Looking to get an Epic

[quick99si]

I'm making the move from TP2 to Epic like everybody and their mother, but I have two main concerns. I'm looking if anybody has any insight into this:

1. Is there any prospect of being able to change the functions of the front "hard" keys? For the TP2 guys, the ideal solution would be something like Rhodium Keyboard Controller. IE holding one key opens SMS, double tapping opens email, etc..

2. Which call filter/blocker is best for blocking a contact with ALL the numbers associated with it, instead of just adding each number from that contact? I have a bunch of contacts with several numbers each and the blockers I've tried force the user to enter individual numbers, patterns, etc.. Conversely, those contacts are in Outlook group "Callblock" - are there any call filters that recognize that field? Or even a pattern in the name? (they have the same number + 2-digit number)

Thanks for any input!

[gTen]

Originally Posted by quick99si

I'm making the move from TP2 to Epic like everybody and their mother, but I have two main concerns. I'm looking if anybody has any insight into this:

1. Is there any prospect of being able to change the functions of the front "hard" keys? For the TP2 guys, the ideal solution would be something like Rhodium Keyboard Controller. IE holding one key opens SMS, double tapping opens email, etc..

If you mean the keyboard it can be remapped..if you mean the capacitive buttons...you can..but unlike winmo the keys actually have a purpose aka you can't navigate android without them.. There is some functionality like holding down the Home key opens up a menu of all the recent programs and etc..so I guess you can remap that...but just have to watch out not to remap another feature you may use/need.

2. Which call filter/blocker is best for blocking a contact with ALL the numbers associated with it, instead of just adding each number from that contact? I have a bunch of contacts with several numbers each and the blockers I've tried force the user to enter individual numbers, patterns, etc.. Conversely, those contacts are in Outlook group "Callblock" - are there any call filters that recognize that field? Or even a pattern in the name? (they have the same number + 2-digit number)

Thanks for any input!

Hmm...there are some call blocking apps but I have not tested them myself :/

[quick99si]

I was aware of the QWERTY keyboard having nice shortcuts and remapping possibilities. My goal was to remap and add more functions to the frontside buttons.

For example, I really like having SMS, Email, Opera, and Google mapped to holding a button... it makes "alt-tab" style switching so quick and efficient, even in WinMo!

Same with the power button... one press suspend, two for screen off, three for power management, and hold for soft reset. Are the keys physically able to be customized to something like this?

[gTen]

Originally Posted by quick99si

I was aware of the QWERTY keyboard having nice shortcuts and remapping possibilities. My goal was to remap and add more functions to the frontside buttons.

I didn't only mean the shortcuts..there is also for example a remap of smilry to @ on the keyboard..same method you can map other things..

For example, I really like having SMS, Email, Opera, and Google mapped to holding a button... it makes "alt-tab" style switching so quick and efficient, even in WinMo!

Same with the power button... one press suspend, two for screen off, three for power management, and hold for soft reset. Are the keys physically able to be customized to something like this?

Right now Holding the Home button already acts like a Alt-tab...most power management is available on the notification bar..but if you really want to remap stuff I guess you can..the modifications should be possible in the /system/usr/keylayouts/ folder for key mappings.and maybe there are apps to automate it...

[muyoso]

You just dont need to remap anything related to the capacitive buttons. It just isn't necessary. I had every hard button on the TP2 mapped to several functions, because it was a pita to do anything in WM. Everything is intuitive and easy on android. You want to turn on wifi/bluetooth/4g/GPS? Just pull down the notification shade and its right there. You want to switch back to a recent program you were in? Hold down the home key. Trying to remap these buttons would just cause more trouble than its worth, since every button actually is important and you have to use them to navigate the OS. On the TP2, half of the hard buttons were useless. The back button did nothing universally, so it made sense to remap it.

[quick99si]

Originally Posted by muyoso

You just dont need to remap anything related to the capacitive buttons. It just isn't necessary. I had every hard button on the TP2 mapped to several functions, because it was a pita to do anything in WM. Everything is intuitive and easy on android. You want to turn on wifi/bluetooth/4g/GPS? Just pull down the notification shade and its right there. You want to switch back to a recent program you were in? Hold down the home key. Trying to remap these buttons would just cause more trouble than its worth, since every button actually is important and you have to use them to navigate the OS. On the TP2, half of the hard buttons were useless. The back button did nothing universally, so it made sense to remap it.

Well, the TP2 back key was automatically remapped by Sense to special functions within certain programs (eg YouTube, IE). I've used the Epic quite a bit and I'm very familiar with AndroidOS, but I still prefer the hard keys over touch screen navigation (this will definitely sound stupid to you). I like being able to launch XYZ without looking at the phone and then toggle between programs with a single key press.

Does anyone have any input on call blocking apps?