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[Q] Remapping soft keys

Right now, the soft keys on the Z3 do 'Back', 'Home' and 'Recent apps'. With my previous phone being a Galaxy S2, this is a major annoyance for me. I want my beloved menu button back . So my question is: can I remap the 'Recent apps' button to instead show the menu? I've tried some solutions like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818499, but this doesn't seem to allow customization of the soft keys I want to change. Is there anything out there that lets me do this, preferably without directly modifying the layout file? I have root so that's not an issue.
Thanks in advance

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Knakharses said:
Right now, the soft keys on the Z3 do 'Back', 'Home' and 'Recent apps'. With my previous phone being a Galaxy S2, this is a major annoyance for me. I want my beloved menu button back . So my question is: can I remap the 'Recent apps' button to instead show the menu? I've tried some solutions like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818499, but this doesn't seem to allow customization of the soft keys I want to change. Is there anything out there that lets me do this, preferably without directly modifying the layout file? I have root so that's not an issue.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that s inside firmware itself
you can root ur device and install custom recovery to install Custom ROM like CyanogenMod
there s option for complete customization of soft-keys.
:good:

Geeks Empire said:
that s inside firmware itself
you can root ur device and install custom recovery to install Custom ROM like CyanogenMod
there s option for complete customization of soft-keys.
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except no roms are ready for xperia Z3 yet. Also might want to try Carbon Rom if you really liked the navigation button customization. They do a better job than CM, and have more options.

munsabin said:
Except no roms are ready for xperia Z3 yet. Also might want to try Carbon Rom if you really liked the navigation button customization. They do a better job than CM, and have more options.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that's kind of the issue for now: the lack of ROMs. Could this be done through Xposed or something similar was well?

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Knakharses said:
Yeah, that's kind of the issue for now: the lack of ROMs. Could this be done through Xposed or something similar was well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u should check if Xposed module have access to SystemUI
(i don know about that module a lot)

Root and xposed will work
There is a module for remapping keys and one for adding a permanent menu key

Knakharses said:
Yeah, that's kind of the issue for now: the lack of ROMs. Could this be done through Xposed or something similar was well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just give it some time. Lollipop and Xperia Z3 hit the shelves around the same time, but DEVs are more interested in getting their ROMs working based on lollipop, instead of getting a custom rom based on an old OS working for a new phone.

Knakharses said:
Right now, the soft keys on the Z3 do 'Back', 'Home' and 'Recent apps'. With my previous phone being a Galaxy S2, this is a major annoyance for me. I want my beloved menu button back . So my question is: can I remap the 'Recent apps' button to instead show the menu? I've tried some solutions like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818499, but this doesn't seem to allow customization of the soft keys I want to change. Is there anything out there that lets me do this, preferably without directly modifying the layout file? I have root so that's not an issue.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if you are rooted, but this works for me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/mod-xperia-aosp-navbar-buttons-t2720765

munsabin said:
Just give it some time. Lollipop and Xperia Z3 hit the shelves around the same time, but DEVs are more interested in getting their ROMs working based on lollipop, instead of getting a custom rom based on an old OS working for a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it's no problem. In the meantime dashrink's solution works great. Thanks all

Glad I could help

softkeyz
therd is an app called softkeyz which is paid and requires root but you can customise everything and by everything i mean that you can customise the function of the buttons and their color
Sent from my SM-N7505 using XDA Free mobile app

coming from a Note1 i have exactly the same question. sounds like we just wait for Lollipop and learn to love back-key on the left side (perhaps that's more intuitive anyway). i still wish there was a way to generate a menu-keypress though, like a combo? a long press?
i often feel like theres a menu there, but no way to see it. is it always true that the 3 vertical dots will appear somewhere (sometimes top, sometimes bottom. grrr!) in this menu-key-less interface?

First thing I did after root... Install Xposed framework then download/install the GravityBox(KK) module. In the GravityBox settings, go to Navigation Bar Tweaks. Enable the master switch, then check the box to "always show menu key".
This will enable your menu key and still keep your recent apps key. You can also swap the recent and back button (if your used to that type of layout). And if you want even more then you can do like I do...
(in the Navigation Key Actions menu, not in Navigation Bar Tweaks)
*shrink the nav bar to 75% height
*long press back to close foreground app
*long press home to enable/disabled screen rotation
*double tap home to show a custom app launcher menu (put your fav apps n here)
*double tap back to switch to last open app
*long press menu to enable/disable flashlight
(this is just my setup, each keys long press and double-tap have multiple options to choose from)
With gravity box you can do a whole lot. You can change your battery icon to a different one but be sure to go into your phone "settings>personalization>status bar icons" and uncheck battery. If not, then when you restart you will have 2 battery icons (stock & gbox battery) in your status bar. Also, you can turn your status bar into a brighteness control, which comes in very handy, or enable song skipping by long pressing the volume keys (when the screen is off).
Just check everything out in gravity box, it has soo much to offer.

Knakharses said:
Right now, the soft keys on the Z3 do 'Back', 'Home' and 'Recent apps'. With my previous phone being a Galaxy S2, this is a major annoyance for me. I want my beloved menu button back . So my question is: can I remap the 'Recent apps' button to instead show the menu? I've tried some solutions like http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818499, but this doesn't seem to allow customization of the soft keys I want to change. Is there anything out there that lets me do this, preferably without directly modifying the layout file? I have root so that's not an issue.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did this with my Xperia Z3. Get root (note there's locked bl root available). Then install xposed framework. Then get Xperia / AOSP NavBar module from Xposed Installer.

Home offscreen button during typing

Is anybody else having this issue? I am coming from Galaxy S4, where the home button is actual physical button, so there I didn't have any issues, but with OPO, when typing, many times when I try to hit spacebar, it hits the top of the Home button. Before it comes up, I do not want to use on screen buttons, I like the size of the screen and don't want it up with software buttons.
I was wondering if anyone has/could write a script to set the buttons to
(Menu)
Short press - Menu
Long Press - Recent Aps
(Home)
Short press - Nothing
Long Press - Home
(Back)
Short Press - back
Long Press - nothing
Or of there is an app that would give me a bit more control over the buttons... or something that can help with this. This is absolutely the only issue I have with the OPO otherwise I love the phone.

shiroimin said:
Is anybody else having this issue? I am coming from Galaxy S4, where the home button is actual physical button, so there I didn't have any issues, but with OPO, when typing, many times when I try to hit spacebar, it hits the top of the Home button. Before it comes up, I do not want to use on screen buttons, I like the size of the screen and don't want it up with software buttons.
I was wondering if anyone has/could write a script to set the buttons to
(Menu)
Short press - Menu
Long Press - Recent Aps
(Home)
Short press - Nothing
Long Press - Home
(Back)
Short Press - back
Long Press - nothing
Or of there is an app that would give me a bit more control over the buttons... or something that can help with this. This is absolutely the only issue I have with the OPO otherwise I love the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because i currently am running CM12 i can't give exact insturctions but it should be somewhere in settings -> buttons -> ? over there you should be able to give the buttons other values. It is something like menu button: recent apps switcher and if you press that you can change it to a few other things. If this doesn't fill your needs, ask a bit more around I know it is there, because i saw it once.

Watermelons said:
Because i currently am running CM12 i can't give exact insturctions but it should be somewhere in settings -> buttons -> ? over there you should be able to give the buttons other values. It is something like menu button: recent apps switcher and if you press that you can change it to a few other things. If this doesn't fill your needs, ask a bit more around I know it is there, because i saw it once.
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Click to collapse
Yes it is there, but the option for "Home Short Press" is not there, that is hard coded. At least on the ROM I run (LiquidSmooth)

What I need to know is this:
Which key mapping is for Short Press Home, Long Press Home and Long Press Menu. I am within /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl to adjust the mapping manually, but can't seem to find the correct mapping for those 3.
*EDIT*
Ok, so found the key for Home and that is 172, but that disables both the short and long press...

shiroimin said:
What I need to know is this:
Which key mapping is for Short Press Home, Long Press Home and Long Press Menu. I am within /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl to adjust the mapping manually, but can't seem to find the correct mapping for those 3.
*EDIT*
Ok, so found the key for Home and that is 172, but that disables both the short and long press...
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Click to collapse
I'm sorry but with this i can't help.
Have you also tried the official OnePlus Forums?

Watermelons said:
I'm sorry but with this i can't help.
Have you also tried the official OnePlus Forums?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, sadly, someone suggested to come here

If you have root try it with the Xposed Module "Xposed Additions".

holzfeli said:
If you have root try it with the Xposed Module "Xposed Additions".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately can't install Xposed as it tells me that my device does not support it. Is there one specifically built for us?
I get this error :
Xposed is not (yet) compatible with Android SDK Version 21 or your processor architecture (armeabi-7va).
CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE: could not load library "libdvm.so" needed by "/data/data/de.robv.android.xposed.installer/cache/app_process"; caused by library "libdvm.so" not found.

shiroimin said:
Unfortunately can't install Xposed as it tells me that my device does not support it. Is there one specifically built for us?
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Click to collapse
I can't post the link because I haven't 10 messages :crying:
You have got a private message!

holzfeli said:
I can't post the link because I haven't 10 messages :crying:
You have got a private message!
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Click to collapse
Thank you for the link, unfortunately still doesn't work. Same error. I think it is because the ROM I am using is LP and LP uses ART instead of Dalvik and XPosed doesn't work with that. Thank you though for the effort

shiroimin said:
Thank you for the link, unfortunately still doesn't work. Same error. I think it is because the ROM I am using is LP and LP uses ART instead of Dalvik and XPosed doesn't work with that. Thank you though for the effort
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, ART is the problem.

So I came up with a solution for this issue.
The file in question to be working with is /system/usr/keylayout/Generic.kl
Navigate to this file using a File Browser (Root Explorer is the one I use) that has access to Root and make sure you have R/W rights.
Edit the file above in a text editor > find line : "key 139 MENU" and change it to "key 139 HOME" > and then find line : "key 172 HOME" and change it to "key 172 MENU" > Reboot device for it to take effect after you save
Then, within Settings > Buttons, you can adjust (at least on the ROM I am on), the long and short press of the Menu button.
What comes out is: left button is HOME button, with short/long press actions, middle button is MENU with just long action (set short action to NONE), and right button is BACK button untouched.
This way if I am typing, and want to hit space bar, accidentally hitting the middle button will not bring me to the main screen. It will take a while to get used to it, but it does resolve my issue.

[Q] Remap volume-up button to power button

Hello all,
Recently the power button on my Nexus 5 has been acting really weird. Sometimes it works flawlessly, others it requires pressing it really hard to work. In order to prevent it to stop working indefinetely, I am looking for a way to remap my volume-up button so it can work as a power button. I don't need it to turn my phone on or to work in the recovery mode (from what I read, it seems to be impossible), only when Android is running.
I've already tried some workarounds:
1) Volume Unlock Power Button Fix app: I tried it, but it just allowed me to turn on my phone with volume but not turning off. Also, it drains a LOT of power.
2) Buttonremapper app: It would theoretically do exactly what I wanted, but did not work at all.
3) Editing generic.kl: I tried switching volume-up and power buttons codes in generic.kl, but also did not work. Maybe I need to modify another file?
3) Xposed Framework + Additions: The installation of Xposed went Ok, but after installing Additions module I got stucked in bootloop. I am running Android 5.1 stock, maybe this module is not yet compatible.
So, can anyone help me? Do I need to install a custom ROM?
PS: I live outside US, so no warranty for me. Otherwise I would just use it
Thanks in advance for any help!
Cheers,
Humberto

Hi folks,
Just a heads up for anyone who might be facing the same issue. I decided to change from stock to Cataclysm ROM due to some specific features (listed below). After the installation, here's what I did to work around this problem:
1) Enabled "Volume wake" and "Sleep button on status bar" in "Cataclysm Settings / Miscellaneous".
2) Enabled "Swipe to sleep" and resized NavBar to 115% in "Cataclysm Settings / Navigation bar options". -> This way I can swipe in NavBar at any time (except lockscreen) to turn off screen. I raised it a little to facilitate the swipe gesture.
3) Changed Lockscreen Dialer shortcut to ""Turn off Screen" app shortcut (just search for it in the play store) in "Cataclysm Settings / Lockscreen options" -> This allows me to just swipe right and turn off the screen when my security settings are disabled (which accounts for most of the time). I found it way faster than pressing sleep button in status bar, especially when I'm driving and I can't look at the screen. Plus, I don't really use the dialer function of my phone so often since the invention of Whatsapp ;P
I realize this is not the perfect solution, but I don't see a better way to deal with this power button malfunction problem (except from a hardware fix).
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Humberto
PS: I am really enjoying Cataclysm. It's a very nice ROM, completely stable and with a lot of other interesting features aside from the ones mentioned above. I strongly encourage anyone to give it a try!

I'm facing the exact same problem but I really need to eliminate the power button or I will need a power button fix soon.
The solutions you found hthiengo are good if not needing to turn off (or worst: running out of battery, something that happens me sometimes). I'm in the situation that next time I hit power button I will need to replace the button, or throw the nexus away
I did installed the xposed additions for lollipop but it is not working, and the Cataclysm trick is not enough in this case

Ok, after some research I've found a temporary solution:
For the power button you can remap modifying the file gpio-keys.kl under system/usr/keylaout (i wonder why anyone could figure out thise before, no that difficult). I would like to map power button leeaving it useless but I've found it impossible to remap the power button (probably because the key number is not 116). I would have liked to see xposed additions to help me map the keys but is not functional at least for me.
If the phone runs out of battery I've found that if I plug the power cable by pressing both volume buttons at the same time, eventually it starts up with the bootloader so I can plug the pc cable and it will reboot sucessfully.
So despite the phone know is pretty disfunctional (not the best phone for a hurry without battery), I can still use it for some weeks before I plan buying a new one or something (or I find a place for reparing). Its a shame I could not find a better solution for example, ADT when powered off so I could just reboot it by using ADT reboot command while powered off.
And It would be really amazing if the volume up button could also power it on from the powered off state.
In my case the power button is broken, but sometimes it gets stuck and puts the phone in a reboot loop: To avoid pressing the power button accidentally I've made a hole in the protective case so its pretty difficult to access it.
That's all for now. If anyone can make it better I will be glad to hear him/her

Anyone Else not able to Simulate a "Menu Button" press?

I cannot simulate a menu button press on this phone. Blu's ESL customer support didn't help at all.
On the Note 4, you hold down the recent apps button and the phone treats it like a menu button press. I use a few somewhat legacy apps and not having menu press completely breaks those apps.

RDProgrammer said:
I cannot simulate a menu button press on this phone. Blu's ESL customer support didn't help at all.
On the Note 4, you hold down the recent apps button and the phone treats it like a menu button press. I use a few somewhat legacy apps and not having menu press completely breaks those apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Current apps should not need a menu button. However, if you have old outdated apps you can simulate it with the (weirdly named) built in "suspend button." Settings > Advanced settings > Suspend option. Enable that and it will overlay a round button on the screen. When you need the menu button tap the on-screen button. It will expand and show more buttons. The button with three dots is the menu button. If you'd prefer to hide the "suspend button" so that it's not always visible you can do so by long pressing on it. You can unhide it in the notification panel.

Awesome, that works, but what a sad work around to an issue solved so much more efficiently on other devices.

RDProgrammer said:
Awesome, that works, but what a sad work around to an issue solved so much more efficiently on other devices.
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Click to collapse
Sad indeed. I will continue to poke around for another solution to this, with the ultimate goal of remapping that recent apps button to a menu. I am not sure this will be possible without root access though. Good news is there is another thread here on XDA with a bounty/reward of around $200 at the moment for anyone who can get a workable root and TWRP recovery goin for this phone. :fingers-crossed:

RDProgrammer said:
Awesome, that works, but what a sad work around to an issue solved so much more efficiently on other devices.
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Click to collapse
True, but as I said no current app should need a menu key. Most new Android phones have no menu key because it's not needed. I have about 200 apps installed and only one needs the menu key workaround because it hasn't been updated in years.

Is there a No-Root Solution to bringing the Menu Button Back?

I am migrating from a pre-"recent apps" button phone, and I absolutely hate the recent apps button.
I constantly press it by accident, and since my finger was trying to do something close to where that dumb button is I also constantly accidentally click "close all".
I put my most used apps on my home screen, I don't need to ever see my most recent apps.
What I do like, is being able to open the menu whenever I want to, with a simple button press. I use some old apps that aren't cluttered with "more" or "..." buttons, so getting the menu to come up is a huge pain (holding the back button for eternity).
I'd rather have a much less useful function mapped to long-press than the actually useful function I tend to use frequently (quickly accessing the menu for a save-state with emulators...)
None of the solutions I've seen allow you to do anything with the menu button without root.
There is a thread in the S6 forum talking about modifying your generic file, but that appears to require root and I'm not sure if the procedure is the same for the S7.
There are threads that suggest "Buttons Remapper (no root)" allows you to do this, but having installed this I can verify that anything involving the "Menu" function *does* require root for this app.
Are there any true no-root options to substituting the recent-apps button with the menu button?

All in one gesture

Nandeee627 said:
All in one gesture
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Click to collapse
I wish this was the case. You can not set "Menu" as the action for the keys unless your phone is rooted.