[Q] Remapping hardware keys? - Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note II

Now, I know I'm probably the only one who wants to do this, but...
Just coming from an EVO LTE, and I used my App Switcher button all the time (after moving to CM10 of course), and would love to be able to remap Menu to App Switcher for fast multitasking.
Similarly, having done so, I'd like to enable the App Overflow ("three button menu" button) in apps. I'd like this even if the hardware keys can't be remapped, as the S-Pen doesn't work with the hardware keys, and it would give me one more on-screen thing I can use.
Thanks!

Related

[Q] possible to remap hard keys?

Hi,
I use the menu key a whole lot more than multi task. How hard would it be to remap the multi task key to act like a menu key? Is it even possible?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
If the apps is according to the new ICS look, Holo I think the theme is called, then the menu button is on the top right of the screen.
Seems to me it would be a hassle to press a button on the bottom right and then move youre finger to the top right to actually use the menu.
On apps not yet fitted for ICS I can understand what u mean, however this problem should hopefully be almost gone within not too long.
Would love to remap the useless.most recent programs button to act as a google search button, much like a long press on menu on my s2 does...
There are several threads about this. Here is one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1480130
I just got my One X, so haven't tried anything myself.
But being able switch songs with the volume buttons while locked is what I'm looking for.
A must when you're outside in heavy rain or snow.

Mapping the hardware keys?

Is it possible to map the menu key (long press) to show all recent apps without installing a custom rom? I am willing to root to get this function but I really don't want to deal with custom roms. Is there maybe an app or something I can flash that can do this? I'm currently stock unrooted with Nova launcher, which only allows me to map the menu key (long press) to recent apps if I'm at the home screen.
I haven't been able to do what you're asking, but have had success enabling the onscreen soft keys. This requires root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2022058
Some things are a little wonky with soft keys: the top entry of the call log is cut off and fast forwarding video with the default player while in landscape mode doesn't work. Small price to pay IMO for easy access to the multitasking menu.

[Q] Remap capacitive keys in AOSP ROMs?

Specifically, I want to change the recent apps key back to recent apps, instead of menu. I prefer the original layout over the Samsung/Legacy style pretty much every dev uses. It's too awkward for my liking, the recent apps button is being wasted as a rarely used menu key, and long pressing home for a feature I use more than pressing home is cumbersome. I don't really mind if I can't remap menu anywhere, as that'll be covered by the hidden PIE menu anyway.
And no, the solution for me isn't to switch to CM10. I have no plans to stop using Paranoid Android anytime soon.
Thanks for your help.
If you want to stick to PA I'm not sure how you can do that. But if you don't mind changing to ICJ, you can remap the capacitive keys. And you won't lose pie either as pie navigation is also included in ICJ.

Q: Avoiding Hardware Home Key?

The Note 8 looks great except for the hardware Home key. It's annoying to need physical force for a frequent task that should only take a slight touch.
Is there some way to work around the hardware Home key and avoid using it? Some of the reviews have mentioned on-screen keys, is it possible to keep those enable in all orientations & applications? Alternatively, is it possible to remap one of the capacitive keys to become a Home button?
Any methods or tips about how to avoid using the hardware Home key would be appreciated.
My Galaxy S4 has an Assistant Menu which provides things like an on screen Home and menu button. It's not in my Note 8.0 yet but may be added in a future release I guess.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk HD
Button Savior from the Play Store may do what you are after. It's funny. l personally like the hardware home key.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using xda premium
If you are rooted it would be simple to change your back or menu button to act as your home. You can go to /system/usr/keylayout/sec_touchscreen.kl and edit the BACK or MENU to read HOME.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk HD
I am using GMD gesture control on note 2&8 to simulate hardware buttons and keeping full screen for applications
Envoyé depuis mon GT-N7100 avec Tapatalk
Same issue as the OP, I'm using LMT with a pie control right on top of the hardware home button.
MikeChelen said:
The Note 8 looks great except for the hardware Home key. It's annoying to need physical force for a frequent task that should only take a slight touch.
Is there some way to work around the hardware Home key and avoid using it? Some of the reviews have mentioned on-screen keys, is it possible to keep those enable in all orientations & applications? Alternatively, is it possible to remap one of the capacitive keys to become a Home button?
Any methods or tips about how to avoid using the hardware Home key would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Taskbar task switcher by gdroid, it places a Return to desktop shortcut along with a configurable number of recent apps in the notifications pull down.
sisterchick said:
Button Savior from the Play Store may do what you are after. It's funny. l personally like the hardware home key.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Button Savior looks helpful, I played with it a little using both auto-hide and permanent display modes. The only downside to hidden mode is it takes two motions, first to expand the menu, then to click the home button. That can be done pretty quickly though.
Why do you like having a hardware button? I don't see why they made 2 buttons compatible with S-pen, and didn't make the Home button usable with the stylus as well.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
ual4720 said:
If you are rooted it would be simple to change your back or menu button to act as your home. You can go to /system/usr/keylayout/sec_touchscreen.kl and edit the BACK or MENU to read HOME.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that would be useful. Is it also possible to assign those actions to a long-press? For example, Menu goes to Home with long press.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
Handy Hardware Button
MikeChelen said:
Button Savior looks helpful, I played with it a little using both auto-hide and permanent display modes. The only downside to hidden mode is it takes two motions, first to expand the menu, then to click the home button. That can be done pretty quickly though.
Why do you like having a hardware button? I don't see why they made 2 buttons compatible with S-pen, and didn't make the Home button usable with the stylus as well.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Habit would probably be the best answer. I came to the Note 8 from a hacked Nook Color running CM10. I got accustomed to waking the device with the "n" hardware button. Like my old Nook, I put a non-slip bumper case on my Note 8 which makes pushing the power button to wake a little tedious. I also like to read in the dark and like the hardware key as a landmark for orientation when I pick it up with the lights off. Finally, I use the tablet in the kitchen on a stand for displaying recipes. I use a cheapest of the cheap $5 stylus in the kitchen to wake it up by pushing the hardware key and for scrolling pages so I don't get the tablet or the S-pen all gunked up with cookie dough from my fingers.:silly:
MikeChelen said:
The Note 8 looks great except for the hardware Home key. It's annoying to need physical force for a frequent task that should only take a slight touch.
Is there some way to work around the hardware Home key and avoid using it? Some of the reviews have mentioned on-screen keys, is it possible to keep those enable in all orientations & applications? Alternatively, is it possible to remap one of the capacitive keys to become a Home button?
Any methods or tips about how to avoid using the hardware Home key would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom ROM
MikeChelen said:
The Note 8 looks great except for the hardware Home key. It's annoying to need physical force for a frequent task that should only take a slight touch.
Is there some way to work around the hardware Home key and avoid using it? Some of the reviews have mentioned on-screen keys, is it possible to keep those enable in all orientations & applications? Alternatively, is it possible to remap one of the capacitive keys to become a Home button?
Any methods or tips about how to avoid using the hardware Home key would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMT Pie
MikeChelen said:
The Note 8 looks great except for the hardware Home key. It's annoying to need physical force for a frequent task that should only take a slight touch.
Is there some way to work around the hardware Home key and avoid using it? Some of the reviews have mentioned on-screen keys, is it possible to keep those enable in all orientations & applications? Alternatively, is it possible to remap one of the capacitive keys to become a Home button?
Any methods or tips about how to avoid using the hardware Home key would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use your Note 8 in landscape mode, you'll soon wish all keys were physical, not capacitive.
tokugawa said:
If you use your Note 8 in landscape mode, you'll soon wish all keys were physical, not capacitive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my concern, Im hoping that by using a case that goes over the bevel rather than sits flush with it, my palm will be less likely to brush against the back and menu capacitive buttons when playing games or drawing. My device should be arriving this evening so I will have to experiment to find my best solution. I dont want to mod the software to disble the buttons and get the traditional menu bar on the screen. I value the screen real estate. If they were physical buttons I wouldnt have this issue
hertsjoatmon said:
This is my concern, Im hoping that by using a case that goes over the bevel rather than sits flush with it, my palm will be less likely to brush against the back and menu capacitive buttons when playing games or drawing. My device should be arriving this evening so I will have to experiment to find my best solution. I dont want to mod the software to disble the buttons and get the traditional menu bar on the screen. I value the screen real estate. If they were physical buttons I wouldnt have this issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's still a bit annoying to me in landscape mode, but in Portrait mode it's been actually quite fine (even drawing). Perfect would be an app that could just temporarily disable/toggle it (maybe via a small 1x1 widget). Then if I want to use it in landscape mode (or whenever Im going to use it in a way that could be annoying with the capacitive keys), I could simply turn it on.
I do like the physical/capacitive keys in general too, since I also value the screen real estate so I guess for me a toggle solution would be best. Maybe I'll investigate into it and make it myself...
Or you can add Home button as Multiwindow "app" with this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.t2.shome
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Hi, there's a way for disabling the capacitive keys, just look under development here on this forum. The mod will disable the keys and require the S Pen to make them work (quite useful for landscape) to enable On-Screen Buttons you should try this (works on the Galaxy S3/Note/Note II) I haven't tested in the Note 8 but I will as soon as I get mine (by the end of this month).
Enable on-screen buttons:
You will need root access for this.
Install ES File Explorer File Manager on your Note from the Play Store. This is a file manager that will be used to edit those system files to enable/disable on-screen/soft buttons.
Open ES Explorer. Then, click the menu button on your device and click Settings. Here, tick the “Up to Root” option. Then go down and tick the “Root Explorer” option, then press Allow/Grant button when prompted to grant it root access. Then, tick the “Mount File System Option” as well. Once all three options are selected, press back to exit the settings.
Hit the Up on top in ES Explorer till you reach the outermost folder (till it says / at the top).
Go into the system folder, then scroll down to find the build.prop file (Copy this file to a Safe location!!).
Tap on this file to start editing it. If you get an “Open With” prompt, select “ES Note Editor”.
Now, at the end of the file (at the bottom after the last line), add the line “qemu.hw.mainkeys=0″ (without the ” quotes), then save the file (press the Menu button to see the Save option).
Then, reboot. After the boot up, you should have the virtual on-screen buttons on your screen.
Sent from my XT925 using xda app-developers app
EDIT
How-to: disable the home button
The thread that Samper was referring to is at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2250941
I can't post there yet, so I would like to add here that after disabling the menu/back buttons as described there, I worked out how to disable the home button. Following the same instructions as in the above link, also edit the gpio-keys.kl, changing the last line by adding a # to the beginning, so it looks like this:
Code:
#key 172 HOME WAKE
Now that all three buttons are completely dead (though the pen will still activate the menu/back buttons), I use LMT Launcher to provide pie controls at the bottom of the screen. Get it here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1330150. PieControl from the Play Store is an easier-to-configure but less powerful alternative to LMT.

[Q] Raising the virtual keyboard in Chrome.

Is there still any way to bring up the virtual keyboard under Chrome (on the new N7 at least), even when you are not on a text box element?
Some sites capture key presses to do various activities, and the inability to use the keyboard is a definite problem.
An example being ajaxterm (implements a remote terminal emulator via javascript and AJAX, quite handy going through overly restrictive firewalls), no keyboard renders the entire thing useless.
Any suggestions?
I'm not sure. The best solution I can think of off the top of my head is to use a custom rom with button mapping. You can set press and hold functions to software keys and hardware (I think).
I'd say a long press on the Recents button to pull up the IME. Typically Back(Hold) is force close, Home(Back) is Search, nothing is assigned to recents(Hold).
That or an app that sits in the notification tray that has a button for IME....
Or again, the quick notification toggles on custom Roms has an IME enable/disable, I think.
Sent from Nexus 7 FHD from XDA Premium HD

Categories

Resources