[feedback request]shortcutd
 

shortctud is now available in extras-devel. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, DON'T GO THERE, IT MAY HURT YOU.

This is a daemon for handling proximity sensor and camera key to access dashboard (task switcher) and phone application. Key features at the moment:
-press camera key when the lens cover is closed to access dashboard
-touch proximity sensor briefly (two vibrations) to access dashboard
-touch proximity sensor longer (three vibrations) to access phone application
-touch sensor much longer (~3s) to disable sensor (long vibration). Do it again (long vibration) to bring sensor again
-proximity sensor can be disabled permanently by editing config file:
-application requires proximityd
-app enters power saving mode when keyboard is locked

This application is created by me and hqh

This is just first and basic preview, we would like to ask you for your feedback, both technical and about usage patterns and options that you would like to see.

Known issues at the moment:
-after unblocking the phone (slider, power button, keyboard) it can take up to 5 seconds for the application to activate. This is related to the power saving mode.
-Everything is basic and rough, to remove just uninstall the application.

A little see before you buy

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

It works great! Do you know if it uses a lot of energy?
If no applications are running and you are on the desktop nothing happens at two vibrations. Instead I would prefer to see the menu.
And if I disable the sensor after three seconds how can I turn it on again with the same gesture? Isn't the sensor turned off?
What happens if I get a call and I put my phone to the head? Will the sensor be deactivated after three seconds or is it disabled automatically when the phone application runs?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

About energy: it enters the power saving mode when you lock your keyboard/phone, so no impact there.
Energy impact when active depends on your usage pattern of other applications: shortcutd is not heavy on the processor (you can check this with top command) but, as it uses sleep(), it requests a lot of CPU wakeups, which can prevent the processor from entering the idle state. We will work on optifying this, still it shouldn't have any serious impact on your battery life at the moment. Any feedback on this would be appreciated :)

Disabling sensor with long touch means that it won't bring up dashboard/phone application. The sensor itself is still checked, so you can reactive its functions with long press again. To turn it off permanently, you can use config file (and reboot in this version).

No impact of the application during calls (not really our work, simply the keyboard is locked during phone call with the proximity sensor, so the application enters idle state).

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Thanks, I have tested it now.
When the screen is unlocked both daemons together use between 1%-4% of the CPU but mostly not more than 1% (together). If I switch the screen off I cannot even see them in top so I think it should not drain the battery too much. Good work :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Effect on battery life will probably further improve when bug 7070 gets fixed.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Cheers for the app, guys.
I was previously using camkeyd, but wanted to update since I think you probably won't maintain that as much.

In terms of use-cases I'm using it exactly like camkeyd at the moment - I've disabled proximity through the config file because I often accidentally cover the proximity sensor.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

A new version of shortcutd is available in extras-devel. It consumes significantly less power than the previous release (should be fine now for everyday use).

If you have camkeyd installed, it needs to be removed before installing shortcutd (the packages now conflict).

Yeah, the functionality of camkeyd has been integrated into this program and camkeyd is no longer maintained. The camkeyd package will remain in extras-devel while shortcutd will get promoted to testing some day.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Currently I want to use shortcutd only like camkeyd and I changed the config file but I still get the vibration near the proximity sensor. Do I have to restart proximityd? If yes, how (don't want to restart the phone)?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Shortcutd needs to be restarted after modifying the configuration file.

stop shortcutd; start shortcutd
(as root) does the trick

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

I think what would be nice if pressing the camkey i get the dashboard but pressing it again brings me to the desktop..

Of course even better would be if the 3 shortcuts would be configurable and we can choose that it should show the dashboard, desktop, application menu (or directly the more apps) or start any application we want..
And what the second action of the shortcut is if the first action (like the dashboard) is currently the active one.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

was thinking the exact same thing! :D

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

This is turning into a great little app, thanks guys. I had to turn off the proxi part since it would stop vibrating while on the phone (unless I missed some kinda of setting). Can't wait for the multi app config'n

x

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Great work!

The Dashboard appears when the Camerabutton is released?

So I guess press and hold for 1 second commands are also there possible and not only at the proximity sensor. Am I right? :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Great work hopbeat!

Is it possible to have a simple application "phonekeyd" to have only access to phone by pressing the camera button?
It would be really appreciated by people who makes call on the move: you can unlock the device in portrait with one hand... but is't difficult to open to the phone application if you have to search the icon between the 4 desktops :(
Thank you very much ;)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Yes to both, as the goal is to have the actions user configurable in the next version. Development of a control panel applet to change the settings has also begun.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Thanks hqh.

When it is possible to create a shortcut by holding the camera button for more than 1 second down I would love to see something like a shortcut dashboard instead of the taskmanager.

Often it's only needed to open the Keyboard to use it for a shortcut. At example STRG + SHIFT + I to change the Browser Layot. (it's not really comfortable to use)

In my opinion it could be very usefule to have a menu that appears like the menu when you press the power button once. Then select a commando on the screen, the menu disappears and your daemon sends the needed shortcut to the current running application.

What do you think? Could this be possible and useful?

I need currently something like this at applications like ScummVM or the Webbrowser. :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

I have found that when i hold my N900 in landscape i keep activating and deactivating the proximity sensor which is no biggie in itself but annoying as i think it was maybe a messsage/call notification vibrate so i then go checking my messages and call logs just in case i cancelled an incoming call or message.
It would be good if there was a setting where you can turn the proximity sensor off for the app.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Thanks for the suggestion. Might be worth implementing if enough people find it useful. Personally, though, I think that this is what the hardware keyboard is for :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Is it possible to get back button to proximity sensor?

.edit
btw. One thing that bothers me on package pages is that I haven't seen single app that would have link to it's own talk.maemo.org thread. Is there reason for developers not putting it there? It seems that even download pages miss the link and also quite many garage pages. Makes me just wonder.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

A little off topic perhaps - but would it be possible to map the camera key to a normal keypad key?

I was thinking the otherday that the camera button and the volume button would be good to use for playing gaems - like the shoulder buttons on the PSP or SNES controller...

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Technically yes, as this would only require faking a backspace key press for the web browser. However, shortcutd does not currently distinguish between applications and would then send a backspace key in every application.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Yes. Can be already done easily by editing the source, a configuration option for this could be added later.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

What keyboard cobinations work with current xorg/maemo and what they do? Is it possible to send keyboard combinations that do not exist on n900 keyboard (alt-tab etc) but actually do something like close current window etc.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Good point of view. You mean like CTRL+BACKSPACE for the dashboard? ;) :D
Sorry, I'm kidding. But you see what I mean? :)

There are only some keycombinations I don't like. Some of them are hard to handle or I have to open the Keyboard only for this shortcut. Even like CTRL+SHIFT+I in the Browser. - The other way could be to improve the browser and provide a button in the UI for this. I know.

At ScummVM this way is for some reasons not possible at the moment. And there are some Shortcuts like CTRL+M, CTRL+Space, CTRL+I, SHIFT+BACKSPACE and SHIFT+ENTER which would be more useful with such a "shortcut dashboard". :rolleyes:

How to find out how many people could find something like this useful?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

your app is awesome ! but is there a way to disable the cam shortcut ?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_shortcuts_and_gestures

It's possible to send, but they do nothing :)

:D Yeah, I got your point.
We'll see what can be done about that after we get the basic functionality/current features ready first.

Let's wait and see if we get other similar requests :)

Not yet, but there will be.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Loved camkeyd but I don't feel the need to use the proximity sensor so I disabled that in this program.

Great job guys.

Btw, is this always active in the background? Does it take "much" power?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

camkey does trigger the switchboard but still start up the camera ... even when the lid is closed.

Any help?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Don't press the camera button fully. Just half-press. (focus)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

idea is great and i am sure a lot people will find it useful. personally since the keyboard is out, i dont see how one can use cam keys. so if u have a lot of use with keyboard closed, it makes sense. I love the keyboard shortcuts. browsing this website, spacebar for moving down and shift+spacebar for moving up works really well too.

for dashboard i use ctrl+backspace alot.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

I just installed this as a replacement for camkeyd.

The camera button works, but the proximity sensor does nothing, actually it does not seem to work anymore: when I launch the phone app and cover it, the screen does not blank...

Is this possibly a bug induced by proximityd, or an unrelated problem with my device, and/or the PR1.1 update ?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Shortcutd is in the background waiting for events and consumes nearly zero power while doing this. For the proximity sensor it relies on events created by proximityd which in turn however consumes some power. You can use powertop to check this.

Works for me, could be a problem with your device. Already tried rebooting?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

It works perfectly. Good job. On the other hand, I don't find it to be very useful.

What I really like to see is the following function:
1. No matter what state the N900 is in, either running some other applications or in screen saver mode, when I press the camera button, it brings me to the phone application.
2. When there is an incoming phone call, and I press the camera button, it answers the phone call.

After all, this is a cell phone, right? I want to be able to use it as a phone just like other cell phones. To be honest, I really don't see much value in having a shortcut to bring up the dashboard. It doesn't save me much.

Edit:
Just saw the following. Can't wait to see the new version. Thanks!

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Is the control panel applet a extra programm we must start, change the setting and then close it?
Or will it apear in the settings Menu?

Hmm... it could be useful to integreate it in Post #16 or just a shortcut there to reach the control panel. :rolleyes: (just another kind of idea)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

It will appear in the settings menu.


The camera button generates no events when the screen is locked, I guess there's nothing to do about that.

--

By the way, if someone (with graphics skills) wants to create a nice icon (png 48x48), that would be very welcome :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

How about other buttons, such as power button or the unlock button? For example, can we slide and hold the unlock button to switch to the phone app?

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

I tryed to contribute this way. But I'm not sure. On black underground it looks nice. But not really self-explanatory and I miss the allegory I would have. On this grey underground it looks ugly, because of that I add a Icon with a black background.

Potentially something to discuss about. Please, don't judge to hard! ;)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Okay, second try. It's only a suggestion. So at the moment without a transparent layer.

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

Thanks, we're gonna need something that looks decent with any background color though (without the black box) :)

Re: [feedback request]shortcutd
 

No problem. Here you have. :)

I thought I wait for some feedback before I upload more files.
You and hopbeat have to decide. Is this the right direction or is it to ungly or someone could get a wrong idea of the application?

Could you see at this icon the purpose of shortcutd? :confused:
Whats your opinion?

What about a minimized dashboard view without a N900 symbol around? :rolleyes: