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I've never had a touch screen phone. The only touch screen device I've had is a Palm IIIxe. Yeah, I guess I'm dating myself here. All of my phones have had hardware buttons with some sort of D-pad. I'm considering finally getting a touchscreen device (EVO) and I'm wondering what you guys think about alternative cursor controls in combination with a touchscreen.
The G1 had a trackball. As does the Nexus One. Several Android devices now have optical pads in place of the trackball. And some other devices have hard d-pads.
My question is thus:
What do you guys think about having an extra way to input on a touchscreen phone? Do you find yourself using it often? Hardly at all? Would you rather have that extra space as more screen (or something else)? And which do you prefer? Optical, hard d-pad, or trackball?
Just trying to get some discussion and some thoughts going.
Thanks.
Minjin said:
I've never had a touch screen phone. The only touch screen device I've had is a Palm IIIxe. Yeah, I guess I'm dating myself here. All of my phones have had hardware buttons with some sort of D-pad. I'm considering finally getting a touchscreen device (EVO) and I'm wondering what you guys think about alternative cursor controls in combination with a touchscreen.
The G1 had a trackball. As does the Nexus One. Several Android devices now have optical pads in place of the trackball. And some other devices have hard d-pads.
My question is thus:
What do you guys think about having an extra way to input on a touchscreen phone? Do you find yourself using it often? Hardly at all? Would you rather have that extra space as more screen (or something else)? And which do you prefer? Optical, hard d-pad, or trackball?
Just trying to get some discussion and some thoughts going.
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Optical track ball looks sweet, but it's alot finickery than the trackball itself. I can old see a d-pad for games, that's it.
it is GREAT for selecting texts. i think track ball is the best as it feels the most smooth and have some physical feedback.
I'm happy to have it. It would honestly draw me away from the phone if it didn't have a trackball. I constantly use it, it's kinda just natural.
my x1 got an optical actionpad and it's pretty jittery close to useless
It's a great optional way to input, edit, etc. Plus changing colors for diff events is awesome...Luv it on my Nexus!
I love the trackball on my Nexus, just makes it WAY easier to correct text, instead of tapping around till you find the right spot, you just go there. Now I will be buying an Evo, and I'll get used to it, I did it on my iPhone & I do fine without it on my Droid, but it will be missed.
I've heard trackballs don't last as long. Is this true?
I love my trackball it makes things easy
How does it work exactly? Do you get a mouse pointer? Or are the trackballs movements just translated into up/down/left/right?
A mouse pointer would be sweet....
I love the trackball. On my G1, it is no longer perfect, but still does the job.
I have just got a Desire as a new work phone, and the optical track ball SUCKS. So dissapointed. It's going back! I'm either going to wait for a keyboard phone or get an N1.
MooGoo said:
How does it work exactly? Do you get a mouse pointer? Or are the trackballs movements just translated into up/down/left/right?
A mouse pointer would be sweet....
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You get a mouse pointer in Opera 5. I like having it.
Is it mini or mobile? I can't remember.
TrackballS tend to get dirty and jam, this happend to almost all my phones that had them (especially BB's). Now that I have a phone with the optical pad, I find it more stylish, durable, comfortable and reliable. It just took a little getting used to at first. Im sure most phones from now on will be using the pad over the ball. Trackballs are so 2009.
it's 2008, not 2009
optical trackpad has been out for too long and I think it's better. I don't know how can you guys use the trackball and not get it dirty :-s
and on android phone I don't need either of those, I use volume key to move the cursor, and it's good enough for me
I use it mainly for moving my cursor in a text, copying text.
Sometimes I use it for scrolling through a list or a document.
Little use overall, but I'm happy it's there when I need it.
benoitb85 said:
I use it mainly for moving my cursor in a text, copying text.
Sometimes I use it for scrolling through a list or a document.
Little use overall, but I'm happy it's there when I need it.
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Click to collapse
Exactly, it is rarely used, but selecting text/moving the cursor around a text field with the optical sensor is bad. You can only jump 1 character at a time.
As I mentioned before, it's great having the mouse pointer in Opera, and the trackball complements it great. The optical is no good at all with this, as it only moves up/down and left/right, not diagonally, and only in small steps.
I have had my G1 for ages, without a case, and the trackball, while not as good as new, still blows the optical sensor away.
I don't think it matters what year it is, there are advantages to the trackball over the optical.
I like the trackpad and the hardware d-pad of my Xperia X1. They enable me to use my phone singlehandedly whenever I need to. It's also nice to scroll through lists. And last but not least one or two more opitions to control your device can never be bad.
very useful, you cant navigate the bootloader without it.
i smashed my phone yesterday and im glad i have the hardware buttons including the trackball
i managed to backup everything without touch input! win
the track ball would keep me away from the g1, nexus one and any other phone that has it. i never understood it nor did i see the need for it. i've played with them on my friends phones and have not felt comfortable using them. but it does seem like others have found them valuable so i guess its safest to say that they are not for everybody.
Hey is anyone elses GTab's touch sensitivity kind of off?
I noticed, compared to the iPad and Galaxy Tab, some times it takes me 2-4x of tryinng to press something to get it going.
Its almost like the screen cant pick it up sometimes. And sometimes when scrolling, it selects things, when im just Trying to scroll..
Also the top left HOME button on screen is always iffy, most times ill need 2-4 more times 2 press it to get it going.
I am using TNT 2.2.
Anyone else noticed this? i feel like its hardware.
Definetely not as responsive as my EVO. Maybe its the cheap screen. I wish it could be fixed via software, but fat chance. I guess not all capacitive screens are created equal.
supanatuwral said:
Definetely not as responsive as my EVO. Maybe its the cheap screen. I wish it could be fixed via software, but fat chance. I guess not all capacitive screens are created equal.
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You nailed it. IMO Samsung has been making the best color screens for years.
Have had absolutely no problems with touchpad responsiveness from my gTab... Just as sensitive and responsive as my Dinc.
Really does seem like this hardware is hit or miss... Some tabs have no issues some have many.
You guys are just plain spoiled. I've gone through Palm IIIx to now the gTablet, and it just simply has the most responsive touch screen that I've ever used, but I've had recent experience with the dreadful Augen GT and the slightly less dreadful White Pandigital Novel, both of which had worse touch screens than other devices that I've used.
One thing that I do, do for the gTab though is to clean the screen quite a bit. At a minimum I do so before every use as I find the fingerprint/body oils buildup to be annoying in fairly short order and it might have some impact on touch responsiveness. It's the worst fingerprint magnet that I've ever seen actually...
No issues here with single touch sensitivity, pretty good on that. Just as good as my Nexus One. Multitouch and pinch-to-zoom still a bit flaky. I am hopeful that will be resolved by software and/or driver improvements, as it was on the Nexus One.
The only issues I have are when the screen is too dirty or too clean. When I really scrub and clean the glass off entirely, at first it's a bit too "sticky" almost when my finger contacts it - maybe that's because it's winter here in the Northeast and my skin is dry. Once I've used it a bit and it gets some finger grease on it, it works perfectly. But if it gets grit or solid dirt on it, that can definitely interfere with the touch screen too, as with any capacitive screen.
I suspect the optimal thing would be a really good screen protector that's easy to clean and has that smooth finger contact feeling out of the box, like the iPad's glass does, for example, which I think has something to do with the oleophobic coating.
Typing this on my gtablet. The issue for me is the keyboard. There are parts of the screen that are unresoonsive making some letters not get tapped. The A key and l keys in particular. As a result I can't type smoothly or naturally because I will make several errors along the way. This does not happen onky iphone or my wires ipad.
it might bemy rrleason for sending it back as it takes too ongoing totyr correctly and I get tire d of all the corrections.
Well if your using the stock tnt keyboard, it sucks. We can learn from the ipad, with the size of the screen it has huge keys that cover a lot more of the screen then our stock tnt keyboard. I use smart keyboard pro with the key heights set to maximum and it works so much better, like 100x better. Even has voice to text.
Can people check their keyboard? I find that if I type most of the keys they type fine. However, the letter a key seems to only work when pressed offcenter which prevents. From typing properly as I must deliberately slow down and make sure it is correctly typed otherwise I get many errors. Could this be a defect in my screen?
Or is this a ui problem with tnt?
This could be a deal breaker as I misspelled every word if. Has h letter A
Letter A
I have the same problem with the letter A, and sometimes P. Otherwise touch is great
Figured why this tablet is driving me nuts. There are two dead zones on this tablet. Someone please do this test so I can figure out if this is just my tablet or all g tablets.
Download mulitouch vis test. Do rapid light touches in the area where the 'a' key is and delete key are. If I do this test in the middle of the screen it registers every single tap. But in those two areas I can sometimes tap 10 times in a row and not have a single tap register.
If this all g tablets then I think it's going back.
Also is there a keyboard with arrow keys? Trying to place the cursor can be a real pain.
Agreed bout the dead spots. The stock tap n tap western keyboard seems tominimize them due to the angles but if I try another keyboard I miss the a and the return button all the time
Stocklone said:
Figured why this tablet is driving me nuts. There are two dead zones on this tablet. Someone please do this test so I can figure out if this is just my tablet or all g tablets.
Download mulitouch vis test. Do rapid light touches in the area where the 'a' key is and delete key are. If I do this test in the middle of the screen it registers every single tap. But in those two areas I can sometimes tap 10 times in a row and not have a single tap register.
If this all g tablets then I think it's going back.
Also is there a keyboard with arrow keys? Trying to place the cursor can be a real pain.
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Click to collapse
Downloaded the app as well because I, too, am having the same screen non-responsiveness issue. Lo and behold the area where the "L" key is is a pretty dead spot. It would register about 40% of the quick taps I did in that area. Is this is a software issue? If so, I can live with it and hope our wonderful devs release a software build that resolves this otherwise, this thing may be going back because it's driving me up the wall!
I do see the occasional missed tap here and there, but no consistent dead areas that I've noticed (the A and L buttons on keyboard seem fine to me).
Multitouch sensitivity is wayyyyy mis-calibrated though - you have to use very heavy finger presses to get multitouch to register. This is some sort of driver or calibration issue that should be easily solved.
I found a binary called TSCalibration in the /system/bin directory on my VEGAn ROM G Tablet. Tried running it from terminal, but it seems to be looking for a calibration.ini file on the SDCard. I'd be willing to bet we could figure out how to fix some of the touchscreen issues with some work, because I suspect they are principally software related.
If your issues with the touchscreen are anything like this...exchange it...
My new one requires very little effort if any at all to get the screen to respond...
However, if you're talking about the once in a while miss of a touch...yes, I agree with cutterjohn....you're spoiled. Return the device asap, so I could pick it up from an outlet...please?
RavenII said:
If your issues with the touchscreen are anything like ...exchange it...
My new one requires very little effort if any at all to get the screen to respond...
However, if you're talking about the once in a while miss of a touch...yes, I agree with cutterjohn....you're spoiled. Return the device asap, so I could pick it up from an outlet...please?
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Click to collapse
There is a big difference between these dead spots and the occasional miss. I have no problem with the occasional miss. I just have to adjust to how my finger touches the tablet to get more consistent hits.
There are areas of my tablet that consistently do not behave like the other areas. Does that sound normal to you? I can't have a tablet where anything in the 2 corners is extremely inconsistent. If I have the tablet oriented a certain way the soft-buttons get put into one of the bad corners and that is really frustrating.
I don't think it is how I am holding it because the problem follows the physical corners and it is not relative to my hand. So that rules that out. And I washed my hands and gave the tablet a good cleaning so dirt/grease/grime is not an issue either. It could have been too clean but why only two corners?
I have many weeks to go on my 30 days so I will keep screwing with it to see if I can come up with anything that is a workaround or explains why it is happening. It is insanely fast and it's modding future looks extremely bright with such talented people. If I get fed up enough, I'll exchange it and hopefully get one with a even touch response for the whole screen or simply return it and wait a couple more months for Honeycomb tablets.
RavenII said:
If your issues with the touchscreen are anything like this...exchange it...
My new one requires very little effort if any at all to get the screen to respond...
However, if you're talking about the once in a while miss of a touch...yes, I agree with cutterjohn....you're spoiled. Return the device asap, so I could pick it up from an outlet...please?
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Whoa. That video was pretty bad. While mine is not like that (thank God), I just tried hitting the app drawer key and it only registered after the 13th tap?!?! seriously wtf. While it isn't a "dead zone" per se, that's still pretty bad. There has to be a software fix to recify this issue with the right side of the screen. (my "L" and "delete" button are pretty bad as well).
THAT is a defective product...
I'll do another video to compare with my new one...WITH funky assed salty sweat all over the screen. Works flawlessly...
Is your model that is working well running stock firmware and keyboard?
mine is tent lite and the stock keyboard is ok. It if I try to use the alternative keyboards then I get consistent misses on key presses especially on the letter a.
I'm always tapping *constantly*, like 10-20 times on certain spots around the corners and edges of the screen, I'm about to return mine because of this.. Believe I'm still in the 2 weeks with office depot, will have to go snag the $350 one over at sears and hopefully it will come with a screen protector this time (this one I have didn't come with one, wonder if that has to do with the dead spots)..
First of all, yes, I am calling it the mySlide 4G. But, my question is, how good is the keyboard? And I don't mean "how good is the keyboard compared to the [Insert Phone Name Here], I mean is the keyboard usable, does it get the job done, and can it be used fast? I have never owned a keyboard before so I am not super worried about adjusting, but in the time I (im)patiently wait for my phone to arrive, I thought I would get thoughts of what real users think of the keyboard. Despite watching/reading all the reviews of the mySlide, it's refreshing to find out what people who don't compare phones for a living think.
natehoch96 said:
First of all, yes, I am calling it the mySlide 4G. But, my question is, how good is the keyboard? And I don't mean "how good is the keyboard compared to the [Insert Phone Name Here], I mean is the keyboard usable, does it get the job done, and can it be used fast? I have never owned a keyboard before so I am not super worried about adjusting, but in the time I (im)patiently wait for my phone to arrive, I thought I would get thoughts of what real users think of the keyboard. Despite watching/reading all the reviews of the mySlide, it's refreshing to find out what people who don't compare phones for a living think.
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Click to collapse
I like the keyboard, sure I wish it had a dedicated number row but no biggie. It feels great my fingers. The only thing I'd really change at this point is moving the .com button. I'm constantly hitting that when I want an "a". But I really don't understand why there are so many reviews trashing this keyboard. I'm very particular about my hard keyboards and this one fits in with my high standards.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App
I think given the amount of real estate that the keys could use on the phone. That they are too tiny and close together. I'm constantly hitting keys I didnt mean to. And to reach some of them it feels akward, I have to reach further than feels natural. Namely the space bar feels too far to the left.
The response time seems fine. Keys work smoothly. It's just a bit off for me, and not really a comfortable keyboard to use. I'm sure I will adapt and eventually wont notice it anymore.
I really didn't think I would like the Slide's keyboard after using the Touch Pro 2 for so long, but it isn't that bad. The only thing I find myself doing is hitting the '.com' key more often than not when I want an 'a'. I've only had the phone since Tuesday, so I'm sure that with a little bit more time, it won't be an issue.
I think the keyboard is quite usable, and I can type at a relatively quick speed on it.
hah, funny how different typing styles result in different annoyances with the keyboard.
I'm quite liking it, personally. the G1 is still my favorite of the hw keyboard android phones I've had, but the slide is just fine. the only things I would change:
-the back button is pretty inconveniently placed for my typing style. it's not uncommon for me to be typing a sentence and when I end it I accidentally hit "back" and lose everything (unless it's a text or whatever that saves a draft). I also hit "menu" occasionally when typing a comma.
-tactile feedback. I like a nice "click" or at least a pronounced "smoosh" when I'm typing. with the slide, you almost can't tell you've pressed a key.
some things that I really like about it so far:
-however superfluous they may be, the leds at the top of the keyboard that tell you if you have caps or alt on. nice touch.
-spacing is nice. I look at, for comparison's sake, the D3 and can't imagine how anyone with hands bigger than a toddler can type accurately on it. the slide has good spacing and while I agree with azscrewloose on the size of the keys (they could be a smidgen larger), overall, it feels good even with huge hands like mine.
I've never used a slide-out keyboard before but all-in-all this phone feels really nice. The most awkward part for me is the spacebar but I love the www./.com button and caps lock/alt leds, it makes it easy to punch in numbers. The keys they chose to make default work very well. And I think once this phone gets root/s-off/overclock it's going to be a force to be reckoned with.
this phone qwerty and the rest of the hard buttons went kaput. broken. tried factory reset and did not help. these phones are pieces of crap. sending them back and done with android maybe. idk. htc dropped the ball on this one and tmobile lost customers. hope this helps some considering. dont do it.
fireinthesky2night said:
this phone qwerty and the rest of the hard buttons went kaput. broken. tried factory reset and did not help. these phones are pieces of crap. sending them back and done with android maybe. idk. htc dropped the ball on this one and tmobile lost customers. hope this helps some considering. dont do it.
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lol... this happens with any phone from any manufacturer on any carrier. any electronic device, for that matter. it's called a hardware defect and sometimes it happens. get a replacement and get over it.
pmcqueen said:
-tactile feedback. I like a nice "click" or at least a pronounced "smoosh" when I'm typing. with the slide, you almost can't tell you've pressed a key.
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Click to collapse
This was one of my worries. Although I have never owned a QWERTY keyboard phone, I imagine some tactile feedback would be nice.
fireinthesky2night said:
this phone qwerty and the rest of the hard buttons went kaput. broken. tried factory reset and did not help. these phones are pieces of crap. sending them back and done with android maybe. idk. htc dropped the ball on this one and tmobile lost customers. hope this helps some considering. dont do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I agree with pmcqueen, just because your phone had problems doesn't mean every phone did. And I certainly wouldn't get rid of Android due to this, it is a great and probably the most powerful phone OS out there. Get a replacement, I guarantee that it won't have the same problems. And if it does, contact T-Mobile and get a free Sensation and a discount on your plan or something lol.
I like the keyboard. I find typing on it to be a much better experience then some of the other phones i've tried, I don't run into the problem of hitting other keys I didn't mean to.
Seems like they are spaced just far enough apart, and raised to just the right height.
Another thing I like is that all the keys are backlit, so I can see them even when it's dim and the light from the screen makes everything around it hard to see.
The one thing I don't like is a lack of arrow keys, but I suppose I can live with that, even though it really sucks.
I like the combination .com and www. button, and the symbol button. The symbol button pops up a choice of symbols on the screen that you can tap to insert. Very helpful.
Blue6IX said:
I like the keyboard. I find typing on it to be a much better experience then some of the other phones i've tried, I don't run into the problem of hitting other keys I didn't mean to.
Seems like they are spaced just far enough apart, and raised to just the right height.
Another thing I like is that all the keys are backlit, so I can see them even when it's dim and the light from the screen makes everything around it hard to see.
The one thing I don't like is a lack of arrow keys, but I suppose I can live with that, even though it really sucks.
I like the combination .com and www. button, and the symbol button. The symbol button pops up a choice of symbols on the screen that you can tap to insert. Very helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do wish that the backlighting was more generous, but hopefully there will be an app for that once the phone is rooted.
Plus, for the arrow keys, the optical scroll pad works great!
Keyboard is not to my liking
I had the "mySlide 4G" for a week. I hated the keyboard. I have used a G2 a couple times, the slide fails to match that experience. I thought after a week I would get used to the keyboard, that did not happen. I hated it and returned the phone, even though i am currently phoneless I am not going to get that phone. I hate software keyboards so much, I thought this phone was going to be amazing. The keys are spaced to wide, I thought that would accommodate my fat fingers, but it was worst than the G2. I did not get the feedback I was expecting, the keys are a bit too far in for my taste. The slide mechanism felt flimsy after a couple days use and battery life was terrible compared to my previous nexus one.
TL;DR The keys do not have good feedback and are too far apart. Battery life is meh.
I would say it's on par with the other physical keyboards that HTC has released. I still think the G1 was the best, because of the number row....even though it took time getting use to holding it. So far I am having issues with the MTS4g, but I think it's because I am coming from the G2. Comparing the G2 to the MTS4G, the Alt and Shift keys are literally backwards. So I am constantly hitting Shift when I want to hit Alt, just because they are backwards and I am used to the G2 button location.
I just wish I could figure out what button I am hitting that shuts down my SMS in the middle of typing....that's starting to get annoying.
All in all, I would give this a 6.5 out of 10.
cberbes said:
I would say it's on par with the other physical keyboards that HTC has released. I still think the G1 was the best, because of the number row....even though it took time getting use to holding it. So far I am having issues with the MTS4g, but I think it's because I am coming from the G2. Comparing the G2 to the MTS4G, the Alt and Shift keys are literally backwards. So I am constantly hitting Shift when I want to hit Alt, just because they are backwards and I am used to the G2 button location.
I just wish I could figure out what button I am hitting that shuts down my SMS in the middle of typing....that's starting to get annoying.
All in all, I would give this a 6.5 out of 10.
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almost certainly the "Back" button on the SMS shutdown. if I remember right, the G2 just had a search and menu key on the keyboard... for better or worse, the MT4GS has [rather inconveniently if you ask me] placed a "back" key right next to the period. I regularly hit the back button when trying to punctuate properly.
so I guess I either look like a halfwit when making business communication or I have to deal with losing a few messages (usually they just save as drafts when I press back, but sometimes I lose them altogether) and start from scratch.
thankfully, though, s-off and permaroot are now officially right around the corner and we can remap these buttons. yayyyy.
The 4g slide's keyboard definitely needs some getting used to.
I LOVED the 3g slides keyboard and thought it would be pretty much the same.
The buttons are MUCH more sensitive and are taking time to get used to.
I liked the g2's buttons (as far as feel) better, and I liked the original slides the best. I've been reading that people have been keyboards that have different feels so you mileage may vary. I noticed pressure differences in the two 4g slides I bought (mine is ultra sensitive).
Once we have root, one of the FIRST things I'm doing is editing the keymappings and making the retarded www.com key a tab button. WTF are people that lazy that it warrants a dedicated key? I understand TAB with linux since it autocompletes and I use a shell and ssh a lot. Oh well.
pmcqueen said:
almost certainly the "Back" button on the SMS shutdown. if I remember right, the G2 just had a search and menu key on the keyboard... for better or worse, the MT4GS has [rather inconveniently if you ask me] placed a "back" key right next to the period. I regularly hit the back button when trying to punctuate properly.
so I guess I either look like a halfwit when making business communication or I have to deal with losing a few messages (usually they just save as drafts when I press back, but sometimes I lose them altogether) and start from scratch.
thankfully, though, s-off and permaroot are now officially right around the corner and we can remap these buttons. yayyyy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, that's it. Good call. I just looked at both of my keyboards and I think you nailed it on the head. Which of course brings up another issue with the physical keyboard....more of a software issue than anything. I can NOT get the physical keyboard set to auto-punctuate and auto-cap. With my G2 running CM7.1.0, I have auto punctuate and auto cap, so I don't have to worry about apostrophes, capitalizing "I", and what not, and double space ends the sentence.
I miss those features.
I'm getting used to the keyboards lack of tactile feedback but the lack of a dedicated number row is my biggest annoyance. If u could hold the buttons down and get the alt function that would help a lot. Hopefully a new rom can give us that option. I do miss my touch pro 2 kb...
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
I'm on the fence about what I think. On one hand, I actually prefer having such wide spacing between keys, a shallow travel, and soft response. I'm the type of person who loves the keyboards on palm phones since the centro; I like that soft touch, and I like that I can input with my nails if i need to. But the problem for me is that response among keys is uneven, on my model at least, with the keys towards the outwards edges being perfect, whereas a few keys towards the center, like the "t" and "g", barely provide me with any feedback. So little that I was actually looking around to whether I can enable virtual keyboard sounds or vibration feedback when using the hardware keyboard. I wonder whether its just a quality control issue because I haven't seen others have problems with specific buttons like that, they might just not like the keyboard at all but I haven't read about an uneven response.
Which is a shame because otherwise the phone is absolutely spectacular, and imo the best overall android offering out there. I have no issues whatsoever with using a virtual keyboard, but given the possibility, I'd rather use a physical one to save real estate and for the sake of my fingers.
However, I've only had the phone for 2 days, and I have clearly noticed that the keys are "breaking in". It was much worse the first day, but now response has improved substantially. I can tell because some of the outer keys had little response as well before but now click more satisfactorily after I spent a good amount of time pressing keys randomly in the notes app to wear the keys in.
I like this keyboard a lot. The only thing that absolutely sucks about it is that when using it your hands cover the bluetooth radio. For me since I am constantly listening to music on my phone via my bluetooth headphones... I am constantly annoyed by skipping music during texting or browsing. So I generally use the touch screen keyboard while listening to music via bluetooth.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
On another note, does anybody know if their is a version of the stock gingerbread keyboard available with hardware spelling suggestions? The hardware keyboard is a lot more usable for me when used with suggestions. Better Keyboard has it and works well, but its prediction simply isn't as good as either gingerbread's or HTCs, mainly because it doesn't correct a lot of words where you type in an extra letter. And HTCs keyboard, though good as well, simply annoys me because it alwaayyysssss autocorrects "lol" to "LOL", which though minor, I find incredibly irksome when texting. No one uses caps for lol unless they are actually find something hilarious. Everybody knows that lol doesnt actually mean you're laughing out loud most of the time, lol. See? I didn't laugh.
I can't say for other tablets, but on the Transformer at least the soft keys for back, home, and multitasking are hard to use like they are. This tablet is so wide that it feels sort of silly to use it in the portriat orientation and it’s just a little too heavy to be held with just one hand in landscape for any significant length of time, so after a while I find myself gripping the sides with both hands and using my thumbs for navigation. This is all well and good until I need to use one of the soft keys at the bottom. It seems like they would be so much more useful at the top, so that you could hold onto the tablet with two hands and still be able to hit the back button quickly if you need to, which I always find myself doing when I'm on the internet and trying to go back from a page that had loaded a flash video. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but I literally have to hit the back button 4 times really quick in succession or the page with the flash will just refresh over and over again.
But what seems even better than having the soft keys at the top is to just not have them at all and instead use a multitouch gesture based system for doing the same things. I believe the iPad had something similar in an early developers build of iOS 4 or 5. The gestures could be designed with thumb use in mind and maybe a thin strip along sides of the screen to serve as an area where the gestures can be preformed. Or one thick strip could be used on one side to completely replace the huge bottom bar, which seems to both be in the wrong place and take up more space than it needs
I like it how it is. But I am strange.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
hi guys...
since i started using an android phone i've been surprised of how the interface is poorly designed for the comfort of the user, one of the major issues for me is the "back button", and the problem is a lot worst with phones with screens over 4". everytime you need to go back you have to move your finger to the lower part of the phone where this button is located and if you dont have big hands it is very uncomfortable, it is even painful after a while,
i think that those buttons should be removed from android, now with ics and jellybean there is that software buttons that keep the same problem and also are a waste of space on the screen.
every app should have its own "back button" in some place that is easy to reach with your finger like the apps for the iphone ( dont kill me for using the iphone like an example in this particular aspect).
what do you guys think???
rodmc123 said:
hi guys...
since i started using an android phone i've been surprised of how the interface is poorly designed for the comfort of the user, one of the major issues for me is the "back button", and the problem is a lot worst with phones with screens over 4". everytime you need to go back you have to move your finger to the lower part of the phone where this button is located and if you dont have big hands it is very uncomfortable, it is even painful after a while,
i think that those buttons should be removed from android, now with ics and jellybean there is that software buttons that keep the same problem and also are a waste of space on the screen.
every app should have its own "back button" in some place that is easy to reach with your finger like the apps for the iphone ( dont kill me for using the iphone like an example in this particular aspect).
what do you guys think???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, iPhone has the back button embedded in the app and many are saying they need to implement dedicated back key in their phones. So its all about personal choice bro.
And I don't think Android needs to remove the back key and if you've used an iPhone you would know the hassle using it without a back button. Many iOS apps have back key located at various areas in their UI. So a normal user, who don't have much experience in using smartphones would get confused easily. But if dedicated back key is there, it makes all easy.
EDIT: Regarding the ICS/JB soft-keys option, if the manufactures think its a waste of space, they can simply disable it by modifying a line in one of the xml files. And if they decide they need not have to give their phones any hardware/capacitive buttons, they'll enable it. So google have given this feature as optional, and why would anyone think of removing that handy feature.
coolsandie said:
Well, iPhone has the back button embedded in the app and many are saying they need to implement dedicated back key in their phones. So its all about personal choice bro.
And I don't think Android needs to remove the back key and if you've used an iPhone you would know the hassle using it without a back button. Many iOS apps have back key located at various areas in their UI. So a normal user, who don't have much experience in using smartphones could get confused easily. But if dedicated back key is there, it makes all easy.
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Click to collapse
i think the back button is useful, but this is an ergonomic problem.. i think having a back button in the app it is a better solution, the waste of space on the screen also sucks, and i doubt that some pepole could be confused by a button with a back-arrow icon on it
rodmc123 said:
i think the back button is useful, but this is an ergonomic problem.. i think having a back button in the app it is a better solution, the waste of space on the screen also sucks, and i doubt that some pepole could be confused by a button with a back-arrow icon on it
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Click to collapse
After all, everyone gets a User-Manual with their phones. And every people that have paid for their new shiny phone would die to boot up fast and they'll look around, and by looking around they can easily know, the arrow stands for the Back key. :silly:
rodmc123 said:
i think the back button is useful, but this is an ergonomic problem.. i think having a back button in the app it is a better solution, the waste of space on the screen also sucks, and i doubt that some pepole could be confused by a button with a back-arrow icon on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main problem of the iphones back button is, is that sometimes it had different words, its in different places within the app, and its not simply a back button sometimes.
For example, when I use the keyboard on iOS, I have to tap on an area in the screen to close the keyboard, whereas on android its just a simple tap of the back button. Its just extremely consistent and I found myself tapping the empty area next to the home button on an ipod touch more than a few times expecting there to be a back button.
Although I have never used something as big as the One X, I imagine it would be hard (as you said) to reach the button without risking dropping the phone. But then I guess you buy a phone that fits your hand size, not something too big that you know will be a hassle
Sent from my MB508 using xda premium
If you use your left hand to hold the phone, why can't u use your little finger of your left hand to press the back button (it's convenient to me)
If u use the right hand, u can use the thumb of the right hand to press back.
Just my advice, no offence
rodmc123 said:
i think the back button is useful, but this is an ergonomic problem.. i think having a back button in the app it is a better solution, the waste of space on the screen also sucks, and i doubt that some pepole could be confused by a button with a back-arrow icon on it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sound a bit like the commercial for the iphone5 with all that trollin arround here :laugh:
The 4" the sane size for a phone!!! -like speech etc.
If you don't like it you don't buy it. What is all that wining???
chaki- said:
You sound a bit like the commercial for the iphone5 with all that trollin arround here :laugh:
The 4" the sane size for a phone!!! -like speech etc.
If you don't like it you don't buy it. What is all that wining???
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Click to collapse
this is not an iphone vs android discussion.. i do not say the back button is not useful the thing is that the location of the button is very uncomfortable in devices with a big screen if you dont have huge hands.
i like 4,3" and 4,7" screens thats why i have a 4,3 screen.. but with the back button down there, atleast for my hand size, it is very annoying to use.
really nobody else noticed this issue?? i mean your finger is most of the time at the middle of the screen and from there you move it like a compass to the upper and lowwer part of the screen, now take a phone with a 4,3 (or bigger) display and try to do that, you have to use your other hand or you have to somehow move the phone so the bottom (where the back button is located) is reachable for your finger and in that process you can drop the phone or end up with tendinitis after a long time of use.
Mitch_Faiz_555 said:
If you use your left hand to hold the phone, why can't u use your little finger of your left hand to press the back button (it's convenient to me)
If u use the right hand, u can use the thumb of the right hand to press back.
Just my advice, no offence
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Click to collapse
sorry but what you say does not make any sense, your "little finger" might be ridiculously large and flexible to do that.
chaki- said:
You sound a bit like the commercial for the iphone5 with all that trollin arround here :laugh:
The 4" the sane size for a phone!!! -like speech etc.
If you don't like it you don't buy it. What is all that wining???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you know what is constructive criticism?? i like android, i like my phone i just wish they can improve the back button thing.. is that too much for you?
Personal preference. I like the dedicated back and menu buttons.
Never had a problem with them, makes switching or going through apps much faster than having to locate the back button on each app (which is not always obvious where they put it)
I'm asian. My fingers are relatively smaller than you guys but for me the buttons are very convenient to use. Mine is the S2.
Navigation bar is not a waste of the screen. Why? Because it's not just back key. There are recent apps and home too. For a futuristic full touch phone without any buttons, what do you expect for the alternatives of those 2 other keys? Gestures? That will be hard to be used.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
problem solved in ICS/JB
rodmc123 said:
sorry but what you say does not make any sense, your "little finger" might be ridiculously large and flexible to do that.
do you know what is constructive criticism?? i like android, i like my phone i just wish they can improve the back button thing.. is that too much for you?
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Click to collapse
It's really is a personal choice.
I personally love the back button, have no problems using it with one hand, nor do with GF with her small hands and Optimus 4X HD, which is a larger phone than my Galaxy S2. Both of us cite the back button as a large factor contributing to the usability of Android.
If you don't like the back button, you can always switch to the iPhone. This is such a rare complain that I must say that you, OP, are in the sheer minority.
To add on, the fact that Windows Phone implements a back button as well shows that this is a feature that is beneficial rather than detrimental as you believe.
Logi_Ca1 said:
It's really is a personal choice.
I personally love the back button, have no problems using it with one hand, nor do with GF with her small hands and Optimus 4X HD, which is a larger phone than my Galaxy S2. Both of us cite the back button as a large factor contributing to the usability of Android.
If you don't like the back button, you can always switch to the iPhone. This is such a rare complain that I must say that you, OP, are in the sheer minority.
To add on, the fact that Windows Phone implements a back button as well shows that this is a feature that is beneficial rather than detrimental as you believe.
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Click to collapse
i repeat, im not saying the back button is not useful!! all im saying is that the button is not well placed it is just an ergonomic problem.
for example, it would be a lot more easy to reach if they move to button to the side of the phone (contrary to the volume buttons), i know it sounds like weird place to put it, but if you take your phone you will notice that is a place where you always could easy reach the button without using your other hand or move the phone.
I like the back button too. As I don't need to rely on app developer to setup a back button
rodmc123 said:
i repeat, im not saying the back button is not useful!! all im saying is that the button is not well placed it is just an ergonomic problem.
for example, it would be a lot more easy to reach if they move to button to the side of the phone (contrary to the volume buttons), i know it sounds like weird place to put it, but if you take your phone you will notice that is a place where you always could easy reach the button without using your other hand or move the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could use this app (requires root though) :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smart.swkey
It provides on screen functionality for navigation keys, which could be placed anywhere on the screen of your choice.
rodmc123, may I aks what device you are using? I believe it's also a manner of the ergonomics of the device itself. Many flagship devices have large screens and while design is nice, ergonomics may lose. I use the HTC One S momentarily (planning to rid it when new Nexus phones appeal), which is 2.56 by 5.15 inch, with a (screen) diagonal of 4.3 inch. That's too large for me to handle with one hand. Even though I'm not having much trouble using both hands most of the time, I do find it inconvinient I have to.
And indeed, there's the software button vs hardware button discussion. I believe it is simply mostly due to the ergonomics of the device itself, and depending on the OEM, software overlays creating additional bugs. Again, I'm a HTC user, got quite a bit of these stupid design flaws myself.
I can see the OP's point here, I started of with an HTC Hero which had quite a unique design with it's angled "chin" It was just the right size for one-handed operation. I upgraded to an HTC Sensation, being left handed, I run into trouble reaching the home button with my thumb. In fact using all the Hardware buttons at the bottom of the device does require shifting upwards in my palm.
It's got me wondering, would the hardware buttons be better off at the top? This being Android of course we don't need to wonder, we can try it out! Cyanogenmod for example allows full 360 rotation, although I might have to hack the Launcher a little bit to move the static app bar, I'm sure there was a setting for that pre-cm9, No matter it's just a case of editing the source or the layout xml. I'll just have to get used the upside down symbols.
Senzune said:
rodmc123, may I aks what device you are using? I believe it's also a manner of the ergonomics of the device itself. Many flagship devices have large screens and while design is nice, ergonomics may lose. I use the HTC One S momentarily (planning to rid it when new Nexus phones appeal), which is 2.56 by 5.15 inch, with a (screen) diagonal of 4.3 inch. That's too large for me to handle with one hand. Even though I'm not having much trouble using both hands most of the time, I do find it inconvinient I have to.
And indeed, there's the software button vs hardware button discussion. I believe it is simply mostly due to the ergonomics of the device itself, and depending on the OEM, software overlays creating additional bugs. Again, I'm a HTC user, got quite a bit of these stupid design flaws myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have a motorola atrix 2.. anyway i dont think its the ergonomics of this particular device, i think any phone with a big screen would have the same issue with the back button placed at the bottom.
like i said, at the opposite side of the volume buttons would be the best place if you think of the position of your hand and your fingers when you are holding the phone.