Whenever I explain my #research at Google into mobile text editing, I'm usually met with blank stares or a slightly hostile "Everyone can edit text on their phones, right? What's the problem?"
Text editing on mobile isn't ok. It's actually much worse than you think, an invisible problem no one appreciates. I wrote this post so you can understand why it's so important.
https://jenson.org/text
#UXDesign #UX
@scottjenson huh, I get intensely frustrated by text editing on mobile, especially on iOS (it's one thing that's actually better on Android, IMO). Thought that feeling was universal.
The hardest thing for me is pasting text. When you tap to bring up the contextual menu with the paste button, the cursor position often moves. Often takes me multiple tries to get it right.
I miss arrows on the iOS keyboard that allow you to move the cursor position left or right through the text!
@scottjenson @Brendanjones My eyes would glaze over, but for the opposite reason: I think it's hopeless. When I see something like "this game was developed on an iPad", I think, "WHY?!"
I want all the screen real estate I can get and touch screens are a tool of the Devil.
All that said, it looks like you're doing good work making the mobile experience less miserable!
Selecting text is also terrible. Trying to move the end markers around with fat meat nubs doesn’t work very well.
The default Android keyboard (Gboard I think it's called?) has an option to let you slide left and right on the space bar to move the cursor, it's a godsend.
Editing text on mobile is awful though.
@Parienve @adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
I use Hacker's Keyboard on Android. It has cursor keys.
@adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
Wait! What! How! Where!
I've never seen this option. My fingers are so stubby any typing on a mobile device is a nightmare. This sounds like it could be helpful.
But it doesn't seem to work that way on my Gboard, and I can't find any relevant options.
@adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
Found it - my problem was I had two different language keyboards selected. As soon as I held the space bar, it gave me the keyboard-selection menu. I deleted one which I don't need, and now the feature works. I think this will be a big help. Thanks!
@adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
Now I can adjust the cursor from the spacebar, I want a button that allows me to open the menu without touching the cursor.
A menu option would also be nice for anchoring the selection point so I can move the other end left and right to complete the selection before I cut/whatever. That would be great.
I also wouldn't mind being able to move off the top or bottom of the spacebar to move the cursor up/down.
Or just give me a TrackPoint and buttons.
@dhobern @Brendanjones @scottjenson
So I've just found there is actually a selection tool in GBoard, if you press the menu button (blue icon with four squares in the top left corner) there should be an icon with a capital I and two arrows either side. If you hit that you get an up and down arrow, a select toggle and copy and paste buttons.
Which will make text editing on mobile much easier now that I know it exists.
@adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
Thank you! That's fantastic. I expect so little it never occurred to me to look for that.
Short of a TrackPoint on the bottom of the phone and left/right tactile buttons on the sides, this will do me for now.
@adaliabooks @Brendanjones @scottjenson
Even better, I've just found I can put it in the space usually reserved for the microphone icon. Fantastic!
@Brendanjones @scottjenson
For people on Android there is a keyboard that has left and right keys above the letters. Swyping up from the space key shows the functions paste at the current position, select text with left right keys, select all, undo and redo button:
#AnySoftKeyboard https://f-droid.org/packages/com.menny.android.anysoftkeyboard/
I just discovered that when long pressing on paste you can select from a list of the last copied things.
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