Download back home buttons for Android. We get customizable on-screen Home, Back and Menu buttons on any Android device (Floating Soft Keys). Method number two. On-screen keys
When I once again got a smartphone with hard-wired navigation keys, with no way to customize them or activate Nexus-style on-screen keys, I decided that I had to do something about it. After rummaging through Android's internals for a couple of hours, I turned off the annoying backlight, swapped the Back and Review keys, then turned on the on-screen buttons and found peace.
Intro
Let me be clear: I'm a big fan of the idea of on-screen navigation keys. All these houses, arrows and squares drawn right at the bottom of the screen. Yes, they take up some space (which, however, in most cases is not really needed), yes, perhaps they spoil the appearance of applications, but damn it, they are dynamic.
On-screen navigation buttons rotate with the screen, disappear when not needed, change color, and integrate seamlessly into the home screen interface. If we discard the very idea of the uselessness of the existence of three buttons at once (after all, Apple people make do with one and do not feel disadvantaged) and quite convenient navigation systems like PIE or the “MIUI navigation bubble”, then on-screen buttons are the best that has been invented before so far.
So here it is. For some reason, my wonderful, wonderful idea that there is nothing better than on-screen buttons is not shared by very many smartphone manufacturers. And they don’t even just not separate, but they don’t separate in a completely monstrous way, forcing you to use a smartphone with touch buttons (AAA!), equipped with dynamic backlighting (AAA-2!) and a “Back” button on the right side of the screen (AAA-3: decisive blow ).
The situation is extremely unacceptable, and given that the kind firmware developer did not provide any settings for activating on-screen keys and settings for controlling touch buttons, I had to make do on my own. There were two options for further action:
- bring the touch buttons to the desired state, namely turn off the backlight and move the “Back” key to the left side (even if it looks like a “square”, it’s even more interesting);
- disable touch buttons completely and activate on-screen buttons.
I don’t like third-party tools, so the decision to do everything myself came naturally.
Method number one. Setting up touch buttons
First, let's try turning off the button backlighting. For this we need root, a terminal emulator and a directory /sys at the root of the file system. This is exactly the combination. We are dealing with the Linux kernel, and in systems based on it, all important information about the hardware, as well as the “toggle switches” that control it, are usually located in the sysfs file system connected to the directory /sys.
Actually, sysfs is not even a file system; more precisely, it is a file system, but it operates with so-called synthetic files. But they are not stored on disk, it is a kind of interface for communicating with drivers: I read the file - received data about the hardware, wrote it down - changed some setting. And to record, you still need root rights.
So, we get root, launch the terminal emulator (or better yet). And we write the following:
# su # cd /sys
# find -name \*button\* ./leds/button-backlight
Bingo! This is a directory /sys/class/leds/button-backlight. Let's go into it and see what's inside:
# cd /sys/class/leds/button-backlight # ls brightness device max_brightness power subsystem trigger uevent
I bet my Nokia 3310 that the file brightness is the current brightness of the buttons, and max_brightness- maximum. Let's check our guess by writing the value 100 into the first file (well, like 100%, although what scale there is is unknown):
# echo 100 > brightness
Great, the buttons are lit and are not even going to go out.
Moment of truth - write the value 0 to the max_brightness file:
# echo 0 > max_brightness
The buttons went out, forever, like the light bulb in my entrance last night.
But just like a light bulb, they can come back on if you reboot. That is, the command is valid only in the current session. Fortunately, this is not a problem, we will put our command in a script on the memory card:
# mkdir /sdcard/boot # echo "echo 0 > /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/max_brightness" > /sdcard/boot
And we, in turn, will put it into startup using . We launch the application, select the first three checkboxes, using the Select folder option, select the boot directory on the memory card.
Half the task is completed, all that remains is to swap the positions of the “Back” and “Browse” buttons. To do this, you need to change the button layout. In Android it is located in several directory files /system/usr/keylayout/. There are quite a lot of them, but if you discard files like Vendor_2378_Product_100a.kl And qwerty.kl(they store layouts of full-fledged Qwerty keyboards, which Android supports out of the box), then there will be at most five left.
One of them is exactly what we need. Smartphones often use the file ft5x06_ts.kl, specific to the FT5x06 touchscreen controller (the buttons are touch sensitive, right?), but in my case it turned out to be the file Vendor_2378_Product_100a.kl.
If you open this file, you can see the three lines you are looking for:
Key 158 BACK VIRTUAL key 139 MENU VIRTUAL key 102 HOME VIRTUAL
All that remains is to swap the numbers 158 and 139 (any file manager that supports root rights is suitable for this). After the reboot, the new layout will take effect.
Method number two. On-screen keys
Everything is even simpler here. Android has a special debug variable qemu.hw.mainkeys, which allows you to control the visibility of on-screen navigation keys. If it has a value of 0, the keys will be shown on the screen, 1 - the opposite effect.
We write a variable with the desired value to a file /system/build.prop, and that is all:
# su # mount -o remount,rw /system # cp /system/build.prop /system/build.prop.bak # echo qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 > /system/build.prop
conclusions
These are the kind of criminal steps you sometimes have to take to make your smartphone a little more convenient. As for me, I settled on the third option: “turned off” the buttons plus installed LMT Launcher. It seems to me that this is the most convenient way of control.
Reassigning the functions of hardware buttons on Android. The need to reassign the actions of mechanical buttons on a smartphone or tablet may arise if one of them has stopped functioning or you want to assign these buttons to perform specific actions, such as launching the camera or turning on the flashlight.
Previously, only those users who rooted their gadgets could change the functionality of mechanical buttons on devices running Android. However, a new app called Button Mapper has made this operation accessible to everyone.
For the program to work correctly, you need to perform one simple setup. Click the button at the bottom of the Button Mapper window, and then in the Accessibility window that appears, enable the Button Mapper service.
After this, you can begin setting up the functionality of your gadget’s buttons. This is very simple to do: first select the required button, then determine the action (normal, double or long press), and then assign the function we need. Please note that Button Mapper can perform many system operations, as well as launch various applications.
This way, you can assign the functions you most need to the gadget’s hardware buttons and use them literally by touch. Changes take effect instantly; no device reboot is required. Button Mapper is free and requires Android 4.3 or later to run.
Download Button Mapper app for Android you can follow the link below.
Developer: flar2
Platform: Android 4.3 and higher
Interface language: Russian (RUS)
Status: Full
Root: Not Needed
Control buttons are divided into mechanical and software. The first ones are located on the body of your gadget - these are the power button, the volume rocker (two buttons with one rocker key) and sometimes the Home(lately it is more often software.
The second ones are virtual buttons located on the screen of a smartphone or tablet and also controlled by pressing a finger, but on the screen. This is a soft button Home, button Back and button Latest apps(sometimes this is a context menu button). The appearance of these buttons depends on the version of Android OS used. This can be, respectively, a house, a curved arrow and two rectangles one after another (Android 4.x version) or, respectively, a circle, a triangle and a square (Android 5 version).
Let's dwell on assignment of control buttons.
Purpose of the button nutrition and swings volume obviously. However, the peculiarity is that the inclusion turned off The smartphone is started by long (more than 2 seconds) pressing the power button, followed by the OS loading process. At working smartphone short press this button calls lock screen(if it is enabled in the settings) or directly going to the desktop. When the smartphone is running, long pressing the power button brings up the Menu, which contains items Shutdown,Data Transfer, Offline Mode and Reboot(Restart).
Mechanical button Home when pressed briefly, it calls up the lock screen or goes to the main desktop. Long press may cause list of recently running applications, and double-clicking one of the programs (for example, in Samsung smartphones the S Voice application is called up).
Software button Back causes a transition to previous screen, successive clicks - respectively, on several previous screens until the application is closed. Here it must be emphasized that in the latter case the application is unloaded from RAM, while pressing the button Home causes a transition to the main desktop, but the previously opened application remains in memory and continues work in the background.
Button Latest apps is very convenient, since if you need to relaunch one of the previously used applications, there is no need to look for it again in the general list of programs ( Applications Menu) or look for its icon on desktops. Applications in the list are always arranged in reverse chronological order of their launch (the most recently launched ones are first in the list). In addition, the list window contains additional buttons for calling up the List of active tasks (running in the background of applications), a Search for applications button, and a Clear the list of recent applications button.
Mechanical buttons on a smartphone are a thing of the past, from those times when people boasted about the number of voices in polyphony and colors in the display. At that time we did not yet have touch screens and other advances; on my Alcatel the Home button was completely replaced by a joystick.
But now is a different time, the concept of controlling gadgets is moving away from all kinds of unnecessary clicks, touch interfaces make the main control element your own finger, sliding in a certain gesture across the display. Following the abandonment of mechanical keyboards, manufacturers began to abandon physical control keys, replacing them with on-screen ones. And the new generation of smartphones even unlocks without pressing the power button; Moto X just needs to be taken in your hand, and LG G2 you just need to tap on the screen.
But what to do if you have not yet splurged on a new gadget, but want to experience the beauty of controlling a device according to the latest technology?
Gravity Screen - On/Off
This application will help out those who want the phone screen to become active as soon as it gets into the owner's hand and turn off once it is on the table or in the pocket.
It collects data from the proximity sensor and gyroscope, locking and unlocking the screen at the right time. I tried it and decided to leave it. this is very convenient when the phone lights up as soon as you take it in your hand, it does not go out, analyzing the slightest movements of your hand when you read information from the screen, and turns off as soon as you put it in your pocket or put it on the table. You just need to get used to not pressing the power button for old times sake.
The basic features of the application are free and include settings for trigger angles and sensitivity. For a little more flexibility you have to pay about $2.
Refusal of a physical button in favor of gestures also brings a little goodness to the user’s life. Especially in the context of tirelessly growing screen diagonals. And Swipe Home Button will help with this.
Making a gesture with your finger is much easier than grabbing your phone to reach the menu button. In the settings, you can assign actions such as pressing the Home button, opening an application or the notification shade to certain gestures.
Unfortunately, the application does not have a back button. Due to the nature of Android, this requires Root, and the developer apparently does not want to go that route. If you have a cool suggestion based specifically on gestures, share it in the comments!
For those for whom it is not important to control the movement of a finger, but an on-screen button in an accessible place is enough, there are options like: Back Button or Handy Soft Keys. But I didn't like them.
How do you “manage” your gadget?
Everything always breaks unexpectedly. Dropping a phone on a tiled floor is an unfortunate accident; drowning it in a bathtub is a banality that occurs more often than it seems at first. Statistics of calls to service centers contain many complaints about accidents from the “it fell and broke” series, even more often than drownings. At the same time, you should not expect that the very first fall will take away the touch substrate or even the screen itself - in most cases, the consequences of unfortunate accidents do not look so destructive. Among other things, this is the sudden inability of the physical back, home and menu buttons. If this problem happened to your phone, but you still don’t have money for repairs, don’t worry. There is a relatively simple solution to this common problem. Now we will teach you how to enable on-screen buttons on your smartphone if the physical ones no longer work.
For everything to work, you need to get Root rights. Administrator access to the depths of system files is sometimes difficult to obtain. But with the advent of apps that get the necessary access for you, you no longer need to read multi-page instructions. Just install the Kingo Root program on your computer and connect your phone. The only thing you need to do while the program is being installed is to enable “USB Debugging” in the phone settings, “Security” section. That's all. By clicking the big Root button in the interface Kingo Root, activate administrator rights.
Step two looks a little more difficult. You will need to download the Root Explorer program from Google Play (or a few... alternative sources). Install it on your smartphone. Run this application, find the System directory, and in it - build.prop. If such a file is not visible in the system directory, it doesn’t matter. There is an ellipsis in the upper corner of the program - tap on it to open a submenu. In the program settings, check the “Show hidden files” option. The loss will be discovered immediately.
In the left corner Root Explorer There is one more item we need - r/w. Tap it once and confirm your choice. This action activates the ability to edit system files. Now tap and hold build.prop on it. The top menu will change and from the drop-down list (in the same ellipsis) you will find the sub-item “open in a text editor”.
Scroll to the very bottom of the open file - all these long lists of settings are not needed yet. At the very bottom, add the line qemu.hw.mainkeys=0. Save the file and restart your phone.
Done, three on-screen buttons have appeared at the very bottom of the screen - similar to what you can see on the screen of any tablet. And after repairing the physical buttons, it will be possible to hide the virtual ones back by replacing the line qemu.hw.mainkeys=0 with qemu.hw.mainkeys=1 and rebooting the device again.
