Database Users

Re-Assigning Power Button

Hey guys, I just got my 8525 a week ago, I'm still trying to get used to it. Overall i think i like it more then my TREO650 but i have one problem, i cant stand the small power button on the side. Most of the time i push it i push the slide keyboard out too, its so small i can never find it.
My old Treo650 had the power button and locking keys on the END button, when i push END it would lock and turn off the screen, to Unlock i would push END again and then the Center button. Is there any way to re-assign the Power button on the 8525 to be like my old Treo650?

Any suggestions guys. I am having the same problem with small power button

DAFTEK said:
its so small i can never find it.
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sounds like a personal problem, maybe see a doctor?
On a serious note.. i dont think it can be reprogrammed via the software, i believe the power button is actually mapped via hardware since it is used for functions like putting the phone into bootloader mode, etc.. i could be wrong though.

Hey thanks for the reply although its my phone with the small problem I have tried two programs on the forum here called Devicelock.cab but that only locks the device but you still have to push power to power the phone back up.

I believe the power key can be reprogrammed in one or two highly invasive ways.
However, it doesn't sound like you want to re-assign the power key, but to assign the power off function to another key. Is that correct? That's easy/
If you want to assign the power on function, that is more complicated, but there are work arounds.
V

I agree with the original poster. The small power on/off button is poor design. When I want to place a call, I first need to turn the device on by hitting that very small button. Then I need to activate the phone app or invoke MS voice command. It's just plain poor design. I love my 8525, but it could be so much better if the product designers at HTC actually thought about the ergonomics of the tasks users do the most.
One more gripe. The phone app is atrocious. Getting to the recent dialed list or to toggle the speakerphone usually requires bringing up a menu. This is annoying for a phone and a better design could mitigate the poor usability. I/m not an iPhone fanboy but take a look at the thought Apple put in there *first* phone and it is quite illuminating on the state of PPC phones.

r111 said:
[...]Getting to the recent dialed list or to toggle the speakerphone usually requires bringing up a menu[...]
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You could try scrollwheel up or D-pad up for recent call list .
(also down for speed-dials).
Maybe you could map a button for speakerphone, not sure though.

ovidiugm said:
Maybe you could map a button for speakerphone, not sure though.
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The original poster could - while in a call - try pressing the green button for two or three seconds.
I think it's even mentioned in the manual...
Cheers
Daniel

Hello.
I agree with the previous posters. The badly placed powerOn button is "bad design". If anyone finds the sollution (to PowerON the device using another key) please share it!
Otherwise, this is a great device. A true pocket computer
Best regards, jZ

+1 for the poor design.
I always hit the power button as I am pulling it out of the case when a call comes in, that turns off the screen, then I have to hit it again to see who is calling, and with all that going on as well as the ringer, the phone has a minor anurism and delays in answering.....

So to summarise the poor design aspect of this thread:
1. The power button is too small/difficult to find and press.
2. The power button is too easy to press/find even by accident.
Conclusion, it's just about right then!!
You can't please all of the people all of the time.
Mike

1. The power button is too small/difficult to find and press.
2. The power button is too easy to press/find even by accident.
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Sounds like the classic male/female dichotomy. I never can operate my wife's buttons, however obvious the functionality might seem....
V

vijay555 said:
Sounds like the classic male/female dichotomy. I never can operate my wife's buttons, however obvious the functionality might seem....
V
Click to expand...
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unfortunately i can operate my wife's buttons even when i dont want to.. talk about poor design )

Lol, Shogun, remind us again how many kids you have?
Ok, some Opus Dei style self flagellation for the errant moderators going off topic.
Is this issue now resolved?
V

I can also operate my wifes buttons just fine as well but all i want is to find out if i can move the power button to maybe the PPT button or END when holding it.

Daftek, again, do you want to emulate the power key functionality, (ie on/off) on another key, and/or entirely disable the original power key?
V

Thats what I would like to do......

Hello.
I think we'd all like to assign a DIFFERENT KEY to POWER ON function. POWER OFF is no problem, because a button for this can be assigned through "Buttons". When the phone is in "sleep mode", only the POWER button can wake it.
Any solutions?
Regards, jZ

IMHO, it's possible but not easily.
Easiest work around is to disable button locking, so that pressing any button can wake the device, and then use a software lock to timeout/power off if you happen to poke a hardware button while it's in your pocket.
Alternatively you could rewrite the button driver, but it's possible (although I've not looked into it definitively) that the hardware power button is a hardware interrupt to the CPU. In which case a software based solution will not override a hardware based connection.
V

This is what I did...
I totally agree the power button is a pain, the size, placement...
I know this sounds a bit weird but I took a small piece of plastic (actually from a toothpick) and crazy glued it on the button. It works great! I never miss the button anymore! See picture...

Hard to press (power) buttons

Hi all,
I heard a lot of people complain about the hard to (press power) buttons.
Logically is the main reason why htc makes hard to press (power) buttons is to avoid acitentally turning the device on/off while its in your pocket or wathever.
So why not make good easy to press CAPACTIVE (power) HARDWARE buttons.
I think that should solve a lot of problems
Please share your opinions about this!

A capacitive power button would lead to people triggering it every time they put their hand in their pocket to get it if they so much as brush against it.
It's not that hard to press anyway.
edit: No to mention if you hold the phone in landscape mode the button would then rest against your palm, again triggering it.

a capacitive power button wont be enabled if u switched the device off.. how are you gonna start your phone then .. thats why its a physical button

i have no problem with the power button, i like it. was using a hd2 before and on this device the power button was the same like the [call end] button. and that drained my battery always. sometimes you sitting in a tight seat like on a airplaine and you alway acciedently hit the button or even by walking arround or if you have other stuff in your pocket.

It would have been nice if we could get an option to also use the volume down button to turn the screen on.

YumYumHD said:
It would have been nice if we could get an option to also use the volume down button to turn the screen on.
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Click to collapse
search this forum.. a couple of pages back there is this app that can do what u want.

lukesky said:
search this forum.. a couple of pages back there is this app that can do what u want.
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Next time please just name the app, makes it a lot easier, and saves a lot of searching.
Anyway, I found it on my own, and the app is called "No Lock". Best thing of all, it's free in the market!
This app will disable the lock screen, and thus wakes up immediately without having to unlock. Also, now you can wake the phone up with the volume button.

widget locker can also power on with volume button, and its very customizable but its not free, well worth the cost tho

YumYumHD said:
Next time please just name the app, makes it a lot easier, and saves a lot of searching.
Anyway, I found it on my own, and the app is called "No Lock". Best thing of all, it's free in the market!
This app will disable the lock screen, and thus wakes up immediately without having to unlock. Also, now you can wake the phone up with the volume button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would if i remembered what exactly the name was, all i know is this question was asked several times by different people already so i just glanced through them without really paying much attention to specific names

[Q] Making touch keys less touchy/easier unlock

Annoying Touch buttons
I think that the most DHD users have the same problem, touching the buttons at the bottom if you really dont want to.
So my question is if it would be possible to change the "Home" or the "Menu" button (pushing long) from "last used apps" to "turn on/off the touch keys???
that would be awsome
thx Dr.Pepper

Never been an issue for me, although i was anticipating problems with no hardware buttons its been fine...

Pepper90 said:
I think that the most DHD users have the same problem, touching the buttons at the bottom if you really dont want to.
So my question is if it would be possible to change the "Home" or the "Menu" button (pushing long) from "last used apps" to "turn on/off the touch keys???
that would be awsome
thx Dr.Pepper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't help but say, "you're holding it wrong!"
Seriously though I've never encountered this problem on either this phone or my N1 which has a smaller screen.
How exactly are you managing to press the buttons by mistake?
Regards.

iam the only one who has the problem that he accidently hits a touch key while using the phone or playing a game? every little contact triggers the keys. i.e. if i use the thumb to type a message, holding the phone in the right hand, i sometimes trigger the search key.
my idea is to make it harder to trigger these keys. as they are part of the touchscreen, it sould be possible to do anything that can be done with the touch sreen. my ideas:
1. double-touch; tapping the key 2 times (like a double-klick) triggers it once
2. sweep; i.e. you touch the home-button and sweep out of it, then release. can be even harder with sweeping out and back in.
3. circle-touch; making a little circle over the button triggers it.
other ideas welcome.
---------------------------------
2nd problem: easier unlocking;
i feel it sometimes tricky to unlock the pone, wich is done by pressing the powerbutton at the top of the phone and sweeping on the bottom of the screen. the phone is'nt very small (or i have small hands). if iam holding the phone at the bottom, i can nearly reach the whole touch area with my thumb, but to unlock, i need to use my 2nd hand or to juggle the phone so i can reach the power button with the right hand. with the G1, which had a menu button at the bottom, it was just double-pressing that button and the phone was unlocked. iam looking for a similar easy way to do it.
its just annoying to take the phone out of the pocket and use both handy or juggle around to unlock it...
i dont know it it wastes additional energy to have the touchscreen active, so it can be used to unlock the phone. so my ideas:
1. use the touchscreen to unlock; i.e. draw a pattern, press the bottom key in some order (home, back, menu to unlock)
2.1 use the volume keys. if the screen is disabled, they are used to change the audio volume (or is that only the case, if music is playing?) When holding the phone at the bottom with the right hand, the volume-down hey is easily reachable. so you can do volume-down (which activates the screen) and then slide on the screen like you would do if you have pressed the power button. pressing volume-down with deactivated screen does not change the volume, but pressing it twice does (i.e. 1st press unlocks the screen and 2nd press takes volume down).
2.2 press vol-up and vol-down at the same time to unlock the phone. if i do that the phone vibrates sometimes, no idea why.
3. use acceleromater (or a other sensor?) to unlock, i.e. shaking the phone in a special way (i.e. a circle), activates the screen, so you can unlock it by sliding on it. also full unlock by shaking a phone could be possible (also known as kung-fu-unlock )
other ideas also welcome.

Proximity sensor for unlock when taking it out of the pocket :-D. I have the same problem as you so a 'fix' would be nice

yeah, you take the phone out of the pocket and it unlocks and says "hello raw, how you are doing?".
but that would be nice. question is if constantly checking the prox sensor would drain the battery much. it needs to be checked every 3 seconds or so.

lynxboy said:
Can't help but say, "you're holding it wrong!"
Seriously though I've never encountered this problem on either this phone or my N1 which has a smaller screen.
How exactly are you managing to press the buttons by mistake?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i try to use the phone with one hand

seems like here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=854073) is another user with that problem.

same problem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9550179#post9550179

Merged threads as topic is similar....
Cheers,
M_T_M

[Q] Power button during calls

I read a lot of reviews about the Omnia 7 before buying one (can't have it until Christmas - I'm being good you see!) and a lot of them complained about the power button being in a place you're likely to press during a call.
My question: what happens if you press the power button during a call? On my HD (WinMo 6.5), it just goes in and out of standby but the call stays connected (so you can turn the screen on to use the keypad or switch to loudspeaker, etc). Is it the same with WP7?

My question too cause im looking to buy this phone also

I use the Omnia 7 for about 2 weeks now. Never had the problem of hitting the power button while making calls. But if I do so, nothing happens, it just turns of the screen, the call is still on. Same thing as you put your phone near your head and the sensor turns your screen off.
On other hand i "had" little problems with the back and search buttons. You can easily hit those buttons while doing other stuff. But its not as a big deal as it sounds.

Thanks very much - just what I needed. I was a bit worried as the Engadget review went on and on about the power button being just by your thumb, but it doesn't seem a big deal to me.
Edit: I thanked _ivo_ as well by accident - didn't mean it! No hard feelings

CreepinJesus said:
Thanks very much - just what I needed. I was a bit worried as the Engadget review went on and on about the power button being just by your thumb, but it doesn't seem a big deal to me.
Edit: I thanked _ivo_ as well by accident - didn't mean it! No hard feelings
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This almost put me off too. They must hold their phone in the most unusual way known to man, because my thumb sits nicely between the power & camera buttons...

The power button needs to be firmly pressed to turn off power, it would be very hard to press this unintentionally unless you hold your phone as tight as possible while calling.

Turn screen on with a touch

In the display setting we can adjust the screem timeout. Mine is on 10 minutes for example.
Is there any application which can turn on the screen just with a touch on the screen (instead of pressing the power button) ?
Would be very nice together with the application "Unlock with WiFi"

I mean is there any application which enables the functionality to get the screen back (phone is not locked) only by touching the screen (instead of pressing the power switch on the top).
I know, folks, it is not a big deal to press the power switch, it is just a little bit more comfort to touch the screen only

I don't, believe so, but you can use the volume keys:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107041

scoob8000 said:
I don't, believe so, but you can use the volume keys:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107041
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Hi scoob800. Thanks, but the volume keys would be pritty "the same" as to press the power button.
Generally spoken. Is it possible (and in case it is) and is there any application which can detect a touch on the screen, even if the screen is off ?

Well, the only thing I can think of is to set your screen to never autolocking and have a screensaver app that leaves the screen black. If you do that your battery will probably drain a good bit seeing as your screen will always be on.
Sent from my Gingerblurred Atrix

You can achieve this with NoLED, but that is not its intended purpose. I will explain how: When you get a notification that would normally trigger your LED, NoLED displays a customizable icon on a black screen. With SGS, which it was developed for, has samoled screen and black uses little to no bat/cpu. This is NOT the case with the Atrix, your battery WILL suffer. So battery aside.. Set NoLED to display the time (that way its always on even when you dont have a new notification). Now play with the settings, tell it to "wake up" with the home key. TaDa!

the short answer is feasibly NO. having the touchscreen on at all times will DESTROY your battery life. your only option is to enable the volume buttons.

I use the volume buttons with no lock screen ..... waaaayyy better then powerbutton
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Would like to avoid stress on the buttons
dLo GSR said:
the short answer is feasibly NO. having the touchscreen on at all times will DESTROY your battery life. your only option is to enable the volume buttons.
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OK. But to be honest, what is the difference to use the volume buttons instead the power button ? I would like to avoid this mechanical stress of these buttons. As I used my last phone ( a Samsung) for 8 years, I am afraid, my ATRIX will not make it such a long time
But I got an other idea. What about one of the four "softkey" buttons ? For example the home button.

1.ATRIX-in-PT said:
OK. But to be honest, what is the difference to use the volume buttons instead the power button ? I would like to avoid this mechanical stress of these buttons. As I used my last phone ( a Samsung) for 8 years, I am afraid, my ATRIX will not make it such a long time
But I got an other idea. What about one of the four "softkey" buttons ? For example the home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is they're still softkeys and not actual hardware buttons. Using the volume is just easier to press depending how your holding the phone. That and your spreading out that wear of the power button across 3 different buttons.

scoob8000 said:
The problem is they're still softkeys and not actual hardware buttons. Using the volume is just easier to press depending how your holding the phone. That and your spreading out that wear of the power button across 3 different buttons.
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Soft keys will waste a lot of battery, it isn't a good way to turn on your screen by either soft keys or touchscreen