Been having fun with 6.5 after getting it loaded up, the home screen is great. I kind of think the start menu has something to be desired, big icons that scroll up and down. Well got me thinking, is there a plug-in out there, for the home screen that when flicked right or left, would move the whole "main" home menu off screen and bring up a new menu(slides in from the approate direction?). Run up and down with in that new menu, then flick again (right or left) and get yet another new menu, all of these additional menu sets either preset or set up by the user. To get back to the home screen, maybe a soft Home key or just wait a few seconds and the software shifts back to Home?
Something to ponder, talk amongst your selves.
--B
Thats a great idea, although not really suited for me and it would be extremely annoying to an extent. Because when you scroll with your thumb up/down you move slightly to the left or right.. that would trigger it and annoy most if not all people.
I'm sure a range of some kind could be set up that would recognize what's meant to be up-down Vs. left-right. Already see it with most of the fields on the home screen. I just saw it as a way to keep the start menu programs "in theme" while not extending the home screen to some crazy length.
i was thinking the same thing.. for the start menu i think it can be done since ifonz and iphone today are similar to this type of a menu. It would be pretty useful or another option would be to get rid of the bouncy option and instead when u scroll the other way, it should show the icons from the bottom of the list.
what do u think?
Related
I searched, but only found one thread as to where to get Qmenu. Does anyone use it? I really like it, only I can't seem to get it to open every time when I hit my start button. I know there is a setting for it to replace the system start menu, but even checked, it only sometimes opens the Qmenu by default, and usually opens my regular start menu. This app would be great if it opened every time when start is hit. Anybody have a solution?
In the options there is a setting that opens the regular start menu on long press. I set my long press to reboot. If I dont take the start icon quickly it will give me a reboot dialog box. See if its just a tap speed issue you are having. QMenu is awesome and the newest version is really sweet.
I love qmenu, without it WM seemed too simplistic & tedious.
Had the same 'problem' about the start menu too at first, but I was new to this diamond & too heavy handed. The baby needs caressing gently.
haha thanks for the replies guys, I was just being stupid and did not realize that hitting "start" and hitting the little windows icon are too different things. hitting the button in the middle opens up the regular menu, and the small icon opens up the Qmenu. I guess I just wish hitting start (easier) would open up Qmenu
just want to know if there is a solution to map the home button to close all the running programs and return to initial home page (with big clock appears) from wherever we are
thanks
...why would you want that...?
if we had this button, we could quickly return to the normal standby state without multiple presses...
it is intuitive when we mess up something on the phone...
put it in another way, it is just like an iPhone intuitive home button....
Install a taskmanager that has the "close all" option.
The home button works perfectly well as it is now, brings you back to homescreen so that you can quickly check something or launch another app from the quicklinks without closing what you were doing... the advantage of multitasking.
hollandking said:
if we had this button, we could quickly return to the normal standby state without multiple presses...
it is intuitive when we mess up something on the phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean "normal standby state"? Just...
...put the phone into standby.
*GASP*
And when you "mess up something on the phone", you're probably going to be soft resetting it.
hollandking said:
put it in another way, it is just like an iPhone intuitive home button....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you people who parade the supposed virtues of the iPhone actually understand what "intuitive" means.
A "Home" button taking you to the home screen...that's "intuitive".
A "Home" button taking you to the home screen and closing all your apps...how's that "intuitive"?
That's the equivalent of saying that you think WIN+D in Windows should close all the open programs in addition to showing the desktop.
The home button takes you back to the home screen...
It doesn't close apps; it just brings manila home tab to the front.
It sounds like yours doesn't?
iPhone closes apps with the home button because it does not have multitask. HD2 has multi-task so there's no reason to close apps with the home button...
Anyway, the phone is yours so you can do whatever you want to do with it. AFAIK there's no way to do what you want, but you can install a task manager if you want to close multiple apps at one time...
Thanks for all replies....
I know the "home" button should take me back to home screen...
Actually, I mapped "home" button with AEButton...
1 click: Home Screen
2 clicks: Home Screen + close all apps
They work fine but with one minor step to be perfect...
It can not return to the "very beginning" BIG Clock home screen, it
just returns to the previous state of today, if I wiped up the screen before I have to wipe down to bring back the clock...
I want this because many main functions are within "Big Clock" screen,
e.g. calendar(I mapped to PI), alarm, Clock (tap clock = Opera),
Date(tap date = SPB wireless monitor), weather....
Sorry for misleading u all because my bad English...
hollandking said:
It can not return to the "very beginning" BIG Clock home screen, it
just returns to the previous state of today, if I wiped up the screen before I have to wipe down to bring back the clock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the way Manila/Sense works, it is so you can dip in and out of different programs while not losing your place in the quicklinks.
hollandking said:
Thanks for all replies....
I know the "home" button should take me back to home screen...
Actually, I mapped "home" button with AEButton...
1 click: Home Screen
2 clicks: Home Screen + close all apps
They work fine but with one minor step to be perfect...
It can not return to the "very beginning" BIG Clock home screen, it
just returns to the previous state of today, if I wiped up the screen before I have to wipe down to bring back the clock...
I want this because many main functions are within "Big Clock" screen,
e.g. calendar(I mapped to PI), alarm, Clock (tap clock = Opera),
Date(tap date = SPB wireless monitor), weather....
Sorry for misleading u all because my bad English...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, i use a 6.5.x rom and use the '<-' back button. pressing it once closes down my actual foreground application and puts me to the last selected manila tab. pressing it again jumps to the first 'bigclock' manila tab.
or if it is not working out that way in your rom, at least the combination home button->back button should bring you to first manila screen anyhow.
mad
ps. strange, while playing around to proof my words, i find out that my home button brings me back to the first manila screen anyway... maybe something didnt work out with your aebutton ore your rom/wm version?
rp-x1 said:
That is the way Manila/Sense works, it is so you can dip in and out of different programs while not losing your place in the quicklinks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not how Manila works. I had the same problem. once you click the home button, it goes to home tab. But that was before i was playing with the phone. Now, when i click home button..it goes on the home sreen, but on the last tab i was..i.e. messages, not at the beginning (home icon). I dont know what happened..and im trying to figure it out. It has nothing to do with the rom. I`m using Energy Rom on my HD2. something got messed with the manila settings..because it worked before.
I was just reading about webOS and how good its interface is when dealing with multi-tasking and I realised how poor androids multi-tasking interface is. The only way I know to switch between running apps is to hold home button for a few seconds...
I personally think this can be improved by having thumbnails of open apps popup when the home button is single pressed on a home screen. Just as at the moment previews of all the home screens popup I think this should be switched with open app previews. I rarely ever use the home screen preview thing so i think its wasted, but I definitely would use app selector if little thumbnails showed.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Im not a developer so I have no idea if this is possible but I think it would be a good feature to add and improve android. Do any devs think they can implement this??
Moved to general as not ROM development.
This would be a feature for a launcher app, so might be worth suggesting to someone like Fede who develops Launcher Pro, or cyanogenmod people that make ADW?
yes you are right. thanks. I was too lazy to find the relevant section to post under. will try contacting anderweb. or fede.
There are a couple of apps which overlays a screen on top of the current app you are in by tapping home twice, you can then open apps/access widgets without having to go back to homescreen first.
Currently im using 'smart taskbar', you can set the activation mode to be (1) tapping on a half-circle spot on either side of your screen or (2) swiping from one side to another. You can then open from a list of 5 'pinned' apps or choose from the mini apps drawer below, or click a tab called 'running' which seems the same as the current holding on home button behavior.
check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.
smiskkissen said:
check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just downloaded both power strip and the one mentioned above. Will try them both out and report back on whether its what i was suggesting. Thanks for your suggestions.
Just got the N4 yesterday and love it but for one really irksome thing -- that the back button, which I use a lot, is on the left while the "running apps" button, which I don't, is on the right. It's a big phone so having stuff as near as possible to the bottom right-hand corner is key to one-handed operation (for righties, of course). So when I'm using Google Reader, the back button is at bottom left, and the "Up to category list" button is at top left. Really slows things down.
Am I the only one annoyed by this? Is there a fix short of a new ROM?
A rom may allow you to swap the buttons around. It doesnt bother me I hold my phone in my left hand a lot.
That was a big reason why I decided to root and go to an AOKP rom. Back button on the right side now and I'm so much happier.
It bothered me at first when moving from a Galaxy S (back on right side) to the Galaxy Nexus (back on left side). Got used to it after about a month though.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Never noticed! But I prefer to get rid of them for the screen real estate.
It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
However, I'm strongly against the removal of the Search button that started in 3.x. I used Search for many apps, and it was an amazing shortcut. Fullscreen browser? Press search and you got access to the URL bar. Looking for a contact? Search button. Want to do a search in a file explorer? There's a familiar button for that. Recents should have stayed as a long press of the Home button.
Hung0702 said:
It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
However, I'm strongly against the removal of the Search button that started in 3.x. I used Search for many apps, and it was an amazing shortcut. Fullscreen browser? Press search and you got access to the URL bar. Looking for a contact? Search button. Want to do a search in a file explorer? There's a familiar button for that. Recents should have stayed as a long press of the Home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with long press on home as recents. Many android noobs didn't even know there was a a "alt tab" in Android until they've heard it from someone or was told by someone.
It's more intuitive when theres a recents button. As far as search, it's supposed to be on the top right of an app same with the legacy menu. On contacts, its on the bottom left.
IMO they should go back to the 4 capacitive buttons. Menu, Home, Back, Search. There was NOTHING wrong with this setup. Search was arguably the weakest one but with Google now, I'd say it's just as important as the rest of them. I get the fact that not all apps will have Menu, but Home and Back are just about universal, and Menu is used quite a bit too. The capacitive buttons free up screen real-estate too. I don't like styling things just for style's sake.
se1000 said:
IMO they should go back to the 4 capacitive buttons. Menu, Home, Back, Search. There was NOTHING wrong with this setup. Search was arguably the weakest one but with Google now, I'd say it's just as important as the rest of them. I get the fact that not all apps will have Menu, but Home and Back are just about universal, and Menu is used quite a bit too. The capacitive buttons free up screen real-estate too. I don't like styling things just for style's sake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the app's fault for not implementing the menu button on their app, regardless you have the legacy menu button the bottom right.
If you don't like it then install a custom ROM and change the navigation bar to your liking. It's simple as that, no reason to debate about this and how it should be on stock android.
zephiK said:
That's the app's fault for not implementing the menu button on their app, regardless you have the legacy menu button the bottom right.
If you don't like it then install a custom ROM and change the navigation bar to your liking. It's simple as that, no reason to debate about this and how it should be on stock android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have, and I like my current setup (Menu, Home, Back). I'm just saying that I'd rather have the 4 capacitive buttons back.
zephiK said:
I disagree with long press on home as recents. Many android noobs didn't even know there was a a "alt tab" in Android until they've heard it from someone or was told by someone.
It's more intuitive when theres a recents button. As far as search, it's supposed to be on the top right of an app same with the legacy menu. On contacts, its on the bottom left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only recents was actually comparable to Windows' Alt+tab. As it is, recents is no more useful to me than it was in Gingerbread
The best button choice for me would have been, in the order, BACK, HOME, MENU. You need to go to settings? Just press the "menu" button. Need to open recent apps? Just press and hold the "home" button. Simple as that.
It was all so much more consistent when the menu button was integrated in the system. Now you have to go and look for it in a place that differs from app to app... jeez, I feel like I'm holding an iPhone.
No menu and a dedicated, invasive multitasking app is a double step backwards for me.
SkippyFlipjack said:
Just got the N4 yesterday and love it but for one really irksome thing -- that the back button, which I use a lot, is on the left while the "running apps" button, which I don't, is on the right. It's a big phone so having stuff as near as possible to the bottom right-hand corner is key to one-handed operation (for righties, of course). So when I'm using Google Reader, the back button is at bottom left, and the "Up to category list" button is at top left. Really slows things down.
Am I the only one annoyed by this? Is there a fix short of a new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how us lefty's feel living in a right handed world
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Hung0702 said:
It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that design-wise it makes sense; the aesthete in me would take issue with a left-facing arrow button sitting on the right side, which sort of looks like it's telling you to press the button in the middle. I just think that these larger phones should design where possible for one-handed operation (and have a lefty mode too!)
note: by 'one-handed operation' no, I don't mean I'm watching porn
I have my V20 navigation controls hidden for almost all apps because I like the full 5.7" screen always displayed, but it's a pain sometime to swipe up to get access to them. Is there any way to get a 3rd party app that you can put into the Second Screen as an app shortcut, and when you click the app shortcut icon it will navigate DIRECTLY with the one press on the second screen (i.e. go to home screen and back button, mainly)? I don't think it could be a widget because you can't load widgets as a app shortcut on the 2nd screen. Note that I am NOT rooted.
Probably not but I just thought I'd ask.
This actually works in the nav bar as a return to home button, although will not appear on recent apps when used. Now looking for a back button
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devjackey.homebutton
If you have any sort of experience with Tasker I'm sure you can create a simple task that goes back, and just assign it to a button that you throw on the 2nd screen though I just checked and some widgets don't actually work in the 2nd screen. Greenify works fine but my mobile payment app doesnt't.
Seems like it can't be a widget or floating button. Can't find a back button that works by clicking the app shortcut icon like the home button does above (i.e. no app options - click and executes the one function directly). Oh well at least I have half what i need.
A pain to swipe up but easier to reach all the to the top of the screen? Smh. Doesn't make sense.
@rbiter said:
A pain to swipe up but easier to reach all the to the top of the screen? Smh. Doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm often at the top of my screen switching apps and want to get to the home screen. Plus ONE press on a button instead of a swipe up and press and have it hide again. My thumb is on average in the middle of the screen so up and down or the same. Plus if holding the phone in my left hand it's easier to get at the top with my right hand index finger. Just tried the home button above and definitely faster and less annoying then the hidden nav bar. Doesn't seem like there is a similar back button anywhere that i can find.
Tony
All I have to say is software nav FTW!