KitKat Devices Feature Android Menu Button By Default

How has your Android experience been so far over the years? I am quite sure that you have had your fair share of ups and downs with it, but as with a good marriage, things get better and better with each passing year. Google themselves certainly deserve a pat on the back for their efforts in bringing up this mobile operating system to mainstream consciousness, and this time around, Google has ensured that the action overflow button will always be on, never mind if there is a presence of a hardware menu button on your device – starting with Android 4.4 KitKat powered devices.

Here is a little bit of history to catch up on things. After all, if one is unable to remove physical navigation buttons because of different manufacturers around, why not remove the capacitive menu button instead? Google did formalize soft navigation buttons with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, where the “action overflow menu” happened to function as a substitute for the menu button. Ever since then, this action overflow button has not been as consistent as expected when it comes to Android apps, as it shows up on devices with soft navigation buttons, but not whenever it detects the presence of a hardware menu button. With an always on presence now in KitKat, life would be much better, no?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Cellphones, Tablets
Tags: Android, Google, kitkat