Is there any way to enlarge buttons and their labels?

elmuSSo shared this idea 11 years ago
In Progress

My friend just bought a Galaxy Tab 2 7`` . He is not very young and he needs to use his glasses to use his tablet. Especially in Locus, when he needs to tap in small buttons on panels. So my question is: is there any way to scale these buttons, to make them bigger? On a tabled, there is plenty of space, and it would be nice to have possibility to enlarge the button to make use of this space. And make the life of some people easier. I didn`t see this option anywhere, but maybe I missed it.

Replies (20)

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This is something I was already thinking some time ago. Problem is that all sizes are defined in android resource files that are included and compiled in apk file (installation file) itself. So it`s not possible to programatically change these values, they`re just compiled inside.


Anyway I understand that this may be useful for some people or for devices with bigger display sizes. It should be probably possible to substract buttons size into some variable and allow to define it in settings. For now, I`ll changing this to an idea

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The top and bottom Locus panels look to big for me. It would be cool to be able to adjust their size, may be via Settings, or some XML file editing.


This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled


<a class="notranslate" href="http://getsatisfaction.com/locus/topics/ability_to_adjust_locus_panels_size/changes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ability to adjust locus panels size</a>.

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What about this idea? Is there any news?

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currently no news, anyway because you bring this idea back to life, maybe more people will be interested


as I wrote in previous post, this is not so simple to do, but I`m not saying it`s impossible

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Hi Menion, thanks for your quick reply. First, I have to say that Locus is a great app! I bought the Pro version some time ago as I found it very useful for my 4x4 offroad routes. It`s my favourite for that! I usually ran Locus in my mobile phone (4.3" screen) but soon I realize that a so little screen is not let`s say so `operative`. Recently I own a 7" screen tablet and was so excited to have Locus running on it. Everything worked as in the mobile version as expected and I could have larger view of maps, etc .... I found so hard to hit Locus main screen buttons due to vibrations while moving offroad. Obviously in the 4.3" screen it was even worst. This is mainly the reason I was asking about this idea. I think tablets is a emerging target device for this kind of navigation apps due to its larger screen so I guess there could be other people interested on that.


I know very little about android development (just I wrote a few very simple apps) and I agree with you that making button size configurable (programatically) is not so simple. I have been thinking on that and maybe there it could be enough to increase the size of buttons on the main screen (at compilation time). In my opinion, if look at the main Locus screen on a 7" tablet it seems that these buttons are too small.


Another possibility could be to configure an scale factor for buttons and/or menus. For instance to be able to specify a scale factor as 1x, 1.5x, 2x and so on... but I don`t know if this is the same situation (from the programmer`s point of view) as changing programatically the size of buttons.


Thanks in advance

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This is probably beyond the scope of this idea and beyond the trouble that most users will want go through... but with a bit of android hacking, you can


a) adjust the dpi value for the whole device (requires rooting)


or


b) adjust the dpi value for each app separately (with certain custom roms)


The dpi value will change the overall size of the user interface, buttons, texts, everything.

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paranoidandroid roms can fake Locus into using a customized per-app dpi value, maybe you could do the same somewhere during startup with a clever hack? :-)

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hmm these are crazy features. Changing DPI should create from locus really nice app :)


Nono, nothing like this or paranoidandroid roms should be needed. It just need to take some time, remove all possible variables from android XML configuration files and move them to part of code that control Locus itself. It just need a day, max day and half to make it work I think (for main map screen)


But 11 votes is still too low on day of work ;)

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I like this idea :) Month ago I bought 7" tablet for offroad navigation

in my 4x4. Yesterday i bought pro version of Locus and after day of

testing i think button should be 1,5-2 times bigger. My screen res is

1280x800 and its really hard to punch exact button on bumpy road. With

option of changing size this app will be perfect! Best regards from

Poland.

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Hope I can bump this issue along.

I use locus pro for navigation on my motorcycle around Bangkok. It does an excellent job.

One issue I have is pressing the buttons with a motorcycle glove.

Anyway to make them bigger. I'm using a Samsung S5

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Hey Ando - how does the phone detect your finger taps with gloves on? I've tried metallic thread sewn into the tip of a glove but it's not yet reliable, still needs refinement.

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Most decent motorcycle gloves have the metallic finger tip on the index finger and thumb. They work quite well. Obviously accuracy is a little compromised because of the larger fingerprint of the glove.

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there is also an another way to enlarge the buttons. you can create two resources files, one for small screens and one for large screens. see http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html#qualifiers

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Thanks aaa :), I'm well aware of these options ... it is just not so simple as it may looks ...

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Any chances to implement?

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Every topic, where I see no chance to implement it, is immediately closed. So ...


Push me a little while, and I'll look at it :)

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Hi guys,


are you familiar with config.cfg file? http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php?id=manual:advanced:customization:configuration_file


Suggest to give it a try. There is (in the end of file) a new parameter (since 3.9.1), called:


dev_gui_main_rescale_value


enjoy it! (feedback is welcome). I'll try to find two alternative values and later create some settings directly in Locus. Suggestion for values is also welcome. (like default = 1.0, big = 1.1, huge = 1.2)

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Hell yeah! At 2.0x it's what i needed! Thank You very much Menion :D

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2.0? heh :)

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deedd20e7e72eae24441ec1a17a3db24

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Works well.. I'm using 1.8 on my Samsung S5.

Thank you :)

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1.2 works very nicely on my phone for navigating. I would use 1.0 while track planning.. Thanks!!

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Fine, nice to hear it, you all find it useful. After some beta test, I'll probably add this as a settings directly into menu > settings. For now, enjoy config.cfg ;).

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Very nice and useful secret!!

thanks!

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