Database Users

Single Handed Input method?

I am looking for a better way of one handed use. I would wonder pretty much if not someone else has thought about that as well...
Isn't there an input method that works by just using the jog dial? I mean something like:
UP - change current letter to next one (so change from "a" to "b", "c", ...)
DOWN - just vice-versa
RIGHT - add one character
LEFT delete one character
FITE - enter
Why I want that? To have a method to select a contact for a call by just using one hand in the car...
Any suggestions?

O god no
Better would be :
Keyboard on-screen, use the jog-button to move a 'cursor' over the screen. for example a key on the keyboard turns blue if the cursor is on top. Press the jog-button to select...
then you can move around on the keyboard and 'tap' key's onehanded..

ImagiNet Finger Clix will help you
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10595

jpiek said:
Better would be :
Keyboard on-screen, use the jog-button to move a 'cursor' over the screen. for example a key on the keyboard turns blue if the cursor is on top. Press the jog-button to select...
then you can move around on the keyboard and 'tap' key's onehanded..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate, I like your thinking, but how would you i.e. delete a digit if you tyoed the wrong key then?

farnold said:
jpiek said:
Better would be :
Keyboard on-screen, use the jog-button to move a 'cursor' over the screen. for example a key on the keyboard turns blue if the cursor is on top. Press the jog-button to select...
then you can move around on the keyboard and 'tap' key's onehanded..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate, I like your thinking, but how would you i.e. delete a digit if you tyoed the wrong key then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you normally do with the stylus on the keyboard: With the backspace key
It's just alike typeing on the keyboard with the stylus, the only thing you cant't do is tap 'start' or 'ok'

Finger Clix is FREE to Imate users BTW..... www.clubimate.com to download.

jpiek said:
farnold said:
jpiek said:
Better would be :
Keyboard on-screen, use the jog-button to move a 'cursor' over the screen. for example a key on the keyboard turns blue if the cursor is on top. Press the jog-button to select...
then you can move around on the keyboard and 'tap' key's onehanded..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate, I like your thinking, but how would you i.e. delete a digit if you tyoed the wrong key then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you normally do with the stylus on the keyboard: With the backspace key
It's just alike typeing on the keyboard with the stylus, the only thing you cant't do is tap 'start' or 'ok'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, Johan, I think you missed my point, mate I want to use only my left hand while driving or walking... no stylus possible then...
I find it surprising that I seem to identify this as a problem while you all seem to be pretty happy the way you do it... am I missing something there?

Phone Plus
Check out Phone Plus:
http://www5.domaindlx.com/phoneplus/features.htm

Thanks, Jargon. I saw that and I have to admit it's probably the one coming closest to what I am looking for.
New and improved PhonePlus! version.
Much faster, less memory uses, more skins, more connectivity features, 2003 enabled, and much much more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might require some waiting for the XDA II version though

farnold said:
jpiek said:
farnold said:
Mate, I like your thinking, but how would you i.e. delete a digit if you tyoed the wrong key then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you normally do with the stylus on the keyboard: With the backspace key
It's just alike typeing on the keyboard with the stylus, the only thing you cant't do is tap 'start' or 'ok'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, Johan, I think you missed my point, mate I want to use only my left hand while driving or walking... no stylus possible then...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read again... just go with the jog-button to the backspace key and press the jog-button...

OK, Johan, you're right there, mate! I installed it and played a bit with it. Yes, I can use it with just one hand, but puh... that browsing through contacts is not really a solution for me. I've got around 3,000 contacts in Outlook and they only way to use T9 is - again - either the fingers on the screen or the pen which both require more than just one hand. I was hoping I could actuallu select the keys via d-pad...

Athena keyboard

How is the keyboard tactile feedback? Can you type without quickly getting your fingers tired? Is it backlit?

Are number keys intelligent
unlike Jasjar/ Universal I do not see any dedicated number keys at the top row. Are the number keys intelligent to automatically identify number fields or do I have to press some function or blue key etc to activate numbers?

manu407 said:
How is the keyboard tactile feedback? Can you type without quickly getting your fingers tired? Is it backlit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No backlit

Heijdemann said:
No backlit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it mean don't have light on keyboard? How to type in the dark?

cornelius said:
Does it mean don't have light on keyboard? How to type in the dark?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very surprising...Not backlit!?!? However, when you consider that it has a whopping 5" screen glaring down onto the keyboard, you may also see that there is no point in backlighting the keys.

After using the keyboard, I can say that not having backlit is not an issue at all as there is already a hugh torchlight (the screen) shinning on it. The feel and feedback is also acceptable. The biggest weakness is the way keys are set out.
1. there should be a row of number key in addition to the keypad style layout.
2. the numeric keypad should have followed the computer and calculator style (with 7 8 9 on top and 123 at the bottom) instead of mobile phone format (where 123 is on top and 789 is at the bottom). The commonly used spreadsheet/calculator symbols such as + - * / ( ) are normally used at the sakme time. The should be activated by the same special function key. The should be laid out to be as logically as possible rather than all over the place as currently the case.
3. The most common punctuation marks should be accessable without having to first press shift or special function key abd should be tyoed by the right hand. All other punctuation marks and special characters should have been activated in the sane way as capital letters.i.e. via the shift key. In other word, when the shift key is pressed, we should be able to access all symbols and capital letters. It is radiculos to have to keep switching between pressing the shift key and special function key now.
4. the letter Z must go directly below A to have any chance of fast typing. All keyboards are done that way except this one.
In my next posting, I'll show my preferred keyboard layout.

This might help. Lots of opinions on the keyboard, and some suggestions on alternatives.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=303399

Cursor Madness...

I have a question on how to make this phone better... I've never used the iPhone really, other than to jailbreak it for my fiancee. Now that I have the Vibrant, I noticed ridiculously difficult it is to place your cursor in a particular spot. You can't use a stylus, there's no "magnifying glass" like the iPhone has, and there are no arrow buttons on the on-screen keyboard (as there was on my HTC Touch Pro 2). Basically, it'll take me 5-6 taps (or more) to get the cursor where I want it.
Is there any app or hack that can fix this?

If you are using samsung keyboard, then keep pressing the "123" button until more controls shows up, theres cursor control.

You can flash or wait for froyo release it comes with a cursor

Thanks to both of you. The 123 option is a PITA, but it's something. Good to know that Froyo is gonna have a cursor. Thank goodness....

Flapjack said:
Thanks to both of you. The 123 option is a PITA, but it's something. Good to know that Froyo is gonna have a cursor. Thank goodness....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't the 123 option to work. When I press the 123 button, I get four pages of symbols... no directional cursor movements. What am I doing wrong?

If you are using the Swype keyboard, drag your finger from the Swype info button (bottom left corner) to the SYM key (next one to the right). Several cursor control options there, plus a few other handy items.
Also, if you didn't know, dragging from the Swype info button to the "F" key will switch the keyboard into a number keypad.

Flapjack said:
I couldn't the 123 option to work. When I press the 123 button, I get four pages of symbols... no directional cursor movements. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to hold 123, not just click it.

BronzedDroid said:
You need to hold 123, not just click it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. Thanks for the help. It's exactly what I needed. Will hold me off until Froyo.

Alternativelly you can use the HTC_IME (which is the HTC keyboard) and set the volume buttons to work as up and down. Pretty handy when you want the cursor to skip a few characters. Though indeed the lack of cursor buttons always visible on the keyboard is kind of irritating especially if you come from an HTC.

stormrain said:
Alternativelly you can use the HTC_IME (which is the HTC keyboard) and set the volume buttons to work as up and down. Pretty handy when you want the cursor to skip a few characters. Though indeed the lack of cursor buttons always visible on the keyboard is kind of irritating especially if you come from an HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually went through the process of installing the HTC keyboard, which I loved on my Touch Pro 2. It was laggy as hell and basically unusable. I also did not notice any directional arrows.
I've been meaning to try that keyboard again, since I did the one-touch lag fix. I'll do that right now.
**EDIT**
I can't find the option to use the volume buttons to move the cursor. It's also nowhere near as fast as the Samsung keyboard. Not sure why, but I have to seriously slow down my typing to get it to recognize each key press individually. I was hoping it would be better once I did the lag fix. I guess it's a separate issue...

Flapjack said:
I actually went through the process of installing the HTC keyboard, which I loved on my Touch Pro 2. It was laggy as hell and basically unusable. I also did not notice any directional arrows.
I've been meaning to try that keyboard again, since I did the one-touch lag fix. I'll do that right now.
**EDIT**
I can't find the option to use the volume buttons to move the cursor. It's also nowhere near as fast as the Samsung keyboard. Not sure why, but I have to seriously slow down my typing to get it to recognize each key press individually. I was hoping it would be better once I did the lag fix. I guess it's a separate issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm I do not have any lag issues with the keyboard.
Have you tried Calibrating it? That option is in Settings (within the program, activated by long pressing the language toggle key)>Text Input>Calibration tool.
Unfortunatelly, indeed, there are no directional arrows in the layout.
The option to set the volume buttons is in Settings (again, within the keyboard itself)>User Interface>Volume Keys.
EDIT: I don't really have any opinion about the default samsung keyboard as it does not support my language (go figure lol) so I have never used it.

[Q] Quick way to switch between keyboards...?

Is there a quick way of changing the keyboard? I find I use QWERTY for some apps, Phone Pad in other apps....

long press (3 secs or so) on the screen where you are typing, then release, you should get a pop up displaying, "input method" or something like it, click it and select they keyboard you want from the list.
that's it

paulus_01 said:
long press (3 secs or so) on the screen where you are typing, then release, you should get a pop up displaying, "input method" or something like it, click it and select they keyboard you want from the list.
that's it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply.... however that doesn't work for me. When I long-press I get text select/copy/paste options.

paulus_01 said:
long press (3 secs or so) on the screen where you are typing, then release, you should get a pop up displaying, "input method" or something like it, click it and select they keyboard you want from the list.
that's it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats for changing the version of keypad youre using. Think the op still wants the HTC keypad just a quick option from moving between phone keypad and qwerty.
Id also like a quick way of swapping. Used to have it on my other HTCs with a settings key on bottom left but isnt there on this one.
Only 2 options i can think of. 1) install the HTC_IME keypad mod from another phone or 2) quickest way is to turn phone to landscape mode.

Keyboard Manager
I think this is what you are looking for, but you need to be rooted. http://www.droid-life.com/2010/11/1...oose-keyboard-depending-on-phone-orientation/

skimminstones said:
Thats for changing the version of keypad youre using. Think the op still wants the HTC keypad just a quick option from moving between phone keypad and qwerty.
Id also like a quick way of swapping. Used to have it on my other HTCs with a settings key on bottom left but isnt there on this one.
Only 2 options i can think of. 1) install the HTC_IME keypad mod from another phone or 2) quickest way is to turn phone to landscape mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, if so, the question posted is really unclear
so to test my understanding, if I use the keyboard that came with the phone, on the bottom right (in portrait mode) there is this button [12#], if I press this, I get a keyboard for symbols & numbers, this is not what you mean?
Or do you really want a keypad, like your keyboard has or the phone option shows?

fount a new keyboard feature

hi all i came across by accidentally.. when in keyboard mode ie typing if you swipe or finger from left to right it changes the keys to the number selection screen. so no more tapping the number page button,

DAMIEN123_666 said:
hi all i came across by accidentally.. when in keyboard mode ie typing if you swipe or finger from left to right it changes the keys to the number selection screen. so no more tapping the number page button,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's not how it works.
swype from the swype-key to 5 and it will open the keypad
swype from the swype-key to the option-key and will open a edit-menu

I think he's talking about the other keyboard. Swype had other commands, too, such as:
Select All - Swype from Swype key to letter A
Copy - Swype to C
Paste - Swype to V

Omg thats soo helpful. Thanks for pointing that out!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

maxh said:
I think he's talking about the other keyboard. Swype had other commands, too, such as:
Select All - Swype from Swype key to letter A
Copy - Swype to C
Paste - Swype to V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess what, i didn't thought about that. I tested it on the normal keyboard and indeed it works.
Btw great tip
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

He's talking about Samsung Keypad. Thanks for the tip

Nice find,and to add also tap and hold space key than swipe left or right to change keyboard languageI'm sure there are other tricks as well.

DAMIEN123_666 said:
hi all i came across by accidentally.. when in keyboard mode ie typing if you swipe or finger from left to right it changes the keys to the number selection screen. so no more tapping the number page button,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems less reliable in it,s action, and more work than just tapping the number key.
This feature can be turned on or off in the keyboard settings.

Wow... thanks a lot! I also works on my Smart Keyboard Pro