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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

#651

Post by forgotpwd16 »

ammar2 wrote: post #609
funcDropShadow wrote: post #603

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is another caveat with swipe in languages that write some words capitalized. The prediction fails to capitalize correctly in the middle of a sentence. The overhead to edit the word to the correct capitalization is so large, that swipe doesn't feel useful at all. A menu entry or gesture to capitalize the selected word would be really handy.

With gboard on Android, if you highlight a word and tap shift, it will go from lowercase to Capitalized to SHOUTING case.

That's cool. Does gboard have some help that talks about such hidden features?

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#652

Post by forgotpwd16 »

FearNotDaniel wrote: post #570
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…

Oh man, I long for the days of phones with T9 input and hardware keys you could physically feel. It was so easy to walk down the street and tap out a text message with results much more predictable than "predictive" text, only occasionally having to glance down at the phone to check what you wrote. You could do it all with one hand, it was very unlikely you would drop the phone in the process and even if you did, it…

AnySoftKeyboard has T9-like layout but lacks T9 prediction.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#655

Post by drpixie »

hilbert42 wrote: post #574
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…

"People produce less text with more errors in more time on mobile." I absolutely agree, typing or editing text on a smartphone is just horrible. There are many times I've started to write an email or post to say HN and I've been so frustrated I've aborted the process and restarted it on my laptop. It's down outright infuriating I have to do this. [I just hope someone of influence at Google reads these posts and acts…

For me, the biggest problem is lack of meaningful feedback. Even a small keyboard lets you feel the edge & centre of each key, and feel when it's acted (the click).

And a physical keyboard does not require you to be looking at it, just to use it.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#656

Post by knallfrosch »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #521
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…

This take is a little ironic. In the original iPhone keynote address [1], Steve Jobs specifically called out physical keyboards as a negative user experience. The advantage of the iPhone is that the entire device could adapt to whatever application you were currently using. That being said I still think you are right. Typing on iOS could be improved. [1]: https://youtu.be/x7qPAY9JqE4?si=9_jnM2Ys8JiTXGqC

To be honest, the problems an adaptive keyboard fixed back then - entering contacts, entering email addresses and passwords have long since been fixed by other solutions. Bluetooth, vCards, contact sharing, QR codes, one-tap logins, password managers..

To say nothing of NOT displaying the keyboard at all. If you look at an old phone, you notice how tiny their screen is, because half of the front side is reserved for a sucky 12 key keyboard.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#657

Post by tuetuopay »

boxed wrote: post #569
earthboundkid wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It never worked though. It would just pop in randomly at unexpected times. It sucked.

I LOVED it. I could move the text cursor with precision AND do text selection with the same precision and FAST. In some situations faster and with more precision than I would have been able to do with a mouse even. Such a great loss that they dumped it.

cursor move is still available with a long press of the spacebar, but I dearly miss the selection. that was the killer application of 3d touch I think.

Re: Text editing on mobile: the invisible problem

#659

Post by pif »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #521
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…

This take is a little ironic. In the original iPhone keynote address [1], Steve Jobs specifically called out physical keyboards as a negative user experience. The advantage of the iPhone is that the entire device could adapt to whatever application you were currently using. That being said I still think you are right. Typing on iOS could be improved. [1]: https://youtu.be/x7qPAY9JqE4?si=9_jnM2Ys8JiTXGqC

> The advantage of the iPhone is that the entire device could adapt to whatever application you were currently using.

This is the same argument as with Tesla dashboard: it's true, but incomplete. Virtual keyboard require your visual attention, while physical keyboard can be easily navigated using only touch.

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