C9 is a dual-cursor application that takes inspiration from T9 to provide clicks using the numpad on Android feature phones. Features of the application include:
- 🌎 Universal Android 7.0+ support via Shizuku as needed
- ⚡ Introduction of a grid cursor focused on efficiency
- 🖱️ Standard cursor to provide a traditional proxy for touchscreen gestures
- ⚙️ Remappable cursor activation keys and integration with button mappers
- 🔀 Translation of key presses into near-native taps, double taps, long press (and drag), scrolling, and zoom
- ✨ Additional quality-of-life features such as cursor auto-hide and restore, clickable detection, and landscape orientation support
The latest version can be found under releases. You can use GitHub's Watch > Custom > Releases option to be notified of new releases.
Install using the standard package installer. Allow the accessibility service using the banner in the application.
Install using adb:
>> adb install path/to/apk
>> adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services com.austinauyeung.nyuma.c9/com.austinauyeung.nyuma.c9.accessibility.service.AccessibilityService
Refer to the following table to determine if you will need to install Shizuku to use this application:
| Android Version | Shizuku Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Maybe | Shizuku is needed specifically to support features such as long press and drag. This requirement can be overridden, but gestures will be restricted to just clicks. |
| 8, 9, 10 | Maybe | If you are experiencing poor ("blocky") scroll and zoom performance, first try C9 > Developer Options > Improve Non-Shizuku Gestures, which will attempt to dispatch smoother gestures but may stutter. For the most optimal gestures, Shizuku is needed. |
| 11 | Maybe | Shizuku is needed if the application does not work as-is (i.e. no gestures can be dispatched) and/or you have had trouble in the past with other cursor apps. |
| 12+ | No |
Once installed, navigate to, and enable, C9 > Developer Options > Enable Shizuku Integration.
Note that unless your device is rooted, you will need to restart the Shizuku service upon reboot.
- Allegra and Arlie for their support
- Everyone on the releases page for their feature suggestions and bug reports
sam-clubfor extensive initial testingDev-in-the-BMfor initial testing and the Shizuku suggestionanonymousfliphonesfor initial testing
As the package name would suggest, this application is dedicated to my late cat, Nyuma.
The majority of modern applications are touch-oriented. The goal of C9 is to mimic the touchscreen gestures required of these applications as closely as possible by adapting button presses in each of the two cursor modes.
Because of their different navigation paradigms, each cursor mode maps gestures uniquely as will be shown below. While both modes can be enabled simultaneously (by mapping their activation key or shortcut), only one cursor can be active at a time. As a final note, all buttons in the numpad and D-pad are generally reserved/intercepted while the cursor is active.
The grid cursor trades precision for efficiency, taking advantage of the fact that many interactions with UI elements do not require pixel-by-pixel precision. n grid levels produce 9^n points onscreen that can be reached with at most n numpad clicks. The visualizations below show the points that can be reached with two grid levels/clicks (81 points), three grid levels/clicks (729 points), and four grid levels/clicks (6561 points).
| Action | Mapped buttons | Gesture location | Advances grid | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Activate/Deactivate | Hold the internal activation key or use a button mapper to map the "Activate Grid Cursor" shortcut. | N/A | N/A | The default internal activation key is the pound (#) key. This can be remapped or unmapped internally. Avoid using buttons in the D-pad or numpad for activation, as they will clash with the gestures below. |
| Navigate grid | Click numpad 1-9. | The selected number. | True | These buttons rotate with the screen if C9 > Rotate Buttons With Orientation is enabled. |
| Reset back to main grid | Press the internal activation key or use a button mapper to map the "Reset Grid" shortcut. | N/A | N/A | |
| Final Tap | Click numpad 1-9 in the final grid level. | The center of the selected number's cell. | True | These buttons rotate with the screen if C9 > Rotate Buttons With Orientation is enabled. |
| Tap | Click D-pad center. | If a number is first held, the center of its cell in the current grid. Else, center of the screen. | False | |
| Double Tap | Double click D-pad center. | If a number is first held, the center of its cell in the current grid. Else, center of the screen. | False | |
| Scroll | Click D-pad directions. Hold for continuous scrolling. | If a number is first held, the center of its cell in the current grid. Else, center of the screen. | False | These buttons rotate with the screen if C9 > Rotate Buttons With Orientation is enabled.Only one scroll gesture will be dispatched at at time even if the button is press repeatedly unless C9 > Developer Options > Overlapping Gestures is enabled. |
| Zoom | Click star (*) and numpad 0. Hold for continuous zooming. | If a number is first held, the center of its cell in the current grid. Else, center of the screen. | False | Zoom distance is not currently user-configurable. |
| Zoom Fallback | Double click D-pad center and hold, followed by a D-pad up or down scroll gesture. | If a number is first held, the center of its cell in the current grid. Else, center of the screen. | False | This corresonds to a one-finger zoom, with a zoom distance determined by C9 > Scroll Distance. |
A standard cursor is included for actions requiring more precision and for those who strictly prefer a traditional pointer. The demo above shows auto-hiding in text fields as well as long press and drag.
All gestures are dispatched at the tip of the cursor's current location.
| Action | Mapped buttons | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Activate/Deactivate | Hold the internal activation key or use a button mapper to map the "Activate Standard Cursor" shortcut. | The default internal activation key is the star (*) key. This can be remapped or unmapped internally. Avoid using buttons in the D-pad or numpad for activation, as they will clash with the gestures below. |
| Cursor Movement | Click D-pad directions or numpad 2/4/6/8 (depends on control scheme). | These buttons rotate with the screen if C9 > Rotate Buttons With Orientation is enabled. |
| Tap | Click D-pad center or numpad 5. | |
| Double Tap | Double click D-pad center or numpad 5. | |
| Long Press/Drag | Hold D-pad center or numpad 5 to long press, then move cursor to drag. Release D-pad center or numpad 5 to end the gesture. | If C9 > Auto-Hide Cursor in Text Fields is enabled, the cursor needs to be manually restored in order to begin a long press/drag. |
| Scroll | Click D-pad directions or numpad 2/4/6/8 (depends on control scheme). Hold for continuous scrolling. | These buttons rotate with the screen if C9 > Rotate Buttons With Orientation is enabled.Only one scroll gesture will be dispatched at at time even if the button is press repeatedly unless C9 > Developer Options > Overlapping Gestures is enabled. |
| Toggle Move/Scroll | Press the internal activation key or use a button mapper to map the "Toggle Cursor Scroll" shortcut. | This only applies to the control schemes D-pad and Numpad. |
| Zoom | Numpad 1 and 3. Hold for continuous zooming. | Zoom distance is not currently user-configurable. |
| Zoom Fallback | Double click D-pad center and hold, followed by a D-pad up or down move gesture. | This corresonds to a one-finger zoom, with a zoom distance determined by how much the cursor moves up or down. |
- For precise clicks, you can use a) grid cursor mode or b) standard cursor with a low cursor speed and high cursor acceleration.
- In the standard cursor mode, both numpad 5 and D-pad center can be used to initiate a long press and drag. It may be easier to use either the numpad or D-pad to initiate the long press and use the other pad to drag.
- Enable
C9 > Gesture Visualizationto learn what each gesture is doing. - Use
C9 > Auto-Hide Cursor Optionsto auto-hide the cursor in select locations. See Settings for more information.- Automatic restoration is cancelled if any cursor is manually reactivated. Cursor auto-hide will resume the next time any of the enabled locations is observed.
- The standard cursor's last position is saved upon restore.
- In the standard cursor mode, behavior at the edge of the screen can be set with
C9 > Standard Cursor > Screen Edge Behavior. - In the grid cursor mode, quickly navigate to the center of any cell in the current subgrid by pressing that cell's number followed by quick, successive presses of numpad 5.
- When using custom icons for the standard cursor, the following should be noted:
- The top left of the file corresponds to the cursor's position. A tight crop is recommended.
- Cursor performance may be impacted by file size and cursor size. If you are experiencing performance issues, try a smaller cursor size and/or compressing the file.
- Because the file is scaled to fit within a square box, a 1:1 aspect ratio would fit the best, but other aspect ratios can be compensated for by adjusting the cursor size.
- The zoom fallback gestures can be used if an application does not interpret a regular zoom gesture correctly.
- Scroll distance will not exceed the edges of the screen; this behavior can be used on the fly to perform a scroll gesture with a distance smaller than the configured distance.
- Enable
C9 > Developer Options > Ignore Numpadto allow typing while the cursor is activated. This may pair well withC9 > Standard Cursor > Control Schemeset toD-padandC9 > Auto-Hide Cursor Options > Text Fieldsdisabled.
The following settings and values are available.
| Category | Setting | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Grid Cursor | Set Activation Key | Sets the grid cursor activation key. Can be cleared if a button mapper is used instead. Can be cleared to disable the grid cursor. |
| Clear Activation Key | Clears the grid cursor activation key. | |
| Grid Levels | Sets the number of grid levels needed to dispatch a tap. | |
| Persistent Overlay | On: Resets back to the main grid after the final tap.Off: Deactivates the grid after the final tap. |
|
| Background Color | Color of the grid's background. Specified as an ARGB hex value. | |
| Keep Current Grid Transparent | On: The background color will be applied over the entire screen except for the current grid, which remains transparent.Off: The background color will be applied over the entire screen. |
|
| Lines Color | Color of the grid's lines. Specified as an ARGB hex value. | |
| Line Width | Width of the grid's border and inner lines. | |
| Grid Lines | Show: Always show grid lines.Final: Only show grid lines in the final grid level.Hide: Never show grid lines. |
|
| Numbers Color | Color of the grid's numbers. Specified as an ARGB hex value. | |
| Hide Numbers | On: Hides the number in each grid cell.Off: Shows the number in each grid cell. |
|
| Numbers Font Size | Size of the grid's numbers. | |
| Standard Cursor | Set Activation Key | Sets the standard cursor activation key. Can be cleared if a button mapper is used instead. Can be cleared to disable the standard cursor. |
| Clear Activation Key | Clears the standard cursor activation key. | |
| Control Scheme | In the D-pad and Numpad control schemes, toggling is disabled if Activation Duration is 0ms. Scroll mode is indicated by a screen border indicator with a color determined by the Cursor Color setting.Standard: Use D-pad to move and numpad to scroll.Swapped: Use D-pad to scroll and numpad to move.D-pad: Use D-pad to move and scroll. Toggle between the two using the activation key or the button mapper shortcut.Numpad: Use numpad to move and scroll. Toggle between the two using the activation key or the button mapper shortcut. |
|
| Screen Edge Behavior | None: Cursor remains at the edge of the screen.Wrap: Cursor wraps to the opposite side.Scroll: Continuously scroll slowly in the direction of the edge. |
|
| Cursor Speed | Cursor's base speed without acceleration. Maximum base speed of 10. |
|
| Cursor Acceleration | Cursor's accelerated speed. 0 denotes no acceleration of base speed. Maximum acceleration of 10. All base speeds have the same maximum accelerated speed. |
|
| Cursor Acceleration Start | Duration after which base speed begins accelerating if the cursor is still moving. | |
| Cursor Acceleration Duration | Duration after which accelerated speed is reached after cursor begins acceleration. | |
| Show Location Clickable | On: The cursor will attempt to determine if its current location is clickable and, if so, show an indicator. May affect performance, although this check is only evaluated once each time the cursor stops moving.Off: The cursor will not evaluate its current location. |
|
| Application List Type | Allow: The cursor will show clickable locations only for the selected apps.Deny: The cursor will always show clickable locations except for the selected apps. |
|
| Select Applications | Enables/disables the clickable indicator for any application in the app drawer plus the stock launcher. | |
| Cursor Size | Size of the cursor. | |
| Smooth Cursor Corners | On: Round out the corners of the cursor.Off: Use default icon. |
|
| Cursor Color | Color of the cursor's body with a fixed opacity of 70%. Specified as an RGB hex value. |
|
| Match Border to Body | On: Cursor border is set to cursor body color except with 100%.Off: Cursor border is set to black. |
|
| Custom Cursor Icons | On: Enables user to set custom icons.Off: Cursor icon is set to the default icon. |
|
| Change Icon | Opens system picker for file selection and saves the selected file inside the application. Supported formats include png, gif, jpg/jpeg, bmp, and webp. See Recommendations for more information. | |
| Icon Alignment | Top left: Cursor is aligned to the top-left of the cursor icon.Center: Cursor is aligned to the center of the cursor icon. |
|
| Clear Icon | Deletes the saved file from the application and falls back to the base custom cursor icon or default cursor icon. | |
| Auto-Hide Cursor Options | Text Fields | On: Hide the cursor when a text field opens a keyboard, and restore the cursor when the keyboard closes.Off: Never auto-hide the cursor in text fields. |
| Lock Screen | This setting applies only when a screen lock has been configured.On: Hide the cursor when the device locks, and restore the cursor when the device unlocks.Off: Never auto-hide the cursor in the lock screen. |
|
| Application List Type | This setting can be temporarily overridden by manual activation. Specifically, if a cursor is auto-hidden and then manually reactivated (i.e. not auto-restored), the cursor will remain activated in the current application until any of the rules set by C9 > Auto-Hide Cursor Options are re-triggered (i.e. a keyboard is opened or the foreground application changes).Allow: The cursor will auto-show inside selected applications and auto-hide otherwise.Deny: The cursor will auto-hide inside selected applications and auto-show otherwise. |
|
| Select Applications | Enables auto-hide/show for any application in the app drawer plus the stock launcher. | |
| Common Gesture Options | Gesture Style | Fixed 1: Scrolls are controlled and fixed distance. In non-Shizuku scrolling, this may work better on media and in other places.Fixed 2: Enforces fixed distance scrolling more strongly than Fixed 1. In non-Shizuku scrolling, this may work better in browsers and other places. Not applicable when Shizuku integration is enabled.Inertia: Scrolls resemble flicks. |
| Gesture Visualization | On: Show visualizations for all gestures.Off: Hide all visualizations. |
|
| Gesture Visualization Size | Size of visualization icon. | |
| Scroll Options | Natural Scrolling | On: Pressing up will cause content to scroll down, etc.Off: Pressing up will cause content to scroll up, etc. |
| Scroll Duration | Duration of scroll gestures. The standard cursor's Scroll screen edge behavior defaults to the maximum of this range. |
|
| Scroll Distance | Distance scrolled in proportion to the corresponding axis. Example: If set to 50% and when scrolling up, the cursor will attempt to scroll 50% of the screen's height but will not exceed the top of the screen. |
|
| Advanced Scrolling | On: Enables settings to accelerate continuous scrolling decelerate edge scrolling.Off: Returns continuous scrolling and edge scrolling to their default behavior and hides their settings. |
|
| Continuous Scroll Duration | This setting requires Advanced Scrolling to be enabled.Duration of scroll gestures during continuous scrolling. This is upper bounded by Scroll Duration for accelerated scrolling. |
|
| Continuous Scroll Distance | This setting requires Advanced Scrolling to be enabled.Distance scrolled in proportion to the corresponding axis during continuous scrolling. This is lower bounded by Scroll Distance for accelerated scrolling. |
|
| Acceleration Start | Duration after which scroll duration and scroll distance begin accelerating towards continuous scroll duration and continuous scroll distance, respectively, once continuous scrolling is active. | |
| Acceleration Duration | Duration after which continuous scroll duration and continuous scroll distance are reached after scrolling begins acceleration. | |
| Edge Scroll Duration | This setting requires Advanced Scrolling to be enabled and the standard cursor's screen edge behavior set to Scroll.Duration of scroll gestures during edge scrolling. This is lower bounded by Scroll Duration for decelerated scrolling. |
|
| Edge Scroll Distance | This setting requires Advanced Scrolling to be enabled and the standard cursor's screen edge behavior set to Scroll.Distance scrolled in proportion to the corresponding axis during edge scrolling. This is upper bounded Scroll Distance for decelerated scrolling. |
|
| Zoom Options | Zoom Duration | Duration of zoom gestures. |
| Zoom Distance | Distance zoomed in proportion to the y-axis. | |
| General | Activation Duration | Duration until cursor (de)activation. Does not apply to third-party button mappers. If set to 0ms, the buttons used for activation will be completely intercepted by this application, and the following features will be disabled: Reset back to main grid in the grid cursor and Toggle Move/Scroll in the standard cursor. |
| Rotate Buttons With Orientation | On: Rotate the D-pad and numpad along with the screen. Off: D-pad and numpad behave as though the screen is always in portrait mode. |
|
| Show Notification Icon | On: Show a notification icon when any cursor is activated/visible and a separate notification icon when any cursor is autohidden. Off: Do not show a notification icon. |
|
| Developer Options | Enable Shizuku Integration | This setting is force enabled by default on Android 7 devices.On: Cursor will authorize with Shizuku and, if authorized, dispatch gestures using Shizuku.Off: Cursor will use the default gesture dispatch. |
| Android 7 Override | This setting only applies to Android 7 device.On: Removes the Shizuku integration requirement, but all gestures are unsupported without Shizuku except for clicks.Off: Maintains Shizuku requirement to support all gestures. |
|
| Overlapping Gestures | This setting applies only to manual gestures, not those dispatched during a continuous gesture via a held button.On: New scrolls and zooms can be immediately dispatched before any prior gesture ends. Currently not recommended for use with Shizuku.Off: Scroll and zoom button presses are ignored until any prior gesture ends. |
|
| Improve Non-Shizuku Gestures | This setting does not apply if Shizuku is active, and it is recommended only for Android versions 8-10 if poor gesture performance is observed.On: Scrolls and zooms become smoother at the expense of possible stutter.Off: Cursor will use the default gesture dispatch. |
|
| Use Physical Size | On: Cursor will use the screen's physical dimensions to overlay.Off: Cursor will not overlay on top of any navigation bars. |
|
| Ignore Numpad | On: Cursor will ignore any actions associated with numpad buttons, except for activation.Off: Actions associated with numpad buttons will remain enabled. |
|
| Allow Passthrough | This setting was only added to allow the backlight of the Vortex V3 to function.On: Cursor will process but not intercept key presses. Not recommended.Off: Cursor will both process and intercept key presses. Default behavior. |
A green banner on the main page indicates that Shizuku authorization has been granted to C9. Only the third screenshot below indicates successful authorization.
If you are unable to deactivate the cursor, clear the internal activation key, which unmaps that cursor and hides any active cursor, even if it was activated using a button mapper.
You can use the issues tab for both.
Please feel free to submit a pull request, create a video walkthrough, confirm your device's compatibility, or provide anything else you think would be helpful!
Shizuku allows applications in general to perform actions that require elevated privileges. In C9, it is required to dispatch gestures on Android 11 using InputManager instead of the standard dispatch using AccessibilityService.