feat: quick button lock for pocketing without sleep

[gershalfred]

I prototyped a narrow Quick Lock feature for the top/power button and wanted to surface it for maintainer review before assuming it belongs in CrossInk.

Use case

Sometimes you want to quickly stash the reader in a pocket/bag while keeping the current page visible and the device awake. Sleeping is safe, but it is heavier than needed when you only need to pause for a few seconds/minutes and avoid accidental page turns or menu actions.

Proposed behavior

Add a configurable Quick Lock action to the existing power-button action settings:

• available for Short-press Action or Long-press Action
• pressing the configured top-button gesture toggles Quick Lock on/off
• while locked, the device stays awake and the current screen remains visible
• normal activity input is swallowed, so page/menu/navigation buttons do not fire
• unlocking uses the same configured top-button gesture

Prototype implementation

I have a small patch here:

https://gist.github.com/gershalfred/472a37e5e05355e5273bfce31e7d9c08

Branch:
https://github.com/gershalfred/crossink-reader/tree/feature/quick-button-lock

The implementation is intentionally scoped down:

• no persistent lock state
• no sleep-screen/security model
• no button-combo remapping
• no reader-specific logic
• no heap allocation
• just a runtime input gate plus one new power-button action option

Prior art / scope note

CrossPoint had related button-lock PRs before, but they were closed as out of scope / tied to broader lock-screen discussion. This proposal is narrower: a temporary pocket lock for active reading, not a full transport/security lock.

Validation

• git diff --check passed
• pio run -e simulator was attempted but currently fails on current main before this feature is meaningfully tested because the simulator WiFi.disconnect(bool, bool) stub does not match the call WiFi.disconnect(false, false, 1000) in src/activities/network/WifiSelectionActivity.cpp
• pio run -e default was attempted but is blocked in this checkout by the existing PlatformIO SDK layout issue: open-x4-sdk/libs/hardware/BatteryMonitor is missing / not a directory

Hardware verification request

If this seems in-scope, the hardware test is:

1. Set Long-press Action to Quick Lock.
2. Open a book or any normal screen.
3. Long-press the top button.
4. Confirm a brief “Buttons locked” popup appears and the previous screen returns.
5. Press page/menu/navigation buttons and confirm nothing changes.
6. Long-press the top button again.
7. Confirm “Buttons unlocked” appears and normal controls resume.
8. Confirm the device does not auto-sleep while quick-locked.

Happy to restage this differently if a PR from my fork path becomes available or if you prefer a different unlock gesture.

[forteller]

I think this is a great idea, and I thought of it myself before seeing it here, because I several times felt the need for it.

I would suggest that turning on the button lock would take one short press on the power button, while turning it off again could take two short presses on the power button. This way long press is still available for turning off the device, while you also have lesser chance of turning off the button lock by chance.

Thank you!

[HangrySnorlax]

I would love this because sometimes I have to walk away and I don't want that to affect my reader stats 😭

[uxjulia]

Set your Settings > System > Reading Stats > Idle Time Threshold to something just a bit over how long it usually takes you to read 1 page, and your reading stats won't be affected if the page doesn't turn under that time.

[rodrigo-om]

Yes please! It's exactly what's on my mind everytime I pick it up, I'm surprised something like this doesn't exist yet. +1!

[forteller]

@gershalfred: Since you mention that the previous attempts in CrossPoint, that where closed, where different from this – have you tried suggesting this for CrossPoint before going to CrossInk? :)

[gershalfred]

Good question — no, I haven’t proposed this exact narrow Quick Lock behavior to CrossPoint yet. I was referring to earlier related CrossPoint lock/button proposals from other contributors, not a previous proposal of my own.

I prototyped it against CrossInk because that was the codebase and device path I was actively testing, but the underlying use case is relevant to CrossPoint too. I’ll look for the best existing CrossPoint discussion to extend rather than opening a duplicate, and link the two threads if appropriate. Thanks for flagging that.

[gershalfred]

Hardware-tested follow-up from the X3 prototype work:

I now have this working on a real Xteink X3 using a branch based on CrossInk v1.4.0.

Confirmed on hardware

• Quick Lock keeps the current page visible and the device awake.
• Normal buttons, navigation, menus, and activity input are suppressed while locked.
• Short Power unlocks; the long-Power safety/deep-sleep path remains available.
• Lock state is runtime-only and clears on reboot.
• Reading statistics pause while locked and resume the same session after unlock, preserving accumulated time, page turns, progress, and pace context.
• A small persistent lock indicator appears in the bottom-left; the earlier lock/unlock popup messages were removed.
• Existing books and settings survived the firmware update.

Configurable chord

The existing Power + Right screenshot chord is now a persisted setting. Screenshot remains the default for backward compatibility. The available actions are grouped as:

1. Quick Lock
2. Sleep
3. Power Off
4. Next Page
5. Previous Page
6. Screenshot
7. Browser
8. KOReader Sync
9. Disabled

The Power Button submenu is ordered Short Press → Long Press → Power + Right. Next/Previous Page reuse the normal reader input path rather than duplicating page-turn logic. KOReader Sync reuses the existing global sync flow; this does not claim to address the separate active-sync re-entry crash report.

Validation

• Quick Lock and the persistent indicator are confirmed working on X3 hardware.
• Focused stats pause/resume tests pass.
• The final clean branch builds successfully for ESP32-C3 and fits the OTA partition with 1,060,320 bytes free.
• The final menu ordering and KOReader Sync option are build-verified and awaiting one last hardware pass.

Clean candidate branch:
https://github.com/gershalfred/CrossInk/tree/feature/x3-v1.4-quick-lock-power-chord-public

I have not opened a PR because this now spans several separable pieces. Would you be interested in any of these, and if so would you prefer separate PRs for (1) Quick Lock, (2) reading-statistics pause/resume, and (3) configurable Power + Right actions?

[forteller]

That's awesome! I really want this Quick Lock feature! But I hope you'll be able to get it into CrossPoint, so that hopefully many more forks of it also gets it, not just CrossInk. :)

What do you think of my idea, mentioned above, to use to short presses to unlock, as a method to avoid accidental unlocks?

[gershalfred]

I have implemented quick lock for myself and it is working and serves a valid purpose. it's instant being one of them. I will submit it for review.

…

On Sun, Jul 26, 2026, 1:19 PM Julia ***@***.***> wrote: Set your Settings > System > Reading Stats > Idle Time Threshold to something just a bit over how long it usually takes you to read 1 page, and your reading stats won't be affected if the page doesn't turn under that time. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#330?email_source=notifications&email_token=B6BPJJEGW3BXJXHHD3QT2UL5GY4TPA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZXHA4DSOJYUZZGKYLTN5XKO3LFNZ2GS33OUVSXMZLOOSWGM33PORSXEX3DNRUWG2Y#discussioncomment-17788998>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B6BPJJG37RVD7AIMBKTGKFL5GY4TPAVCNFSNUABJKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMYTCOBQHE4TGNJYHE5UI2LTMN2XG43JN5XDWMJQGM2DMOBTGCQXMAQ> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/B6BPJJFA3YTNC4QTYYKBW2L5GY4TPA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZXHA4DSOJYUZZGKYLTN5XKO3LFNZ2GS33OUVSXMZLOOSVGM33PORSXEX3JN5ZQ> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/B6BPJJG5CYSFJ3F6BRWRW235GY4TPA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNZXHA4DSOJYUZZGKYLTN5XKO3LFNZ2GS33OUVSXMZLOOSXGM33PORSXEX3BNZSHE33JMQ>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>