Possible to disable the double-press menu feature to unlock phone?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

A couple of times today I have taken the Hero out of my pocket to find that it is unlocked and doing something (first time it tried to send an SMS to a black number and then it had loaded the browser) which is weird because I didn't think it would be able to use the touch screen while in my pocket.

I'm guessing that it managed to unlock itself by pressing the menu button twice while in my pocket, but this does seem unlikely - anyway I activated the unlock pattern and it hasn't done it since, so my question is it possible to disable the ability to double-press menu to unlock it? (It's rooted if that makes it possible).

It's always possible that I just didn't lock the phone either of those times, but that seems more unlikely. Has anyone else noticed this problem?

Thanks.

EDIT: While I'm asking, is it possible to get rid of the thing that if you double-press the button on the headphones it will call the last number you dialled - I double press it out of habit from owning iPhones for the last year and managed to keep dialling my voicemail!

 

[SamXp]

Someone HAS to have an application to fix this. I am so over having to use an unlock pattern to avoid this happening.

 

[wirelessness]

I'm looking to do the opposite. I want the phone to unlock with either one key push or with a screen gesture.

 

[leeladisky]

I'm looking to do the opposite. I want the phone to unlock with either one key push or with a screen gesture.

+1

 

[kabbie_mcfeely]

Double tapping 1 button is got to be the easiest way to unlock the phone.

I personaly wouldnt want a 1 touch way to do it. To much of a chance of draining the battery by accidently turning the phone on all the time.

 

[wirelessness]

Double tapping 1 button is got to be the easiest way to unlock the phone.

I personaly wouldnt want a 1 touch way to do it. To much of a chance of draining the battery by accidently turning the phone on all the time.

True, it's easy to double click the menu button. But the Android platform is supposed to be ultra customizable and I just with I could mess around with some other options....especially screen swipes of some sort.

 

[HER0]

Had my Hero a few days after the release date and I NEVER knew this...obviously isn't much of an issue for me

 

[peejay]

If I double-press Menu button it just opens screen which is still locked, needs to be slid down, is that not normal?

 

[smiwin]

STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! Such a simple problem to not have a fix for!

My wife has been butt dialing me ever since she got her HTC Hero. The only phones I've ever seen that don't have a problem with keyguard are the palm and iphone. This phone wouldn't have a problem either if you could disable the doulble menu press and bypass the swipe screen (THE SWIPE SCREEN IS THERE FOR A REASON!!!!!!!!!!!)

One press to unlock phone?... start your own thread, let's get this stupid problem fixed first. Tired of this B.S., been dealing with it since the Sprint Mogul phone.

Noone will be able to compete with iPhone with stupidity like this!

 

[Slug]

let's get this stupid problem fixed first.

You could suggest to your wife that she doesn't keep the phone in a rear pocket?

Mine lives in a front trouser pocket all day and never unlocks itself.

 

[smiwin]

"butt dialing" a slang industry term that refers to your phone making a call when it shouldn't. She keeps it in her front pocket and sometimes her purse. She has "butt dialed" from both locations In either case, if she wanted to keep it in her back pocket the phone shouldn't dial on its own.

 

[wirelessness]

If I double-press Menu button it just opens screen which is still locked, needs to be slid down, is that not normal?

No, that is not normal. Pressing the Menu button two times should completely unlock the screen. Pressing the Menu button one time will activate the screen from a suspended state and allow you to view the time, alarms and perform the swipe down to fully unlock the phone.

When I first got the phone I was not used to performing the double Menu tap to open the phone. I was hitting the End key and swiping down which is much more work. Now the double Menu tap seems pretty easy.

Smiwin, take a pill. This minor difference in how the Hero unlocks is nothing major and not at all what is keeping it from taking on the iPhone. I carry the phone in my pocket, in my bicycle bag on the road and mountain and have never had one accidental unlock let alone an accidental dial. Sounds like user error on your side. The only way this could happen is if the phone was placed in a pocket/purse while unlocked and w/ the dialer app open.

 

[smiwin]

lol, told my wife same thing before I knew knew about the double menu button unlock problem, "user error". after she "butt dialed" me a second time I started playing with her phone saying, "see honey, it's locked, you can't unlock it without swiping, just like mine", then oops... tapped the menu button twice and up pops the last thing she used, the recents calls list.

what a stupid problem to have, fix it!

 

[wirelessness]

what a stupid problem to have, fix it!

I don't think anyone is planning to 'fix' it since that is clearly the way it was intended to work. I'm not sure how someone could manage to double press a recessed button but I guess anything is possible.

I'm not complaining about accessing the phone that way...I just want to be able to customize it with the option of using only a swipe if that is what I want.

 

[bluenova]

I would be worried about the large amount of pressure being put on the phone in order to be able to press the menu button (or any of those buttons) which are tucked under the chin. The screen cannot be used whilst in a pocket/bag because it's capacitive and requires the electricity in your finger to operate which is why nothing happens when you are wearing gloves. So it must be the buttons getting squashed in the bag which would require a fair amount of pressure.

 

[mrreach_69]

I've found the easiest way to prevent accidentally unlocking the phone is to set the security lock. Set the pattern to something nice and simple so its quick to unlock. Prevents you unlocking your phone and should disappoint thieving scumbags

 

[capuman]

was about to suggest that..

 

[dougleppard]

I didn't realize for awhile that the double click menu could turn it on but that explains things why sometimes I find it on.

You should be able to change these features. But obviously you can not. Come on HTC fix it.

I didn't see an app for that. I don't want to have to use the security screen.

 

[smiwin]

Holding the home button brings up a mini menu that bypasses lock screen(or maybe it just bypasses Lock 2.0)

isn't that cute feature!

NOW HOW DO I DISABLE THIS "FEATURE"!!!

I have Lock 2.0 to prevent this stupid phone from butt dialing, which helped slow down the instances of butt dialing, now i find that holding the home button bypasses the lock app and one of the most used items is of course the phone app. My wife is still butt dialing... OMG! such a frustrating problem i've been dealing with for 5+ years on windows mobile, android based htc phones.

BEFORE YOU RESPOND: i've heard all the dumbass "solutions" to the butt dialing problem: "get a case", "don't keep it in your pocket", "i never have that problem", "add a lock pattern", etc... STFU and go read something else, this obviously doesn't concern you.

SOCIETY AGAINST BUTT DIALING

 

[SamXp]

I am really, really hoping there is an option to disable this "feature" in the 2.1 update in a few months.

 

[andy d]

If you have the lock pattern set you cannot open the phone with the menu button.

 

[lukesky]

Holding the home button brings up a mini menu that bypasses lock screen(or maybe it just bypasses Lock 2.0)

isn't that cute feature!

NOW HOW DO I DISABLE THIS "FEATURE"!!!

I have Lock 2.0 to prevent this stupid phone from butt dialing, which helped slow down the instances of butt dialing, now i find that holding the home button bypasses the lock app and one of the most used items is of course the phone app. My wife is still butt dialing... OMG! such a frustrating problem i've been dealing with for 5+ years on windows mobile, android based htc phones.

BEFORE YOU RESPOND: i've heard all the dumbass "solutions" to the butt dialing problem: "get a case", "don't keep it in your pocket", "i never have that problem", "add a lock pattern", etc... STFU and go read something else, this obviously doesn't concern you.

SOCIETY AGAINST BUTT DIALING

Everyone has suggested solutions to be rejected by you and you called them 'dumbass solutions'. Well since you seem to be the only one having this problem of butt dialing, tough luck. Live with it. No one's gona shed any tears for your butt dialing problem since it's clearly a 'user problem'.

There are plenty of other solutions to the butt dialing problem but no point sharing since they are 'dumbass solutions' anyway..

 

[SamXp]

Everyone has suggested solutions to be rejected by you and you called them 'dumbass solutions'. Well since you seem to be the only one having this problem of butt dialing, tough luck. Live with it. No one's gona shed any tears for your butt dialing problem since it's clearly a 'user problem'.

There are plenty of other solutions to the butt dialing problem but no point sharing since they are 'dumbass solutions' anyway..

Actually he's not the only one. And none of the solutions are satisfactory. The HTC does seem to attract a considerable number of fanboys, though.

 

[Slug]

i've heard all the dumbass "solutions" to the butt dialing problem: "get a case", "don't keep it in your pocket", "i never have that problem", "add a lock pattern", etc... STFU and go read something else, this obviously doesn't concern you.

Nice.

Are you, like SamXp, using the Sprint version of the Hero by any chance? If so then that's why our suggestions seem "dumb" - the GSM device has a different shape and button layout.

I suggest you repost your query in the Sprint Hero forum.

 

[smiwin]

ahhh, the voice of reason.

yes, it is sprint phone, however, being able to hold buttons or press a button twice to bypass the lock screen is the problem.

The lock screen exists for a reason, so the phone can't inadvertantly turn on. The other hero design may be less suceptable to this flaw, but nonetheless, it is a flaw that needs a fix, or an option to turn off the button press bypass "feature" would be more appropriate allowing those who like the bypass to still be able to use it.

I may be in the wrong forum, my hope was that an android developer would see this problem/feature on this forum and correct it either with an app or a patch.