Pie control on Android (Vanilla RootBox v4.0)

A 7-inch tablet is convenient. It's light, usuable with one hand, and is big enough to actually do/view stuff on. One bad thing is that Jelly Bean is pretty much stuck with the black navigation bar at the bottom ALL THE TIME. Pie controls offer a solution to getting back that screen real estate without sacrificing ease of navigation (going Back, Home, accessing the context Menu, etc.) Compare the next two screenshots for the effect:

 

You can see quite a bit more stuff

Plus, it looks pretty good.

Here's how you enable it.

The short guide:

- Settings > RootBox Settings > Pie Controls > tick to enable Pie controls

- Settings > RootBox Settings > Expanded Desktop > Hold power button for 2~3 seconds > Choose to expand your desktop

You will lose the navigation bar at the bottom (and the status bar up top, but we'll get this back later if you like it). Pie can now be activated by sliding (or just putting) your finger on the chosen edge.

(I'll explain the options after the long guide).

The long guide:

Settings > RootBox Settings

Pie Controls

Tick the Pie controls option to enable, then customize your Pie.

Now, to enable Expanded Desktop:

Go back to Settings > RootBox Settings and tick the Expanded Desktop box:

Hold the power button down for 2~3 seconds to access the Power Menu. Choose to enable the Expanded Desktop mode. You will lose the navigation bar at the bottom (and the status bar up top, but we'll get this back later if you like it).

Pie can now be activated by sliding (or just putting) your finger on the chosen edge.

Before I go into the options, let's get back that status bar up top since it has information of interest.

Short guide:

Settings > ROM Control > Navigation Bar > (scroll all the way down) > Hidden NavBar Enable

Picture guide:

This will make a small grey-ish knob appear at the bottom edge in the middle, it's the handle (with which you drag the nav bar up to use). Adjust its size with the Drag Handle Width slider and its visibility with the Drag Handle Opacity slider (0 for invisible, it's still there to use though).

You can now disable Expanded Desktop mode (Hold power button for 2~3 seconds) and still get to use Pie.

Now, customize your Pie.

These settings are all in Settings > RootBox Settings > Pie controls

Options: blue = potentially interesting

• Trigger size: How big the area that will trigger the Pie should be. This decides how precise your finger has to be to trigger it. I just leave mine at maximum since I use Pie all the time.
• Pie Gravity: Where (among the 3 locations) your Pie is. Unfortunately RootBox does not allow you to use Pie in more than one place. I use mine on the right since I handle my devices single-handedly. You might like Bottom.
• Pie Size: How big the Pie is. Just an aesthetics issue.
• Pie Style: How (fast) the complete Pie will animate. Activate your Pie and hold it for a short while if you don't know what a "complete Pie" is.
• Pie Gap: The size of the gaps between each navigation button. 
• Chevron Targets: These are neat. Essentially, the region of the screen beyond the Pie is divided into two parts. If you trigger the Pie then slide your finger to one of them, it will bring up either the Notification panel (new emails, missed calls, text messages, etc.) or the Quick Settings panel. There's no downside to enabling them.
• Prevent Rotation: If your Pie triggers on the side near the USB port, it will always trigger there.
• Center Pie: Whether the Pie will be at the center no matter where your finger is (if checked), or it will be centered at your finger (if unchecked).
• The last 3 are just optional buttons. Choose the ones you use often (probably Menu is one of them, Google Now may be another).

Go to Pie Color Settings in Pie Controls and enable the color settings. I have no aesthetics sense so mine often look quite clashing whenever I try to do it.