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.
Related
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
Hello all,
I'm trying to decide between the Amaze and the SGII from Telus, and the most important thing to me is the size of the keys and how well both work in landscape mode. I have large hands, and I will be doing a lot of texting and e-mailing from my phone as I do use my phones as business tools as well. It doesn't matter that one might have a slightly better camera than the other, or that one is a slightly superior movie viewing experience. I have always had physical keyboards, so it will take some getting used to lifting my thumbs between each keystroke already.
The dealers around where I live have all been reluctant to let me see both side by side, but it seems to me that the Amaze, despite being a smaller screen, actually has larger keys in landscape mode. Is anyone able to confirm this? Thanks to any that can shed light on this.
Telus dealer's should have no problem letting you see them side by side. At first they didn't want to let me handle either one of them but when I told them that I'm not about to sign a 3 year contract without looking at what I'm getting they agreed and allowed me to play with both.
As to your question, it seems to me that the Telus keyboard is bigger and easier to manage, but since that wasn't the focus of what I was looking at, I'm just going from (a rather poor) memory. I'd go back to a store and TELL them you want to see both phones.
Yeah the Telus I went to they let me try out the Amaze. They got one from the back that wasn't connected to anything. They just handed it to me and left me alone to play with it. I could have just ran out with a working phone. I compared the two but I never tried landscape. I would think the Samsung has a bigger keyboard because the screen is bigger, the resolution is lower so things are stretched out more.
i just got my amaze from telus (upgrading from desire hd) and i notice a HUGE difference in the ease of the keyboard. number 1 the duel core makes it keep up as i type fast, unlike the ****ty 1ghrtz on the DHD which wud be a bit behind, and the letters blow up a bit bigger to i think cause im finding it MUCH easier to type on the amaze. oh ya the swipe keyboard is awesome to once you get the hang of it
Thanks for the info guys. For some reason they always put one away before taking the other one out. Maybe I look like I'm going to take one and run out, guess I'll have to be more insistent.
I also noticed that the Samsung's keyboard doesn't have a comma, that you have to go to the # screen to get to it. I'm guessing that I'll be able to find one on the market that has it.
sixfoot7 said:
Thanks for the info guys. For some reason they always put one away before taking the other one out. Maybe I look like I'm going to take one and run out, guess I'll have to be more insistent.
I also noticed that the Samsung's keyboard doesn't have a comma, that you have to go to the # screen to get to it. I'm guessing that I'll be able to find one on the market that has it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure the comma isn't somewhere on the keyboard above one of the other letters? I know that at first on the Amaze keyboard I was going into the # screen to get to the question mark, then I realized that I can press and hold the "k" to get the question mark. Samsung may be similar. Have a look.
marleyfan61 said:
Are you sure the comma isn't somewhere on the keyboard above one of the other letters? I know that at first on the Amaze keyboard I was going into the # screen to get to the question mark, then I realized that I can press and hold the "k" to get the question mark. Samsung may be similar. Have a look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There probably is one that's a long press, I meant a dedicated key without having to resort to a long press. Guess it's just one of those things I'm going to get used to coming from a physical keyboard.
Oh, and thanks for mentioning the question mark. Now I'm going to obsess about looking for an easy way to get to that
sixfoot7 said:
There probably is one that's a long press, I meant a dedicated key without having to resort to a long press. Guess it's just one of those things I'm going to get used to coming from a physical keyboard.
Oh, and thanks for mentioning the question mark. Now I'm going to obsess about looking for an easy way to get to that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a physical keyboard can be difficult. I came from a physical keyboard (samsung slide) to touch on the Hero. I never really got used to it on that phone. The keys were so small even in landscape. I'm finding a huge difference with the Amaze. Way easier on the bigger screen.
I'm hoping the larger keys will make the transition. Thanks for your input. I see you're from the greatest city in the world (yes I'm a Surrey boy). It was the Apex in Langley, and the Telus store by the WalMart on 64th that didn't want me to see both at the same time.
I went to Best Buy and they let me see both side by side after a little coaxing. And yeah....I'm not too proud to admit I'm from Surrey. Not all of us are riot crashers.
Went back to Apex, finally got someone to show me both. The SGII's landscape keyboard is bigger than the Amaze's, about 3x2 mm bigger. Enough of a difference for me. In portrait mode, not even close, the SGII's was about 20% larger. Might actually be useable for me and my monster hands. The Amaze's camera was definitely better, but I was surprised to see some shooting modes missing that the T-mo version has.
I'd be happy with either, I'm sure, but I have to go with the SGII for the larger keyboards. Thanks to those who lent their input, I appreciate it.
Amaze Keyboard
Just thought I'd suggest the "Gingerbread Keyboard" from Steven Lin on the market.
Honestly one of the best keyboards I've ever used, coming from the MT4G.
Haven't had a chance to try it on the Amaze but will do sometime soon.
Let me know if you like it any better or if it even works on the Amaze.
nguyendqh said:
Just thought I'd suggest the "Gingerbread Keyboard" from Steven Lin on the market.
Honestly one of the best keyboards I've ever used, coming from the MT4G.
Haven't had a chance to try it on the Amaze but will do sometime soon.
Let me know if you like it any better or if it even works on the Amaze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a look at that keyboard on my Amaze and it actually makes the keys smaller. Particularly in portrait. The bonus to that keyboard though is the addition of a row along the top with all the punctuation. That is a useful feature. Too bad it was added at the expense of key size.
marleyfan61 said:
I had a look at that keyboard on my Amaze and it actually makes the keys smaller. Particularly in portrait. The bonus to that keyboard though is the addition of a row along the top with all the punctuation. That is a useful feature. Too bad it was added at the expense of key size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really? That sucks. =( I do like that keyboard a lot.
Been using it for a year already on my MT4G. I do love the punctuation though.
The word selection comes easier for me too. Auto correct I mean.
I also like that after selecting a word it automatically spaces for me to start
typing my next word. And spacing twice puts a period. Holding enter brings up smiley faces. The list goes on. I may install on my Amaze anyway and see how I like it.
Thanks for the feedback though.
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.
I need an extra push, I'm hoping to find it here.
I'm coming from a Galaxy S2. There are two things I will have to live without, can anyone tell me if I should be worried?
1. The lack of a menu and search button.
2. Not having the ability to take out the battery.
On another note, I was wondering if someone could confirm if it's possible to remove the HTC Sense? The first thing I plan on doing is rooting it and removing basically any software HTC and AT&T add. One other question.. does anyone know if the IR can be setup to use custom commands, or if that's something we have to wait for developers?
I don't have much to add on here except the search button is so two years ago. No need to have that button there with the advent of long pressing and double tapping.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
The one is probably awesome, but since you have a s2,you might check out the s4
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
WindroidApps said:
The one is probably awesome, but since you have a s2,you might check out the s4
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people that cry about batteries are usually closet Samsung fanboys. The ability to "take out the battery" is a bit overrated. Sorry but I don't have any need to add a brick to the back of my phone just so I can show off some "amazing battery stats"
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
shook187 said:
I don't have much to add on here except the search button is so two years ago. No need to have that button there with the advent of long pressing and double tapping
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it's nice to have a search button where if I'm in the app drawer I can tap that and search for an app. Or if I'm on the home screen it opens google now. Or on a browser, it's a quick search button. You get the idea. What's the alternative now? How do you open Google Now or search for apps quickly?
WindroidApps said:
The one is probably awesome, but since you have a s2,you might check out the s4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate the way the S4 looks, and the S3. The huge rounded corners are a big turn off. I would end up getting that if I can't put up with the limitations the one has to offer.
shook187 said:
Most people that cry about batteries are usually closet Samsung fanboys. The ability to "take out the battery" is a bit overrated. Sorry but I don't have any need to add a brick to the back of my phone just so I can show off some "amazing battery stats"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I don't care about that.. I can optimize android to get what I need out of it. But I do like the ability to replace it if it dies or degrades in performance in a year from now, or say.. my phone is frozen, taking out the battery is often the fastest way to turn the damn thing off. Most of my stuff is in the cloud now, so I don't see me needing to replace my SD card. But it has occationally come in handy when I want to just pop it into my laptop to transfer some large files. I'm going to miss that.
I'm usually a Samsung guy but the one is amazing. We complain about the battery being no good over time and needing the ability to swap out. However, we get the next best thing after a year or so of use then sell the current device. The one is good. I haven't even rooted yet. I can wait until we get a stock RUU.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
XGhozt said:
Actually, I don't care about that.. I can optimize android to get what I need out of it. But I do like the ability to replace it if it dies or degrades in performance in a year from now, or say.. my phone is frozen, taking out the battery is often the fastest way to turn the damn thing off. Most of my stuff is in the cloud now, so I don't see me needing to replace my SD card. But it has occationally come in handy when I want to just pop it into my laptop to transfer some large files. I'm going to miss that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I have any issues with the battery I am calling Squaretrade and getting a replacement. That's the great thing about having insurance even though I am not even sure If I will be using this device for the full 2 years. Also, if you hold the power button down for 10 seconds its just like pulling the battery, but much faster.
I came from having a Galaxy SIII on Verizon, switched to ATT with a Galaxy SII Skyrocket and am now a happy camper with my One. The biggest hurdle was getting over not having the same capacitive buttons and how much faster the One is.
By no means am I a heavy user but I am sitting here with 60% battery going on just over 8 hours.
Lol I love being to put a beastly 7000 mah battery in my phone to get 3 days of battery. But if I can't, it isn't that big of a deal. Btw I'm not a Samsung fan boy, I'm a fan of whatever is the best.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
XGhozt said:
I need an extra push, I'm hoping to find it here.
I'm coming from a Galaxy S2. There are two things I will have to live without, can anyone tell me if I should be worried?
1. The lack of a menu and search button.
2. Not having the ability to take out the battery.
On another note, I was wondering if someone could confirm if it's possible to remove the HTC Sense? The first thing I plan on doing is rooting it and removing basically any software HTC and AT&T add. One other question.. does anyone know if the IR can be setup to use custom commands, or if that's something we have to wait for developers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On a custom rom you can map the other buttons to do a menu and maybe even a search (I'm not sure)
Holding power+vol up and down simulates pulling the battery
Right now there is not a way to remove sense, you can use 3rd party launchers for now. They are working on pure android ROMs and development will be GREAT on this device. I have owned a S2 and played with the One and the One is SWEET. (I'm still waiting for my black to arrive). I have a HTC One XL and think it is MUCH better than my S2. Just get it, You will love it. Or wait for development to grow a little to give you all those features
I love this new phone. Yes, I wish they would have built a bigger battery in there even it it would make it a little thicker and The bezels could have smaller on the sides and waaaaaaaay smaller on top and bottom. But overall, I like it, it's huge and this is what i want in a my one device. I want something that is still pocketable but as big as can possibly be (we arent there yet) and still handle my phone calls.
The software is missing a bunch of stuff. Yes, great, its not bogged down like I've been used to with Samsung, great, but come on... Why arent the software buttons customizable? Why isn't there a little button every time i hit a sound key to expand the volume menu to let me change all the different volumes (ringer/alarm/media)? I have to dig through setting to get to that... Why cant I$%#* longpress the icons in the quicksettings to bring me to the menu for that setting...
I feel like theres so much missing... a lot of things I'm used to from all the samsung phones I had. And I don't mean the gimmicky features.
A lot of these things are ideas that either google would come up with or any of the custom rom devs thought up. Samsung pays attentions and steals the good ideas for their phones... why doesn't sony??
I also with they had the knockon feature that LG has because i was used to having a button on the front and I hate having to press on the side...
I guess this doesn't matter anyway because as soon as @krabappel2548 has the main kinks worked out of the 4.4 builds, I'm jumping ship anyway. But either way, Sony really disappointed me...
FYI, I've been using these 2 apps since I got the phone, one lets you add stuff to the nav bar which is great, you cant get rid of the dedicated ones but you can put new stuff directly on top of them, And the second one is so i don't have to keep pressing the power button on the side you just wave your hand over it and it turns on (I've found that the best way to use it is to just run your hand over the sensor and that seems to work pretty well. It also always turns on by itself when I take it out of my pocket)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inorexstudio.wave2wake&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cygery.customnavbar.demo&hl=en
mottyengel said:
I love this new phone. Yes, I wish they would have built a bigger battery in there even it it would make it a little thicker and The bezels could have smaller on the sides and waaaaaaaay smaller on top and bottom. But overall, I like it, it's huge and this is what i want in a my one device. I want something that is still pocketable but as big as can possibly be (we arent there yet) and still handle my phone calls.
The software is missing a bunch of stuff. Yes, great, its not bogged down like I've been used to with Samsung, great, but come on... Why arent the software buttons customizable? Why isn't there a little button every time i hit a sound key to expand the volume menu to let me change all the different volumes (ringer/alarm/media)? I have to dig through setting to get to that... Why cant I$%#* longpress the icons in the quicksettings to bring me to the menu for that setting...
I feel like theres so much missing... a lot of things I'm used to from all the samsung phones I had. And I don't mean the gimmicky features.
A lot of these things are ideas that either google would come up with or any of the custom rom devs thought up. Samsung pays attentions and steals the good ideas for their phones... why doesn't sony??
I also with they had the knockon feature that LG has because i was used to having a button on the front and I hate having to press on the side...
I guess this doesn't matter anyway because as soon as @krabappel2548 has the main kinks worked out of the 4.4 builds, I'm jumping ship anyway. But either way, Sony really disappointed me...
FYI, I've been using these 2 apps since I got the phone, one lets you add stuff to the nav bar which is great, you cant get rid of the dedicated ones but you can put new stuff directly on top of them, And the second one is so i don't have to keep pressing the power button on the side you just wave your hand over it and it turns on (I've found that the best way to use it is to just run your hand over the sensor and that seems to work pretty well. It also always turns on by itself when I take it out of my pocket)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inorexstudio.wave2wake&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cygery.customnavbar.demo&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia Tablet Z has the double-tap to wake feature. Funny how much I miss it from the Ultra.
Don't want to have to install a separate app either!
xposed framework fixes all your complaints
SweFox said:
xposed framework fixes all your complaints
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really sure how to do that... and anyway, once I install omni, most of it will come built in. I'm just disappointed in the out of the box limitations.
If you want a phone with more features buy LG G2, it's better than Samsung phones and also has highly customizable UI but heaver than Sony's one.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
mottyengel said:
Not really sure how to do that... and anyway, once I install omni, most of it will come built in. I'm just disappointed in the out of the box limitations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okey.. If you planned on installing omni why are you disappointed since it wouldn't matter anyway? And like I said, installing xposed framwork lets you easily fix those complaints.
SweFox said:
Okey.. If you planned on installing omni why are you disappointed since it wouldn't matter anyway? And like I said, installing xposed framwork lets you easily fix those complaints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its just disappointing is all. These have become basic features... Why would sony leave them out?
Simonna said:
If you want a phone with more features buy LG G2, it's better than Samsung phones and also has highly customizable UI but heaver than Sony's one.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want this monster, not some puny 5.2 phone.
SweFox said:
xposed framework fixes all your complaints
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please tell me which xposed module lets to turn screen on without pressing power button?
techpal said:
Please tell me which xposed module lets to turn screen on without pressing power button?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can be solved with a flipcase or Gravity Screen (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2227516)
mottyengel said:
I love this new phone. Yes, I wish they would have built a bigger battery in there even it it would make it a little thicker and The bezels could have smaller on the sides and waaaaaaaay smaller on top and bottom. But overall, I like it, it's huge and this is what i want in a my one device. I want something that is still pocketable but as big as can possibly be (we arent there yet) and still handle my phone calls.
The software is missing a bunch of stuff. Yes, great, its not bogged down like I've been used to with Samsung, great, but come on... Why arent the software buttons customizable? Why isn't there a little button every time i hit a sound key to expand the volume menu to let me change all the different volumes (ringer/alarm/media)? I have to dig through setting to get to that... Why cant I$%#* longpress the icons in the quicksettings to bring me to the menu for that setting...
I feel like theres so much missing... a lot of things I'm used to from all the samsung phones I had. And I don't mean the gimmicky features.
A lot of these things are ideas that either google would come up with or any of the custom rom devs thought up. Samsung pays attentions and steals the good ideas for their phones... why doesn't sony??
I also with they had the knockon feature that LG has because i was used to having a button on the front and I hate having to press on the side...
I guess this doesn't matter anyway because as soon as @krabappel2548 has the main kinks worked out of the 4.4 builds, I'm jumping ship anyway. But either way, Sony really disappointed me...
FYI, I've been using these 2 apps since I got the phone, one lets you add stuff to the nav bar which is great, you cant get rid of the dedicated ones but you can put new stuff directly on top of them, And the second one is so i don't have to keep pressing the power button on the side you just wave your hand over it and it turns on (I've found that the best way to use it is to just run your hand over the sensor and that seems to work pretty well. It also always turns on by itself when I take it out of my pocket)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.inorexstudio.wave2wake&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cygery.customnavbar.demo&hl=en
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So essentially you're blaming Google for not equipping Android with TouchWiz features from the first place.. right..
Sony is known for the simple and elegant to navigate UI. So if you want all the bells and whistles you could always opt for xposed modules. Better to add an app rather than carrying all the bloat in the first place.
Knock on feature should be there for TabletZ because it is a huge device so looking down the power button would take too long. the LG G2 was in a different, worse problem (button on the back) but XZU buttons is clearly felt just by handling the device even in one hand so i agree there's no reason to put such solution.
SweFox said:
That can be solved with a flipcase or Gravity Screen (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2227516)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought if there is xposed module available. I am already using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omd.autoscreenon