Capitalization feedbacks and ideas

[Crash9999]

Hi sspanak!

While I was testing the new and beloved editing word function in order to provide you some feedbacks I found myself using also the ABC mode and noticed some little improvements that could be implemented concerning the capitalization of letters. As usual, I’d like to share with you my reasonings and hear what you think about them ;)

1. If I change from EN to ABC to 123 and finally again to EN, I see that in the suggestion bar it is written [english] but it should be [English], since the first letter is going to be uppercase. I upload a video to better explain:

1.mp4

2. If I change from EN to ABC, write “Hi”, press enter to create a new paragraph and write again Hi, I obtain “hi” (lowercase). I think that when user creates new paragraphs the first letter should be uppercase even if it is in ABC mode. Here you can find a video of the current behaviour:

2.mp4

3. This last point still concerns capitalization, but it regards both ABC mode and EN mode.
   All the letters inside the numpad become uppercase when I click twice on the shift button -> [ENGLISH] mode. User starts typing and obtain uppercase letters. The letters inside the numpad remain uppercase until user clicks again on the shift button.
   On the other hand, when user click once on the shift key ([English] mode), the letters inside the numpad remain lowercase. User starts typing and obtain the first letter of his word uppercase.
   I think it would be very nice if all the letters inside the numpad become uppercase also when user clicks only once the shift key. The letters inside the numpad could remain uppercase until the first letter is typed and then they could immediately come back to lowercase.
   I think this will improve consistency because now it happens to click on lowercase letters and obtain uppercase letters.

I hope you will find these ideas interesting, let me know!

Thank you sspanak!

[sspanak]

Thanks for the feedback!

If I change from EN to ABC to 123 and finally again to EN, I see that in the suggestion bar it is written [english] but it should be [English], since the first letter is going to be uppercase.

This bug occurs even if you stay in Predictive mode. Sometimes, it happens when you delete text with backspace, sometimes it just happens at random. I'll probably fix it one day...

If I change from EN to ABC, write “Hi”, press enter to create a new paragraph and write again Hi, I obtain “hi” (lowercase). I think that when user creates new paragraphs the first letter should be uppercase even if it is in ABC mode.

In Predictive mode, there is a setting for that, but I have not considered it for ABC mode. I didn't think it is that useful. I guess, I can add it for both.

This last point still concerns capitalization, but it regards both ABC mode and EN mode.
All the letters inside the numpad become uppercase when I click twice on the shift button -> [ENGLISH] mode. User starts typing and obtain uppercase letters. The letters inside the numpad remain uppercase until user clicks again on the shift button.
On the other hand, when user click once on the shift key ([English] mode), the letters inside the numpad remain lowercase. User starts typing and obtain the first letter of his word uppercase.
I think it would be very nice if all the letters inside the numpad become uppercase also when user clicks only once the shift key. The letters inside the numpad could remain uppercase until the first letter is typed and then they could immediately come back to lowercase.
I think this will improve consistency because now it happens to click on lowercase letters and obtain uppercase letters.

That's a bit problematic. When the status bar says "English", it means the text case is "automatic". It will be determined when you start typing, and it may even change as you type. For example, when you start typing "GPS", the first letter in English would be "I". This suggests the keys should have indicated UPPERCASE. But there is no way for TT9 to know whether you would have typed "I" or "a" for example, which would have required lowercase. Then, when you proceed with the next letter, it would produce "is", which is lowercase in all situations. Then comes "GPS", which is again UPPERCASE.

So, when you see "English", or "Italiano", or whatever other languages you are using, do not think too much what is the text case now. Consider that TT9 will do some magic and adjust it as you type.

[Crash9999]

That's a bit problematic. When the status bar says "English", it means the text case is "automatic". It will be determined when you start typing, and it may even change as you type. For example, when you start typing "GPS", the first letter in English would be "I". This suggests the keys should have indicated UPPERCASE. But there is no way for TT9 to know whether you would have typed "I" or "a" for example, which would have required lowercase. Then, when you proceed with the next letter, it would produce "is", which is lowercase in all situations. Then comes "GPS", which is again UPPERCASE.

So, when you see "English", or "Italiano", or whatever other languages you are using, do not think too much what is the text case now. Consider that TT9 will do some magic and adjust it as you type.

Hi sspanak, I got the point, thank you very much for the explanations. I hadn't thought under this perspective and now I realize!

Btw I still wonder if something can be done to the letters within the numpad (not to the status bar "English"). I think it would be very nice if all the letters inside the numpad become uppercase when user clicks only once the shift key, eventually coming back to lowercase after the first letter is typed, such as in other keyboards like Gboard.

I don't know if this could be complex to integrate, but I believe it would add coherence to what user expects to see when he press the Shift button.

Of course and as always my one is just an idea and it's up to you the final decision, we'll still keep on loving your wonderful keyboard 😉

[sspanak]

That's what I am trying to explain. It is not possible to determine the text case of the next letter until you start typing. Also, it is not possible to do it like in Gboard, because in TT9 you type entire words at once, not individual letters. This makes everything much more difficult.

The best I can offer is synchronizing the key labels with the status bar, so when it says "English", the keys would be labeled Abc, Def, Ghi, etc... I even tried to do this in the past, but it caused some unexpected bugs, so I gave up the idea. I mean, I was not able to fix them in 5 minutes, and I had more important things to do, that's why I gave up.

[Crash9999]

The best I can offer is synchronizing the key labels with the status bar, so when it says "English", the keys would be labeled Abc, Def, Ghi, etc...

Thanks for having thought about a possible alternative solution, but now I realize that actually it is better as it is now. Because, let's say that the user wants to uppercase the first letter of the next word, which is "N" for example. It would be misleading to see on the Dpad "Mno".

Let's keep it as it is:

So, when you see "English", or "Italiano", or whatever other languages you are using, do not think too much what is the text case now. Consider that TT9 will do some magic and adjust it as you type.

TT9 does the magic!

[sspanak]

Thanks for having thought about a possible alternative solution, but now I realize that actually it is better as it is now. Because, let's say that the user wants to uppercase the first letter of the next word, which is "N" for example. It would be misleading to see on the Dpad "Mno".

That's true.

In summary, I'll try to fix 1), however I can't say when, because that bug is elusive; and 2) I will add the extra setting for ABC mode.