[Q] Holding note 10.1 2014 in portrait mode - Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Q&A, Help & Troubl

How is it possible to hold this tab in portrait mode with those stupid hardware buttons located at where my left had is supposed to grip the tab?
I think this will be a turnoff for people who intend to use the tablet mainly for reading and annotating textbook, unless there is an option to disable hardware buttons while in portrait mode or completely disable them and replace them with software buttons with orientation.

The alternative will be holding the tablet upside down with the left hand gripping the camera
btw this is the only issue holding me from buying this tab

It seems like people are making a bigger issue out of this than it actually is. The long side is around 10 inches long and the buttons might take up three. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it without accidental button presses. In my opinion, having the menu button just below my thumb is a welcome feature.

Since the buttons are on the long side, that is the default way of holding it. Now the question is that if you are holding it with left hand, why you don't simply rotate it to other direction?

miloytyn said:
Since the buttons are on the long side, that is the default way of holding it. Now the question is that if you are holding it with left hand, why you don't simply rotate it to other direction?
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Being a right handed person i hold the tab by the left hand and write/turn pages by the right.
I'm not sure if holding the tab by the camera is a wise idea, for the risk of accidentally touching the camera lens.

fryguy18 said:
It seems like people are making a bigger issue out of this than it actually is. The long side is around 10 inches long and the buttons might take up three. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it without accidental button presses. In my opinion, having the menu button just below my thumb is a welcome feature.
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Click to collapse
It may be only me but I'm more comfortable holding the tab from the middle of the left side.

Kimo377 said:
Being a right handed person i hold the tab by the left hand and write/turn pages by the right.
I'm not sure if holding the tab by the camera is a wise idea, for the risk of accidentally touching the camera lens.
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Click to collapse
Well I don't see why touch the lens is that bad thing, as it usually is the part of phone, for exsample, which is touching table etc. And any fingerprints can be easily wiped from the lens. But that is just me.
ps. I don't understand using covers with phones either, with tablet they are more useful.

Yep, this is the only drawback I see. My stupid Crapple fans are going to laugh at me with their thin-bezeled, button free iPad 5's.
I don't know why the hell they had to put a hardware button on it. Hardware buttons on tablets are stupid.
EDIT:
I'll probably rotate it and hold it by the camera lens. It's not like I'll ever use a gigantic tablet to take a picture anyway. That's why I'm getting my Note 3, so I can take pictures with a gigantic phone.

miloytyn said:
Well I don't see why touch the lens is that bad thing, as it usually is the part of phone, for exsample, which is touching table etc. And any fingerprints can be easily wiped from the lens. But that is just me.
ps. I don't understand using covers with phones either, with tablet they are more useful.
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Click to collapse
For me phone cover is more important since I drop it frequently unlike the tab

Han Solo 1 said:
Yep, this is the only drawback I see. My stupid Crapple fans are going to laugh at me with their thin-bezeled, button free iPad 5's.
I don't know why the hell they had to put a hardware button on it. Hardware buttons on tablets are stupid.
EDIT:
I'll probably rotate it and hold it by the camera lens. It's not like I'll ever use a gigantic tablet to take a picture anyway. That's why I'm getting my Note 3, so I can take pictures with a gigantic phone.
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Click to collapse
You are right about the back camera but the front one i use frequently for video calls.

Looks like i'm the only one that actually likes the idea of a hard button! it's an instant access to home, not being able to do this on a nexus annoys me, but i don't see why this should be a deal breaker really.

Han Solo 1 said:
Yep, this is the only drawback I see. My stupid Crapple fans are going to laugh at me with their thin-bezeled, button free iPad 5's.
I don't know why the hell they had to put a hardware button on it. Hardware buttons on tablets are stupid.
EDIT:
I'll probably rotate it and hold it by the camera lens. It's not like I'll ever use a gigantic tablet to take a picture anyway. That's why I'm getting my Note 3, so I can take pictures with a gigantic phone.
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Click to collapse
Say what you will but I think an inch bezel around the whole tablet is necessary, how else you plan on holding the thing if there is no room for your thumb. I could care less about what any isheep has to say about my tablet.
Sent from my SGH-I317M using xda app-developers app

thank god it has a thin bezel and a hard button. finally i'm convinced to buy a tablet.
I was holding of for years until there was one like this one. why dont you guys that want a thick bezel get one of the other dozen tablets that have the design you want. they have been out for years.

demz92 said:
Looks like i'm the only one that actually likes the idea of a hard button! it's an instant access to home, not being able to do this on a nexus annoys me, but i don't see why this should be a deal breaker really.
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While im not crazy about the idea I do have a Note 2 and already i'm use to them being there.
Actually I can see some benefits....
I'm sure you can disable the buttons or a program will come out that can.
In fact here is a rough draft on how to hack them...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34247225&postcount=14

The reason why they have physical buttons is because since 4.2 and up, the tablet UI became the phone UI. So you no longer had a bar at the bottom, one side with cappy buttons and the other with the notification drawer.
Instead you have a status bar like on phones AND a bar at the bottom for only three buttons. Less screen estate, especially considering that Samsung would use the Home, Back and Menu buttons in capacitive form. That takes away quite a bit of screen space and you can see it happening especially in videos. To get what I mean, take a look at the 4.2.2 firmware for the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. More screen is lost because the design guidelines have changed.
What Samsung's done is take away the bottom bar and used the physical buttons instead. Not the best solution but it allows for more screen space. On the Note, it'd be a bit of a shame to have about a centimetre thick part of that awesome screen taken up by three buttons.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD

Soryuu said:
The reason why they have physical buttons is because since 4.2 and up, the tablet UI became the phone UI. So you no longer had a bar at the bottom, one side with cappy buttons and the other with the notification drawer.
Instead you have a status bar like on phones AND a bar at the bottom for only three buttons. Less screen estate, especially considering that Samsung would use the Home, Back and Menu buttons in capacitive form. That takes away quite a bit of screen space and you can see it happening especially in videos. To get what I mean, take a look at the 4.2.2 firmware for the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. More screen is lost because the design guidelines have changed.
What Samsung's done is take away the bottom bar and used the physical buttons instead. Not the best solution but it allows for more screen space. On the Note, it'd be a bit of a shame to have about a centimetre thick part of that awesome screen taken up by three buttons.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk HD
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Click to collapse
I agree with this. Though I am not a huge fan of the physical buttons I really like that it has the extra screen real-estate.

someone will mod it soon. i've actually gotten used to the buttons on my gn8. the only time hate em is when gaming. the rom I use has a mod to turn them off and only make them useable via spen. you'll get used to it too. you may never like it, but you can find a work around.

As someone who owns this tablet the physical buttons are a huge step backwards. Why? That POS menu key. Coming from the original Note 10.1 it's ridiculous constantly hitting that menu button to find out if it has a menu available. Compare to the original Note 10.1 where menu options appear in the action bar. Samsung has completely ruined the tablet experience with their incredibly stupid design choices. This tablet is such a huge pain to navigate. Why can't somebody else offer a Wacom stylus on their 10" Android tablet? I wish Google would throw an S Pen'ish stylus on their Nexus 10 so I can rid myself of Samsung's incompetence. I've never had such a frustrating tech purchase.
I have a Note II with a physical menu key but it's not nearly as frustrating because everything is so close together. I feel like my hand is running a marathon with this tablet having to move all ovef the place to navigate the UI.
I love the S Pen. It works beautifully. The screen is gorgeous. It's not a brick like some other high resolution tablets. It's very powerful and fast. Why oh why did they throw hardware keys on this thing and muck everything up. I would gladly take the black bar on the bottom with home, task switch and back if I could.
The disable hardware keys mod cannot come fast enough for me.

i'm not really diggin the physical buttons either. there's enough screen real estate to have the nav bar on the bottom. the home button is ok, but the menu and back have becoe more and more of a nuisance. i tolerate them on the gn8 b/c of the extra screen area i get plus using the soft nav buttons hack doesn't hide button properly in full screen video.
i can get use them being there on the note10 but i don't won't like them better than soft nav buttons. i hope if they hack it that it'll properly hide in full screen.

I haven't read the posts in this thread, but I wanted to comment that I happen to like the hard buttons. I'm right handed and hold it with my left like OP. I like that I can reach the option, home and return buttons (this is what you all mean by "hard buttons" right?) with my thumb. The design feels very intuitive and quite natural. I also recently found out that you can quickly access the task manager by holding down the home button. It will open up a menu similar to the menu that opened when you pressed the double rectangle button on the older model. The more time I spend with this device the more I love it. My mom is actually getting the new Note 3 so she's going to let me have her Note 2. I can finally get rid of this iphone 3 that came free with my contract.

Related

anybody else really not like the unlock button?

I really dislike where its positioned, especially as its on the front "half" of the top, so you have to stretch your finger around that much more to hit it
and it feels really flimsy and has like a really week feedback/mechanism to it. have a feeling theres going to be lots of them breaking/packing in already
I'm not delighted with it coming from a G1 but getting used to it.
What I don't like is the positioning - it is right where it rests against my left hand when typing in portrait mode.
This is not a huge issue though on an otherwise superb phone.
Anyone know if there is an app that mimics the pressing of this button? When I'm finished doing whatever I like to lock the phone myself rather than wait for the timer to do it, the button placement annoys me so a quick app shortcut would be nice, or even better a hardware button re-assignment as I never use the search key.
I think once we get root access this could be done. For now there is the option of using alternate lock screen apps from the market. But for now we're stuck with the power button. This is my ONLY problem with my Desire. Not even a problem more a niggle.
Doesn't bother me in the slightest personally
cheesebanana said:
I really dislike where its positioned, especially as its on the front "half" of the top, so you have to stretch your finger around that much more to hit it
and it feels really flimsy and has like a really week feedback/mechanism to it. have a feeling theres going to be lots of them breaking/packing in already
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I thought mine was the only one like this. I am sure once companies start to produce form fitting cases, this will take care of it.
Once "rooting" of this phone starts to get underway...some sort of program will allow the phone to be unlocked without having to use the "unlock" button alone. Or at least remapping the hardware buttons

I <3 Touchscreen buttons

One of my favorite aspects of this phone is the button-less design. I find them so much easier to press no matter where you press on them, they look much better on screen and the phone itself looks a lot better without those tacky printed capacitive buttons on the front. I was never a fan of those on Android phones.
The touch screen buttons have pretty much ruined other Android devices to my eye. I don't understand why phones are still coming out with those.
I also like how because of the fact that they are on the touch screen, you can press gently or hard and the button recognizes that. Not that it matters so much in how it functions, but it's still cool.
TL;DR
Touch screen buttons are awesome. True story.
I with you on this one. I came from an N1 and once i was used to the buttons on screen i loved them... at first i wasn't a fan but after a while it gets better! Defo agree with the looks aspect too, so much more slick and sheek and the way they dissapear when playing video is great, giving a massive screen for such a better viewing!
I would prefer if the front camera wasn't visable but i suppose theres not much that can be done about that without effecting the camera quality.
I completely agree. The design of this Nexus is almost perfect. Reduce the size of the phone a little by removing most of the space above and below the screen, and it's perfect. I'm sure that will be possible in a year or two.
Like I said, when I see an Android device with those back lit printed buttons, it just looks makes the device look so dated.
Hopefully most if not all future releases won't have them.
Are the buttons ever un-responsive or laggy? That's one of my biggest concerns. Maybe I'm just too used to older Android phones
Yumunum said:
Are the buttons ever un-responsive or laggy? That's one of my biggest concerns. Maybe I'm just too used to older Android phones
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Click to collapse
Not at all. That's what's so great about them being touchscreen. On other phones there is a dead-zone where you have to hit and like you said, sometimes that was annoying and would require a double tap.
Since the touchscreen can be touched anywhere, the buttons are extremely responsive. You lightly touch them, and a little glow appears around the button, as you press, the glow grows. It's awesome.
Be warned....no buttons has its risks...the other day my buttons disappeared and screen was frozen. Had to pull the battery. Turned back on and was in Odin mode stuck. Powered off even though it said not to and phone came back to life. Pretty scary though.
With that said the button rotating with the screen is awesome! Hope to see more phones coming out with this. Would also be nice to expand and have a few other custom buttons down there or maybe on a different part of the screen.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
If your phone is frozen, it doesn't matter if it's hard or soft buttons, they are going to be frozen anyway. Not really a disadvantage in that sense.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
dizgotti said:
Be warned....no buttons has its risks...the other day my buttons disappeared and screen was frozen. Had to pull the battery. Turned back on and was in Odin mode stuck. Powered off even though it said not to and phone came back to life. Pretty scary though.
With that said the button rotating with the screen is awesome! Hope to see more phones coming out with this. Would also be nice to expand and have a few other custom buttons down there or maybe on a different part of the screen.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I don't think having buttons would help in the above case though
I totally agree.... no buttons is fun. It also has a very clean look that I enjoy.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I agree with the virtual keys, but I really wish we could toggle then on and off so we can use the full 4.65"screen.
wonshikee said:
I agree with the virtual keys, but I really wish we could toggle then on and off so we can use the full 4.65"screen.
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Click to collapse
There's mod for GTab 10.1 which has a menu option on long-press power button to hide keys, so I'm sure it won't be long before you see it on GNex. Paul?
If the ts buttons are on screen surely they can be customized like, they would be awesome if you could turn them purple or something
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I actually prefer phisical buttons, those clicky clickety ones
An I care very little about design.
I wish they still make phones with 4 directions and ok buttons + menu and back.
When I use my old htc tattoo, it's slow like hell, worst screen ever, but the phisical keys make me love it anyways!
+1
always liked the virtual button (i have been using xoom before the ICS, and always hunger it on phones).

Why put the powerbutton the other side of the volume

This is crazyyyy! Why did they put the power button on the other side of the volume button? I'm finding myself constantly turning the volume down when i try and turn the screen of because your hand naturally positions your fingers there to get some leverage!
Would have been much better along the top edge IMO
Agree should have put it on top like the nexus one and desire
The phone is too long to have the power button on top. It's also too thin at the top to have a button there, but the power button location is mostly because of the phone's size.
I did this once now I dint its all about how you hold the phone and now I don't press any volume keys when hitting the power button
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
You'll get used to it. It's not better or worse than a button on the top, just different, especially when you come from another phone. Give it a week or two and this becomes a none-issue.
As said above
This had been standard design for Samsung Android phones since the GS1
sent from Mt Olympus
gokpog said:
You'll get used to it. It's not better or worse than a button on the top, just different, especially when you come from another phone. Give it a week or two and this becomes a none-issue.
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Click to collapse
Was a none issue on like day one for me
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Why not?
The Nexus S has the same position
So, I am happy hehehe ...
liltbrockie said:
This is crazyyyy! Why did they put the power button on the other side of the volume button? I'm finding myself constantly turning the volume down when i try and turn the screen of because your hand naturally positions your fingers there to get some leverage!
Would have been much better along the top edge IMO
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Click to collapse
liltbrockie said:
This is crazyyyy! Why did they put the power button on the other side of the volume button? I'm finding myself constantly turning the volume down when i try and turn the screen of because your hand naturally positions your fingers there to get some leverage!
Would have been much better along the top edge IMO
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Click to collapse
I have to agree that the current location is plain stupid.
The number of times I've hit it when either using the volume buttons or holding my phone playing a game is too many to count over the last week.
Poor industrial design that one.
lol coming from an iphone , this is really the only thing that bothers me.
I actually prefer it to the unthought out position that HTC choose for their massive smartphones ... you'll get used to it and you'll love it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
liltbrockie said:
This is crazyyyy! Why did they put the power button on the other side of the volume button? I'm finding myself constantly turning the volume down when i try and turn the screen of because your hand naturally positions your fingers there to get some leverage!
Would have been much better along the top edge IMO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who/what is crazy here?? Come on, grow up! Life is full of changes and opportunities. If you're this upset about a powerbutton on a different place than you are used to, then go live in a cave and don't move.
aimetti said:
lol coming from an iphone , this is really the only thing that bothers me.
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Click to collapse
yeah i still go for the home button like on my iPhone, but i've only had my Nexus 4 days..
I like the power button being on the side much better. Especially for these bigger devices. It would be awkward to unlock with one hand if it was on top. I don't know maybe I'm a bit biased because I have owned the gs1 and gs2. Either way I have never had an issue with the button placement before.
I like it where it is, on the side. Previously I have had some HTC phones, so I've experienced both. In my opinion, it's way easier and faster to turn the screen on/off. And I've never had a problem with it.
matt2053 said:
I like it where it is, on the side. Previously I have had some HTC phones, so I've experienced both. In my opinion, it's way easier and faster to turn the screen on/off. And I've never had a problem with it.
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Click to collapse
Same with me. I've also had 2 previous HTC devices, but I prefer the power button on the side now.
The thing that really tripped me up is the volume being on the opposite side. That messed me up more than the power button location.
Just a guess, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the screenshot feature. Having buttons on the opposite sides allows you to just squeeze the phone in the position you're probably already holding it in.
fdm1 said:
Just a guess, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the screenshot feature. Having buttons on the opposite sides allows you to just squeeze the phone in the position you're probably already holding it in.
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Click to collapse
The screenshot feature came long after the side button placement on phones. The button combination for it was likely created for the reason you said though. Well that and they're pretty limited in what combinations they can do when there aren't many buttons.

address bars and other things now too high up! idea!

so now when using the phone with one hand I can't reach stuff high up on the screen like the address bar to press it... on smaller phones it was okay. so my idea for devs its to put all the stuff that needs to be frequently touched at the top of the screen to the bottom... back down to earth. please spread the word
True. But you don't need devs to accomplish this. For example, us gestures in the Nova launcher to display notifications with a one finger slide down ...or double tap.
There are literally dozens of ways to customize how u interact with your Note to accomodate not being able to reach the top of thw screen easily.
Thats Android for ya...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Pie control on PA 2.99 fixes this. Swipe up from bottom for navigation and notifications. Tablet Ui also has notifications on bottom
Flygrip
To make this easier (with no apps or roms) I bought a flygrip. It's $30, but it comes with a tpu case and you get free shipping with the promo code QBKING77. Totally worth it.
xsiiknepik said:
To make this easier (with no apps or roms) I bought a flygrip. It's $30, but it comes with a tpu case and you get free shipping with the promo code QBKING77. Totally worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked this out, and to me it looks like it would be odd to use. Did it take much to get used to it?
I'm interested because it would replace my kickstand case because the case makes it just a bit too big for some pockets, but without the case it fits fine.
fly grip looks interesting and I do want to add...
... that, as far as gestures go, I use GMD gesture control, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this app for note 2 users, I've even disabled the capacitative buttons as they are too low for my thumb to comfortably use. My thumb now just stays in one little area on the phone and controls everything with no need re-adjust the whole phone position to control it. That being said... more and more, larger 5" phones are coming out... so the top of the screen on-screen options are becoming antiquated.
...and now that I've disabled the capacitative buttons, I can actually lift and hold the phone from the bottom without accidentally presses a button, and/or when I pass my phone to someone to look at it, they no longer accidentally press the capacitative button as they used to frequently do.

can you move your home button?

Can you move it at all? Just noticed something that bugs me. Mine barely moves vertically however I can make the right side higher then the left vice versa so it will sit assymetrically higher on one side until I move it back. I spot assymetrical things constantly and it drives my ocd crazy. My note before this one had a crap home button that wouldn't register clicks on the right corner. My s6 had a crap wobbly home button. Samsung really sucks with making buttons. If I pay $900 for a device I expect it to be perfectly symmetrical.
well, you should always press the button IN THE CENTER, engineers design things to be used in a certain way, if you press any button on any device, in an unnatural way, it will most likely wear out or malfunction before its normal designed lifespan if your home button is assymetrical at its rest position, then it is faulty, go claim warranty or exchange
Nah not wasting any time exchanging Samsung phones anymore. I find something wrong with every single one.
I'm willing to bet I could make the majority note 7 home buttons do this exact thing. Push one side of the button a bit higher than the other.
I got my n7 on 29th aug, and was perfect in all accounts, no scratch prone, no heating at all when charging, no lag, good SOT, 6 hours heavy use, really happy with it, but, I returned for exchange after a exact month using it, as I did not want to use it caped at 60% batt, the point is, I expect the new unit to be as excellent as the first one
My home button is solid in place, no play in any ddirection, i never even looked at it until inread your post, but yeah mine is perfect, im kind of shocked.
Just got mine today. Everything is 100% so far.
Sent from my SM-N930T using XDA-Developers mobile app
What about your guys spen eject button? Does that move around?
My replaced model sadly has a tiny scratch on the back, the previous one was fine (regretted didn't inspect it well when I get the replaced unit)... That said, my current home button is solid, but the S Pen eject button does move around (which I think should be common for a pen)...
I got my replacement on 10th Oct, everything fine, no gaps, no wobbling buttons, s pen button tight, runs cooler than the first one I had, good SOT, no scratches, even could keep box and accesories

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