HW Menu Button vs Multitask Button - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

On American Android phones with four hardware buttons - we generally have a Menu Key, a Home Key, a Back Key and a Search Key.
The new paradigm per ICS and HTC Ville leak is to have 3 hardware or software buttons, a Back Key, a Home Key, and a Multitask Key. The menu key should be in the new "Action Bar" strip in the program's UI.
When you upgrade a phone with the four old style hardware keys to ICS - the program's don't use an "Action Bar" design. Instead menu key functionality is preserved and to multitask you continue to hold the Home Key.
My question is this - why have the dichotomy in paradigm? Wouldn't it be simpler to force everyone into using an "Action Bar" and then reassigning the Menu Key to function as the new Multitask Key?

As iphone lead a one-key-phone, others aim to this target.

I've wondered that as well. Seeing how useful the multitask button is in the Nexus actually makes me frustrated that I have to hold the home button to bring up the multitask menu.
I guess they just want to preserve it so as not to confuse the pre-existing users.

Related

[Q] Question: touchkey shortcuts

I've searched everywhere, but didn't find a solution for the following:
when you hold the bottom left hardware touchkey you'll get a popup browser with google search.
And if you hold the center key a window appears with recent programs.
Is there a way too change these shortcuts into something of my own choice?
My s2 is rooted, so maybe there is an app that will do the trick?
Like you, I'd love to remap the menu key to home and home key to menu. We use the home key much more often than menu and it's harder to press a physical key. However, I haven't found such a mod yet.
Remapping keys
I am looking for a way to remap long press of back key (i.e. hold down right key) to something else. Haven't found anything yet.
Now I am using SwipeSwitcher - I configured top left swipe to run Quicker, top right swipe to run a task switcher (I am using PreHome), bottom right swipe to run recent apps (I couldn't find an app to run ICS recent apps, I installed Nova Launcher and assigned the swipe action to its recent apps shortcut).

[Suggestion] Multitasking Button remap (HOX & GS3)

I havent really seen anyone do or suggest this, but for those making roms for the HTC One series, could you re-re-map the hardware buttons so that the recent apps button pulls up the recent apps (normal ics behavior), and then a long press on the recent apps button maps to the menu button?
My reasoning, is eventually, the "menu" button is something that will get obsoleted, so mapping it as a secondary action (i.e. long press) is a better approach than the current mapping on some of the Roms out there (like cm9). Personally, I'm not a fan of long-presses, so I prefer it for functions I hardly use (like menu).
As for the Gs3, I recommend mapping the 'menu' button to the 'recent apps', and a long press to the menu function (instead of long pressing the home button for recent apps). Again, my reasoning is, when the menu button, eventually gets obsoleted, it becomes pointless having the physical menu button do nothing.
Anyway, just my 2 cents...
Bump.
What I know is that single click functionality of any button can be changed by editing system/usr/keylayout/something_keypad.kl
But long press is not related to button remapping... So it needs to be changed from somewhere else and about that I have no idea..
Sent from my GT-S7500 using xda premium

Enable context menu soft-key?

On my Galaxy Nexus, despite the fact that it has a menu button, I would get a menu key in certain apps like Gmail (bottom right) and Market (top right). It would be an additional three-dot button that was essentially menu access, like pressing the menu key.
However, I notice on my SGS3 that these apps and others lack this additional menu button. Is there a way to turn it on/enable it? Like...tell the phone, "Hey, I know you have a menu button, but if the app supports it turn its menu button on too"?
Thanks in advance!

Anyone know how to disable long press on buttons?

I made a mod for CM 10 that disables the capacitive buttons so the user can use GNex like on screen soft key nav.
I made a variation that also makes the home button the menu key. So pressing home brings up menu. The issue I have run into is when I mapped the Menu to home (menu and back are disabled) if you long press on the capacitive menu key it brings up recent apps. I cant seem to figure out how to disable the long press of that button.
If I disable all three buttons long press on menu doesnt work. It's only when I map the menu to the home button that it "enables" the long press on the capacitive menu button.
Anyone have any ideas?

Menu button hack for multitasking

Hello,
I know this question was asked elsewhere, but I did not find any solution to this.
Is it possible to make the capacitive Menu button function like a multitasking button in Galaxy S2?
If there is one thing I hate, it is having to long press Home to get to the multitasking menu.
I would really love to replace the menu key to do multitasking.
This is not unlike what HTC did with One X where did the opposite and gave an option to make the multitasking key a menu key.
I think by now, most of the applications in play store do have menu option within the app interface following android guidelines.
So, lack of a dedicated menu button should not be an issue.
If anyone knows any custom ROM or any other hack to achieve this, please do let me know.
Cheers.
CM10 -> Settings -> System -> Hardware keys -> Menu key or Menu key (long press) -> Recent apps switcher.
If you select Menu key (short press), I guess you'll ahve to enable the Show action overflow below to have the 3 dots as menu key in apps.
Maybe CM9 does have this too, and maybe AOKP (although I never saw this on ICS AOKP or JB AOKP).

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