yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] darkcurrent:
So many fanbois here.

Soft buttons are stupid on the N4. Plain and simple.

90% of the time, that ~ 1cm of expensive LCD real estate can be replaced by cheap capacitive buttons. Think about it, is it cheaper to use LCD as buttons or capacitive buttons?

When Gnex came out, I thought it was a great move, thinking they're going to shrink the bottom bezel, but that's not happening.

Until google makes a phone with lcd going all the way to the bottom of the phone

, soft buttons are a stupid idea.

I'll address some issues fanboi's like to point out about their soft buttons

Form should follow function, not take precedent over it.

lol at aesthetics when phone is OFF over more screen real estate when phone is ON.

App devs aren't doing this because 90% of phones out there do not use soft buttons. Also, if you're using gestures to bring up soft buttons, you're adding another step. Whereas with hard buttons, one click gets you back home, you have to swipe (with multiple fingers - bad for one handed operation) and then click home.

Capacitive sensitivity is same as the digitizer on the LCD... so you're basically saying capacitive buttons are harder to hit because they are down nearer the bottom of the phone because the phone has a bigger screen than the nexus. If the nexus had a thinner bezel on the bottom, and more screen vertically, you would get the same problem... So you're basically complaining that the screen is too big... herp derp

herp derp, move the notification light to the top bezel.

Edit: not everyone wants to use a ROM since they ALL suffer from bugs/FC issues. I used to flash a ton of roms, but got sick of all the issues.

Well, I hate people like you. I don't like rush limbaugh, and i don't listen to his show, but it doesn't mean I don't think he's stupid...

more examples... I don't like terrorists, I can still voice my opinions about them. This is an internet forum. get used to it. These are also valid points that google should take note of. If you don't "complain" google will have no motivation to improve.

And no, I'm not a troll, but this issue has come up for me when im debating sgs3 vs this phone (same price here).
[Nexus 4 General] mrbkkt1:
BlackBerry playbook does this

Top right corner ( across the corner) brings the main settings.

Top down app setting

Bottom left corner is back or bring up keyboard.

Bottom to top is home.

Best navigation interface of all IMHO

They might have a patent though.

Once you use it, you realize buttons aren't even necessary.
[Nexus 4 General] Tenji7:
I'm fine with the navigation button, but they should have a option to change it's height or hide it beside on videoplay. I know you can install a custom rom with the feature, but that's just a hassle when supposedly the stock android is suppose to be the best. The navigation bar should not even be on the lockscreen, but it is. I totally AGREE with darkcurrent. I looking to flash a rom to fix this nav bar to my liking, but the rom seem to have little issue here and there. The whole thing about android is it's suppose to be better and loaded on stock then ios. But it's acutally more limited then I though. Still better then ios but it's not good enought, it need to be the best!
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
I might be the only one, but I LIKE the loss of screen real estate.
[Nexus 4 General] [hfm]:
The on screen buttons are fantastic. : thread closed: :p
[Nexus 4 General] Toledo_JAB:
I love that my ION has capacitive buttons below the screen gives me full 4.55 inches for display.

I agree you should put the phone in hand and try it. If you don't take it for a test drive don't complain about how it runs.

Sent from my LT28
[Nexus 4 General] malibu_23:
Stock android is considered better because its the easiest to unlock/mod than other skinned versions. It also runs the cleanest cuz theres no skin on it or modified ui or framework. (tw, sense, etc)

The navigation bar needed on the lock screen cuz you launch Google now from it. And to back out.

You can modify the attributes of the nav bar. But Google isn't going to mess with it cuz a small percentage wants it smaller. They have a standard. You want it changed. Change it. It's a nexus. It's made for modding.

:xda on sprint g-nex:
[Nexus 4 General] 309041291a:
Why is there so much flame on the OP?

All he really was trying to say is that it gets annoying playing games in landscape because the screen is uneven. Which is true. The screen buttons take space and I wish there was a gesture to toggle them to even out the screen. The GNex did not have this problem because the top and bottom of the phone (non-touch-able area) were different sizes: bigger top, shorter bottom to accommodate for the on screen buttons.

Nexus S (GSM i9020a)

AOKP (Milestone 1 - 4.1.2)

Matrix Kernel (24.0 - CFS)

Ondemmand (Screen On) (800/100)

Wheatley (Screen Off) (400/100)

Deep Idle (N/A - Deadline)

BLX (N/A - Inverted Apps)

Black Exodus (Stock Voltage)
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
Because I like the loss of screen real estate
[Nexus 4 General] malibu_23:
My responses to your responses in red...

:xda on sprint g-nex:
[Nexus 4 General] itsmyname:
Everyone who's saying the onscreen buttons serve more functions, care to elaborate? Pressing back on an onscreen phone isn't the same as pressing it on hardware buttons? That's new to me
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
Serve more functions? No cause the physical buttons can do the exact same. But its easier to navigate with the on screen buttons. Example would be the multitasking on the nexus 4 where all u have to do is press the on screen multitask icon and its very fast. On the S3 you have to hold the home button. Also pressing the home button on the S3 , for example, has a slight delay going to the home screen ( even when you disable S voice) vs the N4 which is instant.
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
Its serves me a function by using up screen real estate, which I like
[Nexus 4 General] EnemyOfGlaDOS:
Those that bought the phone and knew about the on-screen buttons really have no right to *****. Why buy a phone and then complain about a feature you knew it had? Makes no sense. :confused:
[Nexus 4 General] Serious_Beans:
I love the on-screen buttons, keeps the slick look of the Nexus and it has potential to be modded by developers of ROMs. Also what do you need that extra .5"of screen for anyway? When watching movies or YouTube they disappear and for gaming it's basically just have a smaller screen while gaming, seriously if you don't like it don't get a Nexus, it's how it's going to be from now on. This isn't one of those things where you complain how the battery sucks and I say "don't get a Nexus" because that is an actual problem, but we've had on screen buttons since last Nexus and it's the direction Android is going so accept it or get another phone.
[Nexus 4 General] 309041291a:
Not flaming :P, so if i may ask, why do you like them?

Personally i like an even screen, but thats just me. It wont stop me from getting the phone when i know many ROMs will have a toggle feature for the SW buttons.

Customisable, Swip up the Google Now/Navring bar. There's so much functionality in them. Look at all the tweaking you can do to them on AOKP ROMs. They aren't limited by hardware, they're software.

Nexus S (GSM i9020a)

AOKP (Milestone 1 - 4.1.2)

Matrix Kernel (24.0 - CFS)

Ondemmand (Screen On) (1320/200)

Wheatley (Screen Off) (400/200)

Deep Idle (N/A - Deadline)

BLX (N/A - Inverted Apps)

Black Exodus (Stock Voltage)
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
I'm just half trolling.

I like the on screen buttons because I want a super phone like the GS3, HOX+, LGOG, but 4.7/4.8 inches is just a tad too big.

With the on screen buttons, the Nexus 4 is a beastly phone with 4.5 inches of real estate. That's my cup of tea
[Nexus 4 General] bit1:
You can't use GMD Gesture Control to get rid if the nav buttons and just use gestures? That'll fill the screen fully.
[Nexus 4 General] undercover:
Maybe because people only tried them with this device for the first time?

I'm in "i don't like 'em" camp. All op was doing is expressing his opinion.

My take on it. Why not make screen physically bigger to accommodate buttons? DPI would drop a touch, but it's not a big deal at these resolutions. Ok, maybe there are technical reasons. But then why not make bottom bezel a touch smaller? Maybe technical issues there too, idk. I hate to lose that space, but i can most definitely live with it. There are/will be mods that will allow me to make them smaller, swap them around (what idiot thought of putting back button on far left on such a wide screen? Can just about reach it without dislocating my thumb. Most of the world population are righties). They disappear when watching videos, and that is when it mostly counts imho.

Biggest problem for me is that there is no dead space between screen and buttons. I could be typing something and then hit home instead of space button. Solved that by enabling arrow keys on SwiftKey. Still, problem persists when using other touch functions, albeit not as big as when typing or gaming. Another thing, when they black out, you press on them dot's and it performs programmed function. I'd rather see them wake up with the first touch, and only react to the second one in apps like games. Would solve 90% of that issue.

Anyway, c'mon guys, no need to go all personal with different opinions, forums are there to share them, not to fight over them.
[Nexus 4 General] dabomb224:
So wait, the OP bought a phone made by a company that has widely advocated the use of software buttons in all of their products for the last year, and was shocked and appalled to find that his phone had software buttons? :confused:
[Nexus 4 General] undercover:
1. He didn't say he bough it

2. He said that in HIS opinion it should be different.

3. You just repeated what another 50% of posters said here and which doesn't really contribute to constructive conversation.
[Nexus 4 General] EnemyOfGlaDOS:
Fair enough.. if nobody has ever tried them.. you don't like em return the phone. And if all OP is doing is expressing his opinion than he can do it in a better way and more professional way than to say things like "How hard is it to A. Use that massive bottom part of the Bezel with Hardware buttons or B. Have some kind of gesture to hide them?" .. um OP obviously needs to rethink who makes the phone, and it's not him. He's clearly way upset about this but it's not like this is something new, Galaxy Nexus shipped with it, as did the Nexus 7. There's been countless resources to see how they work. And on top of this all.. to create a thread to purposely ***** about a functionality that comes to no surprise, is ridiculous. Yes, this is a forum where people can share opinions, but this is XDA Developers, your expected to have at least a little knowledge of the device your using/buying.

Not to mention his opinion could have gone in an already existing thread. Here's one.. took about a minute of searching: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2004373&highlight=thoughts

oh and here's another one http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2002368&highlight=thoughts

yet another http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1989561&highlight=thoughts
[Nexus 4 General] droidmakespwn:
Yeah capacitive buttons are so great when a company like HTC doesn't implement a menu button and you lose screen real estate to a long black menu bar. This is called change. If you don't like it get an iPhone. How can someone dislike this bar? I'm typing right now and the back button changed to a down key to indicate how to drop the keyboard. Just imagine when it does become the norm and app devs utilize it the way they are supposed to.
[Nexus 4 General] MaxCarnage:
I personally like the nav bar. Suits my needs. Just my two cents.

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] undercover:
This is true. I've never had a phone with 3 capacitive buttons, so overlooked it.

Coreym, I agree, but it's still not a reason to attack him. Your post above is a great way to educate him and others reading how to do it NEXT time. :)
[Nexus 4 General] [hfm]:
The buttons disappear if you are watching video or playing a game, read: the context in which it makes sense. I love them. I set up my nexus s for my wife not long ago because the G2 was having an issue and I was like wtf is up with these hardware buttons. Android has moved on, and for the better.
[Nexus 4 General] neotekz:
this made me laugh. makes sense for a dev to have a logo or some useful links but it's annoying when its just a list of phones someone has for the past 10 years, no one cares what phone you have or used to have.
[Nexus 4 General] EnemyOfGlaDOS:
Get over it. Some users will have no signatures some will have HUGE signature.. some will have in between signatures. This a phone forum where users and geeks alike can show off their devices and what they are running.
[Nexus 4 General] El Daddy:
Actually, it can be very helpful for someone to post in their signature what phone, ROM, etc. they are using. That way you don't have to ask what they are running when helping to troubleshoot an issue.

One can always hide things in their signature like coreym and myself.
[Nexus 4 General] Armon2:
On screen buttons are awesome. I had a g300 with capacitive buttons before, and kept accidently pressing home when typing. It was very annoying!!!

On screen buttons are very precise. Have not had a miss yet. Plus, I love how the back button changes when the keyboard is up: it's clear, convenient and easy.

So yes, on screen buttons all the way :)
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
You're right, we all have our personal opinions blah blah blah.... But I've you read the title of the thread? Come on now he knew what to expect, that it uses on screen buttons, I hope :rolleyes:
[Nexus 4 General] darkcurrent:
One and two are the same point, and as I've already said, it's rarely coded to do so by the devs because 90% of the phones do not have soft buttons. Wow, rotating icons... muuuuuuuuuuuuch better than capacitive buttons...well worth losing screen real estate for buttons that rotate when in landscape mode! :rolleyes:

Don't kid yourself, soft buttons are definitely form over function.

Exactly. Until there is mass adoption, this soft button feature is useless and a step backwards in terms of function. Thanks for proving my point.

Herp derp. People don't hold their phones from the bottom. They hold it on the sides.They should extend the screen to where the existing capacitive touch buttons are on competing phones like SGS3

herp derp, move those stuff to the top bezel. Also, there are no reason why sitting these under the screen isn't ideal. I like how you pulled that out of nowhere though.

And the N4 is based off OG... of LG's design. lol

Because everyone wants to spend hours modding their phones right? And until google stretches the screen down, you're still going to have to deal with an extra gesture just to get basic nav functions.

Really?

This is one of the most stupid fallacies. I need to have the phone before I can voice my opinion of it? Why do we need professional reviews and critics then? I don't need to eat sh!t to know I don't like the taste of it...

Following your logic, you would try a pile of my steaming sh!t before commenting that you don't like eating sh!t... unless you already have 1st hand experience with that. lol

Did you buy all the phones competing with the N4 before you settled on one? :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 04:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 AM ----------

It's the same on on capacitive touch phones... you just click the back button to drop the keyboard. How is that an advantage for soft keys? other than losing screen real estate that is.
[Nexus 4 General] ferozfero:
Common DUUUUUDEE...its not like google made u THINK its capacitive and then suddenly trick u into using software buttons..theyr upfront about it..either use it or move on..theyr not begging u to buy their phone..
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
But...but... I LIKE the loss of screen real estate! Why is it just a negative?

Also, if you have capacitive buttons and follow Google's layout, then there is an entire row just for the menu button on apps that have not added it to the app itself yet.

And like you said, most app developers haven't because 90% of phones do not have soft buttons and still use Gingerbread key layout.

Enjoy the extra bar wasting screen real estate
[Nexus 4 General] malibu_23:
The OP doesn't own the phone! He's never used it. Only seen videos and complains. It's a troll thread.

:xda on sprint g-nex:
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
Also @darkcurrent

What if OP actually likes on screen buttons? He doesn't know yet.

Your metaphor of poo is terrible, since it is already well known that crap is generally well... sh!t.

However, the on screen button dilemma is highly opinionated, and unless you try for yourself, you truly do not know what it is like.

Unlike poo
[Nexus 4 General] malibu_23:
Rebuttals...
[Nexus 4 General] droidmakespwn:
Darkcurrent should stop trolling. Quit cherry picking questions that could be answered in favor of your opinion. If you love long post answer every question.
[Nexus 4 General] cphancock1:
cm10 and 10.1 should have expandable desktop. hide the buttons and status bar to use the whole screen. That along with the button savior app would give you space and function. Links below. I know some on this thread want to complain about it but for those that dont mind modding here you go

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/1...-hides-navigation-buttons-and-the-status-bar/

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...t#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5zbWFydC5zd2tleSJd
[Nexus 4 General] Matt1408:
Someone has clearly never used the Xperia S
[Nexus 4 General] gogol:
The only time I hate the virtual buttons... is when I play games and accidentally touch it.

For that, I installed HideBar.

http://ppareit.github.com/HideBar/

Hide the system bar when needed, problem solved :)
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
Good solution but isn't $3.50 overcharging?
[Nexus 4 General] shitonastump:
I like them more than capacitive hardware buttons on the bezel, because of those accidental taps. I wish more manufacturers would use hardware buttons though.

I think that these are very important on the nexus though for the purpose of forwards and backwards compatibility. To be able to remove the menu button besides for old apps, this keeps the app ecosystem moving forward to eliminate the menu button. Also the Google Now gesture and possibly others in the future wouldn't be possible without the onscreen buttons.
[Nexus 4 General] aceo07:
I thought I would be bother by not having physical buttons, but it's not bad.

I've gotten used to it and while I thought it was a waste of bezel it has it's purpose. Having the virtual or capacitive buttons too close to the bottom creates more opportunity for accidentally hitting them.

The Nexus 4, IMHO, has just enough bezel to allow my thumb to grip the front top/bottom of the phone when needed and not hit any of the screen.
[Nexus 4 General] darkcurrent:
herp derp. my thumb rests on the sides of the phone or on the top bezel when in landscape mode. They never rest on the capacitive buttons... (which is where the LCD should extend down to). There is no problem extending the more vertically and shrinking the bezel. The problem is in your head.

Devs are supporting the majority of devices popular devices...those with with no soft buttons. You're not going to expect devs to start developing for the G1 are you? why would you expect them to develop for the minority of phones (your great logic at work again). Blame the devs all you want, doesn't change the fact that the soft buttons are junk NOW.

Again, the components can go under the screen. Nothing says you can't do that except the opinions that you pulled out of your butt saying that it's not "ideal"...whatever that means. SGS3 has the notification light, 3.5mm jack, camera all on the top bezel btw.

Also, I'd like to see what amazing mods you've done to your soft buttons that can't be done with hard buttons. lol

I like how you try to act more mature and keep trying to call me a troll when your spelling is atrocious and you don't even know when to use "you're" vs "your". ugh.

I've used hard buttons, capacitive buttons and soft buttons (all iphone users have used soft buttons). Capacitive is the best, which is why use it as the gold standard.

This is a forum where opinions are expressed. deal with it chump.

Exactly which question(s) have I not responded to?
[Nexus 4 General] droidmakespwn:
You're all about capacitive buttons so please explain to me how the HTC 3 button setup works well? I'd rather lose screen real estate to useful buttons instead of a long black menu bar.

Edit: herp derp :D

Edit 2 these are not the best mods out there buy a quick Google search found these. http://m.galaxynexusmods.com/site/m...976185f629e48bd989eef8d99d4&fb_sig_network=fw
[Nexus 4 General] undercover:
4 capacitive buttons is a win for me, but OEMs implementation with 3 buttons sucks. Loved how thin top and bottom bezels are on Sensation with 4 buttons, and you don't lose any screen estate. Saying that, it looks like aokp has got my needs covered.

I'd love to see 3 finger pinch to hide/bring navbar. I know phones are a bit too small for full multi finger gestures, but I find them ingenious and extremely useful on ipad. I hardly ever use home button.
[Nexus 4 General] :
I'm always amazed when I see people who think their opinions actually matter to anyone but themselves!

What do you gain if you win this argument about soft vs capacitive buttons, what will change after and who will even notice? No one cares and unless you work at Google and are able to effect changes to your preference, you either deal with it or STFU.

I've never used soft buttons myself but I've seen all the great possibilities that are available due to GNex (mods galore including hide navbar), its more versatile than hard buttons and OEM's are starting to adopt, such as Motorola, Sony, Huawei etc and the more mainstream it goes the more likely developers are to optimize apps with them in mind. Buy a GS3 and GTFO

Expressing opinions is not the purpose of this forum, the huge influx of noobs seems to think were only on XDA to report issues and whine for cool stuff, its a community for learning and facilitating development
[Nexus 4 General] droidmakespwn:
Here are some more mods for the sweet sweet nav bar.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2005937
[Nexus 4 General] Rusty!:
Not everyone users that layout, though. Samsung are still using back, home and menu for theirs.

Going back to the One X though, I find that the on screen buttons are more comfortable to use than it's capacitive buttons. They're easier to reach with my thumb.
[Nexus 4 General] undercover:
Without opinions there would be less mods. Not every idea comes from a developer. Ofter someone says "I'd love that to do this". A Dev sees it and thinks it's a good idea and implements it.

So opinions DO matter. If someone doesn't care about opinions he can just walk by and not engage in a conversation.
[Nexus 4 General] :
I mentioned learning whose definition covers what you said, that doesn't happen when people are being spoonfed (which is what most expect including some of my own friends) or complaining about nonsense. You literally just clarified my statement with an example
[Nexus 4 General] droidmakespwn:
I also like when a ROM implements 180 degree rotation. Let's see your capacitive buttons do that Haha.
[Nexus 4 General] malibu_23:
Rebuttals II: