Related
Hello XDA'ers,
I am wondering what the reason behind why the buttons (camera, power, green, red, etc.) in Android on HTC Vogue map to the various tasks they do? For example, the camera button is back, but why not the red button? Is this something hard set in Android and cannot be changed or did someone specifically set it up this way for a reason?
Secondly I am wondering if I create a new "keylayout file" (source.android.com/porting/keymaps_keyboard_input.html) or modify the default one in /system/usr/keylayout/qwerty.kl will I be able to change the mapping of these buttons?
Compared to the Win Mobile mapping, they button layout can take some getting used to,
but once you get used to it, it's actually a very cool layout, especially if you are right handed.
You can hold the phone in your left hand, and use your thumb to access the settings 'top button',
Use your ring-finger to always back-out or end an app
Green button for phone / initiating calls
Red button to end a call, sleep mode, or power off
I wish the d-pad had more use, but I'm always using the stylus, so barely use it.
Would love for the d-pad center key to maybe be the main power-off button.
Does_It_Matter said:
... It's actually a very cool layout.
...
I wish the d-pad had more use, but I'm always using the stylus, so barely use it.
Would love for the d-pad center key to maybe be the main power-off button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely agree the current layout is a very cool layout indeed, but as I imagine most people on here like to tinker it may be interesting to know how to customize the button bindings.
I am not sure if its just a matter of changing the button layout file.
I looked at that qwerty.kl file in the android.tgz
It looks like its just a mapping file, and if you change the mapping, you change
buttons,
but doesn't that mean you're just re-mapping the button itself?
Not re-mapping its functionality?
I.e., if you remapped the camera button to the d-pad center, for example, then
the d-pad center would do all functions the camera button used to do,
and the camera button would do any functions the d-pad center would?
Seems like you'd actually have to change more code than just the .kl file?
i wrote this application for polaris, and with simple changes you can add the vogue setup...
So I have had a note for a while now and although it's screen enables us to have a lot more web and video, navigating is still a bit of of pain for me. I mean yeah I can hold the note in one had, but when I what to use the back button or the menu button I need to use my second hand and that's a bit inconvinent.
So that's why I thought, is it not usefull to have a os wide quick controls like the one implemented in ics browser +, but then only with the menu, home and back button at the inner circle instead.
What do you guys think and is it possible to somehow implement this to be os wide?
Two very handy apps for the Note:
Button Saviour
Swipepad
These two should help you navigate a lot better, Now I use Swipepad with the morespace add on in conjunction with Folder Organizer, I have reduced most of my folders and app shortcuts on my homescreen.
Hope you find them as useful as I have!
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/htc-one-tips-and-tricks
Introduction
The HTC One is the most desirable new phone in the world right now. Metal-bodied, great-looking and a seriously powerful gadget, this is the mobile that could turn things around for HTC.
We've spent weeks fiddling with the phone, and here are best tips, tricks and hidden features we've found.
Interface
How to change keyboards
One of the few software criticisms we made about the HTC One was that its keyboard isn’t exactly the slickest in town.
However, one of the neatest bits of Android is that you can swap-out things like keyboards.
The first thing to do is to head to the Play Store to find your perfect Android keyboard.
The most popular third-party one is Swiftkey.
Once you’ve downloaded your keyboard, you need to select it to act as your main keyboard within the Settings menu, from the Language & Keyboard submenu.
However, many third-party keyboard apps have their own setup wizards anyway.
Enabling Swype-style input on the keyboard
There are ways to customise the standard HTC keyboard too, though.
The most important is gesture-based input, which we find speeds-up typing no end.
Instead of tapping away on keys, you draw a line between the characters and the HTC One calculates which word you want.
It works a charm too. To turn this mode on, go to the HTC Sense Input menu within Settings > Language & Keyboard and tick the Trace Keyboard checkbox.
How to customise the apps menu
The HTC One lets you fiddle with the look of the apps menu a little.
You can choose how icons are organised, and how many appear in each row.
As standard, it displays just three in each row for a chilled, spread out look. To bump this up to four, drag the apps “scroll” down to reveal the app menu’s Settings bar.
Tap the 3-pip icon and you’ll see an option for Grid Size.
The organisation options are found in the drop-down menu to the left of the 3-pip button.
How to change icons in the HTC Sense dock
The easiest-to-access app shortcuts of all are those in the shortcut dock, which stays on-screen in both the apps menu and your home screens.
You can choose what’s in this dock on the apps screen.
Just hold a finger down on an icon, whether in the dock or not, until the screen zooms out a little then drag it on, or off, the bar.
You can add app folders to the Sense dock
Folder functionality lets you keep boxes of apps on the apps menu – just like those of the iPhone iOS software.
These folders can sit in the main shortcut dock just like a single app shortcut.
They’re added in the same way too.
How to take a screen grab
Unlike most older Android phones, the HTC makes it dead simple to take a picture of whatever’s on-screen.
It’s the perfect way to capture an amazing score in a game that doesn’t have some of form of brag function as standard.
To take a grab, press the power button and the Home soft key at the same time.
The pic will be then saved to the phone’s gallery.
Installing a custom UI
Do you outright hate the Sense UI? Do not fret as you can swap it out for another one.
Whenever you press the Home button, it’s actually directing you to a home screen “app”.
Install another and you’ll get the option to be directed to one other than HTC’s.
Top candidates include Nova Launcher and ADW.Launcher.
To find a bunch, just search for “Launcher” in the Play Store.
Adding widgets to a home screen
Here’s a nice basic one that most of you probably know already.
To add a widget to a home screen, just find a bit of empty space on a screen and hold a finger down on it.
This will bring up the widget control panel.
Two-thirds of the screen will be made up of a box of widgets, with the other bit left for teeny versions of your homes screens, onto which you can drag widgets.
How to customise the lock screen
The HTC One lets you control what your phone’s lock screen looks like, but you don’t do this from the lock screen itself.
Instead, dive into the Personlize menu within Settings.
Here you’ll find options for home screens that incorporate music players, your calendar or photo album.
You can even turn off the lock screen entirely.
Modifying LED notifications
A neat little hardware feature that barely gets any attention is the HTC One’s LED notification light, which sits behind the top speaker grille.
You can control which types of notifications earn the notification LED flash within Settings > Display, Gestures & Buttons > Notification Flash.
You can’t control its colour though, sadly.
BlinkFeed
How to get rid of Blinkfeed
You can’t get rid of Blinkfeed entirely on the HTC One.
HTC is clearly that bit too proud of it.
However, you can hide it from view.
To do this, you need to create another home screen to use as the face of your phone.
HTC veterans may want to include the classic HTC clock, which you’ll find in the HTC One’s treasure trove of widgets.
Next we need to set this screen as the default home screen.
Hold a finger down on an empty bit of home screen, waiting until the widget drop screen pops up.
At the top of this screen you’ll see teeny versions of your home screens.
Hold a finger down on one of these and a Set as Home Screen option will appear.
Tap it and Blinkfeed will be gone.
Well, more or less.
Adding sources to Blinkfeed
Like Blinkfeed?
It works best if you customise it with the sorts of info you want – whether that’s tweets, Facebook updates or articles from the internet.
To do this, head to your Blinkfeed home page and drag down on its panels to reveal the settings bar.
The triple dot button here takes you to an area where you can add Blinkfeed sources, while the drop-down bar to the left lets you pick between types of active source.
Camera
The filter button
The HTC One’s camera filters selection is so up-front that it’s actually pretty easy to miss.
The filters button is the icon that looks a bit like a colour venn diagram, sitting below the camera/video select buttons within the camera app.
HTC offers a bunch of filters, including creative ones like a distorting warp and customisable vignetting.
How to turn on Zoe Mode
Zoe mode is one of the key features of the HTC One.
It takes a short video clip that can also be sliced up into twenty still images.
One of the neatest parts of Zoe mode is that once it’s shared through HTC Share, a short URL is produced that makes sharing the video with friends dead simple.
It also allows re-touching, including removing objects from the video.
We’ve had trouble getting this to work properly, but you can find the feature by inspecting a Zoe vid in the gallery, tapping Edit and then Retouch.
You’ll find Object Removal in this menu.
Best settings for general use
To get photos with the most detail, we recommend at least trying out using HDR as your go-to photo mode.
HDR stands of High Dynamic range, and it combines three exposures to eke out as much detail as possible.
As the HTC One is so powerful, the processing only takes a second or two – it doesn’t slow you down too much.
Unfortunately, we can’t see any way to get the HTC One to save both standard and HDR shots at the same time, as you can with an iPhone.
How to auto upload photos to Flickr
If you’re a big photo sharer, you can set the HTC One to automatically upload your songs to the ‘net.
You’ll find this option right down the bottom of the camera app’s Settings menu.
As standard, the only option is to upload to Flickr for HTC Sense.
Wireless camera shutter
A neat hidden feature of the HTC One is that you can use a Bluetooth headset to take photos you’re when within the camera app.
Hold down the central button on your remote and the camera will take a shot.
Audio
When to use Beats Audio
Beats Audio is a signal processing mode that’s used in a fistful of HTC phones.
It’s designed to mimic the style of the Beats by Dre headphones – that means a lot of bass for that booming club sound.
It works wonders on the internal speakers of the phone, cutting out the harsh mids, but with a decent pair of headphones you’re best off without it unless you have a craving for more bass.
How to turn off Beats Audio
Don’t like the sound of Beats Audio?
You can switch it off – as standard I’ll turn on automatically when you play music.
You’ll find the switch for the feature on the top layer of the settings menu, under the Phone subhead.
Quick music navigation
If you have a big music collection on your HTC One, flicking through all your tracks or albums can be laborious.
To make it quicker, use a two-fingered scroll.
This cycles through letters of the alphabet rather than entry-by-entry.
Video
How to play any video on the HTC One
The integrated video player of the HTC One offers much less than flawless video codec support.
If you have a library of videos downloaded from the net, many of them probably won’t play.
To fill the gaps you’ll need a third-party app, preferably one with its own hardware acceleration.
Our go-to pick is MX Player.
How to transmit video to a TV
The HTC One does not have a dedicated video output socket.
However, there are a few different ways to get your videos over from the phone to your TV.
The neatest of the lot requires a special accessory, the HTC Media Link, a box that connects to your TV.
This lets you swipe any content over to your TV using a three-fingered swipe.
Alternatively, the microUSB socket on the phone is MHL compliant, letting you use it as an HDMI port with the right connector.
You'll find these online.
Hardware
How to reset the accelerometer/gyroscope
This is one most of you shouldn’t really need, but is useful if you find accelerometer games are way out of whack.
You can re-calibrate the accelerometer and gyroscope manually – these sensors can tell what angle the HTC One is being held at.
The calibration works much like a spirit level, and is the G-Sensor Calibration option within Settings > Display, Gestures & Buttons.
You’ll find it right down at the bottom of the menu.
One way to diagnose touchscreen issues
If your HTC One’s touchscreen has gone a bit dodgy, you can try to diagnose the problem using the phone’s Developer Mode.
This is a set of options you’ll find in the Developer Options menu within Settings.
The one we’re after is called Show Touches, which shows little circles where the screen is sensing points of touch.
Hard-soft reset
Software misbehaviour can often be cured with a simple reset.
You can turn the phone on and off again, but getting the good old “pull the battery out” effect requires an HTC special move.
You could rip off the back, but it’s not something we’d recommend. Instead, hold the power button down for ten seconds to simulate the cutting of power.
A prompt should pop-up warning you that the hard-soft reset is about to happen.
Battery
Sleep mode is key
The HTC One has a battery saving mode that’s crucial if you want to have a phone that’s able to last more than 24 hours.
Sleep Mode, an option found in the Power sub-menu of Settings is one of the most important to switch on, as it turns of 3G when it’s not needed.
3G is a real power-sucker.
You can also select how intensive the Power Saving mode is in other respects.
Turn Power Saver mode off in the Power menu, then tap the Power Saver menu option (not the slider) to select which parts of the phone are throttled by the mode – CPU, display, vibration feedback and the data connection.
Apps and Games
Enable non-Google Play apps downloads
Unlike iPhones, Android phones can install apps other than those downloaded from the official app store.
However, this feature is disabled as standard – mainly because some (well, many) apps from the net will be infected with malware.
To turn off this security measure, tick the Unknown Sources box in the Settings > Security menu. Android apps online are shipped as APK installer files.
To install them, transfer them to the internal memory then find and run them using a file browser app like ES File Explorer.
Enabling offline speech recognition
Virtually all top-end phones offer pretty serious voice recognition these days, but you generally need to have internet connectivity for it to work.
The HTC One lets you download a pack of offline voice recognition data to let you use it when you have no Wi-Fi or mobile internet reception.
You’ll find the option to download the pack in Settings > Language & Keyboard > Voice Search.
How to stop the phone auto-creating app icons
The HTC One automatically creates home screen app icons and widgets for downloaded apps.
It’s a way to stop you having to curate your own home screens, but some of you may not like the clutter.
To stop the HTC One from doing this, go to Google Play, head to its Settings menu (accessed through the 3-pip button at the top-right of the screen.
Here you’ll find a tick box for auto-add.
If screen brightness goes down while you’re playing a game…
One curious thing we’ve noticed while playing games on the HTC One is that the screen brightness can unexpectedly dip.
The reason why is simple – the placement of the ambient light sensor means it’s easy to cover the thing up, or shade it, with a hand when the phone’s held in landscape orientation.
To avoid this, try turning your phone around.
Simples.
Security
Backing up to the cloud
The HTC One comes with an allocation of HTC online cloud storage.
You can set the HTC One to automatically back up your data to this storage, or you can use Google’s cloud servers.
You’ll find this option in Settings > Backup & Reset.
You can also make the phone auto-upload pictures taken to Flickr.
You’ll find the auto upload function in the Settings section within the camera app.
Lock screen security
A lock screen security layer is hardly the height of security sophistication, but it’s the best way to stop being stitched up on Facebook if you’re in the habit of leaving your phone lying about when with friends.
We’ve all been there.
Within the Screen lock menu of Settings > Security you’ll find options to use a Pattern unlock, a password, a PIN number or Face Unlock.
Our top tip is not to use Face Unlock as it’s pretty useless as security measures go.
And it makes you look silly.
Browsing
Get straight to Google
The quickest way to get to a web search on the HTC One is using a clever Google shortcut.
Hold a finger down on the phone’s Home soft key and you’ll be taken directly to the Google search page.
Using Google Now
Google Now is a recently-introduced Google service that’s designed to pre-empt what you’re going to look for.
It does this using info cards that appear on the Google Search page.
If you’ve been searching for places in a certain location, Google Now might offer up directions as to how to get to that place.
How to go full screen in the stock browser
If you want to make the full use of the HTC One’s 4.7-inch screen when browsing the web, you need to enable full screen browsing.
This hides the address bar, giving you that extra bit space for web sites.
To find the setting, pull down the address bar and tap the three-pip button to bring up the menu.
Scroll down to Settings, tap General and select the Fullscreen tick box.
.
Help, got myself in trouble trying to mess with the Sense Dock!
Palla71 said:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/htc-one-tips-and-tricks
How to change icons in the HTC Sense dock
The easiest-to-access app shortcuts of all are those in the shortcut dock, which stays on-screen in both the apps menu and your home screens.
You can choose what’s in this dock on the apps screen.
Just hold a finger down on an icon, whether in the dock or not, until the screen zooms out a little then drag it on, or off, the bar.
You can add app folders to the Sense dock
Folder functionality lets you keep boxes of apps on the apps menu – just like those of the iPhone iOS software.
These folders can sit in the main shortcut dock just like a single app shortcut.
They’re added in the same way too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seem to have gotten myself in trouble with this. When I tried to drag an item off the dock and onto the home screen, it made a copy on the home screen but kept it on the dock. So I tried dragging a new item to the dock, and ended up with a folder containing both the old and new items. Now, I can't find any way to get rid of that folder which is stuck on the dock! Anyone know how to do that?
Edit: Never mind, I found the answer here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2235130
Is there any way to get Google Now to respond to the "Google" voice prompt like it does on other devices (including the HOX)? Kind of a pain to hit the mic icon at the top of the screen when using the One one-handed.
Has anyone tried "light flow" for the notification light to see if the colors are able to be changed?
And has anyone installed swype/swype beta? I'm sure it also works with the H1, just curious.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
dirtyhamster73 said:
Has anyone tried "light flow" for the notification light to see if the colors are able to be changed?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
HTC phones don't have tri colored LEDs like Samsung phones so Lightflow won't work.
Tikerz said:
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
HTC phones don't have tri colored LEDs like Samsung phones so Lightflow won't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only phone from Samsung that has a led is the gnote 2 and sgs3, I can't think of any recent (within the last few yrs) Samsung phones with led. I do know my HTC g1 back in the day was able to have different colored led. Hhmm...interesting. Can't say I've ever heard this about HTC. Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
dirtyhamster73 said:
The only phone from Samsung that has a led is the gnote 2 and sgs3, I can't think of any recent (within the last few yrs) Samsung phones with led. I do know my HTC g1 back in the back was able to have different colored led. Hhmm...interesting. Can't say I've ever heard this about HTC. Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung did manage to put a RGB LED in the Nexus 10, surely at Google's behest.
Not to take away the credits, I appreciate your time and efforts.
Seems to be like squeezed out manual rather than tips.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Palla71 said:
How to change icons in the HTC Sense dock
The easiest-to-access app shortcuts of all are those in the shortcut dock, which stays on-screen in both the apps menu and your home screens.
You can choose what’s in this dock on the apps screen.
Just hold a finger down on an icon, whether in the dock or not, until the screen zooms out a little then drag it on, or off, the bar. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't working for me. When I select an icon in the dock and drag it to the top of the screen on top of the 'uninstall' nothing happens, and when I drop it onto the 'desktop', it simply replaces itself with another one in the dock. Trying to add different icons doesn't work, either. Any help appreciated. I don't use text messaging and would far prefer to have my Email and Firefox icons in there instead.
Croak said:
Is there any way to get Google Now to respond to the "Google" voice prompt like it does on other devices (including the HOX)? Kind of a pain to hit the mic icon at the top of the screen when using the One one-handed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't found a way yet to have the button launch voice search, but if you say "google" it will launch the voice search
BillTheCat said:
This isn't working for me. When I select an icon in the dock and drag it to the top of the screen on top of the 'uninstall' nothing happens, and when I drop it onto the 'desktop', it simply replaces itself with another one in the dock. Trying to add different icons doesn't work, either. Any help appreciated. I don't use text messaging and would far prefer to have my Email and Firefox icons in there instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to be in the app drawer to change the dock icons or you'll keep getting duplicates.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
jsho31 said:
You have to be in the app drawer to change the dock icons or you'll keep getting duplicates.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Took me an hour to figure this out....I swear the programmers were high when designing some of the software for sense 5..
bugsy said:
I haven't found a way yet to have the button launch voice search, but if you say "google" it will launch the voice search
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saying "Google" totally doesn't work for me, I have to hit the mic icon to voice search in Google Now.
Palla71 said:
How to take a screen grab
To take a grab, press the power button and the Home soft key at the same time.
The pic will be then saved to the phone’s gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it's Power button + volume down.
Palla71 said:
How to turn on Zoe Mode
Zoe mode is one of the key features of the HTC One.
It takes a short video clip that can also be sliced up into twenty still images.
One of the neatest parts of Zoe mode is that once it’s shared through HTC Share, a short URL is produced that makes sharing the video with friends dead simple.
It also allows re-touching, including removing objects from the video.
We’ve had trouble getting this to work properly, but you can find the feature by inspecting a Zoe vid in the gallery, tapping Edit and then Retouch.
You’ll find Object Removal in this menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this didn't tell people how to turn on HTC Zoe so, for those who aren't aware, go into Camera and at the top of the screen in the middle you'll see a small camera icon. Click it and it'll turn blue and will also display another camera icon near the bottom of the screen which says "Zoe" next to it.
Also, the best way to get the Zoe features working isn't actually by capturing a Zoe. When you're in normal camera mode, hold the bottom capture button and it will take a shutter shot. This will produce lots of pictures which were captured during the time you held the shutter button.
Once you've captured what you desired, go to edit the photo and use the editing options available to you.
Why is this easier than snapping a Zoe?
The answer's simple. Zoe shots only give you a limited amount of time and can be awkward to use some of the editing features. Using the shutter button, this isn't a problem.
Palla71 said:
How to turn off Beats Audio
Don’t like the sound of Beats Audio?
You can switch it off – as standard I’ll turn on automatically when you play music.
You’ll find the switch for the feature on the top layer of the settings menu, under the Phone subhead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's important to note that if you turn off Beats Audio, the speaker playback quality is actually quite bad. Maybe it seems worse because I'd gotten used to the effect of Beats but it definitely has a big drop in quality.
I haven't tested this through the headphones, however.
BillTheCat said:
This isn't working for me. When I select an icon in the dock and drag it to the top of the screen on top of the 'uninstall' nothing happens, and when I drop it onto the 'desktop', it simply replaces itself with another one in the dock. Trying to add different icons doesn't work, either. Any help appreciated. I don't use text messaging and would far prefer to have my Email and Firefox icons in there instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only works from the app drawer. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2235130
(I had the same issue last night, until I found the above link).
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda app-developers app
Croak said:
Is there any way to get Google Now to respond to the "Google" voice prompt like it does on other devices (including the HOX)? Kind of a pain to hit the mic icon at the top of the screen when using the One one-handed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, figured out what the problem is. Google Now disables "hotword detection" for English(Canadian), which is the default system language on my Telus One.
Switched to English (US) and it works fine now.
How to fast forward or rewind Video in stock player
Swipe 2 fingers forward (right) to fast forward. Swipe again for faster forward. Tap play to resume normal play.
Swipe 2 fingers back (left) to rewind. Swipe again for faster rewind. Tap play to resume normal play.
You forgot tap to top like on a iPhone
jaythenut said:
You forgot tap to top like on a iPhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you please explain it?
omar302 said:
Would you please explain it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're in BlinkFeed or contacts and so on touch the top of the screen in the middle where the clock is
Can someone make a module that replace the navigation and with gestures like on iPhone X? I really like the idea and I want to see it on Android .
Thanks!
+1
What would be the gesture for the back button? Swiping to the sides switches apps in the iPhone. The android ui relies on the back button.
Check all xposed modules
Sent from this galaxy
I don't know what exactly you are looking for, but have you tried Xposed Edge Pro? It is fantastic... and powerful. Probably will fit your needs.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/xposed-edgepro-v2-0-release-t3525566
Besides it Xposed Gesture Navigation also deserves a try.
rappa619 said:
What would be the gesture for the back button? Swiping to the sides switches apps in the iPhone. The android ui relies on the back button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click on the edge of the screen? Or maybe hold?
rappa619 said:
What would be the gesture for the back button? Swiping to the sides switches apps in the iPhone. The android ui relies on the back button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use swipe down on right edge center.
Up is menu.
Press and hold top is fast upwards.
Press and hold bottom is fast downwards.
Press and hold center is a pie app switching related.
Press and hold left edge center is general pie.
Press and hold bottom edge center is a pie clipboard related.
And lots of other stuff..... All with Xposed Edge Pro.
Needs Refinement
I love UI changes, so over the years I've tried things like Android Pie, Gesture control, exposed modules, and even multi window stuff all the way back in the tablet days of Android Honeycomb.
The problem is the lack of response breaks them.
When I swipe from the bottom I need instant feedback (visual/audio/haptic or all three) as to whether or not the phone thinks I'm scrolling down or going home.
When I realize I am scrolling down/going home and I want to be doing the opposite action, I need to be able to stop the gesture mid-way and reverse my action.
I need to easily be able to distinguish between the two gestures so that if I do mess up, I know what to do to get the desired result.
I need all other apps to accommodate/not request this gesture.
The iPhone does this well by having a bottom bar, you pull the bar up to go home, you swipe somewhere else to scroll. There is instant visual feedback, and the action can be stopped midway.
For Android here is a non-clone example.
1. Have a bubble/circle (looks like a chat-head) right where the home button is.
2. Swiping up behaves similar to pulling down (refreshing) on chrome/many apps. You start pulling and there is an animation but the action does execute till a certain threshold.
3. Swiping right-to-left has similar animation but for back button
4. Swiping left-to-right does the same but for multitasking
5. Long press for something else
This is not radically different from other gestures or Android Pie, but I believe the small changes and refinements would take it from being impractical to smooth and enjoyable.
I like the new iPhone X's "swipe bar" and I would love to find it on my android phone.
In my opinion a dedicated visible bar is better than "swipe on the edges".
Why? Because even "swipe on the edges" works obviously with a small area of the screen (otherwise is impossible to detect swipe gestures), but this area is transparent, which is cool but also bad: sometimes when you just tap on that area (when you're typing on the keyboard for example) an involuntary swipe is detected.
So in my opinion a visible bar like the current navigation bar is necessary.
But is definitely unneccessary such a big area!
So I imagine the perfect "swipe bar" a small, minimal and animated (when touched) area.
User should be able to map up to 4 different swipe gestures (up, right, down and left) and tap gestures (one tap, double tap, long press, ...)
I drew some concepts of the "swipe bar", what you guys think?
photos.app.goo.gl/opZhtO8aYvTB3ow92
vraciu' said:
Can someone make a module that replace the navigation and with gestures like on iPhone X? I really like the idea and I want to see it on Android .
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean something like this
Table of Contents
Preface
Requirements
Difficulty
How it works!
Uses
Autorun
Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup
Tips
Why not those easy to use apps from PlayStore?
End note.
1. PrefaceBefore getting my hands on Pixel 6, I was using a Samsung Galaxy S8 running on an Android 10 custom ROM. Samsung provides an advanced, and very useful app called Good Lock, in which the "One Hand Operation +" feature helps us to set up upto freaking 36 number of swipe gesture shortcuts, from the left and right (top, center and bottom) sides of the screen, irrespective of which screen or app is currently active on the screen.
The only thing that I was sure about missing in Pixel 6 was this swipe gestures. That's why I did my research even before receiving my Pixel. Now I've successfully implemented a replica of the Samsung's swipe gesture into my Google Pixel.
These gestures makes it very easy to use this big and heavy smartphone.
This gesture setup made it easy for me to pull up my Control Panel created in Tasker, whenever I need, irrespective of which app or screen I'm in.
2. Requirements
Tasker
Tasker terms to understand (Only for those who are new to Tasker)
TASK : An action or set of actions which will be later run by Tasker by itself, when defined conditions are met. Can also be run manually via the Tasker app.
Examples: Launch an app, change ringer volume, toggle WiFI, disable auto rotation etc.
PROJECT : An individual Tasker set up, where we define the conditions to meet, and the tasks to be performed when the defined conditions are met.
Example 1: A profile which automatically enables the auto-rotation (task), when YouTube is opened (condition), and disables auto-rotation when you leave YouTube.
Example 2: A profile which automatically enables mobile data (task), when your device is connected to your car WiFi (condition) or Android Auto.
SCENE : A visible, or invisible shape which will be displayed on the screen, and can be configured to respond to a swipe, tap or long tap on it, and then accordingly perform a pre-defined task. A scene can only be enabled (show) and disabled (destroy) through a task or a project.
Example 1: A visible button that can be displayed on the screen, or an invisible location on the screen, which disables WiFi when we long tap on it.
Example 2: A visible button that can be displayed on the screen, or an invisible location on the screen, which opens recent apps list when we swipe on it.
"If" variables to be used in scenes for assigning shortcuts, to each combination of a swipe length and a swipe direction:
%stroke_len : Defines the length of the swipe in pixels.
%stroke_dir : Defines the direction of the swipe. (Read How It Works! section)
Actions that can be performed on a scene:
Tap: A single touch ON the scene.
Long tap: Single touch & holding, ON the scene.
Stroke: A regular swipe started FROM the scene, and ended anywhere on the screen.
Don't get confused, there are NO different swipe types like long swipe, or short swipe in Tasker by default. For this project, we can mention a swipe with %stroke_len more than a user specified number as a long swipe, and a swipe shorter than that as a short swipe.
3. DifficultyYou only need to know the basics of Tasker app and scenes. If you are okay with creating, editing, showing and destroying scenes, then it's just a cakewalk.
You just need to create scenes wherever you want, then inside the tap, or long tap, or stroke tabs of your scene, add the if statements with any one of %stroke_len > or %stroke_len <, AND, %stroke_dir ~ as two conditions, and then your desired set of actions inside each if statement, between If and EndIf. (Refer Demo, Screenshots & Project Backup section)
If you are not comfortable with creating, editing, showing and destroying scenes, it will take maximum 1-2 hours to understand the same.
It is time consuming, only during the initial setup from the scratch.
After that, it is editing or adding conditions and shortcuts, again, it's just a cakewalk.
4. How it works!Using the scenes inside Tasker, we are setting up three different areas on the screen, which are, top (horizontal), left and right (vertical). Inside each scene, we can make small multiple shapes, where we can add different tasks to each portion, when we do a swipe, tap or long tap on it.
When it comes to swipe, we can define the swipe length (using %stroke_len) and the swipe direction (using %stroke_dir), where we can assign different tasks to each conditions, which are made with a pair of a swipe length and a swipe direction.
What is more interesting is that the swipe directions can be any of vertical or horizontal directions like Up, Down, Left, or Right, and also diagonal directions like UpLeft, UpRight, DownLeft and DownRight. (But try not to use vertical and diagonal directions together at a single location, as it might bring conflicts and may end up giving you wrong response because of failing to read your swipe correctly).
These gestures are NOT restricted to homescreen, but works irrespective of which screen or app is currently active on the screen (Exception: To make scenes work in Settings app, you need to Allow Screen Overlays in Settings through developer options).
5. UsesFor instance, a task (set of actions) can be assigned into a swipe gesture like short swipe to UpLeft direction, and another task to another swipe long swipe to UpRight direction, etc.
Examples:
Short swipe from left center edge in UpRight direction, opens YouTube.
Short swipe from right center edge in DownLeft direction, jump to last app.
Long tap on the top middle (1st scene) of the screen, toggles WiFi.
Long tap on the top middle (2nd scene) of the screen, toggles mobile data.
Long swipe from right top edge in Up direction, takes a screenshot.
Long swipe from right bottom edge in Down direction, kill foreground app.
6. AutorunYou can assign the same task (which is set up to show the scene), to a new profile which gets triggered on the device boot. This will make these swipe gestures enable automatically few seconds (or so) after booting your smartphone.
However, you can always open the task inside Tasker app, and click on the play button (⏵) to run the task manually, which will show the scene (or enable the swipe gestures).
Since I'm using Nova Launcher, I also added the same task to a Nova's homescreen gesture, so that I can easily restart this swipe gesture from homescreen itself, whenever required, or just after editing the scene via Tasker. This is very helpful because whenever we edit a scene via Tasker, the scene will get automatically destroyed. So every time you modify a scene, we have to manually re-enable it.
7. Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup
Demo:
Google Pixel: In this screenshot, I have mentioned all of the possibilities we have for the Pixel 6, which doesn't get into conflict with the existing system gestures provided by Google.
Others: I suggest using these kind of directions in other android devices which doesn't have native gestures like left swipe from the right edge, and right swipe from the left side edge.
Screenshots: This is the screen where we edit or add set of tasks to be performed, using if statements with conditions %stroke_len > (or %stroke_len <), AND %stroke_dir ~.
TaskerNet: Projects for Pixel 6 and Galaxy S8.
Project Backup: To start with setting up this project, if you want, you can also refer to these regularly updated backup of my setup where I included all the scenes, required task to activate the scene, and the project to autorun this setup on device boot. The folder includes files for both Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel 6. (You can refer here for assistance on how to import task and scene into your Tasker)
8. Tips
If your device (like Google Pixel) already got a native swipe gesture like left swipe from the right screen edge, and right swipe from the left screen side edge, you should not create a similar gesture via Tasker, which will conflict with your existing system gestures.
Swipe direction Down from a top horizontal scene might also end up in issues since most of the Android devices natively use the same gesture to pull down notification panel.
Try not to use vertical directions and diagonal directions together. For example, in right side, don't use Up or Down series AND UpLeft, DownLeft series together. Both these series at a single location might bring conflicts and it may end up giving you wrong response because of failing to read your swipe correctly.
Try not to avoid using tap. Instead, use long tap, to avoid accidental touches.
Always keep the size of the scenes thin, because these scene are blocking scenes which makes area behind it untouchable. So anything below the scene is, impossible to touch. (Refer tip number 8 along with this)
Always re-activate (show) the scene after making any changes, because making changes disables (destroy) the scene.
Assign the (scene enabling) task to any swipe gestures of your launcher (if any) to make restarting the gesture easy. However, you can always open the task inside Tasker app, and click on the play button (⏵) to run the task manually.
This is a workaround to make these blocking scenes hide temporarily so that we can touch whatever was behind the scene. (Thanks to user ActivateGuacamole for this idea)
Few other valuable tips for choosing the right swipe length for tasks considering their frequency of usage. (Thanks to user ActivateGuacamole for this idea)
9. Why not those easy to use apps from PlayStore?
Because Tasker is powerful. Period.
I have tried few popular gesture setting apps but I always came back to Tasker itself because of the level of control, and customization we have here. Tasker can do impressive automations, which can also be implemented into this swipe gestures, something that can't be achieved with other easy to use and ready-made gesture apps.
With this method, I can add a set of actions (not just one single action), one by one, to be performed, into one single gesture. So if I wanted to do a swipe on the screen, and then another direction swipe, and then a click on a specific area, all these automatically, I can easily do with Tasker.
Examples:
Kill and remove foreground app from recent: You can watch this screen record video which shows my simple swipe gesture running the task where Tasker automates actions (a) open recent apps list, (b) a swipe action to swipe away the app, and (c) another swipe action to go to home screen. All this within a fraction of second. Impressive. isn't it?
Clear all recent apps: In Pixel 6, clear all button is placed at the end of the list. But watch this one, a simple gesture is enough. Tasker will take care of the rest. Again, Impressive. Isn't it?
For implementing such complicated automations, advanced settings and toggling, into a swipe gesture, Tasker is the best solution.
10. End note.It took days of questions, answers, trail and errors to first understand, and then to make this thing work flawless. Me and my couple of friends really find this useful in our smartphones, so I decided to share it with you also. If you find this useful for you, go ahead. And if you think this is not worth the time and effort required, you can kindly ignore.
I, a noob, wouldn't have made this possible without receiving a help from another person. So, a big thanks to u/adbenj for the initial guide and idea.
Always remember that there is nothing in the world like suitable for everyone, so stick to whatever is suitable for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
UPDATE 1: Added TaskerNet in section "7. Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup".
Awesome information and Guide!
Thank you for taking the time to put all of this together from the Taker files themselves and then a complete and detailed write up!
.
coffee-turtle said:
Awesome information and Guide!
Thank you for taking the time to put all of this together from the Taker files themselves and then a complete and detailed write up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is not something that everyone considers worthy, because of the time and effort required for the initial setup. Most of the people might go with those free ready to use applications from Play Store. But I thought at least Tasker uses might consider this useful because they are already using the Tasker and automating lot of things like a power user, or a techie (like I pretend )
I did enjoy the whole process from research, trial & error, finishing and finally this write up.
Anyway, thanks for the nice words. It took half a day to finish this write up, after numerous editing formatting and reformatting.
Happy to know that the time that I spent for this write up didn't get wasted by mere replies like "not worthy".
Thanks
Actually, now I am replacing some apps! Tasker is great and nice to have everything under one roof with greater customizing! You should also post this on Joas main Tasker Reddit forum and consider adding the demos to TaskerNet. Not only will this get greater visibility, but a lot of action happens there especially when Joas comes up with new updates. One of his last videos really highlighted scenes because he made them even able to appear on the lock screen, navigation bar, and status bar. This will even add more power to what you present here.
Not everyone explains in such detail as you did here and you've inspired some ideas to make using my phone even easier.
Keep up your good work!
coffee-turtle said:
Not everyone explains in such detail as you did here and you've inspired some ideas to make using my phone even easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the past 3 moths, I explained this briefly to many people in Reddit via comments. So I already know what all questions may pop up when explaining this, which helped me to make this final post very detailed.
consider adding the demos to TaskerNet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is, I don't think there is a way to share the scenes via TaskerNet URLs. Only project and task can be shared via that. That's why I exported the project, required tasks and scenes, and uploaded to a shared Google Drive folder.
Will do post in Tasker subreddit also.
Anyway, thank you for your kind words
coffee-turtle said:
...and consider adding the demos to TaskerNet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
To be honest, today only I learned how to move (rather than exporting, deleting & importing) a profile, task and relevant scenes into a new project.
So finally I updated the post with TaskerNet links in section "7. Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup"
Great work Thanks!
ShebeerPrince said:
Table of Contents
Preface
Requirements
Difficulty
How it works!
Uses
Autorun
Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup
Tips
Why not those easy to use apps from PlayStore?
End note.
1. PrefaceBefore getting my hands on Pixel 6, I was using a Samsung Galaxy S8 running on an Android 10 custom ROM. Samsung provides an advanced, and very useful app called Good Lock, in which the "One Hand Operation +" feature helps us to set up upto freaking 36 number of swipe gesture shortcuts, from the left and right (top, center and bottom) sides of the screen, irrespective of which screen or app is currently active on the screen.
The only thing that I was sure about missing in Pixel 6 was this swipe gestures. That's why I did my research even before receiving my Pixel. Now I've successfully implemented a replica of the Samsung's swipe gesture into my Google Pixel.
These gestures makes it very easy to use this big and heavy smartphone.
This gesture setup made it easy for me to pull up my Control Panel created in Tasker, whenever I need, irrespective of which app or screen I'm in.
2. Requirements
Tasker
Tasker terms to understand (Only for those who are new to Tasker)
TASK : An action or set of actions which will be later run by Tasker by itself, when defined conditions are met. Can also be run manually via the Tasker app.
Examples: Launch an app, change ringer volume, toggle WiFI, disable auto rotation etc.
PROJECT : An individual Tasker set up, where we define the conditions to meet, and the tasks to be performed when the defined conditions are met.
Example 1: A profile which automatically enables the auto-rotation (task), when YouTube is opened (condition), and disables auto-rotation when you leave YouTube.
Example 2: A profile which automatically enables mobile data (task), when your device is connected to your car WiFi (condition) or Android Auto.
SCENE : A visible, or invisible shape which will be displayed on the screen, and can be configured to respond to a swipe, tap or long tap on it, and then accordingly perform a pre-defined task. A scene can only be enabled (show) and disabled (destroy) through a task or a project.
Example 1: A visible button that can be displayed on the screen, or an invisible location on the screen, which disables WiFi when we long tap on it.
Example 2: A visible button that can be displayed on the screen, or an invisible location on the screen, which opens recent apps list when we swipe on it.
"If" variables to be used in scenes for assigning shortcuts, to each combination of a swipe length and a swipe direction:
%stroke_len : Defines the length of the swipe in pixels.
%stroke_dir : Defines the direction of the swipe. (Read How It Works! section)
Actions that can be performed on a scene:
Tap: A single touch ON the scene.
Long tap: Single touch & holding, ON the scene.
Stroke: A regular swipe started FROM the scene, and ended anywhere on the screen.
Don't get confused, there are NO different swipe types like long swipe, or short swipe in Tasker by default. For this project, we can mention a swipe with %stroke_len more than a user specified number as a long swipe, and a swipe shorter than that as a short swipe.
3. DifficultyYou only need to know the basics of Tasker app and scenes. If you are okay with creating, editing, showing and destroying scenes, then it's just a cakewalk.
You just need to create scenes wherever you want, then inside the tap, or long tap, or stroke tabs of your scene, add the if statements with any one of %stroke_len > or %stroke_len <, AND, %stroke_dir ~ as two conditions, and then your desired set of actions inside each if statement, between If and EndIf. (Refer Demo, Screenshots & Project Backup section)
If you are not comfortable with creating, editing, showing and destroying scenes, it will take maximum 1-2 hours to understand the same.
It is time consuming, only during the initial setup from the scratch.
After that, it is editing or adding conditions and shortcuts, again, it's just a cakewalk.
4. How it works!Using the scenes inside Tasker, we are setting up three different areas on the screen, which are, top (horizontal), left and right (vertical). Inside each scene, we can make small multiple shapes, where we can add different tasks to each portion, when we do a swipe, tap or long tap on it.
When it comes to swipe, we can define the swipe length (using %stroke_len) and the swipe direction (using %stroke_dir), where we can assign different tasks to each conditions, which are made with a pair of a swipe length and a swipe direction.
What is more interesting is that the swipe directions can be any of vertical or horizontal directions like Up, Down, Left, or Right, and also diagonal directions like UpLeft, UpRight, DownLeft and DownRight. (But try not to use vertical and diagonal directions together at a single location, as it might bring conflicts and may end up giving you wrong response because of failing to read your swipe correctly).
These gestures are NOT restricted to homescreen, but works irrespective of which screen or app is currently active on the screen (Exception: To make scenes work in Settings app, you need to Allow Screen Overlays in Settings through developer options).
5. UsesFor instance, a task (set of actions) can be assigned into a swipe gesture like short swipe to UpLeft direction, and another task to another swipe long swipe to UpRight direction, etc.
Examples:
Short swipe from left center edge in UpRight direction, opens YouTube.
Short swipe from right center edge in DownLeft direction, jump to last app.
Long tap on the top middle (1st scene) of the screen, toggles WiFi.
Long tap on the top middle (2nd scene) of the screen, toggles mobile data.
Long swipe from right top edge in Up direction, takes a screenshot.
Long swipe from right bottom edge in Down direction, kill foreground app.
6. AutorunYou can assign the same task (which is set up to show the scene), to a new profile which gets triggered on the device boot. This will make these swipe gestures enable automatically few seconds (or so) after booting your smartphone.
However, you can always open the task inside Tasker app, and click on the play button (⏵) to run the task manually, which will show the scene (or enable the swipe gestures).
Since I'm using Nova Launcher, I also added the same task to a Nova's homescreen gesture, so that I can easily restart this swipe gesture from homescreen itself, whenever required, or just after editing the scene via Tasker. This is very helpful because whenever we edit a scene via Tasker, the scene will get automatically destroyed. So every time you modify a scene, we have to manually re-enable it.
7. Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup
Demo:
Google Pixel: In this screenshot, I have mentioned all of the possibilities we have for the Pixel 6, which doesn't get into conflict with the existing system gestures provided by Google.
Others: I suggest using these kind of directions in other android devices which doesn't have native gestures like left swipe from the right edge, and right swipe from the left side edge.
Screenshots: This is the screen where we edit or add set of tasks to be performed, using if statements with conditions %stroke_len > (or %stroke_len <), AND %stroke_dir ~.
TaskerNet: Projects for Pixel 6 and Galaxy S8.
Project Backup: To start with setting up this project, if you want, you can also refer to these regularly updated backup of my setup where I included all the scenes, required task to activate the scene, and the project to autorun this setup on device boot. The folder includes files for both Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel 6. (You can refer here for assistance on how to import task and scene into your Tasker)
8. Tips
If your device (like Google Pixel) already got a native swipe gesture like left swipe from the right screen edge, and right swipe from the left screen side edge, you should not create a similar gesture via Tasker, which will conflict with your existing system gestures.
Swipe direction Down from a top horizontal scene might also end up in issues since most of the Android devices natively use the same gesture to pull down notification panel.
Try not to use vertical directions and diagonal directions together. For example, in right side, don't use Up or Down series AND UpLeft, DownLeft series together. Both these series at a single location might bring conflicts and it may end up giving you wrong response because of failing to read your swipe correctly.
Try not to avoid using tap. Instead, use long tap, to avoid accidental touches.
Always keep the size of the scenes thin, because these scene are blocking scenes which makes area behind it untouchable. So anything below the scene is, impossible to touch. (Refer tip number 8 along with this)
Always re-activate (show) the scene after making any changes, because making changes disables (destroy) the scene.
Assign the (scene enabling) task to any swipe gestures of your launcher (if any) to make restarting the gesture easy. However, you can always open the task inside Tasker app, and click on the play button (⏵) to run the task manually.
This is a workaround to make these blocking scenes hide temporarily so that we can touch whatever was behind the scene. (Thanks to user ActivateGuacamole for this idea)
Few other valuable tips for choosing the right swipe length for tasks considering their frequency of usage. (Thanks to user ActivateGuacamole for this idea)
9. Why not those easy to use apps from PlayStore?
Because Tasker is powerful. Period.
I have tried few popular gesture setting apps but I always came back to Tasker itself because of the level of control, and customization we have here. Tasker can do impressive automations, which can also be implemented into this swipe gestures, something that can't be achieved with other easy to use and ready-made gesture apps.
With this method, I can add a set of actions (not just one single action), one by one, to be performed, into one single gesture. So if I wanted to do a swipe on the screen, and then another direction swipe, and then a click on a specific area, all these automatically, I can easily do with Tasker.
Examples:
Kill and remove foreground app from recent: You can watch this screen record video which shows my simple swipe gesture running the task where Tasker automates actions (a) open recent apps list, (b) a swipe action to swipe away the app, and (c) another swipe action to go to home screen. All this within a fraction of second. Impressive. isn't it?
Clear all recent apps: In Pixel 6, clear all button is placed at the end of the list. But watch this one, a simple gesture is enough. Tasker will take care of the rest. Again, Impressive. Isn't it?
For implementing such complicated automations, advanced settings and toggling, into a swipe gesture, Tasker is the best solution.
10. End note.It took days of questions, answers, trail and errors to first understand, and then to make this thing work flawless. Me and my couple of friends really find this useful in our smartphones, so I decided to share it with you also. If you find this useful for you, go ahead. And if you think this is not worth the time and effort required, you can kindly ignore.
I, a noob, wouldn't have made this possible without receiving a help from another person. So, a big thanks to u/adbenj for the initial guide and idea.
.
UPDATE 1: Added TaskerNet in section "7. Demo, screenshots, TaskerNet & project backup".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey so i want to know how much extra battery this costs running.
And also i want to make some sort of simillar gesture swipe thing. i am wondering if via tasker i could do the following: keeping the regular side swipe horizontal to be back, and long swipe for previous app. but then also having the side gest. to be an app shortcut based on the current app running. so maybe like when youtube is running i can swipe up to open notes and write something down and then via previous app i am back to youtube. but when i am on the work app i can vertically swipe to bring the time tracker app. or a swipe down for the google maps route to home. etc. etc.
how would i manage to do this?
I am using a poco f2 pro if that matters and not rooted.