Database Users

how to get a "real" home button

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.

anyone knows how to make bigger/better camera shutter button?

we know HTC Touch Pro2 has an on screen shutter button, do you find it difficult when you try to take photo of yourself?because you cant see the small on screen shutter button.
Do anyone know a tweak/altenative solution for this tiny shutter button?
make it bigger,or better yet,simply make it this way: the whole screen is the shutter button, you can take pictures by clicking anywhere of the screen.
I searched several hours without a thing,it seems that I am the first person who wants this.

Solution
The on screen button pissed me off too. Most particularly because I also turned off the shutter sound, so I would be holding the part of the screen thinking it took the picture...to turn the phone around and discover it only focused the image.
Install the keyboard controller for the rhodium, choose to add a key, press the PTT key "if you already have it mapped to something, don't worry. I also have apps mapped to the same button". When in the map config, click the [+] next to Rule. pull out the stylus, click the windows button, go to your camera, and stick the stylus back in. Below "Rule name" the window should say "IACSP20_Main" without the quotes. Choose "Direct key mapping", then select key "13 Enter" for the key. Finally send the key to the operating system.
What this does is: while you're in the camera window and push the PTT key, that key is pushing the enter key. It acts the same as the onscreen shutter button, as in, you have to hold the button. BUT, its a lot easier to find and easier to hold the phone when pushing the button. Good luck with your mapping.

zyphuris55 said:
The on screen button pissed me off too. Most particularly because I also turned off the shutter sound, so I would be holding the part of the screen thinking it took the picture...to turn the phone around and discover it only focused the image.
Install the keyboard controller for the rhodium, choose to add a key, press the PTT key "if you already have it mapped to something, don't worry. I also have apps mapped to the same button". When in the map config, click the [+] next to Rule. pull out the stylus, click the windows button, go to your camera, and stick the stylus back in. Below "Rule name" the window should say "IACSP20_Main" without the quotes. Choose "Direct key mapping", then select key "13 Enter" for the key. Finally send the key to the operating system.
What this does is: while you're in the camera window and push the PTT key, that key is pushing the enter key. It acts the same as the onscreen shutter button, as in, you have to hold the button. BUT, its a lot easier to find and easier to hold the phone when pushing the button. Good luck with your mapping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,thanks for your reply,so detailed,I am touched.
I tried your method,it works!

New Leo Energy Rom - this method is no longer working - camera just touch focuses - but does not "capture" - picture - any more advice?

same problem here
livealoha50 said:
New Leo Energy Rom - this method is no longer working - camera just touch focuses - but does not "capture" - picture - any more advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had it mapped to the ptt the same way on nrg cht 4/16. i didnt even have to hold the button in fact, i just pressed it and it would take a picture. now the ptt button wont take a picture at all for me.

just go to the settings and click on advanced and see if touch focus is actually on, because if its turned off then it would just focus but not take a picture.
and that solution of yours to map it to the PTT button doesnt work for everyone (like me) because some of us dont got that button, but reguardless if it works for you then thats good too

Google Rhodium keyboard controller or look for it here at xda and even in this forum. BEST software. You can map ANY button to ANY key while still maintaining the keys natural function like pressing home goes to home, and holding hole for 2 seconds opens camera, and holding vol up or down can be enter which, in camera mode, takes a picture .

lilchicano said:
just go to the settings and click on advanced and see if touch focus is actually on, because if its turned off then it would just focus but not take a picture.
and that solution of yours to map it to the PTT button doesnt work for everyone (like me) because some of us dont got that button, but reguardless if it works for you then thats good too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the touch focus has no effect for me. regardless whether its on or off, my ptt button wont take a pic. im gonna mess around with the rhod kb controller a bit, maybe i did something wrong there. if not, im gonna have to mess about in the registry and see what can be done there.
Edit: I fixed it. It wasnt something I did wrong w/ rhod kb controller. Went into hklm/software/htc/camera and its subfolders and changed 5 or 6 things in there, some to fix the prob and some were just changed to suit my preferences. I gotta go to work shortly, but at about 2:30 this morning I'll be able to write down all the registry changes I made and post them in this thread. Now when I press the ptt within camera, it autofocuses and then takes the pic without having to hold the button, which is nice I have CleanRam mapped to ptt long press.

well i had it working perfect yesterday when i posted, but then i booted into android for a few hours while at work, and when i went back to windows, the camera went back to doing the stupid focus and then no picture crap again. so today i went back thru everything i had messed with and tried every combination of settings i could think of, and couldnt get it to work right again.

Do you use the Rhodium Keyboard Controller to remap your hardware buttons? If so, I can give you how I setup my buttons to take pictures and such?

Yeah thats what I used with the 4/16 cht nrg rom, when mapped to open program windows/start menu/multimedia/camera.ink by single press, it would open the camera and if I pressed it again, it would take a photo. I am still using the rhodium keyboard controller, tried setting double tap to 13 and that didnt take a pic, tried pointing it at windows/camera.exe and that didnt work, thats when i went into the registry. between the keyboard controller and registry editng, i had it opening the camera and taking photos both with single press of the ptt button. i then booted android later that day cause its easier for texting while im at work. later back to windows, and the ptt would open camera but not shoot. i dont understand how changes to the registry could work to make it work like that but not survive a reset? i went back iand messed around in the registry tryin different combinations of stuff, and couldnt get the ptt to snap a shot again. possibly theres something different in camera.exe from rom to rom?

Just make one of your hardware buttons the enter button. Enter focuses and takes the picture. I make my volume keys both the enter button. Also good when using them in total commander too .

i had made my ptt = enter upon double tap and it wouldnt work, neither would the hw qwerty button. i know what ur talking about, i have always set my ptt to take pictures, even on my original tilt, usually open program - camera.ink will open camera and also take pic, but for me neither enter nor open program will work for me. its gotta be either a reg entry that i just didnt get right, or the actual camera.exe is different from build to build, which i find believable because i remember switching albums on my original tilt and to do it i would also hv to switch camera.exe's also. which reminds me, is it me or does the tp2's photo album absolutely suck? on my tilt, i could zoom down way closer, and the album was gesture driven. draw a circle w/ur finger one way would zoom in, other way zoom out, etc. love the phone, hate the picture album

Ah weird... enter should work :/...
Yeah... what happened to the gesture thing? Guess they want to "try" and make the pointless zoombar serve some sort of function even though I never use it.
I use S2V and map the dble tap send key as up, and dble tap end key as down. I've always like S2V but just wish A_C would update it.

livealoha50 said:
New Leo Energy Rom - this method is no longer working - camera just touch focuses - but does not "capture" - picture - any more advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to do this when the pro 2 first came out and this always worked but for the last 4 months this has stoped working and it sucks cause i loved having this option. I have tried asking for help from NRG's irc chat room and they banned me for asking lol, i even tried asking in his thread several times and ppl tell me it works fine for them, but it just dont work for me. it always worked before but i flashed to a new NRG rom update and it just stopped working, cant remember when it worked last, but i do miss it!!! This option works fine on ALL other roms but NRG's
lilchicano said:
just go to the settings and click on advanced and see if touch focus is actually on, because if its turned off then it would just focus but not take a picture.
and that solution of yours to map it to the PTT button doesnt work for everyone (like me) because some of us dont got that button, but reguardless if it works for you then thats good too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be able to pick any hardware button to make this work, i use the vol up key myself!!

Thanks zyphuris55!

enter key doesn't work for me either.

A plausible reason for the "Enter" workaround working for some people could be the use of different camera drivers.
With the HD2, the early camera drivers allowed a photo light (using the LEDs) to be used when taking a picture in the dark. However, the recent camera drivers no longer allow photo lights, and the user is dependent on a simple flash upon taking a photo.
I know that NRG and other chefs use different camera drivers (they sometimes post it in their changelogs), so this could be why some are able to use "Enter" to take photos while others can't.
If it is indeed driver-related, you can't do anything about it, as these drivers are cooked into the ROMs (cabs and reg tweaks have no effects).
P.S. At least the TP2 has a lot of buttons that can be remapped! The HD2 can only have the Send (Hold) function be remapped!

[REF] Hidden features of the Galaxy S

Just thought I'd share this one I found.
If you hold down the "home" button for about a second you get an easy task switcher to any app that was running in the background. It's faster than hitting back till you get to the menu or getting to the menu and then finding the app you are after .
Sliding your finger across the notification window just as it drops down changes the brightness of the screen.
Any others that people have found?

You can add shortcuts to phone numbers and messages on the home screen by holding your finger down and selecting shortcuts on the home screen somewhere. This also appears to work with a lot of apps, like kindle shortcuts to a specific book.

All android phones do this, Holding the Home button is a standard android way to "Switch fast" between apps

A few things I found out reading the SGS forum here:
1. You can control the brightness by sliding your finger left to right when pulling down the notification bar. Just keep your finger on the edge of the pull down window.
2. You can have the SGS announce the title/artist of a song from the Music player by pressing and holding the Up Volume button while a song is playing.
3. You can "lock screen" while watching video by pressing Power Button while a video is playing. This is great at preventing unintended clicks while holding the phone watching a video.

tenshi888 said:
A few things I found out reading the SGS forum here:
1. You can control the brightness by sliding your finger left to right when pulling down the notification bar. Just keep your finger on the edge of the pull down window.
2. You can have the SGS announce the title/artist of a song from the Music player by pressing and holding the Up Volume button while a song is playing.
3. You can "lock screen" while watching video by pressing Power Button while a video is playing. This is great at preventing unintended clicks while holding the phone watching a video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the third one, but didn't know the first two. Thank you tenshi, for sharing.
However, I don't quite understand how exactly you can change the brightness in the day you described, cos I can't seem to do it.
Also, I got the feeling that to effect number 2, there is a monthly subscription that I need to pay to Optus. They gave me a 7 day free trial before continuing, and I did not continue.

eaglesteve, for #1, make sure auto-brightness is off in your display settings, now when you slide the notification bar panel down try sliding your finger left to right and you'll notice the display brightness change.
for #2, I don't think its connected to your provider as it doesn't even need a data connection to work, it's just using text to speech. You might have to enable or download it the first time.
eaglesteve said:
I know the third one, but didn't know the first two. Thank you tenshi, for sharing.
However, I don't quite understand how exactly you can change the brightness in the day you described, cos I can't seem to do it.
Also, I got the feeling that to effect number 2, there is a monthly subscription that I need to pay to Optus. They gave me a 7 day free trial before continuing, and I did not continue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tenshi888 said:
eaglesteve, for #1, make sure auto-brightness is off in your display settings, now when you slide the notification bar panel down try sliding your finger left to right and you'll notice the display brightness change.
for #2, I don't think its connected to your provider as it doesn't even need a data connection to work, it's just using text to speech. You might have to enable or download it the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My auto-brightness is already off, but I still can't seem to change the brightness when sliding from left to right or right to left while pulling down the notification curtain. Any other clue?
For 2, you're right, once I downloaded the voice synthesising software from the market place, it works. I need to make sure the music player is in the foreground for this to work, right?

spenceee said:
If you hold down the "home" button for about a second you get an easy task switcher to any app that was running in the background. It's faster than hitting back till you get to the menu or getting to the menu and then finding the app you are after .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically it's a "most recently used" list rather than a list of apps running in the background. For example if you have just exited a navigation app, or killed an app from a process manager, it will still appear in this list.

Interesting thread.
I just want to add some "shortcuts" I discovered myself using the Galaxy (maybe they aren't so hidden. I am a lousy user, don't like to read manuals. So maybe they are very obvious )
Close pull down window/curtain, close desktop layer folders and close keyboard by tapping back key
Access to the bookmark button and address bar in the brower by tapping the menu button (no need to scroll all the way up)
Open soft D-Pad by tap-and-hold the "?123" key on the standard Samsung Keyboard
Quick and reliable GPS reception by editing the ntp server in the gps.conf file

Someone I only just learnt...
Pressing and holding the power button performs a reset. (Keep pressing it after you get the shut down/mute/airplane options and the phone will suddenly restart. Have to keep the button pressed for 5 secs atleast).

dagrim1 said:
Someone I only just learnt...
Pressing and holding the power button performs a reset. (Keep pressing it after you get the shut down/mute/airplane options and the phone will suddenly restart. Have to keep the button pressed for 5 secs atleast).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.

If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact

mazurson said:
If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool, this is handy when you're driving
i usually double tap the contact, but if your car goes over a bump or pot hole, then the 2nd tap is missed, and wont work.

mazurson said:
If you´re in "contacts"
slide to the right for an instant call or slide to the left for messaging the contact
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SWEET, this is a great way to dial and text people from contacts
Thx for the info

1. Browsing in the Gallery
When browsing your large list of photo's in the 'Gallery', click the icon on the right to group them into date taken ~ makes browsing much more manageable.
2. Locking the Camera
If you wish to leave the camera on but worried you may accidentally touch the scrren/controls you can lock the camera.
Once you have the camera set up how you want it, simply briefly press the Power button. You will then see a white padlock appear on screen. Now you can hold the camera and phone how you like until you are ready to shoot.... When ready again briefly press the Power button, the padlock disappears and you can take your shoot/video.

sammy555 said:
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, it's samsung's replacement for the search button that's a Google requirement. They don't have a button for it, so they assigned long-press menu for search, whereas on the Nexus One, it'll make force the soft-'board to come up.

yes it works...
eaglesteve said:
My auto-brightness is already off, but I still can't seem to change the brightness when sliding from left to right or right to left while pulling down the notification curtain. Any other clue?
For 2, you're right, once I downloaded the voice synthesising software from the market place, it works. I need to make sure the music player is in the foreground for this to work, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first it didn't worked for me also, because I understand bad.
Not pulling down. Go to the upper of the screen, press till the botton of the dropdown curtain appears, but don't slide it down. Once that appears the BAR move left or right your finger, and it will adjust.

pafh99 said:
At first it didn't worked for me also, because I understand bad.
Not pulling down. Go to the upper of the screen, press till the botton of the dropdown curtain appears, but don't slide it down. Once that appears the BAR move left or right your finger, and it will adjust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes, I got it to work too. The trick is not to pull it down but just to make the curtain barely appear before you slide.
Thanks for your excellent explanation.

sammy555 said:
cool
holding menu key for about a second brings up google search.Im sure its probably a feature of all android phones and probably in the manual but im new to android and dont read manuals much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, didn't know this one. Very useful and now I can get rid of the google search bar on the desktop too

when receiving a call press the volume down button to mute th ringer
old but cool

[Q] Camera Dedicated key Issue

In my phone by pressing that key camera application is not getting opened , Cannot even capture a photo using that.
Is there any setting I have to change ?

felixpaul said:
In my phone by pressing that key camera application is not getting opened , Cannot even capture a photo using that.
Is there any setting I have to change ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i personally i have a shortcut to camera app on my screen and i'm using touch to capture.
I've never used that key ... but...
1. From what i know, on X10, pressing that key won't open the app.
2. To take a picture, press the button half down, wait for focus and then press all the way down.

thanks for your response
When pressing like that focus cursor (centre of display) turns green then goes off , but not capturing

to open the camera app with the key, press it all the way in, and hold it for around 3 seconds
to take a picture push it in halfway for the green focus to come up, then all the way in to take picture, simple

I did it but not working.

Dunno if this is a but obvious but are you pressing it hard enough?
I only ask because I have to press mine very very hard to actually capture.
Swyped from my rooted X10i using XDA.

Lord Takyon said:
Dunno if this is a but obvious but are you pressing it hard enough?
I only ask because I have to press mine very very hard to actually capture.
Swyped from my rooted X10i using XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, the button is just a bit to hard for my taste. But i can live with it
Sent from my X10i using XDA App

You probably are using a task-killer that is killing some process related to the button. Pressing the button opens up the Camera app. If it doesn't, you've screwed up a setting somewhere or killed a task unnecessarily.

Have you went into the test menu? (While in the lock screen, press menu > back > back > menu > back > menu > menu > back).
Then go to service tests, and find "Keyboard and switch" or something, see if it registers the button press. It should register half press and a whole press.

chris_knows said:
Have you went into the test menu? (While in the lock screen, press menu > back > back > menu > back > menu > menu > back).
Then go to service tests, and find "Keyboard and switch" or something, see if it registers the button press. It should register half press and a whole press.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I didn't know that! Thanks for sharing.
Sorry, I'm too lazy to read the manual.

Finally I found it , Thanks for all your valuable advise

Froyo Screenshot Keystroke bug

Not so much a bug as a real doh! moment.
Froyo for the Galaxy S lets you take Screenshots

Problem is the keystroke is Back key and Home button.
Anyone got any tips for preventing the back button from taking you back as soon as you touch it? I managed to take a screenshot of one app but now all I get is screenshots of my home page as the back buttons quits the app.

It's a pain when the phone locks up sometimes, mostly in when cycling through my emails. I try clicking the home button to get back to the homescreen, but the back button seems to be stuck 'on', so I end up taking loads of screenshots of my emails!
I was in a queue the other day and it happened, and the camera 'shutter' sound kept going off. People thought I was taking photos of them!

I'm hoping someone finds a way to change the keystrokes. Whoever chose the back key and the home key just hasn't mastered joined-up-thinking yet.

amwebby said:
Whoever chose the back key and the home key just hasn't mastered joined-up-thinking yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you have not mastered pressing two buttons at the same time.

it's not about pressing the two buttons at the same time, screen capture happens only if you press the back button first, holding on and pressing the home key.

Quite. The back button always takes you back, which in most programs is to one of the home pages.

I have discovered Screen Shot It, which seems to be the only one that works on non-rooted phones.

amwebby said:
Anyone got any tips for preventing the back button from taking you back as soon as you touch it? I managed to take a screenshot of one app but now all I get is screenshots of my home page as the back buttons quits the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I hold down the back button it doesn't go back. Maybe just a bug in the specific firmware you're using.
It only goes back for me if I tap it.

Maddmatt said:
When I hold down the back button it doesn't go back. Maybe just a bug in the specific firmware you're using.
It only goes back for me if I tap it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here...
dont release the back button before you press the Home button.
It doesnt go back..

Maddmatt said:
When I hold down the back button it doesn't go back. Maybe just a bug in the specific firmware you're using.
It only goes back for me if I tap it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS. I tried reproducing the problem in various applications (and even the lock screen). As long as you don't release the Back button before you press Home, it always takes a screen-shot instead of going back or triggering the Home button action.
Conceivably, an application might be able to map the 'on-hold' event for the Back key for something else, but at least I haven't come across any app like that (well, maybe ScummVM - but I don't have that installed right now).

It does appear to be hit'n'miss depending on what application you are in. From many it works as described, but I just tried in the game "Scrambled Net" and hitting the back button and keeping it down still takes me back. Will be keeping ShootMe for now as a backup, though I prefer its use of "shake" to peform the shot.

I have been holding the back button. Results are varied. Just tried it in Tapatalk. When in a thread pressing and holding the back button takes you back to the threads screen. Then you can take a screenshot. Accuweather worked for me once but the back button always takes me back to the home screen.

Screenshot it works on unrooted Samsung Galaxy S with Froyo (i9000M)
Woot!

The correct method to take a screen shot it to hold the back button then press the home key. When I have seen people failing to take screen shots it's because they have been trying to press the buttons at the same time.

Emexrulsier said:
The correct method to take a screen shot it to hold the back button then press the home key. When I have seen people failing to take screen shots it's because they have been trying to press the buttons at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some apps take you back before you release the button.