Grrrr Spacebar

[Droid800]

I swear to GOD if my Nexus drops another spacebar touch I'm going to boomerang it into a light pole!

Seriously though, has anyone noticed how crummy the responsiveness is? I don't know if its the placement of the keys (They go right to the edge instead of leaving a gap between the keys and digitizer edge, like it is with the portrait keyboard and the iPhone's) Touch sensitivity is, of course, bad at the edge of screens, so that's why I think it keeps missing the touch.

Hopefully google fixes it in a future update. Just a millimeter would be enough!

 

[onthecouchagain]

Are you on the stock Gingerbread keyboard?

I've spoken out about this issue, and issues of typing on the stock keyboard in general, many times before. You're not alone. The space bar often doesn't register hits despite clearly seeing the popup preview showing that you pressed the space bar. It results too often in words likethis.

However, at the same time, it'll sometimes do the exact opposite and register two hits when you've only pressed a key once. Usually it results in words like tthis or thiss.

Both these things happen way too frequently. I share your frustration.

I talk more about it here in this thread: http://forum.androidcentral.com/samsung-nexus-s/52456-nexus-s-screen-glove-friend-too-sensitive.html.

I also argue that the iPhone touch screen and keyboard is far more responsive and reliable. It's a shame Gingerbread keyboard doesn't compare. Have you tried Better Keyboard 8? That's a wonderful alternative and I see those issues occur less frequently.

 

[bclapper]

On a somewhat kind of similar note I've noticed that when I'm playing Angry Bird and I'm pulling the slingshot almost straight down to where my finger is at the edge of the screen it stops sensing my touch and pulls up a little. This always f's me up... I've realized how dumb this post is now and don't expect anyone to respond but I've typed it so I'm gonna post it.

 

[Simer03]

I have the Gingerbread keyboard on my N1, and i have to agree on the above issues. Too often i get words like "thiss" or "thhis" and its really odd!

 

[KCphotog]

That drove me nuts on that phone. The Gingerbread keyboard works perfect on my Vibrant and not on the phone it was designed on. Just another notch on the list I guess. My guess is its the curved screen.

 

[RUSH]

That drove me nuts on that phone. The Gingerbread keyboard works perfect on my Vibrant and not on the phone it was designed on. Just another notch on the list I guess. My guess is its the curved screen.

It also work flawlessly on the EVO. That's so strange how it doesn't work well on the Nexus S.

 

[Smokexz]

Uh... I am typing this on my Nexus S with such simplicity. I have not a clue what issue you guys are talking about.

Sent from my Nexus S

 

[Jalarm]

I love the gingerbread keyboard. Works great for me except when I try to press the backspace I end up pressing "m" but it's a awesome keyboard for me.

 

[Grimmy]

I can't say I've noticed this issue. I find the Gingerbread keyboard to be the best tap typing style keyboard I've used on a mobile device.

On my Nexus One, I used to use Swiftkey, but relied heavily on the prediction as the tap-typing was a little off for me. I still can't decide if I like the Swype method of input better though.

 

[grindking]

I've had absolutely no issues with typing on the Nexus S. It's been an incredible upgrade in typing ability with the multi touch keyboard. I literally do not slow down now when typing. I am a plumber and have noticed that some days if my hands are rough or caloused that can affect the capacitive sensing on the typing and then you have to concentrate on getting the pad of your finger exactly flat on the screen. This isn't really anything to do with the touch sensor and more with the body defending itself from work related things

 

[dadds27]

lately i have been doing this with every other word and its probably the only thing i dont like about the phone

 

[Smokexz]

I have noticed though that sometimes I push a key once and it enters twice but the first input of the key is not corrected by spell check, this happens pretty often.

Sent from my Nexus S

 

[Cyber Warrior]

That's why I like Smartkeyboard pro. You can adjust the spacebar length and the height of the keys. Makes typing much simpler.

 

[DPtheKid]

works perfect for me.

 

[GeneralTula]

Want to know my main issue with the keyboard? The layout changes in different apps. This is a pain in the ass. When using the keyboard in the web browser it's perfect except there is no Smiley's within easy access. But, when your typing in the messaging program the Smileys are where the enter button should be.

Seriously, not even joking. I was typing a message to a friend who's dog had died and I meant to say "my deepest condolences " and hit enter. Except I wrote "My deepest condolences". Do you realise how hard it is to explain that your phone accidentally smiled while you're writing something about his dead pet. Not cool Google. Make the keyboard universally the same in all the apps.

 

[Droid800]

Want to know my main issue with the keyboard? The layout changes in different apps. This is a pain in the ass. When using the keyboard in the web browser it's perfect except there is no Smiley's within easy access. But, when your typing in the messaging program the Smileys are where the enter button should be.

Seriously, not even joking. I was typing a message to a friend who's dog had died and I meant to say "my deepest condolences " and hit enter. Except I wrote "My deepest condolences". Do you realise how hard it is to explain that your phone accidentally smiled while you're writing something about his dead pet. Not cool Google. Make the keyboard universally the same in all the apps.

Making it the same would be stupid. You don't need smilies in the browser, just like you don't need an enter key in the messaging app.

Contextual keyboard layouts, which is what these are, make life easier for the majority of users, and allow commonly used buttons and symbols to be brought to the top layer in certain apps. The layout is 99% the same in all instances, with certain changes (like smilies, and the @ key in email entry fields) made to allow the user to use it more easily.

Like it or not, the use of contextual keyboards is only going to increase as these phones are asked to do more.

 

[Smokexz]

I like that the Smiley button is there rather than enter, enter doesn't even send so it is the fault of the user if they hit the enter key.

Sent from my Nexus S

 

[onthecouchagain]

That's why I like Smartkeyboard pro. You can adjust the spacebar length and the height of the keys. Makes typing much simpler.

I used to be a big fan of Smart Keyboard Pro on my Vibrant. The best feature is still the custom auto-corrections. It really made a world of a difference in typing as you built your custom corrections. I really wish other keyboards would adopt it, notably Better Keyboard 8.

Anyway, Cyber Warrior, do you find though that SKP lags a little bit on the Nexus S/Gingerbread? Or is it just my imagination. I type very fast with my two thumbs, and it used to be incredibly fluid and smooth on my Vibrant, but for whatever reason isn't on NS/Gingerbread. I don't know if it has anything to do with not being "optimized" for Gingerbread yet, or what. Do you get that? I also still get lots of missed space bar presses with SKP on NS/GB.

Anyway, for now, I'm using Better Keyboard 8 which the developer says is the "optimized" version for Gingerbread (which is why I wonder if SKP needs an optimized version too) and it is more reliable and smoother (though not perfect either. It still sometimes misses keys and/or adds additional hits, for example, like tthis or thiss). The only one thing sorely missing from BK8 is custom auto-corrections.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

I used to be a big fan of Smart Keyboard Pro on my Vibrant. The best feature is still the custom auto-corrections. It really made a world of a difference in typing as you built your custom corrections. I really wish other keyboards would adopt it, notably Better Keyboard 8.

Anyway, Cyber Warrior, do you find though that SKP lags a little bit on the Nexus S/Gingerbread? Or is it just my imagination. I type very fast with my two thumbs, and it used to be incredibly fluid and smooth on my Vibrant, but for whatever reason isn't on NS/Gingerbread. I don't know if it has anything to do with not being "optimized" for Gingerbread yet, or what. Do you get that? I also still get lots of missed space bar presses with SKP on NS/GB.

Anyway, for now, I'm using Better Keyboard 8 which the developer says is the "optimized" version for Gingerbread (which is why I wonder if SKP needs an optimized version too) and it is more reliable and smoother (though not perfect either. It still sometimes misses keys and/or adds additional hits, for example, like tthis or thiss). The only one thing sorely missing from BK8 is custom auto-corrections.

It did have some bugs when I first started using it but they recently released an update that fixed all that. I don't notice any lag... I'm not on Gingerbread, I'm on a custom rom.... which is built off of GB but still didn't notice anything.

 

[druk75]

I never had this issue neither neither on the android 2.1 keyboard nor on the 2.3.2 keyboard.....but i should also add the i prefer swype over stock and use that more often. But i am sure i never had this problem in the stock keyboards.