• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help Button block and remap

  • Thread starter Thread starter gearman
  • Start date Start date
G

gearman

Guest
I need to block the existing hardware buttons for 'home', 'back' and 'history', and have them elsewhere on the screen. There are apps that can provide 'software' buttons for 'home', 'back' and 'history' buttons elsewhere on the screen. Is there any app that will, in addition to providing these buttons elsewhere, will block the existing buttons? Only these buttons should be blocked, nothing else.

This is for a Google Nexus 4 phone. The reason I need this is that due to water damage, the existing buttons don't work right. Sometimes they press automatically and repeatedly without any touch, which makes it impossible to use the phone. One needs to block them and map them elsewhere on the screen. Thanks!
 
scary alien said:
There's a couple of apps in the Play Store that will do this, although you'll need to be rooted first:


Cheers!
Click to expand...


Thanks. I checked out the apps, but it seems none of them do what is needed. There are apps that provide the buttons (home/back/recents) elsewhere on the screen, but don't do anything to the existing buttons. There are some apps that, in addition to providing soft buttons, hide the existing buttons (releasing that screen area). However, this does not help as that part of the screen is still active (and getting phantom 'touches' due to damage to the phone). What I need is not to hide the buttons, but assign a new function to the existing button (e.g., when the 'back' button is pressed, instead of going back, do a new function, 'do nothing'.) I have not found any app that does that, do you know of any? I tried 6-7 apps but none do this. The Xposed framework does not work with the latest android version I have on Nexus 4 so could not try 'Xposed Additions', but other than that looked at pretty much everything on that search page.

The second link you posted regarding the 'button remapper' app, that does not seem to be available.

I don't know how to write android code or manually edit certain lines in certain files (that is above my newbie level). The phone is rooted. I am the same guy who asked the original question (gearman).

Thanks!
 
scary alien said:
Hmm, re. the XDA link (which I think you were referring to), did you see the Attached Files section at the bottom of the first post with the .apk links?:


I don't know if they'll work, though...

(welcome officially to our AndroidForums, by the way :))
Click to expand...

Thanks! I did get the ButtonRemapper. However, it only shows remapping options for three keys - power, headphone insert, and call end. Not sure why it doesn't show home/back/recents keys. Maybe because they are 'virtual keys' in Nexus?
 
Well if you do that you're basically pulling the plug on the nav bar, it turns it off completely, you couldn't touch them if you wanted to. That's what I did on my phone and use a different navigation method since my phone has no physical buttons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom