[Think tank] Map menu long press to keyboard (not search) - Vibrant Android Development

Since the vibrant doesn't have a secondary input like most android devices, it's even more vital that we have unfettered access to the keyboard and its soft arrow keys. Unfortunately long pressing the menu button in some applications (notably the browser) brings up SEARCH rather than the keyboard by itself. That means no arrow keys for text selection or link highlighting.
This has been discussed previously in general at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=776792
How difficult would it be to remap the long press of the menu key to bring up the keyboard by itself?

After researching it some on my own, it looks like I need to come up with a way to call showSoftInput() from one of the softkeys. It'd be ideal if I could get that to happen on menu long press, but if that's too far buried in proprietary configuration I'd settle for replacing the google voice search app mapped to the Search button long press.
Anyone have any tips on mapping system functions to a hardware key normally used for app launching? The lack of any keyboard in the browser is seriously inhibiting my ability to use this phone.

Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

fit333 said:
Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, buth then you have to use dxtop. *non fan of dxtop*

fit333 said:
Dxtop pro does this, and long press back is tasks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dxtop takes over the long press of buttons only in the home screen context, and it doesn't use any of them to launch the keyboard. Plus there's no way to configure any of it so it's not really the same at all.
What I'm looking for is to alter one of the long press actions in a system-wide way to launch the soft keyboard.

cbisquit said:
After researching it some on my own, it looks like I need to come up with a way to call showSoftInput() from one of the softkeys. It'd be ideal if I could get that to happen on menu long press, but if that's too far buried in proprietary configuration I'd settle for replacing the google voice search app mapped to the Search button long press.
Anyone have any tips on mapping system functions to a hardware key normally used for app launching? The lack of any keyboard in the browser is seriously inhibiting my ability to use this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried emailing Anderweb? ADW launcher intercepts the home button. You might be able to do something similar. It might only work on the home screen though, as his app is running there. For a system wide thing you might need to mod the underlying OS files, framework maybe? I'm not sure where that stuff launches. You could try asking one of the Cyanogen devs, they might have found it. They add stuff to the power button long press menu at least.

Certain apps (Visual Task Switcher and Itching Thumb) remap the search and home buttons to open themselves. I imagine this same idea could be used for the menu button, but I've never seen it.
I don't always complain, but when I do, I #BlameWes

some success...
Well I got a little app to work at opening the keyboard on long press of the SEARCH key. I don't want to override the home function, which is what ADW for instance does. The only other button that has an available intent as far as I can tell is search. This is my first java anything, so I wouldn't expect much out of it (it may not even work on anyone's phone but mine) but maybe someone with better android chops can use it as a proof-of-concept for what I was thinking. Install it and when you long press the search key you can choose "Search for Keyboard!"
One pretty major caveat... the swype soft cursor doesn't act anything like I'd wanted when I was envisioning this. There's no "execute" button that works like a click, so while you can use the soft arrows to select links it's not gonna do you much good. Also there's no way to effectively use "select text" in the browser. Concept 2, if I ever get around to it, would probably be more like a replacement touchpad area below the current application window.

i would like to see an app to remap long press menu on my i9000, anyone has success? thx

Another reason to ditch Samsung firmware and use AOSP-based ROMs, like CyanogenMod or MIUI.
FYI, nearly every "ROM" made for Galaxy S phones are Samsung firmware. They're not built from source like ROMs for other decent Android phones, they are just original Samsung builds being modified like nuts. And they use the same Samsung framework (though usually customized for themes and removing of annoyances like battery-full popup), and usually still include most of Samsung's stupid fixes that make their Galaxy S system software the most different in structure compared to any other Android system.
By using AOSP firmware like CyanogenMod and MIUI, these problems (like menu-button keyboard binding getting screwed up by Samsung) don't exist, because they were never present in official Android release. When problems do come up for AOSP, they get fixed quick because the source code is actually available.
Summarized process of development:
Samsung-based ROMs: What's broken or runs like ****? Try to fix it. Hack hack hack, hope it works, if it fails try again. Submit to XDA
CyanogenMod (in general): If there is a problem, try to fix it. Write code, build, test. Make sure it works before putting it in "stable" branch. After that think of brand new useful feature to implement, code it, bug test a lot, request it to be used in official releases or just make your own CyanogenMod-based ROM with your own enhancements, like BiffMod for the HTC Dream.
Btw, the reason why Samsung put this keybind is because the original international Galaxy S doesn't have a dedicated search key, so they set the search function up with the menu button. Our problem is that Samsung was a lazyass and forgot to change back that binding to the original for the Vibrant, which does have a dedicated search button and doesn't need the menu binding to search.

But aosp roms have other problems like poor 3d performance and no gps/compass. If the issues get worked out, I suspect many devs will be switching to aosp builds.

Related

The useless "Search" soft key.

Any apps to make it open something else?
Thanks.
there are plenty
quicksettings
quickdesk
handcent sms
are a few off the top of my head
i used to have a bunch more, but i have since uninstalled after trying nearly all the apps i want to try
(these will allow you to launch them by long press. i dont know if you can replace the short press)
Pretty sure short press is not easily changed. With froyo though longpress opens Google voice commands.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Nice.
Thank you.
id be interested in a kernel or rom that would allow this to be changed. long press on menu opens search so why a seperate key that can be usefull as something else? can any of those apps change the short press? ive only seen long press on search and on home.
I use visual task switcher and assigned the long press of the search key to bring up a list of currently running apps. Pretty handy.
I installed "screen lock" and assigned it to screen lock to take some stress off the power button.
I don't remember where, but I found a post somewhere on how to change it, short press on mine opens camera.
Button Shortcut in the market.
Sent from my Captivate.
Dani897 said:
id be interested in a kernel or rom that would allow this to be changed. long press on menu opens search so why a seperate key that can be usefull as something else? can any of those apps change the short press? ive only seen long press on search and on home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AReynante said:
I don't remember where, but I found a post somewhere on how to change it, short press on mine opens camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, this is an old thread, for those interested dragon remaps the key as camera launch.
can be done in button remapper. also touch jestures can be mapped as keys in galay tuner.
for people who want to get custom and dont see the otions they want in button remapper, i think the key table is in /system/usr/keylayout/s3c-keypad.kl
this is good for fixing i9000 roms (partially) when no kernel is available for those who want to try samsung gingerbread
I like the long press for google voice search. Thanks for the idea.
If you end up flashing a ROM, CM7 has a way to change the search key in the settings menu
I took a look at the system/usr/keylayout/s3c-keypad.kl file but I'm having trouble figuring it out. Anyone know how to get more info on it? Would love to map QuickDesk to it
Dani897 said:
wow, this is an old thread, for those interested dragon remaps the key as camera launch.
can be done in button remapper. also touch jestures can be mapped as keys in galay tuner.
for people who want to get custom and dont see the otions they want in button remapper, i think the key table is in /system/usr/keylayout/s3c-keypad.kl
this is good for fixing i9000 roms (partially) when no kernel is available for those who want to try samsung gingerbread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK.. I have the issue, seems quite random with the Search button. Am wondering if it is related to moisture from my palm (right-handed)... not sure. Will have to try the rice trick.
Have also taken a look at the remapping option, but don't seem to have write permissions to any of the files, much less, what values to place in the file(s).
Any assistance would be appreciated on teh edit option.
BTW: Captivate with CM7.1 (and a functional GPS after a number of patch/fixes applied)
cm7 has this option.

[REQ] Trackball Home Button

I think having the trackball function as the home button would be a feature many would like to have. Any developer out there willing to take on this function?
What would be the point of the actual home button then? This seems pointless
what would be more useful is if the trackball can be programmed for stuff then we can use it to launch apps and do all sorts of things.
PhantomRampage said:
What would be the point of the actual home button then? This seems pointless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 3 things for my home button now, Quickdesk on dubbletap, recent apps on hold in, and singletap for launcher pro. for me it would be awesome to have quicker access to the recent apps, by putting the home to the trackball. and have recent apps on single click. wouldnt hurt to have the option. and it should also be available to bind the trackball click to anything u like.
I agree, or trackball to answer a call, I don't use the trackball that much.
Creating a service to run in the background wouldn't be too hard to do. The only problem is that you wouldn't be able to use your trackball to select links in the browser, for example. Good in theory, wouldn't work great in practise i don't think.
Here are the reasons why this would be a great function, and how it should go down:
The capacitive home button is not as responsive as it should be. I think we all use it A LOT, so making sure it worked perfectly everytime would be awesome. Especially when accessing "recent apps" and long pressing the home button, the capacitive button will occasionally take you home before you see your recent apps.
Double tapping can be incorporated into the home button. With the capacitive button, double tapping it has an almost 50% chance of failure. The trackball home button would fix this.
I don't know about you guys, but I usually dont use the trackball to select things on the screen. Touching it is so much easier. The trackball would be much more usefull for notifications, scrolling, and as a home button.
I agree with a previous poster, the trackball should be given to option to route to anywhere the user would like it to... Though I don't know what else there is to route to...
The ACTUAL home button can also be routed to anything the user would like. Maybe to recent apps, changing of brightness, a favorite app, an alternate launcher... ANYTHING.
This is all hypothetical of course, and as a non-dev, I actually have no clue how hard or easy this would be to create.
But what do you guys think? I know this a feature that would be really useful to me at least, and sound like some other people too.
sorry, there was a double post due to the server upgrades/issues on XDA.
Sorry to revive an ancient thread.
My N1 had a broken trackball, and in the process of replacing it i managed to kill both my home button and my seach button.
I can live without the seach, but not without the home.
Is there any progress on this topic ?
tia
John_duh said:
Sorry to revive an ancient thread.
My N1 had a broken trackball, and in the process of replacing it i managed to kill both my home button and my seach button.
I can live without the seach, but not without the home.
Is there any progress on this topic ?
tia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never mind, it was a software problem caused by an incomplete flash. (wiped everything separately, but that wasn't sufficient. Returning to factory settings did the trick)
All I want is trackball to blink beautifully for me!
That's all, baby.
+1
I would also like trackball mods such as
double tap to go to an app and other tap patterns for the trackball

Remap double press of home button

Hello,
I have tried Nova Launcher and Xposed Additions pro and nothing seems able to allow me to COMPLETELY map at all times "double press of home = applications list"
I don't care how "evil" it is, I want my iphone and my android to behave identically. - If you told me I'd want this a year ago, I wouldn't believe you - but alas I NEED to use an iphone as my secondary phone, regularly.
I _REALLY_ want double press home to be "recent app list" at ALL times.
It's inconsistent under Nova Launcher.
Under Xposed Additions ($4 no less,.. thank god for refunds) I can only choose to launch an application, not do a hard function (show recent app list)
Yes, I've completely disabled S-Voice, I couldn't care less about Google Now - that's disabled too (I think)
Help!? someone - what do I need to do, to make this work, ***consistently***.
Note: at least Nova Launcher allows me to swipe down to bring up the recent app search.
You have a capacitive button for that. Don't think many people will come to your aid on this. You could try playing around in the keyboard XML and see if you can do some experimenting to get what you want.

Back, Home and Recents buttons?

Hello,
after the sources for the Z2 Pro have been released and good Custom ROMs are possible, I would love to buy this beautiful device. I've read alot about this U-Touch thing, where you navigate only by using the Home Button... and I don't like it. So my question is: Does this phone also have the normal Back, Home and Recents hardware buttons?
Thanks!
Hi,
Yes, you can add on screen buttons in "Developer Options" menu. At least you can do it with z2 (non pro). I guess you will have this option too.
So there are no "real" hardware buttons to the left and the right of the home button?
On screen buttons are in developer options in both models, make sure you reboot to effect the changes.
Thanks for your answers. I know about the possiblity to show the On Screen Buttons, but that's not what I wanted to know.
I'm curious if the device also has dedicated hardware buttons (not on screen) for Back and Recents, or just the U-Touch button?
It only has 1 physical button on the front..
I'd love to see an app or even integration in a custom rom to be able to configure the behaviour of the front button. What are the chances this will become reality?
It already lets you configure what the button does. You can also preset actions to open specific apps.
Karly Johnston said:
It already lets you configure what the button does. You can also preset actions to open specific apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But that is in the ZUI ROM right? I'd like to see this in a separate app or built into custom ROM so it can also be used outside ZUI.
Now that the sources are available someone who knows what he is doing should be able to pull this off.
Is there a way to make swipe left on the u-touch button act like a back button? Maybe there would be a way to have it open an scripted action that acts as back button?
Edit: Just figured out that short tap is back, so my problem is solved!
Thanks, this helped me out!
I'm looking for a phone with this same exact button. I'm always super stunned how retarded iphones are compared to my $200 phone.

remap s-pen button

Anyone ever heard of a way to remap the button on the S Pen?
I rarely use the Air menu in fact I actually disabled it in options.
I do however use the pen in my hand probably 95% of the time, I love the precision as well as having the ability to hover over something without clicking it like a mouse can.
My only thought is that it would be amazing to be able to press the button and have it register as a tap at the current location instead of having it pop up in the air menu.
I also would love to be able to modify that SVG Circle that Prince the current pin location on screen to something more visible and possibly add a trail or something. I'm guessing this would require rooting. I am a long time desktop developer but this is my first time really delving into Android and I have noticed so many hidden services and apps that I would love to kill but I can't so it looks like I may have to root anyway.
That prints* sorry I tried to edit the typos but the save wouldn't send. I'm assuming my you block extension here is blocking some script. I've pretty much disabled 90% of the functionality on this phone just to help secure it that's another thing I need to look into browser security.
+1 on remapping the pen button
bober10113 said:
+1 on remapping the pen button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think there's a lot of potential for some really helpful and amazing functions. First time I used this and noticed it could track on screen without touch I thought that was something very special. And then when I found that it could register a button press while hovering I immediately thought of thousand applications for this.
Just one off the top of my head. Imagine having an actual useful text to clipboard function where you simply hover the cursor over text you wanted and click the button to highlight and let go of button to stop highlighting. It would make copying text on the phone just like using a mouse. I am so sick of having to long press and stay completely still for the damn thing to register. We shouldn't have to do that with this s pen.
I have tried before on rooted note 3 to remap the s pen button but the phone didn't recognize the command... always pop up s pen menu. I think surely you need root before trying or try adb push.
Regards
Conito, I would love to hear more in-depth description of your attempt to remap it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gmd.spencontrol
this might be an option if you have rooted your phone.
it doesn't outright remap your button, but does let you execute commands by drawing lines or symbols while holding the button.
I haven't tested it since the note 2 though because I no longer root devices.
I have even wrote to Samsung asking for this. I want to be able to remap it for the eye dropper to when I'm drawing. It's set as the eraser from Samsung so hopefully someone will one day find a way to at least change the default tool (eraser) That might be easier than a whole other app or something.
cricketpaddleinmyhand said:
Conito, I would love to hear more in-depth description of your attempt to remap it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry mate you have to quote, I didn't see your post until now.
I just try to remap with applications like xposed additions and stuff like that. But the app didn't recognize when I pressed the button. So the only thing we can do is get into the app that manage the spen command and edit it with tools or things like that. I remember that some guy in the note 3 forum develop a simple app that can launch that application. So maybe that could be the solution: edit the behavior of the original spencommand app.
My best regards.

Categories

Resources