[DEV] Developing on the Transformer - Eee Pad Transformer Android Development

I just wanted to kick off a discussion, and possibly start the ball rolling for a project to port some development tools to honeycomb.
Ideally it would be cool to be able to set up a whole Android development environment that runs on the tablet itself. If the project is just too massive in scope, I'd settle for porting GNU GCC and some native development tools. I'm imagining either way it will only be possible to run these things on a rooted device.
Another project I'm interested in is a way to run apps that are not optimized for tablet, blown up to full screen. The way they run right now, if you put the proper flags in AndroidManifest.xml to say that you don't support high dpi or tablet- the UI shows up in a small section of the screen and looks pretty bad. Not as bad as an app that is not designed to blow up to tablet size and is missing the tags though. I'm thinking this will require honeycomb sources though, which are not yet available- but still i'm very interested in working on such a project and would like to hear anyone else's ideas about it.

It would be awesome to do some Android development directly on the Transformer. Subscribing for updates.
On my Nook Color running CM7 there is an option to "Disable Compatibility Mode" which blows apps up to full screen. I think it's a standard Android function but it's usually hidden. Might be available in Spare Parts or something. I'll check when I get a chance.

I think it might be possible since it is java based. I think someone already got the java compiler working.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

elnoxvie said:
I think it might be possible since it is java based. I think someone already got the java compiler working.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, your saying this prompted me to search for "android java compiler ported to android" and I found this project, which looks to be very far along. http://code.google.com/p/java-ide-droid/
I haven't installed it yet, but it seems very promising.

0TheRain0 said:
Nice, your saying this prompted me to search for "android java compiler ported to android" and I found this project, which looks to be very far along. http://code.google.com/p/java-ide-droid/
I haven't installed it yet, but it seems very promising.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eeek, well- at least a lot of the important tools are already ported and working. The UI is pretty bad as it is though. Seems like some good work to start with.

I was just thinking about this today. With the dock it would be great to get write some code on this and just have a compiler to make sure everything is syntactically correct maybe with some mavin support to merge some code.

I'd settle for a VI like IDE that would allow you to just browse a remote computer and do the editing that way...
Basically have it run over SSH. You can view the contents of a dir on the remote computer, edit the file, save/upload it back, then execute a command to have the remote computer do the compiling and then push the APK back to the device.
SSH is already ported. I feel like that's pretty much all you really NEED asides from the java front end for the IDE.
Thoughts?
EDIT: Other advantages are that you could develop for ANY platform with this as long as your remote computer was set up to compile it.

ViViDboarder said:
I'd settle for a VI like IDE that would allow you to just browse a remote computer and do the editing that way...
Basically have it run over SSH. You can view the contents of a dir on the remote computer, edit the file, save/upload it back, then execute a command to have the remote computer do the compiling and then push the APK back to the device.
SSH is already ported. I feel like that's pretty much all you really NEED asides from the java front end for the IDE.
Thoughts?
EDIT: Other advantages are that you could develop for ANY platform with this as long as your remote computer was set up to compile it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting thought. Personally I kind of want to be able to build completely on the transformer itself. But if creating a good IDE/Project editor is a major focus of this project it certainly wouldn't be difficult to add the ability to execute some arbitrary command/call in to a script that would allow you to do a remote build on your other system and easily retrieve the result.

0TheRain0 said:
That's an interesting thought. Personally I kind of want to be able to build completely on the transformer itself. But if creating a good IDE/Project editor is a major focus of this project it certainly wouldn't be difficult to add the ability to execute some arbitrary command/call in to a script that would allow you to do a remote build on your other system and easily retrieve the result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But i guess that defeats the purpose. his idea is probably to do a direct compiling from the Transformer and i think it's possible, provided we have the compiler ready. Let me know, if you are interested, i can help with the IDE and UI coding. Maybe .. we can code a VI functionality in. and that would be straight awesome. ^^

main problem is in my eyes that if you screw up and crash your tab you lose allot of data.
and can be quite annoying

ViViDboarder said:
I'd settle for a VI like IDE that would allow you to just browse a remote computer and do the editing that way...
Basically have it run over SSH. You can view the contents of a dir on the remote computer, edit the file, save/upload it back, then execute a command to have the remote computer do the compiling and then push the APK back to the device.
SSH is already ported. I feel like that's pretty much all you really NEED asides from the java front end for the IDE.
Thoughts?
EDIT: Other advantages are that you could develop for ANY platform with this as long as your remote computer was set up to compile it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of the things I'm hoping to get out of the TF. Connectbot runs pretty well in dock mode, except there's no ESC key! Is there any way to remap the top row to ESC and F1-12 and require FN for their Android functions?

pokey9000 said:
This is one of the things I'm hoping to get out of the TF. Connectbot runs pretty well in dock mode, except there's no ESC key! Is there any way to remap the top row to ESC and F1-12 and require FN for their Android functions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found out that if you click with the mouse on the screen you'll see the escape button pop up and you can click that. It's a connectbot feature. I wish he would implement something like Search key sends escape...
But on another note, it looks like someone already did my idea! https://market.android.com/details?id=com.touchqode.editor&feature=search_result
Doesn't work quite as well as I hoped on the TF, but I'm going to email the dev some suggestions.

Hey pokey! Looks like you're moving on from your NC! I just got a TF, and I'm loving it so far.
I'm just about to try installing a chroot Ubuntu image. I'm hoping that will give me emacs and bash, etc. Let's see how far we can push this thing!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Chroot Ubuntu works like a champ, emacs and all!
Not having an escape key is going to be a problem, though. As soon as I brought up emacs I hit the back arrow key by reflex, and closed out the terminal!
Instructions here:
http://androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-android/
Forgot to mention, make sure you install busybox first (needs losetup).
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

SmokeMasta said:
main problem is in my eyes that if you screw up and crash your tab you lose allot of data.
and can be quite annoying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe the ability to auto-sync your working directory with dropbox might help.

axe2 said:
Chroot Ubuntu works like a champ, emacs and all!
Not having an escape key is going to be a problem, though. As soon as I brought up emacs I hit the back arrow key by reflex, and closed out the terminal!
Instructions here:
http://androlinux.com/android-ubuntu-development/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-android/
Forgot to mention, make sure you install busybox first (needs losetup).
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the responsiveness of using a VNC client? Is there one that maybe maps Search to Esc? Or an Open Source one we could maybe modify?

ViViDboarder said:
How's the responsiveness of using a VNC client? Is there one that maybe maps Search to Esc? Or an Open Source one we could maybe modify?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't plan on installing any GUI components, just using text text mode, so I haven't tried a VNC serever. Text mode would only require a modified terminal server.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can get used to anything short of mapping back array to escape, which could be a problem.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

axe2 said:
I didn't plan on installing any GUI components, just using text text mode, so I haven't tried a VNC serever. Text mode would only require a modified terminal server.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can get used to anything short of mapping back array to escape, which could be a problem.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Well I forked ConnectBot (ssh client) with an option to map Search to ESC.
Works pretty well. It's in a easily available location too. The issue is I can't really map over Back because you need that to exit windows. I could try to "move" the back button maybe... I'll see if I can do something like Back = Esc and Ctrl + Back = Back.
Also I noticed on GitHub someone did some enhancements for Honeycomb so I'll try to merge those too.

ViViDboarder said:
Well I forked ConnectBot (ssh client) with an option to map Search to ESC.
Works pretty well. It's in a easily available location too. The issue is I can't really map over Back because you need that to exit windows. I could try to "move" the back button maybe... I'll see if I can do something like Back = Esc and Ctrl + Back = Back.
Also I noticed on GitHub someone did some enhancements for Honeycomb so I'll try to merge those too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had better luck with Android Terminal, and I have been able to map back to escape, which is great! I also mapped caps-lock to control, but that only worked half way (it still does a caps lock).
Anyhoo, the point is that we apparently can remap the keys however we want in an app, which is good news.
I think my ideal mapping would be:
Back = Escape
Caps Lock = Ctrl
Ctrl = Back
I would just lose Caps Lock. How often is is really necessary anyway.
On an unrelated note, is there a way to turn down the sensitivity of the touchpad? I keep getting random clicks, and I think it's coming from me hitting the touchpad.

axe2 said:
I've had better luck with Android Terminal, and I have been able to map back to escape, which is great! I also mapped caps-lock to control, but that only worked half way (it still does a caps lock).
Anyhoo, the point is that we apparently can remap the keys however we want in an app, which is good news.
I think my ideal mapping would be:
Back = Escape
Caps Lock = Ctrl
Ctrl = Back
I would just lose Caps Lock. How often is is really necessary anyway.
On an unrelated note, is there a way to turn down the sensitivity of the touchpad? I keep getting random clicks, and I think it's coming from me hitting the touchpad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds cool. I'll check it out.
As for the touchpad, i always hate tap to click on touchpads. I wish this was a ag to turn that off, but i haven't seen it yet.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App

Related

Terminal/Console App

Any suggestions on what terminal/console (depending on the world you come from) app is a good choice for the evo? I would like to be able to drop down to the terminal from the evo without using adb/a computer when I need to do so for quick things.
MikeBrWade said:
Any suggestions on what terminal/console (depending on the world you come from) app is a good choice for the evo? I would like to be able to drop down to the terminal from the evo without using adb/a computer when I need to do so for quick things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this type of question is best for the Q&A board.
i use connectbot and have had good luck with it! its free in the market and allows terminal connections via ssh in addition to the localhost connection!
joeykrim said:
this type of question is best for the Q&A board.
i use connectbot and have had good luck with it! its free in the market and allows terminal connections via ssh in addition to the localhost connection!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the 'terminal emulator' app rules. drops to a root shell if you're rooted. otherwise a regular user shell.
joeykrim said:
this type of question is best for the Q&A board.
i use connectbot and have had good luck with it! its free in the market and allows terminal connections via ssh in addition to the localhost connection!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, those lines are always blurry since it is a "development" specific question concerning something that most people on the Q&A board might not care about. However that being said thanks for the suggestion I will give that a shot.
Though we need a better soft keyboard. It's hard to do anything that requires ctrl, alt, escape keys. I've been thinking about writing a soft keyboard that looks a lot like the G1's hard keyboard was. I could do just about everything with the G1 keyboard.
I dig connectbot so far. simple interface to use for local access, or for ssh. The keyboard is the downside as ChrisDos said. However when you search the market for connectbot, you will also get a keyboard in the search results that is free, and designed for console use. I think called Total Keyboard or Full Keyboard or something, and it is free. Not very good, but it allows arrow keys, and ctrl-key combos.
Connectbot on a G1 was part of what convinced me to give up my iPhone, with the ability to both hit tab, esc, and ctrl-combos, all without digging through menus.
When I started on my quest to land a good Android phone, keyboard was pretty high up on the list, but something about the EVO made me give up on that.
I am really hopeing we get a pretty full-proof method for keyboard support either through bluetooth, or usb host (like the N1) in the near future.

Android Screencast - Control your phone from your PC (My Mobiler for Android)

This is incubus26jc's thread, just posting it here for exposure.
incubus26jc said:
Alright guys, I finally found a Java App that will actually control your phone from your pc. This is not complicated. Thanks to acid256 for this open source project.
If your looking to do screenshots, use the java screenshot program in this thread
Features
- Mouse and keyboard control FOR ROOTED DEVICES ONLY
- Landscape mode (right click)
- Video recording
- Basic file browser
INSTRUCTIONS
Download Android sdk. Place android-sdk-windows folder on root of your C:\
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Download(skip login) and install JRE(JDK) 6
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/widget/jdk6.jsp
Download the attached java file, unzip it, and just run it.
Place it anywhere you want. It doesnt have to be in the sdk folder like the screenshot program.
Make sure your phone is plugged in for a minute or two.
If you cant get it to control, run the automount app or dual mount sd widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn that is sweet! Will try it when I get home from work
Thank you for posting about this. Just gave it a shot, and it works pretty well. It's a bit laggy, but definitely gets the job done. I needed this in order to respond to texts without looking like I'm responding to texts, and for that this works very well.
Thanks for posting this. I might have to give this a try.
Good for if your phone is in someone else's hands. :-O
Just tested it out.
Found a couple problems-
-It's a little slow
-If you have the phone set up with the kickstand, and it turns the orientation side ways, it does the same on the computer. So then everything is sideways.
-If the phone is Asleep, it wont wake it up
Besides those few problems, it's great!
Can't wait to see what this will be like in the coming weeks as the dev. gets the bugs worked out!
Yes very slow but I like it. Awesome owkr.
Cool beans, thanks
i was hoping this was similar to MyMoblier for WinMo. being able to remotely control (or at least view) a device is rather handy for support folks.
has anyone seen something more like mymobiler for winmo that will work on android?
Works good but it needs more responsiveness in the mouse clicking. I can drag but I cant click very well. I press menu and go to Wallpaper. But I cant press Wallpaper.
Excellent program for people who want to text in privacy at work.
Awesome, this could be quite useful
i'm having absolutely no luck with this. granted, i'm using adb wireless to try and manipulate it, but i'm rooted, and it should still work. getting absolutely no control at all. none. i can see the screen, and can rotate my view of it, but i can't do squat through the phone.
i'm rooted, btw.

[Q] Ctrl key and SSH

Hi all !
First of, a big thanks to everyone involved with this forum. You guys are doing a great job.
Now to my concerns:
as system administrator, I spend half of my day working on some hosts via ssh. When I got my TF101 I was so psyked to see that there were android ssh clients, thinking that I could also use my tablet + dock as a backup working station.
But after trying all the (free) ssh clients, it seems that none of them can use the Ctrl key on the dock's keyboard. I mean, what the point of an ssh client that doesn't understand the Ctrl key.
After rooting my TF101 I flashed Prime1.5 on it. I though that the terminal emulator in it would help a bit but I ended up finding out that there is no ssh binaries on android so far.
I might give a shot at the native ubuntu installation to see if i could work with it, but I kinda like android so I would prefer to stay on it.
Does anyone have the same problem as me ?
Does any dev around here know of a solution ?
Could it be possible to compile for android the openssh client from the GNU sources ?
Thanks in advance.
This might works. (will take some reading)
makec3rt's link does work. This is the APK:
https://github.com/downloads/lorantkurthy/connectbot/ConnectBot1.apk
This is a different branch with similar features:
https://github.com/downloads/tcoxon/connectbot/connectbot-transformer.apk
The first one has right-alt support and more tablet features, while the second one has right-shift+numbers for functions and a more phone-like interface.
I ended up buying Better Terminal Emulator Pro (can't have external links cause I'm too new). It supports Tab, Ctrl, and even lets you remap Back to Esc. It seems to solve all the problems I had with it.
Not sure if this adds any insight, but I used Connectbot which works with Hackers keyboard. I paired my TF with a bluetooth keyboard and the ctrl key did not work.
I haven't dug into it yet, but I'm hoping it's just a key mapping issue.
sent from my cyanogen(mod) vision
Just use Hacker's keyboard.
It works great with the original ConnectBot or the HoneyComb update that is floating around.
Edit: I misread and thought you were talking about the virtual keyboard. The modified APKs ldrn linked to should work nicely. Note that by default they will not act any differently, you must change a setting to set it for the "Asus Transformer Keyboard"
sassafras
There is a modified version of ConnectBot that is designed to use the Transformer's keyboard correctly.
APK
Github
EDIT :: Oops, same links as post 3. My bad
Thanks for your replies.
So I've tried the modified ConnectBot App and it indeed make the ctrl-key .... well kindof work.
It seems that only some combinaisons are mapped, for example: Ctrl+c and Ctrl+d wor fine but neither ctrl+a nor ctrl+e are recognized. Also the key combos used in 'screen' like ctrl+a,n don't work which is still a big problem for me.
I don't think that modifying a software made for phone in the case of a ssh client. They have no real line editor. it's like typing an sms and send it to the terminal.
In my opinion the best, most proper and probably not too hard solution, would be to find a way to compile a real (from the linux/bsd world) ssh binary that can be used through the terminal emulator on the TF101.
I'll give try to Ubuntu on the TF and see for myself if it can b worth a shot...
thx again.
Hacker's keyboard.
bibifuk said:
I don't think that modifying a software made for phone in the case of a ssh client. They have no real line editor. it's like typing an sms and send it to the terminal.
In my opinion the best, most proper and probably not too hard solution, would be to find a way to compile a real (from the linux/bsd world) ssh binary that can be used through the terminal emulator on the TF101.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what Better Terminal Emulaor Pro does. It's a terminal emulator with an ssh binary.

Are there plans for right mouse button support for android?

I don't know what idiot made the decision to make the right trackpad button to work as "back" but he needs to be fired from his job. The transformer already has atleast 2 back buttons, and probably a few shortcuts for back that I don't know about. Why make the right mouse button also "back"?
The transformer would be a full laptop replacement, if I had a right mouse button like every other computer I've ever owned in my entire life. Do I need to write a letter to my congressman or something to make this happen? Hell, I'd be willing to learn to solder and rewire the keyboard just to make it work (not really, once I learn to solder I'll be moding my electric motorcycle, but that's not the point). Honestly, if someone makes an app to fix this, I will buy it, then send a nice letter to google/asus telling them to offer that person a job for being smarter than one of their current employees.
lol i completely agree. It would be great if the right click was the equvalent of a press and hold. would make everything so much easier
typci said:
I don't know what idiot made the decision to make the right trackpad button to work as "back" but he needs to be fired from his job. The transformer already has atleast 2 back buttons, and probably a few shortcuts for back that I don't know about. Why make the right mouse button also "back"?
The transformer would be a full laptop replacement, if I had a right mouse button like every other computer I've ever owned in my entire life. Do I need to write a letter to my congressman or something to make this happen? Hell, I'd be willing to learn to solder and rewire the keyboard just to make it work (not really, once I learn to solder I'll be moding my electric motorcycle, but that's not the point). Honestly, if someone makes an app to fix this, I will buy it, then send a nice letter to google/asus telling them to offer that person a job for being smarter than one of their current employees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!!!!!!
Don't know if its possible to change that. Kinda unfortunate
seems like every app has a different "hold" duration and not all apps have this feature
so implementation would be inconsistent
Could you exagerate or be any more of an asshole at all? Merely because you do not understand why it was made as a back button instead of *whatever you want it to be* does not give you the right to sit there and type a two paragraph rant about how ASUS is full of idiots. Talk about self-entitlement and impatiance.
It does not function as a "right click" (I don't know how the hell it could) because Android doesn't have a right click. It simply doesn't exist. A longpress is a lot different from a right click, and it isn't possibly/trivial to just map the right click button to be a long press.
hmm... I wonder if it would be possible for 2x or other RDP/vnc clients to "capture" the right-click on the pad and send it as a right-mouse button to windows/linux/etc that actually does make use...
That would be nice rather than me hunting for where the options in windows are without right-click..
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Personally, I like the right button being back button! In Andoid, you use the back button alot. If using the trackpad, it makes perfect sense to have teh right button be a back button - otherwise you'd be reaching up all of the time to press the on-screen or on-keyboard back button.
At least that my opinon! Same if using an external mouse... I use the right button constantly.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Far more configurations would be great here.
Under the keyboard/input settings where the mouse control is, and the keyboard 'do I want auto capitalisation', having an advanced button that takes you to;
Top Row AndroidControl|Function Keys
Back Button Back|Escape
Right Mouse Back|RightHold
And allow you to select the functionality/remap, without having to mess about with root, would be /really/ useful. We can change the cursor to a pointer/gestures, but can't remap the right click?
And as an aside, I can't find through googling, but does anyone know what the 1 and 6 numbers are highlighted?
jtrosky said:
Personally, I like the right button being back button! In Andoid, you use the back button alot. If using the trackpad, it makes perfect sense to have teh right button be a back button - otherwise you'd be reaching up all of the time to press the on-screen or on-keyboard back button.
At least that my opinon! Same if using an external mouse... I use the right button constantly.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.
dude2k5 said:
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to suggest Remote RDP Lite as well, my problem with that over 2x though is Remote RDP Lite doesn't seem to fit perfectly on my tablet screen while 2x does running at the same resolution. Not to Threadjack, but have you noticed this as well?
crowboy164 said:
I was about to suggest Remote RDP Lite as well, my problem with that over 2x though is Remote RDP Lite doesn't seem to fit perfectly on my tablet screen while 2x does running at the same resolution. Not to Threadjack, but have you noticed this as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have Remote RDP Enterprise, And in each computer settings, you can change the screen resolution (1280x750) or try fit device (at bottom). Not sure if RDP lite has it. Fits my screen perfect.
Long answer: Seeing how the Transformer is the only tablet with a keyboard dock that has a trackpad, the answer is no. Issue is too small for Google to address it and it would only effect 1 device. Asus probably won't do it either since they didn't intend for the Transformer to run different OS's, such as Ubuntu where a right click would be necessary.
Simple and sweet answer: No, if you don't like it, buy a laptop
EDIT: After reading your original post again, you're the idiot. Why would a touch screen operation system need a right click? Android's right click is the long press. Asus decided to make a nice keyboard dock but like I said earlier, it was made for Android, not Ubuntu/Windows/etc.
FTR if you actually use a mouse plugged into the dock the middle mouse button is the Menu key. I agree with the back button being the right click. I use primary (left click), back and menu keys a lot more than I use long press [even without a mouse]
I may be an idiot, but i use "long press" often enough that it would be exceptionally useful to have a button on the trackpad that has the same function. Far more useful than another back button. Also when useing the trackpad/mouse, "long click" is really slow. Having an equivalent "right click" button would also make Android a more competitive operating system. Instead of having a laptop and a tablet, i can have tablet that transforms into a laptop. I'm pretty sure that was Asus's original idea, hence the name "transformer." Also, It's intuitive, a right button brings up additional options, like "back." It's how it works on every other computer.
actually, the right click button is always a back button in android. I have run android in an emulator before and right click was the back button (this was an eclair build as well). I think it's been in there for so long that it would be harder to fix than you would think. And, as mentioned before, the long press on items is inconsistent in different apps. Sure, it would be usefull for newbies to the transformer (my sister wanted to try it out and told me that the browser kept going back a page whenever she wanted to right click on a link to open it in another tab) but I am personally used to it when using an external mouse
dude2k5 said:
Remote RDP lite does this. Emailed him and he did it. Quite fast too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very Nice! Thanks for pointing out Remote RDP lite. I also manually typed in a resolution of 1280x753 and it fits the transformer screen perfectly.
In addition to using the right-click as a right-click on the windows RDP, it also tracks your mouse cursor as you move it, not just when you click, so mouse-overs Work!!! Very Nice!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
typci said:
I may be an idiot, but i use "long press" often enough that it would be exceptionally useful to have a button on the trackpad that has the same function. Far more useful than another back button. Also when useing the trackpad/mouse, "long click" is really slow. Having an equivalent "right click" button would also make Android a more competitive operating system. Instead of having a laptop and a tablet, i can have tablet that transforms into a laptop. I'm pretty sure that was Asus's original idea, hence the name "transformer." Also, It's intuitive, a right button brings up additional options, like "back." It's how it works on every other computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Transformer isn't every other computer now is it? Stop looking at it as a laptop replacement, that's not what it's meant for. Tablets are extensions of your phone.
Yes it's called the Transformer because of the dock, but it transforms into an ANDROID laptop, not another OS. You really think Asus is gonna spend time hardcoding a right click into a OS that is pretty much based around the long press?
Having a right click button doesn't make Android any more competitive than it already is. You really think someone is going to say "Oh this has a right click but that has a nice flashly OS and it's made by Apple!!!" If you really think a right click is going to be a deciding factor for purchasing a tablet, you are just ....
SwiftLegend said:
Having a right click button doesn't make Android any more competitive than it already is. You really think someone is going to say "Oh this has a right click but that has a nice flashly OS and it's made by Apple!!!"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch as apple comes out with a dock for their tablet saying "It's magic!! When I plug in the dock it becomes a computer complete with right mouse button support."
You show me a tablet with dock that will function just like a netbook/laptop and doesn't have Windows or Apple on it, and I'll definitely give it a try. If it works well, I'll buy it.
The transformer is the number one selling Android tablet right now, and I'm pretty sure it's not because of the tablet. It's probably because of the full keyboard with track pad. I take that as a pretty clear sign that people are expecting more than just an extension of their phone. They are looking for a tablet that can do more.
Tablet's are now competing with netbooks, and soon with laptops. There are plenty of threads here about people wanting to use their transformer for school, business, and work. To do these things require functionality. Functionality requires input options that are easy to use. Currently, for anything other movies, music and games, the transformer is a bit of a pain to use. Even browsing the internet isn't that great. Sure it can do these things, but not gracefully.
Google needs to step up their game. If they didn't plan to compete with laptops/netbooks, then I'm wrong. But I have a feeling this Android thing is going to go way past phones and extensions of phones, and Google was planning that. These recent updates of adding support for multiple SD cards and screen scaling after the hardware comes out is crap. Think ahead Goggle, and build your OS for the hardware that will come out next year, not what was released last month.
Don't defend Google because it's difficult to change their software. Challenge them to make the difficult changes now, so that when we buy new hardware next year, we don't have to wait for updates to make it functional and user friendly.
I think Asus or someone else from their company said that when google android 4.0 comes out they will port it to the tf and of course their future tablets.. so i hope android 4.0 will bring the big changes we expect..
I didn't know that it would've been an issue of the inability of an OS, I'm using a Prime and there is a thread in the forums that gives the ability to remap each individual keys of the dock. So I had a thought that wouldn't it be possible to map the right click button to the command 'bring up context menu' just like how long pressing brings up the context menu

Any way to disable ALT+TAB/WIN+TAB on Bluetooth keyboard in ICS?

I'm trying out the Touchpad as an RDP client for my work Windows machine. With a Bluetooth keyboard and iTap RDP, it works very well, but one thing that's annoying is that Android/ICS traps certain key combinations instead of sending them through to Windows, e.g., ALT+TAB (Symbol+Tab on the HP Touchpad BT keyboard) and WIN+TAB (Home+Tab on the HP keyboard). Another one that gets trapped is WIN+E which should open an Explorer window but instead tries to launch the Android email client. Does anyone know if these Android keys can be disabled, ideally just while the RDP client is running, but worst case scenario, across the board?
Try the app called External Keyboard Helper pro
help
Sebz4n said:
Try the app called External Keyboard Helper pro
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Did it help ?
javabear1 said:
Did it help ?
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I tired this and could not get it to work.. If you have got it working please post.. I have a TF101 and with the local keyboard I really want a way to use the alt tab / windows key tab options.. but both go to Android local... If anyone has a way of getting around this I would love to hear it!
ALT TAB locally really is not required when you have the nice button for recent apps
go to /system/usr/keylayout/ and see which .kl needs to be changed and where. theres a few to look at but you should find one that matches your input device.
haxin said:
go to /system/usr/keylayout/ and see which .kl needs to be changed and where. theres a few to look at but you should find one that matches your input device.
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As far as I can tell, it's not a keylayout but rather a CyanogenMod-specific enhancement to make Android work more like a desktop OS when used with an external keyboard. The problem is that it acts as a system-level override for those keybindings so that they're not passed to applications such as remote desktop clients. I've considered trying AOKP to see if it does the same thing.
I'm interested in getting a Nexus 10, especially if someone releases a keyboard cover similar to the one for Surface, as a lightweight laptop replacement, especially when used to access a Windows machine via remote desktop, but I have such a heavy dependency on ALT+TAB in my day-to-day habits that it would be pretty annoying to have that key take me to another Android app instead of switching Windows apps. Not a show-stopper, but definitely an annoyance. Hopefully standard Android 4.2 doesn't do this...
I coincided installing Linux on my tf101 as I was so upset about it.. however there is not a easy way... it would be nice to see a option to disable it for in custom roms..
I don't think 4.2 will change the behavior at all.. sadly
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DjDill said:
I coincided installing Linux on my tf101 as I was so upset about it.. however there is not a easy way... it would be nice to see a option to disable it for in custom roms..
I don't think 4.2 will change the behavior at all.. sadly
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
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I know this doesn't help many folks here, but the kind folks at Jump Desktop somehow figured out how to circumvent Apple's restrictions on key events in iOS and got full keyboard support going when accessing Windows and Mac machines via RDP and VNC, so that's what I'm using very happily now from my iPad 3.
I have created exactly what you need
Hey, all, I don't know if you'll see this, but I figured out where in the android code it intercepts this and fixed it with an xposed module, which you can grab here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/keyboard-utilities-t2872579/post55350032
---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 PM ----------
Also, as far as win-E and related shortcuts being consumed, that's handled by an android setting called quicklaunch, which is present in the settings app, but there's no easy way to access it. To get to it, grab nova launcher or tasker or anything else that can launch app's activities directly, then find the quicklaunch activity under the settings app. This is where you register and unregister shortcuts with the windows key and the search key. Long press on the shortcut to clear it. By default, Win-E and a few others are put in for you.
Workaround
A bit old question, but i was looking for an answer today, and did not found anything that matches my needs. Not sure if it will satisfy You, but i got a little workaround. Actually you don't need to do anything with your android device, the only thing you need for this is AutoHotkey software on your windows machine + one little script running.
How it works? It remap left ctrl+tab to act like alt+tab. That way you can use ctrl+tab(or any other combination you want) and android has no problem with it.
Script content:
LControl & Tab::AltTab
Hope it helps, it worked for me.
Kuuubach said:
Workaround
A bit old question, but i was looking for an answer today, and did not found anything that matches my needs. Not sure if it will satisfy You, but i got a little workaround. Actually you don't need to do anything with your android device, the only thing you need for this is AutoHotkey software on your windows machine + one little script running.
How it works? It remap left ctrl+tab to act like alt+tab. That way you can use ctrl+tab(or any other combination you want) and android has no problem with it.
Script content:
LControl & Tab::AltTab
Hope it helps, it worked for me.
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so this might be turnoff to some but you are on xda. we need a magisk module or something that can do this for us.
if you can disable system wide keyboard shortcuts, it would be great. and by shortcuts here is what i mean (look at the attached screenshot). in my case. i have my rog phone 3 connected to a usb c hub that has usb, hdmi, etc. (please do not tell me about the rog phone 3 and how it might have this built in because i have a custom rom installed and im sure you can do this in almost any android version there as well because its a stock rom)
my case is i use shadow (cloud gaming/computing) and so i remote control into a windows machine. i would love to disable those shortcuts so that my keyboard inputs are not interrupted by androids shortcuts.
if i alt tab or press the windows button. i dont want the android shortcuts to trigger.
please let me know if you found a solution but this most likely is achieved through adb or root. lets do actual investigation.

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