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Samsung

How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures

Nov 4, 2013 09:54 PM
Nov 4, 2013 10:00 PM
Smartphone screen showing app icons including a camera, Chrome browser, and messaging app.

Like the buttons on your computer's mouse and keyboard, the Home key on your Samsung Galaxy S4 serves a vital function in navigating through your device. It can get pressed dozens of times a day, going through hours of use and abuse.

If the GS4's Home button is anything like the GS3's, which was stress-tested for 200,000 presses, you may not have anything to worry about. But circumstances beyond our control can leave us with sticky, loud-clicking, or otherwise faulty Home buttons.

If you have a broken Home button and don't want to shell out for a replacement, or simply want to alleviate some of the everyday stress the Home button goes through, then developer Philip Ma has an app just for you.

Aptly named Swipe Home Button allows you to emulate a Home button press with simple swipe gestures. This is a quick and easy softMod to do and can potentially extend the life of your Galaxy S4's Home button.

Getting Started

Swipe Home Button is available for free from the Google Play Store. The download is barely over 50 kilobytes, leaving just a tiny footprint on your phone.

Swipe Home Button app interface on a mobile device

Once installed, open it up to check out all the settings. In order for the app to run, make sure the box next to Enable gestures is checked. Also make sure Start at boot is checked, unless you want to have to manually start the app every time your GS4 turns on.

Gesture settings options on a mobile device.

Setting Up Your Swipe Gestures

From the app's main menu, tap Binding to assign actions to the seven different swipe gestures the app supports. You can also tap Instructions to find out how the gestures are supposed to be done.

How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
Settings menu with options for interface customization on a mobile device.
How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
Settings menu with options for interface customization on a mobile device.

To assign an action, just tap on the gesture you want to use, which brings up the Choose an action dialog box. Remember, there are three actions that your Galaxy S4's Home button performs:

  1. Bring you to your home screen (single tap).
  2. Pull up the Task Manager (long-press).
  3. Open either Google Now or S-Voice voice search, whichever you have set as default (double-tap).

There are already a few pre-assigned gestures. By default, the Swipe up gesture is set as your Home button, and the Swipe left down gesture is set to Show recent apps. You can change or re-assign the gestures however you see fit, but I like these two gestures because they allow for easy one-handed use.

Those take care of the first two of your GS4's Home button actions. What about double-tapping for voice search? There's no action for the double-tap, but what you can do is set up a gesture to directly launch a voice search app.

From the Binding menu, choose a gesture, select Custom app, and select the voice search app of your choice. Google Now will be listed as Voice Search with the blue and white microphone logo, or you can choose Samsung's S Voice.

Settings menu with options for customizing app functionality on a mobile device.
App selection menu on an Android device displaying various applications including "Voice Search."
App selection menu on a smartphone.
Settings menu with options for customizing app functionality on a mobile device.
App selection menu on an Android device displaying various applications including "Voice Search."
App selection menu on a smartphone.

Now you have all the functionality of your GS4's Home button replaced with gestures!

Hiding App Notifications

The app makes its presence known in your Status bar and Notification tray. If you don't want it cluttering up your notifications, it's pretty easy.

How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
Screenshot of a smartphone display showing settings and notifications.
How to Replace Your Samsung Galaxy S4's Home Button with Customizable Swipe Gestures
Screenshot of a smartphone display showing settings and notifications.

To get rid of the icon in your Status bar, simply go to the app's main menu and check the box next to Transparent notification icon.

Transparent notification icon setting

As for the ongoing notification, you'll have to venture into your GS4's System Settings.

Application manager settings on a mobile device.
App info screen showing storage details for an application on an Android device.
Application manager settings on a mobile device.
App info screen showing storage details for an application on an Android device.

Under More, select Application manager. Locate Swipe Home Button and un-check the box next to Show notifications. No more clutter in your Notification tray!

Have any questions or comments about this app? Know of any other fixes for a broken Home button? Feel free to leave them in the discussion section below.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.

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