[Q] [O?] Soft-buttons redundancy on ICS ports, EVO 4G - EVO 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Greetings all. This is actually a question that does not require a specific answer but rather your personal opinion.
1.) In the ICS Ports for your EVO 4G, do you think the Soft-buttons docked at the bottom of the screen (Home, menu, back) are redundant considering the phone already has these buttons (Home, Menu, Back, Search) on a dedicated space right below the screen?
To me it's as if we are wasting a good peace of screen real estate having these buttons overlaying everything once more since we already have the space phsyically set apart for them. I sometimes hit the dedicated 'buttons' on accident when my fingers are wondering in the lower screen area in certain apps, I can imagine that this would happen even more so with the second set of soft buttons.
I've stayed with CM7 (7.2 RC0) because of this...
Thanks
-RM

totally agree with you bro, just a waste of our evo space

Most if not all ics roms have the on-screen navigation bar either disabled or optional in settings, so I'm not sure what your complaint is. If you don't want them turn them off, or use a rom with them removed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Most if not all ics roms have the on-screen navigation bar either disabled or optional in settings, so I'm not sure what your complaint is. If you don't want them turn them off, or use a rom with them removed
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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Aja! That's all I needed to hear... Going to try it. I figured it was on by default since most (would love to say all) screenshots show the extra-soft buttons "on", therefore never actually made an attempt to try.

Yeah, I agree, I never enable them. Seems like a waste to to me.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

On my evo I don't use em on my et4g I do use them they are nice on the et4g and still plenty of room I have them set at 36dpi height instead of 48 and my LCD density set to 200 instead of 240 was at 190 but it was a tad small font wise for my eyes
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Related

[Q] Way to speed up moving between home screen windows?

I love how smooth this phone is, but moving between home screens is just a little too slow for me. Is there an app or a mod that I can get that will let me speed it up.
I know I can use 3rd party launchers and do this, but I want to stick with Touchwiz.
Thanks
speedy0339 said:
I love how smooth this phone is, but moving between home screens is just a little too slow for me. Is there an app or a mod that I can get that will let me speed it up.
I know I can use 3rd party launchers and do this, but I want to stick with Touchwiz.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spare Parts Plus
daneurysm said:
Spare Parts Plus
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Click to collapse
I changed the home screen animation to fast and it didn't change the speed at all.
Touching and dragging across the boxes just above the launcher is too slow?
Or are you just swyping one screen at a time?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Dalmus said:
Touching and dragging across the boxes just above the launcher is too slow?
Or are you just swyping one screen at a time?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can actually just touch the corresponding button on that line to go directly to i instead of holding and then sliding to whichever homescreen. There are (I forget how many you can have since I am without my epic touch for 9 days and counting THANKS SPRINT FOR THE DEFECT...) each individual little buttons and tapping one quickly brings you direct to that page.
Love the phone, dont leave it in your steamy bathroom while you shower (I do 3 times a day often) or the battery will register 6.4 degrees far. and refuse to charge...
JC
switch to LauncherPro. you can tweak the transition speed with it
Try changing max window events, maybe heap size as well
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Go Launcher, quick effect, "wave" transition. About as nice as it gets. LauncherPro is about the same speed
Transmission sent from a Galaxy S II with XDA Premium

Why ruin that big beautiful screen by using on screen nav buttons..

Why did Samsung do this... Its like any other 4.3" screen with those buttons on the bottom.. Can you hide these buttons all together fir certain apps to take some advantage of that gorgeous screen? Namely the browser?
just videos it auto hides on stock rom.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
It would be awesome if you could toggle the virtual keys, that's what I thought they were intended for, not just to watch some damn videos. Pretty disappointed in that aspect as well.
To standardize the button layout on Android devices (home, search, back, menu)
@wonshikee: You can always make a rooted app / mod to do that. Androids open source.
Do games hide the buttons or are they still there? Sounds like Samsung didn't think this through..
Diversion said:
Do games hide the buttons or are they still there? Sounds like Samsung didn't think this through..
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It was Google's idea. Samsung just made the device with the hardware asked by Google. This is how they do all Nexus devices.
You're acting like this is a new concept. It isn't. It was on honeycomb tablets and no one seemed to mind it.
Diversion said:
Why did Samsung do this... Its like any other 4.3" screen with those buttons on the bottom.. Can you hide these buttons all together fir certain apps to take some advantage of that gorgeous screen? Namely the browser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes I wonder if anybody researches at all before buying this phone...
Apps have to be specifically designed to go to full screen mode to hide the buttons, with the restriction that ANY user interaction brings the buttons back to the visible state. Hence, games or the browser would not be able to effectively hide the buttons.
Think of it this way: say you're playing a game, and it locks up. If there's no home button, you're forced to reboot.
You can enable full screen browser. Games do not. get rid of the buttons.
Instead of saying why ruin the screen with nav buttons.. You should be saying why ruin the screen by using a pentile submatrix .
zetsumeikuro said:
Instead of saying why ruin the screen with nav buttons.. You should be saying why ruin the screen by using a pentile submatrix .
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Click to collapse
From what I read, Samsung isn't currently capable of creating a 4.65" 720P Super AMOLED plus display. Technology simply isn't there so they had to resort to a 720P super AMOLED pentile submatrix display.
Bobb_o said:
You can enable full screen browser. Games do not. get rid of the buttons.
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Click to collapse
The full screen brower mode simply hides the status bar (and possibly minimizes the soft buttons) but it does not hide them entirely.
On screen buttons offer the benefit of when you rotate the screen, the buttons rotate with you. They are always on the bottom and in the same order.
Return it. Done. No more drama.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
zephiK said:
It was Google's idea. Samsung just made the device with the hardware asked by Google. This is how they do all Nexus devices.
You're acting like this is a new concept. It isn't. It was on honeycomb tablets and no one seemed to mind it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except tablet screens are massive so nothing is really lost, the difference between a 4.3" and 4.65" is much bigger.
The display on this phone rocks and I love the on screen buttons. Its nice to have consistency in the feel of the interactions with the UI including the "buttons".
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
the buttons dont bother me , but it is annoying when they turn into the three little dots. Sometimes I forget which buttons where esp. in landscape and 1 click and you hit home instead of back. They should have made it a 2 step process. Push any1 of the dots and the buttons appear then you push a button to go where you want- Or at least make it a setting to be like this
I personally thought it would suck but fortunately i haven't had problems with it. I do wonder who and/or what will come up with some kind of toggle for it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
@rbiter said:
I personally thought it would suck but fortunately i haven't had problems with it. I do wonder who and/or what will come up with some kind of toggle for it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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I also thought it would suck and was gutted when Google announced it, but it has helped me realize why Google dominate they certainly "know their ****" ... the buttons look cool and I love the developer options that it leaves open, eg the great work that paul has already started
DPI changer....the first thing I'm going to do on this badboy
Hmmm...I like the GN button design!
I guess go buy a GS2 and wait for ICS...just saying.

[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
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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
Click to expand...
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
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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
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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

I don't like this trend...

... of apps ignoring the menu key.
I've always preferred the menu - home - back layout Samsung has stuck with. It just feels more natural to me... Now though I'm starting to think the new Android design guidelines are going to pose a big usability problem.
Especially on big phones like the GS3, having to reach to the top of the phone to get at common options is an annoyance at best. Mint is one of the latest apps to implement the new design guidelines that renders the menu button useless.
I hope the development community can come up with a workaround - if they haven't already. Anyone know of efforts to remap or otherwise keep the menu button useful?
Its not really the dev community that controls the design guidelines.. as you know google updates them with each iteration of Android. The problem here is, starting from the Galaxy Nexus, none of Google's phones have come with a menu button. Google believes this is better (for some reason) and so all the design guidelines are trending towards making the menu button obsolete.
Samsung on the other hand is slowly becoming the only manufacturer to persist with the menu button.
From a development perspective, its easy enough to support devices with/without a menu button, with the same piece of code. I feel the main reason big Android apps are moving to the Holo bar menu button is for uniformity like in iOS (which is what Google wants in the first place)
There are roms that let you easily re-assign the menu button. For example, I have menu bound to recent apps (android standard is back, home, recent apps) with long press recent apps as menu for those few cases where apps still use the menu button.
As much as you may like the menu button it is more than on its way out at this point. Despite what samsung has been building their phones with.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
50% of the reason I like a physical home button is because for me, it's easier to power up the phone...and more natural, less effort etc. I also go into standby by an upward gesture on my homescreen so on/off is very quick and handy.
The other half is that I have more screen real estate.
pngface said:
Its not really the dev community that controls the design guidelines.. as you know google updates them with each iteration of Android. The problem here is, starting from the Galaxy Nexus, none of Google's phones have come with a menu button. Google believes this is better (for some reason) and so all the design guidelines are trending towards making the menu button obsolete.
Samsung on the other hand is slowly becoming the only manufacturer to persist with the menu button.
From a development perspective, its easy enough to support devices with/without a menu button, with the same piece of code. I feel the main reason big Android apps are moving to the Holo bar menu button is for uniformity like in iOS (which is what Google wants in the first place)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uniformity is huge, have you seen that picture with the buttons of around 10 android popular phones in which none of them have the same buttons/order.
Also, as an ex-galaxy nexus user, I must say that on-screen buttons are FAR better than what we have. The only down side is lost screen space in most apps (some stuff does go full screen). But the customizability of the software buttons is SO NICE. you can change the size of the bar, the colour, what buttons are there, what the icons are. The slide for google now is much more intuitive that long pressing menu. XDA devs have even added the ability to add what ever you want to the google now slide up gesture. (including widgets).
The software bar is simply a modder's wet dream
Sure uniformity is cool, but what's more uniform than a menu key that's just there all the time? I don't even have to think about it; I want settings/options, I press the menu key. This has honestly been one of my favorite design elements of Android. I hate that this is being phased out.
Ah well, nothing I can do about it.
themadproducer said:
50% of the reason I like a physical home button is because for me, it's easier to power up the phone...and more natural, less effort etc. I also go into standby by an upward gesture on my homescreen so on/off is very quick and handy.
The other half is that I have more screen real estate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you have it set up to sleep with a screen gesture?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
yamahakid said:
How do you have it set up to sleep with a screen gesture?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
It's 2 parts...but super simple and turbo quick!
I use Go Launcher EX. Many of the custom launchers have Gesture ability. (unlike stock TouchWiz) There are 2 types of gestures in GLex. The one I use is an upward gesture anywhere on any home screen. (you could choose an icon in the dock as well) and it's not the Gesture Pad feature. For me, this works well as I never find myself swiping upwards on the home screen except to initiate SCREEN OFF....although I have requested them to add a 2 finger swipe for extra control.
The 2nd part is an app called "screen off and lock" which I have been using for years. I tell GLex to execute SOAL with an upward gesture on the home screen. Works flawlessly. (GLex has it's own plugin for screen off...but it is laggy)
SOAL also has CRT similar fx and other options. But I just use the clean screen off effect and it's INSTANT. I literally can turn on my S3 with my physical home button, swipe to unlock. then swipe up to lock/screen off in under a second...and keep repeating...no lag. (that's not what I use it for per-say...but just to show that it is fast...all with my thumb in a close proximity area.)
Just got it all set up and I'm loving it so far. Thanks a lot
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
yamahakid said:
Just got it all set up and I'm loving it so far. Thanks a lot
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Right on, glad you tried it out.
To me, little things like this make the experience so much better.
Are you using GLex?
themadproducer said:
Right on, glad you tried it out.
To me, little things like this make the experience so much better.
Are you using GLex?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I have an s3, but I flashed a fix that changed my build.prop to gnex so I can run Google wallet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
yamahakid said:
No I have an s3, but I flashed a fix that changed my build.prop to gnex so I can run Google wallet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Ha Ha...no...actually I meant Go Launcher EX? (GLex)
What launcher do you use to perform the swipe?
themadproducer said:
Ha Ha...no...actually I meant Go Launcher EX? (GLex)
What launcher do you use to perform the swipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha oh I thought you made a typo. I'm using apex launcher.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
radeon_x said:
... of apps ignoring the menu key.
I've always preferred the menu - home - back layout Samsung has stuck with. It just feels more natural to me... Now though I'm starting to think the new Android design guidelines are going to pose a big usability problem.
Especially on big phones like the GS3, having to reach to the top of the phone to get at common options is an annoyance at best. Mint is one of the latest apps to implement the new design guidelines that renders the menu button useless.
I hope the development community can come up with a workaround - if they haven't already. Anyone know of efforts to remap or otherwise keep the menu button useful?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Video about some of my likes and dislikes about the GS3 overall its the best smartphone I have ever owned .
That's one thing that annoys me about the Android OS not being unified... some apps will ignore the menu, some wont.

[Q] How does "Epic 4G Settings (EpicParts)" work?

Preface: I've asked about how to disable capacitive backlights on stock TW ROMs, and now I independently found half of the answer.
By looking inside EpicParts.apk from CM-based ROMs, I obtained the position of soft key "device": /sys/devices/virtual/sec/t_key , and by modding the file "brightness" under it, capacitive key backlight turn off.
However, on TW ROMs this never persists no matter how I set the permission / owner, while on Incredible S, after modding I can mod the permission to r--r----- to prevent system from reverting this setting.
Plus, on pre-CM10 era ROMs, "Epic 4G Settings" is there but even if I disable the backlight, it always light on for a wee second every time I unlock, which is pretty annoying as I use onscreen keys heavily.
Digging further into CM10's EpicParts (which can totally turn backlight off, regardless of unlock), it seems that it creates two files under the folder, "touchleds_disable" and "touchleds_voltage", but I don't know how this behaves, nor can I imitate the behaviour.
So... it'll be appreciated if anyone can explain to me how EpicParts (of JB) works and how I can reproduce its effects. Thanks all
Sent from HTC Incredible S @ Sense 4.1
I don't really have an answer to your question but I have a question for you lol. What you did disabled the lights completely? Like even the little flash they give when they are pressed on? They're just completely off?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app
lilajrestnom said:
I don't really have an answer to your question but I have a question for you lol. What you did disabled the lights completely? Like even the little flash they give when they are pressed on? They're just completely off?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's the effect I'm looking for, and by now only CM10 and PA 2.5+ can do that; however, if I choose to disable them completely, the "Recent Apps" view will automatically pop up randomly, and I dunno why
Sent from HTC Incredible S @ Sense 4.1

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