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Ok folks, what Im going to do here is go through some of the major things I have noticed since installing the official ICS but before I do that, let me give my two sentence review.
Its nice. If you are wondering what the Note SHOULD have performed like on launch, this is it. MUCH improved scrolling, better performance and slightly more aggressive app handling.
Ok, I lied, three sentences.
Changes:
NOTE that I will NOT be covering changes to the launcher portion of ICS.
1. Overall performance is better. Using Go Launcher, with the app drawer set to 6x6, it scrolls MUCH more smoothly. The market scrolls much smoother, settings, the same. It isnt 'butter' but it is much more acceptable now, not stuttering to the point of overshooting apps.
2. Notifications menu now has two new toggles - Flight Mode and Power Savings. There is now also a fast Settings button that will take you straight into the Android Settings app.
3. The power menu (long pressing your screen on/power button) has had accessibility moved to the top of the menu (if you had this enabled) and now has a 'Reboot phone' option (YAY!!)
4. ALL system apps that CAN be linked to the market are now correctly linked. This means your list of installed apps will be a bit longer (when looking in the play store list) and also means that these apps will be able to be updated without manually searching for each one by one.
5. There are obvious signs of the original UI ICS all over the place, notably the spinning circle but you'll see it everywhere.
6. Improved battery life, for the amount I have used the phone, its at a much higher percentage than it normally would have been.
One quick point to interject, apps can now be disabled
Originally Posted by j101399j View Post
You can now also disable most stock apps.
I know this worked on some of the ICS roms, so I just looked and verified that even though you cannot uninstall some of the bloat (without root), you can disable it . For example, I can disable Swype and install Swype Beta now. I hate AT&T Navigator, so I disabled it. If it cannot be uninstalled, disable it.
(settings --> applications --> all --> select the app and uninstall any updates --> disable) kinda like freezing the apps without root
City ID
Device help
Media Hub
Polaris Office
Swype
Yellow pages
YPMobile
Yahoo finance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are a few more that I just disabled, thanks for this tip
AT&T Navigator
Email (I use the gmail app)
Google+
Now. the rest of this is the stuff under settings. Im going to cover what I recognize to be new.
Under Settings:
First off, you'll notice that everything is now categorized into different groups now, making finding things in Settings a bit easier.
Wireless and Network
Tapping on Wifi or Bluetooth now takes you to the screens to configure the advanced settings for these features. Tapping 'On/Off' on the right side enables or disables the radios.
Data Usage
Here is where you can set up your billing cycle dates and put hard caps on your PHONE to keep your data usage under what your carrier allows. Fairly straight forward but make sure you set your billing date up correctly or this will be of NO use.
More
Here you will find NFC (YAY), Android Beam (send data between two devices using NFC), and Wifi Direct (connect two devices with a wifi antenna without the need for a router/hub).
Device
Call
Nothing new here, just a few things moved around a bit.
Sound
Again, nothing new, just shuffled a bit to make things easier to get to. Note that the menu button now no longer brings up any advanced settings here, they are all accessible by navigating the screen options.
Display
A few things moved around a bit BUT a new feature, Show battery percentage in notifications bar. NICE Also, Gyroscope Calibration is now an option.
Power Saving
Unchanged
Storage
Prettier but unchanged, a little bit more information but not much.
Battery
Unchanged
Applications
Unchanged, tho it should be noted that you can hit your menu button while in this screen to sort the list by Size
Personal
Accounts and Sync
Unchanged
Location Services
Unchanged
Security
Big one here but this is where you will find face unlock and even a voice recognition feature that can I believe be used in conjunction with another method to unlock your phone. I havent had much time to look at it yet.
Language and Input
Largely unchanged but its a bit more intuitive to change your keyboard now. And, for an interesting 'feature' that Samsung forgot to disable, Pointer speed, which has NO effect on our phone, this option is only for phones with a trackpad (Samsung forgot to disable this - made me smile).
Back up and reset
Nice, this option used to be buried under privacy and is now brought out into the main settings list. Much easier to find, it
System
Dock
Unchanged
Pen Settings
New option, Hovering pen icon (shows a pen icon over the screen where the pen is hovering)
One Handed Operation
3 completely new settings, to configure the calculator, dialer, and unlock pattern to be configured for use with one hand (clumps everything on one side of the screen so that you can say dial numbers with just your thumb rather than the usual having to hold the phone with one hand and dial with your other).
Date and Time
Unchanged
Accessibility
Two new options, Speak passwords. Havent had time to check to see if this works for unlocking the phone as well, but if it does, that would be silly. Tap and Hold delay can now be configured as well as allowing or disallowing the installation of web scripts.
Motion
New option, Double Tap to allow voice dictation easily. Sweet
Developer Options
Several new things you can make visible for the nerdy types but Im not going to cover them here since they are really only for developers .
About Phone
Unchanged
Ok, that should give you an idea of what to look for, if someone else wants to cover the touchwiz stuff (adding or removing widgets/icons/homescreens) I can add it.
Also, if there is anything I missed or got wrong...
Ok, one more new thing, the phone now charges correctly off your USB port, ie. charges faster.
Awesome write up! Do you have any idea how -- or if -- we can add app shortcuts to the lockscreen like the SGSIII?
PS: I have Widgetlocker but would prefer to use the system for this if possible.
Under Settings Developer Options you have the ability to adjust the Window Animation scale and also Transition Animation Scale.
When I set these to 0 then launchers like Go launcher behave much quicker.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
whats the downside to GPU rendereing? decreased battery life?
murso74 said:
whats the downside to GPU rendereing? decreased battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is, one of the major improvements made to ICS is the ability to offload some of the processing to the processor / gpu depending on current load - ie. cpu is extremely busy at the moment so offload some processing to the gpu (or vice versa). Enabling this option I believe forces the gpu to handle everything regardless of the state of the cpu.
Reports have claimed enabling this option has mixed results. If the app supports gpu acceleration, you will see better performance. If it doesnt, the app will actually have worse performance and may actually crash the app in some rare cases. All ICS updated apps support this and chances are, if the software you have on your Note has been updated to support ICS, you have no issues.
So, the advice from the streets is to either keep is disabled and pretend you didnt see it or enable it and keep in the back of your mind that you might need to disable it occasionally for certain apps. The performance improvement is supposedly pretty minimal.
andrawer said:
Under Settings Developer Options you have the ability to adjust the Window Animation scale and also Transition Animation Scale.
When I set these to 0 then launchers like Go launcher behave much quicker.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, there are a couple of negatives about this however. Any native Android apps will loose some of the fancy 'little' touches (for example fading when going from one screen to another in settings). Some have reported however a small improvement in battery life doing this so its up to you. Persoinally, performance wise, I didnt notice anything differently with these set to 0. But then again, I have only one homescreen.
One other note, I just got off a 2.5 hour phone call from a full charge. Ended the call with 70% battery left. This is a HUGE improvement over GB where I likely would have been around 50% left.
not really usefull but in about phone, if you tap the android version a bunch of times you get a 8bit android in a icecream sammich.
also after the update I have no more black crush!!!
pez13 said:
not really usefull but in about phone, if you tap the android version a bunch of times you get a 8bit android in a icecream sammich.
also after the update I have no more black crush!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if u rub it u get flying ones. Old news
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
oh hey!!!! thats a new one on me!!! cool! what did it do on GB? We lost the ability to change the brightness by pulling down notifications a little bit and swiping left or right I liked that feature
pez13 said:
oh hey!!!! thats a new one on me!!! cool! what did it do on GB? We lost the ability to change the brightness by pulling down notifications a little bit and swiping left or right I liked that feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In gb it an artwork painting of the Android dude surrounded by zombies
Sent from my SGH-I717M using xda app-developers app
pez13 said:
not really usefull but in about phone, if you tap the android version a bunch of times you get a 8bit android in a icecream sammich.
also after the update I have no more black crush!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol that one was nice
littlewierdo said:
My understanding is, one of the major improvements made to ICS is the ability to offload some of the processing to the processor / gpu depending on current load - ie. cpu is extremely busy at the moment so offload some processing to the gpu (or vice versa). Enabling this option I believe forces the gpu to handle everything regardless of the state of the cpu.
Reports have claimed enabling this option has mixed results. If the app supports gpu acceleration, you will see better performance. If it doesnt, the app will actually have worse performance and may actually crash the app in some rare cases. All ICS updated apps support this and chances are, if the software you have on your Note has been updated to support ICS, you have no issues.
So, the advice from the streets is to either keep is disabled and pretend you didnt see it or enable it and keep in the back of your mind that you might need to disable it occasionally for certain apps. The performance improvement is supposedly pretty minimal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry to tell you that you are incorrect. Here is information about that toggle and other android graphics issues straight from the woman who designed the OS.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...I-C08yEO63mvHG6BQ&sig2=bamQd77PjEBd050c6s96EQ
TLDR:
Before ICS, android used the GPU to accelerate the animations of the windows, but it left the choice of how to render graphics inside the windows to the app developer. What the toggle does, is to force GPU rendering inside the windows, even if the app did not ask for it. There are two downsides to this forced rendering. The forced rendering can break compatibility. It can also increase memory usage unnecessarily.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk
pez13 said:
oh hey!!!! thats a new one on me!!! cool! what did it do on GB? We lost the ability to change the brightness by pulling down notifications a little bit and swiping left or right I liked that feature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see I wasn't the only one to notice that the brightness/ notification bar trick doesn't work anymore. I really hope they bring it back.
What about what is mentioned in
http://www.samsung.com/us/support/SupportOwnersFAQPopup.do?faq_id=FAQ00047453&fm_seq=51497
Who is the author of "My Story App" mentioned above? There are a couple different apps that it might be in the Play Store but I didn't see any mention of "S-Pen" in them.
Found it from:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28583744&postcount=4
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.mystory
Justinfedor said:
And if u rub it u get flying ones. Old news
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bwwaahhhaaaa.... sorry but when I opened this thread it landed on you post.... and I read it out of context
Just received an email from Samsung saying to upgrade to ICS (did it via kies when 1st available). The email stated there is a newly introduced "Desktop View". This is for the default web browser.....
If you want to switch to "Desktop" browser mode, bring up the settings and select "Desktop view". So now its easier to switch between mobile and desktop browser modes.
Before you had to do "about:useragent"
Something to add to the OP; you can now also disable most stock apps.
I know this worked on some of the ICS roms, so I just looked and verified that even though you cannot uninstall some of the bloat (without root), you can disable it . For example, I can disable Swype and install Swype Beta now. I hate AT&T Navigator, so I disabled it. If it cannot be uninstalled, disable it.
(settings --> applications --> all --> select the app and uninstall any updates --> disable) kinda like freezing the apps without root
Apps I disabled
City ID
Device help
Media Hub
Polaris Office
Swype
Yellow pages
YPMobile
Yahoo finance
I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I hate
radon222 said:
bwwaahhhaaaa.... sorry but when I opened this thread it landed on you post.... and I read it out of context
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. I just reread what i said. Haha
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
...and I don't mean 'minmize' like what pressing the home or back button does. (which merely puts it in the multitasker menu list, still open.)
I mean closing it like when you swipe it out of the menu list. (which are far as I can tell, seems to close it off enough to stop what it's doing and free up the memory it was using!)
Sometimes I want to just close an app since I know I won't be using it for a while and I want to conserve cpu/memory/battery - or merely manage the list of things in my multitask list. kinda like on Desktop. (you don't want every app on your pc open all at once, do you, do you?!) and I just want a simple way like on the desktop to close that app when I want to close it.
SO: Is there some app that can assign a custom screen gesture (like the lovely letter C for 'close') to perform 'fully exit current app' or some solution like that? I started to research, but couldn't seem to find one very quickly, so thought I'd ask here, at THE place to ask.
also I apologise for using things like Windows terms ('minimize'), i know that's not how it works in android. But you do know what I mean.
Thanks
This is a question that a lot of people ask when moving to Android and the answer simply is, forget about it.
Android handles processes and memory in a completely different way to Windows. When an app is "minimized" it obviously leaves a footprint in the memory, but it uses no CPU (unless it's a polling app or something that keeps alive for a specific purpose).
Just trust Android to handle memory management - it does a very good job of it.
If you really, really MUST do something about it then the best thing you can do is get something like Juice Defender (there's tons of similar apps) and make it kill apps periodically. Most apps that people use for this type of purpose are merely placebo, but if it makes you feel better then I guess it's serving a purpose.
Archer said:
This is a question that a lot of people ask when moving to Android and the answer simply is, forget about it.
Android handles processes and memory in a completely different way to Windows. When an app is "minimized" it obviously leaves a footprint in the memory, but it uses no CPU (unless it's a polling app or something that keeps alive for a specific purpose).
Just trust Android to handle memory management - it does a very good job of it.
If you really, really MUST do something about it then the best thing you can do is get something like Juice Defender (there's tons of similar apps) and make it kill apps periodically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer. I can sense you have wisdom and experience in your words there, but I want to probe a little further.
surely there can be an almost macro-like (again, windows terminology, sorry) functionality, that can be assigned to a gesture swipe that can emulate pressing home button, then swiping the bottom item away from the multitask menu? (which is always the one you just 'minimized')? Could an app like Tasker even do it?
i agree that good memory management is a beautiful thing, but there really should be manual control of closing apps, my reasons above are stated.
i wouldn't touch automatic time-based closing, i sometimes have saved states in apps and wouldn't want them closed when i don't want them closed.
Most apps that people use for this type of purpose are merely placebo, but if it makes you feel better then I guess it's serving a purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you really think it's all placebo, and that say, running 50 apps in android with finite set amount of ram on the device is all fine simply due to memory management?
is me experiencing lag in some android apps (or battery draining faster than I'd like), then closing off several running apps in the multitask list, then noticing the problem go away, all placebo????? what about google maps, say?! I'd love a one-step swipe action to CLOSE google maps when I'm done with it, not having to press home button, then multitask button, then swipe away google maps. (I know when minimized it consumes nothing like it does when open, but I think still it consumes more than if it were fully closed...)
it's not just about memory. edit: and I already stated in addition, I often want to simply manage what I have open. this is a basic function in desktop OSes, I think it's time it came to mobile. if not officially, there surely must be some hack/tool to do it. :S
download a task killer app with a widget.
press home button and press the widget and you're done
If you're using AOKP based ROM then there is hold back to kill in Settings > ROM control > general UI
Sent from my GT-I9100 using 1st ROM
Hold homesçern key
Sent from my ST23i using xda app-developers app
jman2131 said:
download a task killer app with a widget.
press home button and press the widget and you're done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's about 2/3 the way towards the current 3-step solution though :/.
Am I to be amazed that a function to put this simple task into a single gesture hasn't been done? or isn't possible? it HAS to be possible. Otherwise I'd be flabbergasted.
I have googled further and just can't seem to find something :|.
WAIT! I think I have! here. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.goodmooddroid.gesturecontroldemo&hl=en it has a "kill task" function that you can set up a custom gesture for. it's a start.
however I'm getting a "ERROR! No ROOT permissions?" error despite being rooted with supersu and successfully using other root apps etc, so I've emailed the dev and hope I can get it working :S.
But still, it seems a little clunky the offering of custom gesture types. I can't set a nice curvy gesture defined by tracing it on the screen. oh well - it's a start.....
jootanen said:
If you're using AOKP based ROM then there is hold back to kill in Settings > ROM control > general UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems the holy grail! too bad I'm on stock jb with plans for upgrading to CM .....
I've been using my HOX+ for almost six months now, fairly light use but I'm mostly happy with it. I'm still running unrooted stock, just installed the official 4.2.2 update. This is my first real smartphone, I had an unsubsidized $100 3.14" Android smartphone last year that I don't think really qualifies.
The big complaint I have with the jump to a 4.7" screen is that one-handed use is uncomfortable and requires me to stretch to reach the corners, where the buttons are often stupidly located, or sometimes even to slide the phone up and down in my hand to make the buttons accessible, not exactly easy to do with one hand without dropping the phone. I would really like a phone that is comfortable to use one-handed, but I don't want to compromise by buying a smaller screen phone, say 4.3" or god forbid the 4" size of the iPhone, as I'm not exactly thrilled with the "looking through a keyhole" quality of 4.7" either.
I think the right solution would be a thumbwheel UI in the bottom right corner, placed in the arc right where my thumb is, so I can use it one-handed with my thumb and not have to reach with my fingers. As long as it let me virtually hit all the buttons on the screen, even native app buttons like the menu button at the top or the tab switcher button at the top in Chrome, I could even buy a phablet if there was something like this, maybe a 5.5+ inch screen that I could use comfortably one-handed with just my thumb in the bottom-right corner.
The closest thing I've been able to find like this is the Splay launcher, but I don't think such launchers actually let me control menus within apps, only launch apps. This guy wrote a small app earlier this year to do something similar, seems to be a great article talking about the idea but I don't think that effort went anywhere.
Is there any effort within the xda community to integrate a one-handed control interface like this? This is a feature that would actually make me root and install a ROM, as I haven't had the need to go to the trouble yet. I'd love to see an effort like this on Android, wonder what everyone else thinks.
joakim_one said:
I've been using my HOX+ for almost six months now, fairly light use but I'm mostly happy with it. I'm still running unrooted stock, just installed the official 4.2.2 update. This is my first real smartphone, I had an unsubsidized $100 3.14" Android smartphone last year that I don't think really qualifies.
The big complaint I have with the jump to a 4.7" screen is that one-handed use is uncomfortable and requires me to stretch to reach the corners, where the buttons are often stupidly located, or sometimes even to slide the phone up and down in my hand to make the buttons accessible, not exactly easy to do with one hand without dropping the phone. I would really like a phone that is comfortable to use one-handed, but I don't want to compromise by buying a smaller screen phone, say 4.3" or god forbid the 4" size of the iPhone, as I'm not exactly thrilled with the "looking through a keyhole" quality of 4.7" either.
I think the right solution would be a thumbwheel UI in the bottom right corner, placed in the arc right where my thumb is, so I can use it one-handed with my thumb and not have to reach with my fingers. As long as it let me virtually hit all the buttons on the screen, even native app buttons like the menu button at the top or the tab switcher button at the top in Chrome, I could even buy a phablet if there was something like this, maybe a 5.5+ inch screen that I could use comfortably one-handed with just my thumb in the bottom-right corner.
The closest thing I've been able to find like this is the Splay launcher, but I don't think such launchers actually let me control menus within apps, only launch apps. This guy wrote a small app earlier this year to do something similar, seems to be a great article talking about the idea but I don't think that effort went anywhere.
Is there any effort within the xda community to integrate a one-handed control interface like this? This is a feature that would actually make me root and install a ROM, as I haven't had the need to go to the trouble yet. I'd love to see an effort like this on Android, wonder what everyone else thinks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A "Whole" UI made especially for one hand usage? Well I know the second best solution.
Install "Pie Controls" and assign it to any corner/side of the screen, it will allow you to launch apps but for the function that you want, you will need to root. Once you are rooted PIE has extra features like "Back, Home, Sleep, Menu, Recent Apps" ..etc.
A Second best is "LMT" launcher ALSO requires root. Once you have it, you will be able to have PIE Controls as well, PLUS a unique feature to have gestures working in all screens. You can swipe down to bring up the notification bar or swipe up for recent apps. The reason i put it as second best was because I don't really like it ..
Ofcourse there are normal launchers , like nova launcher ..etc. that allows you to swipe down to bring up the notifications but sadly that only works on the home screen.
There are also ROMS like AOKP (For us Carbon rom or something similar) which has a stock feeling but extra buttons in the Power menu. When you hold down the power menu , under the normal "Power off, restart, screenshot, airplane" you will also find "Back, Home, Recent apps"
I honestly think that PIE Controls is the best app to have out of them all since it works on all ROMs . Though for full features you should buy the Pro version.
P.S: All apps that you are looking for will require ROOT access.
Ghand0ur said:
A "Whole" UI made especially for one hand usage? Well I know the second best solution.
Install "Pie Controls" and assign it to any corner/side of the screen, it will allow you to launch apps but for the function that you want, you will need to root. Once you are rooted PIE has extra features like "Back, Home, Sleep, Menu, Recent Apps" ..etc.
A Second best is "LMT" launcher ALSO requires root. Once you have it, you will be able to have PIE Controls as well, PLUS a unique feature to have gestures working in all screens. You can swipe down to bring up the notification bar or swipe up for recent apps. The reason i put it as second best was because I don't really like it ..
Ofcourse there are normal launchers , like nova launcher ..etc. that allows you to swipe down to bring up the notifications but sadly that only works on the home screen.
There are also ROMS like AOKP (For us Carbon rom or something similar) which has a stock feeling but extra buttons in the Power menu. When you hold down the power menu , under the normal "Power off, restart, screenshot, airplane" you will also find "Back, Home, Recent apps"
I honestly think that PIE Controls is the best app to have out of them all since it works on all ROMs . Though for full features you should buy the Pro version.
P.S: All apps that you are looking for will require ROOT access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the info. I tried the Pie Control app by coolace based on your recommendation, but it didn't seem to do anything on my unrooted HOX+. I'll look into the other stuff you talked about.
joakim_one said:
Thanks for all the info. I tried the Pie Control app by coolace based on your recommendation, but it didn't seem to do anything on my unrooted HOX+. I'll look into the other stuff you talked about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How didn't it function?
Well here is a good video that will help you install it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBud1hk27Rw
Although to have full features you will require to BUY the pro version and root, the free version on an unrooted version should have some functions that will work like launching apps and other stuff. Try to clarify what you meant
Ghand0ur said:
How didn't it function?
Well here is a good video that will help you install it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBud1hk27Rw
Although to have full features you will require to BUY the pro version and root, the free version on an unrooted version should have some functions that will work like launching apps and other stuff. Try to clarify what you meant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed the app and set it to work on the left, right, and bottom, then configured two short-click apps in level 1. I would then long-press at those edges and nothing happened with pie control: HTC Sense would send me to widget configuration instead.
I just watched your video and he does a slight swipe from the edge, instead of the long-press I was trying. I just installed the app again and tried that on the home screen and within a couple other apps, again no pie controls. If I do it on the home screen, it starts to scroll to the next home screen, as it always did.
There may be something about HTC Sense that it's not giving control to the pie app for gestures, or maybe there's some other switch I have to hit somewhere to actually enable the pie gestures?
joakim_one said:
I installed the app and set it to work on the left, right, and bottom, then configured two short-click apps in level 1. I would then long-press at those edges and nothing happened with pie control: HTC Sense would send me to widget configuration instead.
I just watched your video and he does a slight swipe from the edge, instead of the long-press I was trying. I just installed the app again and tried that on the home screen and within a couple other apps, again no pie controls. If I do it on the home screen, it starts to scroll to the next home screen, as it always did.
There may be something about HTC Sense that it's not giving control to the pie app for gestures, or maybe there's some other switch I have to hit somewhere to actually enable the pie gestures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Although HOX+ and S3 have the same screen size, for the PIE to activate you just need to increase the activation area width. Just thought of installing Pie again after a while of not using it and just remembered. Now it's working fine
I remember there was a small bug of the activation area width being reset everytime you open the app if I can remember correctly. That or everytime you press on the activation width area. Can't really remember but my point is, while using the app if it suddenly doesnt appear anymore just increase the width again and it will work.
Sorry it took me a while to reply since I couldn't really remember
Sent from my HTC One x+ using XDA developers app
Ghand0ur said:
Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Although HOX+ and S3 have the same screen size, for the PIE to activate you just need to increase the activation area width. Just thought of installing Pie again after a while of not using it and just remembered. Now it's working fine
I remember there was a small bug of the activation area width being reset everytime you open the app if I can remember correctly. That or everytime you press on the activation width area. Can't really remember but my point is, while using the app if it suddenly doesnt appear anymore just increase the width again and it will work.
Sorry it took me a while to reply since I couldn't really remember
Sent from my HTC One x+ using XDA developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, now it shows up. I'll mess around with it and let you know what I think.
Hello everyone! I just got a brand new Galaxy Note 4 (Exynos) coming from a Galaxy S4. The "new' left softkey now triggers the Recents app instead of being a Menu (Options) key and that makes me sad. I'm not much of a multi-tasker, I'm not going to use it often, but I do like using the Options key in Chrome, picture galleries and basically everywhere since it's easier for me to reach it. I know most apps now have the "three dots" menu, but it's usually very high on the screen (hard to reach on a Note 4) and it's also non-intuitive. One can just press the left soft key with eyes closed, while you need to precisely see where you click if using app's "three dots". So I discovered that if I "hold" the left soft key, it would actually bring the Options menu, but I would like to swap the behavior. One press = Options, Hold = Recent.
I'm on a stock Kitkat 4.4.4 now, running ART, fully rooted. Can someone post(make) a CWM/TWRP .zip to address this problem?
PS: I tried to search for such feature here on the Themes and Apps section, but couldn't find a solution.
Thanks!
Look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2646304 and here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2337229 I think that the logic is the same, look if there are similarities.
Yay, thanks! Indeed in "/system/usr/keylayout" there was a file called "Generic.kl" and inside of it #254 was called "APP_SWITCH". I changed that to "MENU", restarted and... the button now acts like a Menu key, just like on my old Galaxy S4. For some reason the "hold" function of this key changed to "S Finder" (a search app) and I would like to make it "APP_SWITCH" in order to fully accomplish my goal of swapping those two functions, but still I think now it's a little bit better since I really care more for the Option key, especially on this big screen where reaching the "three dots" menu in upper right corner is not that easy.
Remap buttons with "xposed additions"
Obviously, you need xposed installed.
ctrlaltdeln said:
Remap buttons with "xposed additions"
Obviously, you need xposed installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've heard somewhere about that, but I don't like Xposed to be honest. I don't live running lots of background processes and Xposed is a whole fremework.
ZeroCGTI said:
Yeah, I've heard somewhere about that, but I don't like Xposed to be honest. I don't live running lots of background processes and Xposed is a whole fremework.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not as bad as one would think.
Alot of them you could greenify(greenify can function as a xposed module or a stand-alone app), like Wanam.
Also, modules like greenify and boot manager would save you resources and would probably even-out with the resource demands of the framework.
IMO, Xposed is an absolute must-have for a device that's efficient, customized, and blazing fast.
Maybe. Still last time I checked it wasn't available for Samsung TouchWiz based ROMs on Lollipop. And I'm considering the opportunity to step up to the Lollipop upgrade finally and it won't be compatible anyway. I mean I surely can install it now, but I don't like the idea of getting used to it since I won't be able to use it once I upgrade to LP.
I think that you must change menu to app_switch
Hello fellow Android users.
I've always been obsessed with customizing the functionality of my devices to make it really practical to use.
I've been playing with the settings of the Xiaomi Redmi 9 for a week now and everything is set to perfection except one thing which is not available in the default settings but would be incredibly convenient, not only for me but for many people too.
I set all the apps I use in one single home screen (not multiple pages). The ones that don't fit there are all in one folder and that uses up only one button slot.
Since I don't have multiple pages for the apps, the swipe left and swipe right functions are available for other useful things, I'd like to set that up to be shortcuts to apps that I use a lot, like whatsapp and gmail. This would also free 2 slots in my home screen.
I suspect there's a way to do it, just don't know how and have tried several google searches like "how to assign left and right swipe functions on android home screen" or "how to customize left and right swipe on android home screen" and many other similar combinations of words. Found nothing.
Does anyone know if there's an app or a mod that allows you that level of customization? I'm a video editor and I'm not very educated in programing android apps or anything similar.
Hope someone can give me a hint. Thanks a lot in advance. Greetings from Barcelona, where many of us are locked down and unemployed :cyclops: