On Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 4:42 PM, GT <[email protected]> wrote: > I am developing apps for an Android device that does not have any > hardware keys except for a power button and I have been running into > hurdles left and right. Not having a keyboard is not a big problem > but my lack of hardware Home, Menu, and Back keys is killing me. >
To be compatible, android devices are required to have menu and back keys. In theory you could provide these some way in software (see for example the virtual hard keys on Droid, or you could go further and provide them as a dedicated area on the actual screen that isn't available to applications), but in some way there must be a thing that the user can press that generates the key code that is there regardless of the application. > By sending a "Go to home screen" intent I can simulate the Home key > but I have yet to find a way to have software Back and Menu buttons. > Worse yet, even if I did get my keys working I don't see how to make > them always available to the user. There doesn't seem to be a way to > keep them accessable from the status bar and I haven't found a way of > creating a floating menu that always stays on top of all other > activities. > If you don't have any such keys, you'll just need to customize the system to create a window or such with the buttons on it, which sends the appropriate key event to the window manager. See the status bar as an example of making a dedicated UI like that; see IWindowManager for APIs to inject key events into the system. -- Dianne Hackborn Android framework engineer [email protected] Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and answer them. -- unsubscribe: [email protected] website: http://groups.google.com/group/android-porting
