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Way to stop Backspace becoming delete in Fn mode?

I used to have a Blue Angel, now I have a Kaiser - both suffer from the same annoyance.
In Fn mode, the Backspace (delete to left of cursor) becomes Delete (Delete to right of cursor) and the arrow keys turn into other things as well.
The backspace issue would be circumventable if the left arrow still worked, you could do LEFT, DEL instead of BKSP.
All I would like is some way to be able to punch in numbers but still be able to access BKSPACE...
Thank god it works as I want in the phone dial screen on the kaiser (automatically assumes number on key not letter) which was the main reason I wanted something like this, but some way to have a fn lock that only changes the keys with numbers on them rather than all the blue Fn symbols (ie changing bksp) would be nice too.
Any ideas?

Touch Pro onscreen keyboard landcape with slider closed?

Sometimes I like using the virtual keyboard instead of the hardware keyboard but would prefer to use it in landscape mode. Is it possible to have the virtual keyboard up in landscape mode without having to open the slider? I tried GSen but that didn't work and reading about Gyrator it seems causes more problems than it cures.
Basically I would like to start a new text message (or e-mail) turn the phone and have it switch to landscape.
Second, does the hardware keyboard have a 'punch through'? On my old T-Mobile Dash (WM 6.1) I could hold down a button and have the symbol pop up on screen instead of the letter - saves me from having to hit the "function" key. This works on the TP in virtual mode but not with the hardware keyboard, can this be enabled? Right now holding down the button merely makes the letter repeat like on a laptop.

ItsDon said:
Sometimes I like using the virtual keyboard instead of the hardware keyboard but would prefer to use it in landscape mode. Is it possible to have the virtual keyboard up in landscape mode without having to open the slider? I tried GSen but that didn't work and reading about Gyrator it seems causes more problems than it cures.
Basically I would like to start a new text message (or e-mail) turn the phone and have it switch to landscape.
Second, does the hardware keyboard have a 'punch through'? On my old T-Mobile Dash (WM 6.1) I could hold down a button and have the symbol pop up on screen instead of the letter - saves me from having to hit the "function" key. This works on the TP in virtual mode but not with the hardware keyboard, can this be enabled? Right now holding down the button merely makes the letter repeat like on a laptop.
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I personally use Gyrator2, I do exactly what you are wanting to do. If you set it up correctly it really is a usefull app.
Second question, No clue.

gyrator 2 works great once you tell it what programs not to work in
it does exactly what you want in texts

You can also "move" your keyboard around the screen with this hack:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\SIP and change the value of Dragstyle from 0 to 1, followed by a soft reset.
You can grab it and move it anywhere on the screen you like after.

yzf750 said:
You can also "move" your keyboard around the screen with this hack:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\SIP and change the value of Dragstyle from 0 to 1, followed by a soft reset.
You can grab it and move it anywhere on the screen you like after.
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i saw that hack but is it in anyway useful ? or just amusing

Thanks for the replies. I just installed Gyrator2 and it does indeed do what I'm asking for! I think I need to get a little deeper into it though as it does some things I wasn't expecting (switch the calling screen to landscape after taking a call etc.) but so far, so good!

Usefull app request - T9 Touch type app

I used to touch type on old candy bar and slide phones without having to look at the screen, by feeling the dialpad keys I knew what button I was on and using the T9 dictionary it was easy, I really miss this in new phones now.
I wanted to buy a dialpad phone with Android as a 2nd phone but there are none being made so I think they are going the way of the dodo.
There is no feesable way to touch type on new phones, qwerty keyboards have too many keys, haptic feedback is in its infancy, so I propose a full screen T9 keyboard for touch typing.
The whole display would be filled with 9 or 10 buttons representing 0-9 like a standard dialpad.
This wouldn't be the main input method, I think it would be good for it to activate by pressing the volume down button twice while in a text field and deactivate by doing the same thing. Hopefully it should be possible to touch type without haptic feedback when the whole screen is filled with only 9 buttons.
Let me know what you guys think.

why the full screen??? my htc hero has softkb with t9, fills half the screen. I never use qwerty. Works like a charm. you can get the htc_ime.apk and use that.

I havent heard of anyone being able to touch type on a touchscreen phone yet, ie writing an sms while driving without looking at their phone.
If it is literally filling the whole screen it may be possible on a 3.7" screen the buttons will be big, you are either pressing one of the corners, middle or sides.
If it is filling only half the screen it becomes a lot more difficult if not impossible.

keyboard fn keys remapped?

I have a verizon tp2 that i bought on ebay recently and it works great other than a little issue with some of the function keys. more than half are not the one that the key says it is and others don't work at all, some are the correct key. for instance the ":" key actually produces a "/", the ";" key produces a "\", trying to type a comma just results in it doing a period which is the primary function of that key. "=" is a "_", and on and on. interestingly, all the symbols on the number keys work correctly and " is a " so not all of the symbols on the letter keys are messed up, but most are.
the keyboard is set to english, my region is USA, and the on screen keyboard works correctly.
It came loaded with energy rom and I just loaded the most recent version of energy on it cause i kinda like it and i was hoping reloading the rom would fix it, it didn't. I have looked all over for settings related to this and i see nothing. Is the keyboard itself screwy or something?

you just need to install the verizon keyboard cab, or install the verizon provisioning. it's in the energy rom thread

awesome, that fixed it thanks. If anyone else has the issue and wants the fix I linked it here.

[Q] Are there arrow keys on the myTouch 4G Slide / HTC Doubleshot?

I'm thinking of moving to T-Mobile, and I've seen some pics of the myTouch 4G Slide / HTC Doubleshot. However, the qwerty keypad seems to be missing arrow keys... Is there any arrow keys (or equivalent) on the qwerty keypad? I do some manipulation on spreadsheets and arrow keys are important for me.

The middle sensor button replaces the arrow keys.

AndroAsc said:
I'm thinking of moving to T-Mobile, and I've seen some pics of the myTouch 4G Slide / HTC Doubleshot. However, the qwerty keypad seems to be missing arrow keys... Is there any arrow keys (or equivalent) on the qwerty keypad? I do some manipulation on spreadsheets and arrow keys are important for me.
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If you notice on the bottom of the phone in the center there is an optical trackpad. It takes the place of arrow keys, you can use it to position the cursor. It also moves the homescreen back and forth and with stock roms can be pressed to wake up or put to sleep (some other roms have managed to implement that, as well, but not all).

I have the Slide. Since you asked on XDA I assume you are a coder or an aspiring coder.
I'd like to share my thoughts on the optical trackpad. To me as one who uses vi in ConnectBot console, the trackpad is no replacement for the keypad. The difference is that the keypad has the typomatic function where you want to go way to the right, just press and hold the right button. Can't do that with the optical trackpad; you have to slide your finger to the right 80 times to go there. (I know the vi $ command does it, but that's a 2-key action instead of 1 key because there isn't a dedicated '2' key: alt+2).
I'd add that the optical trackpad does implement the ctrl function when pressing the optical trackpad button when used under ConnectBot.

l00g33k said:
I have the Slide. Since you asked on XDA I assume you are a coder or an aspiring coder.
I'd like to share my thoughts on the optical trackpad. To me as one who uses vi in ConnectBot console, the trackpad is no replacement for the keypad. The difference is that the keypad has the typomatic function where you want to go way to the right, just press and hold the right button. Can't do that with the optical trackpad; you have to slide your finger to the right 80 times to go there. (I know the vi $ command does it, but that's a 2-key action instead of 1 key because there isn't a dedicated '2' key: alt+2).
I'd add that the optical trackpad does implement the ctrl function when pressing the optical trackpad button when used under ConnectBot.
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I prefer using adb on computer instead of using a built in terminal

Riyal said:
I prefer using adb on computer instead of using a built in terminal
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To be quite honest, i'd rather do everything I would do in adb through the terminal directly on the device if possible.
Especially anymore with the times few and very far between (at least at the moment) that I have access to a real computer, terminal capability has become more of a necessity then a preference.
About the arrow keys:
If you root then you can replace the keylayout file to add them, the pictures on the physical keys won't match up is all.
My first modified keylayout changed home to up, menu to down, back to left and genius to right arrow keys on the slide out keyboard - leaving those same keys in-tact for functionality on the face of the device.
When you slide out the keyboard, those four keys have the same function as the four keys at the bottom of the screen on the face of the device - seemed to me like they were begging for the change.
Aside from that, though, as nifty as the optical trackpad button is, and how incredibly useful it can be at times, it remains a poor substitute for actual arrow keys themselves.

Seriously considering getting a mytouch 4G slide, but the lack of arrow keys is the current deal breaker.
Can the trackpad be used efficiently to replace arrow keys? I do a lot of spreadsheet manipulation, and was wondering if it's going to work as well as arrow keys. It seems to be immensely irritating whenever I enter data into a cell, I need to move my fingers away from the QWERTY keyboard to the trackpad in order to move to the next cell, and then move my fingers back to the QWERTY board again...
Other posts here commented on key remapping, do the remapped keys alleviate the problem somewhat?

I think yes it's possible to remap some of it's keys into arrow keys.
It's possible to create new combination keys like pressing the www/.com + the letter O key would make up for the up arrow key. Some of the people here know how to mess with the keyconfigs so it's really good asking help with them. I just brought up the idea that it's possible but haven't really invested time looking into it but yeah I'mm 100% sure it's possible.