ICS keys vs softkeys - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

I was thinking about what ICS would look like on our phones.
I understand how the 3 buttons work for the galaxy nexus. There are no 4 buttons like on every other android phone to navigate. How will our phone get the update and what will it look like?
(when i say softkeys, i am referring to the 4 standard keys on android phones. I dont care if it is not the right term)
Will they just ignore the softkey buttons on our phones and put the three from ICS on the phone? This will really reduce usable screen size.
Will Samsung do away with the three buttons from ICS on phones that have the soft key buttons?
Will manufacturers have to make 2 versions of ICS? One for phones with softkeys and one for phones without?
Do you think that new phones coming out with ICS will have softkeys that are similar to the galaxy nexus on screen keys, or will they make all future phones like the nexus with no softkeys and just on screen keys?
I guess it all comes down to how Samsung wants to skin it. What do you think they will do with phones with the 4 standard keys?

I assume ICS will have an option built-in to disable software buttons.

It's more likely that ICS programs will just have to be more device aware than programs have been previously. All Gingerbread programs can be expected to work, and the softkey area will just display the standard keys. ICS enabled programs will need to support the standard keys (home, back, menu), or, in the case that a program is running on a native ICS phone (with the softkey screen area), the program will be able to dictate what shows up in that screen area, whether it be a modified keyset, or an extension of the program itself.

I am sure they have it figured since I read that the older nexus s will be the FIRST to get it as far as older phones go and I believe it has the three/ or four softkeys on it right? So if that is the case I am not too worried about it not working on our devices as I would BET it is planned in the grand scheme of things.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

people are getting way to hung up on these ICS soft keys. If the Nexus S is getting ICS, Im sure that any phone that has capacitive keys will have the on screen keys disabled. Why is this so hard for people to understand?

Why would Google go with on-screen keys? Whats the benefit? What happens to those that want to use 3.5 - 4.0 inches screen. How would that work. To me its a step backwards. Hopefully manufacturers will keep the soft keys we came to love about android, no ugly menu button on the screen like iOS completely ruining you screen real-estate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

I am more then sure that Google has already thought of how to get around all these issues when ICS was placed in development.
Remember the Nexus One & Nexus S (S 4G) all have four buttons on the phone as well. Google wouldn't release a new OS version and cripple every phone out there with 4 buttons.

p4ranoid4ndroid said:
people are getting way to hung up on these ICS soft keys. If the Nexus S is getting ICS, Im sure that any phone that has capacitive keys will have the on screen keys disabled. Why is this so hard for people to understand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

Phandroid just picked up a Gizmodo article confirming that devices with hardware buttons will operate as they do now, and the on screen buttons will be disabled.
http://phandroid.com/2011/10/25/yes-your-android-buttons-will-still-work-with-ice-cream-sandwich/
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

i Agreed and believe the same thing Google wouldn't put out something that would cripple all there other phones

Related

No indicator LED...

For my use, an LED is very useful to indicate missed calls or waiting message. It's a shame that the Note does not have it.
In the international Note forum, there is this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389394
I like the idea of using the buttons for notification. I hope it can be made to work for the ATT version... I rather use it than NoLED.
Even if Internation version has notification LED, AT&T version will drop it. AT&T firmly believe there shall never be a need for notification LEDs. It goes out of its way to remove the LED from most of its OEM phones.
If you want an indicator on the screen, try No Led. I am not really a fan of it though as I feel it drains the battery.
If you want the buttons to light up, try BLN control, I am a huge fan of this as most Android phones don't have Led notification.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
foxbat121 said:
Even if Internation version has notification LED, AT&T version will drop it. AT&T firmly believe there shall never be a need for notification LEDs. It goes out of its way to remove the LED from most of its OEM phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, yeah At&t hates the idea of a good feature for some reason.
foxbat121 said:
Even if Internation version has notification LED, AT&T version will drop it. AT&T firmly believe there shall never be a need for notification LEDs. It goes out of its way to remove the LED from most of its OEM phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How have you gathered this? My inspire 4g which is based on the Desire HD, has an LED..
Are you familiar with blackberries, and the ones offered by at&t? They all have LEDs.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
HarmonyFlame said:
How have you gathered this? My inspire 4g which is based on the Desire HD, has an LED..
Are you familiar with blackberries, and the ones offered by at&t? They all have LEDs.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. It's not AT&T's fault; Samsung just doesn't put notification LEDs on their devices any more. The Nexus is the only exception in the Galaxy line, which you have to figure was at Google's insistence.
Using the the capacitive keys' backlights as a substitute, usually referred to as BLN, is a common workaround, but it is always hacked in by devs on this side and not officially supported. I personally never use BLN because, at least on the GS2, it requires holding a wakelock for as long as you want the lights to blink, so it isn't worth the extra battery drain for me. Still, I'm sure somone will implement a kernel with BLN support for the AT&T Note eventually.
Some manufacturers have better relationship with AT&T than others, e.g. Samsung vs HTC. These phones are all custom made per carrier requirements. For example, original Galaxy S, only AT&T version lacks any physical home button. Galaxy S2, Sprint version has notification LED while AT&T has no notification LED, nor physical home button. Same goes for GNote, no LED, not physical home button.
If AT&T wants a notification LED, Samsung will add it. That's how simple it is. AT&T wants NFC hardware but remove all the software stack, Samsung did it.
This. It's not AT&T's fault; Samsung just doesn't put notification LEDs on their devices any more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint version of SGS2 has the notification LED.
foxbat121 said:
Some manufacturers have better relationship with AT&T than others, e.g. Samsung vs HTC. These phones are all custom made per carrier requirements. For example, original Galaxy S, only AT&T version lacks any physical home button. Galaxy S2, Sprint version has notification LED while AT&T has no notification LED, nor physical home button. Same goes for GNote, no LED, not physical home button.
If AT&T wants a notification LED, Samsung will add it. That's how simple it is. AT&T wants NFC hardware but remove all the software stack, Samsung did it.
Sprint version of SGS2 has the notification LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forgot the Sprint GS2 has a notification LED; you're right about that. Still, that device is an exception in many ways and is definitely the only such GS2 variant of the dozens out there. Maybe if AT&T had really pushed Samsung to add an LED it would have been possible, but it would be a hardware change compared to already-shipping versions of the Note that certainly would have delayed release. The chassis for the AT&T Note is nearly identical to the international one, except for the change to the button layout.
That change from capacitive menu-physical home-capacitive back to capacitive menu-home-back-search that the Note has was standardized on the first generation Galaxy S, and has been the case for every Galaxy phone I've seen that has been ported to the US. And it isn't JUST the AT&T version; every US version of the Galaxy S (Cappy, Epic Touch from Sprint, Galaxy S 4G from T-Mobile, not sure offhand if VZW has one) has the same four capacitive button layout.
Obviously the carriers demand certain customizations, such as branding and bloatware, and I don't know anything about the relationship between Samsung and AT&T vs. HTC and AT&T or anything like that. But the lack of a notification LED has been the norm for Samsung devices for a long time now, and it is pretty ridiculous to blame AT&T for it. Especially when there are so many legitimate reasons to hate AT&T.
This will be my biggest challenge, no led light notification. I'm going to need a support group thread started here or something. Why are those damm lights so addicting.
foxbat121 said:
For example, original Galaxy S, only AT&T version lacks any physical home button. Galaxy S2, Sprint version has notification LED while AT&T has no notification LED, nor physical home button. Same goes for GNote, no LED, not physical home button.
If AT&T wants a notification LED, Samsung will add it. That's how simple it is. AT&T wants NFC hardware but remove all the software stack, Samsung did it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? Verizon, t-mobile, and sprint SGS have physical home buttons??? In what universe? lol
I think your pointing the blame a little too much on at&t. There is an article on engadget about the process it takes for a phone to be fully developed. You should read that. Adding a feature even as miniscule as a LED, isn't so "simple" as you would think. It also doesn't seem to be the case of at&T's fault entirely that it doesn't have a LED, since many other devices on the carrier have the feature. More than likely the decision comes because of some production limitation of sorts (similar to CPU change on lieu of radio or something). If the blame should be pointed anywhere, blame it on the politics of the nations communication infrastructure, because really there's always something on some device, on some carrier that makes it a bit inferior to its international counterpart-- it seems.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
I use an app from the market called Missed Message Flasher Free. It will flash the screen at any interval, vibrate and also play a sound. I find it is more effective anyway, because I have it set up to play a "ping..." every minute if there is a missed event and I can hear it from another room.
You can set it up to notify you of any particular event you like...
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
snovvman said:
For my use, an LED is very useful to indicate missed calls or waiting message. It's a shame that the Note does not have it.
In the international Note forum, there is this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389394
I like the idea of using the buttons for notification. I hope it can be made to work for the ATT version... I rather use it than NoLED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got over that after years with a BB. On my SkyRocket I use NOLED it is fantastic and is NOT a battery hog if you configure it correctly. Check it out on the Market plus its free or a friendly donation.
slaydog said:
I use an app from the market called Missed Message Flasher Free. It will flash the screen at any interval, vibrate and also play a sound. I find it is more effective anyway, because I have it set up to play a "ping..." every minute if there is a missed event and I can hear it from another room.
You can set it up to notify you of any particular event you like...
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds cool but also like a battery killer? How was it on your battery?
Doesn't seem bad at all. Remember, it doesn't actually do anything until you miss an event, and then usually only for a few minutes before you're alerted. If your worried, you can disable the vibrate and/or screen flash. It's really the ping that gets your attention. I have never seen the app make the "What has been using my battery" list, anyway...
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

[Q] Samsung keyboard is terrible, ICS keyboard??

I'm loving this phone so far. the one qualm (and it's a big qualm) i have with it is the samsung keyboard. It's terrible. I came from pure android (nexus s) and would have stuck with nexus, but i needed a new phone and couldn't wait until november.
problems (i'm going to refer to pure android as "ICS"):
1) I hit the b a lot instead of space. especially on this bigger phone. When i upgraded to ICS on nexus s, the ICS keyboard fixed that problem (which i used to do in GB also)
2) i hate the autocorrect. For instance, if you're typing a word that the system doesn't know, it AUTOMATICALLY changes it for you. Try typing the word "server" if you stop at "ser," it changes the word to "user." in ICS, this was an option that you could press or press space and it would change it for you, but here, it automatically changes it. What if the word I want is "ser"? then i always have to pick it??
I have a million issues with the Samsung Keyboard. If anyone knows how to get ICS keyboard, please tell me. Or the keyboard options to turn that setting off. I've already gone through one by one every option in settings...
Other thoughts on the keyboard?
Thanks!!
Go to the PlayStore and Download the stock ICS keyboard, takes literally 10 seconds Beauty of Android, you dont like it, change it
It doesn't change your words, look down the predictive bar .there is the word you are writing .. far to the left..you see? If you look at text input area, it changes.just continue to write your word and the keyboard will adopt
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Thanks guys!! I found the ics keyboard in the market. Now I'm back to speed typing. Now this phone is just one step closer to being perfect.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
You need to remove the physical button, put a pure ics rom Google OTA upgradeable put a unlock/relockable bootloader and then you have the perfect phone..
Erm oops the perfect phone already exists.. Sell that get a Nexus and save some bucks xD..
Hehe cheers
Nexus Cm9 + Franco
haha yeah. I couldn't hold out for the nexus in November because I just moved to hk and I need a phone with data. And it's cheaper to get a phone than to get a contract without a phone. Otherwise I would still be rocking the nexus s.
And yes. That physical home button is actually annoying as hell. But the screen is gorgeous, it's shaped like the galaxy nexus, and it's quad core. Sweet. Although my love for pure android might force me to buy the nexus line when the new Gen comes out in Nov. Until then, I am very happy with this phone.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
GalaxySN00B:0 said:
Go to the PlayStore and Download the stock ICS keyboard, takes literally 10 seconds Beauty of Android, you dont like it, change it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 agreed

Menu Button A Big Win?

I just returned my HTC One S under buyer's remorse for a number of reasons. One of them was how much screen I lost for apps that weren't updated for ICS on-screen menu button. I know this isn't HTC's fault, but it was a real bummer. I am thinking Samsung made a much better choice with the GS3 by going against Google's intent and including the menu button. Surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Am I missing something?
We have always had the menu button so dont need to discuss it .SGS1 2 3
jje
mondegreen said:
I just returned my HTC One S under buyer's remorse for a number of reasons. One of them was how much screen I lost for apps that weren't updated for ICS on-screen menu button. I know this isn't HTC's fault, but it was a real bummer. I am thinking Samsung made a much better choice with the GS3 by going against Google's intent and including the menu button. Surprised this hasn't been discussed more. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yaa I feel the same, that's smthing I hate about vanilla ICS, the onscreen buttons.
Btw how was one s. I had it in my mind before getting s3.
Sent from my s3
There is a mod in HTC one x section where you can remap the keys.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Well HTCs new firmware which is due any moment maybe next week resolves this by allowing users to select what the recent apps button does. No need for any mods on this base.
I've got it running on the HOX and works fine so far. You can replace it to a menu function and long press for recent apps.
Anyways, I miss the home button which is good for waking the phone up.
Personally, I could go either way. I don't mind the home button; actually I think it could be a plus, considering if the OS were to ever freeze, you still have the button. Being an engineer, I can value you that. What would disgusting is the home button and the on screen buttons; either or, not both.

Capacitive touch buttons?

So are three buttons here to stay or is there a chance phones in the future will go back to having four capacitive touch buttons ie Epic Touch, Evo, 3D, etc?
Samsung has been using the 3button combination since the first Galaxy S and probably even before.
So you can't really say it's new, rather is something different.
When the S1 was released, most other Android phones used crammed-together 4 touch-buttons, Samsung's easy 2 touch, 1 hardware button was an awesome and easy-to-use feature.
Nowadays with Android 4.0, Google is trying to eradicate hardware buttons but Samsung still managed to include them. I honestly prefer it that way.
I prefer 4 plus I love having a search button!
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!
Galaxy S2 has 4 buttons.
Sent from my GS3 using xda app-developers app
When talking about Galaxy phones without appendix and in the General section, I usually assume the international version.
The international S2 has 2 touch-buttons and one click-button, the US-version has 4 touch-buttons and no click-button.
As usual, US-carriers want their own special stuff...
ubigred said:
I prefer 4 plus I love having a search button!
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just long press menu button and surprise... it opens google search!!!
Mopral said:
Just long press menu button and surprise... it opens google search!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a lazy American lol... Long press takes too much effort lol
Sent from my EPIC TOUCH!

How does the Legacy Menu button make you feel?

I do some side Android App developing and so much time with AOSP that it is very difficult for me to go from my Galaxy Nexus (with the appropriate menu/button configuration) and taking a step back to the Note II (which I have not done yet) in this one area. I think it may just be a serious case of OCD? I don't know.
How do you guys feel about this? I -assume- most came from a device that already had the old hardware menu button. So it's probably not a big deal.... just curious.
Eddog4DROID said:
I do some side Android App developing and so much time with AOSP that it is very difficult for me to go from my Galaxy Nexus (with the appropriate menu/button configuration) and taking a step back to the Note II (which I have not done yet) in this one area. I think it may just be a serious case of OCD? I don't know.
How do you guys feel about this? I -assume- most came from a device that already had the old hardware menu button. So it's probably not a big deal.... just curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from quite a few previous phones with a Hardware Menu/Settings button. Then I went to the DNA which is like the Gnex and doesn't have that button. I couldn't stand not having the actual button. So I'm sure it'll be the same way for you off the bat. However I do know that you can turn on the nav bar on the GNII. So you might be able to turn that on a rock it that way. It's a great phone. Don't let the menu button discourage ya.

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