[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
I have not used the QuickNav bar in many years. If you have a typical launcher app the bar seems sort of superfluous to me. But I did get to thinking about it recently while working on a new--and hopefully improved--version of my QuickTiles app. I actually only use five tiles (six on my NSTG) which is just the number of spots on the QuickNav bar. So maybe....

With some help from @Renate I managed to move the QuickNav bar to the top of the screen, or nearly to the top (it turns out it cannot overlay the status bar). That is the only modification I have made to framework-res.apk (FW 1.2.2). The rest of the setup is just putting together the various little apps to make a useful QuickSettings suite. I just made little apps for the things I normally use in my QuickTiles app and then used NookTouch ModManager to assign those apps to the "buttons" of the QuickNav bar. After a reboot (the function changes without a reboot, but the icon change does not happen until you reboot), I had a neat little QuickSettings bar. Also using NTMM I assigned the QuickNav bar to the "clock" (or on the NSTG I think it just says "status"), the last option in NTMM. So now when I tap in that upper right area, I have quick access to Wi-Fi, screen rotation, USB Audio, etc. See screenshot below.

A few limitations:

1. You have no easy control over what the button icons look like unless you make the apps yourself. That's how I achieved the uniform appearance (I borrowed the icons from QuickTiles). If you've used NTMM to assign various apps to the QuickNav bar before, you know you get a grab bag of looks. It is

possible

to create a custom set of icons and push them into framework-res.apk, but there is more involved and it is not fun. I did it years ago and do not recommend it.

2. The bar will not function from the stock Reader. The very corner area over the actual clock is reserved for bookmarking, and although tapping on a page reveals a black-on-white rendering of the battery icon, clock, etc., this actually goes to the stock Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi/Glowlight quick settings dialogs. NTMM has no effect on this instance.

3. The response of the QuickNav bar is essentially immediate. That said, the individual

selections

are still apps and so the actual startup of Wi-Fi or turning on the Glowlight, etc., may not be quite so immediate. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

To get it working

Make a backup.

Download the zip file attached below. It contains a framework-update.zip file which is for CWM. If you don't have a CWM card, you can make one from here (use either of the two sd card versions; do not install CWM internally!). Copy the framework-update.zip to the CWM card. Despite the name, this is not an "update" zip, so in the CWM menu selection you are just installing a zip file, not an "update".

Boot into CWM and install the modded framework-res.apk. Exit CWM (this reboots).

Also in the zip below are the little apps I wrote for my particular use. You can try these, but they are Tasker-generated apps so if you don't already have one of my other Tasker apps installed, you will need the two small library files included in the zip. Copy the two files into the locations shown below:

/system/etc/permissions/com.google.android.maps.xml

/system/framework/com.google.android.maps.jar

Set permissions for both files to rw-r--r-- and reboot.

Without these files resident, the apps will not install

.

Install whichever of the apps you want to try. Note that some require plugins (for more details, see the original QuickTiles post). Use NTMM to assign the apps to the QuickNav buttons and also to assign the QuickNav bar to the "clock" area. Reboot.

It's not a big deal for me to turn out additional little apps, so if you like this idea but don't see what you want and especially if it's in the QuickTiles app, I would be glad to make a custom app for you.

Undoing it all

Got buyer's remorse? Didn't make a backup first? Uninstall all the little apps. Get a fresh copy of framework-res.apk from the FW 1.2.2 update zip and place it in the framework-update.zip, overwriting the modded apk. Then use CWM to push the original file back to your device.