Shortcuts to Frequently Used Words

[Acoustic Kitty]

Hi. This is my first post and first Android based phone, so forgive me if the question is a simple one.

I'm coming from years of iPhones and what I was looking for was a way I can add shortcuts like the iPhone where if I type "brb" it will automatically expand and type "be right back".

I see there is a place where I could assign custom shortcuts to the numeric keys, but that's not what I'm looking for. I like being able to write, "ur" and have it pop up with "your".

Is there a way to do this with KitKat and the S5?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! See this article, which describes how to use the Personal Dictionary of the Google Keyboard to assign shortcuts to words. Enable Text Expansion in the Stock Google Keyboard

 

[Acoustic Kitty]

Hi. Thank you very much for your reply. Text Expansion is the word I was looking for, but I don't seem to have settings for a Google Keyboard and I'm hoping I'm just spazzing out.

Please take a look at the attached and let me know what you think. My phone is from T-Mobile.

Thanks so much!

 

[B. Diddy]

You can always download Google Keyboard from Google Play Store. Also, check to see if Samsung Keyboard has a similar function. Tap the gear icon next to it and look for a Personal Dictionary option.

Posted via Android Central App.
Please excuse any typos or autocorrect derps.

 

[Acoustic Kitty]

Hi. Thank you. Definitely cannot find any reference to a Personal Dictionary. I checked that. Just confusing but I'm sure I'm just new at it and can't figure it out.

 

[bembol]

I just installed Google Keyboard, just seems too much work compared to Samsung.

I actually love SwiftKey more but I prefer Samsung's because of "My Shortcuts" since I can use it in password fields.

 

[B. Diddy]

I prefer Samsung's because of "My Shortcuts" since I can use it in password fields.

Does Samsung's My Shortcuts feature do what the OP is looking for? Can you explain how it works?

 

[yyyy2999]

There doesn't seem to be this particular option on the stock s5 keyboard, the Google keyboard does however.

 

[bembol]

Does Samsung's My Shortcuts feature do what the OP is looking for? Can you explain how it works?

It doesn't but Google is what OP is looking for.

My Shortcut, I just hold down 1-0 and it's enters it even on password fields.

I hate that when I enter the shortcut say "31" which is my GMail address, I have to select it. Why can't I just press the space bar like with iOS that replaces it automatically? IMO it beats the purpose of have shortcuts.

 

[Acoustic Kitty]

Thanks for the replies. I agree with bembol. While I can do what I was looking for with the Google keyboard, it's just not as easy to use as the default Samsung keyboard.

I also agree with the fact that hitting the spacebar would be easier than actually selecting it, but I guess I'll also find things that are easier to do on the Android than on iPhone. I can't expect them to both function the way I personally would like them to.

I downloaded both the Google and SwiftKey keyboards, but I guess I'll just stick with the the stock Samsung keyboard until I get more familiar. Maybe if I get really good with Swype shortcuts won't be important.

Thank you all for the help.

 

[AZgl1500]

I tried the Google Keyboard and while it has some super neat features, I fell back to SwiftKey for its' fantastic word prediction skills.

Creating a shortcut for my bank passwords would almost make me go back to a "shortcut" capable keyboard, almost but not quite.

 

[gnulab]

Not to bash Samsung/Android, just sharing my experience.
I came from Blackberry and I'm so used to having a list of text expansion. It is a sort of canned response.
Q: what's your address?
A: addr1 -> expanded to the full address

Q: how do I locate your place?
A: dir1 -> expanded to the full direction to my place.

I miss that feature. Any idea which keyboard support this?

Henry

 

[Maryell]

If you upgrade to operating system, it has the feature you're looking for, but you will lose the assign numbers to text function.

 

[Maryell]

Upgrade to marshmallow. It has that feature, but you will lose assign numbers to text function