Want keyboard shortcuts with Nova (or perhaps any non-stock launcher)

[TheOnlyRick 17]

I had a dilemma - I really like the 36 keyboard shortcuts that the stock launcher has (the stock launcher is the desktop with all the icons).  I also like how well the stock launcher handles rotation. 

 

But... I really like Nova.  It fits much more on the screen, widgets are much more adjustable, it has useful gestures, different actions on icons and folders depending if you tap or swipe etc etc etc... (But I don't like how it can't handle screen rotation.) 

 

So here's my fix/compromise to get Nova with the 36 shortcuts... You set Nova on fixed landscape (or portrait, whichever one you'll use more.)  It's a bit of a pain when you're in the wrong mode, but I think it's worth it. 

In Nova, long-press to add a widget. Choose the top option (Nova action) and drag it to the desktop. Again, choose the first option of App drawer. 

Now when you tap that shortcut you can just type the first letter of so of whatever app you want. 

This method gives you just about instant access via your keyboard to all your apps from the homescreen.  (You can add that shortcut to your Dock or as a gesture to make it available from anywhere in Nova.) 

Let me know if you find this useful. 

[Slion 1,201]

You know you can do shortcuts using the following app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.sds100.keymapper

Also worth noting the following keyboard layout mods provides you a bunch of shortcuts to default apps:

 

[TheOnlyRick 17]

1 hour ago, Slion said:

You know you can do shortcuts using the following app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.sds100.keymapper

Ah, cool (and of course!) 

I've already got KM installed. So I could use one (or two) of the modifiers to provide permanent shortcuts. Good call, thanks. 

I'll also check out your modded FinQwerty. 

Cheers!  

[Martin 0]

I have installed Key Mapper, works great until I realized that once you have assigned shortcuts to your physical keyboard, you can't use this keyboard anymore for any apps. For instance, if you open your internet browser and you want to use the physical keyboard for typing, then once you press a key that has a shortcut to open an app assigned to it, the app will open each time to you press that key. So you can't use this keyboard for typing anything anymore. Do any of you have the same experience? Is there anything one can do about it?

Thanks!

[MonCon 125]

Apologies if I'm missing something here, I'm not that familiar with keymappers, and I may be misunderstanding your previous posts, but instead of assigning single letter shortcuts to actions, could you instead assign key combinations (eg 'Alt' + 'Letter') to actions.