Hello all, I am looking for a way to assign the side volume button to an application instead of the volume control operation, any one knows if that is doable?
If no solution for it so far, can you pleased provide me with some technical information about it so I might be able to write a program for it? thank you.
I know that it is done in both Mame and Pocket Music. But I don't know how they do it. I have not seen any general enhancement utility that lets you remap the button.
My HD2 "Frankenphone" (it's built from no less than 3 other HD2's) has no working hardware keys on the front of the phone. The volume keys, however, do still work. I therefore want to cook a rom based on an existing one that has Volume up/down mapped to HOME/Back.
Furthermore, I was wondering if I could somehow get the MENU button implemented as well. I understand that this is not possible through the SDK, but perhaps it can be done by writing native C code. E.g. a longpress Volume-up could be menu, a long-press Volume-down could be search.
I'm not asking for someone to do this for me, I'd like to do this myself. What I'm looking for are a few quick pointers to how to start this endeavor. I have previous experience cooking custom roms using toolchains under linux, and also experience writing C (non-gui) code under linux. So useful pointers would be :
* Where can I find the key mappings? I suppose this is part of the kernel/user space?
* How would I go about implementing the long-press feature? Or can you hint towards another possible solution that does not involve the front hardware keys (touchscreen snooping for gestures? accellerometer? Any other sensor?)
Take a look here:
http://source.android.com/porting/keymaps_keyboard_input.html
Hope that helps.
One thing I do in most builds is change my call key to a search key.
Hi!
Take a look at the following thread! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=740629
paalkr said:
Hi!
Take a look at the following thread! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=740629
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks! That worked like a charm. Mounted the system.ext2 loopback, patched the keys, and tadaah, working home + back. That at least makes the phone usable again.
Can anyone recommend a solution to get a working MENU action? It looks like long-press back is handled by apps individually (e.g. in the browser it will show a history), while long-press home displays a task switcher. I could live with long-press back being handled by android itself to implement the menu function.
(edit) looks like this is possible, e.g. here it mentions "including some special features to support the virtual hard keys that are appearing on recent devices such as Droid." Now how did they do that?
Just wondering about the feasibility of (someone with the know-how) creating a background app/service that could monitor and intercept the Nook's Vol+ and Vol- buttons, and if held down for a certain amount of time, perform Menu or Back actions as well.
I would think this possible, based on CM ROMs' ability to skip forwards/backwards from the lockscreen when music is playing, as well as the official XBMC Remote's abililty to change the volume for media playing on an XBMC box without interfering with the volume on the actual Android device.
Under the stock BN ROM I had remapped the Vol buttons, which wasn't a problem since the speaker was barely audible in the first place, but since flashing Dalingrin's OC kernel with the increased volume, I (happily) find the need to be able to change the volume levels easily.
I can't be the only one who's pondered this, but I've read through most of the threads and don't recall seeing this anywhere... If I've missed it, please point me in the right direction.
Thoughts? Takers?
Thanks.
You mean like this easily flashable script in the development forum (page 2).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=965023
I am talking an app which would retain volume functionality if the buttons are pressed briefly, as well as implement menu / back functions if held.
Unfortunately it looks like that script you linked to simply remaps the volume keys to menu and back -- without retaining volume functionality:
EpicFail236 said:
[...]
I find that my need for physical menu and back buttons is greater than my need for physical volume buttons.
[...]
This zip is CWM flashable, and simply overwrites the keymap kl files with ones that have the volume buttons remapped.
[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly what you want, but a simple solution.
see this, tip #7. Its a simple edit to a text file.
Worked on CM7, heres my edited /system/usr/keylayout/qwerty.kl vol up=menu, down=back
Thanks; unfortunately that is the essentially same as sparhawk's solution, and what I did under the BN ROM.
What I'm looking for is a solution via an application that retains the volume button functionality and augments the buttons with menu/back ability and does not simply remap the volume buttons.
If I had the slightest inkling as to how to do this myself, I would. Unfortunately I've tried and failed (miserably) so far at attempting to learn coding for Android.
I was hoping someone might be familiar with the way CM and XBMC Remote handle these intercepts and be able to adapt code, or create something similar for menu/back functionality.
I get what you are saying, but I don't think it would be possible. Notice how if you hold it down now, it will turn the volume down all the way step by step. When the screen is off, it doesn't do anything. If it was made to be held down to switch function, you would lose the ability to turn down the volume by holding it down. I know what I said is confusing, but just think about it lol. Have you thought about remapping tthe keys totally to menu/back, and then having a sound toggle in the pull down widget for the notification bar? You wouldn't have total control over the levels, but at least its something.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Xephik said:
I get what you are saying, but I don't think it would be possible. Notice how if you hold it down now, it will turn the volume down all the way step by step. When the screen is off, it doesn't do anything.
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Click to collapse
I am running CM7 n11 on the nook, and regardless of whether the screen is on or off: if music is playing, when I hit the volume button, the volume level is changed. Not sure what you're referring to.
Xephik said:
If it was made to be held down to switch function, you would lose the ability to turn down the volume by holding it down.
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Click to collapse
I don't necessarily think that's the case.
Example: somehow CM is able to retain volume functionality and add skip next/previous track in music player. When I refer to the ability of CM to skip forward/backwards when music is playing, I am basing this on my experience with CM6.12 on my Droid1.
Xephik said:
Have you thought about remapping tthe keys totally to menu/back, and then having a sound toggle in the pull down widget for the notification bar? You wouldn't have total control over the levels, but at least its something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, done that and didn't love it. I believe a solution such as I'm suggesting would be much more "integrated," elegant, and convenient.
Basically the app would intercept a volume button press:
- brief press: button release < 300ms, app performs volume function
- long press: button held down or release > 300ms, perform back or menu
Are there any experienced devs who provide some insight?
tj!2k7 said:
Thanks; unfortunately that is the essentially same as sparhawk's solution, and what I did under the BN ROM.
What I'm looking for is a solution via an application that retains the volume button functionality and augments the buttons with menu/back ability and does not simply remap the volume buttons.
If I had the slightest inkling as to how to do this myself, I would. Unfortunately I've tried and failed (miserably) so far at attempting to learn coding for Android.
I was hoping someone might be familiar with the way CM and XBMC Remote handle these intercepts and be able to adapt code, or create something similar for menu/back functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen this behavior to control the Android music player. And honesty I don't see why it couldn't be adapted to throw a back or home interrupt. But to implement it is beyond me!
Here is a GitHub repo to handle the Android player on long press up and down but also still handle volume changes on short press.
https://github.com/metalhead8816/android_frameworks_policies_base
And I'm pretty sure the specific commit would be
https://github.com/metalhead8816/an...mmit/7504617a9211a65ce767281c59668e8641b8a14d
Mat Sumpter said:
Here is a GitHub repo to handle the Android player on long press up and down but also still handle volume changes on short press.
https://github.com/metalhead8816/android_frameworks_policies_base
And I'm pretty sure the specific commit would be
https://github.com/metalhead8816/an...mmit/7504617a9211a65ce767281c59668e8641b8a14d
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We're on a better path now. Thank you for posting concrete evidence of the volume buttons serving two simultaneous functions.
Could that code be used as a base for a standalone background app/service to implement the desired functionality? Better yet if it could be built into a ROM such as CM, but a standalone app would be perfect.
As this is really a question for devs, should I have posted this thread in the dev forum?
This code was put in for eclair so it won't apply cleanly to the Froyo code. But I'm sure a DEV with good Java knowledge could hack this into the current policy framework. From the code this appears pretty integral so I doubt this could be an outside apk that we install. This would likely be an alternate framework we'd need to apply to a ROM much like a style. But again I'm not an Android developer so I don't know for sure.
Button remapper works for the simple remapping, but not for the longpress actions.
I have half a mind to attempt writing a simple service for this
long press menu->vol up in 20% increments
long press back->vol down in 20% increments (may interfere with CM7 long press to kill functionality)
http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2009/12/back-and-other-hard-keys-three-stories.html
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4983605/send-button-volume-button-action-listeners
http://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/KeyEvent.html
A service sounds (to a non-programmer such as myself) like it would be less involved than framework modifications, and portable across ROM updates.
And personally, I don't mind "losing" long-press-kill functionality as I never use it anyway... I'd love to see some progress along these lines... go for it. =)
If you decide to attempt create a service for this, could you be make the long/short actions customizable?
i.e. :
Short press Vol+: Volume up / Long-press Vol+: Menu
Short press Vol-: Volume down / Long-press Vol-: Back
vs.
Short press Vol+: Menu / Long-press Vol+: Volume up
Short press Vol-: Back / Long-press Vol-: Volume down
In most applications, Menu and Back are usable via the status bar; since that functionality would be redundant, it would be nice to retain quick access to volume for short presses. For instances where Menu and Back are not usable in full-screen applications, long-pressing the buttons to perform menu and back actions doesn't seem like much of an issue.
Actually, if the Menu and Back were long-press actions, couldn't you implement functionality to kill the current app if Back was held for a specific amount of time?
Just thought I'd bump this back to the top... any devs out there who might want to take a crack at something like this?
Until we get Honeycomb AOSP this "hack" would be perfect!
I'm on the lookout too. I'd much rather have my vol up and down keys then have them as back and home. Unfortunately I lack the skills to code it so far!
My prayers, answered. Thanks mad-murdock.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1002000&page=23
Hello, I do hope I'm in the correct section. There doesn't seem to be an explicit "Dumb Non-Programmer Questions" area, so if I'm somehow in the bad, my apologies.
Anyway, I was wondering if it it was possible to have an app which reassigned hardware buttons to presses on the touchscreen. So that, whenever you pressed, say, Search, the phone would act as if you pressed area XYZ on the touchscreen.
It originally came to me when I was reading about the Nook Touch, and everyone trying to get support for hardware buttons added. Well, considering most of the ebook readers seem to support taping the side of the page to turn, why not just assign the hardware buttons to one of those areas?
I began researching and found there isn't really anything which does that on Android, or on much anything, really. So I'm more curious then anything now; is it something that just isn't really feasible or possible with the Android SDK, or it is more of a solution in search of a problem that no one's found a reason for?
Lets say you have a button and you want that button to simulate a menu key press you can send key presses via adb and the shell
Runtime.getRuntime().exec(
"adb shell input keyevent 82")
Where 82 is the keycode for the menu key. So i suppose that any hardware key that has a code associated with it could be mapped to a screen press
From something awesome
Er, lemme rephrase the question.
I mean, is it possible to make a hardware button replace a press on the touchscreen? For instance, in the Kindle app, tapping the right third of the screen turns the page. Can I assign the search button, for instance, to replicate my finger tapping the right side of the screen to turn the page?
You can't. But the developers of the application should be able to do this by overriding onKeyDown method (except for the home button which I believe can't be overridden).
Oh bother.
Well, thanks for the replies. I was hoping there might be some method, since it'd make developing for the nook touch easier, but I'm guessing it's not something that's needed more then rarely.
I can't understand why it is so hard or impossible, it is very easy to do on almost every other os. Can't one just assign a button to a mouse click on screen coordinates?
I am asking because it would be awesome, to assign a wii remote button to a mouse click and then play games like Asphalt 6 or so, that don't support hardware keyboard, with a remote controller.
yup, i have the sae question as well. My intention was to play android games which doesn't require accelerometer using wiimote/classic controller.
If you get the app source code or if you are good at smali, you can
Questions or Problems Should Not Be Posted in the Development Forum
Please Post in the Correct Forums
Moving to Q&A
So I've done a search on Google and Xda about this topic and so far there doesn't seem to be much information on this except to find a thread about the inability of the android system in remapping of keys (or maybe the thread just went out of topic)
Thread; http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1244702
So I'm wondering whether the remapping of the right click button to give a command 'Open Context Menu' is possible to immitate the function of a real computer (All these taking into consideration that it is also possible to remap buttons of the dock)
If you were to have it mimic the behavior of a real computer it wouldn't work. Android uses a right mouse button as if you were touching and holding on an object.
The only thing i would be interested in is remapping the second button the same as the primary button. Effectively having left click and left click.
Now it shouldn't be *that* hard to make a simple program to accomplish this, simply an extension to remap the buttons to whatever android specific task you want, this is already semi possible with the remapping of soft keys in CM 10.1/AOKP builds, so something like that should be possible.
Unfortunately i have no coding experience. I would love to see this done though
Nexus 4. Paranoid edition.
No, today I search & found a solution - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55848773&postcount=7