Database Users

[REQ] Twin curtain style app

I'm putting out a request to all developers in compiling this app.
My idea is based off the function of the dialer curtain. Only, this app will have the option of using a transparent curtain or custom curtain (blank, wallpaper, etc.) and the curtains can be activated at any time for any reason, and then of course, be deactivated.
To be a little more detailed, one could use a capacitive swipe upwards from the send key to the home key (and activate transparent mode), or from the end call key to the back key (to activate wallpaper mode), to initialize the program. Upon initialization, the screen wouldn't be immediately covered, only a click and drag icon would appear at the top and/or bottom of the screen. Clicking this icon and dragging up or down would extend and retract the curtain and the curtain could stop wherever you lift your finger (you could use the curtain to partially cover the screen). Reactivating the program while running would simply close it (meaning another swipe upwards of the capacitive area would put away the curtain AND button).
An added option would be to double or triple tap the curtain button once the curtain has been put in place to lock the curtain in place. (even locked so that capacitive swipes won't close the program.)
I feel this could be very useful in many area's and for all types of user's from parents to porn addicts as well as for business. (<---that's sounds kinda F'd up in an ominous pun kind of way.)
Just to name a few
(e.g. Porn addicts could use it for privacy purposes in public. Parents could use it to cover the start menu while in a paint app and let their child play with it without worry, and business when you're multi tasking and need to walk away for a min and want to lock/hide the screen without closing apps or putting your phone into suspend.) Not to mention a fullscreen dialer curtain!
So what do you all think? I know there are apps that can do parts of this which is why I'm asking multiple developers to compile their certain segments.
Please and Thank You!
*Edited* A better way to lock it could be if the curtain button was able to slide left and right. When it pops up, it would start on the right side. when you let go and then touch the button again, you could slide it to the left side of the screen and it would lock. ( Because the button actually sits just above the curtain, when you drag to the very top, the button wouldn't exit the screen and the curtain wouldn't cover the start menu. Same thing for dragging down, it wouldn't cover the softkeys. But when you performed the locking action, the curtain would merely slide up or down the rest of the way. eh?!?!

Is this not that good of an idea? I noticed people have at least looked at this but not a single comment? No body backs this? disagrees? is too busy? i'm kinda disapointed.

Sounds to me like this is another locking application with features of both S2U2 and Touchlock Pro. Would you agree?

yes and no. More like a combo of butler and the HD dialer curtain with visual interaction/amusement. I'm a big fan of using gestures and seeing things work rather than just relying on adequate lighting or waiting for a vibration.
Mainly, this style of locking app allows you to lock out certain parts of your phone with ease, while still being able to use other functions.

To me this is not really another locking app! I actually like this idea. Has some possibility in it! Good thinking

[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

Multi-tasking interface improvement

I was just reading about webOS and how good its interface is when dealing with multi-tasking and I realised how poor androids multi-tasking interface is. The only way I know to switch between running apps is to hold home button for a few seconds...
I personally think this can be improved by having thumbnails of open apps popup when the home button is single pressed on a home screen. Just as at the moment previews of all the home screens popup I think this should be switched with open app previews. I rarely ever use the home screen preview thing so i think its wasted, but I definitely would use app selector if little thumbnails showed.
Anybody have any thoughts on this? Im not a developer so I have no idea if this is possible but I think it would be a good feature to add and improve android. Do any devs think they can implement this??

Moved to general as not ROM development.
This would be a feature for a launcher app, so might be worth suggesting to someone like Fede who develops Launcher Pro, or cyanogenmod people that make ADW?

yes you are right. thanks. I was too lazy to find the relevant section to post under. will try contacting anderweb. or fede.

There are a couple of apps which overlays a screen on top of the current app you are in by tapping home twice, you can then open apps/access widgets without having to go back to homescreen first.
Currently im using 'smart taskbar', you can set the activation mode to be (1) tapping on a half-circle spot on either side of your screen or (2) swiping from one side to another. You can then open from a list of 5 'pinned' apps or choose from the mini apps drawer below, or click a tab called 'running' which seems the same as the current holding on home button behavior.

check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.

smiskkissen said:
check out power strip. allows you to get a popup window where ever you are by doubble tapping home button (ore long press search button). there you can have quick access to widgets, shortcuts etc. really cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just downloaded both power strip and the one mentioned above. Will try them both out and report back on whether its what i was suggesting. Thanks for your suggestions.

Was the N4 bottom nav designed by a lefty?

Just got the N4 yesterday and love it but for one really irksome thing -- that the back button, which I use a lot, is on the left while the "running apps" button, which I don't, is on the right. It's a big phone so having stuff as near as possible to the bottom right-hand corner is key to one-handed operation (for righties, of course). So when I'm using Google Reader, the back button is at bottom left, and the "Up to category list" button is at top left. Really slows things down.
Am I the only one annoyed by this? Is there a fix short of a new ROM?

A rom may allow you to swap the buttons around. It doesnt bother me I hold my phone in my left hand a lot.

That was a big reason why I decided to root and go to an AOKP rom. Back button on the right side now and I'm so much happier.

It bothered me at first when moving from a Galaxy S (back on right side) to the Galaxy Nexus (back on left side). Got used to it after about a month though.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Never noticed! But I prefer to get rid of them for the screen real estate.

It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
However, I'm strongly against the removal of the Search button that started in 3.x. I used Search for many apps, and it was an amazing shortcut. Fullscreen browser? Press search and you got access to the URL bar. Looking for a contact? Search button. Want to do a search in a file explorer? There's a familiar button for that. Recents should have stayed as a long press of the Home button.

Hung0702 said:
It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
However, I'm strongly against the removal of the Search button that started in 3.x. I used Search for many apps, and it was an amazing shortcut. Fullscreen browser? Press search and you got access to the URL bar. Looking for a contact? Search button. Want to do a search in a file explorer? There's a familiar button for that. Recents should have stayed as a long press of the Home button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with long press on home as recents. Many android noobs didn't even know there was a a "alt tab" in Android until they've heard it from someone or was told by someone.
It's more intuitive when theres a recents button. As far as search, it's supposed to be on the top right of an app same with the legacy menu. On contacts, its on the bottom left.

IMO they should go back to the 4 capacitive buttons. Menu, Home, Back, Search. There was NOTHING wrong with this setup. Search was arguably the weakest one but with Google now, I'd say it's just as important as the rest of them. I get the fact that not all apps will have Menu, but Home and Back are just about universal, and Menu is used quite a bit too. The capacitive buttons free up screen real-estate too. I don't like styling things just for style's sake.

se1000 said:
IMO they should go back to the 4 capacitive buttons. Menu, Home, Back, Search. There was NOTHING wrong with this setup. Search was arguably the weakest one but with Google now, I'd say it's just as important as the rest of them. I get the fact that not all apps will have Menu, but Home and Back are just about universal, and Menu is used quite a bit too. The capacitive buttons free up screen real-estate too. I don't like styling things just for style's sake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the app's fault for not implementing the menu button on their app, regardless you have the legacy menu button the bottom right.
If you don't like it then install a custom ROM and change the navigation bar to your liking. It's simple as that, no reason to debate about this and how it should be on stock android.

zephiK said:
That's the app's fault for not implementing the menu button on their app, regardless you have the legacy menu button the bottom right.
If you don't like it then install a custom ROM and change the navigation bar to your liking. It's simple as that, no reason to debate about this and how it should be on stock android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have, and I like my current setup (Menu, Home, Back). I'm just saying that I'd rather have the 4 capacitive buttons back.

zephiK said:
I disagree with long press on home as recents. Many android noobs didn't even know there was a a "alt tab" in Android until they've heard it from someone or was told by someone.
It's more intuitive when theres a recents button. As far as search, it's supposed to be on the top right of an app same with the legacy menu. On contacts, its on the bottom left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If only recents was actually comparable to Windows' Alt+tab. As it is, recents is no more useful to me than it was in Gingerbread

The best button choice for me would have been, in the order, BACK, HOME, MENU. You need to go to settings? Just press the "menu" button. Need to open recent apps? Just press and hold the "home" button. Simple as that.
It was all so much more consistent when the menu button was integrated in the system. Now you have to go and look for it in a place that differs from app to app... jeez, I feel like I'm holding an iPhone.
No menu and a dedicated, invasive multitasking app is a double step backwards for me.

SkippyFlipjack said:
Just got the N4 yesterday and love it but for one really irksome thing -- that the back button, which I use a lot, is on the left while the "running apps" button, which I don't, is on the right. It's a big phone so having stuff as near as possible to the bottom right-hand corner is key to one-handed operation (for righties, of course). So when I'm using Google Reader, the back button is at bottom left, and the "Up to category list" button is at top left. Really slows things down.
Am I the only one annoyed by this? Is there a fix short of a new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's how us lefty's feel living in a right handed world
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Hung0702 said:
It's more of a design choice rather than a pragmatic decision. Back on the left makes more sense. Some apps move the screen to the right when they go back, so tapping back on the left side and having the screen goes left makes sense thematically. I came from a Galaxy S which also had a right-side back button, and I have accustomed myself to the left-side back button with little effort. It fits the flow of apps better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that design-wise it makes sense; the aesthete in me would take issue with a left-facing arrow button sitting on the right side, which sort of looks like it's telling you to press the button in the middle. I just think that these larger phones should design where possible for one-handed operation (and have a lefty mode too!)
note: by 'one-handed operation' no, I don't mean I'm watching porn

Home Button Double tap?

Is there a way to change the double tap of the home button to something other then the camera. I'd like to put a different app on this if possible?

ski21 said:
Is there a way to change the double tap of the home button to something other then the camera. I'd like to put a different app on this if possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No
Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

Thanks

I've been using a combination of Home2 Shortcut and Recent Task 2 to have my home button launch recent apps when I double tap it. You must disable the double tap camera function on your S7 to get it to work.
Home2 Shortcut is a really old app but it still works. It acts as a home launcher replacement that listen to how many times the home button is tapped. The app's settings lets you choose what app to open when it's double tapped and what home launcher to open when it's single tapped.

Thanks, shoremunkey, I'll try them out.

Yes, download "Home2 Shortcut" app.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.

Also "all in one gestures". It doesn't have the double tap feature, but it allows you to reassign the home back and recent buttons to whatever you like. It provides different functions for holding, and also gives the option to use edge swiping.
For example I changed the "back" function to the recent button because I'm left handed, when I that button it kills the foreground app. The back button has the recents function and when it's held it takes a screen shot. Then I used a swiping gesture from the bottom of the screen to drop the notification drawer. It works great especially using finger print unlock because as soon as it unlocks I swipe my thumb up the screen and it shows my notifications.

Hey do you mind telling me how you got home2 shortcut to work. I disabled the camera double tap shortcut and assigned an application in step one however for the last step "close" closing the dialog, I am not presented with an option to choose a launcher like the app says. Thanks