Database Users

configure optical button

Is there a way to configure the optical button on the htc incredible so that clicking it wakes the phone up (like pressing the top button)? I'm looking for functionality thats a little bit similar to how the iphone wakes up since I find that button at the bottom much more accessible than the button on the top.

id be interested in this as well. The top button isnt very intuitive to me

Search the market for "lock screen" or "lockscreen" or just "lock" (or maybe "button"? I thought there was a button switcher app too).
Many of the 3rd party lock apps will bring up the lock screen by pressing one or more of the physical buttons (volume, camera, etc). I bet at least one of them comes on with the optical button.

it has been done on the nexus one with the trackball. i think you need root access or at lease custom rom.

Ok, I found this.
http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/69443-using-optical-trackpad-button-wake-phone.html
Try the "lockbot" app. It is probably about all that is available right now, but the Incredible will be extremely popular. There will be more hacks/tweaks/apps/whatever for this device than any to date, I suspect.

Humpa said:
Ok, I found this.
http://androidforums.com/htc-incredible/69443-using-optical-trackpad-button-wake-phone.html
Try the "lockbot" app. It is probably about all that is available right now, but the Incredible will be extremely popular. There will be more hacks/tweaks/apps/whatever for this device than any to date, I suspect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up. And I agree I think we are going to see a whole new level of geek with this phone

"myLock" in advance mode.

Great app, and thank you for the info. I was looking the same solution.

Mylock works great. Although I did have one occurence of it locking up the phone.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

daftlush said:
"myLock" in advance mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the app called myLock auto unlock? I am not finding an advanced mode or way to get in advanced mode. Care to explain a little more? and this is able to make it so you can use the trackpad to wake/unlock the phone?

NoLock works for this as well but I wish there was a way to allow the optical pad to work without allowing the volume buttons to work at the same time.
Tried myLock just now and both seem like good apps.

re
GrandMasterB said:
Thanks for the heads up. And I agree I think we are going to see a whole new level of geek with this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just wondering why you sport the "Big Black" avatar?
And to those who think im being racist by calling him "Big Black", its his name on the Reality TV show with rob dyrdeck.

Implementing the browser circle control into a rom

I think it would be bada** if someone implemented the browser circle control (the one where you drag your thumb or finger in from the edge) into a rom, for use throughout the whole system. Granted, it might only be useful for the back, menu, and home buttons, but am i the only one that thinks this would be awesome? instead of having to reach over and hit back every time, you could just slide your thumb in..I know that sounds incredibly lazy, but oh well..i still think it would be cool....i would use that rom just for this feature...Is it possible?

It can be done by loading a module, but someone need to code it.
Sent from my Transformer TF101

Wave launcher?

no wave launcher allows you to put certain apps in it like the palm pre. i'm looking to have that circle of controls in the browser be universal...for instance, when i am on the xda app, i keep sliding my thumb in to go back, but its not there...

I bought my transformer today after seeing this 'circle' functionality in a review, but can'tfind it?

You have to enable it in the browser settings.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Since I had no idea what it was I went looking and I just found it.
In the browser go to settings then to labs then turn on quick controls.
I am assuming this is it. I turned it back off instantly but maybe you will like it better than me.

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.

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.
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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

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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.

Flipping the capacitive keys

If your like me 99% of your phones had the back on the left and recent on the right. Why samsung wants to be different with this is beyond me. But here's how you can change that.
First, you need root.
Second (personal preferance) I disabled the back lights of the keys.
Do that using galaxy button lights
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.notquiteinsane.galaxybuttonlights
Second, you need all in one gestures
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phoenixstudios.aiogestures
In gestures, give root access then in in hardkeys, add recent (back and home should already be there) then simply make back, recents, and recents, back.. that's it!

Most people are right handed and back button makes more sense on the right because one uses back button more than uses recents so Samsung got that right.
Sent from my SM-G920T

It's more organic for the back button to be on the left.

ambervals6 said:
Most people are right handed and back button makes more sense on the right because one uses back button more than uses recents so Samsung got that right.
Sent from my SM-G920T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's more of a matter of staying the same. While you may be right (no pun intended) most phones are setup the way Google has it. So most get used to this. I've had the s6 since launch day and I still never got used to it. Once I did this it felt much more natural.

zathus said:
It's more of a matter of staying the same. While you may be right (no pun intended) most phones are setup the way Google has it. So most get used to this. I've had the s6 since launch day and I still never got used to it. Once I did this it felt much more natural.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When samsung made devices google didn't even exist. Tell me which are these "most" phone that you are talking about anyways if you like on screen buttons the way google set it up, just disable the capacitive buttons and install app from playstore to have onscreen buttons. Make more sense to have the back button on the right though.
Sent from my SM-G920T

zathus said:
If your like me 99% of your phones had the back on the left and recent on the right. Why samsung wants to be different with this is beyond me. But here's how you can change that.
First, you need root.
Second (personal preferance) I disabled the back lights of the keys.
Do that using galaxy button lights
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.notquiteinsane.galaxybuttonlights
Second, you need all in one gestures
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phoenixstudios.aiogestures
In gestures, give root access then in in hardkeys, add recent (back and home should already be there) then simply make back, recents, and recents, back.. that's it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ambervals6 said:
When samsung made devices google didn't even exist. Tell me which are these "most" phone that you are talking about anyways if you like on screen buttons the way google set it up, just disable the capacitive buttons and install app from playstore to have onscreen buttons. Make more sense to have the back button on the right though.
Sent from my SM-G920T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think when he says "most" he means every android phone ever not made by Samsung. Back button should be on the left.

ECEXCURSION said:
I think when he says "most" he means every android phone ever not made by Samsung. Back button should be on the left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure he's arguing just to argue lol obviously I meant other phones besides Samsung and obviously I'm talking about Android phones not every phone ever made. Since we're talking about the capacitive key layout for Android lol I'm actually shocked he didn't say the iPhone layout is different to. They're back key is in the upper left. I guess that throws out the right handed theory.
Essentially it's driving on the left side of the road and then driving on the right side of the road. One may be more right than the other but once you're used to something it's hard to change that. Especially for the sake of changing. Are used both my right and left hand for my phone and my thumb always wants to go to the left for the back key.

you don't need root for all in one gestures to switch the keys

Who cares, if you want them swapped here is a way to do it. If you dont then thats fine.
Choices like this are hardly a bad thing.

fachadick said:
you don't need root for all in one gestures to switch the keys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No? Cool. It asked for root when I opened it so I assumed it was required. That's even better

zathus said:
No? Cool. It asked for root when I opened it so I assumed it was required. That's even better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah - I was running it before I rooted. Then after I rooted it started asking me for root access too.

zathus said:
Why samsung wants to be different with this is beyond me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually prefer the Samsung layout. Why? Because for me the right button is much easier to reach without having to stretch the thumb than the left and I use the back key much more often than the recent apps key. So the button I use the most, beside the home button, is on the position thats more comfortable to tap on. Makes sense to me.

Samsung got it right. The most used button should be on the side where it is easiest for most people, which is on the right. Not sure why Google has decided to put this button on the left. One of the first things I do when I have a phone with software nav keys is change the back button to be on the right side, closest to my right thumb.

Well done to the op for providing a solution for lefties and Google fanboys, but I add my weight to the fact Samsung got it right. Google used to be about choice, no more.

ambervals6 said:
Most people are right handed and back button makes more sense on the right because one uses back button more than uses recents so Samsung got that right.
Sent from my SM-G920T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, if you are right handed, holding your phone with the right hand, will be a lot more comfortable to press on the recents with your thumb.