Database Users

Best Keyboard for the HD?

Hi I'm currently using PocketCM Keyboard which is better than the default but a bit frustrating when having to use !&- etc as you have to switch to numbers then to exclamations...
I was wondering if anyone have found a better keyboard (perhaps like the iphone with everything on the one screen) but still takes advantage of the screen size?

JetMouse, you know you can easily customise the layout of PocketCM Keyboard to suit your needs? It's as easy as editing a text file to control which symbols appear on which buttons. Since I did that it's easily become my favourite software on my Touch.

SiliconS said:
JetMouse, you know you can easily customise the layout of PocketCM Keyboard to suit your needs? It's as easy as editing a text file to control which symbols appear on which buttons. Since I did that it's easily become my favourite software on my Touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I didn't know this - can you run me through how to do it?

JetMouse said:
Hi I'm currently using PocketCM Keyboard which is better than the default but a bit frustrating when having to use !&- etc as you have to switch to numbers then to exclamations...
I was wondering if anyone have found a better keyboard (perhaps like the iphone with everything on the one screen) but still takes advantage of the screen size?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use SPB Keyboard (the new one, version 4.0) with fullscreen mode. The non-fullscreen mode is pretty much iphone-like. Don't know if it's "better" - to my taste the stock one is just perfect in all respects except for lack of support for Russian, which I need. Unlike most other keyboards, it has arrows which compensate the absense of the dpad on the device.

Sure thing:
Connect your PocketPC to your computer so you can browse the contents of the device.
Browse to \Program Files\PCMKeyboard
Copy English.layout (or whichever one you're using) to your computer's desktop
Make a backup of the file, just in case
Open the live file with Notepad
You can see four lines labelled keyboard_layout_#=
Edit the characters in those lines to change the symbols on the keys in PocketCM Keyboard
Each of the four lines contains a complete template for the keyboard. Rows are separated by the \n (newline) combination
There are some shortcuts to create special-purpose keys:
\2 seems to be uppercase
\1 seems to be lowercase
\b is backspace
\M is the symbol/text toggle button
\N is the enter key
There is a way of including smilies or combinations of characters on single keys, but I can't remember how. I also can't remember how to edit the row of quick symbols you see if you hold down the '123#?' button
Once you've made your changes, save the file on your computer and copy it back over to the PocketPC.
You'll need to choose a different softinput thing and then go back to PCM Keyboard to see the changes.
Don't forget to save the file somewhere in case you upgrade to a newer version of PCM Keyboard.

My favourite keyboard is Tengo. Allows very fast and forgiving typing. You might like to try it. I hope it works on Touch HD cos I have not got one to try on yet.
They have a free version, a commercial regular version, and a commercial thumb version.

the best keyboard for me is touchpal from http://www.cootek.com/
so many improvements

prospects said:
the best keyboard for me is touchpal from http://www.cootek.com/
so many improvements
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it compatible with the TOUCH HD

Touchpal
I think Touchpal is the best.

iznee said:
is it compatible with the TOUCH HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tested it, yes it is 100% compatible.
I love this keyboard, but I am trying to get it to run using the Dutch language. It is so blazing fast and accurate in English using the suretype layout, it's not even funny. I SWEAR I cannot type faster using a hardware keyboard, simply because of the fact that it is just as accurate, has big enough keys to type blind, and you don't actually have to depress a button so... works for me
Still stuck with the trial version though...
Only thing that I still gotta get used to is switching keyboards using a finger slide, I just keep pressing buttons instead of triggering the slide really cool function though as it saves button space and basically is just cool to show people
Thanks for the tip people!
EDIT:
Got my own language it in it now, easy... Also really easy to switch languages... Just pull down the ABC key and pick one. This does reveal some non-skinned ugly winmo buttons though, even while the rest of the keyboard is Diamond skinned.

wfhowell said:
I think Touchpal is the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely Agree, it is very usefull, Fast and easy to use Keyboard

TouchPal
I would at least try the demo of this. I personally prefer TouchPal to a Blackberry hardware keyboard. I am serious. The seplling correction and word prediction is simply amazing. Completely altered my view of software keyboards.
BTW- I am 6' 2" and weigh 220 with BIG hands, and Have been happy with TouchPal since the first Touch.

Alternative Keyboard SIP for X1

Hi All,
I am sure I am not the only one to find that the keyboard SIP on the X1 is too small.
Can anyone recommend a larger keyboard to work in verticle mode ? I am hopping to be able to use my fingers to do the typing instead of pulling the stylus out everytime. Something like the size of the Iphone keyboard or the Samsung Omnia keyboard would be perfect. I also like the short "vibrate" feedback feel when you type. Anyone feeling the same ?

Here...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=441439

Additionally to the probably not quite legal copy of the HD's keyboard, there'd be also solutions like PCM keyboard (VGA skin required!), TouchPal, SPB Keyboard, and so on...

Mort said:
Additionally to the probably not quite legal copy of the HD's keyboard, there'd be also solutions like PCM keyboard (VGA skin required!), TouchPal, SPB Keyboard, and so on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you try PCM Keyboard then you must not choose VGA but WVGA skin

FingerKeyboard2. It's amazing and should probably be on every touchscreen phone in the world.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/sho...um.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=487677

The letters on the diamond keyboard i installed used to be in bold, now they look thin and ugly after a soft reset for some reason, how to change it back?

THESpideyWVU said:
FingerKeyboard2. It's amazing and should probably be on every touchscreen phone in the world.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/sho...um.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=487677
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Better than the new SE keyboard if you don't use XT9.

I second that. FingerKeyboard is the best by far. Lots of different layout are already available, but it takes you a few minutes to customize it the way you like it.

Jabe said:
I second that. FingerKeyboard is the best by far. Lots of different layout are already available, but it takes you a few minutes to customize it the way you like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thirded, ignore all other suggestions, they really don't come close to Fingerkeyboard 2

I am looking for keyboard with normal phone keypad instead of the QWERTY or Full QWERTY keyboard?
Any besides the Touch HD Keyboard and original X1 ROM R3A keyboard?

Any reason this 5-month old thread got ressurrected?

alternative onscreen keyboard

Hi,
does anyone know an alternative onscreen keyboard application (apart from TF3D).
To me it seems the X1 onscreen keyboard is pretty much unusable without the stylus.
Thx in advance,
Sinergy

I use the SPB keyboard, i prefer it to the blackstone keyboard purely on the basis that the blackstone doesn't mess up with the predictive text of my X1.
the SPB has feedback options with vibration/sound, supports many languages and the skin fits nicely with the menus etc

my 2 cents: (copied from the my post at the inxperia forums)
THE FREE:
-------------------------
HTC Keyboard (from Touch HD)
the free HTC keyboard package also installs a normal phone keyboard.
So it installs:
- QWERTY Compact (two letters per button, for normal use)
- QWERTY Full (like hardware keyboard, for landscape use)
- Phone Keypad (phone keyboard, landscape and normal)
The Compact and Full version switch as you go from landscape to vertical, but you can't use the compact in ladscape and vice versa. So Compact -> rotate screen -> automatically oges to Full QWERTY.
Quite nice actually.
Problems: A bit sluggish within Opera and breaks the volume-zoom keys in Opera.
TouchPal (below) is better:
THE BEST:
-------------------------
TouchPal:
Installs itself as default on startup (great). Everythings fluid, no bugs so far. Goes away nicely in Opera and after a landscape switch.
I noticed a small, but *very* important detail about TouchPal:
The leftmost (QAZ) and rightmost (PLM) buttons are a bit further away from the edge (so they are easier to hit with the recessed screen!). I tested both Touch HD Blackstone and TouchPal QWERTY. TouchPal has the better buttons, as they are easier to hit.
The TouchPal also has tabs with:
- 3 keyboards (phone, qwerty, qw-er-ty)
- 1 symbol board (which slides to the left and right, customizable)
- 1 number board
- 10 configurable text snippets, multilanguage fT9 input and
- a navigation/cut/copy/paste board, which is really handy.
So my vote is clearly for TouchPal (also looks better). No problems on X1 at all!!!
Problems: No landscape resizing, just black bars on the left and right (I think its okay). The 2on1 buttons (QW-ER-TY) are strange (you can't double tap, it works differently)
tldr;
Get the TouchPal software. It'll change your life!
THE TWEAKERS Keyboard:
-------------------------
Fingertouch PRO
Completely skinnable and you can make custom layouts (dvorak for example)... Very good, I bought it but now use TouchPal.
Links:
Cootek TouchPal: http://www.cootek.com/
Teksoft Fingertouch PRO: http://www.fingertouchpro.com/
Touch HD Blackstone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=441439

I'm using SPB too. Much better than stock.

thx
I'll give a try to both of them.

Hi Guys,
I have installed touchpal V3.5. I noticed a little bug. Before installation, i do not have memory leakage problem, for example, the program memory does not increase much. Typically, the memory usage will be 65Mb.
After installation, the program memory keep on increasing and increasing even after closing all the programs in the quick menu. The memory usage is 75Mb now and still increasing. The last time i did a soft-reset was 2 days ago.
I did not face this kind of problem (memory leak) before installing touchpal. Anyone knows how to solve this problem?
TIA

I tried few alternative keyboards, but still didn't find the right one:
- HTC is very good, but has bugs
- SPB is full querty but small buttons, A Q P are on the edges
- Didn't like touchpal
what i want is an HTC like phone pad/T9 style, any free keyboard like this?

mcbyte_it said:
I tried few alternative keyboards, but still didn't find the right one:
- HTC is very good, but has bugs
- SPB is full querty but small buttons, A Q P are on the edges
- Didn't like touchpal
what i want is an HTC like phone pad/T9 style, any free keyboard like this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I like those keyboard which is like phone pad style with T9 too so I have to stick to the HTC phone pad for now.
If anyone knows of such phone pad style which can replace the HTC keyboard, do share with us, thanks.

istnelane said:
Hi Guys,
I have installed touchpal V3.5. I noticed a little bug. Before installation, i do not have memory leakage problem, for example, the program memory does not increase much. Typically, the memory usage will be 65Mb.
After installation, the program memory keep on increasing and increasing even after closing all the programs in the quick menu. The memory usage is 75Mb now and still increasing. The last time i did a soft-reset was 2 days ago.
I did not face this kind of problem (memory leak) before installing touchpal. Anyone knows how to solve this problem?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try disabling the animations: Options-> (slide the screen) -> "Disable advanced animations". Maybe it helps.
Honestly I don't know. I had to turn my X1 off every 2 days because of exams I had. But the TouchPal keyboard has so many benefits that I won't mind soft-resetting every once in a while. I mean it's the only QWERTY where I can actually touch the Q/P/A buttons with the recessed screen.
chongbh said:
Yes, I like those keyboard which is like phone pad style with T9 too so I have to stick to the HTC phone pad for now.
If anyone knows of such phone pad style which can replace the HTC keyboard, do share with us, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at FingerTouch, they also have a lite (free) version on their site. The video (I time-marked it) with the Phone keyboard is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqhBMNr7iS8#t=47s

check out http://shapewriter.com - it's quite good if ur using two hands to type, works fairly well with one hand. Here's a vid of it in action on the Android => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJPS2piSSRE
TenGO Thumb pretty good too for one-hand operation, but falls flat on it's face when trying to type in one or two numbers vs HTC Phone Pad.
Cliquick (http://www.cliquick.com) has nice large buttons, layout like HTC Phone Pad but larger, excellent querty landscape keyboard and "optimised" key layout, BUT lacks T9.... which is a pitty because this would've been the best with T9 for one-hand operation.
I tried TouchPal but found learning curve too steep. Plus it's too difficult to use with one hand, which I need to do so when standing in a bus.
EDIT: Have been thinking about FingerTouch, BUT needs two hands to type fast, so that's a bummer. I'd prefer ShapeWriter over it.

I don't know if it's just me, but the Touch HD isn't working fine. Everytime i start typing (fast), the first letter always come at the end of the word. Let say I want to type "Clumsy", it would come out as "lumsyC". Quite annoying IMO.

Fingertouch has 5 keyboard layouts provided. At least 2 of them allow one-handed typing and pretty fast. It has its own T9 and also word completion.
I'm using Fingertouch Pro and allow further customisation, but unlike Fingertouch (which is free), the Pro version is paid software.

clumsythief said:
I don't know if it's just me, but the Touch HD isn't working fine. Everytime i start typing (fast), the first letter always come at the end of the word. Let say I want to type "Clumsy", it would come out as "lumsyC". Quite annoying IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ameS ereh, I ustj an'tc eems ot ritew ightr.
Crzy! <--- my Touch HD keyboard "forgets" characters too..

What keyboard software do you use?

Hi, is there a keyboard with 5 rows (numbers visible) that you can still accuratly press keys with your fingers? Because my passwords contain both numbers and letters and i have to enter them a lot :-( Thanks.

mdalacu said:
Hi, is there a keyboard with 5 rows (numbers visible) that you can still accuratly press keys with your fingers? Because my passwords contain both numbers and letters and i have to enter them a lot :-( Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend Fingerkeyboard. It is free, highly customizable and does a great job. See my signature for the link. You can create your own layout if you want. I think other users have already made a layout with 5 rows, but if not, you can make your own. It is pretty easy. You can also see my signature for a basic tutorial on editing layouts. You decide what keys you wnat, where you want them, and what characters you want each key to type. If you have questions, you can post them in the Fingerkeyboard 2.1 thread here.
Another good keyboard if you prefer sliding instead of typing is SlideIT by Dasur. It costs $15 and does a great job. You can type (i.e. slide) really fast with it. It also supports many languages. You can view their homepage here.

Thank you!

Chris Cross said:
I recommend Fingerkeyboard. It is free, highly customizable and does a great job. See my signature for the link. You can create your own layout if you want. I think other users have already made a layout with 5 rows, but if not, you can make your own. It is pretty easy. You can also see my signature for a basic tutorial on editing layouts. You decide what keys you wnat, where you want them, and what characters you want each key to type. If you have questions, you can post them in the Fingerkeyboard 2.1 thread here.
Another good keyboard if you prefer sliding instead of typing is SlideIT by Dasur. It costs $15 and does a great job. You can type (i.e. slide) really fast with it. It also supports many languages. You can view their homepage here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ready that fingerkeyboard had problems with the HD2, can you confirm that it works well, and what version are u using?

Today i tried TouchPal. it is the BEST keyboard for the HD2 (at least for me).
It is so east to type accurately now.

i agree with Touch Pal i can write extremly fast plus a lower sensitive cab installation is just perfect - at least for me.

Zoomboard from vito

halling said:
I ready that fingerkeyboard had problems with the HD2, can you confirm that it works well, and what version are u using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one of the reasons that FK had problems with the HD2 is the speed of the capacitive screen. Some people correct that with the lesss sensitive Cab on this site. With FK go to options and delay the two hold times. I've set the left one to 400 instead of 250 and the right one to 250. Now FB works well on the HD2.
Chriss: can you confirm this and also tell us what the left and right one are for???

I installed TouchPal and thought it was pretty naff compared to the standard HTC keyboard, to be honest. I can type faster and mode accurately using the standard keyboard. In fact, this post was written using it!

kuzibri said:
...
Chriss: can you confirm this and also tell us what the left and right one are for???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry guys. I got mixed up. No, I have not tested it on the Leo (I'm still looking into getting one ). I have only read the same reports that you have all mentioned here.
And @kuzibri: what do you mean with "what the left and right one are for"?

Chris Cross said:
Sorry guys. I got mixed up. No, I have not tested it on the Leo (I'm still looking into getting one ). I have only read the same reports that you have all mentioned here.
And @kuzibri: what do you mean with "what the left and right one are for"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the options tab there are two response time possibilities, eg left and right one.

I've tried a few of the others now, but still easily prefer the HTC supplied keyboard. I just wish it had the same gesture support as the WM default keyboard.

just another suggestion for a good keyboard for HD2: Cliquick. This also rotates the screen to landscape when pressing the .,123 key in whichever program you're in. You can find it here: http://cliquick.com/
edit: you can also set it to be your default SIP in the option settings.

Anyone happen to try SlideIt (http://www.dasur.co.il/Product/SlideIT/SlideIT.php) on the HD2? If not, anyone feel like trying the demo & letting me know how it works?

polstein said:
Anyone happen to try SlideIt (http://www.dasur.co.il/Product/SlideIT/SlideIT.php) on the HD2? If not, anyone feel like trying the demo & letting me know how it works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, I tried it. Its awesome in terms of speed and ease of use, but cannot switch to landscape mode. When you switch to landscape, e.g. in Opera, the screen gets messed up with this keyboard and a soft reset is needed. If I only was to use portrait mode, this would be the keyboard of choice.
Now that has become Cliquick. This even switches Word Mobile to landscape when you press the ",.123" key without using a third party sensor app like Gyrator or ChangeScreen. It comes with a 60 day trial and, if you do not want to buy it therafter, you can still use it for a max of 100 chars a day.

Let me throw ShapeWriter into the mix also.
Takes some getting used to but unce you've got it, it's much faster than a regular keypad (imo)

richard.ian.brown said:
Let me throw ShapeWriter into the mix also.
Takes some getting used to but unce you've got it, it's much faster than a regular keypad (imo)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a pitty that this is only in English si I canot use it. BTW, it has great resemblance with Dasur's SlideIT. That one is blazing fast and easy to use (and supports several languages), but its main flaw is that it does not support landcsape. In this orientation it messes up the screen and a soft reset is needed. Otherwise this would be my nr 1 keyboard. Now that is Cliquick.

kuzibri said:
yes, I tried it. Its awesome in terms of speed and ease of use, but cannot switch to landscape mode. When you switch to landscape, e.g. in Opera, the screen gets messed up with this keyboard and a soft reset is needed. If I only was to use portrait mode, this would be the keyboard of choice.
Now that has become Cliquick. This even switches Word Mobile to landscape when you press the ",.123" key without using a third party sensor app like Gyrator or ChangeScreen. It comes with a 60 day trial and, if you do not want to buy it therafter, you can still use it for a max of 100 chars a day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the exact problem I have on my Advantage (the rotation issue). I've been the only one to report it, so I'm forwarding your note here as well.
I'll have to try Cliquick. Is this the one where you have to hit the same key several times to get different letters (like hit ab to get "a" and hit it again to get "b" ? Guess I'll find out.
Glad to hear the SlideIT works well except for the rotation issue, so if they can fix it, I'll be very happy.

I have noticed the latest version of Fingerkeyboard refusing to open when my HD2 (Leo) has come out of standby - can't recall what was running just prior so haven't raised it with the creator yet. I couldn't open another keyboard so had to take the battery out on the two occassions it happened.
A keyboard I have been using of late, as it worked well on my Touch HD is Zoomboard

I have tried both slideit and shapewriter and on the HD2 I much prefer slide it, its mainly due to how it handles the irratic behaviour of the capacitive screen, I mean HTC need to fix up its response, in shapewriter the line drawn with your finger tends to be scribbled everywhere missing letters, to much lesser extent on slidit, the keys are much easier to hit in slideit imo. the finger sliding keyboards are the way to go either way, I can type so much faster with slidit and takes only little parctice to get a real knack of it ... slideIT is fantastic

Your choice of Keyboard?

Phone Keypad,
Compact QWERTY,
Full QWERTY, or
Swype?
Swype took me awhile to get used to, but it seems to be handy when i can't pay attention to the keyboard fully (driving and when watching something else)
Full keyboard is ok, but
I really prefer Phone Keypad.
I guess too many years spent with t9...
trying to switch to swype fully, though.

i love the full qwerty.

SWYPE! All the way.

Swype in landscape. Oh yes!

Swype
I'm slow at all of them! Used phone keypad forever, then swype on landscape,figured easier because bigger, not! Changed to small qwerty, fantastic! just get close to letter, poof, word appears!! love it!!

Full QWERTY since I mainly web browse. Swype isn't smart enough to know I don't want spaces in my website urls.. Also I don't want it to suggest correct spellings for urls..

As others have mentioned for web browsing, standard keyboard is great but othwerwise Swype is consistent and works well, Touchpal also very reliable and quite fast once you get the hang of it.
Tried Slideit, thought Swype better esp on our 4.3 in screens.

swype is great on portrait mode because our screens are so big, I actually never use swype in landscape

swype is impossible in landscape

Sogou, or full qwerty sometimes touchpal...

std qwerty suffice but I would love to have grafiti2 or block recognizer (if possible)

SlideIT all the way, as well in portrait as in landscape mode.

I only found out about swype last week and already my typing speed has quadrupled! not hard as I was pretty slow to begin with.. but its great to be able to type now at a normal speed on my phone ... just one thing... is there a fast way to get icons like exclamation mark or question mark without having to switch to the symbol keyboard...like holding down the key for a few seconds like on the standard HD2 keyboard?

hi
hi whats the swype kepboard? i have big probs typing im constantly doubling up the buttons or typing the wrong one.

Chivalryyyy said:
I only found out about swype last week and already my typing speed has quadrupled! not hard as I was pretty slow to begin with.. but its great to be able to type now at a normal speed on my phone ... just one thing... is there a fast way to get icons like exclamation mark or question mark without having to switch to the symbol keyboard...like holding down the key for a few seconds like on the standard HD2 keyboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a few fast shortcuts, check out vid here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l64Twt1qlVg&feature=related
its meant for the omnia but on the HD2, same thing. For something like an exclamation mark, just press the Z key and drag down to the spacebar then release.
Also holding they key is supposed to work but i find this feature hit and miss, it doesnt always work but not sure why.

dadu said:
std qwerty suffice but I would love to have grafiti2 or block recognizer (if possible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I liked the one where you could write anywhere. I prefer to not have the keyboard visuals taking up screen space

SWYPE! I love Swype. I've always been a hardware-qwerty guy. I tried the Swype beta on my Droid and loved it. I was on the fence about switching to the HD2, purely because of the lack of a keyboard...until I heard it had Swype. Then it was a done deal.
However, Swype is not great for web browsing and other things that require exact character combos that may not be words, without spaces and all that. I switch to full QWERTY for that.

Swype baby.

dadu said:
std qwerty suffice but I would love to have grafiti2 or block recognizer (if possible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5594168&postcount=1
Block Recognizer:
HKCR\CLSID\{42429691-ae04-11d0-a4f8-00aa00a749b9}\IsSIPInputMethod\Default = 1
HKLM\Software\HTC\ezsip\SIPMenuEnableMSSIP\Default = 1

Lately I have been using Touchpal.
Starting to get the hang of it and think it will be a keeper.
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