Dear Teamspeak Development Team,
I hope this message finds you well. I would like to suggest a feature enhancement for the Android version of Teamspeak that could greatly improve usability for a specific user group.
There is a community of users who utilize Android smartphones in a walkie-talkie form factor setup. These devices typically do not have touchscreens and instead rely on physical buttons for navigation—such as up/down, left/right, and push-to-talk buttons.
In versions up to 3.0.23, it was possible to use these hardware buttons to control Teamspeak seamlessly. However, in the current versions, this functionality appears to be “broken”, likely due to changes in how the user interface handles panes or panels.
Broken in quotation marks, because I don’t think it was an intended feature. But still in the actual version I can still navigate through some parts of the app using the hardware buttons.
Looking into different videos on youtube the users often get from some dubious older apk files from dubious sources where they then connect to very strangly configured teamspeak servers, to have still the possibility to use teamspeak with this kind of devices.
Since I bought the Android app and my friends and I don’t want to set up a suspicious teamspeak server or use apk-Files froms trange sources, I am writing to you a suggestion/feature request.
To address this, I propose the implementation of a “POC Mode” (Push Over Cellular Mode). This mode would optimize the Teamspeak interface for devices with limited or rather no touch capabilities, allowing users to operate the app effectively using physical buttons. Essentially, it would restore or replicate the functionality from earlier versions, providing a more accessible experience for users with such devices.
In the attached screens you see in the top that if I navigate to the top (of the start page or the channel page) with the hardware buttons I can move for example to the settings menue or using left and right also navigate to the “three-dot-menue”, you see it is highlighted. I also can navigate to the seting submenues.
The problem is I can’t get/navigate with the hardwarebuttons to the main pane/canvas/panel/frame, where the Server selection (on the main page) or the channel selection on the server landing page.
Alternatively (as a kind of work around) I would suggest a auto connect feature, where the user can set up to which server/bookmark teamspeak autoconnects in the Android App. Here I would also suggest that the user can also set the subchannel of the default channel where the user connects.
Thank you for considering this suggestion. I believe this feature could expand Teamspeak’s usability for niche but dedicated user groups, and I would be happy to provide further details if needed.
I look forward to hearing from you and I thank you for your time.
Best regards
Kowalski911
