Smart Keyboard Forum

In a normal text box, the Compact Keyboard works fine - For example, pressing the [OP] key once gives you "O", twice gives you "P", even when tapped very fast.

In text boxes that have suggestions, however, you cannot easily get to the second letter!

For example - my email address starts with "wp", and I have people in my address book whose names start with "wo". I go into the Gmail app, tap on the "to" field, and start to type "wp". The W works fine of course, but when I hit the [OP] key for the first time, it makes an O and then suggests people whose names start with "Wo". When I hit the letter the second time, it does nothing but refresh the suggestion list, still with "wo". If I hit it a third time, it will make a second O.

It seems like the speed of my double-tap makes a big difference. If I tap quickly (a normal double-tap speed), it will stay an O. If I tap slowly, it will make a second O. Somewhere in between those two speeds is a magic speed where I can make a P.

Can these results be replicated by anyone else?

bump? Anyone?

This is still a problem. Does anybody read the forums?

More information on the bug:

HTC has a very similar (identical) compact keyboard that doesn't have this problem. The difference in how they operate is that the HTC keyboard makes a character and selects it for a moment, so that the next key typed replaces it (if it's the same key). With SmartKeyboard, it creates the character and places the cursor AFTER it instead of over it. When you press another key it actually deletes and re-adds the key. Is it possible to change to method that a keyboard like the HTC mod uses?

I read (all day long...)
The thing is that I tried to reproduce the problem when I saw your post, and couldn't, so I was waiting to see if someone else has the same problem
Does it make a difference with or without "always suggest" option?

I remember the keyboard used to behave like that (with the "always suggest" option turned off), but can't seem to reproduce it right now.
What version is the OP using?

I just switched back to Smart Keyboard to test this out again.

Steps to Reproduce:
1). I have two relevant contacts in my addressbook: myself (wpijeff@gmail.com) and a person with a last name of "Wood". I also have a number of other contacts that start with "Wo" which may/may not be relevant.
2). I set SmartKeyboard to be in Compact mode with 2 letters per key
3). In the "To:" field of the gmail app, I press the [qw] key twice to get a W
4). I then press the [op] key twice to get a P

On the first press of the [OP] key, it will load a dropdown listing all the names that start with "WO" (4 wongs, a wozniak, a woodacre, and a wood).

If I do this quickly (like I would normally want to do for a compact keyboard when typing an address, especially my own), the second press of the [OP] key registers BEFORE the dropdown has loaded, and it ignores it. No matter how many times I press it again, it only re-loads the recommended list starting with "WO" or decides to add ANOTHER O, to spell "WOO".

If I do this too SLOWLY, the first time I press the [OP] key, it will load the dropdown listing all the names that start with "WO". When I press it again, it will add another O to spell "woo"

Only when I type exactly in the "sweet spot" of speeds (slow enough for the dropdown to register, fast enough to not "set" the previous letter) will it properly recognize the letters I mean to type. As I mentioned in my previous post, the difference in how this keyboard behaves vs HTC is that when the HTC IME types a letter, it comes up selected, so the next press replaces that letter, instead of backspacing and typing a new letter. This difference is subtle, but seems to be the difference between working and not working when typing quickly.

If you add the names I suggested to your contact list and use the gmail "to" field as your test, you should see the same results. I hope this helps!

OK, actually I worked on these kinds of issues yesterday, and I think I found a solution. Can you try with the latest beta and let me know?