Android owners missing iOS touch control

[spinedoc77]

After using iphones and ipads for the past 3+ years I really didn't like having to press back buttons, etc, just out of habit. I also hate the soft keys navigation bar, it wastes screen space. For any of you guys that want to have more of an iOS feel I found the program GMD Gesture Control. It blew my mind, you can assign custom gestures to do anything like swipe to go back, tap, etc. It also has a full screen mode that hides the bottom navigation bar and the top status bar.

I know I sound like a commercial, and I'm not affiliated with these devs, but as a really habit ingrained apple user I was just excited to find this. Root required though, which I just did and took all of 10 minutes with the Toolkit floating around.

edit: fixed app name

 

[ChazUK]

After using iphones and ipads for the past 3+ years I really didn't like having to press back buttons, etc, just out of habit. I also hate the soft keys navigation bar, it wastes screen space. For any of you guys that want to have more of an iOS feel I found the program GMC Gesture Control. It blew my mind, you can assign custom gestures to do anything like swipe to go back, tap, etc. It also has a full screen mode that hides the bottom navigation bar and the top status bar.

I know I sound like a commercial, and I'm not affiliated with these devs, but as a really habit ingrained apple user I was just excited to find this. Root required though, which I just did and took all of 10 minutes with the Toolkit floating around.

Got a link so w can give it a look? First result on Google was this post!

Damn they crawl the web fast!

 

[spinedoc77]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1535740

You can find the app in the play store. Would have helped if I spelled it right, GMD Gesture Control.

 

[ChazUK]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1535740

You can find the app in the play store. Would have helped if I spelled it right, GMD Gesture Control.

Excellent! Thanks very much.

Will look into this.

 

[Tinmania]

Thanks.... this looks much better than Hide Bar that I am using now!


Michael

 

[daveathall]

Being a technical idiot I am very wary of rooting, what is this tool kit you mention please?

 

[Tinmania]

This app is WONDERFUL.

Thanks for pointing it out!

So much better than Hide Bar that had no customization at all--it would leave me stuck in a game with no way to get out of it because the the only option to restore status bar didn't work.

I bought the paid version... does the lite version allow the hiding of the status bar and nav buttons?

Also, when buttons are hidden wallpaper is not showing. Not a biggie and maybe it is configurable somewhere.

Oh yea, make sure you set the gestures for phone not tablet. It's a lil hard to swipe up with 4 fingers on the phone.



Michael

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Being a technical idiot I am very wary of rooting, what is this tool kit you mention please?

It depends on what Android device you have. What do you have?

 

[daveathall]

It depends on what Android device you have. What do you have?

I have a Nexus 4.

 

[Tinmania]

I have a Nexus 4.

There is now an all-in-one toolkit to do it. I did it before that came out and it was pretty easy the manual way. It WILL wipe all data off the phone so if you want to do it the sooner the better.

The toolkit is only for windows. I don't remember where I saw it but will try to see if I can find link.




Michael

 

[daveathall]

There is now an all-in-one toolkit to do it. I did it before that came out and it was pretty easy the manual way. It WILL wipe all data off the phone so if you want to do it the sooner the better.

The toolkit is only for windows. I don't remember where I saw it but will try to see if I can find link.




Michael

Thank you very much Michael, but I have only got a Mac, but again, thank you for the offer.

 

[Tinmania]

Thank you very much Michael, but I have only got a Mac, but again, thank you for the offer.

Well if you can type a few things in Terminal on your mac, and download a few files, you should be able to follow the guide.

I did it on my mac and it wasn't that hard at all. This is the guide I used:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/nexus-4-rooting-roms-hacks/224861-guide-nexus-4-unlock-root.html




Michael

 

[daveathall]

Thank you Michael, you're a star.

 

[ixodes]

Well if you can type a few things in Terminal on your mac, and download a few files, you should be able to follow the guide.

I did it on my mac and it wasn't that hard at all. This is the guide I used:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/nexus-4-rooting-roms-hacks/224861-guide-nexus-4-unlock-root.html




Michael

I just did this same operation using the same guide. After rooting about ten Androids over the last two years, I rate this as one of the better / simpler / guides well suited to beginners.

 

[spinedoc77]

Here is the Root toolkit, it's like an all in one, press one button and it's rooted deal. Very idiot proof, which is a good thing for me. http://www.wugfresh.com/nexus-root-...the-nexus-4-nexus-10-and-nexus-7-3g-11-27-12/

It supports JB 4.2 and my Nexus 7, but I'm not sure what else it supports, there is a general category which I'm sure most devices fall under.

Also in reading the devs posts on XDA forums from the GMD dev it seems he has a LOT of plans for some extremely cool stuff.

----------

This app is WONDERFUL.

Thanks for pointing it out!

So much better than Hide Bar that had no customization at all--it would leave me stuck in a game with no way to get out of it because the the only option to restore status bar didn't work.

I bought the paid version... does the lite version allow the hiding of the status bar and nav buttons?

Also, when buttons are hidden wallpaper is not showing. Not a biggie and maybe it is configurable somewhere.

Oh yea, make sure you set the gestures for phone not tablet. It's a lil hard to swipe up with 4 fingers on the phone.



Michael

The free version doesn't allow hiding of the bars, and it only supports the built in gestures, the paid version lets you make custom gestures.

As for the wallpaper it's a known bug, you can either use live wallpapers, or I think there is some kind of default background you can download, he talks about it in the XDA thread I think on one of the last pages.

 

[Tinmania]

Wallpaper issue not such a big deal so far. I can live with it. Don't really like hiding the bars at the launcher screen anyway so no biggie.

I was trying a few games and noticed on Angry Birds and Dead Trigger I could not re-show the status bar. I think that might have something to do with the multi-touch settings I'm not sure. On Ragdoll Laser it didn't go full-screen as the area where the nav buttons would be was just blank. Couldn't get out of that game either.

On Temple Run and Words with Friends gestures worked just fine.

Fortunately GMD Gesture Control turns the status bar back on when the screen goes off so getting out of an app where you are stuck is only a matter of hitting sleep button twice. I am not sure if I had to configure it to do that or if it was a default setting. I sure WISH Hide Bar had that!




Michael

 

[strausd]

In the app description I didn't see anything about hiding on screen navigation buttons. Can anyone confirm for me that this has the ability to do that on a nexus 4?

And on a side note will rooting delete all my current data on my phone?

 

[Tinmania]

In the app description I didn't see anything about hiding on screen navigation buttons. Can anyone confirm for me that this has the ability to do that on a nexus 4?

And on a side note will rooting delete all my current data on my phone?

Yes, it hides the nav buttons--along with the status bar. Read my post above. You do need the paid version, not lite.

As for the second question: rooting per se will not delete your data. However, before you can root you have to unlock the boatloader and doing that does indeed wipe all data. You only have to do that once though. So if an update from Google causes you to lose root you can root again without losing data. There is an app that will also prevent an Android update from killing root.




Michael

 

[dalbir4444]

A huge advantage that you can gain from root is blocking ads. If that's worthwhile to you, then you should probably root.

 

[strausd]

Yes, it hides the nav buttons--along with the status bar. Read my post above. You do need the paid version, not lite.

As for the second question: rooting per se will not delete your data. However, before you can root you have to unlock the boatloader and doing that does indeed wipe all data. You only have to do that once though. So if an update from Google causes you to lose root you can root again without losing data. There is an app that will also prevent an Android update from killing root.




Michael

Hey thanks for the info. I am used to iOS and on that when there is an update, you lose all jailbroken apps, tweaks, and everything.

For android, will updating while rooted delete all root apps and settings? Or will all apps stay there because they are from the play store and all settings will stay the same, but you will just lose the functionality the app provides?

And if I do an update, what all will I lose exactly? And will I be able to easily restore all my settings and data? Do I need an app to restore or does Google have something automatic like what is integrated in iCloud?

Also, the nexus 4 battery ain't all that great. Will rooting and installing this hurt my battery more?

 

[Tinmania]

Hey thanks for the info. I am used to iOS and on that when there is an update, you lose all jailbroken apps, tweaks, and everything.

For android, will updating while rooted delete all root apps and settings? Or will all apps stay there because they are from the play store and all settings will stay the same, but you will just lose the functionality the app provides?

And if I do an update, what all will I lose exactly? And will I be able to easily restore all my settings and data? Do I need an app to restore or does Google have something automatic like what is integrated in iCloud?

Also, the nexus 4 battery ain't all that great. Will rooting and installing this hurt my battery more?

I don't think OTA updates cause you to lose and data. Don't go by me though I have only gone through that first update to 4.2 soon after I got my N4. No data was lost.

Unlocking the bootloader and rooting alone will not hurt battery life. It is what you install and run afterwards that could. Conversely there are things you could install that could help battery life (like an underclocker).

That said since there is a lot more you can do on android without rooting versus iOS and jailbreaking I would say there are more apps that do not require root that can affect battery life than those that do.




Michael

 

[Stuntman06]

After using iphones and ipads for the past 3+ years I really didn't like having to press back buttons, etc, just out of habit. I also hate the soft keys navigation bar, it wastes screen space. For any of you guys that want to have more of an iOS feel I found the program GMD Gesture Control. It blew my mind, you can assign custom gestures to do anything like swipe to go back, tap, etc. It also has a full screen mode that hides the bottom navigation bar and the top status bar.

After using Android phones for 2 years, I was frustrated when using iPhones because I have to hunt around to figure out how to go back to the previous screen. I like knowing the back button is always there to go back one screen, especially if I accidentally hit the wrong menu item or if I am looking through menus and want to go back to where I came from. I find that with iOS apps, sometimes there doesn't seem to be an obvious way to go back to the previous screen. Other times, I have to look around for a button that has an angled left edge and if there is one, it changes from app to app.

 

[spinedoc77]

Hmm, I'm getting some slowdown and lag and I'm pretty sure it's from this app. Seems to be worse when I'm full screen, curious what results you guys are getting. It's not immediately, but after a while of using it, maybe a memory leak, a reboot speeds things up again.

 

[strausd]

Hmm, I'm getting some slowdown and lag and I'm pretty sure it's from this app. Seems to be worse when I'm full screen, curious what results you guys are getting. It's not immediately, but after a while of using it, maybe a memory leak, a reboot speeds things up again.

I was getting ridiculous lag on google maps. Just went to the home screen and delete it from my recent apps. When I started it up again it was buttery smooth.

 

[Tinmania]

Hmm, I'm getting some slowdown and lag and I'm pretty sure it's from this app. Seems to be worse when I'm full screen, curious what results you guys are getting. It's not immediately, but after a while of using it, maybe a memory leak, a reboot speeds things up again.

While it may be the app, I have gotten slow-downs before it was installed. I either reboot or kill running apps from the recently used apps list. Usually speeds it up.

I should note my iPhone 4S does the same thing: gets slow at times.

That said, I mostly use GGC in games and have not noticed any lag in them that I could notice. I would think a game would show it the most.

My biggest issue with many games is screen tap recognition delay. Noticed it from day-one, long before I rooted. It is making many games unplayable. I know it is not the hardware in the N4 because of how fast tapping the nav buttons, among other things is. I hope this is not "just the way it is on Android." A perfect example is jetpack joy ride: the delay makes it very difficult to play the game compared to my iPhone/iPad. Heck I even dusted off my very first iPhone 1st gen and it played the game without that screen tap lag (albeit the game itself struggled to keep up). Yet the reviews on google play are positive? wtf

EDIT: WOW! I just figured out where the screen tap delay was coming from: having magnification on in accessibility under settings. That feature lets you tap 3 times quickly to zoom the screen. Apparently that adds a small tap delay in order to process the 3 taps. Turning that feature off made the game I mentioned above not have any screen tap delay at all.




Michael