and that only has zooper widget and status bar. All other widgets are hidden in the nav widget place.
Phone is inaccessible to most ppl, Ribbons and pie are a great way to really personalize your phone.
Persuaded yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know with the hidden navbar...i might actually. will have to give another crack at it and see if i can a way to make it work. like i said, it looks and IS really great and useful. but i havent been able to effectively get a use out of it that i dont already do out of habit.
and thats the biggest thing with me. its so habitual to just do things the old fashioned way

dragonhart6505 said:
you know with the hidden navbar...i might actually. will have to give another crack at it and see if i can a way to make it work. like i said, it looks and IS really great and useful. but i havent been able to effectively get a use out of it that i dont already do out of habit.
and thats the biggest thing with me. its so habitual to just do things the old fashioned way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont use ribbons but i do use PIE, steroid PIE though. i didnt really like pie until sourcery took it to another level with adding additional custom buttons and it seemed to get more responsive plus you can have multiple launch points enabled at the same time which i kind of like, one on the bottom and one on the right. i honestly jump back and forth between nav bar and pie. i have used PIE on PA and it worked well but i like it much better in the newer sourcery builds. and PIE does take some getting used to because it is such a different way of navigating

switched to using ParanoidAndroid for a while and with PIE set as my main nav bar location, sans the navbar and statusbar, it works wonders! really gives me a bit more room to play on. i have been persuaded there at least ^_^

Question Keep Nav Bar On?

Just picked up a Galaxy Z Fold 3 for a decent price!
Is there a way to keep the Nav Bar always on as with certain apps it drives me crazy when is disappears as when I swipe up to view the Nav Bar it doesn't always show up or clicks something else in the app etc! I would prefer it to always be on. Thanks

nathlynn22 said:
Just picked up a Galaxy Z Fold 3 for a decent price!
Is there a way to keep the Nav Bar always on as with certain apps it drives me crazy when is disappears as when I swipe up to view the Nav Bar it doesn't always show up or clicks something else in the app etc! I would prefer it to always be on. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There certainly is. Search for navigation bar in the settings.
I never use gestures because they are misinterpreted by apps way too often. We have oodles of screen real estate on this bad boy, too.
Edit: using Good Lock (from the Samsung store) you can seriously customise that navigation bar as well.

jeromepearce said:
There certainly is. Search for navigation bar in the settings.
I never use gestures because they are misinterpreted by apps way too often. We have oodles of screen real estate on this bad boy, too.
Edit: using Good Lock (from the Samsung store) you can seriously customise that navigation bar as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I know that. I already have the Nav Bar on. But what I'm hoping for is to leave it on so when an app like Amazon music is open it doesn't go into full screen so what I'm hoping for is to keep Nav Bar always there. Hope fully

nathlynn22 said:
Sorry I know that. I already have the Nav Bar on. But what I'm hoping for is to leave it on so when an app like Amazon music is open it doesn't go into full screen so what I'm hoping for is to keep Nav Bar always there. Hope fully
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I see.
Maybe prevent the app in question from employing fullscreen mode in Labs?

jeromepearce said:
Ah, I see.
Maybe prevent the app in question from employing fullscreen mode in Labs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't seem to work

Also looking for a solution to this. There are no app settings that force the navigation bar to be always on, and some apps could greatly benefit from it.

I've been looking for a solution for one year, I finally found this blog post https://mobilepains.com/how-to-remove-full-screen-mode-on-android/ that recommended installing a third-party Navigation bar app. That did the job.