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Despite Removal, You Can Still Customize Nav Bar & Lockscreen in Android O DP3 -- Here's How
Android O Developer Preview 3 removes nav bar and lockscreen shortcut customization; here's how you can still customize them.
The Android O Developer Preview has now reached its third release, meaning the final APIs are ready and Google is readying up for an imminent and proximate release with only minor bug fixes to be expected in the remaining Developer Preview. With previous Android O previews, we saw tons of refinements to the user interface as well as some additional customization features, some of which were likely being tested and might not be available in later releases.
How to Add Custom Buttons to the Nav Bar on the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+
A tutorial on how to add custom button to the nav bar on the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+. Does not require root access.
Samsung's Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are two of the hottest smartphones on the market, largely thanks to the great strides Samsung made with their display technology. Since Samsung aimed to reduce bezels as much as possible with their new flagship devices, the company has finally gotten rid of the capacitive keys that were once staples of Samsung hardware. In its place are software navigation keys, which can be modified to some extent within the Samsung Experience UI.
How to Add Left/Right Keyboard Cursors to the Nav Bar during Text Input
A tutorial on how to add left/right keyboard cursors to the nav bar during text input using Tasker and Custom Navigation Bar. No root needed, Android 7.0+.
Customizing the navigation bar has been a staple of custom ROMs ever since Google introduced the Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (we don't talk about the Motorola Xoom and Honeycomb around these parts). Although a few OEMs offer some kind of software key customization on their phones, it's only with the first Android O Developer Preview that Google is officially including nav bar customization. However, users on our forums discovered that Google's nav bar tuner was actually hidden in AOSP since Android Nougat, but it was only this week that we discovered that this hidden nav bar tuner could be accessed through shell commands without needing root, custom ROMs, or System UI mods. Is it now possible to implement popular custom ROM features like adding keyboard cursors to the nav bar?
How to Add Media Playback Controls to the Nav Bar when Playing Music
Tasker Profile that adds media playback controls to the nav bar when playing music. Works on Android Nougat (7.0+) devices like the Google Nexus and Pixels.
Ever since Google first introduced the concept of software navigation keys to Android, users have been asking for a way to customize what keys are available to users. Although custom ROMs have offered this level of customization for years, it's only in the first Android O Developer Preview do we find an official method from Google to modify the nav bar. However, like many features before it, this nav bar tuner did not appear out of nowhere, and was actually secretly in testing for Android Nougat. It was only recently, though, that we discovered that this hidden nav bar tuner in Android Nougat can actually be accessed without needing root access, a custom ROM, or System UI mods. Hence, a new avenue of rootless customization has opened up for many users, and today we'll be guiding you through one popular request: how to add media playback controls to the nav bar when playing music (Android 7.0+, no root needed!)
How to change your Nav Bar Icons or Re-arrange the Buttons without Root
In this tutorial, we will show you how to change the icons on your nav bar or re-arrange the buttons if you are running Nougat. No root needed.
Those of you who are running the first Android O Developer Preview may have toyed around with its hidden navigation bar customizer located in the SystemUI Tuner. This nav bar customizer has actually been around in AOSP for months, but it was thought that the only way to access it on Android Nougat was through a modification of the System UI APK, which, of course, would require root access. It wasn't until just this week that we discovered that Android Nougat's hidden nav bar customizer could actually be accessed without needing root access, a custom ROM, or a System UI mod. With this feature, we can change the nav bar icons, swap the keys around, or add additional buttons.
How to Add Page Scroll Keys to the Navigation Bar while using Chrome in Android O
A tutorial on how to add page scroll keys to the navigation bar while using Google Chrome browser in Android O using Tasker and SecureTask.
We've been having a lot of fun at XDA with the new navigation bar customizer this week. From custom keys to control music playback, toggle picture-in-picture mode while using YouTube, and finally add keys to move through your e-mail conversation list, there's a ton of ways you can take advantage of the nav bar customizer to enhance your favorite apps. Most recently, we also showed you how to add custom icons to your nav bar keys so you can more easily identify what your custom keys actually represent in your Tasker Profiles. And now, we'll show you an example that takes advantage of that to add page scroll keys to the navigation bar while using Google Chrome.
How to Add Custom Icons to the Navigation Bar in Android O
A tutorial on how to add custom icons of your choice to the navigation bar in Android O, so you'll always know what your custom key represents.
If you've been following our coverage of Android O, then you might have seen our tutorials on how to modify the navigation bar to toggle picture-in-picture mode, enable media control keys while playing music, and today how to add forward/previous buttons to quickly browse through your e-mails. The possible uses of a customizable navigation bar are huge, and our first three tutorials only scrape the surface. But while we do have a couple of more useful tutorials to share with our readers, there's one thing we had to cover before we can move on to our next tutorials: how to add custom icons to the navigation bar keys in Android O.
How to Enable Media Playback Nav Bar Controls in Android O when Playing Music
How to enable media playback nav bar controls in Android O while you are actively playing back music. Uses Tasker, SecureTask, and Notification Listener.
The Android O Developer Preview has only been out for a week, but we're quickly discovering more and more potential uses for all of the new features. One of the features we've been most excited about is the new navigation bar customizer found in System UI Tuner.
How to Hide the Navigation Bar in EMUI 5.0 [No Root]
A tutorial on how to hide the navigation bar in EMUI 5.0 without needing root access. A useful trick for any users of large Huawei phones.
What was once considered a niche category is now practically the mainstream, as bigger screen phones continue to storm the smartphone market.
With the final release of Android Nougat, Google has introduced some new features but it has also removed some of the features that were in the developer preview. One that many people really enjoyed was the nav bar tuner. XDA user AL_IRAQI has created a flashable zip that allows you to get that feature back.