Period Button Smaller, Replace Comma Button with "?"

[andyk]

ive noticed that SKP has a larger comma and period button. in normal usage however, these two keys are relatively unimportant.

double-typing the spacebar will insert a period, and in a normal SMS message or email a comma is rarely used. most of the time you SMS someone to ask a question. so a "?" mark in place of the comma would be great. (typing shift+M+spacebar is a quite a chore just to get a "?")

i suggest making those two keys smaller, or perhaps moving the location of the "." button to the left of the spacebar. (or removing it altogether) i have made many random accidental "." input errors with SKP and i just realized it is because the button is larger than on the stock and i am tapping it instead of the spacebar.

[cyril]

Hi
I may make these keys smaller, but I won't put . on the left, as I did it in the very first release and got flamed about it !
For my information why are you saying "shift+M+spacebar" ? You just need to long press the M key, don't you ? (ok, and spacebar for the next word..)

[andyk]

haha ok cyril, perhaps we need a special skin for just the two of us then. (may i put in another slug for minimalist skin? with period and ? on the left?)

i suggest these two ideas to improve the efficiency of the keyboard. (haha don't listen to any dumb remarks left in the market comments) if users want the status-quo... then they can use the stock keyboard. i love SKP because it provides tweaks, and new features, adjustments, etc.

the bottom line:

1. i use the ? button way more often than the comma button and i am willing to guess that most users do too. the comma button is wasted space on the keypad. it should be accessible via the ?123 key.

i can type faster than the phone (droid) can keep up with me. i prefer to type "?123+M+spacebar" to get a ? because i can type that faster than long pressing M to get one. i'm talking about break-neck speed here. after all, multitouch is only really relevant when you are typing so fast that you hit two keys at once.

2. the spacebar key is the single most pressed key on the keypad. it should therefore be the most easy and accessible key to press. i can only speak for myself here, but i only use my right hand thumb to hit the spacebar (left thumb to hit the auto suggest words). because the period key hit area has expanded to the left, i am naturally missing the spacebar more often and pressing the . key in error.

thanks cyril, keep up the good work. most of us really appreciate it.

[dpassen1]

2. the spacebar key is the single most pressed key on the keypad. it should therefore be the most easy and accessible key to press. i can only speak for myself here, but i only use my right hand thumb to hit the spacebar (left thumb to hit the auto suggest words). because the period key hit area has expanded to the left, i am naturally missing the spacebar more often and pressing the . key in error.

thanks cyril, keep up the good work. most of us really appreciate it.

Happens to me more often than I'd like, as well.

[tibere86]

2. the spacebar key is the single most pressed key on the keypad. it should therefore be the most easy and accessible key to press. i can only speak for myself here, but i only use my right hand thumb to hit the spacebar (left thumb to hit the auto suggest words). because the period key hit area has expanded to the left, i am naturally missing the spacebar more often and pressing the . key in error.

I think it would be better to just make the [:-)] key smaller, shift the [.] over and expand the spacebar to the right.

[andyk]

self-fulfilling prophecy

[cyril]

I have expanded the space bar in 1.9.0, let me know if that's better now

[andyk]

thanks for making the change cyril,

the smaller period button is definitely an improvement, and much appreciated.

it would still be my personal preference to move the key to the left of the spacebar, as i am still having an occasional error.

thanks for listening