Guest danielj58 Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) Thumb Keyboard (App Brain) I've been in touch with the developers over the last few days, and they seem really keen to optimize this keyboard, and would especially like our help with regards to the 10"mode. I've been using this since I got my Vega, and I can tell you that, in my personal opinion, it is the best keyboard for the Vega by far. It features a variety of different layouts and adjustment options that make using it in both landscape and portrait a breeze. It is well worth a try for the price! Features at a quick glance:- Multiple layouts (long press the hide keyboard button to change) Theme support Adjust key height (with independent bottom row key height adjustment) Numbers and cursor arrows in landscape mode Quick fixes and full word suggestion dictionary It's also worth a quick try on your phones too, I've changed over to it on mine because I'm not a fan of the swype style keyboards, and it lets me type much faster than the traditionally laid out keyboards :unsure: So now that I've finished plugging it, the idea of this thread is to collect feedback for the developer, as he doesn't have access to a 10" tablet (short of the android emulator, which is a royal PITA). So for those of you who are using or have tried this, what are your thoughts on it? Screen grabs would also be appreciated, as they intend to try different layouts and want to ensure that it looks as it should in the wild. The developers are actively developing this, with their current focus being on optimizing performance. Typing at desktop keyboard kind of speeds (which is entirely possible with this, trust me!) can cause it to bog down a little, but they're already aware of this and are working on resolving it! So, what are your thoughts? B) Edited January 2, 2011 by danielj58
Guest chrishudsons Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Just installed it (typing this on it) and love it! Have reduced height to 75 % and can now happily type with just thumbs. Only minor issue is that it is a big stretch to the space bar. I think it would be better if the spaces keys were under the two key blocks with enter and the other keys on the inside.
Guest gitf@ce Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Brilliant... kicks SKP into the long grass! Even better on my mobiles. Thanks for the heads up!
Guest japrichard Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Brilliant... kicks SKP into the long grass! Even better on my mobiles. Thanks for the heads up! Tried it today. Pretty good. but found it quite a stretch to reach the very inside keys. Perhaps there should be a gibber space in the middle.
Guest Dmahre Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 I changed from the stock keyboard to thumb . Found it alot better but still got some double taps and bringing up the alternative letter values . This is the most annoying thing about typing on the Vega.however I changed the keyboard layout and when holding the screen upright in my hand and typing usuing my thumbs I get very little alternative letter values . If I tilt it down the keys seem to register more double taps or longer press. I think if the alternative letter values were removed it would be better. I also find the space bar sticks sometimes and registers loads of spaces . The useful words along the top is very handy. Overall big improvement on stock but not perfect
Guest godinandroid Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Hmmm, i gave it a go and still prefer the slideit one, in abc or slide mode. I just cant reach the keys properly, i'll give it a go on the desirehd when it arrives and try again tho.
Guest Graham Macleod Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 I love the idea and the implementation is good on the Vega. A couple of things though: Watchdog says that it's a resource hog, it's the first app that I've ever had to "whitelist" to stop constant complaints about processor usage. Doesn't work with the Gingerbread ROMs currently appearing on XDA (for the Nexus). Just crashes. I don't find it particularly useful on my phone, since the gain in size on the keys isn't enough to make a.difference and the placement of enter and backspace causes problems for me. As with most keyboards the enter key is too.big and too easy to hit by accident. This is.bad because miskeying enter.often has major consequences. I find the full stop too easy to hit instead of space. Backspace is too small (it's a very well used key) and not where I would expect. Might it be possible to.use part of the prediction bar, with backspace on one side (above p) and enter on the other. The multifunction stop,comma and Smiley key is inspired. More like this.please. Could the keyboard include some software debouncing for us poor Vega users? Double keystrokes a millisecond apart are probably not real. Finally, might it be possible to have an optional notify icon so that we could start the keyboard manually (in Google Docs)? It's brilliant though :unsure:
Guest Graham Macleod Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Oh yes ... why do.they hate the plus sign? Am I.being stupid? Can't see it anywhere. Oh, ok, there it is but what a hassle!
Guest dagrim1 Posted January 2, 2011 Report Posted January 2, 2011 Hmmm, gave it a try and although I like the idea it's lagging too much for me to be enjoyable (perhaps likewise issues as with the user sayibg it's a resource hog? disabled all prediction and autocorrect stuff). Switched back to kbp for now. All this on a pov mobii with vega rom and pauls addon and performance pack.
Guest matf Posted January 3, 2011 Report Posted January 3, 2011 I've been using Thumb keyboard for a few days now - and I like it. I tend to use in the portrait mode for 10" tablets, height set at either 75% or 100%. I only have a couple of gripes: 1) RH Space bar / Full-stop button positioning causes a lot of trouble - end up with lots of full stops when I want spaces. 2) Full-stop/Comma/emoticon button - I find this difficult. Two taps to get the comma doesn't always work for me and I really don't need that many emoticons. The world doesn't need that many emoticons! I'd rather have one tap for full-stop, long tap for comma and double-tap for emoticons. 3) The predictive text doesn't seem as predictive as say Swift Keyboard - and I find the positioning of the options quite tricky. Because you're using your thumb, going for a button that's top left is actually quite difficult. I think they need to put a little more thought into that. It may even be better underneath the keyboard 4) For some reason there is serious lag on the cursor keys - which is a shame as they are brilliant to have. Generally I think it's a really innovative approach and is the perfect keyboard for when you're holding the tablet with both hands - devs deserve kudos for their approach. I'm going to try SlideIT just because I feel like I should be able to type more quickly and I'm still looking for the silver bullet - but this is the best solution I've yet found.
Guest danielj58 Posted January 3, 2011 Report Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) Passing your feedback on as it's posted, keep it up guys! Much appreciated! Edit: Update just been sent to the market. Feedback welcome! Edited January 3, 2011 by danielj58
Guest danielj58 Posted January 8, 2011 Report Posted January 8, 2011 *bump* An update is due in the market any time soon, massively improving performance and addressing some of the concerns outlined here. I'll post some screen shots and a vid when I get chance.
Guest kered Posted January 9, 2011 Report Posted January 9, 2011 *bump* An update is due in the market any time soon, massively improving performance and addressing some of the concerns outlined here. I'll post some screen shots and a vid when I get chance. just installed this and have to say its a huge improvement over the standard keyboard.
Guest Pastorb Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 Just a question. I have a 10.2 inch HyPE-Pad (Superpad etc.). This is not a device that uses authentication (or security or something like that). I've tried downloading this from the Android market and it just doesn't show up. I haven't tried it in other places yet. If I can download it (I think I have to pay for it as I can't find a demo - right?), do you know if it will work or will it just say something like, "Sorry, this won't work on a device that doesn't allow for apps to be secure). I'm new to all this, so I don't know much about installing apps either. Can I do it from here?
Guest Pastorb Posted January 20, 2011 Report Posted January 20, 2011 Just a question. I have a 10.2 inch HyPE-Pad (Superpad etc.). This is not a device that uses authentication (or security or something like that). I've tried downloading this from the Android market and it just doesn't show up. I haven't tried it in other places yet. If I can download it (I think I have to pay for it as I can't find a demo - right?), do you know if it will work or will it just say something like, "Sorry, this won't work on a device that doesn't allow for apps to be secure). I'm new to all this, so I don't know much about installing apps either. Can I do it from here? Well, I found out that I can purchase it! It works as well. I like it, though on my 10.2 in HyPE-Pad the keyboard stretches too far across the screen for easy use (in both the Landscape and Portrait views). I have to bend my hand over and stretch, holding the edge of the tablet with my little finger - not good. I like all of the configuration possibilities. I would suggest that the keys be compacted horizontally so that they are closer to the edge of the tablet. I would also suggest some re-arrangement of the keys. I've taken a screenshot of my tablet and then fiddled with the picture, compressing size, switching some keys, etc. I would really like it if I could do this. Any chance of being able to move and/or resize the keys around to where the user would want them to be exactly? I'm attaching (hopefully!) the picture I worked up. --Michael
Guest JOBooth Posted February 16, 2011 Report Posted February 16, 2011 Been using it for a few days and love it. Perfect for the Dell Streak 5 as the default keyboard made it a bit of a stretch to reach some of the keys on the middle of the keyboard. This splits it just right AND adds arrow keys (that's worth the price of admission right there). I'm a good typer and can see that this would have a bit of a learning curve. Once you get used to it though, it rocks. Tell App Brain to keep up the good work!
Guest .logan Posted February 17, 2011 Report Posted February 17, 2011 Been using it for a few days and love it. Perfect for the Dell Streak 5 as the default keyboard made it a bit of a stretch to reach some of the keys on the middle of the keyboard. This splits it just right AND adds arrow keys (that's worth the price of admission right there). I'm a good typer and can see that this would have a bit of a learning curve. Once you get used to it though, it rocks. Tell App Brain to keep up the good work! I love it. One request. Long press on the q or the p should pop up abnumber pad at the left or right respectively. This wouldbhelp entering numbersbasbthe number pad is too far to reach. Similar say on the a and l for arrows. Then it would be perfect.
Guest nukeitall Posted March 7, 2011 Report Posted March 7, 2011 Hello, Will there be a Hebrew layout? Thanks.
Guest AntiCatalyst Posted March 7, 2011 Report Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) I tried it. It's a great concept, but i ended up getting a refund because of the dictionary.. Most of my typing is in english, but I do visit some swedish forums and switching keyboards every time just won't do. The layout is basically there already, the Scandinavian layout for Danish and Norwegian has the same layout but two of their special characters look different (åæø vs our åäö) Edited March 7, 2011 by AntiCatalyst
Guest tomolewis Posted March 8, 2011 Report Posted March 8, 2011 If they would love feedback then they should provide the app for free to us Vega owners :(
Guest Fuzzysteve Posted March 9, 2011 Report Posted March 9, 2011 Nice. Using it on a vega. Don't suppose there's any chance of a soft escape key? handy for connect bot, when you don't have a camera button to remap.
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