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Ultra Keyboard

Came across Ultra Keyboard today, looks fairly promising. Has some new things and looks very polished considering how new it is. It's in the Market and it's only $2.50 if you guys want to have a look.

bradyonly said:
Came across Ultra Keyboard today, looks fairly promising. Has some new things and looks very polished considering how new it is. It's in the Market and it's only $2.50 if you guys want to have a look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before i download it, what are the benefits over my current keyboard (Smart Keyboard Pro)?
I want a clean design (like the iPhone OS keyboard) and it has to be fast.

It certainly is quick, the multitouch works, the skins that come with it let you edit the RGB values right from a menu. It's highly customizable right down the height of the keyboard in landscape and portrait, whether or not to use full screen, the long press duration for symbols. It also has the ability to protect keys (not let you hit them) while you're typing for a duration of your choosing. (This is things like the back/menu/home/search buttons, the enter button or the toolbar on top of the keyboard)
The only part I had trouble with at first was the key preview would stay up for a split second and while that preview is up the keys under it aren't pressable.

[App] Thumb Keyboard v1.5.1

Note (nov 30, 2010): By now there are two versions: a lite version, published here (free) and a full version (paid) on the market. The full version will be continuously updated with new features, layouts, styles and more. The lite version will get no more updates.
(feb. 16, 2011) New thread for the full (paid-for) version created here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=948179 . Please post your requests, questions, comments etc in that thread. Thanks
------ initial announcement ----------
New thumb keyboard for easy thumb typing. The idea is simple. I've split the keyboard in two halfs, took them apart and placed them above each other (see screenshots). Result: much wider keys...
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Somehow the brains does the remapping remarkably well. Left/right to up/down doesn't seem a problem. The result is that the keys can be defined with a greater width and that for thumb typing the phone can be hold in much more natural way.
Press-and-hold the keyboard icon for switching between layouts, settings and selecting another input method:
I'm very curious what other users think about this concept... Also I'm very interested in getting feedback on the usability of this concept.
Site
App blog: http://thumbkeyboard.blogspot.com/
Little FAQ
Q: I don't see the keyboard after installing it
A: The procedure of selecting the keyboard is described in the screen you see right after you have installed the keyboard. It's described in the section "Selecting the Keyboard". You can consult this info at any given time by tapping on the Thumb Keyboard app in your app drawer.
Basically the procedure is as follows: go to the Android keyboard settings menu by selecting "Settings" or "Preferences" in your app drawer and then "Keyboard ...". In this menu check "Thumb Keyboard". Now, when you want to edit something and your normal keyboard pops up, long tap in the edit field and select "Thumb Keyboard" from the "Input Method" menu.
Q: How can I switch to another layout or set up my preferences for the keyboard
A: Also described in the info screen under the header "Setting up the Keyboard". Anyway... long press on the keyboard icon in the left corner at the bottom of the keyboard to access the settings menu and to switch layouts.
Q: I can't download the file that is attached to this post.
If you try to download it from your Android phone keep in mind that not all browsers support downloading apk files directly. You can either try another browser, use a download helper or download it from your pc/mac
Q: Will this keyboard help me to find answers to some urgent existential questions?
A: No. But you can always read a good philosophy book and make notes with this keyboard.
Q: Huh?
A: kidding
Changelog
v1.5.1 * missing accented characters added * solved spacing issues in the accented character popup keyboards * added a numpad popup keyboard (press and hold [email protected]) * Some additions to the help/info screen"
v1.5 * New Style * International (accented) characters * Popup Smiley Keyboard * Option to mark keyboard blocks with different colors * Numbers on the compact keyboard * Checkerboard Vibrate Pattern * option to set vibration strength * etc (Compatible with Android 1.6 and higher)
(Users who already downloaded the 1.5 version are adviced to download the (new) attached version again)
v1.4.1: Small update: * added a extra, redundant "g" to the "asdf" row to address more typing habits. * made the keyboard suitable for all possible screen densities
v1.4: *finally adapted the landscape keyboards for thumbtyping (see screenshot) *added new portrait layouts with a squeezed q for better accessibility of the t (see screenshot) *changed the layout of the symbol/num keyboards
v1.3: Added help info + caught a bug or two
v1.2.1: = 1.2 + little bug fixed (and . added to the first symbol screen)
v1.2: Changed the behavior of the Shift-key: *Double tap on Shift key to turn on/off Caps Lock * auto capitalize after period (can be turned off in preferences)
v1.1:
New additional small layout
QWERZ keyboard layouts (Big and Small)
(1 Gesture added) Swipe back for backspace
Sound bug fixed
Remember: long press menu icon for options and settings
v 1.0 release
Distribution
I will not allow any distribution of this keyboard without a explicit permission by me.
Full Version
The full version (with text prediction, themes, tablet layouts, resizable height, sound selection, auto quick fix, etc. etc.) is available on the Android Market and on AndroidPIT (paypal)

Like the concept. It is almost like my left and right thumb knew which keyboard to use. Maybe you can try changing one of the space keys for special characters or hard press on letters for special characters. I like the idea although I have to trade it for screen real-estate. Not bad, indeed a lot of work need to be done but I'm definitly keeping my eyes on the this. Thank you.

I'm an idoit I just notice the special character key is next the "g".
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

niscrome said:
Like the concept. It is almost like my left and right thumb knew which keyboard to use. Maybe you can try changing one of the space keys for special characters or hard press on letters for special characters. I like the idea although I have to trade it for screen real-estate. Not bad, indeed a lot of work need to be done but I'm definitly keeping my eyes on the this. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your feedback. I've changed the layout a bit (concept remains the same). After some testing and some feedback from others I decided to place the spacebar, backspace key etc on the default location.. The result is much better.

this new version looks better!
i will try it very soon but is very unlikely for it to replace swype or swiftkey.
still, as soon as i try it i can give you some more feedback (will be about portuguese writing, i'm afraid)

Im testing this keyboard right now.
I just found a few bugs.
1. When starting writing caps lock is on and doesnt go off after the first letter.
2. Every time i use backspace it erases two lettrrs instead of one.
3. It may be me but im missing so much more lettrrs.
i believe most of my writting is done with one hand.
edit:
i gave up writing in my nexus. its too hard for me
i'm sorry and i hope you dont get mad at me but i'm not very confident in this keyboard. at least i tried it. hope you understand. stil... good luck
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

nutweevil said:
Im testing this keyboard right now.
I just found a few bugs.
1. When starting writing caps lock is on and doesnt go off after the first letter.
2. Every time i use backspace it erases two lettrrs instead of one.
3. It may be me but im missing so much more lettrrs.
i believe most of my writting is done with one hand.
edit:
i gave up writing in my nexus. its too hard for me
i'm sorry and i hope you dont get mad at me but i'm not very confident in this keyboard. at least i tried it. hope you understand. stil... good luck
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong. I write this stuff because I need it myself and I share it because, you know, maybe others can use it too. So how can I be mad... I myself like and use this keyboard very much.
As for the bugs you reported. Yes, I can reproduce them and fix them asap.
BTW what makes this keyboard hard to use for you, the bugs or the layout

What does it look like in landscape orientation?

Edit fixed backspace bug. Shift key functionality is under review and reconstruction.

my biggest problem with the keyboard is that i'm missing too many letters. its like i was trying to say. i dont know why but i believe i dont miss as many with other keyboards, or they correct me, i dont know :\
the keyboard layout seamed like a really good idea but first i noticed i'm not using that much the two hands to write in my everyday writing. neither swiftkey, neither swype need two hands so i guess that may be my second problem. i dont get extra speed for using two hands with either of these two keyboards i'm used to.
Also, i believe you're taking too much of useful space for the keyboard. 2/3 of the screen is too much i think. maybe a solution with less used space? Another thing: at first i did understand the idea: get bigger and better letters. but now you have reduced the size of them again and they are just in a different position than the regular keyboards. why dont you try a little bigger than atm? you can remove the arrows and redistribute the numbers in the left overs. i will try to make a draw of my idea.
the two small bugs i reported are less of it
why dont you try to implement Dvorak keyboard. That keyboard was designed to increase the speed writing and the letters position was carefully selected. Also, it already has many languages configuration already selected so it would be only needed to change this configuration for each language.
more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard

vezquex said:
What does it look like in landscape orientation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would have to say... it looks bad in my opinion it needs some reorganization in this landscape orientation

nutweevil said:
my biggest problem with the keyboard is that i'm missing too many letters. its like i was trying to say. i dont know why but i believe i dont miss as many with other keyboards, or they correct me, i dont know :\
the keyboard layout seamed like a really good idea but first i noticed i'm not using that much the two hands to write in my everyday writing. neither swiftkey, neither swype need two hands so i guess that may be my second problem. i dont get extra speed for using two hands with either of these two keyboards i'm used to.
Also, i believe you're taking too much of useful space for the keyboard. 2/3 of the screen is too much i think. maybe a solution with less used space? Another thing: at first i did understand the idea: get bigger and better letters. but now you have reduced the size of them again and they are just in a different position than the regular keyboards. why dont you try a little bigger than atm? you can remove the arrows and redistribute the numbers in the left overs. i will try to make a draw of my idea.
the two small bugs i reported are less of it
why dont you try to implement Dvorak keyboard. That keyboard was designed to increase the speed writing and the letters position was carefully selected. Also, it already has many languages configuration already selected so it would be only needed to change this configuration for each language.
more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You noticed that you don't thumb type, it that case I understand all of your points. I designed the keyboard for use with two hands. The keys are wider (maybe as wide as in portrait mode and the height is, I think enough. So yes there is a big difference: look at the first row (qwert) and the 4th (yuiop) and picture them as 1 row, then you see what I mean.
Nevertheless, thanks for your comments. I'll see if I can use it.
Dvorak is a great keyboard layout btw, but a solution to a different problem.

i understood in the process that in order to help you, or in order to try to help you i need to use both thumbs. i'm doing it now.
its indeed easy to see that your keyboard is wider than default by looking at the qwert-yuiop.
i still believe the arrows arent needed. we have a finger to select where we want the cursor or a trackball... so... its just space used in my opinion.
i also believe that the shift isnt at the best spot. why do you require shift at such a great position? It isnt used that much.
the "?" should be near the "enter key". maybe instead of the backspace? i would place backspace in the "3" area, in top the the "op". maybe a little bigger than the others?
isnt the "t" too fair away from the left thumb?

nutweevil said:
i understood in the process that in order to help you, or in order to try to help you i need to use both thumbs. i'm doing it now.
its indeed easy to see that your keyboard is wider than default by looking at the qwert-yuiop.
i still believe the arrows arent needed. we have a finger to select where we want the cursor or a trackball... so... its just space used in my opinion.
i also believe that the shift isnt at the best spot. why do you require shift at such a great position? It isnt used that much.
the "?" should be near the "enter key". maybe instead of the backspace? i would place backspace in the "3" area, in top the the "op". maybe a little bigger than the others?
isnt the "t" too fair away from the left thumb?
what do you think? any valid thoughts now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, very valid thoughts Like this feedback. I have to say that some of your points crossed my mind when designing the keyboard.
Some points I want to address:
First, I think the shift key and backspace key are on the wright position because one expect those keys there while typing. I did some tests with some fluent thumbtypers with a previous version in which I moved the backspace to another position and they all, without exception were a bit disoriented. I think the same will be the case with the shift key.
Concerning the postion keys: I don't think they are a waste of space, but I really like more feedback on this. To go to a exact position by touching the location is not that easy is my experience. (For example: misspelling the word imagene and then going back to the e is much easier by pressing 3 times the left key than to select that position with a finger)
Thanks for your feedback.
EDIT: your point about the "t" being too far from the edge is a very good point. But then again it's better than in the landscape scenario.

Pure genius ! I am surprised no one has thought of this before. Just a questions
Is there a way to turn off the clicking noises ? My phone is on silent and I don't see anything wrong in the Sounds menu but yet the noises are there

MeOverTrance said:
Is there a way to turn off the clicking noises ? My phone is on silent and I don't see anything wrong in the Sounds menu but yet the noises are there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(Press-and-hold the keyboard icon for settings and fast selecting another keyboard)
here you have the option to turn it off but actually the keys keep making the sound =P
@appelflap
have you noticed you have 5-4-3 letters in the top left and 5-5-4 letters in the right bottom? what if you removed one line and got that "shift-z-x-c" in the same line as "y-u-i-o-p"? to extra "help", you could change the color of the keys. This way it would be a suggestion of which thumb (left or right) to be used.
i keep my idea: the arrows arent that great =P by removing those you could try this, i believe.

I love the idea but I really don't understand the point of it in it's current configuration. The keys seem to be the exact same size to me except they've been moved around. I mean, the keyboard isn't THAT small to begin with so unless the new configuration makes them bigger the only thing that seems to be accomplish is making my hold my thumbs in staggered positions... I don't see the benefit in that. (Maybe because I'm on an evo with a larger screen and therefore with a larger keyboard to begin with?)
I'm not going to refund since I want to see where this goes but I don't think it'll be my every-day keyboard for now. Good job though!

nolageek said:
I love the idea but I really don't understand the point of it in it's current configuration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you like the concept but you don't like the way it is implemented in the current configuration. That is something you must elaborate on, because it looks you have a interesting, implicit (not tacit) intuition.
The keys seem to be the exact same size to me except they've been moved around. I mean, the keyboard isn't THAT small to begin with so unless the new configuration makes them bigger the only thing that seems to be accomplish is making my hold my thumbs in staggered positions... I don't see the benefit in that. (Maybe because I'm on an evo with a larger screen and therefore with a larger keyboard to begin with?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The keys are much wider. Just take the "qwert" of the first row and the "yuiop" of the fourth and picture them together in one row. The reason you think they aren't that much bigger is maybe because in comparisson to regular keyboard the height is smaller. The result is square keys with a simular height and width.
(I had to reduce the height because of the fact that I had to introduce more rows)
With regular keyboards I concluded that much of my typing errors were caused by hitting adjacent keys on a same row. That's what this layout is supposed to prevent and in my opinion it does a good job in that. The reducing of the height has no influence on the amount of errors I make. (I always thought that the extra height on regular keyboards was mere a suggestive thing)
In the end, what I'm trying to accomplish (and this is the most ambitious part), is to make blind thumb typing possible. I think with this layout that must be possible, only thing I have to introduce for this is a way to give thumbs some feedback so they can return to a fixed, initial position from where they can start of.. (like with a normal keyboard with markers on the "j" and "f")
I'm not going to refund since I want to see where this goes but I don't think it'll be my every-day keyboard for now. Good job though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you didn't feel obliged to donate. But thanks, also for your feedback. And please let me know if you have any suggestions, request etc. I hope with the comments and "thumb on" experience of users I can make this keyboard better.

nutweevil said:
(Press-and-hold the keyboard icon for settings and fast selecting another keyboard)
here you have the option to turn it off but actually the keys keep making the sound =P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
****, you're right! In theory it worked remarkably well Expect a little bug fix real soon.
@appelflap
have you noticed you have 5-4-3 letters in the top left and 5-5-4 letters in the right bottom? what if you removed one line and got that "shift-z-x-c" in the same line as "y-u-i-o-p"? to extra "help", you could change the color of the keys. This way it would be a suggestion of which thumb (left or right) to be used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a great idea!!! Really, brilliant. Thanks, I will definitely implement this idea.
i keep my idea: the arrows arent that great =P by removing those you could try this, i believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that everyone has his own preference in this respect. My plan is to make the non-qwerty characters configurable. (But maybe I sacrifice those keys when moving the upper keyblock one row down)

MeOverTrance said:
Pure genius ! I am surprised no one has thought of this before. Just a questions
Is there a way to turn off the clicking noises ? My phone is on silent and I don't see anything wrong in the Sounds menu but yet the noises are there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tapping-and-holding the keyboard icon will bring you to a setting menu in which you can not turn off the sounds (Kidding, It's a bug, but there you should have the possibility to turn off the sound)

[Q] Looking for HTC keyboard! (T9)

I've searched throughout XDA and can't seem to find a keyboard that I can install that brings back my beloved T9! Searching the market brings up little as well.
I just recently got CM6.1 + Kernel #43 (+ various other things) but before this i was still using MoDaCo's 1.5 ROM and although I love [almost] EVERYTHING about CM6 - I can't find a way to get the dial-pad keyboard with T9 for texting. I'm assuming it doesn't exist.
I just want to know what keyboard is good and simple and includes a T9 dialpad-style keyboard for portrait view. Preferably free... but not required.
Some keyboards I've heard of, but no verification of T9:
Smart Keyboard Pro
Swift Key
SWYPE

YoshioDuo said:
I've searched throughout XDA and can't seem to find a keyboard that I can install that brings back my beloved T9! Searching the market brings up little as well.
I just recently got CM6.1 + Kernel #43 (+ various other things) but before this i was still using MoDaCo's 1.5 ROM and although I love [almost] EVERYTHING about CM6 - I can't find a way to get the dial-pad keyboard with T9 for texting. I'm assuming it doesn't exist.
I just want to know what keyboard is good and simple and includes a T9 dialpad-style keyboard for portrait view. Preferably free... but not required.
Some keyboards I've heard of, but no verification of T9:
Smart Keyboard Pro
Swift Key
SWYPE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my HTC IME thread Has compact QWERTY and T9 modes

THANKYOU!
This is fantastic!
EXACTLY what I was looking for. I can type extremely fast now (even in the car... shhhh) and at first, I was glad to have to T9 back but the keyboard itself looked a bit goofy. Then I saw the 'AOSP generic look'; it is perfect.
Thanks so much!

Follow up
Ok - I had to follow up on this again after using the keyboard for a few days. I don't think I did it much justice.
This keyboard is incredible. Not only is it simple looking (although you can apply other themes if you wish), the customizability (is that a word?) is insane. I spent forever just going through and playing with all the settings. Sometime it takes a while since you have to kill the keyboard and wait a second for it to come back in a typing app to test it, then go back to the settings menu, tweak, rinse & repeat.
I was thrilled to see that there are custom smiles because when I do use the smilies, which isn't often, I don't like them to have the 'dash' noses (ex. ) I prefer the simple but maybe I'm just really picky. Having the customizable smilies is awesome. You could even just replace them with anything you use often. One downside however is if you add too many, they'll just run off the screen and you'll not have access to them.
The custom swipes is a nice feature as well. When you swipe along the keyboard in one of four directions, you can assign custom functions. I have my 'swipe-up' set to 'Shift' so I can get capital letters quickly. I know it doesn't seem quicker than pressing the shift key but it is for me. It just feels more natural too when I'm texting or emailing. You can even set a swipe to change languages , I think this would make multi linqual people very satisfied. Type BOOM Tipo BOOM 类型 BOOM Тип.
There are many other settings including the organization of buttons, word prediction and spelling settings, and much more. You can even save and restore settings!
Best of all... it's FREE!
Edit: Thanks again!

YoshioDuo said:
This is fantastic!
EXACTLY what I was looking for. I can type extremely fast now (even in the car... shhhh) and at first, I was glad to have to T9 back but the keyboard itself looked a bit goofy. Then I saw the 'AOSP generic look'; it is perfect.
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YoshioDuo said:
Ok - I had to follow up on this again after using the keyboard for a few days. I don't think I did it much justice.
This keyboard is incredible. Not only is it simple looking (although you can apply other themes if you wish), the customizability (is that a word?) is insane. I spent forever just going through and playing with all the settings. Sometime it takes a while since you have to kill the keyboard and wait a second for it to come back in a typing app to test it, then go back to the settings menu, tweak, rinse & repeat.
I was thrilled to see that there are custom smiles because when I do use the smilies, which isn't often, I don't like them to have the 'dash' noses (ex. ) I prefer the simple but maybe I'm just really picky. Having the customizable smilies is awesome. You could even just replace them with anything you use often. One downside however is if you add too many, they'll just run off the screen and you'll not have access to them.
The custom swipes is a nice feature as well. When you swipe along the keyboard in one of four directions, you can assign custom functions. I have my 'swipe-up' set to 'Shift' so I can get capital letters quickly. I know it doesn't seem quicker than pressing the shift key but it is for me. It just feels more natural too when I'm texting or emailing. You can even set a swipe to change languages , I think this would make multi linqual people very satisfied. Type BOOM Tipo BOOM 类型 BOOM Тип.
There are many other settings including the organization of buttons, word prediction and spelling settings, and much more. You can even save and restore settings!
Best of all... it's FREE!
Edit: Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem man, happy to help out

One more quickie
One last question... I noticed you posted the keyboard in CMDA Hero, but would this also work on my Galaxy S Tab?

YoshioDuo said:
One last question... I noticed you posted the keyboard in CMDA Hero, but would this also work on my Galaxy S Tab?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No this will not

although you are obviously happy already, i found that the keyboard in the above thread doesnt work for my 6.1 setup. for others who run across this, see this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8050661&postcount=2587
its the same thing, and it doesnt force close.

steve19137 said:
although you are obviously happy already, i found that the keyboard in the above thread doesnt work for my 6.1 setup. for others who run across this, see this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=8050661&postcount=2587
its the same thing, and it doesnt force close.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had a FC... are you running the correct version for low res?

theimpaler747 said:
I've never had a FC... are you running the correct version for low res?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im pretty sure i was. but im not worried about it anymore, i have that link, and it works so yeah.

steve19137 said:
im pretty sure i was. but im not worried about it anymore, i have that link, and it works so yeah.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, well so long as it works then

So the wife can't live without her stock HTC keyboard. I'm going to flash AOSP's CM7 build for her, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a plain old stock HTC ime that will work with GB and specifically this ROM? Thanks.

Thumb Keyboard 4.0 - Beta (upd. Beta closed)

Update may 23: The beta is now closed. Thank you all for your participation and feedback. Please keep your suggestions coming. Suggestions and requests are welcome in the Thumb Keyboard thread in the paid-for app forum here on xda (link will follow)
--------------------------------
New beta 4:
Customizable toolbar. The toolbar can be switch on or off with a simple toggle. For phones as well as for tablet (Gingerbread and Honeycomb have more functions to assign to the toolbar keys)
New small keyboard for one handed operation on a 10" tablet. It also contains a "blind spot" which you can use to hold your tablet.
------
Thrilled to announce a brand new version of Thumb Keyboard.
It's a total rebuild from scratch of the current market version, therefore I decided to launch it first as a public beta.
Besides a whole new core that is optimized for Gingerbread and Honeycomb, the new version (v. 4.0) introduces a whole lot of new features:
multi-touch
Correct previous written words with suggestions
Shortcuts - store and edit much written phrases, mail signatures, logins and insert them with a simple tap
New addition to the prediction algorithm: predict a word based on a previous word
New: resize the width of the letter keys on the split layouts. With the option to adjust the height, one can now adjust the keyboard completely to ones own hands and device!!
Alternative suggestions for voice input. Just tap on the recognized word to see the alternatives
Redesign of the keyboard based on multi-touch chording. Entering numbers and operating the cursor keys was never more easy!
New style popup keyboards. Fling, slide and wipe and back to typing again ..
New design of the keyboard layout. Easier access of much used keys
Better esthetic integration with Honeycomb by the use of Honeycomb style windows
and more (and still more to come
The beta can be downloaded from thumb4beta.blogspot.com
(Because the beta was already out for some weeks for 10.1" tablets, some may wonder why this separate announcement. The reason is that the current version will support all screen sizes and layouts, just like the current market version. This means a lot more devices to be supported and a lot more test cases)
Looking forward to your feedback, suggestions, comments, bug reports (hope none ) etc.
-----
Update (May 3):
Version 4 beta 3.2: added Custom portrait/landscape layout combination * Smiley popup keyboards now on all layouts * new theme "digital red" * custom keyclick sounds * better dictionaries * 12 extra shorcut or quicktext slots * Return key in instant messaging apps * option to exclude contact database from predictions * some bug fixes

Awesome! Big fan of your work. We've talked via email about the keyboard. I still use it. Downloading now.

halorin said:
Awesome! Big fan of your work. We've talked via email about the keyboard. I still use it. Downloading now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thought I've send you mail too. Let me know what you think about it.

Personally I think this is a BIG improvement over the version over the version on the Market. One of the things I liked about the stock GB keyboard was you could tap previously entered words and change what was entered. Love seeing that in here.
The only thing I don't see is being able to set different layouts for portrait and landscape. Being a phone user, I like that the hide keyboard button is hidden.
Big speed improvements as well. Great job!

Thanks going to give this a try!

halorin said:
Personally I think this is a BIG improvement over the version over the version on the Market. One of the things I liked about the stock GB keyboard was you could tap previously entered words and change what was entered. Love seeing that in here.
The only thing I don't see is being able to set different layouts for portrait and landscape. Being a phone user, I like that the hide keyboard button is hidden.
Big speed improvements as well. Great job!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! The ability to set different layouts for landscape and portrait mode will certainly come back. It's one of the core functioneren of this keyboard. I left it out just to have something to do while the beta is tested
If you are on Gingerbread or Honeycomb you should try out the bigram predictions (only English supported right now). It will predict in many cases the next word with the previous word and just one letter. For example if you type "of" and then the letter t you get a bunch of relevant words starting with a t and that makes sense as the next word after "of". Great feature for phones. (It will also learn from word pairs that are entered a lot)

appelflap said:
Thanks! The ability to set different layouts for landscape and portrait mode will certainly come back. It's one of the core functioneren of this keyboard. I left it out just to have something to do while the beta is tested
If you are on Gingerbread or Honeycomb you should try out the bigram predictions (only English supported right now). It will predict in many cases the next word with the previous word and just one letter. For example if you type "of" and then the letter t you get a bunch of relevant words starting with a t and that makes sense as the next word after "of". Great feature for phones. (It will also learn from word pairs that are entered a lot)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome on both accounts! I use a Gingerbread ROM on my phone and have the bigram thing enabled. Liking this a lot.

Nice, I'm loving it so far, I've been waiting for something that actually *KNOWS* what you want type next and learns other than swiftkey. The only thing I ask you, is please give us the option to enlarge the spacebar by removing the smile faces, comma, and or period key.
Thank you, and how else besides the blog and this thread can I keep up with the latest beta releases?

xdviper said:
Nice, I'm loving it so far, I've been waiting for something that actually *KNOWS* what you want type next and learns other than swiftkey. The only thing I ask you, is please give us the option to enlarge the spacebar by removing the smile faces, comma, and or period key.
Thank you, and how else besides the blog and this thread can I keep up with the latest beta releases?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will look into that.
The beta releases are all published on http://thumb4beta.blogspot.com
You can subscribe to that blog to get a notification when a change is made.

I've had a lot of downloads and yet no single bug report. I like to think that the keyboard is completely bug free, but that would be wishful thinking in the context of this giant project.
Any bugs? Please report them here or on the beta site.

I have found what I like to think is a bug.
Say I want to enter todays date. I long press the q for the number 1, the I select the "/" from the upper row and then I long press the t for the number 5. So far so good.
Now I want to enter a different date, like 29/5. I long press to get a 2, the I long press to get a 9. Now the upper bar is empty, and I can't select the "/" there
Another bug: I can't long press the p key to get a 0. All the other keys work.
And a little warning to Desire/Nexus One owners, if you long press the ?123 button while selecting a button on the lower row on the keyboard ( ! " ' : ; / ?), it will probably not work that well. It has to to do with the multitouch on those devices.It has to to with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhBRMaUn6Ig
If you want I can make a video showing all of these problems.

what about Portuguese - PT? Any plans on implement it?

very nice thank you nice sharing

zxzyzd said:
I have found what I like to think is a bug.
Say I want to enter todays date. I long press the q for the number 1, the I select the "/" from the upper row and then I long press the t for the number 5. So far so good.
Now I want to enter a different date, like 29/5. I long press to get a 2, the I long press to get a 9. Now the upper bar is empty, and I can't select the "/" there
Another bug: I can't long press the p key to get a 0. All the other keys work.
And a little warning to Desire/Nexus One owners, if you long press the ?123 button while selecting a button on the lower row on the keyboard ( ! " ' : ; / ?), it will probably not work that well. It has to to do with the multitouch on those devices.It has to to with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhBRMaUn6Ig
If you want I can make a video showing all of these problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm able to hold P to get 0. Using the standard layout.

After fiddling around with the different keyboards I got it to work too. After uninstalling and reinstalling however, it stopped working again.
EDIT: I found the problem, if I enable "long press for numbers and syn.." I can long-press P to get 0. If I disable it however it won't work.

zxzyzd said:
After fiddling around with the different keyboards I got it to work too. After uninstalling and reinstalling however, it stopped working again.
EDIT: I found the problem, if I enable "long press for numbers and syn.." I can long-press P to get 0. If I disable it however it won't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank god a bug You are right, the standard-layout doesn't have a popup menu defined. Thanks for noticing. Will fix it asap.
Glad you sorted the other problem out. I couldn't reproduce it. In some cases the keyboard can act not as expected after a fresh install. In that case a simple, infamous reboot will fix the problem. (Seems like a general Android problem)

Hello ! I found a little bug : when you select azerty layout ... it shows on qwerty
Exept this, great work !
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

See attached.

Love the keyboard. Works so good on my LG G-Slate!
Sent from my LG-V909 using XDA Premium App

Hy,this beta have the italian language?

[APP][3.0+] NovaKey - keyboard that uses meaningful gestures instead of taps.

It uses short gestures instead of taps to get each key. You select each key rather than tap and hope for the best. It's a little difficult to explain but the video might be able to help with undershanding.
Key features:
-ability to quickly move the cursor by rotating.
-Ability to select text easily
-Copy, cut and paste shortcuts
-More special characters accessed by longpressing any key.
This is my first app I learned about android apps sloely to develop this. I found that everyone that dislikes this keyboard do so because they don't understand how it works I made a video explaining how to do the tutorial. Which you can find on the play store listing. I would really love to hear any questions, comments and especially suggestions that you have. I appreciate any sort of input you guys can give me and if you happen to like it a rating and/or review on thi play store would help me alot.
Also here is a list of things being worked on:
-select all and deselect all on clipboard menu(already done)
-resizing, moving aand undocking the keyboard
-Autocorrect and predictions shown on in a circular pattern around the keyboard.
-Because each key is a gesture instead of a tap even if you don't completely swipe over the line NovaKey will know what you are trying to type.
Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=viviano.cantu.novakey

Hm
Sweety keys

v.cantu said:
It uses short gestures instead of taps to get each key. You select each key rather than tap and hope for the best. It's a little difficult to explain but the video might be able to help with undershanding.
Key features:
-ability to quickly move the cursor by rotating.
-Ability to select text easily
-Copy, cut and paste shortcuts
-More special characters accessed by longpressing any key.
This is my first app I learned about android apps sloely to develop this. I found that everyone that dislikes this keyboard do so because they don't understand how it works I made a video explaining how to do the tutorial. Which you can find on the play store listing. I would really love to hear any questions, comments and especially suggestions that you have. I appreciate any sort of input you guys can give me and if you happen to like it a rating and/or review on thi play store would help me alot.
Also here is a list of things being worked on:
-select all and deselect all on clipboard menu(already done)
-resizing, moving aand undocking the keyboard
-Autocorrect and predictions shown on in a circular pattern around the keyboard.
-Because each key is a gesture instead of a tap even if you don't completely swipe over the line NovaKey will know what you are trying to type.
Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=viviano.cantu.novakey
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This keyboard is absolutely brilliant. :good:
Fantastic idea,.. i use it on my galaxy s4 cyanogen cm12 and my wife which was able to write smooth and fast with it already after only a couple of minutes when she first time used it on her galaxy s3 stock and she wan´t use anything else from now on.
I really hope the development of this great app will continue and that there will follow also different language for spelling
(in our case,.. German..).!
Just a question and suggestions:
I´m not able to find the "+" symbol.. so far....?
Hopefully the cursor on the grey background will be made a little more visible for blind people like me..... :cyclops:
Maybe also different color-designs to choose from.
Suggestions from my wife:
The letters that are used the most maybe should be the ones with the most easy to do gesture... makes it even faster..
Take a look at the letter frequencies of the English language for example:
e....12.702%
t.......9.056%
a.......8.167%
o.......7.507%
i........6.966%
n.......6.749%
s.......6.327%
h.......6.094%
r........5.987%
d.......4.253%
l........4.025%
c.......2.782%
u.......2.758%
m......2.406%
w......2.360%
f........2.228%
g.......2.015%
y.......1.974%
p.......1.929%
b.......1.492%
v.......0.978%
k.......0.772%
j........0.153%
x.......0.150%
q.......0.095%
z.......0.074%
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_freq...
Space could be double tap... for those with big fingers...
And maybe highlighting (colored) the symbol/letter which is in the circle when scrolling through the symbols... her finger always get´s in the way so that she doesn´t really see which one she has selected...
Greetings
sv0911

Thank You!
Thank You! I apologize for the late response. I really appreciate your suggestions and I'm glad you like my keyboard. I have gotten multiple requests so I will be adding German hopefully soon. Also, you will be able to resize and move the keyboard around so that might be more comfortable.
Oh and for "+" shift up from the numbers keyboard.
Thank You again!

v.cantu said:
Thank You! I apologize for the late response. I really appreciate your suggestions and I'm glad you like my keyboard. I have gotten multiple requests so I will be adding German hopefully soon. Also, you will be able to resize and move the keyboard around so that might be more comfortable.
Oh and for "+" shift up from the numbers keyboard.
Thank You again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reminds me of 8pen. Interesting, but unfortunately can't beat the speed of regular tap-typing or swiping.
Keep going nethertheless for the coolness of it ;]

interesting concept, will give it a shot.

testing this keyboard, hopefully the developer didn't stop (last version from 28th of december)

New update from "v.cantu´s" amazing keyboard with many great improvements..!!!
Look above for the download-link on first post.
Btw..:
one more suggestion from my wife to the dev.. She tried the new version and finds it pretty cool...
Maybe you could implement the function that if you push a letter and hold it without moving it that it repeats the choosen letter several times...
so you can keep the option for choosing special characters but she doesn´t has to push for example letter "a" several times to get several "aaaaaa"....
Big thanks to the dev... :good:

What a great concept, too bad it was abandoned so quickly. Does anyone know of anything similar? The playstore is just choke full of glittery keyboard bull****, finding anything there is like looking for a needle in 10000 haystacks.