[Feature]: Volume Control Fix - Temporarily disable accessibility services

[vpha91]

Short Feature Title

Volume Control Fix

What area does this affect?

Remote Control (Accessibility / Navigation etc.), Performance & Memory

The Problem

Some users report that after enabling the QuickBars Accessibility service, holding the volume buttons only changes the volume once (a single step) instead of continuously adjusting it.

The Proposed Solution

1. User presses and holds volume +/-key
2. The app either disables accessibility services temporarily OR potentially QuickBars just stops intercepting key presses for 10 seconds
3. Result is that holding volume +/- works properly. After 10 seconds, it resumes normal app operation

Screenshots or Video

No response

Visuals / Mockups

No response

Additional Information

This is based off a solution utilized by another app called tvQuick Actions pro (Quick Start Guide - tvQuickActions Docs) which addresses the volume issue by temporarily disabling accessibility services for 10 seconds when the Volume (+) or (-) is pressed.

Im not actually sure if it truly works in that fashion, but that is how the work around is described on their FAQ.

Home Assistant Context (Optional)

No response

Readiness Check

• I have confirmed this isn't already a feature/setting in the app by also searching the guide.
• I understand that this is an open-source project managed alongside a full-time job and B.Sc. studies by Omri, and PRs and Issues may take some time.
• I am willing to help provide more information upon request, and test beta builds of this feature.

[Trooped]

Related to issue #3.

Leaving my comment here so others could chime in:

I wonder 3 things that could affect how we implement this:

1. If all Android TV devices have the same key codes for the volume buttons (a number that represents the current key, so the OS can identify the key). For example - the center_dpad's key code differs between manufacturers.
2. Does it really disable the accessibility service? Like - the actual service in the settings? Or only the Trigger Keys mechanism?
3. If all of the above is solved - why does it require to press once on either volume button, and only then it disables the accessibility service in his implementation?
   It seems like it can be done easily by recognizing there's a long click on the volume button, and then disable the accessibility service.
   Or - maybe, if a key is already pressed, we can't register it as a hold due to some hardware limitation, and that's why he approached it like this...

If you, or someone else could chime in and help answer some of these questions it would be great.

[vpha91]

I was able to come up with this fix (volume-fix.sh) with heavy help from AI and inspiration from this (https://github.com/mukunthan007/Tcl-andorid-TV-volume-script).

It seems to work well after testing it. I am using Home Assistant automation to use adb to call the script everytime it detects the TV is turned on. If the script is already running, it wont start another instance.

Maybe this is something you could implement within Quickbars so it runs locally.

To address some of your questions
1 - not sure if all Android TV devices use the same keycodes. Potentially "getevent" and "KEY_VOLUMEUP / KEY_VOLUMEDOWN" are consistent and not manufacturer specific.

2 - This script actually disables the accessibility service temporarily...in this case the "GRACE_SECONDS" is set to 10 seconds which seems like a reasonable period of time to allow for volume change before re-enabling the service.

3 - It seems like it wont work with one long press because the initial key press is captured by the accessibility service and the script can only detect a key press after it's already happened. I imagine you'll always need that initial single press to trigger the disable.

---These are the commands I utilized to get the script pushed over to my Downloads folder on the TV and to get the script running. However, once the connection from the computer that you used to initiate the script disconnects, the script will stop working. That's why i have a Home Assistant automation restart the script each time the TV turns on.

adb connect IP_ADDRESS:5555
adb push /Users/user/Desktop/volume-fix.sh /storage/emulated/0/Download/
adb shell chmod +x /storage/emulated/0/Download/volume-fix.sh

To test run the script from a computer. After the computer disconnects, the script may stop running on the TV. I use Home assistant automation and ADB integration to run this command
adb shell "nohup sh /storage/emulated/0/Download/volume-fix-sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &"

To view log
adb shell tail -f /storage/emulated/0/Download/volume-fix.log