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Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

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Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#481

Post by hollandheese »

justsomehnguy wrote: post #396
hollandheese wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T9 was so terrible I didn't use text messaging until I got my first iPhone. Actual Keyboard >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Touch screen typing >>>>>>> T9

T9 was terrible for you. You could literally type the message without taking the phone out of the pocket because it was extremely predictable and you knew the menu structure by the gut.

It's more like T9 wasn't terrible for you. There's a good reason it died off. Touch screen keyboards are better for 99% of the population.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#482

Post by dan-robertson »

savoyard wrote: post #477
bombela wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Press F6 in firefox for caret browsing.

That would be F7. The same works in Chrome.

Ah I didn’t realise it still existed. I think I must have misremembered the warning as being a deprecation notice.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#483

Post by dan-robertson »

Denvercoder9 wrote: post #356
dan-robertson wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t understand why a tablet requires lugging a briefcase around? Just carry it raw between meetings and put it down if you need two hands for something. If you already carry papers around, get a folding keyboard case. Maybe we’re just thinking of different working environments and I’m imagining an office whereas you’re imagining a job site or something. The actual reason that a tablet isn’t the answer is that the…

> I don’t understand why a tablet requires lugging a briefcase around? Just carry it raw between meetings and put it down if you need two hands for something. Being forced to carry the tablet every time you're moving during a work day is annoying. The big issue is not moving between meetings, it's every other movement during the day. For example getting lunch or getting to the office (especially on e.g. the subway or…

Ah ok, I was imagining keeping it in the office.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#484

Post by julianz »

satvikpendem wrote: post #403
Nition wrote: post #398

> We saw this in our user testing when users tried to place the text cursor accurately: they would miss by a few characters... One small thing: I don't know how it works on Android, but I used to have an N9 and then the Jolla phone and you could tap anywhere in text to place the cursor there. iOS doesn't let you, except confusingly on the very first tap that activates the cursor. For subsequent taps, you can tap exac…

Hold down the space bar and you can move the cursor wherever you want, also on Android. I'm surprised more people don't know about this feature.

Holding down the space bar on my (Google) keyboard brings up a popup to change the keyboard. Sliding my finger along the space bar shifts the cursor.

I miss my very first Android phone (the original HTC Desire) which had a tiny hole they called an "optical trackball" that worked incredibly well for selecting text.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#485

Post by Pamar »

functoid wrote: post #470
Pamar wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s great until you need to move the cursor downward. Actually I just discovered the spacebar trick thanks to the parent comment and... I can move up and down in a block of text by using the same method. Maybe I don't understand what you mean?

You can move the cursor up maybe 10 lines from where you start before going off the edge of the keyboard. Now try moving down 10 lines from where you start. Hopefully you will see the issue with starting from the spacebar at the bottom edge of the screen.

Ah ok, thanks - I experimented with a iPhone note and did not go very far, actually.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#486

Post by demondemidi »

hackernewds wrote: post #251
demondemidi wrote: post #249

Or maybe mobile is not the correct platform for editing? This sounds like arguing that a hammer makes a terrible screwdriver.

"maybe mobile is not the correct platform for web browsing"

We've all seen what happens when engineers try to do UI/UX. Maybe you're an engineer and not a designer, and maybe stay in your lane and leave usability to the people who, ya know, study it?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#487

Post by lolinder »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #458

People produce less text with more errors in more time on mobile. I actively avoid having to type anything on mobile. If I have my laptop open, I'll use whatsapp or signal on that. I often wait replying on either of those until I get my laptop. Just way less frustrating to not have to correct >25% of my key presses. If I have to use the mobile keyboard, I'll often just send a message with typos, no capitals, and skip…

I find that typing on a phone (iPhone or Android) these days is substantially easier than typing on an iPad because of swipe. It's still nowhere as efficient as a keyboard in the hands of a skilled typist, but I can often produce text fast enough that it isn't worth getting out my laptop. On an iPad it's far worse, because I actually do have to use the bad QWERTY touchscreen key-by-key.

What I keep hoping for as far as input methods go is a swipe keyboard layout that is optimized for swipe, because QWERTY has a few groupings that make for ambiguities. Someone calculated one a few years ago that puts the vowels as far apart as possible [0].

[0] https://sangaline.com/post/finding-an-optimal-keyboard-layou...

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#488

Post by MobiusHorizons »

htk wrote: post #186
MobiusHorizons wrote: post #183

I recently upgraded from an iPhone 8 to a 13 mini. I thought I would miss the home button, but what I really miss is 3D Touch in the keyboard for moving the cursor. It doesn’t solve editing text on mobile, but it went a long way.

Hold the space key and it also becomes a trackpad.

Thanks! Happy to know that feature is not completely gone. I actually asked at the apple store about this, but they thought there was no equivalent in the new phones.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#489

Post by bangonkeyboard »

lolinder wrote: post #487
jillesvangurp wrote: post #458

People produce less text with more errors in more time on mobile. I actively avoid having to type anything on mobile. If I have my laptop open, I'll use whatsapp or signal on that. I often wait replying on either of those until I get my laptop. Just way less frustrating to not have to correct >25% of my key presses. If I have to use the mobile keyboard, I'll often just send a message with typos, no capitals, and skip…

I find that typing on a phone (iPhone or Android) these days is substantially easier than typing on an iPad because of swipe. It's still nowhere as efficient as a keyboard in the hands of a skilled typist, but I can often produce text fast enough that it isn't worth getting out my laptop. On an iPad it's far worse, because I actually do have to use the bad QWERTY touchscreen key-by-key. What I keep hoping for as far…

The iPad keyboard has a floating option that takes swipe input. There used to be a split keyboard option, which I actually used all the time, but it was removed from newer models for unfathomable reasons.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#490

Post by jskherman »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #458

People produce less text with more errors in more time on mobile. I actively avoid having to type anything on mobile. If I have my laptop open, I'll use whatsapp or signal on that. I often wait replying on either of those until I get my laptop. Just way less frustrating to not have to correct >25% of my key presses. If I have to use the mobile keyboard, I'll often just send a message with typos, no capitals, and skip…

Skill issue /s

https://x.com/naofalxyz/status/1702673333446496434

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