Are you having fun with GravityBox yet? We’re rounding things out for a while with this last Android customization project on the subject, join us for a quick once over to see how GravityBox can create custom button actions for your normal Navigation bar.

Android N may have introduced an Alt + Tab type app switching, but GravityBox is packed full of normal, double tap and long press functions for each of the buttons on your Navigation bar.

Related Reading: All Android N coverage

Before we begin

This should be the last time you have to read this paragraph, at least for a while. You’ll need a fairly modern Android device in hand to follow along today, it will need to be rooted, you’ll have to flash a custom recovery and the Xposed Framework. Then, obviously, you’ll need the Xposed installer and to use it to install the GravityBox module for your version of Android.

If that does not immediately make sense to you, check this out:

Rooting your device, a few things to think about
Should you root
Xposed framework and installer basics
Install GravityBox and get started

Custom Navigation button settings with GravityBox

Keeping this short, the idea for today is to add extra functionality to your Navigation bar. For example, maybe you want to have make it so that long pressing your Recent apps button opens the Apps section of the system Settings.

Fire up GravityBox and scroll down to tap into Navigation keys actions.

The process from here is pretty straightforward, choose a button and the action you want to control, then simply assign an action to it.

For today, let’s play with that Recents button, as in our example above.

Tap the Long-press action button in the Recents key section.

Scroll to the bottom and select Custom action.

Use the drop down to switch from Applications to Shortcuts.

Select Settings shortcut.

Select Apps.

That is all there is to it, go ahead and give it a try.

What’s next

Did you notice the other options available to you? You can change things up for physical and on-screen buttons, use your volume rocker to wake the device from sleep and more.

Another little thing, if you needed to flash back to previous projects, or tackle something that isn’t being offered as is, you can use the Navigation bar tweaks here to fire off Tasker Tasks. We have not looked yet at what root can do for Tasker, but we can certainly look at what Tasker can do for root. That didn’t really make sense, but it was fun to say, don’t worry, we’ll explore this more later.

Next week

As mentioned, I hope this last GravityBox project will keep you busy and happily customizing away. Next week on our Android customization series, we are finally getting into Wearables. We would like to take a look at Android Wear and a few fun things you can do with it and a popular customization app and service.

What is your favorite feature of GravityBox?

More Android customization projects: