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Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

jenson.org

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Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#331

Post by eviks »

breakfastduck wrote: post #25
craighay1 wrote: post #14

I sometimes wonder if modal editing (like vim uses) might be a good approach for navigating/editing longform text on touch devices. It does seem like a missed opportunity to have taken the keyboard/mouse approach and then transferred it to touch devices. Even the keyboard layout has no real advantage for two thumb typing on a screen. Approaches that adapt the interface whilst leaning heavily on letter based inference…

modal editing is just too much overhead for the average smart phone user.

That's fine, the average computer user also doesn't use modal editing

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#332

Post by soupbowl »

bee_rider wrote: post #144
craighay1 wrote: post #14

I sometimes wonder if modal editing (like vim uses) might be a good approach for navigating/editing longform text on touch devices. It does seem like a missed opportunity to have taken the keyboard/mouse approach and then transferred it to touch devices. Even the keyboard layout has no real advantage for two thumb typing on a screen. Approaches that adapt the interface whilst leaning heavily on letter based inference…

You can install blink shell, panic prompt, or whatever the popular iPhone ssh client of the day is and ssh over to your desktop to get a preview of how this would work. Paired with a Bluetooth keyboard, it is fine IMO. The screen is a little bit small. Sometimes if I’m going to SSH from my phone, I’ll put the phone on a little stand in front of the keyboard, so it can sit more like a foot from my face, or whatever (n…

I do this all the time but I have not found a Bluetooth keyboard that is portable and not total junk. Do you have any suggestions?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#333

Post by eviks »

mikepurvis wrote: post #47
breakfastduck wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

modal editing is just too much overhead for the average smart phone user.

But nowadays you can install custom keyboards on every OS that could probably get you most of the way there.

Do you know of an example?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#334

Post by happymellon »

skydhash wrote: post #307
happymellon wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I miss my Blackberry for typing. The tactile feedback of real keys was so much better than haptic screens.

Remember T9? I haven't much experience with it—I'm young. But it was a much more pleasant experience than the current experience with touch screen. Swiping works, but I feel it requires too much cognitive energy. As soon as a conversation is taking longer than this paragraph, I tend to call the person instead. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T9_(predictive_text)

I got downvoted a lot when I mentioned missing T9 previously.

It could be nostalgia, but I was pretty quick and generally accurate sending short messages.

Not sure I would want to type a document on T9.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#335

Post by silisili »

superkuh wrote: post #185
crazygringo wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Smartphones are just for when you're literally unable to use a real computer. Which is literally extremely frequent, since we often need to do stuff on the go. Which is why an article like this is so important -- we should improve, not give up. There's no reason to think text editing on a phone has reached its final form.

The reason I think it won't get much better is that the size of smart phones will not change. It is size that's really the issue for text editing. No space for a real keyboard, no space for a real display.

I really miss form factors like the BB Priv or Moto Backflip.

Now that 'work from anywhere' seems more prevalent than a decade+ ago, I wonder if such a design could find enough success in today's environment.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#336

Post by bahmboo »

jstarfish wrote: post #328
fragmede wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you need a table or some sort of surface to put the keyboard on, and then I might as well use my laptop if I have it. I want better editing for when I'm standing in line at the grocery store with one hand free. I have a keyboard that I've attached a guitar strap to, in order to be able to type while standing, without a table to rest the keyboard on.

You reinvented...the keytar. I miss the Sidekick, myself. Was the perfect device for writing while standing. Physical keyboard and a big-ish screen, with the form of a modern smartphone. The swivel design made finding a decent case tough though. And there were few apps.

Which was an influence on the first Android device, the HTC Dream. Swivel keyboard AND a trackball. It was pretty cool but unfortunately didn't catch on.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#337

Post by usr1106 »

happymellon wrote: post #263
JamesLeonis wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s just not your typical consumer. My only disagreement. I think many people don't know they want something better because they've never used something better. The video in the link describes how the users do short texts to get around the problem [0], including deleting whole blocks of text instead of editing. Teenagers, parents, and many others communicate heavily through texts and are often "up and down" like m…

I miss my Blackberry for typing. The tactile feedback of real keys was so much better than haptic screens.

I agree although I have never used a Blackberry. I have used a dozen of smart phone models in the early 2000s, either with physical keyboards or resistive touch. And then the iphone came and everybody moved to capacitive touch. It might have some advantages, but precise working is not one of them. I still hate it 15 years later what shitty products we have to use despite of all engineering efforts buried in them.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#338

Post by tgv »

mhb wrote: post #316
superkuh wrote: post #49

Nothing on mobile is okay. I know everyone loves their smart phones but they really are terrible computers in every way except for portability. Use a computer when you actually want to do things. Smartphones are just for when you're literally unable to use a real computer.

My saw is a bad hammer.

But you wouldn't complain you can't use a saw to drive nails in the wall, would you?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#339

Post by happymellon »

nobodyandproud wrote: post #320
happymellon wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I miss my Blackberry for typing. The tactile feedback of real keys was so much better than haptic screens.

Sounds like a small, niche but very real market and product: A keyboard case with Bluetooth (but security!) or USB-C. Bonus points for e-ink-based keys. Edit: Realistically I’d be surprised if something like this doesn’t already exist.

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/bbq20-keyboard-with-track...

What about an updated BlackBerry Torch 9800?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#340

Post by pcthrowaway »

prng2021 wrote: post #323
superkuh wrote: post #49

Nothing on mobile is okay. I know everyone loves their smart phones but they really are terrible computers in every way except for portability. Use a computer when you actually want to do things. Smartphones are just for when you're literally unable to use a real computer.

What an absolutely lazy assessment of technology. I’d say using those two appendages we call legs to move around while still being able to do many things you use a desktop computer for is a revolutionary piece of technology. Do you really want to carry a Walkman around along with a backpack with a Rand McNally map to guide you so you don’t get lost in a neighborhood you’ve never visited? Maybe watch a portable DVD pl…

> I’d say using those two appendages we call legs to move around while still being able to do many things you use a desktop computer for is a revolutionary piece of technology.

The above poster did acknowledge that smartphones absolutely win out in portability.

Obviously you're stuck with mobile UIs for things like navigation, directions, location information, and a lot review apps, ordering a car, etc. Consequently, the user experience for those things is often better on a mobile phone than it would be on a desktop (if a desktop UI is even provided)

For anything involving typing more than an address, you're almost always better off with a Desktop application. There's nothing "lazy" about pointing this out

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