Feature Requests: Sailfish Native Virtual Keyboard
Hot on the heels of the Native Email App feature request poll, let’s start compiling the next area of feature requests which we feel is critical for smartphone operation: the virtual keyboard.
Jolla’s native virtual keyboard, while perfectly good and more than useable, could benefit from some improvements nonetheless. Let’s keep this strictly about the ‘main’ virtual keyboard and we’ll look to cover the terminal virtual keyboard in the future.
So, what features do you miss in the native virtual keyboard if any at all ?
Much like the procedure in the last feature request, lets keep the comments succinct and precise and after 1-2 weeks, we’ll put it to the vote again to present over at Together:
_______________________________________________________________________________
Example post could read like this:-
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ …….
2/ …….
3/ …….
Next weeks target area: ……..
_______________________________________________________________________________
I want to see some ideas from you guys on the next priority area of improvement for Sailfish so we can keep this rolling every few weeks, thanks! :)
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Captain on 
saurabh on 
Joonaksu on 
Praveen kumar on 
Uli S. on 
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ swipe
2/ swipe
3/ automatic correction (not only suggestion)
Next weeks target area: music/video player
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ swype-like keyboard
2/ numbers instead of words suggestions and corrections/suggestions on the keyboard (like blackberry keyboard see here: http://tinyurl.com/lq5qa8q)
3/ one handed operation (like the lg keyboard see here: http://tinyurl.com/n8hw6s8)
Next weeks target area: browser
Swype. Nothing else. Swype.
Autocorrect as suggested above should only be an option when typing normally. I know what I type, I’d rather not have a piece of software interfere. (And I prefer people reading my typos that can easily be identified as such than real, correctly spelled words that change thze meaning of what I wrote.)
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ Autocorrect
2/ Ability to customize the volume (I’d like the keys to make a little bit more sound upon pressing)
3/ Little bit more common punctuation to the second page (the one with the number row) like quotes and apostrophes for example. Number row on the first page would also be handy but at least apostrophes and quotes on the number row page would be an improvement.
1/ automatic language detection
2/ automatic correction
3/ better predictions/suggestions
Next weeks target area: Calendar
I would like to have somekind of this: http://minuum.com/minuum-for-android/
It is a single line keyboard.
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ swipe
2/ automatic correction (not only suggestion)
3/ minuum
1) Swipe
2) Dictionary management (possibility to manually add and remove entries)
3) optional auto correct
Next weeks target area: chat
1. Swipe!!!!
2. If possible look at android keymonk swipe which allows swiping with two fingers at the same time!!!! This is one of the best apps I’ve ever owned!!!
I simply copied @Topias first to entries:
1) Swipe
2) Dictionary management (possibility to manually add and remove entries)
1/ Swipe
2/ Swipe
3/ Change the language according to the contact when typing sms or email
1/ Swipe
2/ Automatic correction
3/ Videoplayer
Great suggestions and looks like some of you read my mind! Keep ‘em coming, how about:
1/ option to choose different keyboard sounds with separate volume control
2/ with autocorrect include automatic space option
3/ intelligent learning based on individual typing history
Allow completely hiding virtual keyboard when you use hw-keyboard (bluetooth or tohkbd).
Spelling suggestions when typing a search in browser (best if based on suggested searches, but just the standard suggestions would do)
Full documentation and access to all aspects of virtual keyboard (so that we can fix swipe and anything else we want on the keyboard)
1/ arrow keys!
2/ hide keyboard when there is physical keyboard
next weeks topic: accounts ( actually the api for that)
I agree with hiding vkb when physical keyboard is connected.
Sailfish VKB feature request:
1. I’d prefer a T9-ish keyboard. I am really struggeling with the Keyboard and I do not have that big hands or anything.
2. More Settings on that so heaving the choice of the keyboard I want to use
3. Bigger Keys
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ emoji keyboard installed by default
2/ Improve autocomplete in Android. If hit on a suggested word on an Android app and then hit a punctuation symbol (e.g. a dot ‘.’), it leaves a space between the word and the dot. This doesn’t happen in native apps.
Next weeks target area: Notifications
I’m using ComboKey on my N9 for SMS daily. It would be great to have it on Jolla too.
See: http://gkos.com/gkos/meego/combokey.html
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ buttons with outline and rounded like a pad
2/ spacebar longer and moved to right with enter key smaller
3/ dictionary function to insert new words
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Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1. Swype
2. send vocal messages
3. one handed operations
Next weeks target area: emprove the browser
Swype is a much needed requirement. Further unicode support so complex characters are displayed or keyboards be enabled
Virtual keyboards are NOT a priority at all, has they are working, as you yourself said, “perfectly good and more than useable”, so please get real, and poll about network connection issues, and other top voted issues
@iberlynx – It looks like some of the bugs you mentioned have been addressed in the latest update 9. /2014/10/22/opt-in-now-for-update-9-uitukka/
1. Swipe
2. Access numbers without switching keyboard – for example long pressing the letters on the first row to insert 0-9
3. Flick up to insert currect spelling suggestion
If you press and hold the “?123″ button and then move your finger to the first row they will turn to numbers and you can let go when the correct number is selected.
I concurr though that a long press on first row is more common when coming from Android keyboards…
I like to see similar terminal Keyboard with bold keys
1. Arrow keys!
2. The CTRL key.
3. A way to enter an arbitrary accented character without having to switch the keyboard layout.
Would be great to:
1) implement an “anihortes” layout (along with default “qwerty”).
2) make a more obvious way to write a russian letter Ё. I used to google for it, as I was not able to find it out. And not only me: https://together.jolla.com/question/44935/need-letter-io-in-russian-vkb/
1. button size optimization (possibility to enlarge it yourself)
2. ability to hide the keyboard and pull it out. (I hate when you don’t see the writing behind the keyboard or if it doesn’t come even when you are in writing mode)
3. better detection of hits. Sometimes it’s impossible to hit two times the same button. e.g. ‘aa’ becomes ‘as’ even thought the place is exactly the same where I press.
4. possibility to choose between layouts. I’d prefer a console keyboard.
I always find myself typing a dot (punctuation) when I want to enter a blank space. It feels somehow the dot is placed or space is sized wrong. There always a LOT of dots in my sentences due to this problem. In a way, I don’t care since I passionately hate virtual keyboards. I would instead wait for dirkvl’s TOHKBD v2.
1. Swype
2. Haptic feedback as on N9
3. Auto correct
Next week: Maps!
@ Jonathan – there is already haptic feedback
Oh yes. T9 is something I’d absolutely love to have. +1 for that.
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ swype
2/ hide keyboard when there is physical keyboard or TOHKBD connected
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ Swype
2/ Move the ***** full-stop (period) away from the space bar. I hit it accidentally 3 or 4 times per message
3/ Move the return (send for texts) to the top of the keyboard to avoid accidental hits.
The existing “zoom / fine tune cursor position” can have some usability improvements.
I discovered it accidentally although I came to know later that it is mentioned in user guide as treasure. :-) I am able to access it but sometimes its like ‘hit and miss’ :-(
Feel one intuitive way to implement this would be to pinch and zoom like how one zooms a picture while viewing an image or using Volume + / – button to zoom available only within text editing mode. Made these suggestions here as well.
https://together.jolla.com/question/9704/feature-request-fine-tune-cursor-position-while-text-editing/
1) replace the dot-> make spacebar larger place it in same place with komma and let komma be accessed by longpressing the dot.
maybe off topic -> dial pad replace backspace in bottom. (best would be with swipe from right to left in the kb area)
Sailfish VKB Feature Request:
1/ “press, hold and select” access to secondary symbol layout in same way as first level of symbold and numbers from ABC layout.
2/ Show more and if enough space *all* alternatives (i.e. diacritics variations from other *enabled* languages) for a letter when long-pressing.
E.g. when using English layout and I have also German enabled the a key should also show ä on long-press and when I also have French as third language enabled it should *also* show á and à.
Alternatively enable changing language by swiping left or right over space bar.
Long-press space bar to switch languages is just too d**n slow to write bi- or tri-lingual text.
Bonus points for also enabling number with long-press of first row.
3/ Let the user decide (e.g. with long-press in suggestion row (top row where also paste is showing up)) when to show completion suggestion and let user add, modify and delete words.
Also make it take into consideration the immediate sourroudings if user put cursor into existing character-sequence; i.e. After typing t,h and e and putting cursor between h and e (“th|e”) and typing ‘r’ it should not only underline the r but the whole word and suggest “three”, etc.
Next weeks target area:
notifications
or
ambience
1/ Swype, like on the N9
2/ Possibility to store learned words online or on flash. When restoring phone, you dont loose all learned words.
3/ Let the virtual Keyboard detect wether a hw OH/bluetooth keyboard is attached or not. When hw keyboard is attached, the virtual keyboard must not show up.
1/ arrow keys