I hate the notification bar

[Shocky]

Whats the point it always being there? just double one of the buttons as the back or home key, maybe long press on the power button or something.

It's just so annoying in games, tablets are already clumsy to hold without having to avoid touch buttons on the bottom of the screen, especially when virtual buttons are usually just above them.

 

[Deleted User]

Whats the point it always being there? just double one of the buttons as the back or home key, maybe long press on the power button or something.

It's just so annoying in games, tablets are already clumsy to hold without having to avoid touch buttons on the bottom of the screen, especially when virtual buttons are usually just above them.

Tablets are extensions of phones, so they require the same home/back buttons otherwise you'll be stuck in apps/widgets with no way back to the homescreens.

Using the Power/Volume buttons wouldn't work, although a "home" button would be nice. Oh wait, we already have that on the iPad.

I agree that a sliding virtual bar might be better in some ways, but we MUST have those buttons somewhere.

PS I love my TF.

 

[Shocky]

Tablets are extensions of phones, so they require the same home/back buttons otherwise you'll be stuck in apps/widgets with no way back to the homescreens.

Using the Power/Volume buttons wouldn't work, although a "home" button would be nice. Oh wait, we already have that on the iPad.

I agree that a sliding virtual bar might be better in some ways, but we MUST have those buttons somewhere.

PS I love my TF.

Why wouldn't it work?? just double the power button as home or back when running something in full screen, I don't see that as being very complicated.

Also I really miss the task manager from my Galaxy S/II, why can't Asus include one? tried a few on the market but they suck.

 

[eventhorizon]

Whats the point it always being there? just double one of the buttons as the back or home key, maybe long press on the power button or something.

It's just so annoying in games, tablets are already clumsy to hold without having to avoid touch buttons on the bottom of the screen, especially when virtual buttons are usually just above them.

I'm just bothered by how much room it takes up. I would love for it to slide down out of the way when not needed. I set the taskbar to autohide on my W7 box on certain applications when I need/want more vertical real estate.

Other than that gripe, I'm loving it.

I'm sure that the clever folks at Asus thought about hard wired buttons.....but then they'd probably get sued by apple for having a "home" button.

 

[Deleted User]

Why wouldn't it work?? just double the power button as home or back when running something in full screen, I don't see that as being very complicated.

The power or volume buttons wouldn't work as they're hardware buttons, just like any other phone that has separate power and volume controls. A sliding bar is possible though.

Also I really miss the task manager from my Galaxy S/II, why can't Asus include one? tried a few on the market but they suck.

You don't need a task manager AT ALL with Android, they cause more problems than they solve.

 

[Shocky]

The power or volume buttons wouldn't work as they're hardware buttons, just like any other phone that has separate power and volume controls. A sliding bar is possible though.

Is there an unspoken rule or something that says they can't use a hardware button? The home button on my Galaxy S II works just fine and in certain apps I can bind the the volume controls for other purposes, if a developer can do that I'm sure Asus could figure something out.

Why not even add a menu when you hold down the power button which shows options to power off, return to the home screen or to close the current application. It could be that simple.

You don't need a task manager AT ALL with Android, they cause more problems than they solve.

Well imo that's just not true, without a task manager on my Galaxy S II I would end up with loads of open applications in the background using up memory, stuff like Google maps and the browser do use allot of memory.

Also comes in handy when you need to force close something, allot faster than going through settings,s applicatons and then searching for the offending applcation.

 

[Deleted User]

Is there an unspoken rule or something that says they can't use a hardware button?

It's not unspoken, it's a known requirement in order to be able to shut down a phone/tablet that has locked up. If you don't have a dedicated hardware solution to shut down the device, you're done. Which is why every phone/tablet always have dedicated power buttons. As for the volume buttons, that may be possible, but I'm not an EE so I can't say for certain either way.

Well imo that's just not true, without a task manager on my Galaxy S II I would end up with loads of open applications in the background using up memory, stuff like Google maps and the browser do use allot of memory.

As has been stated many times by more knowledgeable personnel than myself, task killers simply are not needed. Any time an app is "closed", it sits in the available cache process waiting to be used again. If another app is opened and requires that memory, then the "closed" app will be removed from memory. It's that simple, and unlike Windows, it actually works pretty well.

Also comes in handy when you need to force close something, allot faster than going through settings,s applicatons and then searching for the offending applcation.

There are some apps that are poorly coded and go "rogue", but that's a problem with the app, not Android and not memory controller issues. Many times people blame the phone/Android when an app goes rogue...it's not the fault of the OS. If you have problems with an app, get rid of it and use something better, or contact the author and advise them of the issue to get a bug fix.

 

[Shocky]

It's not unspoken, it's a known requirement in order to be able to shut down a phone/tablet that has locked up. If you don't have a dedicated hardware solution to shut down the device, you're done. Which is why every phone/tablet always have dedicated power buttons. As for the volume buttons, that may be possible, but I'm not an EE so I can't say for certain either way.

The power button can still power off the device, a long hold already gives you the option to shut down, why not give us a few more options like Home Back or Close Application as well as the option to power off.

"snip".

Yes I've seen this posted many time before, I prefer to have the option to close them myself than depend on Androids largely unknown ability to handle multiple memory intensive apps in the background.

As i've ready said, a task manager like the one Samsung includes is allot faster and more convenient then having to search through the app list for the title to select force close, also allows you to see with single selection what is running.

You may not think you need one, but I want one and do find them useful.

 

[No_u]

Get the dock if you need physical buttons. The power button is for powering the device. Why the hell would Asus change that to a back/home button? It's placed on an inconvenient place to function as one anyway.

Besides, the bar below isn't taking up any space, think of it as extra space instead. The screen you look at is 16:9 HD resolution, the bar below that doesn't limit that HD resolution, it just adds a bit to it. You would have stretched out videos and games without that bar.

Also, Asus did a very good job with a wide bezel so you don't accidentally press the buttons on the task bar. IMO I'm glad it's there because it always shows me what's going on and what the time is. If it doesn't suit you get an iPad.

Oh and task managers are in NO WAY needed, there's a task manager in the settings menu just like any other Android device, so I don't know what you're talking about.

 

[Shocky]

Get the dock if you need physical buttons. The power button is for powering the device. Why the hell would Asus change that to a back/home button? It's placed on an inconvenient place to function as one anyway.

Besides, the bar below isn't taking up any space, think of it as extra space instead. The screen you look at is 16:9 HD resolution, the bar below that doesn't limit that HD resolution, it just adds a bit to it. You would have stretched out videos and games without that bar.

Yes I've got the dock, why does a power button just have to power off the device? I'm just saying there are alternatives to having the Task Bar always visable as means to recovery the device if an application freezes the device.

Of course the bar is taking up space, that could be used for more virtical viewing space when using the internet, viewing images, documents or watching video which isnt in widescreen format.

Theres a reason PC users mostly go for 16:10 ratio monitors!

Also, Asus did a very good job with a wide bezel so you don't accidentally press the buttons on the task bar. IMO I'm glad it's there because it always shows me what's going on and what the time is. If it doesn't suit you get an iPad.

Oh and task managers are in NO WAY needed, there's a task manager in the settings menu just like any other Android device, so I don't know what you're talking about.

Not from my experience they havent, I'm accidentily hitting it all the time.

Yes, but that's not very convienent, you have to go through Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, running applications and then search for the application you want to close.

The task manager Samsung use gives a widget which tells you the number of applications still running, not including system applications. With a single press you have access to this and and you can end the task. It's simple and effective.

 

[No_u]

Yes I've got the dock, why does a power button just have to power off the device? I'm just saying there are alternatives to having the Task Bar always visable as means to recovery the device if an application freezes the device.

Not needed, since the notification bar functions apart from the app, so if your app freezes this won't affect the notification bar. Holding the power button does a reset of the device.

Of course the bar is taking up space, that could be used for more virtical viewing space when using the internet, viewing images, documents or watching video which isnt in widescreen format.

Theres a reason PC users mostly go for 16:10 ratio monitors!

Most PC users have 1920x1080, the transformer has 1280x720 for viewing, and 0x80 for the notification bar. So again, most video and most apps will be stretched (since they were designed with that kind of resolution)

Not from my experience they havent, I'm accidentily hitting it all the time.

No offence, but you must have BIG hands, the bezel is HUGE.

Yes, but that's not very convienent, you have to go through Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, running applications and then search for the application you want to close.

The task manager Samsung use gives a widget which tells you the number of applications still running, not including system applications. With a single press you have access to this and and you can end the task. It's simple and effective.

That's because you don't need it. Using it CRIPPLES your transformer and will cause the device to not function properly. If your Transformer gets slow you have a rogue app that's badly designed, get rid of it. If you really need to kill an app - which you honestly don't have to (Android gives you the option to force close) - you can do that in the settings menu.

 

[Shocky]

There are allot of things I don't need, but I want a task mananger because I find them useful. The task manger is not crippling the Samsung phones so how would it cripple the Transformer? It wouldn't is the answer the that.

As for screen size, it's still space that could be used for something else, theres no way I would ever buy a 16:9 monitor for my desktop, professional monitors are 16:10. But there are allot of 16:9 budget monitors out there, most of them suck though.

IMO the Task Bar should not be visable when watching movies and or playing games and the space could be useful for other things like web browsing, images, documents and again video that is not 16:9 ratio.

Can we just agree to disagree as this isnt going anywhere.

 

[Stuntman]

There are allot of things I don't need, but I want a task mananger because I find them useful. The task manger is not crippling the Samsung phones so how would it cripple the Transformer? It wouldn't is the answer the that.

I did have one occasion where a task killer actually helped. It was some rogue app that was running and draining my battery. Other than that one instance, killing tasks doesn't really do anything and on occasion caused other weird issues that resulted in my having to reboot my phone.

Using a task killer ends up causing your phone to do more work in the background. You kill the app and then Android's memory manager later on finds that memory is unused and then loads the apps again. Then you kill it again. Basically, more work is being done due to the Android memory manager loading the app and then your task manager killing it. Your killing the apps really don't do anything in the long run. There is pretty much no way to prevent Android from actually using free memory. It's not like older OS's of the 90's and before where having memory free and unused good or even possible with Android.

If you still insist on using a task killer because you feel it is actually useful and it makes you feel comfortable, then go ahead. It probably won't do anything bad most of the time other than using a little extra power to kill and reload the app.

 

[No_u]

Can we just agree to disagree as this isnt going anywhere.

+1 Personal preference.