Database Users

[Q] Forcing screen rotation

Hi all,
If this is in the wrong place, i apologise unreservedly. It's really a question about android generally, but it's a question which has arisen specifically due to the behaviour of many of the various android builds available for the HD2, so i figure this is a sensible enough place to put it.
Enough waffle; the question:
Given the screen freezing issues associated with the gsensor/autorotate (i know this is at least relatively widespread as it's mentioned in many of the rom threads, and at least one dedicated thread), is there a setting/widget/app that can be used to force-rotate the screen and lock it in that orientation, if auto-rotate is disabled? For example, if i know i'm about to launch my browser or texting app, i can flip to landscape.
Many thanks all!

_tangent said:
Hi all,
If this is in the wrong place, i apologise unreservedly. It's really a question about android generally, but it's a question which has arisen specifically due to the behaviour of many of the various android builds available for the HD2, so i figure this is a sensible enough place to put it.
Enough waffle; the question:
Given the screen freezing issues associated with the gsensor/autorotate (i know this is at least relatively widespread as it's mentioned in many of the rom threads, and at least one dedicated thread), is there a setting/widget/app that can be used to force-rotate the screen and lock it in that orientation, if auto-rotate is disabled? For example, if i know i'm about to launch my browser or texting app, i can flip to landscape.
Many thanks all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. That is a very good idea and might fight the freezes caused by autorotation.
2. I want this anyway, because I want to be able to force a specific orientation when lying in bed. With autorotation the screen usually rotates the wrong way...
So any help would be appreciated!

+1 on this ^
Sent from my HTC HD2 Using the XDA App on ANDROID 2.2

MAMeingast said:
1. That is a very good idea and might fight the freezes caused by autorotation.
2. I want this anyway, because I want to be able to force a specific orientation when lying in bed. With autorotation the screen usually rotates the wrong way...
So any help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this problem also
I've tried googling for an app of this sort, but so far no joy. Might try and create one myself. Never written something for android before, but software development is my day job, so i'd be willing to give it a crack. Crazy-busy at the moment though, so not sure when i'd get time

how about assigning a longpress-homekey something like rotate by 90° each time it is longpressed?
something like longpress-endkey menu in windows mobile devices.
shouldn't be that much of a problem to write such a program with appinventor?

I have Switch Pro Widget (it's a customizable energy control widget). One of the shortcut buttons enables/disables auto-screen rotation, so that does the trick for me.

setting up Droid 2 for my blind sister

My sister lost her vision last year at the age of 24 due to diabetic retinapothy. She is missing be able to text message, facebook, celeb gossip... you know, the important things in life We initially bought the Droid X for her, but It's going back in exchange for the Droid 2, which should be here on 9/9/10.
Problem with the X is the Android Eyes Free Shell and the Talking Dialer make use of either a trackball or a directional pad. The Droid X has neither. It's also difficult to navigate pretty much everything blind without a d-pad. Should of thought of that earlier. Oh well, the exchange process is very easy. The Android Eyes Free team developed the software around the Nexus one i assume, which has a trackball. Personally i think a d-pad is better for a blind person, as you can press down once to go down once. A trackball you might go down 2 or 3 depending on how much you rotate it.
I'm going to be updating this thread with our progress as well as what steps we took along the way. Hopefully this will end up being helpful for someone else in a similar situation. Blind people DO use the internet (even youtube!).
Here are the initial changes I want to make:
Locating Touch Sensitive buttons
I will go to a craft store and find something to put below the 4 touch sensitive buttons on the front of the phone, this way she will be able to find them. Im thinking 4 drops of some puffy glitter glue or something to that effect. Being diabetic she's also lost somesensitivity in her fingers, so something with texture will be needed.
Removing the Lock Screen
Slide to unlock is basically an impossible task for a blind person. The Droid 2 uses the stock vanilla lock screen I believe, does anyone know how to remove it? I could potentially replace it with a "shake to unlock" or whatever, and ideas here are appreciated.
Answering the phone
Again, here slide to answer isn't going to fly. Does anyone know: If you slide the keyboard out while the phone is ringing does it answer the call? Most slider phones I've seen operated like that, I'm hoping the Droid 2 does too. She will also have a bluetooth headset which should make it easy to answer, but if your blind trying to find your bluetooth headset in time to answer the call can be a problem, so i'd like her to be able to answer the phone without a headset as well.
Hanging up the phone
Can you slide the keyboard shut to end a call? What happens if your on a call and you slide the keyboard out and then closed, does that hang up the call? Another solution would be to make it so the power button hangs up the call, surely it can be remapped do that. Or is there an end call button somewhere on the hardware qwerty?
Ok, those are the first major things. Actually dialing a call is no problem once we get past the lock screen issue. She can double tap the home button to launch the voice dialer, or she can use the Android Eyes Free "Talking Dialer" to dial a number with her finger using swipe motions. It's pretty neat actually, give it a try if you haven't already. The Eyes Free Shell and the Moto Voice Command will take care of pretty much everything else.
Thanks in advance for your help!

I can confirm that the Droid 2 does NOT answer when sliding the phone open and does NOT hang up when sliding closed. Just tested this.
Edit: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=762101
View that thread and search the app "no lock" in the market. Seems to do what you are looking for in the marketplace. You may also want to contact the developer to see about source code or see if it was a .apk that was removed.
Also in response to the glue idea:
I would test on another device because the screen has to be able to sense your impulse as well because it wont trigger unless it has a touch by a human hand. My guess it it reads the electronic pulse by the skin and that is how it picks it up.

about the unlock screen, I can say is once you do it enough times you know where is on the screen, I usually unlock mine while its not even all the way out of my pocket, also it vibrates when you touch the unlock area and it vibrates again as you pull it to the right...hope this helps

I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option

Kamill said:
I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This page has been a big help: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/documentation/android_access/basics.html
Above link talked about No Lock, an app on the market that removes the lock screen. Although it turns out she is actually able to unlock the phone blindly, but it usually takes her a few tries. For now we are going with no lock...
Also the Droid 2 has an option in the Accessibility page to enable "use power button to end call" so that has been a big help.
So far the biggest problem with the Droid 2 is the keyboard really sucks for a blind person. The navigation keys are kind of awkwardly placed, and the keys are very flat. I wish I would of known about the LG Ally, as the appears to be the best Android phone for a blind person. Has physical buttons on the front to start/end calls, and the keyboard is WAY better (for a blind person anyways). Unfortunately Verizon only lets you exchange a phone 1 time, and we already bought the Droid X. So looks like I'd have to sell the Droid 2 and buy the LG Ally on eBay. Not sure if we are going to go that route.. might just try and make the best of it with the Droid 2.

I have a LG Ally wits a protective rubber case, invisible shield screen protector, and 2 batteries which I'm not currently using. I'll do a straight up trade for your Droid 2.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App

Made my account to reply to this (And because I got my Droid 2 2 days ago). Will be watching this thread. My son is 2 and nearly blind. We are exploring any and all ways to work around it. I'm currently learning braille so I can teach him, and looking into how to make phones and computers more usable for him. Hopefully your sister handles what's happened well and finds ways to keep up her life, goals, and hobbies
Thanks for posting this. Good luck with the project and keep us updated, please!

Need some help here too
Hi there,
This seems to be the only forum that I can find on this subject. I will definitely be checking out the LG Ally but I'm also looking at the Droid 2 Global (which my partner has bought for himself and I have been testing out).
I am a blind person with little vision and I have to find a smart phone that works for me, as I have hit the point where I need to access my work email, work calendar, and browser functions do be more efficient and effective.
The blackberry is out, as it doesn't work for blind people through Verizon.
The IPhone, though just coming out from Verizon, does seem to have a great VoiceOver application which works great for a blind person. However, I'm not sure I'm patient enough to type without a keyboard--though it is possible for a blind person to use it.
Your points about the LG Ally are helpful for me. Does it have an accessibility application like the Droid 2 Global?
In testing out the Droid Two Global, I have enabled the "accessibility application" and checked the read out checkbox in the settings. It has abled me to see most stuff and some of the pieces you put up on the post will help. What I am struggling with is the following:
When I access any part of the browser application, it doesn't read the page of the web site or any of the links. I'm wondering if there are key combinations I am not femiliar with that would make this work or does it do it at all?
Also, the calendar is not reading things to me as well. Any ideas?
In general, is there a button that I can press, that will get it to repete something or to read a screen. I currently am just arrowing back and forth to choose something. I also can hit the OK button when typing a message to read what is in the edit box.
The last issue, though I think it would get much easier as I used it, is that to dial just a phone number seems to take a bit longer. But, I just tried using the voice dialer and it quickly got much easier. lol
I also wonder if the Accessibility application is the only one you are installing. Should I be installing something else to give me more functionality
Sorry for the long-winded questions but I really can't seem to find other assistance on this.
Thanks,
Jeremy Grandstaff
614-519-3026

Hi Jeremy,
I think you will get the best answers to your questions on Google's eyes-free group (I'm not allowed to post outside links on this forum, or I would have given you the URL).
On that list many blind Android phone users report accessibility issues and workarounds, and the list is monitored by Google's Android accessibility developers. Android web accessibility is indeed still very limited, as is text editing support.
Best regards,

Posted my question also to the eyes-free group
Thanks for the reply. I did post my message to the Google eyes-free group, but felt I would get a fuller response here as well.

Repetitive Strain Injuries Apps

Desperately searching for a App (before it's to late) that works like RSI-guard or RSI-shield for PC, but have not found anything! Would buy this app even if expensive!
I think this app would spread and be a hit success, because more people are using their mobile phone for all kinds of things, and repetive strain injuries are common.
At the basics it would be a App with the following usage
at custom interval it locks the device from usage (ex. 4 minutes every 10 minute). Only you can do is call and answer call.
it provides short, medium, and long breaks.
A more advanced app would have the following options
warn before a pause is aproaching so you can finish what you currently are doing
when a pause, it provides animation of useful exercises
after x hours of device usage, it warns and suggest "lock until tomorrow"
For me, i became kind of addicted to my device, now kind of permanent RSI damage to my hand/arm.

Hey,
sounds interesting. I got rsi from playing guitar,
and you're right that would be a nice app.
I'll see if I can put something together.
Greets
Edit: After a bit of googleing I'm not sure if this is possible.
Seems like the lockscreen is not really accessible (for obvious security reasons).
So the device would just tell you to stop and dont lock,
at least that would be something i guess?

sounds good
some kind of pop-up that re-pops to front if pausetime is not out would be enough!

Alright. Ill give it a try tomorrow.
Greets

You can try to "program it" with Tasker...

Heya,
alright, I got a small prototype going on. It will still take a few days for me to finish this, university keeps me a bit busy.
I may have also found a way to enable device locking from dialogs and notifications, it's just 2.2. [Froyo] only,
if you own such a device and are interested I may look further into that. (Almost forgot they introduced that API)
See Device Administration API.
Just to give a small update.
So long,
Alex

i bought tasker, useful program. managed to get it to show a popup at different interval, what i wonder is, is it possible to make it lock the device for a number of minutes, i mean lock from any input (not show the lockscreen), or repopup the popup windows instantly as you close it

how is it going with the program?
(tasker was more than i needed, and drained battery on my device)

Some neat little hacks/tricks using titanium backup.

So I've been doing these things for a while and just realized theyre pretty elusive and most people would never think of them, theyre pretty useless but maybe someone will appreciate them.
So I have been using titanium backup to backup and restore my builds (a lot of people have said not to when switching between builds but I've never had a problem) and realized a couple weird things you can do by restoring backups some of which are really handy.
MAKE A LOCKSCREEN WITH NO PASSWORD!
This is amazing, especially with the screen blackout issues.
Basically backup your system settings with a lock pattern on. then turn the lock off and restore them and restart your phone, you should be able to put in any pattern you want every time you unlock your phone. (also on some builds, sometimes the touchscreen will turn back on when you push any on screen button while its being frozen, so having the dots all over is handy) it also really confuses my friends with android phones every time i put in a super complicated password that uses every dot and weird angles.
APPS DO WEIRD THINGS THEY SHOULDNT... IN A GOOD WAY?
Beautiful widgets has a really nice way of showing the weather in the notification bar, but it wont do it unless you have a widget on the homescreen, do the same thing apply one, back it up, and then take it off and restore it. now i have the notification without having the widget. minor, but nice.
also, not useful but i noticed if you apply sms popup and then do the same it says its disabled but it is actually enabled, so... i know that isnt useful but maybe it will help you think of or notice something that is.

that sound very geek to me ;-)

Sichroteph said:
that sound very geek to me ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ahaha, ill take that as a compliment XD

I meant in the good way, all xda users are a bit geek, no?
-that is the spirit, not big things was found until digging like you do

[ROM] Nils' Business GingerSense 3.5 - GB 2.3.5 - (11/13/11 v2.2)

Can't post in the right forum yet, maybe I should talk about the weather or something? Or maybe even a mod can move it over there.
Anyways, I cracked the screen on my first Incredible, doing a backup was worthless compared to my Treo as it didn't backup everything. So I rooted it and my new phone and did a nandroid backup. Lo and behold Gingerbread arrives and I can't update since I have clockworkmod still installed.
I'm out of warranty as it is so thought I'd go the ROM route and see whats out there. As such I've installed Nils' Business GingerSense 3.5 - GB 2.3.5 - (11/13/11 v2.2) and have been pretty happy with it except for a few odd quirks.
For one, I can't read the text for some of the apps in my notification screen, Lookout is a dark grey and the weather is completely black. Maybe I'm missing a setting somewhere? If I use a pattern lock screen, there's some extraneous lettering above the pattern box. And yeah, the preview screen doesn't work for wallpapers and such, neither in the HTC hub area.
Sometimes upon first unlocking if I swipe the screen, it does a full 360 through all the home screens. It also looks like this ROM is based on 4.06 and not the newer 4.08, would this fix some issues?
I do like Sense 3.5 so I think I'll be sticking around with this one and stuck here till I get enough posts in.

Hello hello,
Glad you rooted your Incredible, trust me you aren't missing anything in the way of features if you were on Verizon's stock GB update. The XDA community is literally MONTHS ahead of that haha but you can always unroot and wait for Verizon's OTA prompt if you desire but alas...
1) There is not a setting to change the notification bar's color. I have the same "feature"/problem as well. I just deal with it, not ideal I know, I just prefer launching into whichever app once I know the notification is there. Maybe try your hand with using the android kitchen that Nils has linked in post #3 of that thread. Also, I would suggest sending Nils a pm if nobody in the community has a solution for this. Sorry I can't help you any further but just everyone who uses the rom has the same all black notification bar. I like it cuz it sort of acts as a security blanket as nobody can view the notification's content.
2) As for the pattern lock labeling, I am not aware of a solution but I have heard this occurring on other Sense 3.5 roms. I do not have a solution simply cuz I prefer using the pin code which is more secure. Again, hopefully someone has a fix for this if there is one.
3) Wallpapers: you must hit "Menu" then select "Grid." That is addressed in post #2 of the thread.
4) The unlock spin is actually a function introduced with HTC Sense 3.5 and it effectively serves no person, rhyme, or reason. This should be disabled by going to Settings/Incredible Tweaks/Display Options and uncheck "Enable Unlock Animation." However, you cannot disable the spinning animation if you move through your homescreens too fast (i.e. flick your finger left/right quickly) as that's built into HTC Sense 3.5.
5) The 4.06.501 vs. 4.08.501 differences are moreso software (non-UI) fixes. The rom is based off of a different phone so your issues derive from the base that NilsP utilizes and the way he customized the rom. Don't get too hung up over the differences as it is inconsequential. The version of Android is more vital as Google incorporates fixes that you may/may not notice.
6) Not sure if you're aware but XDA has a ten post limit before allowing users to comment in the development section. Just post a few more comments and try helping others and you'll be at the minimum in no time.

Thanks for the heads up on the notification bar, I hadn't read anything elsewhere about it so I thought it was something I wasn't aware of for a fix. I actually thought of sending a PM, but wasn't sure if I was locked out of that also being a noob poster. (yep, read about the 10 post pre-qualification, how about this weather were having?)
Odd, I just pulled down my notification bar and my weather text now shows up in white, Lookout is still in a dark grey though.
I'm not worried about the pattern lock, I used to use it when it first came out, not so much anymore, was just playing around with different things. I didn't want to install a bunch of stuff and then have to do it all over again if I installed another ROM (I had 104 apps on it beforehand, did I mention android backups suck?).
Yep, did read about the wallpaper issue, I just put it in there for some odd reason.
Unlock spin? Or left/right swipe? Currently I pull the ring up to unlock the screen, and I did get that zoom in animations. But sometimes, like 1/20 times, swiping to the right (or was it left?) it will spin through all the screens and stop on the middle one. And I didn't think I had swiped it that fast, I just tried it, and I see what your saying if you swipe it fast. Maybe I did swipe it fast after unlocking, but it usually surprises when it does it so I must be thinking I didn't swipe it that fast. It only seems to do it right after unlocking though, other times it just does the one screen at a time.
Ok on the 4.06-4.08 issue then, I just read that the OTA 4.06 was real buggy and 4.08 fixed a lot of issues. I didn't get the OTA notice till about 3 weeks ago and didn't investigate as to why it wasn't taking until last week.
I'm trying the V6 Supercharger next as sense reloads after I exit some applications, not always, but enough times to be annoying.
My contract is up in mid January, most likely will be looking into a new phone then and ICS.

Oh yea, go ahead and send a pm if you ever need assistance. I'm sure that is open to every user regardless of post count. Best part is, NilsP is a very responsive dev so I'm confident he'll help you out if you post in any of his threads or send a pm.
That is odd but hopefully someone can assist with the notification bar color. I agree with you about checking for bugs in a rom, it is an investment since you want "stable" and "working 100%" the moment you install a rom. When you run the V6 script working bulletproof the launcher. Ever since I bulletproofed the launcher I haven't had an HTC Sense reload in weeks and it works great. I have the same idea as well, I'm likely purchasing the Nexus this spring.

Thanks, ill send him one when I get a chance, getting pulled in a couple directions at the moment (shouldn't even be typing this!)
Man, that V6 install takes a lot! Dependent on other things installed which are also dependent on other things installed, have my work cut out for that!
I installed battery minder last night (one of the few I found that says how many hours I have left) and it's the same thing in the notification screen, black and dark grey text. Lighter grey then Lookout though.
I'd even wait on an upgrade a little, but my compass isn't working right, skymap has me moving all over the place. I forget what HTC is coming out with 2012, I'm sure things will keep going crazy.

where can i get beats audio from????

Drifta12 said:
where can i get beats audio from????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either flash a Sense 3.5 rom and use the stock HTC music player app OR purchase a new HTC phone.

If you want to try the Gingerbread OTA release, you can flash Stock Plus Gingerbread. The ROM is almost completely stock, with a few fixes and a little bit of the bloat removed. Also, you won't lose root as you would with the update installed OTA.
DInc with CyanogenMod 7.0