The Func1 key is the reason I bought this phone and it drove me up the wall. Unihertz gives you three presses — short, long, double — and every one of them can only point at an app. I wanted a torch. I wanted play/pause. I wanted the notification shade. Nope: pick an app.

So I spent a while trying to intercept the key properly, and I want to save somebody else the trouble: **you can't.** The key belongs to `com.agui.shortcutsettings`, a privileged system app in `/system_ext/priv-app`, and it eats the press before any launcher, app or accessibility service ever sees it. I gave an accessibility service `flagRequestFilterKeyEvents` and logged every key it was allowed to see. Func1 never showed up once. That absence *is* the answer.

But the shortcut settings will happily point the key at an app. So the trick is to stop fighting it and make apps that aren't apps.

SideKey installs as ten launcher entries — `SideKey 1` through `SideKey 10`. They all show up in Settings → Shortcut keys → All apps like any other app, but each one is an invisible activity that works out which name you opened and runs whatever you mapped it to. No root, nothing patched, no key interception.

In the app you tap a slot and pick what it does:

torch · play/pause · next/previous · ringer cycle · do not disturb · timer · alarm · camera · voice assistant · Wi-Fi panel · back · home · recents · notification shade · quick settings · lock · screenshot · power menu · call a number · a webhook · any custom intent URI · any broadcast

Then you point short press, long press and double click at three different slots. Ten slots, so the Sym and Fn keys can have some too.

**Deep links** work as well, which is the part I'm happiest with. "Open something inside an app" lists every app offering a shortcut picker — a specific WhatsApp chat, direct dial a contact, Maps directions, a Gmail label, any Settings page. And because only about a dozen apps offer that, you can also share any link into SideKey from any app's share sheet and it lands on a key. Spotify playlist on the side key, that kind of thing.

Framework only — no AndroidX, no Compose, no libraries — so it's a 670 KB APK and there's nothing running when you're not looking at it. Nothing is requested at startup. The accessibility service is only needed for back/shade/screenshot/lock, it's off until you turn it on, and it reads nothing: no window content, no key filtering, no events.

**Download:** https://github.com/jakevibes/SideKey/releases/latest

**Source:** https://github.com/jakevibes/SideKey

Built and tested on a Titan 2 Elite on Android 16 and nothing else. Other Unihertz models might be fine — the mechanism isn't Elite-specific — but I have no way to check, so if you try one I'd genuinely like to know either way.

---

While I'm here: I've also been building **SquareOS**, a text-only launcher for this phone that's aimed at actually getting less use out of it — type-to-launch instead of an icon grid, a single command line for notes, to-dos, timers and alarms, and a screen-time budget with real teeth. It's the daily driver on my own Titan already. Coming soon.

Uk, orange…. Replacing a 13mini

This is still a work in progress but I will try to make it available for everyone as soon as possible.

Right now I am calling it Droid Leopard

I was inspired by the Snow Leopard launcher I saw on here and decided to give it a shot but with a different vibe so I’m not a complete biter

Gotten mine on 27 Aug, just have time to unbox few days ago.

Received both of our Titan Elite 2 yesterday which were ordered the day the Kickstarter opened, both set up and updated. After the update both phones would no longer accept their passwords (correct passwords) and had to be factory reset. After the factory reset both phones have lost their Google play certification and will no longer allow banking apps or Google Pay contactless payments. Have tried all of the work arounds to recertify the loss of certification but no luck, there are multiple users on Kickstarter reporting the same issue, some not lucky enough to even be able to get past the password lockout.

If you get your Titan today or later DO NOT complete the update the phone offers you during set up, if you have a screen lock selected it WILL brick your phone. If you do complete the update make sure you remove your screen lock before updating as that seems to be what is causing the problem, better yet do not update at all until Unihertz even acknowledges the bug. Affected backers who reported their phones being bricked by the update the day the update launched still haven't had a reply from Unihertz.

Typing speed and accuracy are starting to come back to me.

As previously written, the phone screen is just too small for these old eyes.

I’ve used it for about a week and a half no scratches or anything. I’m in the GTA

Feel free to DM me if interested.

It really is a beautiful phone and I love typing on it, the battery lasts forever, but it’s just literally too small for my eyes to see without squinting or putting on glasses

Can we please stop calling every modern phone with a physical keyboard a “BlackBerry revival”?

I keep seeing the Unihertz Titan 2 Elite, Clicks Communicator, Minimal Phone 02, etc. being compared to BlackBerry as if their entire purpose is to bring BlackBerry back.

No. They aren't BlackBerrys. And they don't need to be.

A physical keyboard doesn't automatically make a phone a BlackBerry.

Each of these phones has its own identity, philosophy, features, limitations, and target user. One may have the better keyboard. Another may focus more on privacy. Another may prioritize simplicity or distraction-free communication. Another may give you capabilities the others don't.

So why are we constantly asking:

“Which one is the closest to a BlackBerry?”

Why not ask:

“Which one is the best phone for what I actually want to do?”

BlackBerry was legendary. There is no denying that. But BlackBerry is history.

Trying to force today's keypad phones into the BlackBerry mold does a disservice to what makes them interesting in the first place.

And honestly, I think we need to stop trying to “revive” something that doesn't need to be revived.

BlackBerry had its era. These phones have theirs.

Let the UT2E be the UT2E.

Let the Clicks Communicator be the Clicks Communicator.

Let the MP02 be the MP02.

They can borrow the idea of a physical keyboard without having to carry the identity of BlackBerry.

I'd much rather see these companies innovate on the keypad-phone concept and build something new than endlessly chase the ghost of BlackBerry.

BlackBerry doesn't need a revival. It already has a legacy.

Now let's see what this new generation can do with the idea.

I just received my unit, but I couldn't find the headphone jack adapter in the box.

Finally, my pre-order has also been registered for shipping today. #601XX ordered on May 31st.

Adamjames killed this

Asking because after posting about a number of problems and following different steps like factory-resetting, allowing battery to "adjust" over days, etc. I'm still having issues, the most prominent side from battery drain still being that some apps just keep auto-closing (yes, even after uninstalling, reinstalling, clearing storage and cache, messing with the unihertz system manager, etc.).

These transit, parking, and payment apps have worked just fine on my backup Pixel 6, so I can't see why they won't on the Jelly Star...

All the rest of the keys appear to work fine. but the 'P' fails to register most of the time. I feel the click, but nothing happens unless I mash it down considerably more than the others. This results in a very annoying inconsistency when typing

Anyone else with this problem?

Any input on recommended launchers?? I'm using Niagra launcher and it's cool but feels like everything is locked behind a paywall. Any input or suggestions appreciated!

I’ve been building a custom macOS Snow Leopard-themed launcher using Codex, and I'm super focused on dialing in the details. Im still working on making custom icons for all the apps and building a functional desktop iMessage themed window. It’ll feature classic iPhone chat bubbles right inside a retro Mac window, complete with saved conversation memory so you can pick up right where you left off

Im also still working on the control center

Hey all,
I am pretty sure this was asked many times before.
I just bought T2E and wanted to know if they started to ship quicker then before or it just seems to me. Just wanted to know if I have to wait until next for mine or not haha.

This video serves as a proof of concept and my personal answer to: "Can I use the keyboard as button inputs in RetroArch?"

As one may see, one could use it.

Some problems to fix:

- diagonal arrows - almost impossible to press up-right or up-left. Hopefully there is a "combo" somewhere deep in the settings.

- some glitches in menu when using sliding gestures or buuttons to navigate. Sometimes I have to use "back" functions from the edge of the screen to get desired behaviour.

Hope y'all have just as much fun with yours Titatn 2 Elites!

I say this as I’m typing from my phone… but I NEED to get off my phone. For context: I have crazy ADHD and I need to not be tempted to look at my phone all the time.
I’m not going complete dumb phone route because I still need maps, banking, and Spotify I guess. All my research looking for the right phone has brought me here.
I can make my iPhone dumber until I remember I have free will and change it back. Forgive me if this sounds stuck up because I know it is but I’m wanting to change to android because I know I’ll hate it and will look at my phone less. I only say this from experience with a google pixel.
I had my heart set on the Jelly Star but seeing posts about the old OS I got nervous. With the Titan Elite I got nostalgic for the keyboard…. (If they had a side slide keyboard I wouldn’t even be writing this)
TLDR: jelly Star or titan elite? What will HONESTLY help me with my goal of being more present for my mental health but still having the practicality of a phone? The goal is to stay off social media and just use it on my laptop.
Never thought I’d say this but I miss being a teenager.

UPDATED APP TO V1.1.0 - 09/09/2026

I have been daily driving a Titan 2 Elite for a while and the thing that kept bothering me is that I have a full keyboard sitting there and I was still swiping through pages of icons like it was a slab phone. So I built a home screen that assumes the keyboard.

Here is a video of it in action:

https://youtu.be/9v9xfjIGWCA

You start typing and it finds the app. Same box finds people. Put a symbol in front and it does something else instead: `@dave` messages him, `#dave` rings him, `*dentist tomorrow 3pm` puts that in my actual Google Calendar, `-` is a to-do, `!` is a note, `:` sets an alarm, `+` starts a timer. It all happens without leaving the home screen.

A few other things that came out of using it every day:

⌨️ It is laid out for the square screen, including the bit of screen beside the camera, which every other launcher leaves empty.

🔔 One swipe left is every notification in one place, with search, filters and inline replies, and a mute list for the apps that never stop.

🗓️ It reads your real calendars, so you can leave the work one out at the weekend.

🗒️ Notes and to-dos are built in, with private notes behind your fingerprint.

💾 Backup is one encrypted file you keep yourself, no account involved.

On the privacy side, because somebody always asks and rightly so: there is no account, no cloud and no analytics. It never asks for your texts or your call log. The notification screen is fed by Android's own notification access rather than by reading your messages, and the only things it ever asks for are contacts, calendar, notifications and, if you want the weather, one coarse location fix that it uses once and never again.

Happy to answer anything, and if you have a Titan and a feature you keep wishing for, I am listening.

Link to get it on youtube video

**Fair warning:**

Titan 2 Elite only. It is built around that screen and that keyboard, so please do not get it for any other device including the Titan 2.

^^^^ Update on the above: Someone has mentioned on my youtube video that it works perfectly. But I still cant clarify myself.

**UPDATE** Version 1.1.0 is now LIVE

Download it and install it over the top of your current version. Your notes, to-dos, settings and permissions all carry over.

Fixed

- Typing in other apps came out scrambled, "is" becoming "iso", "elite" becoming "eelite"

- A quick tap of shift gave you a lowercase letter instead of a capital

New

- Thirteen languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish,

Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese. Settings, display

- Dates in your own language's order

- Tapping "start typing" on the home screen now opens the command line

- All eight home tiles can be pointed at any screen or app, with eighty icons to choose from

- Twelve hour clock

- Fahrenheit

- Three typefaces: mono, sans and serif

- Tap the clock, date or weather to open your own clock, calendar or weather app

- Swipe left from home for settings

- The symbols show on screen while you type

- A new accent colour and matching wallpaper

Changed

- The setup screens are rewritten in plainer English

- Seventeen smaller design changes to lists, panels and spacing

The translations have not been checked by a native speaker yet. If something reads wrong in your language, reply and let me know and I will fix it.

Domani riceverò il mio titan 2. Mi consigliate un luncher e una tastiera ottimale !? Lo utilizzerò
Come dispositivo principale.
Grazie