I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.
I want to jump around in a document if possible.
I use the regular arrow keys way more than I do in Windows.
Also I'd like to see more Ctrl+combinations available.
notbryant said:
I feel this is unique enough to merit its own thread and I looked at the first 30 pages for anything similar and found nothing.
What do you think would make the dock more worth it? Not necessarily more of a netbook, because if you want a netbook then buy a netbook, but more along the lines of functionality that should be there or is already there but needs improving. This is not really a gripe session, more of a brainstorm and also helping to make suggestions to other people if a solution already exists/comes into existence. But do try to keep it reasonable; keep your expectations realistic of an Android-running device.
I'm mainly talking about Android, since as far as I know, no other OS is stable just yet, but hardware is also a determining factor. Also, since a lot of Android is the apps, I think it would be alright to list an app functionality that would be nice (i.e., a video player, an SSH client, etc.)
And hopefully it would be nice if we followed the format of
What: What it is
Why: Why you believe it is necessary.
I'll start with a few I've noticed (I run Prime 1.6 [I think] currently):
Keyboard should provide all basic functionality
I found it odd that there's a menu button, but no app-switcher key on the keyboard. I find it strange that that core piece of functionality still requires the use of the touch screen.
Word processor should focus on keyboard
Just a bunch of stupid things that make it incredibly annoying to use and would never fly in a desktop processor.
-Ctrl+S should save
-Shift should be able to select
-Bullet indenting is horrid; should use tab
Dock-friendly SSH client is desperately needed
(Hear me out. I don't expect a full IDE at all, but a simple SSH client really is not too much to ask. Again, it works perfectly, just not at all designed for the dock.)
ConnectBot is ok, but it just fails if you have a full keyboard and want to use it as a simple SSH client. Shift acts as capslock, there is no way to do many shortcuts such as Ctrl+O (save in GNU Nano), and many characters like * can't be typed directly into the console.
That's what I've noticed so far. Hopefully you guys will think this is a good idea and chip in your opinions.
-notbryant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.
Required dock features:
What: Crap load more battery. 11000mAh minimum.
Why: Useful
What: Programmable Hot Keys, menu hooks for any application.
Why: Speed. Touch is faster than mouse, hot keys would be faster than menu.
What: Hardware NIC port
Why: Sometimes wired wins over wireless.
What: Screen Orientation Controls (options - see Orientation Control app)
Why: Dock screws with orientation. Unscrew it.
What: Barrel charging vs ASUS 40 pin cable nightmare
Why: Fu*k proprietary charging.
I could think of more, but this is a start.
I'd love it if ctrl-w or ctrl-t in the Browser didn't sometimes "double-tap" and close (or open) two tabs at once. Maybe they should fix the dock keyboard problems before adding any more shortcuts. Though I would fully support and use more of the "standard" keyboard shortcuts if they implemented them.
Also, it would be nice if the apps that "lock" into portrait mode (I'm looking at YOU, ESPN, among others) could be "unlocked" when it's docked.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
Bjd223 said:
Alt+Tab works as an app switcher in the newer firmwares. They also added Shift+Arrow Keys to highlight text easier. This pretty much made the keyboard usable for me.
The more Windows shortcuts they implement the happier I will be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.
notbryant said:
I did not know that, thanks for the info. Does it work the same way as the app switcher button on the screen? Also, isn't the only Alt key on the right of the spacebar? Maybe I'm just being picky, but I use my Thumb+Ring Finger for my traditional keyboard.
As for the Shift+Arrow keys, I just used it the other day in class running Prime 1.6 and Shift+Arrow didn't work for me in Polaris.
@Bob Smith42
I would like some hotkeys; There were 2 on my Eee netbook and I found those pretty useful, and on Android it would be more so. They should have done that instead of the Camera, Browser, and Settings buttons.
Wired seems a bit beyond the scope of an Android powered device, IMO.
I concur about proprietary charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you have to use the right Alt which sucks for a little while til you get used to it. If the Alt and search keys were switched it would be better. If you root I think someone could easily remap the search key to alt also, but I am not 100% on this.
I am not sure if the shift+arrow keys thing is an OS thing or an application dependant thing. I do it in the email app primarily and never really tried it anywhere else yet.
For those wanting a wired ethernet port; one of the guys around here got a USB to ethernet adapter to work, but some applications don't use it correctly but I think someone will work it out. Not sure if you need root for it though.
The first thing we would need is the hotkeys for our devices, and other ways to use the keyboard. then we could worry about added functionality. does anybody know where one of tose lists could be found
found one that is being worked on
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1071739
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.
Ability to swap functionality around a bit.
I'd love to be able to set the '<-' back button to ESCAPE (without using the root tricks to remap). Perhaps FUNCTION-'<-' is escape (or remapped to back)
More controllable key bindings
That whole top line of shortcuts should be more configurable. When using VNC/RDP, they'd be more use to me as standard windows function keys. Ability to quickly select them would be great.
The rest? Not too fussed, works great for everything else.
Asus were /really/ smart doing what they did. Hopefully they keep this standard (or even license the connector out).
Docking station variations
I'd still like to see variations of the keyboard. I might buy 2 with different functionality. Need the standard keyboard? Chuck the TF in and go. Doing a lot of remote work today? Drop it into the 'windows key compatibility' dock and use that.
Bigger/Heavier dock with bigger (and I mean monstrous!) keyboard.
One with RFID reader in/biometric scanners. (ok, getting niche here, but you're after what WE want!)
Keyboard dock that's another screen. TF drops into it, gets the extra battery life, but there's another display there, like the new Sony one appears to work. More screen real estate, on-screen keyboard if needed.
Game-board. stub joysticks, arcade quality fire buttons, nice trackpad area in middle. Would make an awesome portable MAME device.
Heck, can see a market for JUST a battery pack, no keys, trackpad, just a battery pack for the tablet screen.
Highend dock
Larger battery,
another few USB ports, maybe even a firewire port,
CD/DVD (if they get a linux kernal with the support compiled in).
Backlit keyboard
Turn it into a full on netbook. 250ish bucks.
Can't get over how cool a concept the docking is, sure there's a market for more flexibility. They just /really/ need to license it. Could be a long term money earner for them if there's others paying to make these things.
Oh, and whilst going off the point, might as well really go for it;
A new keyboard dock with (or a slot for) a HUGE HD(well, SSD preferred, power considerations really). Take the TF around, take some pics, small vids, drop into the dock, do some simple video work with a 200gb SSD to save to.
(and/or use that huge HD for some serious film/music/mame roms storage)
Something very important to me that I would like to see implemented is better text selection.
The cursors selection is good for touch screen, but it kinda defeats the point of having a touch pad.
I'd like to be able to select text with the touch pad cursor, just like you do on a regular PC with drag and drop...
It's really something mandatory for me as I copy paste very often between browsers, terminals and so on ..
Also a way to deactivate page scrolling with the touch pad, for example it's currently impossible to do a drag and drop of something on the screen , without triggering the scrolling of the page.
(usefull for cropping pictures in a web browser and such for example, or any other operation that requires drag and drop)
Alt+tab works ok in the latests firmwares, but it only works while being on the home screen, which is kinda a pain.
It's usefull to switch between applications, but it doesn't work that way.
Portrait
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.
@Bjd223
I think things like shift-arrows are application dependent, which is why it's that much more of a disappointment that Polaris doesn't have it since it is supposed to be centered around manipulating text.
@Jyveafk
You should really try to use the format that I suggested; your post looks like a wall of text.
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.
notbryant said:
@Bjd223
@Kumabjorn
If you really wanted that, a bluetooth keyboad might be more up your alley.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have a BT keyboard as well, just not any stand for the Eee Pad yet. It would just be nice to carry it around as one unit and then take it out of the dock and reinsert it in portrait mode. This is after all a wish list, and I'm sure people from ASUS lurk around here.
Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to be there for Russian, only the shortcut is Ctrl+Space.
The way this works is quite tricky, though. First, you need to use the keyboard icon in notification area to switch to the keyboard to "ASUS Russian" (if needed, adding it as an option in Input Settings). After that, Ctrl+Space can be used to switch between that and English. I don't know if that is there for all non-English layouts, or only non-Latin ones, though.
Also, Ctrl+Shift will pop up the usual keyboard selector menu, which can then be navigated using arrow keys. Still too verbose, but at least you don't have to take your hands off the keys to tap the screen.
I don't ask for much, just a...
backlit keyboard...
Kumabjorn said:
It would really smart if you had two connector sides on the tablet so you could choose between landscape (the present) or portrait mode if you want to use the Transformer for more serious writing assignments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, interesting. I think having a 'universal' connector, for keyboards and other things is viable, and if 'other' things to plug in, having a base/side port to 'plug' to could work well. For keyboards (and the rotating around view IS great for writing), and... other devices we've not thought of yet.
Here http://code.google.com/p/connectbot/issues/detail?id=459 you can find a patched version of connectbot ssh app with correct support for dock keys (control, tab etc).
I like it very much..
Kumabjorn said:
What: Language switching (Alt+LShift)
Why: For those of us who are multi-lingual switching between languages also affects dictionary and spell check features in applications. Being able to do that with a keyboard switch rather than tapping ths screen and selecting from a menu would be more efficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spell check? MY transformer doesn't seem to do any spell checking at all when docked. Am I missing a setting? If not I vote for some type of spell check.
Hi all,
Thanks in advance for answering some questions I have.
I've watched a ton of vids, done a pretty good amount of research so far, but still have a few unanswered questions about WP7.5. I will be looking at getting a Lumia 800 as that's what my carrier is offering in Canada. I'm sick of Android being flaky due to the fragmented ecosystem and am looking forward to the 'closed' nature of WP7.5 - I just want it to work. Period.
So, on to the Qs:
Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
Thanks, I'll add more if I think of them.
O
>> Can you enable a number row over the QWERTY keys on the keyboard? Alternatively, can you long-press those keys to pop up the numbers, even if they don't show?
There is a Key which shows up all the numbers and other characters but its not like a popup and no long press.
>>Can you go into the settings to force the phone app to start with the dialpad as opposed to the call log/history?
Nope but there are apps which are purely number pads you can use.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
>>Are there alternative apps for StumbleUpon or Feedly available? (I couldn't find them, but I use these 2 apps reasonably often) Suggestions for similar, if no?
Functionality of the phone in Canada vs US? (ie which functions don't work: Local Scout, Bing Vision, Music search, etc etc)
No Idea on then but what do you use Feedly for ?
>> Is there any quick way to change settings without having to pin them all to your home screen?
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
wpxbox said:
>
You need to use the shortcut apps for that.
>> Can you make the calendar app start with Agenda view?
No
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WRONG!
It remember the last view you were in. if you leave in agenda view, when you go back, that is the view you will see 1st.
@ROCOAFZ Never Knew that so thanks a ton for that.
>>Like in Smart Keyboard on android, does the first suggested word in the suggestions when typing get auto-selected when you hit the spacebar?
No, You need to tap and select the word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Been using WP from sometime but not sure how this works if at all possible.
Like when I type HAV it shows me Have but when I hit spacebar, it does not auto complete but adds a space.
nilsk123 said:
Thats not true, it does auto select and use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some words that it will auto fill in but they have to be the only possible thing you would be typing in context with the sentence. Most words have to be chosen from bar right above the text. (i like it this way)
No problem on the agenda view. Mine is always in that view so that's what i always see
1: To add to what others have said, you can tap-and-slide to add just a single number or punctuation in one motion. From the standard keyboard, put your finger down on the number/punctuation mode key, slide it to the number or punctuation you want (the keyboard will temporarily switch modes when you touch the key initially), and release. The key your finger was on (in the alternate mode) will be typed, but the keyboard will be in the original mode. Very handy.
Alternatively, you can add some registry values that will create press-and-hold options for the top keys to have numbers. I added a press-and-hold list to my comma key; sometimes it's a lot nicer than switching modes even briefly! (I use a lot of semicolons.)
3: For some reason, nobody has mentioned this yet. If the phone will auto-correct (including auto-complete), then the suggested word/completion will be bold. Pressing the Spacebar when there's a bolded suggestion will use that suggestion automatically.
If none of the suggestions are bold (because what you typed is already a valid word, or because it isn't sure what you meant to type), then you can tap on a suggestion to use it. The phone does have a setting to automatically add a space after you do this.
4: There's an app that comes up when you search for StumbleUpon, based on keyword match (it's not actually a stumbleupon app, but it targets the same kind of user). I haven't tried it (but then, I don't use SU either).
5: Vision and Music Search should both work just fine (they're not locale based at all, so far as I know). Scout... I think it works in Canada? I've never tried (I live close to the border, but not *that* close, and international data costs money so I always have it disabled). I assume Zune Pass and Directions both work as well, and those are the other two locale-sensitive features I can think of that might care.
6: Not really, but how often do you need to mess with settings? There are some apps that let you quickly reach the ones you use most often, or let you quickly reach ones that are normally a few levels deep, but no one-tap toggles yet that I'm aware of.
However, I really don't find it required to enter settings much at all. See a new WiFi network? The phone will prompt you. You'll only save a very small amount of power by leaving WiFi off when not in use; the phone is very good at putting it in a power-saving mode. I almost never need to touch any of the other settings.
Didn't notice the bold... good post ... i'm always learning something new in Windows phone
Ok so I did a lot of searching and have not been able to find anything for this... I found a couple of threads started by people asking if it is possible or if there is one that exists but those did not receive any real responses so I'm hoping that one of the amazing devs here can help please.
So what I'd like is a homescreen widget, or possibly a Live wallpaper, which shows the live cards from Google Now.
There are countless Google Now themed UCCW skins that people have put out. I don't want that.
I also found a way to create homescreen icons that LOOK like Google Now cards. But all those do is launch apps, they do not update with live information from Google Now.
I'm not sure why Google Now wasn't created with a widget. It just seems to make sense. It's kind of annoying that you have to open the app to get all this information, instead of having it right in front of your face on your homescreen where you can access other apps quickly as well. I mean the point of google now is to present you with information before you need it right? How is that possible if I can't get the info without opening the app.
So I'm hoping there is, if anything, some sort of work around here.
Maybe someone knows of a way to create a widget with desktop visualizer that will show the live Google now cards and update them.
I'm hoping for a scrollable widget that will be almost exactly like Google Now (i.e new cards will pop up as they do in the app, you can scroll up and down to view all of the cards you currently have, you can swipe to remove cards - (come to think of it you probably won't be able to swipe to remove cards, but maybe a double tap or something?))
It would probably be best if this widget did not include the google search bar and simply showed the google now cards.
I remember hearing about an app in the past that could overlay live wallpapers on each other. Is there a way to overlay an app into a live wall paper? so that you could see Google Now as your live wall paper, even if maybe you can't actually interact with it this way?
For now I'm going to try setting up something with tasker, so that google now will automatically open every morning when I turn off my alarm, and possibly at other points (maybe when a new card pops up or something). Something similar to this could probably be done with the smart actions app if people are interested in trying that out. But honestly I feel like this is not the best solution because I'd rather not have tasker running constantly, eating my RAM and therefore my battery.
So I don't know if the reason there is no widget already is because it simply is not possible. And if it's not possible could someone please explain why?
Also, so that I can try to work on this myself - can someone please help me by telling me which files Google now uses for getting and updating cards? (i.e. the file names I would see in Titanium or under Settings>Apps or in a file explorer where they would be located - I'm guessing somewhere in the /system/ folder) If I can access these I can play around with them and try some things out
TIA to all who reply...
I've tried testing out the "tagging" option, but I don't see the purpose of it. I have tried entering the tag names on the s-note search, and then all there is, is a ridiculously long waiting period, & SOMETIMES it might find those note pages. I think I'm doing something wrong here, obviously, lol. I know there is some sort of useful function I can get out of "tagging" notebook pages, but my tinkering with the feature has only produced a headache. Could someone who makes use of this feature, or file-tagging/labeling in-general, help me figure out how I can get practical use out of this feature?
Tablet_JF said:
I've tried testing out the "tagging" option, but I don't see the purpose of it. I have tried entering the tag names on the s-note search, and then all there is, is a ridiculously long waiting period, & SOMETIMES it might find those note pages. I think I'm doing something wrong here, obviously, lol. I know there is some sort of useful function I can get out of "tagging" notebook pages, but my tinkering with the feature has only produced a headache. Could someone who makes use of this feature, or file-tagging/labeling in-general, help me figure out how I can get practical use out of this feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh. Ok. I see the problem. Here's what you're going to want to do. Exit out of snotes. Go back to your app drawer. You'll see Snotes there. Now, and this is where the fix is, ignore it, and go download lecture notes. Problems solved.