[Q] Tactile stickers/decals for non-illuminated standards "android" buttons?
Hello,
I find it really annoying that I can't feel or see the standard four "android" buttons at night. Has anyone found aftermarket stickers or decals that I can place over the buttons to provide some tactile feedback in the dark? I can't find anything like this anywhere.
Thanks
I like the idea of some type of vinyl decal or something. Put that on and then put a screen protector on top of it maybe... Anyway, seems like someone would make something.
I also like the idea of making them backlit.
Other people have dealt with this various ways including glueing stuff to the android buttons.
And another person superglued some tubing to the side of the tablet...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=948313
And someone else used glow in the dark puffy paint...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12306949&postcount=9
I wish there was a mod to add some kind of LED underneath.
Or install button savior. Not as convenient, but very easy to use.
I'm using TnT Lite and it has soft buttons on the screen, which definitely are convenient. I was mainly wanting this for the tactile feel.
If we were to scratch the paint off of the back if the buttons and then punch a little hole in the seal around the screen maybe that would allow enough light to bleed through to light em up.
but what would I know. Haven't even got mine yet. :'(
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
I was at Office Max tonight and I picked up some clear hole reinforcements. These are the little sticky rings you put on paper when the punch hole has torn out but you want them to stay in the binder. Turns out they are just the right size to go over the buttons and cheap so you can mess up and put them on many times over.
The button labels are a little to the right of center. From a foot away you can't see the rings at all (probably even less if I had cleaned the tablet good before sticking them on). And you can "feel" the buttons very easily. Now on the other hand, feeling them can push them if you aren't careful. Running your finger up the screen edge (not the device edge) seems to work best.
Cheap to try and simple to reverse if you don't like it.
that idea looks like a winner to me, unless someone is making glow in the dark stickers resembling those icons
I was in a computer store the other day and saw "glow in the dark" keyboard stickers. They were in a few florescent looking colors.
Not cheap, but I was in a mood to spend money so I bought them. I figured an arrow key on the back button, the "Home" button on the home key and then use two generic keys for Menu and search.
Unfortunately, they don't really glow in the dark! They "catch" light off the monitor the keyboard is sitting in front of. Of course, on the tablets on a plane the monitor is shooting the light in the right direction. So if there is any ambient light you can see them. But if you really are in the dark, nada.
Also they look kind of tacky. Part of that is that I'm not artistic and so I didn't get them as lined up as someone crafty would. But even then they look tacky. On top of that I am now afraid to give it a good spray with cleaner. So I think they are coming off but thought I'd take a picture first.
The clear hole stickers I mentioned earlier are not very useful either because you have to "feel" them and if you feel the buttons you've pressed them so too late.
By the way the picture also shows a Skinomi screen protector on. Crystal clear except for one blemish on the far left side off the visible part of the screen
Picture is a little fuzzy but you get the idea.
http://www.myglowkeys.com/
Of course, I didn't read the FAQ online in the store (smart phone, duh). It clearly says there that they don't really glow. You'd think the packaging would have to reflect that.
My solution was to take a razor blade and make an ever so slight cut into the plastic bordering the screen. I made two, one next to the home button and one next to the back button. Now when I need to find a button in the dark I just slide my thumb down the side and feel for the nick in the plastic. The "damage" to the plastic is imperceptible and it doesn't limit the cases I can use down the line (the way gluing those buttons on the side would).
wd5gnr said:
The clear hole stickers I mentioned earlier are not very useful either because you have to "feel" them and if you feel the buttons you've pressed them so too late.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not stick them on the side next to the buttons instead over the buttons ?
Why not just get the glow in the dark stars package?
LEDs backlight for the Android keys
cobrast6 said:
I wish there was a mod to add some kind of LED underneath.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A user here modded his Gtablet (which is now my Gtablet) to include LED backlighting.
His write-up on the mod is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=899132&highlight=LEDs
- Michael
Button Savior placement
I've been pleased with using Button Savior, not for it's buttons, but for it's placement. I position it in line with the menu button, which makes it very easy to know where the Home, Menu, and Back are. Free and clean, though I do sometimes inadvertently trigger the Button Savior menu.
I would prefer a way to disable these buttons because i am always touch the search button by accident
adam714 said:
I would prefer a way to disable these buttons because i am always touch the search button by accident
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search Button Remapper on market.
Related
I usually just lurk on these forums as I am completely new to android and still just getting to barely understand the basics. To thank everyone here for this tremendous redource, i wanted to share my solution forfinding the tablet buttons in the dark . I have some 1/8th automotive pinstriping that I use to mark my rock climbing gear. It's very durable but can easily be chipped off with a fingernail without leaving any residue. It's also thick enough that you can easily feel it with your fingertip. I put strips running from front to back in line where each button sits with a tiny bit overhanging the lip on the screen. if you cut it right you can feel the edge if you run your finger along the lip but it won't peel off if you get it right. Just be careful if you clean the screen with a microfiber cloth because it will snag on the edges. So noe ican feel where the buttons line up in the dark and my g tab has some wicked yet functional racing stripes. I went with reflective orange. i hear it adds a couple of ghz to the processor speed like flourescent paint adds hp to civics.
I hope someone finds this useful. I wouldn't have bothered buying this tablet if I hadn't learned from this forum about all the cool stuff i could do, and since have done to it. Many thanks to all of you for your hard work and continued enthusiasim.
I'm actually used to where the buttons are. I don't need to see them anymore to use them. In the dark, I hit it 95% of the time first time nowadays.
hey, i think that's a great idea. a fix that will work for users who don't want to mod the gtab in order to add LEDs.
would an autoparts store have that 1/8in pinstripe? i wonder how well it would go on over a skinomi?
@ffastfzr
Could you post some pics? Id really like to see what this looks like. It sounds like a great idea.
I'll see what I can do
The pinstriping is available at auto parts stores. It will stick to a clear coat on a car and pretty much anything you else you stick it to. So it should stick to a skin. I ordered mine online because I wanted highly reflective bright orange. Like I said I had it for my rock climbing gear. you get a distinctive color and size and then you wrap a little stripe on each piece of your gear like carabiners so your climbing partners don't walk away with them. The joke is that you trust your partners to hold the rope and potentially save your life, but you don't trust them to not walk off with your gear.
I'll take a couple of pics and post as soon as I can. My firm is having networking issues and I am about to get kicked offline until this evening.
pics of pinstriping
Sorry, DISASTER at work followed up with a case of lyme disease complete with 2 weeks worth of industrial strength antibiotics. My luck could certainly be better. Anyway, pics are attached. Sorry they aren't they greatest.
Button Savior is alot easier
button savior is nice. I also find that in the dark, hitting the back button is easy if you just put your thumb on the side of the screen and just slide it up. When it hits the back button, just stop
gpzjack said:
Button Savior is alot easier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Button savoir combined with Quick Boot, both free in the market can handle all the process of both the soft keys and the power button functions easily..
I like this Idea, if I switch to a rom other than VEGAn Ginger which has soft keys on the bottom I may try it out.
Hi, Im trying to block the backlight of the buttons in my vibrant. Those leds are really bright and using the phone at night is not comfortable.
I searched for a app to let me do this, but it appears its not possible at this time.
So the next logic step is block them with something...
Does anyone have tried using tape or something?
Maybe a screen protector with the bottom blacked out? (if it exist please point me out where to find it)
Blocking the light internally?
What have you guys done to accomplish this?
Those buttons come on when you're messing with the phone. Set the screen timeout to 15 seconds, and use ur finger until it goes off. Or you could push the power button and the screen wll go out. Why would u want to cover these buttons during use anyway tho???
crxforya said:
Those buttons come on when you're messing with the phone. Set the screen timeout to 15 seconds, and use ur finger until it goes off. Or you could push the power button and the screen wll go out. Why would u want to cover these buttons during use anyway tho???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's not alone in wanting the capacitive button LEDs to turn off. They're simply too bright when used in complete darkness. I've been looking for a way to keep them off permanently. It's not too difficult to remember the position of 4 buttons, only 3 of which see any regular use.
I've been asking about this, and no one seems to give a rats butt about it. The best that I can offer you(advice) is to use a 2.2.1 rom, as it seems in those roms, the Softkey backlight only comes on when you touch the softkeys and not when you interact with the screen. Bi-Winning does this, and most likely all of the 2.2.1 roms do. I wish I had the patience to work with android, but I can't ever finish what I start.
Also one thing i noticed on my phone today, when I press or hold the softkeys, the one I touch turns off. So the buttons have separate LED's for each button. But I don't know if when they turn off from being pressed if that is a hardware control or a software control. Same as the Softkey lighting up when you hit a softkey.
I also made a post about why the softkey backlighting reacts different in 2.2.1 vs 2.2 but no one replied to it.
CyanogenMod 7 also has this kind of softkey behavior. They only light up when you touch then, not when you interact with the screen.
Well here's an idea but it won't look the best. You buy a screen protector like Realook. You also buy tinted 3M tape to your preference.
Now, cut a section of the tinted 3M tape so that it fits over where the buttons are. Once you have this cut out, put it on the bottom. Now, Apply the screen protector on top. It will keep it in place and dim the softkeys up to your preference.
Another perhaps easier solution: Get a normal screen protector. Mark where the touchkeys would be when applied, go on its adhesive side with a black market and black them out exactly. Then apply it normally. It will not completely block the keys but it will SEVERELY dim them. And if done carefully, should look relatively good.
If you are that set on doing it, it's an option. Another option is physically opening the phone to the point where you find the diodes that lit these keys and putting the 3M tinted tape there. That WILL look proffesional but is a rather involved process.
Choice is yours. I don't think any programs or ROMs have support for what you want.
I
Metzenw said:
I've been asking about this, and no one seems to give a rats butt about it. The best that I can offer you(advice) is to use a 2.2.1 rom, as it seems in those roms, the Softkey backlight only comes on when you touch the softkeys and not when you interact with the screen. Bi-Winning does this, and most likely all of the 2.2.1 roms do. I wish I had the patience to work with android, but I can't ever finish what I start.
Also one thing i noticed on my phone today, when I press or hold the softkeys, the one I touch turns off. So the buttons have separate LED's for each button. But I don't know if when they turn off from being pressed if that is a hardware control or a software control. Same as the Softkey lighting up when you hit a softkey.
I also made a post about why the softkey backlighting reacts different in 2.2.1 vs 2.2 but no one replied to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on bi winning and it doesn't light up as long as you don't touch the led softkeys
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I think Gelaskins sells vinyl-esque appliques that can be applied over the area in question. I had one made for a Nexus S, and it came with the back applique (which I expected) and then two front pieces for above and below the screen.
You can buy a pre-made skin, or make your own using your own graphics.
http://gelaskins.com/store/skins/phones/Galaxy_S_Vibrant_US
And I'm pretty sure that, since they're vinyl-esque, it doesn't impair your ability to use the buttons.
Alright, so it seems, just flash a 2.2.1 rom or Gingerbread, and that will take care of your backlighting issue. They will still come on when you press the softkeys, but not when you touch the screen, which is what i want, so... what Alienz posted as about all you can do.
This is what I do:
1) Grab a Post-it note and scissors.
2) Cut a strip from the adhesive long enough to cover all four buttons.
3) Enjoy an effective 0.01ยข solution
electrical tape
Try the app called LEDs Hack (root only) from the market.
Sent from my LG-P999
Just took another look at that app myself. Should be exactly what you're looking for. It supports the Vibrant and it can be set to automatically disable the lights on a schedule.
Sent from my LG-P999
Well I just tried the above app on SGSII clone and it just force closes. Thanks for the effort though. Think I'm just moving back to a 2.2.1 rom. Damn I loved SGSII though.
I tried the LEDs Hack app from market and force close in bionix 1.3.1. Gonna try running bionix 2.2.1 and see if this do what you guys say... only light the button when I press the button but not when I press the screen.
I absolutely hate phones that don't have at least one physical button near the thumb (a-la iPhone).
This is what originally drew my to the SGSII.
So, I've been wondering, what is the thinking behind removing it and using the 4 "touch screen" buttons in it's place?
Is there some sort of market research that states American's don't like the button?
Is that why the vast majority of Android devices only have the "touch" buttons?
They don't want to look like iPhone
^^ and make Apple's case of shameless copying against Samsung even stronger!
Is that the official/real reason?
I personally like the screen to have no holes at all, like in Optimus Black.
In my opinion the hole for home button and top speaker in phones attract dirt and maybe make the screen less stronger.
But, I wonder what happens when touching home accidentally, will it show lock screen? If it is physical button you cannot push it accidentally. It must be frustrating that the screen is always awake when home is touched.
From a UX perspective:
When I reach for my phone, I usually find the home button with my thumb and press it to turn the screen on before I can even see the screen -- so when I can finally see the screen it's ready for me to unlock.
This is how I naturally first engage with the device -- not having the physical button interrupts this process and trying to find the side with the power button isn't as natural or quick for me.
I am having issues with my touch screen not taking my input when in landscape. It works when I change to portrait and usually works when switching back to landscape but then stops again. I've noticed this playing angry birds and browsing in IE. Anything I can do to correct this?
edit: I think I found my issue. If i'm touching the bottom area where the capacitive buttons are the screen won't respond. Is this normal?
I find the sensitivity of the screen is less than the Focus. The Focus suffered from bad touch sensitivity if you didn't hold it (like laying it on the bed). If they can get full registry access to the phone, I'll bet the sensitivity is adjustable.
Sent from my PI39100 using Board Express
others have mentioned that touching the soft keys even slightly makes the rest of the screen unresponsive.
I don't know why capacitive buttons are so popular... they might be 'cool' but... hardbuttons aren't accidentally activated, they don't mess up the screen and they provide REAL tactile feedback.
Plus you can search for and use hardbuttons when they are out of sight. With my TV and BD player I have to put my face to the buttons with a magnifying class to see the icons because feeling them activates them and they have no backlights :/
link68759 said:
I don't know why capacitive buttons are so popular... they might be 'cool' but... hardbuttons aren't accidentally activated, they don't mess up the screen and they provide REAL tactile feedback.
Plus you can search for and use hardbuttons when they are out of sight. With my TV and BD player I have to put my face to the buttons with a magnifying class to see the icons because feeling them activates them and they have no backlights :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're popular because presumably they cost less than actual buttons, easier to manufacture, and are less likely to break or need maintainence.
The screen's glass is already set up to be capacitive, so extending that down to the "button" area requires virtually no additional cost - they only need 3 tiny LED's underneath, rather than housing full mechanical buttons, with a separate plastic overlays ontop on the buttons.
On my SGS3 the power button seems a bit fragile, if you click almost on the edge of the button it will twitch, twist and will not click, that does not happen on the GNex, the button shape is similar, but even when clicking on the edge, the button is solid and will click. Is it just my phone that has some problem on the button or is it a "problem" with all SGS3?
DarknessWarrior said:
On my SGS3 the power button seems a bit fragile, if you click almost on the edge of the button it will twitch, twist and will not click, that does not happen on the GNex, the button shape is similar, but even when clicking on the edge, the button is solid and will click. Is it just my phone that has some problem on the button or is it a "problem" with all SGS3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any issues with it. Try comparing it with others at the store/your friends and see.
It's absolute edges are somewhat unclickable but on the other hand it's hard to press there anyway - you will grab the middle anyway.
Should you decide to use a protective cover (recommended ^^) then it won't be an issue anyway since such additional layers disperse your press across a wider surface.
d4fseeker said:
It's absolute edges are somewhat unclickable but on the other hand it's hard to press there anyway - you will grab the middle anyway.
Should you decide to use a protective cover (recommended ^^) then it won't be an issue anyway since such additional layers disperse your press across a wider surface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm using the flipcover, so i can't use any of those protective covers.
thanks for the replies, i will try to find someone who has it to compare lol
Well, atleast it isn't getting stuck like mine.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1920938
lolhard123 said:
Well, atleast it isn't getting stuck like mine.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1920938
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i press it on the top or on the bottom it twists like that, but doesn't get stuck
Well you're lucky mine gets stuck.
But that's normal I think, just put it in a case that covers the buttons and you'll forget all about it.