The standard navigation of current Onyx devices is limited and lacks gesture support, which leads to a slow and uncomfortable navigation experience. But we can fix this using Android’s ecosystem and add gestures to your Boox, too.
This article is based on the Onyx Boox Note 2 running Android 9 but is also applicable to any other Android (e-ink) tablet.
My app choice
As mentioned before, we will benefit from Android’s ecosystem, especially from the Google Play Store and the app Edge Gestures. Compared to similar apps, Edge Gestures was the most flexible and fastest gesture app that I tested. There is also no notable battery drain on my Onyx Boox Note 2. The app isn’t free, but worth the single purchase of 1,49 € and is also still under active development.
The app interface is simple and allows you to individually configure three so-called “active edges” (left, right and bottom) with up to 16 gestures like tap, double-tap, triple-tap, long press, and a wide range of swipe gestures. There is also a pie control implemented, that I don’t use but you may like.
When first launching Edge Gestures, you must grant special permission to be displayed over other apps.
Example configuration
Installing an app is easy but the most crucial part is always the configuration. This is why I share my configuration as an example and for an easy start.
You can fully customize the position, length, and width of any edge, but there is a reason, why I placed them as shown in the screenshot. I am right-handed and if your edges are too big, you may accidentally trigger them with your palm, especially when taking notes. I spent a lot of time to find the perfect setting for me. If you are left-handed, just mirror the settings and move the bottom edge to the right side.
Actually, there is a feature in the Common settings to disable gestures for specific apps, but unfortunately, you can’t select Notes, because it is still a system application. This is also the reason, why it doesn’t appear in the recent apps. Let me now explain my edge settings:
Left: Long Press for recent apps, swipe to the right to switch to the previous app.
Right: Double-tap for a screenshot (the secret behind my article images), swipe to the left to go back, swipe down and up for “SyncNow” using DropSync (I will introduce DropSync in an upcoming article about syncing strategies).
Bottom: Double-tap for the Dictionary (I use dictionary.com), Long Press for recent apps and swipe up for the app ContentBrowser (this is the launcher/home app from Onyx).
Edge Gestures also allows you to select Home instead of ContentBrowser, but ContentBrowser has a major benefit over Home: If you choose Home, you will adopt the standard behavior of the home button of the integrated pull-down navigation. This means, that you will always start in the Library.
But ContentBrowser will lead you back to the last view in your launcher. This means, that you can switch between notes and other apps like the browser without being forced to navigate the whole way back from the Library.
Apply my configuration
To apply my configuration you must first create a folder in your Storage folder named “EdgeGestures_backups” and place the prefs file in this folder that you can download by following this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsu7b9dbgrsqsm0/prefs?dl=0
Then open Edge Gestures, tap on Common, scroll down until you see Restore and tap on Restore to “install” the settings.
Final thoughts
If well configured, Edge Gestures will optimize your device navigation and can also replace the navigation ball of your Boox. Since Edge Gestures also supports application commands like “SyncNow” from the app “DropSync”, there is space for an even better navigation experience, if Onyx implements useful application commands like “refresh” into their system, too.
If you don’t have a Boox e-ink tablet, you can get yours from the official Boox store. Besides the Chinese and the US warehouse, there is also a new EU warehouse for customers in Europe.
