[Q] Any reason not to enable multiple keyboards - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Long-time Android user and always wondered this. Over time I have tried lots of keyboards. There are things I like about Better Keyboard, Swiftkey and Swype and I tend to alternate every now and then.
Is there any reason not to keep them all enabled so I can switch just from a long press?
-Steve

Yes, the world may explode.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

My concern is that maybe it makes texts or emails load more slowly or something?

Indeed, but it would be due to the world having exploded.
(Nonsarcastic answer: No because only one keyboard is active at a time)
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I don't think switching between multiple keyboards is a problem. I do it, and I haven't seen any significant slowdowns in overall performance.
I'd like to say...
Typing on the Android remains one of the few sore spots in my personal Android experience. I have been switching and experimenting with all sorts of keyboards for a long time. It's a bit frustrating that not a single keyboard format can mimic the smoothness and accuracy of the experience typing on an iPhone (or even an iPod Touch). Some do come close:
First, the stock Gingerbread keyboard is a vast improvement over past iterations, however I'm still experiencing oddities like missed presses (particularly with the space bar, resulting in words likethis, or when missing letters, words like tis or ths) or the complete opposite with overly sensitive touches (resulting in double hits like tthis or thiss) -- all frustrating. It's unfortunate the experience can be so polarizing.
Second, Smart Keyboard Pro is quite amazing. It's fully loaded with features and customizations (like custom auto-correction, something which is so helpful which I don't understand why it isn't implemented in the stock keyboard). However, I think until the developer optimizes it for Gingerbread, it remains a bit laggy. I've been in contact with the developer and he says he's looking into updating soon.
Lastly, I've recently been experimenting with Better Keyboard Beta 8 (fully optimized for Gingerbread) and I have to say I'm very impressed. I've only been using it for two days, but my initial impressions are positive. It doesn't seem to misfire too much, and the auto correction is incredibly smart. I'm excited for the potentials of this.
As for others, like Swype and Swiftkey, I find they are novel ideas but can work counter-intuitively to thumbing out long and quick messages. Swype is cumbersome when you're trying to write personal/custom words (slang, etc.) or when you're attempting to write long words (it's easy to lose track). And Swiftkey, when it lands and predicts accurately your sentences, is very impressive. Unfortunately, this happens rarely. More often than not, the predictions are off, and you end up having to type out nearly every letter of a word anyway. Also, because you are so busy focusing on picking the next and correct predicted words, it ironically makes completing messages slower. Even Swiftkey's own website says the predictions will be 1/3 correct. Impressive as that is itself, those odds don't translate to a fluid typing experience in the real world.
Having said all that, I'm hoping Blindtype will be implemented soon and change all of this. Until then, the typing experience on Android, regardless of which keyboard, feels second rate. It continues to be one of the few areas of Android I can't enjoy.

Related

Number Keys vs. Punctuation [Includes a Rave xD]

Well when I first saw the reviews on the fuze, pretty much the primary gripe was the number keys weren't on top. I too was like woah...why in god's green earth would they do that. I previously had a verizon enV so that why i went to the fuze to begin with. Not to mention I had to switch to AT&T because everyone else was on it.
Now I thought it was extremely stupid of AT&T to mess with a cell phone's QWERTY keyboard, after all every cell phone with a QWERTY keyboard has a number row and I couldn't have imagined not having a number row. But now that I have been using the fuze I see why they would consider it.
Since this was beyond a typical smartphone and is one of the most advanced, the highest speced, and overall the fastest phone on the market (kicks the iPhone's behind in the RAM department) you begin to shift away from simply sending short bursts of information by texting, like on my enV, and more to doing things you would normally do on your laptop like going on forums, writing emails, etc. Thats when your like damn this is brilliant. Now that you are writing sophisticated messages that require punctuation and grammar, you use punctuation more often and have better grammar. I even notice that now when I text I put commas in my messages and question marks and basically write like I would on a laptop. After all, don't you use a lot more punctuation in your emails and even texts than you do numbers? I mean people use numbers for short texts on their keypads because it requires less characters. And it takes a lot longer to write out messages on keypads.
For example, "c u l8er
can i b ova 2nite"
And now that your 'sophisticated' with your snobby qwerty keyboard and touch screen keyboard (still kicks ass, one hand messaging ftw!) you don't write txts you write messages xD. For example us sophisticated fuze users we write messages like. "hey, i'll see you later. oh and btw, can I, please come over tonight? " (meh we are still too lazy to capitalize, next up is the entire bottom row as a shift key, jk)
Not only that but I personally think even inputting numbers is more comfortable on the fuze because its in a more natural faster keypad configurations. Everyone knows keypads are faster and heck every desktop PC keyboard has a keypad. So its a win win. Either way using the keypad and having to press fn is still just as fast, and more natural, than using a number row.
Just my little rant.
Btw. I am so happy with my fuze. i really think it is a better aesthetically than the touch pro. It feels a lot smoother and is a lot more original. Its very simple but at the same time the back is pretty nifty. I am especially happy with it because now that I have bodyguardz on my phone the back isn't a fingerprint magnet but its still nice and glossy and nifty. Overall I am not a big fan of the touch pros iPhonesque chrome. I think it look nifty on the iphone because its such a simple streamlined phone but the raphael doesn't really pull off chrome as well. I like the fuze better than the touch pro because its more hard lined, and more bold. It not the streamlined design of the iPhone and many other phones. It has hard lines and is not smooth, especially the back.
The fuze spits in the face of conventional designs. It is unique and wonderful. It is not made to steal iPhone users or be another "iPhone Killer". It is doing its own thing and could care less whether the other kids think its cool or not. Its got a small size factor and feels small but its design makes a bold impact. It feels solid and amazingly built. It is it's own phone and unlike other big name phones you can do whatever you want with it.
It's yours and you don't have to go to an "app store". You don't need to follow an "API" or an "SDK". Don't like the radio driver? Go try a different version.
Don't like the touchflo, just turn it off and install one of plethora of established today screen products. You can get a nice clean ROM (DA_G Clean Rom is fantastic btw) and install what you want. You can disregard the apps they give you.
PS: And the PTT button is awesome. Sure no one cares about PTT or uses it but it sure makes for an invaluable hardware addition. I remapped with AE Button Plus and now I got a button that is great just for launching little apps. I can put my browser, the camera, vibrate, and a task manager all on the same button. Trust me that little "worthless" button is great. The Raphael doesn't really have too many buttons so you really don't have any other buttons to use for apps. Sure you can use AE Button plus to map your buttons but its nice to have a little button that's doesn't do any necessary function. It's just yours. One man's POS PTT button is another man's interface enhancement.

CURIOSITY COMPARISON: Does the iPhone ever freeze up, require restart/reset?

I've been at XDA for 2 years, initially trying to get my T-Mobile MDA to perform better, and for this past year my T-Mobile WING. I've never owned an iPhone -- nor have I ever sat down to ask friends of mine who have iPhones these questions. But now I am curious:
Apple makes killer products with thoughtful attention to product design, customer usability design, graphical interface, and occasionally some software/hardware breakthroughs (like multi-touch for the iphone). Then they market to consumers like nobody else, in every sales channel. This is all the "in-front of the curtain" stuff everyone knows.
But I know from being a Mac user since 1986 with my original MacSE, all way up to the current Mac Pro desktop and MacBook Pro laptop, that "behind the curtain" they ALL lock-up at times, requiring restarts, etc. And servicing. I just got my Mac Pro desktop back from repair where a hard drive failed. ... But I am out of touch completely with the world of iPhones.
Some of you have iPhones. I'm curious on a given day, how many apps can you run simultaneously, and how often does an iPhone freeze up requiring a reset? For comparative purposes, on my "XDA-modified" Wing (HTC Herald) -- which has an old & slow processor, and very litle RAM, I can now, after many software improvements, run Google Maps, Contact Manager, Notes, Total Commander, OperaMini browser, "Photos & Videos" photo cropper, and sometimes my MP3 player all open at same time, and not crash. My MP3 player *will* cause all that to lock up, and I know this, so I don't normally do this, but under normal usage, all of the above WITHOUT the MP3 player is doable), and I task-switch between these open apps.
How much can the iPhone handle simultaneously?
Do they freeze up time to time?
If so, how often for an average user?
What's the remedy? A "restart"?
This is not a "shootout" question. It really is just curiosity because I hear all the time the many great things about the iPhone (but that it lacks video, and MMS messaging), but I have no clue at all if they generally never lock up, or if they do. thanks, in advance for any comments.
quicksite said:
How much can the iPhone handle simultaneously?
Do they freeze up time to time?
If so, how often for an average user?
What's the remedy? A "restart"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a) for an "average" user - 1 app at a time (the exception being itunes + whatever app you want to use.)
for someone who is willing to mod there iphone (jailbreak + backgrounder app) i'll reckon 3 - 4 apps.
b) hardly, again for an average user this would be even less, probably once a couple of months.
if you are into cutting edge stuff then more freq., maybe once a week.
c)1) hold the home button , this should force the the app to close.
2) if the above step does not work, turn of the phone by holding the power button
3)if that does not work, reboot by holding the power and home button simultaneously.
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
rovex said:
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i beg to differ, winmo requires a softrest atleast every week, on the other hand i have not had to reboot my iphone since last dec.
Well my experience is somewhat different, the iPhone i had to test (im a technology reviewer) required a reset at least every few days. Ive only just given it backafter 6 months or use so it wasnt to do with early software. My everyday phone is a Touch HD, and it does have issues, but normally only with opera, nothing else causes any problems that need a reset.
rovex said:
Thats being generous Yes the iPhone DOES lock up and freeze, fairly often. At least as much as a factory standard WinMo device, if not more. Of course WinMos, being much more open can be modified and as such they have the potential to be less reliable if the modding isnt careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just no
It hardly ever screws up, but does sometimes.
But to say more than stock WM is hilarious.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
Well, since i experience otherwise.. JUST YES. I love how others automatically write off your experience because they don't experience it.
Multitasking has little to do with anything, some of the stock and buyable apps for the iPhone are problematic and cause it to lock up. Im hardly the first or last person the find this.
rovex said:
Well, since i experience otherwise.. JUST YES. I love how others automatically write off your experience because they don't experience it.
Multitasking has little to do with anything, some of the stock and buyable apps for the iPhone are problematic and cause it to lock up. Im hardly the first or last person the find this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that.
just out of curiosity, what firmware were you running ??? and what were the stock applications that caused you to lock up.
and did you actually lock up or did the application crash???
rorydaredkign said:
Just no
It hardly ever screws up, but does sometimes.
But to say more than stock WM is hilarious.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow you ran a mp3 player, sms and the web and it didn't freeze?? AMAZING.. /sarcasm
Apples attitude is 'my way or the highway' and as someone mentioned, windows can be tweaked opening to reliability problems.
My WinMO device hasn't required a softreset for about a month. My friends iPhone froze as soon as i ran a app, forgot what it was called.
If Microsoft made a phone that was the perfect config to their software, it'll run like a reliable phone but that's Apples territory. There is a reason why it's called "Jail"Break.
Same with the OSX and Windows.. you can't compare cause Microsoft makes it work with thousands of hardware and is bound to run into a problem somewhere. OSX is very limited so they hardly run into problems.
I've used Windows Mobile phones (standard and professional) since 2005. (Starting with the Audiovox SMT 5600) In addition, I have had a work BlackBerry since 2007, and an iPhone (now iPhone 3G) since 2008.
To answer your questions, I have rarely (maybe once every few months) had the iPhone freeze up requiring a reboot. To be honest, I rarely had a hard freeze on any of my Windows Mobile phones BUT I did restart them once a week because they just ran better that way. (Memory leaks, probably)
You can't compare the iPhone directly because by design, only a few applications run simultaneously: Mail, Phone, Safari, iPod. (And possibly Maps)
However, the iPhone seems very good at switching from application to application, with no noticeable memory leaks.
I've found that it really depends on what you expect the phone to do. I rarely talk on the phone or text; for me, it's all about email and Internet usage. The Safari browser is currently second-to-none, and the iPhone is exceptionally good at connecting to Wi-Fi whenever available seamlessly. And, since the email application uses Safari to render, it is also very good.
Thank you for all your replies. It wouldn't be the tech world if there wasn't vast -- sometimes diametrically opposed -- disagreement.
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once again, my inquiry is not for "shootout" reasons. It has to do more with the reliability of the overall user experience on the iPhone. I know from only briefly using it for 15 minutes or so, how responsive it is, and how easy the interface is to use. But it only struck me recently, given this new explosion in Apps for Touchscreen devices, that the more things people are going to want their iphones to do, DO they ever freeze up.
I was looking for an answer like "only 1 out of 100 people, and maybe then, maybe every 3-4 months, so in general it just doesn't freeze up in numbers high enough to be statistically noteworthy".
But even given the disagreement of experiences just amongst 3-4 people in this thread (a very tiny sample), it freezes more than I would have expected. That's not to lower the grade of reliability in using an iPhone to accomplish a series of tasks; it's more just to note: YES, IT DOES FREEZE UP, on occasion, but rarely.
I already know my old T-Mobile MDA, and now my new T-Mobile WING, froze up a lot, for my taste; and that was before I started modding here at XDA. But I attribute most of those freezeups to the simple hardware inadequacy issue of slow processor and not a lot of RAM. So, if I wanted to launch a bunch of things to stay in memory, to swap back and forth between apps, the WM device would lock up, requiring a soft-reset to reboot the device.
WHich is why XDA-developers has pulled off miracles by, in effect, doubling or probably more like tripling, the usefulness of my WM phone.
But regarding this:
The great thing is that because it only runs one thing at a time, it never runs out of memory unlike sock wm. Backgrounder on jailbroken iphones lets you run stuff in the background. I always had mail (with 2 accounts) sms, safari and ipod in the background with no probs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to interpret this correctly. Running only one thing at a time is only a great benefit if all apps open relatively instantaneously, like, in a half second. So I could hop between selecting text within a browser, then paste it in to a notes document, edit it a bit, then look up an address on Google Maps, find it, grab the link, then add it to my text doc, then snap a few pics, attach them to an email along with my edited text, and send -- perhaps with my mp3 player playing inot my earphones the whole time.
I am talking about realtime use-case scenarios, not simply the sequential moving from app to app on an iphone. So, what I am interested in NOW is doing a bit of a shootout between an iphone and a WM phone in accomplishing a real-life array of tasks -- because that's the real test of the performance of a phone. Not what it does in demo mode, but in reallife getting stuff accomplished mode.
Is anyone here interested in helping to construct a few scenarios? I mean a wide variety of stuff, from emergencies and need and ambulance and also to perform CPR on someone and finding out where they are, to going to a demonstration in Washington DC, coordinating your meeting spot, using Google Maps to track where various people are, shooting photos, updating a blog in real time, etc --- and many kinds of multi-tasking of life demands ?
I am seeing 5 if not 6 platforms now poised to battle each other in the downloadable widget/apps dept -- Apple, Google Android, Blackberry, WindowsMobile, Palm, maybe Symbian, who knows maybe Nokia --- and I am interested in how this all starts to play out when people load suff onto their phone expecting to do x, y, z at the same time, or closely in sequence -- and how each platform is poised to handle these consumer behaviors.
thanks for the headstart in learning that the iPhone, though perhaps more reliable than WM in not freezing up so often, still does have this issue to contend with from time to time.
In a sense, WindowsMobile users almost expect there will be hang ups time to time... frsutrating and irritating, but not like a major surprise. Whereas I would imagine iPhone users have very high expectations, like close to perfection, and will not take kindly to any increasing freezeups.
Just my 2 cents on this in general.
quicksite said:
I'm trying to interpret this correctly. Running only one thing at a time is only a great benefit if all apps open relatively instantaneously, like, in a half second. So I could hop between selecting text within a browser, then paste it in to a notes document, edit it a bit, then look up an address on Google Maps, find it, grab the link, then add it to my text doc, then snap a few pics, attach them to an email along with my edited text, and send -- perhaps with my mp3 player playing inot my earphones the whole time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do know that the iphone cannot do almost half of the things listed here
fallenczar said:
you do know that the iphone cannot do almost half of the things listed here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's kinda why I listed them, kind of like at the start of a race, ready-set-go! And when it comes time for iphone to shoot video, race ends... or sending an MMS message.
As far as I know those are the two main things, right? But in all fairness, you just know Apple is going to have those two things added into and working in their next big product release.
So I am really aiming this for that next release... My overall premise is that the consumer marketplace has almost no clue about what all these competing devices & platforms do and can't do. But that's not because they're stupid. Rather it's because they are hyper-marketed at, very effectively, with really sharp ads that focus on different whiz-bangs -- coming at them from 3 different industry sectors all at once:
the Carriers tout their packages and calling features mixed in with snippets of cool phone, then the phone makers tout their newest whizbang devices features & differentiatable special gizmos, and the platforms come at them with their own angles, again inserting whiz bang phone devices into the ads. Then I guess you could add a 4th source -- bloviating saleasmen at Best Buy (in USA) showing people their latest most expensive phones, regardless of the bigger picture questions of platform and carriers required to use it.
This is my reason for wanting to develop several real-world use-case scenarios, just to test how well each achieves the end-objective.
quicksite said:
Well that's kinda why I listed them, kind of like at the start of a race, ready-set-go! And when it comes time for iphone to shoot video, race ends... or sending an MMS message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well not quite
there are a couple of video rec. and mms apps, and they work as reliably as apps on other platforms.
However, i don't think it would be fair to compare 2 platforms that are so dissimilar, one being media centric, the other being business centric.
You are right about not really being able to compare them, they are two different devices with 2 completely different intended audiences.
I have used WM since 2001 constantly and I have used my iPhone for about 2 months.
Why WM devices are more like a little mini computer in my pocket where as my iPhone is more like a pocket media device that does lots of things that WM does, but not all.
I would say that my iPhone has only crashed 1 time in 2 months and that was from some jailbreak action, never from normal use. There are a couple of things that should be clarified about the iPhone and its limitations though:
1. No copy and paste. Duh. Everyone knows that. I knew it going into the whole 2 year contact. I can't honestly say that other than entering in my signature for emails has that really been an issue.
2. MMS. Today was the first time I wanted to send an MMS and I just emailed it to their phone number instead. No biggy. Worked well.
3. No true multi tasking. I disagree with this one. While there are some things I would prefer to be able to run at the same time most programs save state when they are closed so they are exactly back where they where when you closed it. Games, utilites etc.
Heck, the free timer I downloaded is programed so well that the start time used is the actual time that you hit the button so it comes back up and keep the count running.
Are there things I miss from my WM device, sure. Are there things that the iPhone does better than WM does? Sure. Are there things WM does better than the iPhone, sure.
How much does each one crash? I'd say a touch more on WM, but that is because I have a great ROM that a dedicated chef cooked up here at XDA. Comparing stock to stock though, is no comparison. The iPhone wins hands down in that regard.

Any other options to change from keyboard to keypad?

After discovering a lot of great features on my rooted E900, a new question made me using search function, but with not much help! So: is there any tweak in registry to change keyboard from full querty to keypad (like the physical keyboard from old phones, 1 to 9 with * and # and pressing three times on two for ex to write C letter) when you write a text message or text a web adress? I find this more handy when I'm driving, because with all that small letters from full querty is more dificult. Thanks in advance, and hope there is a solution, because when you write a number in the sms recipient, that keyboard appears.
I'm trying to think of a polite way to say this, and the best I've come up with is that, while I don't care terribly much about *your* car, I'm sufficiently concerned about the random people around you that the thought of making it easier to use your phone while driving is not even slightly appealing (for the record, it's illegal here, and for good reason).
For the record, I'm not so irresponsible so that I'm texting sms and driving, especially since I have a small baby in the backseat. When I PULL OVER and try to text something, the sunlight makes it harder to see the small buttons and I always hit the wrong button. I have pretty big fingers and that's why I want to use such a keypad.
And no offence, but I will never come to Seatle, only if I will win lottery and want to meet you personally, so don't be concerned.
The question still stays. Thank you
Please... Can someone help me with keypad?

[Q] SM-P900 'Red Underline' Spell Check?

IMPORTANT UPDATE: I HAVE RESOLVED THIS ISSUE BY DOING THE FOLLOWING:
1) Root the SM-P900 using ODIN. (it's a breeze to do - just follow the directions!)
2) Install TWRP recovery and then do a full TWRP backup of your device.
3) Download & Install the new "Hyperdrive Note Pro 12.2 KK RLS1.1" ROM from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-pro-12/development/rom-hyperdrive-kk-rls1-tab-s-t2986949
Follow the directions for installing this ROM very closely. As recommended, FULLY WIPE your device - everything except the external SD card - BEFORE installing the new ROM.
4) Download the AOSP "MAIL" APK and "Exchange Services" APK from here: *SEE NOTES BELOW
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/exchange-services/exchange-services-6-2-1158763-apk/
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/email/email-6-3-1218562-apk/
These are "Exchange Services 6.2-1158763" and "Email 6.3-1218562", respectively. (These are the last stock, Android versions before the forced upgrade/merge to Gmail)
5) Install (side-load) the Exchange Services APK and then Email APK - from whatever folder you downloaded the files to.
* NOTES:
A) Side-loading is necessary because the Play Store will recognize that you have an SM-P900 and won't allow the install. It has nothing to do with compatibility, but rather agreements made between Samsung and Google (and likely Apple, as well), to prevent you from doing this.
B) Replacing the Samsung Email with AOSP Email is required for a complete fix because the Samsung app seems to side-step the re-enabling of the red-underline spell-check. In other words, your new, working spell check will work nearly everywhere - except inside the stock Samsung Email app!
C) These are NOT the most recent versions of Exchange and Mail, but they are the last ones before GMAIL swallowed MAIL - and I prefer the stock AOSP MAIL. If you install a higher version, you will be forced to 'upgrade' to the GMAIL app during installation. It's up to you, of course.
I'M SURE YOU WILL BE AS HAPPY AS I AM - FINALLY!
PLEASE DONATE TO THE DEVELOPER, sbreen94 - HE'S DONE SOMETHING REALLY GOOD AND INVESTED A LOT OF TIME FOR A VERY ESOTERIC DEVICE - THE P900 - WITH A SMALL USER-BASE.
THE ROM PROVIDES MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN A SPELLING-CORRECTION FIX - THAT'S JUST MY THING. OUT-OF-THE-BOX, THIS ROM IS STOCK TOUCHWIZ - EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE USED TO, INCLUDING FULL S-PEN SUPPORT AND ALL THE SAMSUNG APPS (OR WHICHEVER ONES YOU WANT - YOU CAN CHOISE DURUNG JNSTALL).
HOWEVER, IT 'UNLOCKS' TW AND ALLOWS YOU TO TWEAK MANY VISUAL AND FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS, TO YOUR LIKING. AS THE DEVELOPER SAYS ABOUT THE ROM...
"Touchwiz how I think it should be: The latest Samsung Tab S Software features as well as a Fully Customizable User Interface on the fly as well as excellent performance and battery life."
LASTLY, BE AWARE THAT THIS ROM IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE SM-P900 NOTE PRO 12.2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm desperate! I can type faster and with fewer mistakes on my puny, 5-year-old iPhone 3GS than I can on my HUGE Note Pro 12.2 horizontal keyboard. Predictive text is retarded. I'm tired of fighting with auto-replace. All I want is a little red line under each of my misspelled words, like in the old days - before Samsung crippled Android. I've tried Anysoft, Hacker's, Google,... as Gordon Gecko once said, "different dog, same fleas".
I've stock-rooted the tablet with CF. What next? I'll install any mod or keyboard that does this simple thing. I don't care about the warranty, or if the UI ends up looking like Windows 1.0 and sharp pins jump out at every virtual key-press, puncturing my fingertips as I type - just show me the misspelled words before I click 'Send'!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Proper keyboard spelling check....
treetopsranch said:
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your timely reply. In the context of a Windows PC, for example, I would wholly agree with you - that spell check is provided by the host application; however, it seems that in the mobile world, a different approach was taken, with the 'keyboard' providing a unified spelling correction that behaved identically within all applications. This is very evident in iOS, and is well documented as a mysteriously disappearing keyboard option ("Underline Misspelled Words") in fairly recent Samsung distributions of Android. KitKat seems to be where the trouble really started, and some claim that this was among the casualties of the Apple-Samsung patent wars. Placing a red line under an unrecognized word, after the spacebar is pressed or navigating away from it, seems well within the means of a keyboard app. That simple red line is all I'm looking for.
Other (non-Samsung) Kitkat devices appear to still have it....
...Owners of HTC devices, running KitKat, claim to still have the 'Underline misspelled words' option in their keyboard options.
No underlines for you!
treetopsranch said:
Pretty sure that apps handle misspelled words like MS Word does using Windows. So you need to find a android word processor that handles spell checking. Maybe someone here has a recommendation for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always understood that if I failed to ‘fix' this deficiency, I would have to find an email client with its own spelling correction, "like MS Word does using Windows", either utilizing its own dictionary or one of the two already installed in the tablet - stock Samsung or Anysoft.
Last night, I did some research and landed on ‘MailDroid', having a true spell checker among its many other impessive features. So, I installed the ad-paid version to test it out, fully prepared to fork over $22 for the ‘Pro' version. Email is my main concern, so I was getting excited! Installation was a breeze and within 2 or 3 minutes I was up and running with 2 accounts. And, yes, misspelled words were immediately underlined in red!!! Yipppeeeee!!!! Such a feature-rich, $22 app surely comes with its own dictionary, right?
So, just for fun, I disabled WIFI and tried to compose an email, offline. Then I felt something happening around my feet. I looked down and saw a Google API flopping around on the carpet, gasping for air. It was tring to say something, so I got closer and I could hear it muttering "feed me, feed me".
When I bought this tablet 6 months ago, I just expected it to work at least as well as my 5-year-old Apple 3GS. For a couple of months, I just figured that I wasn't understanding something, that I just needed to find that one setting - it was just hiding somewhere in unfamiliar Android territory. Some folks would say things like "No, it's not like that. Just play with the auto-replace and word prediction settings, or try another keyboard." Well, I did all of that and I'm sorry - Apple does a way better job with automatic correction - even identifying and separating words that are both misspelled and conjoined with errantly typed letters from the bottom row! And the few mistakes that do get past this magic are UNDERLINED IN RED! All applications that require text entry enjoy this unified writing tool... and all of it works even in ‘Airplane Mode' - offline!
There are two installed, accessible, LOCAL dictionaries on my tablet - including stock Samsung... Asking why an email client ]needs to go online for a dictionary is entirely rhetorical - especially when Google is involved.
One of the reasons I bought an Android tablet (and ultimately rooted it) - as well as being a protest vote against Apple's authoritarian control over what I do with MY mobile device - was to gain at least some control over unnecessary permissions, personal data leakage and data mining...
But, it feels like there's a trap - or a beaten-down conformist holding a sign that says "That's just the way it is" - everywhere I step. :crying:
WOW! You did a great job explaining this android dictionary stuff to me. I suspect the app 'Maildroid' didn't have a dictionary installed because of memory concerns. Dictionaries take up lots of space in memory. But, Hey, Word had one for XP in the days when we had very little memory on our machines 10 years ago. So that is really no excuse. A major fault for android devices in my book.
swiftkey keyboard app
Phuyuk said:
I'm desperate! I can type faster and with fewer mistakes on my puny, 5-year-old iPhone 3GS than I can on my HUGE Note Pro 12.2 horizontal keyboard. Predictive text is retarded. I'm tired of fighting with auto-replace. All I want is a little red line under each of my misspelled words, like in the old days - before Samsung crippled Android. I've tried Anysoft, Hacker's, Google,... as Gordon Gecko once said, "different dog, same fleas".
I've stock-rooted the tablet with CF. What next? I'll install any mod or keyboard that does this simple thing. I don't care about the warranty, or if the UI ends up looking like Windows 1.0 and sharp pins jump out at every virtual key-press, puncturing my fingertips as I type - just show me the misspelled words before I click 'Send'!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiftkey key board app allows you to use a physical bluetooth key board and still have spell check for the win. AWSOME!!! Get the app at play store for free.
Swiftkey? Are you serious?
samsunggoliath said:
Swiftkey key board app allows you to use a physical bluetooth key board and still have spell check for the win. AWSOME!!! Get the app at play store for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swiftkey? You think i haven't already tried that? And adding a physical keyboard - defeating the purpose of having a physically-simple, stand-alone communication device - to this [email protected]!%& top-of-the-line, most-expensive-Android-tablet-in the-world - that I paid over $800 for with a memory card? Really?
I have a better idea: Invest not one more penny in this mistake, cut my losses, and get a different kind of keyboard - one that comes with a screen and does what it was designed to do, correctly.... and I will not have to patch it up with goofy solutions because it will also have Windows or Ubuntu built-in- at no extra cost! Wait a second... I already own one - this isn't going to cost me a cent!
BTW, since I first posted on this topic, I bought - directly from China, a new Android Kitkat phone - made by Foxconn. I had it in 5 days and Including shipping, it cost me less than $200, has a lovely 5" 300ppi screen, quad-core Snapdragon, all of the sensors known to mankind, a decent camera (front and back), and a real FM radio! Oh, and you know what else it has?!? Oh, c'mon... you know what's coming.... AN INTEGRATED, UNIVERSAL, ANDROID SPELLING CHECKER WITH RED LINES UNDER EVERY SPELLING MISTAKE! I don't need to get a keyboard or pay for more software because it already does what it's supposed to do! I can type an error-free paragraph, with confidence, more than twice as fast on that little phone than I can on this overpriced piece of TouchWiz.
And that is the problem - TouchWiz. Samsung lost a lawsuit and quietly crippled the OS with Touchwiz. Sadly, since this tablet is so overpriced to begin with, not many people bought it, not many accessories have been made for it, and more importantly, no front-end, TouchWiz-replacements have been developed for / ported to it as has been done for nearly every other Samsung device.
Like I said in an earlier post... it feels like there's a trap - or a beaten-down conformist holding a sign that says "That's just the way it is" - everywhere I step.
Problem FIXED!!!
Please read the EDITED FIRST POST in this thread.
-

Why can’t I just flip into the Note 20 Ultra and be done?

I struggle on a weekly basis with this issue. I have both a Note 20 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Full disclosure I also have a 12.9” M1 iPad Pro and an Apple Wartch. Here’s my scenario…
I work as a manager at a dealership. Most of the crew have iOS devices with a few exceptions. My smartphone usage started way back with blackberry, then android in various devices, but starting with the iPhone 3GS, I’ve had nearly every iteration of iPhone since. The note series was always interesting to me because of the interface with the pen, likely because I also had many PDAs of the Palm and Windows varieties over the years before smartphones came out.
When I pull out the Note, and specifically the S Pen, something clicks. I can especially do things with pdf annotation, photos and other fine work I’d never get done with just a finger.
I selected an iPad with Apple Pencil to get some of that precise interaction. And unfortunately we must face that the world revolves around iPad when it comes to tablet support, including the video editing I do for our dealership videos.
My biggest gripe is with messaging when it comes to the note, and it’s not an iMessage thing per se - that being blue versus green bubbles and all that lunacy. It’s the autocorrect. I can blast through a message on my iPhone and have to correct very little of what autocorrect thought I meant. Android is far less accurate for me. I’d suspect it has lots to do with years, over a decade, of iOS figuring out what I mean while android is somehow expected to know the same stuff, but it’s maddening to be slowed down by constantly fixing things in my messages that iOS would have taken care of.
is there a way to get my learned foibles for messages transferred into google somehow? How do i use a note and an ipad to really get seamless work done like I do with the iPhone?
Wesnellans said:
I struggle on a weekly basis with this issue. I have both a Note 20 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Full disclosure I also have a 12.9” M1 iPad Pro and an Apple Wartch. Here’s my scenario…
I work as a manager at a dealership. Most of the crew have iOS devices with a few exceptions. My smartphone usage started way back with blackberry, then android in various devices, but starting with the iPhone 3GS, I’ve had nearly every iteration of iPhone since. The note series was always interesting to me because of the interface with the pen, likely because I also had many PDAs of the Palm and Windows varieties over the years before smartphones came out.
When I pull out the Note, and specifically the S Pen, something clicks. I can especially do things with pdf annotation, photos and other fine work I’d never get done with just a finger.
I selected an iPad with Apple Pencil to get some of that precise interaction. And unfortunately we must face that the world revolves around iPad when it comes to tablet support, including the video editing I do for our dealership videos.
My biggest gripe is with messaging when it comes to the note, and it’s not an iMessage thing per se - that being blue versus green bubbles and all that lunacy. It’s the autocorrect. I can blast through a message on my iPhone and have to correct very little of what autocorrect thought I meant. Android is far less accurate for me. I’d suspect it has lots to do with years, over a decade, of iOS figuring out what I mean while android is somehow expected to know the same stuff, but it’s maddening to be slowed down by constantly fixing things in my messages that iOS would have taken care of.
is there a way to get my learned foibles for messages transferred into google somehow? How do i use a note and an ipad to really get seamless work done like I do with the iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What might help, is experimenting with different keyboards ?
In my case i have been using Swiftkey Keyboard ( Microsoft) for many years .
(You will also find Swiftkey to be a firm favorite amongst Android users )
Firstly ,
I have autocorrect turned off .
Predictive text (Suggestions) is turned on .
At times i have found it "scary " how 100% Swiftkey have" learned " predicted my messages /text .
Sometimes a few sentences at a time .!
I have multi languages ( 2 ),downloaded in Swiftkey .
Swiftkey auto changes (for me) between the 2 x languages .
Even though, you suppose to switch between languages ,i have found it, was not necessary .
So at times, i can type sentences in a ,slang /mixture ,of the 2 x languages
Swiftkey predicts it 100%
Remember you have to give keyboard a period of time to learn .
If you want to check Swiftkey out or read it capabilities....... link below.
If you already tried Swiftkey and did not fancy it ,just ignore above suggestion.
Good luck .
Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard - Apps on Google Play
AI keyboard from Microsoft, now with ChatGPT and GPT-4 access from Bing
play.google.com

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