Database Users

Android keyboard swipe down to hide

So I normally use the HTC_ime but until a new one comes out with speech I'm using the stock keyboard.
This is totally stupid so if you all know don't bash me- but swiping down from the "t" to the spacebar will close the keyboard, just like better keyboard does. Beats the back key any day.
I've had android since the day it came out and didn't know that.

Yes and swipe left to right brings up the voice command.

Wow you guys are geniuses! I didn't know both of these commands xD. Thanks!

thanks for that T down swipe, I didn't know that and it's been bugging me bad

Nice! Didn't know either of these as well. Definitely useful.

Thanks the for T swipe down. I used to love to be able to hide my keyboard on the hero, so it's handy to know I can do it with the stock keyboard.

Haha, wow, was this always true? Ive had android also since before it came out(although there was no soft keyboard then) and I usually use better keyboard but I never knew, now I wanna know how long that its worked for.

Not sure how long that's been available. Since I had to use the stock keyboard I also learned that to save words to the custom dictionary you long press the word to save. Simple but with the HTC its just a simple press. Weird it took me so long o realize that. I can actually live win using the default android keyboard. And even better, with manups nextheme its the best looking one too.

djnutz said:
Not sure how long that's been available. Since I had to use the stock keyboard I also learned that to save words to the custom dictionary you long press the word to save. Simple but with the HTC its just a simple press. Weird it took me so long o realize that. I can actually live win using the default android keyboard. And even better, with manups nextheme its the best looking one too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried on my hero and Dream the KB goes down with swipe.

Doesnt matter where you swipe down from as long as its on the keyboard "dosent have to be T"

yep, swipe down it works anywhere.

I didnt know either of those...either, Very cool thank you. Since swiping can bring up voice how can I get my comma button back? The microphone button (formerly MY comma button) now seems redundant...

Amazing, I would have never known!

The swipe across was in the manual, but I was wondering if it would work with the HTC_ime?

I would LOVE to get the comma back. Its a simple little thing but bothers me everytime I have to make a list or actually send an email (or more writing than a simple text).

Either disable the voice input in the kb settings (replaces the 'mic' key with the comma again) or long press dot.....

wow, I've used android for as long as it's been available and never knew this.

sixstring said:
Either disable the voice input in the kb settings (replaces the 'mic' key with the comma again) or long press dot.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only problem with this that it is it switches it off completeley - would be useful to have swipe for voice input AND the comma key

Yeah, comma on the keyboard and swipe to activate voice would be ideal.............

Redant said:
Only problem with this that it is it switches it off completeley - would be useful to have swipe for voice input AND the comma key
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, of course. I got used to long pressing dot and selecting comma from the pop up....

Swype Tap-Hold Problem

It seems that when using swipe in portrait mode I cant get tap and hold to work. I.E selecting symbols and numbers.
It works well in landscape though.
Anyone have this issue? Is there a fix?

I (and others have mentioned it) gave up on the 3.9 swype for exactly that problem.

well that's not cool... I was getting good at it too. oh well, guess I'll deal with it till an update comes out.
thanks

Two things that helped me:
1) Set the error tolerance to maximum in the opitons.
2) Press on the top half of the button and keep your finger as steady as you can.

It works for me. Though, it is really really sensitive to movement. It does take some pratice and steady finger to get the tap-hold to work. It's usually the '?' that I'm going for. Sometimes it will produce 'mm' or 'mn'..
It seems like they need to make it less sensitive for movement if you're just holding one a single key and not swiping. Or make it deduce that I'm going for the '?' and NOT 'mm' which does not make much sense..

Newman180 said:
well that's not cool... I was getting good at it too. oh well, guess I'll deal with it till an update comes out.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same thing happen. A LOT of our Swype's are faulty. The trick is to google or search xda for Swype 2.0 wvga. This works LIKE ITS SUPPOSED TO. You can use it and the qwerty keyboard arrangement is arranged propertly on the numeric keyboard tab.

steve austin said:
I had the same thing happen. A LOT of our Swype's are faulty. The trick is to google or search xda for Swype 2.0 wvga. This works LIKE ITS SUPPOSED TO. You can use it and the qwerty keyboard arrangement is arranged propertly on the numeric keyboard tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm doing that now. What version came on TMOHD2?

Ok so I downloaded/installed the cab for Swype 2.0 with the htc skin
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=60494
The skin looks different, which is great, but swype acts the same. Doesnt allow symbols. Also when I go into "about swype" it is the same version and build date of 1/09
Did I do something wrong?

Newman180 said:
Thanks, I'm doing that now. What version came on TMOHD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3.9 i believe. garbage (at least on mine).

So, does the Swype 2.0 wvga link fix the problem? Cause this press and hold BS is really driving me nuts.
EDIT Just downloaded, it seems to be SLIGHTLY more accurate/easier, but still not as simple as they make it look in the video, it's still quicker to switch tabs and type in whatever you need to.

donalgodon said:
Two things that helped me:
1) Set the error tolerance to maximum in the opitons.
2) Press on the top half of the button and keep your finger as steady as you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this fix. However, you have to place your whole finger on top of the key (contacting the key to the left and right of the key you are trying to press as well) and hold in order to get the secondary set to work.
Swype settings are accessible via Settings tab, Menu, All Settings, Personal, Input, Swype Options.
EDIT: Nevermind, I was only getting lucky with the long press. It still seems to only work about 10% of the time with the 3.9 stock version.

Y not just use the symbol button? It's faster and better than pressing n holding. And as for using the ?, just pressit and drag or swype to the space bar. Same for . and !

aceo07 said:
It works for me. Though, it is really really sensitive to movement. It does take some pratice and steady finger to get the tap-hold to work. It's usually the '?' that I'm going for. Sometimes it will produce 'mm' or 'mn'..
It seems like they need to make it less sensitive for movement if you're just holding one a single key and not swiping. Or make it deduce that I'm going for the '?' and NOT 'mm' which does not make much sense..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the ? symbol, there's an easy alternative - swype (drag) from the ? key to the spacebar. Wish all the symbols & numbers did the same thing, would prefer it over the click & hold method.
Also - everyone knows about dragging from the swype symbol to around the #5 to go to the numeric keypad and draw from the swype symbol to umm.. the one to the right to go to the arrows/copy/paste screen shortcut?
Anyway, my main Swype problems are this hold/press thing & how hard it is to do manual typing for usernames & password. It's for these reasons that I use SlideIT over Swype at the moment.

Yep... doesnt work for me either. Sucks having go to down and switch it to number mode just to select symbols but I still like it over the regular keyboard.

srgntdvs said:
Y not just use the symbol button? It's faster and better than pressing n holding. And as for using the ?, just pressit and drag or swype to the space bar. Same for . and !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh I love you! This works great - very fast.

brownhornet said:
Yep... doesnt work for me either. Sucks having go to down and switch it to number mode just to select symbols but I still like it over the regular keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to give up on swype because of the issue.
then I saw that space bar on random tutorial, it makes it a little bit easier, but still. other symbols are very annoying.

Oops mistake!

Search Google or XDA for SWYPE 2.0 for WVGA. All the problems will be solved. Swype 3.9 is horrid. 2.0 is the truth.

Testing out version 2 on my TMOUS (version 3.9 by drefault). So far seems to be working much better - I can press & hold & get the alternate puncuation/numbers (although I still say sliding any alternate keystroke to the spacebar would be better).
QUESTION - how the heck do I get to options on this version? In 3.9 you went to symbols & help the Swype key down. Google says I click the arrow (stock rom, so 6.5.1) & go to options, but I only gen sense-like options instead.
There another way to get to the options in 2.0 ?

polstein said:
Testing out version 2 on my TMOUS (version 3.9 by drefault). So far seems to be working much better - I can press & hold & get the alternate puncuation/numbers (although I still say sliding any alternate keystroke to the spacebar would be better).
QUESTION - how the heck do I get to options on this version? In 3.9 you went to symbols & help the Swype key down. Google says I click the arrow (stock rom, so 6.5.1) & go to options, but I only gen sense-like options instead.
There another way to get to the options in 2.0 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC/ Microsoft and Swype don't make it easy do they:
1. Go to settings tab on sense
2. tap menu
3. selct "all settings"
4. select "personal" folder
5. select "input options"
6. BAM!

I feel silly asking this, but this has stumped myself and a few of my friends now.

I've done some googlin' and talked to a few different people, but I still can't find an answer to this.
Is there any way to type an up caret (The ^ character) using the physical keyboard? I've tried long-pressing everything, and I found > and <, but not ^! >.<

I've searched and searched. You're not the only person that's missing the caret! There's a big group of us out here.
At least that can be fixed with a software update. I hope it's fixed on that vaporware-looking OTA...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

Ubiquitous Oddity said:
I've done some googlin' and talked to a few different people, but I still can't find an answer to this.
Is there any way to type an up caret (The ^ character) using the physical keyboard? I've tried long-pressing everything, and I found > and <, but not ^! >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The carat appears in the Android keyboard (not the physical). Press the number key (123) then press the ALT key. The ^ appears where the * was on the keyboard.

You're missing the caret, I'm missing the pipe (|grep "stuff" is made infinitely more annoying when having to bring up the software keyboard for one character).

I am stucking waiting for my Desire Z in the UK, but can't you assign it to one of the custom keys?
The pipe | could become a big issue for me as the main reason for a physical keyboard is for ssh.

I miss having quick access to it, too.
Hold down alt + j until a window comes up. The popup will let you chose the caret key. It's a bit of physical + virtual keyboard but it's better than having to close the phone to type the caret key.

Well the pipes there if you press alt then space see | but no caret. I'm suprised they have these though ≠≈∞±‰†‡ but no caret
Sent from my T-Mobile G2

Ubiquitous Oddity said:
I've done some googlin' and talked to a few different people, but I still can't find an answer to this.
Is there any way to type an up caret (The ^ character) using the physical keyboard? I've tried long-pressing everything, and I found > and <, but not ^! >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, how do you type < and >? I thought those were missing from the physical keyboard and the symbol popup -- had to close the keyboard and go pure virtual to type those.

itp said:
Wait, how do you type < and >? I thought those were missing from the physical keyboard and the symbol popup -- had to close the keyboard and go pure virtual to type those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alt-j (as someone said above)

Blink37x said:
I miss having quick access to it, too.
Hold down alt + j until a window comes up. The popup will let you chose the caret key. It's a bit of physical + virtual keyboard but it's better than having to close the phone to type the caret key.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That lets you do [, {, and <, but no caret (^).

mobilegun said:
alt-j (as someone said above)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it does not it gives this < not this ^ . The second one is what people are looking for.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

l33t ftw icons!
i dont really use all those little arrows but I assumed it was in the symbol section, guess not.

I tried holding alt and typing every key. You can insert all sorts of symbols this way, but no ^.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Handling the genius button press

We need to figure out a way to customize the genius button. It would be a great service to everyone, especially if it doesn't require root.
I looked at logCat, and I see that the button fires up the following intent:
Code:
{ flg=0x10000000 cmp=com.nuance.android.vsuite.vsuiteapp/.VSuiteStartSession }
I'm not quite sure how to create an intent handler for something that doesn't have an action or a category. I even created a test app that matches the intent above exactly, but only the stock genius app launches, and I'm not given an option to choose my default handler for the action. I don't think there is a key handler to intercept either. Any ideas

You know, I was thinking about this all morning (eventhough I don't have the device). Back in the day we remapped functions for certain keys (as g1 didn not have search key of any kind). Can someone go into /system/usr and look what's in there? I believe we are looking for keylayout folder. In that folder we should have some .kl files. They named different from device to device (using Cliq now and they are all named MorrisonXXXXX.kl). Look through those files and find genious button function. From there it should be very easy to change it to google search (or voice search) but substituting the function and pushing the file back in its location. I would have no problem doing it but as I said, I don't own the device myself.
Couple more option (highly unlikely to work):
Clear defaults in Genious app
Freeze Genious app
I don't see those working but who knows... we may be able to assign new default after doing this.

kl files
Here are the files from /system/usr/keylayout
Looks like the correct entry is in glacier-keypad.kl, but it is mapped to a "search" function.
Not sure it will help, but I'd love to see search there instead.

I don't mind the genius button, it actually works fairly well the more you use it. However, I don't like that it disables the search button.
It should be single press for search, long press for genius.
That would be perfect.

rjgii said:
Here are the files from /system/usr/keylayout
Looks like the correct entry is in glacier-keypad.kl, but it is mapped to a "search" function.
Not sure it will help, but I'd love to see search there instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I'm at work so I can't really do anything with this but I will look into into it later, when I get home. You are correct, it's in the glacier-keypad.kl. Unfortunately, it's set to the same thing as regular search i.e. In G1 we used to set it to SEARCH as well but it would bring up regular search.
I will try to PM GeniusDog (the guy who figured out how to remap keys) when I get home to see if he can give me some insight on this.
Did anyone try to freeze (disable) Genious app to see if it releases G key to regular search?
We should also contact ChiefzReloaded, he would know how to do it since they put CM on Slide which did have Genious on it to begin with.

Ok, so I guess this is a little different then the Slide. Slides G key was mapped to FUNC_4. Our G key already mapped to SEARCH, its just that Genious overtakes it. I twitted Eugene_73 to see if he could help, he was the brain behind Slide's development in this area.

If its helpful to anyone, holding down the menu button will bring out search keyboard. I really wish the would give us a option to chose from the voicesearch ¦,/
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

borodin1 said:
Ok, so I guess this is a little different then the Slide. Slides G key was mapped to FUNC_4. Our G key already mapped to SEARCH, its just that Genious overtakes it. I twitted Eugene_73 to see if he could help, he was the brain behind Slide's development in this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm...what about mapping it to a function key (like on the G2) and then assign whatever action we want to that function key? I will try that out as soon as I get some free time.

Alright, so I tried modifying the key layout file on my G2 (vision-keypad.kl) just to test the process and I am not allowed to make any changes. Just get a "Read-only file system" response. I'm sure it would be the same for the MT4G. Anyone have ideas on what else to try? I really want to find a solution without rooting, but any solution would be a good start.

root
We have root now, so we should be able to modify the key mapping files.
If I find any time today I'll give it a shot.

rjgii said:
We have root now, so we should be able to modify the key mapping files.
If I find any time today I'll give it a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. You will probably have to remount the system partition like this before you can write to it:
su
mount -o remount, rw /system

Oh how I hate that genius button..I would absolutely donate immediately for an app to remap it to search. That would be amazing.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Did anyone try to uninstall (disable) Genious app yet? Since the G key mapped to SEARCH already, this may release it to actuall Google search.... just thinking out loud

I froze it last night. No response from the G button after that.

21productionz said:
I froze it last night. No response from the G button after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL...
They really mean "you" in the commercials!
You gotta customize everything..
Sent From The Moon... With a HTC Glacier

I updated my voice search in the market when I first got the phone, and for a time when I pushed the button is would actually give me the option to choose what app handled the action and I could choose voice search. However, after one time choosing the Genius button it never asked again. I wonder if there would be a way to continuously clear the Default so that it always asked.

borodin1 said:
Did anyone try to uninstall (disable) Genious app yet? Since the G key mapped to SEARCH already, this may release it to actuall Google search.... just thinking out loud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disabled dragon dictation and genius, and after holding the button for a couple seconds, my phone crashed and rebooted. Multiple taps on the button seemed to do the same thing. Leaving dragon dictation enabled and genius disabled seemed to be less prone to crashing.

This has been solved in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=836702

[GUIDE] Using Tasker to switch your keyboard when docked/undocked

May not be neccessary for certain users, or devices running honeycomb 3.1 or higher.
For anyone like myself, who uses a different keyboard (I use thumb keyboard) from the default setup (which is the Asus keyboard), an app called Tasker can make it a bit easier for you to switch them on the fly. It's not a fantastic method and there's probably a better way to do it, but for now I thought I'd share what I did with you all. It might not be necessary for your device. It was for me because it wouldnt auto switch the input method or allow a quick change, I guess it depends on which language/model/SKU you have. Just do the following to get a popup allowing you to change the input method when docked/undocked:
----
-In tasker create a new profile called 'Keyboard', click 'ok'. Click 'state', then 'keyboard out'. Click 'Done'.
-Create a new task. Call it 'Docked'. Click 'Ok'. Click the '+' then 'Input' category, select 'Input Method Select'. Click 'Done'. Then 'Done' on the next screen. (This will bring up a screen when you dock your tablet to let you choose the Asus option)
-Click the new task you have created called 'Docked'. Select the task option 'Add Exit Task'. Click 'new task'. Name it 'Undock'. Click 'Ok'. Press the '+', 'Input', then 'Input Method Select' again. Click 'Done'. And 'Done' once more.
-Make sure at the bottom right of the main screen it shows 'On'. and click 'Apply' at the bottom left of the screen.
----
Exclude tasker from any task manager you may have installed.
*Tip* If you keep getting 'Active' popping up in the notification area, go into Tasker>Settings>Preferences>click the monitor tab, then uncheck 'run in foreground'.
Now when you plug the tablet into the dock it should get a popup with a box to let you select the Asus keyboard, so that your keypresses correspond to the letters printed on the keys. And when you undock from the keyboard, just wait about 10 seconds and you should get another popup allowing you to change the keyboard back to what it was before. If you dont get this popup then just press the tasker icon in the notifcation area and select the keyboard you want manually.
All done. Enjoy.

thanks for the heads up..Haven't used tasker yet, will give it a shot tonight.

Wait, what keys don't work when you're not using the asus default keyboard?
Thanks for the write-up. I'm a fellow tasker user and will be setting this up when I get home

daoist said:
Wait, what keys don't work when you're not using the asus default keyboard?
Thanks for the write-up. I'm a fellow tasker user and will be setting this up when I get home
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they DO work if you have the Asus keyboard selected. So if you're already using the Asus one you don't need to do any of this. This guide is for people who aren't using the Asus input method and have chosen to use a different input method, such as the default honeycomb one, thumb keyboard, etc. I've never been good at putting my thoughts into words, so if it's not clear, spell it out for me what you're not understanding and I'll change the post. Cheers.

stuntdouble said:
No, they DO work if you have the Asus keyboard selected. So if you're already using the Asus one you don't need to do any of this. This guide is for people who aren't using the Asus input method and have chosen to use a different input method, such as the default honeycomb one, thumb keyboard, etc. I've never been good at putting my thoughts into words, so if it's not clear, spell it out for me what you're not understanding and I'll change the post. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always have either the thumb keyboard and the stock android keyboard select and haven't noticed anything not working. What exactly doesn't work?

jratzo said:
I always have either the thumb keyboard and the stock android keyboard select and haven't noticed anything not working. What exactly doesn't work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The numerical button 3 trying to make the £ symbol and the # key making a \ symbol, were a few I noticed. There might be others though.

stuntdouble said:
The numerical button 3 trying to make the £ symbol and the # key making a \ symbol, were a few I noticed. There might be others though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh gotcha, I'll have to check it out. I use tasker on my phone do i could easily use it on my TF

Thanks for this, makes the hassle of switching keyboards that much more fun and cool!

Wait. I don't understand. I use Thumbkeyboard and the dock. I switch back and forth with no problems. When I undock, it goes back to thumbkeyboard. When I dock, it uses the hardware keyboard. All of my keys work.
What exactly is the problem you're trying to fix with Tasker?

dmeehl said:
Wait. I don't understand. I use Thumbkeyboard and the dock. I switch back and forth with no problems. When I undock, it goes back to thumbkeyboard. When I dock, it uses the hardware keyboard. All of my keys work.
What exactly is the problem you're trying to fix with Tasker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those of us in the UK, the hardware keyboard defaults to US mode if you dont have the Asus keyboard selected in UK mode. (if that makes sense)
Using tasker gives you a quick visual reminder to switch to the right keyboard.
If you're in the US I guess this issue won't affect you?

i use better keyboard 8, and while it warns me when i put it on the dock, i have not found any issues

Must be a non US issue i have not noticed anything other then the warning. Off to try all the keys

Thanks for the writeup!
I use Swiftkey BETA. I just don't understand why Tasker doesn't give you the option to already select a keyboard to change to. Doesn't make sense to me!

does anyone know how to disable the popup when docking?

That would be good. I guess you'd just have to create a Go Home task for when it is docked to eliminate that initial popup. I added a "Go Home" property and moved it above the "Select Input Method" property and it seems to have removed that annoying "Asus Recommendation" popup.
Perhaps this should be added to the first post on this thread?!

BTW, a bit off topic but I figured everyone here has a dock so I thought I'd ask.
Anyone else's SPACEBAR key seem a bit "louder", as in, easier to press than the rest. Not that it is that much of an issue, but the other keys on my dock seem a bit quieter to press over the SPACEBAR.

akarol said:
That would be good. I guess you'd just have to create a Go Home task for when it is docked to eliminate that initial popup. I added a "Go Home" property and moved it above the "Select Input Method" property and it seems to have removed that annoying "Asus Recommendation" popup.
Perhaps this should be added to the first post on this thread?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will test this tomorrow when im not half asleep and add if necessary. Thx.
Edit: It appeared to do it the first time for me, but after that it still shows the Asus reminder box. Did you add any other lines maybe? Not sure if the first time was just a fluke or to do with tasker.

It would be nice if there could be better solution for this...

MaluNoPeleke said:
It would be nice if there could be better solution for this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1118164

Thanks for this. I don't dock, but have a slideout which i love swiftkey to assist with, and prefer swype for portrait touchscreen on-the-fly. It'd be nicer if it was automatic, but it's definitely more friendly with this popup on keyboard out and task exit.