[proposal] use proximity sensor to alter scrolling behaviour
 

I'm a big fan of resistive screens. They allow use of finger and stylus for different usage scenarios. And all the fuss about hard pressure needed for flicks is really nonsense. I've seen capacitive screens that require more pressure than the n900's resistive. Now if you have a resistive screen the question comes if you want your UI finger friendly or stylus friendly. It still depends on the app. Of course I want to be able to set the alarm and make a phone call with my fingers, but I am not at all interested in finger-controlling the x-term.
Some apps (eg Gnumeric) would benefit from both scenarios. Viewing large spreadsheets without the need of the stylus is very handy but on the other hand working on a fuel consumption sheet specially made for use on the device does not require a lot of scrolling and having to click on a cursor (like x-term) to select or modify a cell is a pain in the ***.
I thought that touching the proximity sensor could possibly change the scrolling behaviour of an app. Touch the sensor and flick = scroll. Otherwise select text, cells etc...
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Re: [proposal] use proximity sensor to alter scrolling behaviour
 

I can imagine that this would lead to a lot of confusion among users.

"Why does it sometimes scroll, and sometimes select text?"

The user doesn't notice that she's covering the sensor with her thumb one time.

Re: [proposal] use proximity sensor to alter scrolling behaviour
 

hm, didn't think of that... we could stick a fingerprint sticker around the sensor :)

the sensors functionality could be replaced by a hardware key (camera shutter halfway?) and also have an option for the sensor. That way, if anyone has used the hardware key combination would now be aware and if he prefers he can use the sensor instead. I'm not proposing to change the whole OS to accomodate that, I'm just writing my ideas in case any developer finds it interesting and useful for his app.
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