Related
Ok, probably not. There's gotta be a perfectly valid explanation, but I just noticed this:
When I open Albums on my Hero and look at a single photograph, I can zoom in and out by pinching. Same goes for web pages. We all know this.
But the thing is: if I put my phone down on the table and try to pinch with just one hand (thumb+index finger), it doesn't work!
I only need to touch the phone with one finger on my left hand and it starts working. I have to touch the back or the frame. The chin doesn't react.
I tried it on an iPhone and it works with only one hand. It must be some conductivity issue and the Hero simply has a touch screen that works differently from iPhones.
It isn't really a problem for me: I can hold the phone in both hands while pinching. I just found it slightly interesting...
Yeah I have noticed that as well. Although if you try to calibrate using the g-sensor calibration tool it sometime fixes the issue...
Clue is in the technology? Capacitative touch screen....hit the physics books guys
A good capacitive screen doesn't require the user to complete a circuit with the phone using another hand to hold it, or by touching the bezel with a finger. The problem is either in the circuitry driving the touchscreen or possibly with the algorithms used to establish finger gestures and position.
It's even feasible that the metal bezel interferes with the electrostatic field introduced when your finger is in proximity with the screen. This would explain why the sensitivity is reduced around the edges of the screen.
Spose you need to form a complete circuit for it to work. Interesting point though, I didn't know that capacitive screens needed a second 'plate' to work (i.e. more than just the screen alone).
Makes sense though if you think about it.
Q.I indeed
jayjay said:
Ok, probably not. There's gotta be a perfectly valid explanation, but I just noticed this:
When I open Albums on my Hero and look at a single photograph, I can zoom in and out by pinching. Same goes for web pages. We all know this.
But the thing is: if I put my phone down on the table and try to pinch with just one hand (thumb+index finger), it doesn't work!
I only need to touch the phone with one finger on my left hand and it starts working. I have to touch the back or the frame. The chin doesn't react.
I tried it on an iPhone and it works with only one hand. It must be some conductivity issue and the Hero simply has a touch screen that works differently from iPhones.
It isn't really a problem for me: I can hold the phone in both hands while pinching. I just found it slightly interesting...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The metal bezel actually acts like a ground point between the capacitive circuitry and your finger. When you are touching at the very edges of the capacitive area there simply isn't enough room to get a good grounding point so the driver/controller gets a hard time of locating what points are actually grounded. The bezel helps in this regard.
Switchbitch said:
A good capacitive screen doesn't require the user to complete a circuit with the phone using another hand to hold it, or by touching the bezel with a finger. The problem is either in the circuitry driving the touchscreen or possibly with the algorithms used to establish finger gestures and position.
It's even feasible that the metal bezel interferes with the electrostatic field introduced when your finger is in proximity with the screen. This would explain why the sensitivity is reduced around the edges of the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...perhaps not then lol
Yeah, well I hate to be the one to ask, but why does it work on the iPhone then? I realize it's a grounding / closed circuit issue, but if another similar phone can do it, then there's obviously a way around it.
And another question: Why doesn't pinching work, but normal one-fingered touching does?
Only place where I could see this becoming a problem is when you dock your device to some plastic holder in a car and want to pinch to zoom in some navigator software. Letting go of the steering wheel to use two hands on your phone isn't necessarily the safest thing in the world. One would assume though, that the interface in any navigator software wouldn't require complex gestures while operating it...
i confrim, using hero without touch the metal edge result in less responsivity and difficult on multitouch operation
hope new firmware can solve this, too many errors using it like a normal keyboard on a table!
New Hero owner here... using it 3 weeks. LOVE the phone, love the 7 pages, love the widgets, love the screen, love SenseUI, HATE the capacitive screen.
Coming form windows mobile for past 5 years, i am expending at least 5x more time and energy to navigate or browse due to this "feature".
I am certain this has been hashed out here before, but I will settle for a short answer, even one that has a laundry list if you like.
All I ask is that you please tell me it has something to add other than MULTI-TOUCH. I could care less about pinch-zoom. Initially when seen on first i-phones it had a wow factor. But very soon on WM, with OperaMini, Netfront, Skyfire, Iris and other browsers, pinch-to-zoom was rendered irrelevant, as all of these browsers provided way more efficient way to zoom in, out, and frame the area of the screen you want to look at. One tap, or two taps, or grab a square positioner (netfront) and tap.
Regardless of marketing, not only were these solutions fantastic, I alos didn't feel any sense of loss.
Now that I HAVE multi-touch on Hero, it's way beyond "yawn". It's more like, "what in the world is the advantage here. all I see is that a capacitive screen is far inferior to a resistive screen for easily 25 reasons. I listed them elsewhere on an XDA "general" forum. Typing: worse. accurate hitting a target: worse, but not just worse, horrible. Tap-hold context menus, require twice as long to press in order to instruct the OS you're indeed pressing for the purpose of holding, vs pressing just to try to make contact. Takes twice the tap impact to activate GO and other action buttons.
So I am dying to hear what is the advantage I have been given on this fantastic $500 USD phone I bought?
2nd question: I am currently using the device straight out the box, with just maybe 25-50 aps or widgets form android marketplace -- which has been fantastically smooth user experience, with perfect degrees of feedback on what access each app will give to the phone etc... very reassuring.
Has the truly amazing world of XDA-devs made some of my major usability complaints above go away, or lessen (after rooting the phone and using a custom ROM)?
Sign me: Baffled and Dismayed in San Francisco
Are there no replies here because this has been previously beaten to death? If so, wold someone please point me to the best thread discussion on this subject matter?
Thank you.
personally, i love a capacitive screen for typing.. as long as you can hit the buttons. For me i have no problem in the horizontal view, but they shouldnt have used a "qwerty" keyboard in the horizontal view, i despise it aha.
for the browsers multi touch, personally i just think its kinda cool, but as you say not very productive.
so really to me, i just love the feeling of capacitive touch screens...when they work of course!
and i know that companies "try" to put capacitive screens on as much as possible (because the iphone and ipod touch are so popular) but you can only really have it on bigger screens. The hero has pretty much the "bare minimum" screen size, and thats why we have some problems!
sorry i didnt really answer your question, just my thoughts but i guess the advantage is (was ment to be) that iphone touch screen experience, but capacitive screens work much better when the buttons have space between them (on bigger screens!)
THis was very helpful thank you. I know what you mean that the glassy smoothness is elegant and competes, I guess, with the look & feel of the Apple handheld devices. But also you seem to be answering my question, which is really the essentiual thing wanted to know:
Apparently there is ZERO added-value that capacitive brings over resistive screen than pinch-zoom... and that glossy glass feeling.
Is this correct, though? Can it really be that the primary reason for running Android on a capacitive screen is its sexiness factor in comparing to glossy look of the iphone?
I know there MUST be threads galore at XDA regarding the value of stylus for rapid composing, and more rapidly scrolling thru a long list on contacts, going into something like 2x or 5x speed flashing through the letters of the alphabet, then slowing down to land on desired contact...
The HTC Leo thread addressed this quite a bit, with both groans and raves for that WM device...
xsirhc6x said:
personally, i love a capacitive screen for typing.. as long as you can hit the buttons. For me i have no problem in the horizontal view, but they shouldnt have used a "qwerty" keyboard in the horizontal view, i despise it aha.
for the browsers multi touch, personally i just think its kinda cool, but as you say not very productive.
so really to me, i just love the feeling of capacitive touch screens...when they work of course!
and i know that companies "try" to put capacitive screens on as much as possible (because the iphone and ipod touch are so popular) but you can only really have it on bigger screens. The hero has pretty much the "bare minimum" screen size, and thats why we have some problems!
sorry i didnt really answer your question, just my thoughts but i guess the advantage is (was ment to be) that iphone touch screen experience, but capacitive screens work much better when the buttons have space between them (on bigger screens!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i used apple as more of an example but i dont think i was very clear before sorry!
Although the screen is glossy and well glass, but i ment that alot of people like having that "touch" not "tap" feel. like how with capacitive you can barely touch the screen and it responds whereas resistive you have to push on the screen. so this makes companies want to use capacitive so there putting it on alot of the bigger touch screen phones
quicksite said:
Coming form windows mobile for past 5 years, i am expending at least 5x more time and energy to navigate or browse due to this "feature"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well here is your problem. and I know exactly how you feel, having some PDA and SE P1 also with resistive touch. you'll have to get used to it, there is no other way. it looks similar, like, it's a touchscreen! but difference in technology makes it hard to shift your way of using it
same thing as forgetting clickable keyboards where you can feel edge of each key and you KNOW exactly what you have pressed... and believe me, when you get that feeling with almost microscopic P1 keyboard, first few weeks of brand new high tech on-screen typing makes you smash that phone into wall next to you... but it gets better with time
This is the correct answer. Most people prefer the touch feel of capacitive compared to the press needed for resistive screens.
xsirhc6x said:
well i used apple as more of an example but i dont think i was very clear before sorry!
Although the screen is glossy and well glass, but i ment that alot of people like having that "touch" not "tap" feel. like how with capacitive you can barely touch the screen and it responds whereas resistive you have to push on the screen. so this makes companies want to use capacitive so there putting it on alot of the bigger touch screen phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I moved from an Omnia i900 (WM, resistive screen) to the HTC Hero (Android, capacitive screen) and I am really enjoying the sensitivity of the Hero's screen. Everything is activated with a feather-light touch which really adds to the experience of using a touchscreen device.
On the Omnia, when I tried to halt a scrolling list with my finger, more often than not, I would end up choosing an item instead of stopping the scolling. This got irritating enough that I ended up using the scroll bars most of the time. On the Hero, the scrolling list amazingly stops when my finger makes contact without any unintended item selection. This probably has to do with the sensitivity of the capacitive screen but whatever it is, it works brilliantly.
The only time when I miss the resistive screen is if I need to accurately touch points on the screen due to poorly designed software but this can generally be avoided. Copy and paste could potentially have been a pain with a capacitive screen but the Hero has a trackball which gets the job done quite well.
I agree that multi-touch is nice to have but not critical. It is the sensitivity of the capacitive screen that really makes my day !
IMHO the capacitive screen is one of the best parts of my Hero (the other is not having to use clunky Windows Mobile anymore). It makes it so much more user friendly - and that attribute is what has made the iphone the best seller it is.
It is so much easier to scroll through my emails, texts, contacts, apps etc without accidently clicking on one and opening. And the same applies when scrolling between screens. In my last phone (HTC Touch Diamond) I was forever opening apps and windows I did not mean to when trying to scroll up down or sideways.
And scrolling long lists (I have over 200 contacts) is so easy. Just flick and let it run and then stop it with a finger. Try that on a non-capacitive screen and you are likely to open something you did not mean to open.
And, admittedly after a bit of practice, I have found the QERTY keyboard is no problem at all. It is almost as easy to use with my finger as my TD was with a stylus. And it is even easier when you are in landscape mode.
Still, each to his/her own. If, after giving it some time to get used to, you still don't like it I am sure there are plenty of alternatives out there - it always amazes me the number of different high-end phones HTC makes.
Resistive touch screen: You have to press harder to make it work better (Rinzai school)
Capacitive touch screen: You have to touch lighter to make it work better (Soto school)
Volker1 said:
Resistive touch screen: You have to press harder to make it work better (Rinzai school)
Capacitive touch screen: You have to touch lighter to make it work better (Soto school)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well somehow you faked me out with your zen-like branch differentiations. I clicked on Soto school first --- and I thought, therefore, that when I clicked on Rinzai, it would communicate more aggressive, harder. But it didn't!
Thus, i don't understand your analogy other than making it up in my head, with the meaning being:
Expend less energy and force, grasshopper, and all will be revealed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the day of my posting this topic, I am starting to feel a shift by gentler tapping. In some cases, yes, I am seeing a difference in better responsiveness.
But I have to admit that this is not always the case. Leading to:
Dac0908:
well here is your problem. and I know exactly how you feel, having some PDA and SE P1 also with resistive touch. you'll have to get used to it, there is no other way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am starting to get it. Quick illustration: My sim card (my old one from t-mobile wing) happens to be going bad, I just discovered. So I had to swap it out from my HERO back to my WING just to see if I could make a phone call. I had not used the WING (resistive) for a while.
I immediately started making mistakes in the opposite direction. I wasn't pushing hard enough now, and was not activating my selection. So, young grasshopper may be getting the Zen of Capacitive Touch!
it looks similar, like, it's a touchscreen! but difference in technology makes it hard to shift your way of using it. same thing as forgetting clickable keyboards where you can feel edge of each key and you KNOW exactly what you have pressed... and believe me, when you get that feeling with almost microscopic P1 keyboard, first few weeks of brand new high tech on-screen typing makes you smash that phone into wall next to you... but it gets better with time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get your point exactly... So, sounds like the people in this forum who have had their HEROs for longer time... must think I am just whining! ha hah
Here are my conclusions thus far:
(a) lighter touch IS helping select more easily.
(b) I began to do as others have said on the soft keyboard-- aim your finger just a nudge above the keys. (because the point of tangency between finger and screen is quite a bit below the tip of the fingernail) (** me thinks they should provide a settings option called "Offset finger touch?" -- and I could select that to in fact shift all the target zones of the on-screen keys slightly below the way they display on-screen, thereby improving accuracy dramatically.)
(c) even with "getting used to" adjustments, the accuracy on the portrait-layout keyboard is still lower on those left edge and right edge keys... And thus I am finding that landscape keyboard is almost becoming required for me (and i have thin fingers!)
(d) On the WM resistive screen, I found that, when using handwriting via stylus, the system really did LEARN to compensate for the style of handwriting of an individual by going thru the alphabet to select the path of drawing each letter that best matches how I write... it absolutely improved handwriting recognition) (AND MAY AS WELL SAY: I miss that the most of all things: I loved being able to jot notes down with stylus and handwriting. I used that daily... SO I miss it)
Similarly, there is an OFFSET ANGLE adjustment on the WM input screen controls, which absolutely made a huge difference: I the natural positioning of a hand and fingers in resting mode on a flat object (a screen) has one's index finger aiming on an angle inward. Thus, the angle adjustment was a smart user interface setting, that I would guess WM came up with over time, as better recognition of this issue surfaced.
(e) I can't expect to use my capacitive screen phone in the lazy ways I used my WM phone with resistive: ie, laying down in bed and tapping out a message to send. When I try to do that with Hero, the angles of finger-contact with the screen are "off" from a standing or sitting alignment of where you hold the device and how you strike the keys. Trying to tap out a note using portrait mode, while laying in bed, and holding phone to its side (or any other awkward position) = probably 10% success rate of hitting the correct keys... Mostly due to that distance-factor between the tip of the finger -- the sight-targeting cross-hairs used for decades in pressing most things that need pressing -- and the underside of the finger, which makes the contact point lower than the tip by a somewhat predictable distance.
I still think there are some ways to go where various compensation settings could nail those issues and bring touch accuracy to much higher percentage, especially in those situations of at what angle you're holding the device in one hand, and tapping with the other hand, is "off", like laying in bed.
(f) Accelerometer: again, when laying in bed (lazy mode), the auto portrait-landscape shifting almost never occurs and i have to hold the phone parallel to the ground and flick it in order to get the layout adjustment, then continue at whatever angle it is I am holding the phone.
(g) WISHLIST #2: (after handwriting/ capacitive stylus is brought to market by HTC, etc) .. is: COntext-sensitive accelerometer.. such that it works in almost any hand-held 3d location, and a 90 degree shift = a shift layout command.
------------------
Okay, these are my responses from a Human Factors Interface Design professional background.
------------------
Maybe I will have to talk to "Charles", the guy in my nieghborhood in San Francisco, who just happens to be the designer of the original G1 for Google, both in form factor and user interface of android...
San Francisco can be pretty interesting in that way.. you never know who you'll bump into, just like in L.A. with movie stars!
kenkaw said:
I am really enjoying the sensitivity of the Hero's screen. Everything is activated with a feather-light touch which really adds to the experience of using a touchscreen device....On the Hero, the scrolling list amazingly stops when my finger makes contact without any unintended item selection. This probably has to do with the sensitivity of the capacitive screen but whatever it is, it works brilliantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am starting to feel this now, too. So I am shifting mental gears in my head.
Copy and paste could potentially have been a pain with a capacitive screen but the Hero has a trackball which gets the job done quite well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is actually where I have the most problems.... way more than touching the screen, which I am becoming accustomed to, and now seeing what p[eople are saying about feathertouch responsiveness.
I have not been able to find any settings for trackball responsiveness, the kind you'd find on any laptop for the touchpad or mouse rate of movement -- from super fast to super slow. IS there such an adjustment?
I want to love the trackball, and I am getting better at it. But to me, this is almost just the opposite of featherweight touch on screen. My finger "wants" a more "sticky" or locked-on connection to the trackball, so i can control it better with micro-movements. For me, right now, it is so slippery as to super-slide way out of range, and shifting fields on form data entry, and , when I am using it on a slider bar such as for volume control or color mixing (chnaging color of a background), it's sensitivity is way too wild for even a light touch attempt to control it
QUESTION: I am not yet using any rooted rom from XDA... I am still experiencing the Hero out of the box. So, are there any added control settings that people at XDA have figured out and added to the custom ROMS?
thank you
I agree that multi-touch is nice to have but not critical. It is the sensitivity of the capacitive screen that really makes my day ![/QUOTE]
peterc10 said:
And scrolling long lists (I have over 200 contacts) is so easy. Just flick and let it run and then stop it with a finger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I a starting to feel this now. I was flicking too hard initially -- as part of my learning curve. I am now getting the hang of it and am getting the kind of control you speak of. nice!
it always amazes me the number of different high-end phones HTC makes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No ****. what an amazing company... and why I like how XDA-developers built up around HTC... This is a serious question: Is HTC a good stock buy? They seem like moreso than ever, with their new branding and direct-to-consumer marketing campaigns (at least in the USA, big time), ready to leap out as a huge brand in the way Samsung shot up from obscurity many years ago, into a top-5 leading brand of electrionics.
[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.
The SPen works great on the screen, but can't be used to activate the four capacitive 'buttons' at the bottom.....not sure why.
bradasmith said:
The SPen works great on the screen, but can't be used to activate the four capacitive 'buttons' at the bottom.....not sure why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the part of the screen that contains the "digitizer" that the S-Pen uses doesn't cover the entire front face of the phone....it only covers the screen area.
Remember that the international version doesn't have the touch sensitive 4-buttons across the bottom...only a single mechanical button.
I assume the same screen digitizer was used for both devices.
bradasmith said:
The SPen works great on the screen, but can't be used to activate the four capacitive 'buttons' at the bottom.....not sure why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are certain movements you can do with the S-pen on the screen while holding the button on the S-pen that wil for example bring you back (in the browser(, show the menu, bring you to your homescreen!
When you're using the S Pen on the screen, it isn't actually using the capacitive capabilities to register the input, it's using the screen digitizer. The pen isn't capable of registering capacitive input.
With the Flyer's stylus you could actually use the other end of the pen as a capacitive stylus, although I'm pretty sure that's just a result of it being solid metal.
CradleRob said:
Because the part of the screen that contains the "digitizer" that the S-Pen uses doesn't cover the entire front face of the phone....it only covers the screen area.
Remember that the international version doesn't have the touch sensitive 4-buttons across the bottom...only a single mechanical button.
I assume the same screen digitizer was used for both devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The international version has a mechanical button (home) and two capacitive buttons (back and menu).
But as everyone said, the S-Pen isn't a capacitive stylus like you might buy to use for a tablet; the note has a proper digitizer, which allows things like pressure sensitivity. It's nowhere near as good as the sensitivity you get with a Wacom input device, but it's a helluva lot better than a normal capacitive stylus.
Find the manual for the s-pen on the market. There are many gestures that allow yô to open menu's and navigate.
Hi,
I´m really eager to know if LG finally is smart like Samsung and HTC, to use the space below the display for control keys instead of wasting part of the screen. Come on LG, it´s not so hard to learn! I am not willing to carry a large, unhandy device which is not even capable of using the complete screen for displaying contents.
Buy a Samsung then. I prefer soft keys. Hardware keys are retarded.
Is this the first time you've used an Android phone? The old ancient phones used capacative and hardware buttons, on-screen buttons are the newer way of interacting with your device that is replacing capacative and hardware buttons. The benefits of course mean you can have smaller bottom bezels, the buttons can hide when using immersive apps like videos and photos, they can change based on your preference or when the OS gets updated, etc.
Physical and capacative buttons are archaic.
Well, not the smartest kind of an answer but that was to be expected - fanboys even would argue bull**** to gold.
Seems you never used a modern smartphone with these softkeys integrated in screen but below the display.
Its not very hard to understand, that this is the way to get the most of the surface area of a smartphone.
No question the g5 will have software keys. I have to say after bouncing between LG and Samsung phones I much prefer Samsung's setup. The bottom bezel on my v10 isn't any smaller than that on my note 4, so LG could easily integrate capacitive buttons on their devices. Yes the software keys disappear in certain apps, but that just means it takes another swipe or tap to get them to reappear, which is only adding an extra step to exiting an app.
I also much prefer Samsung's home/fingerprint sensor setup. You can turn on the screen with the home button (no need for double tap to wake,) and when using the fingerprint security you can still unlock the phone when it's laying on a desk or in your car cradle without having to input a pattern or pin.
I'm not saying software keys are an absolute deal breaker, but they offer no benefit compared to capacitive keys and have several drawbacks.
Thank you rivera02,
thats the best description about it, you brought it to the point.
Its not that Samsung smartphones are absolutely best, I think the G4 has many advantages like the changeable battery and the sdcard slot. But every oem builds in certian disadvantages, so everybody has the choice to take what annoys him or her the less
Bluecharge said:
Well, not the smartest kind of an answer but that was to be expected - fanboys even would argue bull**** to gold.
Seems you never used a modern smartphone with these softkeys integrated in screen but below the display.
Its not very hard to understand, that this is the way to get the most of the surface area of a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, they aren't softkeys if they are below the display, they are capacative keys. They can not change, they are printed into the phone itself. And yes, I had an S6 and Note 5 so I know well what they are like. Having to physically press a button is really annoying when trying to press it one handed, where the phone is already delicately balanced in your hand. For the capacative buttons, I much prefer on screen keys that disappear when you don't need them, and ones that you can change at will or when Android gets updated.
geoff5093 said:
First off, they aren't softkeys if they are below the display, they are capacative keys. They can not change, they are printed into the phone itself. And yes, I had an S6 and Note 5 so I know well what they are like. Having to physically press a button is really annoying when trying to press it one handed, where the phone is already delicately balanced in your hand. For the capacative buttons, I much prefer on screen keys that disappear when you don't need them, and ones that you can change at will or when Android gets updated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi geoff5093,
sorry that was my misunderstanding. You're right and I didn't mean hardwarebuttons but capacitive keys below the display. I personally think, that disappearing softwarekeys have much disadvantages, because you have to make them appear and this often interacts with the app you were using to this point. With capacitive keys below the screen they are available whenever you need them, they don't need any display space and they don't interact unwantedly with the before-used app.
The ideal way may be both of them. Capacitive keys below the screen and aditional softwarekeys for whoever likes to have an idividual layout. But I think that nobody would do this, as there seem not to exist any mod for additional softwarekeys e.g. for Samsung or HTC devices.
Softkeys have their benefits. They can be customized, moved around, even their appearance can be changed. However they DO waste screen space. Whenever these comparisons come up people claim that phones with sofkeys can/do have smaller bezels and that "sofkeys disappear when you don't need them anyway". The former is simply not true. Capacitive buttons take up so little space that you could fit them in any phone with softkeys. As for the latter, softkeys are still there 95% of the time I'm using the phone. Browsing/texting/using the dialer, they are still there making the usable screen noticeably smaller. It's the only thing I actually like about Samsung phones. Note 5 and Nexus 6P share the same screen size and yet the Samsung is smaller in hand AND has a larger usable screen area because no space is ever wasted on softkeys. LG G5 with sofkeys and 5.3" screen would mean roughly the same usable space as 5.5" LG G4 and also a more compact device. The bad thing is that in the case of this particular phone it would mean these modules would need to come with integrated capacitive buttons as well.
geoff5093 said:
Is this the first time you've used an Android phone? The old ancient phones used capacative and hardware buttons, on-screen buttons are the newer way of interacting with your device that is replacing capacative and hardware buttons. The benefits of course mean you can have smaller bottom bezels, the buttons can hide when using immersive apps like videos and photos, they can change based on your preference or when the OS gets updated, etc.
Physical and capacative buttons are archaic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I won't even buy a phone if it has hardware buttons. It's not 2011 any more.
I kinda like soft keys actually, I never have to bother with which way is up when operating the phone in landscape and less oops I've hit the home/back key scenarios. I've done the whole HTC/Samsung/Sony/LG round from actual buttons, capacitive buttons and some weird capacitive dot thing.
If only they could figure out a better way to make buttons appear when in full screen. That's the only complaint since sometimes it will miss.
Someone above said home button is better than double tap to wake. Wat a BS, lol. Are you from samsung or what? Following this approach, I am wondering why you did not say there should have been numeric hard keys to dial instead of touch screen.
I left Samsung because of that button. Got tired of the button waking the phone and then accidentally unlocking phone. Then making accidental phone calls and answering them. Love softkeys! Makes my phone look sleeker
Sent from my LG-H901 using Tapatalk
hardware keys are lame and waste internal space and bezel. software keys for the win!
Nobody wrote about hardwarekeys.
First read, then write. Some of you never will get it.
capacative and hardware buttons, are the best for me.
on-screen buttons sometimes don't disappear when playing some games or sometimes on app's aswell.
they should have all 3, capacative and hardware buttons and on screen button.
if you want to use capacative or hardware botton use it. and if you don't like it then use on screen button by going to the setting and change it. like. like onePlus Two did.
Waxim1 said:
Someone above said home button is better than double tap to wake. Wat a BS, lol. Are you from samsung or what? Following this approach, I am wondering why you did not say there should have been numeric hard keys to dial instead of touch screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt. That is one of the most bizarre posts I have ever seen. Double tap to wake is a must for me now and any phone that doesnt have it is nearly a deal breaker. It is definitely better than hitting home and there is truly no way to logically argue that it is and yet somehow someone is trying.
Sorry but I did not get the message of this thread. Even a device with capacitive keys needs place for those keys, not on the screen but on the device that will increase the size of the phone. Biggest screen on the smallest device is possible only with softkeys. And these can be hided by the system in particular application in order to use the entire screen.
Bluecharge said:
Well, not the smartest kind of an answer but that was to be expected - fanboys even would argue bull**** to gold.
Seems you never used a modern smartphone with these softkeys integrated in screen but below the display.
Its not very hard to understand, that this is the way to get the most of the surface area of a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...like my Oneplus Two...:good:
AMDZen said:
No doubt. That is one of the most bizarre posts I have ever seen. Double tap to wake is a must for me now and any phone that doesnt have it is nearly a deal breaker. It is definitely better than hitting home and there is truly no way to logically argue that it is and yet somehow someone is trying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol well to each their own, but I think arguing that it's more convenient to tap a screen twice than to tap a button once is a pretty illogical argument. Much more so when you take into account the fact that LG has never gotten the double tap feature to work with one hundred percent accuracy.