Database Users

[Q] Back Gesture?

Anyone know of an app or way to implement a gesture to replicate the back button Its a PITA to always have to go down to the bottom of the phone for back. I'd like some sort of left swipe to hit back for me instead.

Just think of it as a downward swipe to hit the back button and your problem is solved...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Geekybiker said:
Anyone know of an app or way to implement a gesture to replicate the back button Its a PITA to always have to go down to the bottom of the phone for back. I'd like some sort of left swipe to hit back for me instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasker is a popular app in the Market that can be used to perform an action based on a tilt gesture. It can enable you to automate many other things about your phone too. I'm just beginning to explore it myself. It's not free, but pretty cheap. It's a little cheaper of you buy it directly from the dev's website.
Linuxuberant

I can't imagine a gesture that would be simple and not interfere completely in various programs. How would you swipe left and right on the home screen or in certain apps without activating the back button? If it was on a tilt action, then there goes all sensor based applications.

Browser Quick Controls

Anyone else try out these slide-out browser quick controls?
I 'love' them. I turned them on a few days after getting the tab and havent looked back.
How about you?
To enable this feature for the stock browser go to settings - labs - quick controls and make sure the box it ticked. Now in the browser, slide in from the side and a wheel of sorts will pop out with all your controls.
Very slick feature.

I have been using them since day one. Love it.

Yes, they're handy once you get the hang of them.

Very nice, thanks for sharing that tip!

To enable this festure for the stock browser go to settings - labs - quick controls and make sure the box it ticked.
Where is this? Dont have an entry for "labs" under "settings"?

Settings in the browser, not general setting on the tablet. Top right corner in the browser.

I think it actually comes enabled by default on the Xoom; needless to say it was refreshing to see when I first started using the tablet. Using the menu in the upper right hand corner is not as user friendly.
The only thing I have noticed is that it is difficult to initiate controls with the acer case, because the edge comes right up to the screen. I usually have to attempt the gesture a couple of times in order for the controls to come up.

dhruvmp said:
The only thing I have noticed is that it is difficult to initiate controls with the acer case, because the edge comes right up to the screen. I usually have to attempt the gesture a couple of times in order for the controls to come up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had that problem. Simply slide your finger 'into' the screen, from the bezel. Works like a charm every time and I love how it appears at the exact position your finger made the sliding motion into the page, rather than a single static location.
If I had one feature request, it would be 1 more button you could use to hold it as a handle to slide the wheel up or down the side, and tap it to pin it or unpin it.

Heh - didn't even know this existed until I saw this thread. Not sure I like it though - I usually close the last tab to close the browser (since back makes you step through all pages viewed and home would leave it open.)

cybermage1 said:
Heh - didn't even know this existed until I saw this thread. Not sure I like it though - I usually close the last tab to close the browser (since back makes you step through all pages viewed and home would leave it open.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you close the browser with last tab? The tab disappears and browser turns full screen everytime specially when there's only one tab left. I find it hard to bring the tab to appear again.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

funny I know... I open up a new blank one... close the last one and then hit the back button to close the whole thing out... he he... I woudn't mind if the tabs were up there all thetime or use a quick menu to pop it up and down...

You can actually just do a long press on the webpage and it will bring up the tabs at the top, then you can close them.

dhruvmp said:
You can actually just do a long press on the webpage and it will bring up the tabs at the top, then you can close them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. I just tried that and it does indeed work. Thanks for the tip!

dhruvmp said:
You can actually just do a long press on the webpage and it will bring up the tabs at the top, then you can close them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how I do it right now, but sometimes it selects the text for copy/paste instead of displaying the tab. You really have to find an empty spot on the browser page to make it work. Adding a new tab and closing, then closing the last tab requires a really fast finger to catch the last tab. Sometimes I'm slow to click on the last tab and it just hides again. How I wish the default browser has an option to exit, similar to Dolphin browser.

Why the desire to have an exit, to hide the porn your surfing?
Keeping the browser in memory is useful, because that is alot of what I use this thing for.

gammaRascal said:
Anyone else try out these slide-out browser quick controls?
I 'love' them. I turned them on a few days after getting the tab and havent looked back.
How about you?
To enable this feature for the stock browser go to settings - labs - quick controls and make sure the box it ticked. Now in the browser, slide in from the side and a wheel of sorts will pop out with all your controls.
Very slick feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I turned them on the first day I got mine. Love 'em!

App idea: Alt+Tab style, single click switch to previous app. Exist already?

I I have looked all over for an app to do this but have found nothing. I am ready to start writing my own, but want to make sure it doesn't exist already? Seems hard to believe no one has done this yet!?
say i need to copy/paste listing descriptions from evernote into ebay... I want a QUICK trigger, maybe double tapping home or something that shows a simple app list in a transparent overlay.
Pick the ebay app and it loads. After pasting the title there, double tap home again and instantly, it flips back to Evernote where I can repeat this process with the description and other fields. Maybe the volume key could flip between the two apps, or better yet, a swipe.
Seeing how I use that technique a million times a day, it would save countless hours over all the other task manager types that always load a display of all (or none) of the recent apps when triggered. I don't know about everybody else, but there's a 90% chance that if I want to quickly flip to another app, it's because I intend to quickly flip right back in a few seconds.
This is such a vital function for me on computers that I dedicate a whole button on my mouse to pressing Alt+Tab so I can flip back and forth very fast. I have become very spoiled by that technique and can't stand doing work on Android just because of its annoyingly slow and painful "task manager" if you can even call it that. TIA!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

toothpick5 said:
I I have looked all over for an app to do this but have found nothing. I am ready to start writing my own, but want to make sure it doesn't exist already? Seems hard to believe no one has done this yet!?
say i need to copy/paste listing descriptions from evernote into ebay... I want a QUICK trigger, like double tap home (or whatever) that shows a simple app list in a transparent overlay.
Pick the ebay app and it loads. After pasting the title there, double tap home again and instantly, it flips back to Evernote where I can repeat this process with the description and other fields. Maybe the volume key could flip between the two apps, or better yet, a swipe.
Seeing how I use that technique a million times a day, it would save countless hours over all the other task manager types that always load a display of all (or none) of the recent apps when triggered. I don't know about everybody else, but there's a 90% chance that if I want to quickly flip to another app, it's because I intend to quickly flip right back in a few seconds.
This is such a vital function for me on computers that I dedicate a whole button on my mouse to pressing Alt+Tab so I can flip back and forth very fast. I have become very spoiled by that technique and can't stand doing work on Android just because of its annoyingly slow and painful "task manager" if you can even call it that. TIA!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry, but you cannot override the home button.
You could try one of the various side bar apps though.

It could be a swipe gesture or anything that requires only ONE step. I don't want to bring up an app selection list on every switch, but just the first time. Maybe a notification bar button could bring up the selector, then a side swipe gesture could flip back and forth between the two apps? It should be simple to write this. I just cant believe that it hasn't already been done? Surely someone knows of an existing app?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

toothpick5 said:
It could be a swipe gesture or anything that requires only ONE step. I don't want to bring up an app selection list on every switch, but just the first time. Maybe a notification bar button could bring up the selector, then a side swipe gesture could flip back and forth between the two apps? It should be simple to write this. I just cant believe that it hasn't already been done? Surely someone knows of an existing app?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that the part of the screen which will be "swipeable" will not react to touch events anymore.

nikwen said:
The problem is that the part of the screen which will be "swipeable" will not react to touch events anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. But it could be a small invisible hotzone like many of the task managers do. Swiping is just for the cool factor really. Using the volume button should work just fine for my needs. Would that work? The volume button can still listen to an app thats not in focus because music players do it right? But i guess that would be a problem if one of the switched apps overrides the volume control...? Any suggestions? If nobody has pointed out an existing app with this capability I will start on it tonight. I'm still a newb to Android but, I am majoring in programming so I gotta jump in on something!

toothpick5 said:
Yeah. But it could be a small invisible hotzone like many of the task managers do. Swiping is just for the cool factor really. Using the volume button should work just fine for my needs. Would that work? The volume button can still listen to an app thats not in focus because music players do it right? But i guess that would be a problem if one of the switched apps overrides the volume control...? Any suggestions? If nobody has pointed out an existing app with this capability I will start on it tonight. I'm still a newb to Android but, I am majoring in programming so I gotta jump in on something!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if I understand correctly you just want to have multitasking without having to hit the multitask button and then choose the app; you just want to be able to choose the app. I would say something like floating folders would work for you.

[MOD] Android actions key map

I made a couple of mods to the generic.kcm to have the L and R buttons function as search, app_switch, home, and power.
L1 app switch
L2 search
R1 power
R2 home
I've tested this on the latest stock it's been working fine for me for a few days. I had made a version using the y and u buttons and I noticed when using filepwn that the the app commands would overlap, but I haven't come across any other apps that have a similar issue.
Using root explorer or similar app, go to system/usr/keychars. Make a backup of your generic.kcm and paste my version in it's place. Set permissions to rw,r,r and reboot. I had trouble once, it seemed that it wasn't overwriting the default file, I just deleted it first and then pasted mine.
Hope someone finds this useful as I searched for this and couldn't find it.
Download: http://db.tt/iGTuboYn

I thought I'd throw in here a link to the modded netflix app for way better resolution. It stops playback when the ouya controller turns off :-\ pretty annoying, but I used I ps3 controller to get around that issue.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2305091
Enjoy kinda

How does this effect gameplay?
What effect does app switch have?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

It shouldn't affect gameplay at all. I used the fallback function just like the O and A buttons will work as D_PAD CENTER and BACK but in games they will normally be mapped to other commands. Although if you encounter issues I would like to get some feedback.
App switch brings up the recent apps so you can easily go back and forth between whatever apps you are using. It's the old gingerbread style though. I'm eventually gonna edit android_policy.jar to make it the newer style but I haven't had time to mess with that yet.

TwitchyEye said:
It shouldn't affect gameplay at all. I used the fallback function just like the O and A buttons will work as D_PAD CENTER and BACK but in games they will normally be mapped to other commands. Although if you encounter issues I would like to get some feedback.
App switch brings up the recent apps so you can easily go back and forth between whatever apps you are using. It's the old gingerbread style though. I'm eventually gonna edit android_policy.jar to make it the newer style but I haven't had time to mess with that yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't think there was a way to open recent apps. I'll have to try the Nova launcher shortcut. I probably had the kill processes when closing selected at the time.
Would it be possible to map a key to jump the cursor from the home screen to the dock when using a custom launcher like NOVA Prime? If you could do that it would make using Nova with a controller awesome. I like being able to toggle the dock with ES File Explorer, Android Tuner, Titanium Backup, OUYA launcher and the app drawer on all screens but hate the touch pad.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

I'm using apex launcher in tablet mode. I haven't really looked into it much but ideally I think mapping the cursor to the right analog stick would be where I would take it that way a ps3 controller could be used for everything without the need for the lame touchpad.

TwitchyEye said:
I'm using apex launcher in tablet mode. I haven't really looked into it much but ideally I think mapping the cursor to the right analog stick would be where I would take it that way a ps3 controller could be used for everything without the need for the lame touchpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nova home screens can be navigated with d-pad, the only annoyance is that the only way to get to icons on the dock is when you reach the furthest right home screen. I toggle the dock double tapping the touch pad which is great, but I don't want to use it to select things.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Most important app! Dock4Droid

After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.

porkenhimer said:
After using the Fire TV for a while I figured I would share my most inportant app. Its an app that I never really cared about using on other devices, but could not live without it on the Fire TV. Dock4Droid is awesome on the fire TV. Not only does it make multitasking funtional, but it gives you the ability to uninstall apps from anywhere. If you have an app open, just click the gear and the app info will popup and let you uninstall it. So you can uninstall several apps withing seconds without having to go all the to the actuall setting menu. If you have the app store apk that shows all your apps on the home screen you can simply open the app, hit the gear, delete the app, delete cache/data, and move on to another app. You can keep apps and shortcuts permanantly on the dock, so if you wanna do a fast reboot from anywhere, you can. It makes using multiple apps super fast. I have mine set to open apps with two finger so all I have to do is just put the cursor near the app and let go of the mouse button and it opens. I do not use the dock background, cause it looks horrible, but the color mist background looks great, and can be set to any color. The only problem is that it causes an artifact along the top and left side when the cusor passes over, but I have found that all apps that can be opened from an activation area do the same on the fire TV. Sidebar, Fancy Switcher etc all cause the same square artifact. Anyway, just thought I would share incase someone was looking for something to make their Fire TV a little easier to navigate through. Feel free to share other apps that are important to use on the Fire TV. No games or entertainment apps, just apps that make using the Fire TV easier or better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.

I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.

porkenhimer said:
I am actually using an offbrand keyboard with touchpad that I got new on ebay for around $5. To be honest this cheap ugly keyboard/touchpad has worked better than anything else I have used on the fire TV. This $5 keyboard has more features and runs better than my $50 dollar keyboard. Not bad for a cheap chinese made keyboard. I use it exclusively for the Fire TV now and it combined with Dock4Droid make my Fire TV amazing. I rarely use the remote unless I am using Kodi. With Dock4Droid I can just go from app to app without ever needing to go to the homescreen too ofton. Plus I can force close apps from anywhere with Dock4Droid, so if an app is acting up there is no need to go all the way to the manage apps screen I can just close it instantly with Dock4Droid. I can be watching something in Kodi and need to look something up on google, I just popup Dock4Droid and open the browser while Kodi still plays in the baackgroud for me to listen, which is nice., cause I do not have to use the home button. I am pretty sure it will work on the stick too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, porkenhimer, I really appreciate it.

I can't figure out how to get to the configuration options. I'm only able to get to the screen to turn it on and off.

Just go to manage all apps and open Dock4Droid.

I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.

Jedis said:
I can open it but there is only around 4 options. I can't find any of the configuration options as shown in the YouTube video. There's a part at the bottom that shows Launchers, but it's empty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your inbox on here, cause I sent instructions to you.

I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.

mscroggi said:
I gave it a try. I guess if you are using a keyboard with mouse mode all the time it is handy. It would be more useful if the app bar would stay active after being clicked. I can only figure out how to select an item from the bar by keeping the mouse button pushed and scrolling around to highlight the app icon and letting go.
Unless I missed a setting somewhere ... I dont see how to be able to use the app without using both hands and multi-touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.

porkenhimer said:
If you have it set to open apps with a finger up swipe then all you have to do is put the cursor anywhere in the area of an app that shows the label and let go of the mouse button. You do not really need to do a finger up swipe to open apps, just put the cursor in any apps area and let go of the button. The app that shows a label will be the app that opens. Also to get the dock to stay on screen all you have to do is set it to open apps with one click or two clicks and when you activate Dock4Droid it willl stay up til you click once or twice on the app. Some other settings I have set is making the icons 12pix, cause the icons become sharper the smaller they are. I also have my activation area set to the bottom at 100% with the smallest width and invisible, cause that way it does not interfere with anything else on the screen. All I have to do is put my cursor in the bottom right corner and press the mouse and it activates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.

Jacksmyname said:
Nice find, porkenhimer. What are you using for a mouse? I own Dock4Droid, used it on my Samsung tablet for quite a while.
Would it work on the Fire stick?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check out the FAVI Wireless Keyboard/Touchpad! This thing is great. I think someone posted a thread on it. Great reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/FAVI-FE02RF-BL-Wireless-Keyboard-SmartStick/dp/B0090BTY8Y

​
mscroggi said:
Hmm Are you running this on a stick? I finally got it to basicallly work.. I was never able to get the bar to show without clicking the mouse and moving the cursor at the same time. My issues had to do with which keyboard I was using .. There were a bunch of settings I could not get to. I could scroll down a poage.. but no further... doing alt->down would bounce me to the bottom page, but I was never able to get to the pages inbetween. My ipazzport has a <<<<>>>>> bar on the touchpad that would let me get to the settings between the top page and the bottom page.. I was able to get some things set and then go back to my other keyboard. My normal keyboard mini BT keyboard has mouse buttons on the left and right side.. which makes the multi touch thing fairly easy. I will play with it and see how I like it over time.. On the surface, I think maybe the firedtv app might be a better fit for me.. as I dont always use the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you have to do is hold the mouse button down while moving your finger up or down on the touchpad to move from the bottom or top of the screen. Also, there is a setting to make apps open with one or two clicks, if you set them to open with one or two clicks then you only have to click the activation area and the dock will popup and stay up til you click an app once or twice.