Hello All,
Just to get this stated up front, I have searched the general discussions and the feature request topics for a similar request or discussion. This discussion http://www.dexilog.com/smartkeyboard/fo ... tion#p4921 is probably the closest one I could find and this request http://www.dexilog.com/smartkeyboard/fo ... tion#p3390 is the closest to what I want to suggest here.
It seems in Compact Mode (my preference, and probably the best BB suretype implementation for Android), it can be cumbersome to correct a word you are already in the middle of typing if it is not in the dictionary. As has been stated here in the forums, you only have 3 options... get a correct dictionary hit and not have to select from the suggestions, select from the suggestions or switch out of XT9 to completely retype the entire word over and then long press the word in the suggestion bar to save it to the dictionary.
Here is a short example of a word which would force you to switch out of XT9 and go type the entire word over again. (note: it is much more frustrating for words which don't start mispredicting(?) until 8, 10 or 12 characters in)
Desired Word: geas (A vow or obligation placed upon a person.)
Suggested Words: geaa, Hess, grass, grasp, Hesse, grassy, grasses, grasped, Hessian, grasping, grassroot, grasslands, grasshopper
Now, when I backspace and hit the same key... why does it seem to think I still want "a" and not "s"? So my request is to allow the alternate letter to be typed rather than the predicted letter after the character has been backspaced over and typed again. I'll give a full key sequence example here with keypresses in [] and displayed letters after the brackets...
[gh]g[er]ge[as]gea[as]geaa[backspace]gea[as]geas
It seems to me the use of the backspace key is very telling of the intent of the user and could be used to improve prediction and their ability to add words to the dictionary without having to spell entire words over without the benefit of XT9. Not only this, but I believe this feature is useful in English and in every language this keyboard supports and could possibly solve some of the other "prediction" issues I've seen in other discussions around the Compact Mode keyboard.
Let me know if you need any more clarification, but I believe this feature kills 3 birds with one stone.
- easier typing error correction
- enhanced prediction and easier user dictionary word addition
- less XT9 v/s non-XT9 mode switching