How to enable multitouch?

[Droid212]

Well, now that the Droid has been rooted, I assume it is now possible to enable multitouch, correct? If this is the case, how would I go about doing this and would it be system wide?

 

[Fadelight]

Well, now that the Droid has been rooted, I assume it is now possible to enable multitouch, correct? If this is the case, how would I go about doing this and would it be system wide?

The droid has always had multitouch... it is the applications that don't support it. Gaining root won't magically make it work. You just have to hold out for some custom ROMs.

 

[Droid212]

The droid has always had multitouch... it is the applications that don't support it. Gaining root won't magically make it work. You just have to hold out for some custom ROMs.

I know that. I'm new to the Android platform and so I don't know some of the details about things. Thanks for answering my question.

 

[gonzoguy24]

I wish it could just be like flipping a switch hahaha

 

[gregroberti]

Try dolphin browser. It supports multi-touch nicely

 

[johflo88]

i am in canada and the moto milestone is officially coming in early 2010.I believed it has multi-touch and i don't know about google gps?

 

[gregroberti]

i am in canada and the moto milestone is officially coming in early 2010.I believed it has multi-touch and i don't know about google gps?

It wont affect people outside the US since Apple wont be able to control your smart phone with their patents and lawsuits

 

[gonzoguy24]

i dont like dolphin very much...needs to be polished up

 

[Tabs]

It wont affect people outside the US since Apple wont be able to control your smart phone with their patents and lawsuits

Why won't this myth die? Apple does not own multitouch. The Palm Pre and several other devices have it in the US already.

 

[gotwillk]

only reason i would want multitouch is for the typing for onscreen keyboard. i could care less about pinch and zoom.

so if milestone is coming out in early 2010, does that mean it'll be around the same time as 2.1 update? maybe that update will include multitouch all across the board for everyone. no need to root with a custom rom.

 

[sukanas]

only reason i would want multitouch is for the typing for onscreen keyboard. I could care less about pinch and zoom.
.

+50000

 

[wige]

Why won't this myth die? Apple does not own multitouch. The Palm Pre and several other devices have it in the US already.

Because it is not a myth. In January 2009, Apple was awarded a patent covering use of multitouch to zoom in the web browser (a patent which Dolphin browser might infringe) and other multitouch gestures as they are used on handheld devices.

How human behavior can legally be patented is beyond me, but apparently you can get a patent for anything, regardless of how obvious it is.

 

[vincentp]

Another one of many reasons I can't stand Apple as a company.

 

[Golden Falcon]

Dolphin Browser + Multi-Touch Gallery will give you the multi touch you want.

The stock apps won't be able to give you multi touch even if your phone is rooted, until there is a custom ROM.

 

[iHEART_android]

Why won't this myth die? Apple does not own multitouch. The Palm Pre and several other devices have it in the US already.

Its not a myth the fact is that apple will try and sue the shit out of people that use it.. I may be wrong but I believe the reason that HTC is doing it with a law suit is because the patents for HTC products are not registered within the us (please correct me if I am wrong on this.. I do not know much about HTC phones but I think I remember reading this somewhere) If I am remembering correctly I think HTC phones are a European company (??)

 

[chuk1005]

Its not a myth the fact is that apple will try and sue the shit out of people that use it.. I may be wrong but I believe the reason that HTC is doing it with a law suit is because the patents for HTC products are not registered within the us (please correct me if I am wrong on this.. I do not know much about HTC phones but I think I remember reading this somewhere) If I am remembering correctly I think HTC phones are a European company (??)

HTC is a Taiwan-based company, but the pre has multi touch as well....so im not sure whats the deal about apples patents.

 

[messenger13]

i dont like dolphin very much...needs to be polished up

I don't understand this statement, at all. Have you tried the latest version? IMHO, I think the Dolphin browser is fairly close to PERFECT. It does come with a slight learning curve ... but WOW! Once you know it, there's no going back. Multi-touch, tabs, customizable gestures, etc... AWESOME!

 

[tsaunders]

Multi-Touch would be nice.

I am going to have to try Dolphin again.

Any reason there are two multi-touch gallery in the market?

 

[vonfeldt7]

HTC is a Taiwan-based company, but the pre has multi touch as well....so im not sure whats the deal about apples patents.

I believe its because Apple is infringing on several of Palms own patents as well, so it would be stupid for either one to make a claim.

 

[gotwillk]

I don't understand this statement, at all. Have you tried the latest version? IMHO, I think the Dolphin browser is fairly close to PERFECT. It does come with a slight learning curve ... but WOW! Once you know it, there's no going back. Multi-touch, tabs, customizable gestures, etc... AWESOME!

i wouldn't say it was perfect at all. for me, i still prefer the stock browser, but there are some specific things i like about dolphin. i like the actual tabs showing up at the top when you have multiple windows open so you can switch easily, and you can also swipe left or right to switch between them with an indicator bar at the top. the gestures are not bad. multitouch is nice to have but not important.

bad stuff is that the multitouch is wonky. its laggy and it doesnt really work the way i would expect it to, zooming in and out on a spot causes it to jump around the area that i'm zooming on. it doesn't stay on the spot that i'm zooming. pages dont zoom out to an overall view of the page when loading up a site (but the stock browser does). the speed of it loading up sites and pics is the same for me as on the stock browser. also when i double tap to remove the tab bar so i can view the page fullscreen, if there are any links within the area that i'm tapping on, it'll click the link and start loading it, highly annoying. also, this is not a bug but an annoyance for me, the current tab doesn't display the name of the site that youre on.

so yea overall, i'd rather stick with stock browser for now, until dolphin really does become damn near "perfect".

 

[fortworthbret]

I believe its because Apple is infringing on several of Palms own patents as well, so it would be stupid for either one to make a claim.

This is the common belief, they're both holding each other over a barrel so to speak.

 

[jpiepkow]

I remember reading somewere that this is do to the face that there both run by webkit. Witch is what was makeing multi-touch able in the first place in the browser. Sence the palm-pre and the iphone are both running off of webkit that is why they can both do it

 

[gregroberti]

I don't understand this statement, at all. Have you tried the latest version? IMHO, I think the Dolphin browser is fairly close to PERFECT. It does come with a slight learning curve ... but WOW! Once you know it, there's no going back. Multi-touch, tabs, customizable gestures, etc... AWESOME!

Thank you! Yes, there is a SLIGHT learning curve but it is well worth it...

- Pinch to zoom, check.
- Gestures, check.
- Skins, check.
- Tabbed browsing, check.
- Double tap to hide/show tabs, check.
- Full screen mode, check.
- Convenient as hell to navigate favorites/history, check.
- Del.ici.ous account integration, check.
- Google services integration, check.
- Read it later (for God's sake), check!

 

[AzJazz]

HTC is a Taiwan-based company, but the pre has multi touch as well....so im not sure whats the deal about apples patents.

The real reason that Palm got away with it is that they also have a ton of PDA / phone patents - Far more than Apple has. Remember that Apple is pretty new to the Phone/PDA game (ignoring the Apple Newton, which was a pretty darned good PDA for its time).

The situation here is that if Apple tries to go after Palm, Palm will sue Apple with far more patent infringements than Apple is willing to handle. It's basically an "uneasy truce".

Google, on the other hand, is no long a sweetheart of Apple - and Apple isn't apparently busting too many of Google's major patents. Google can't strong-arm Apple, so they are very, very unlikely (probably never) to enable multi-touch natively in the US. HTC isn't as limited, being a foreign company.

Cheers!

AzJazz

 

[gregroberti]

pages dont zoom out to an overall view of the page when loading up a site (but the stock browser does).

You can change this in the settings.