Please - somebody protect the entry into desktop editing

[wizbowes]

Am I the only one who finds they pull their phone out of their pockets and the screens have lost icons, rearranged desktops etc? I do understand that it's my fault for not locking the screen when I stick the phone in my pocket - but I've had teh phone for three months now, and keep doing it so I've no reason to believe I'm going to learn this lesson. Please - for the love of God, can somebody help me.

Ideally what I'd like is the whole 'touch the screen anywhere that's not an icon and we'll enter edit mode' removed. Why does it behave like that? In practice I'd only alter my screen once a week or so - and selecting an 'edit desktop' function from somewhere (the apps menu?) wouldn't be a problem. In reality I'm editing every fricking day replacing the lost and moved icons that happened when my phone was in my pocket.

Help me somebody please.

[pelago]

Well, really locking the screen is the correct thing to do, as even if this is fixed you'll complain about apps starting up or phone calls being made etc. But even so, I respect your wishes that desktop editing does not need to be so accidentally launchable. Luckily, the desktop app is open-source, and there's at least one community version of it, so you might want to search out the thread for that and ask the guy there if he can modify or disable desktop editing.

[Tsippaduida]

Maybe proximity sensor would be of use? When you have the phone in your pocket or some such which will cover most of your display, the display would be locked until the cover is removed. Much like the phone part of the device behaves.

Personally I lock the screen every time and I have never had problems. I even lock the screen when I set the phone on the table when I'm done with it for the moment.

[Matan]

modified-hildon-desktop (in my repository, see signature) has an option to disable desktop edit mode.

[Robb]

Isn't there an auto-lock function?

[pelago]

modified-hildon-desktop (in my repository, see signature) has an option to disable desktop edit mode.

Thanks. How do you disable desktop edit mode? I can't see it listed on http://wiki.maemo.org/Modified_Hildon_Desktop

[Matan]

To disable edit mode:

gconftool-2 -s /apps/osso/hildon-desktop/key-actions/disable_edit -t bool true


To enable edit mode:

gconftool-2 -s /apps/osso/hildon-desktop/key-actions/disable_edit -t bool false


The cogwheel does appear even when edit mode is disabled, but it is not possible to edit the desktop. The change is immediate. There is not need to reboot or restart hildon-desktop.


I stopped using wiki.maemo.org, since they have an unannounced policy of arbitrarily deleting pages without warning or discussion. Unfortunately, that leaves modified-hildon-desktop's documentation somewhat outdated.

[codeMonkey]

I stopped using wiki.maemo.org, since they have an unannounced policy of arbitrarily deleting pages without warning or discussion.

This is concerning. What happened?

[JohnLF]

Or just learn to double-press the on/off button as you put it in your pocket - instant screen lock...

[pelago]

This is concerning. What happened?

Searching around, I think http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=44275, http://wiki.maemo.org/User_talk:Amigadave are relevant. I think http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:nIJpCrEXFXAJ:80.248.164.233/N900_Bluetooth_DUN_Client is the deleted page (not sure if up-to-date). But this is getting off-topic for this thread.

[GaryHT627]

Or just learn to double-press the on/off button as you put it in your pocket - instant screen lock...

While I do try to do this, there are times I may forget. Also when the phone rings the screen turns on with no input. Lastly, should someone borrow my phone, they won't be aware of this and I have had entire work spaces deleted. Personally I would like to see a "swipe to enable" for things like answering the phone or editing the desktop.

[codeMonkey]

The proximity sensor is activated when the phone rings, so the screen shouldn't be unlocked, but I know some people have issues with declining calls as they take the phone out of their pockets.

I haven't had any problems with desktops getting deleted, but the more options and customisability the better :) This might be worth a brainstorm entry, if you don't want to go with the stuff that Matan has made possible with his modified-hildon-desktop.

[wizbowes]

modified-hildon-desktop (in my repository, see signature) has an option to disable desktop edit mode.

Excellent - I'll give that a try. Are there any implications for future firmware updates - will they break this?

[Matan]

A future update that will include new version of hildon-desktop (PR1.1.1 did not) will overwrite modified-hildon-desktop, so you will lose the enhanced features (such as disabled edit mode) until you install a new version of modified hildon desktop. for the upcoming PR1.2 I expect to have a new version ready when the update will be available, or at most shortly after that.

[wizbowes]

Just installed it - does exactly what I need. Many thanks.