ICS Guide

[Deleted User]

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich complete guide - SlashGear

havent seen this posted and thought it was a pretty good detailed overview of the ICS features, i know all of this stuff was mentioned during unpacked, but seems this article has more details, for example...

during unpacked it was said that the on screen buttons can disappear to allow for full screen applications, i understood this as the buttons would literally disappear and the app expands to take advantage of the full 4.65" screen, from reading this article i found...

"This area at the bottom of your display is called the System Bar and the buttons are called virtual buttons. These buttons are present

 

[dmodert66]

I disagree, but only in 1 application. Full screen video. During the presentation, they showed full screen video encompassing the entire screen (including the buttons as far as I can tell). I could be wrong so feel free to point that out if so. I was kind of tired during the presentation (watched it live). Now many people wouldn't call video an application, but we are using an app to view the video (yes, I know...I'm splitting hairs for the fun of it )

 

[Deleted User]

Please read here for the answer about the buttons:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...ture-something-you-read-check-here-first.html

What's going on with these on-screen buttons? Where is the menu button? What if my phone already has buttons and I get ICS?

Honeycomb displays a menu button for applications that require a menu button. We expect ICS will operate the same way - they will need it for backwards compatibility. Don't fret, there will be a way to access the menu when needed.

If your phone already has buttons, there will be no on-screen buttons for you.

Buttons can be hidden for apps that do not require user input. A quote from the SDK:

The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION is a new flag that requests the navigation bar hide completely. Be aware that this works only for the navigation bar used by some handsets (it does not hide the system bar on tablets). The navigation bar returns to view as soon as the system receives user input. As such, this mode is useful primarily for video playback or other cases in which the whole screen is needed but user input is not required.

Obviously, in the future it may be that you can hide the nav bar even for user input - but consider that it may not be optimal to do that. You really want those buttons to be there all the time if they're going to be a primary navigation mechanism. You don't want something to hide them so it's hard to get them back.

 

[Deleted User]

Please read here for the answer about the buttons:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-ga...ture-something-you-read-check-here-first.html

i have alrdy read that, and after reading more sources and the link i posted im still unsure as to how it will work as the wording is tricky, in the article you quoted again it says the menu will hide, now whether that means hide as in dim the menu buttons like my article stated, or hide as in go away completely and allow the app to fully expand on the whole screen, well im still not sure cuz u technically always want a home button so ur able to quickly exit the app, and i know ur posted thread does state it will come back once user input is received, but again from the videos i saw and what i am reading it looks like the menu dims, doesn't expand the app to full 4.65" screen, but once user input is received the menu buttons un-dim to become visible again

found maybe any videos online to show the buttons not dimming but totally disappearing and the app expanding over the whole screen?
that would put this issue at rest finally

 

[ylexot]

i have alrdy read that, and after reading more sources and the link i posted im still unsure as to how it will work as the wording is tricky, in the article you quoted again it says the menu will hide, now whether that means hide as in dim the menu buttons like my article stated, or hide as in go away completely and allow the app to fully expand on the whole screen, well im still not sure cuz u technically always want a home button so ur able to quickly exit the app, and i know ur posted thread does state it will come back once user input is received, but again from the videos i saw and what i am reading it looks like the menu dims, doesn't expand the app to full 4.65" screen, but once user input is received the menu buttons un-dim to become visible again

found maybe any videos online to show the buttons not dimming but totally disappearing and the app expanding over the whole screen?
that would put this issue at rest finally

The screen is talked about at ~14 minutes in.
Watch the Entire Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Press Briefing [Video]

The buttons aren't there during videos.

 

[Bnice]

Saw a nice little write up on ice cream sandwich.
A deeper look at Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich Icrontic Tech