T9 Improvements

[techweenie]

I am a long-time T9 input user, and so far Smart Keyboard Pro is the only Android keyboard I can bear to use with this method. However, there are several improvements that should be made which will make it a lot better. Pretty much all of these suggestions come from the way Sony Ericsson does it on their feature phones, so if you can get your hands on one of those it would help. I even have one I can send you to play around with.

First off, I would like to see a button to spell unrecognized words. This saves from the hassle of switching to the full keyboard and deleting everything you just typed and typing it again. I would also like to see previously typed words become selected and populate the suggestion list when the cursor is at the end of them to make it much easier to make corrections. And finally, the way it handles caps lock and first letter capitalization could use some improvements. It's a bit cumbersome when words aren't capitalized until i press the space bar because quite often i don't need to press it. The caps lock button also glitches sometimes when switching between the full and T9 keyboards.

[Mandark]

First off, I would like to see a button to spell unrecognized words. This saves from the hassle of switching to the full keyboard and deleting everything you just typed and typing it again.

Am I missing something or perhaps You haven't tried pressing (deactivating) the "T9" key?

[techweenie]

I guess you make a good point, but I can't stand using that form of input. It just seems like there could be a more straightforward way to add custom words on the fly while using T9. Like if it knows there's no match in the dictionary, display a spell button in the suggestion bar that automatically highlights the word in question and temporarily either deactivates T9 or (ideally) switches to the full keyboard. That's the best way I can think of to streamline the process. On the other hand, I wouldn't be as concerned about it if the dictionary had a lot more words.

[repo97]

I completely agree. In the old days with my Nokia phone you used to be able to have an option to spell the word manually whenever a word would come up that was not in your custom dictionary.

[tyrol_gangster]

I have just moved to Smart Keyboard Pro from HTC_IME (because it did not save dictionary for me), but IMHO this was a little better done in the latter app. Instead of the SKP's suggestions bar in which you scroll left/right (if your word is not among those initially displayed) you had to click an arrow to open a full screen selection of suggestions that also includes a button to Add Word (this then automatically turns off T9). Maybe this is something that could be implemented at least as an option?

[marcstacey]

I would like to see a wider delete key. after choosing the option to remove the period the space key gets significantly larger but on a 3.5 inch and smaller screen like i have (mytouch 3g) the delete key is quite a task to catch unless you have tiny hands.

[fuorigioco1981]

Cyril its been a year almost now and you still can't fine an easier way to add a word while in t9 9 pad layout ????

[SamFerdinand]

It just seems like there could be a more straightforward way to add custom words on the fly while using T9. Like if it knows there's no match in the dictionary, display a spell button in the suggestion bar that automatically highlights the word in question and temporarily either deactivates T9 or (ideally) switches to the full keyboard.

Agree! Adding my vote on this topic as it is one of my issues with SK.