CODEWITHSUNDEEP
android
Micer
Micer

Reputation: 8979

Android 4 overlay/replace/hide soft buttons

I'm currently working on an app for blind people. What I need is to prevent users from accidentally going outside of my app, so I'm trying to overlay/replace/hide soft buttons in Android 4. I know this must be possible because it is used for example in MXPlayer (you can "lock" screen when playing video).

I've tried to override all three buttons (back,home,recent apps). No problem with back and home, but I couldn't figure out how to override(disable) recent apps. I've tried solution described here without success.

Next idea was to overlay the entire screen. I've successfully created system overlay mentioned in this question, but I didn't find out how to overlay my soft buttons.

Do you have any idea how to solve this problem without rooting the phone and using custom ROM?

edit: I've also tried hiding the buttons with SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE(turns buttons into dots) and SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION(hides buttons till next touch). Unfortunately this also doesn't solve my problem because after touch buttons work as usual. Maybe there's a way how to catch "unhiding" a override showing them again?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 2469

Answers (1)

Kiran Kumar
Kiran Kumar

Reputation: 1212

From Android docs :

The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_HIDDEN flag. When set, this flag enables “low profile" mode for the system bar or navigation bar. Navigation buttons dim and other elements in the system bar also hide. Enabling this is useful for creating more immersive games without distraction for the system navigation buttons.

The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_VISIBLE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_VISIBLE flag to request the system bar or navigation bar be visible.

The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION is a new flag that requests the navigation bar hide completely. Be aware that this works only for the navigation bar used by some handsets (it does not hide the system bar on tablets). The navigation bar returns to view as soon as the system receives user input. As such, this mode is useful primarily for video playback or other cases in which the whole screen is needed but user input is not required.

Upvotes: 3

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