1164820 - Move point on keyboard special characters

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox OS Graveyard :: Gaia::Keyboard, defect)

Description

[Clément Lefèvre]

For a fast access to special characters on the keyboard, a long press on the dot is provided.
However, one character was added on the pop-up since Firefox OS 2.2 which is…the dot itself, so that when you long press the dot, then immediately release it, you still get a dot while you previously could get a coma.
This is a loose of time if you often use coma, as you didn't had to move your finger before and you now need to.

Maybe did I missed a point about new keyboard specs, but if that's not the case, I don't get why this change happened and maybe should it be removed or at least move at another place?

Comparison was made between 1.3 keyboard and master ones, but from what I heard the change happened on 2.2 version, so that it can be compared to version ≤ 2.1.

Comment 1

[Clément Lefèvre]

NI both after talking with Patryk to let UX take a look.

Comment 2

[Patryk Adamczyk [:patryk] UX]

Attachment: IMG_20150514_174540.jpg

Hey Clement, I see a common in the left side of the space bar in my latest build. But the long press on the "." also had a comma and a blank option that does nothing. So we should look into this. Omega should have a better idea of what is going on.

Comment 3

[Clément Lefèvre]

Attachment: Screenshot of what's proposed with french keyboard

(In reply to Patryk Adamczyk [:patryk] UX from comment #2)
> Created attachment 8605997 [details]
> IMG_20150514_174540.jpg
> 
> Hey Clement, I see a common in the left side of the space bar in my latest
> build. But the long press on the "." also had a comma and a blank option
> that does nothing. So we should look into this. Omega should have a better
> idea of what is going on.

Ok, so your photo made me notice the comma at the left of the space key: actually, always having at least two activated keyboards as in my case result in a keyboard switcher at the left of the space key instead of this comma, which is why I never noticed it: this is not that obvious.

Your photo made me realize another thing: the list of characters in this popup isn't the same for english and french keyboard for example, US keyboard having ellipsis dots while french one is offering a dash.

I did not checked other occidental languages if some offer even other special characters, but what led to this choice ?
Especially, it looks like ellipsis dots are not even available on french keyboard on alternatives 2nd and 3rd page.
But maybe am I going a bit offtopic here?

Comment 4

[Omega Feng [:Omega] [:馮於懋]]

We made the change for all keys' alternatives that way, including character keys like "A". For people who type slow, they may long press on a key unintentionally. In that case, they can easily release the finger to get the result "A" without extra finger movement. Of course a design comes with both pros and cons, but we still decided to make all keys consistent.

Comment 5

[Clément Lefèvre]

(In reply to Omega Feng [:Omega] [:馮於懋] (please ni?) from comment #4)
> We made the change for all keys' alternatives that way, including character
> keys like "A". For people who type slow, they may long press on a key
> unintentionally. In that case, they can easily release the finger to get the
> result "A" without extra finger movement. Of course a design comes with both
> pros and cons, but we still decided to make all keys consistent.

Two to three seconds looks long for an accidental long press, even for a slow typer, no?

Comment 6

[Johan Lorenzo [:jlorenzo]]

(In reply to Omega Feng [:Omega] [:馮於懋] (please ni?) from comment #4)
I agree on consistency: all the keys should behave the same way. However, the dot key displays the 3 little grey dots at the bottom, which makes it visually a different key. Maybe we could change the "slow"
 rule for the 3-grey-dotted keys?

Also, as the dogfooders and power users are now the main focus with the ignite initiative, I have the feeling that this behavior slow them down. What do you think, Omega?

Comment 7

[Omega Feng [:Omega] [:馮於懋]]

Even fast typers may hesitate on a key and trigger the alternative bubble. That's a reason why we designed that way. However, I'll still take your opinion into account, and see whether there are more similar feedback.

Comment 9

[Johan Lorenzo [:jlorenzo]]

From bug 1171353:
> Expected:
> 
> I longpress the dot and it shows me alternatives. If I let go I
> automatically type a comma instead, because it's the first selected key
> after long press.
> 
> Now:
> 
> longpress defaults to the dot and I have to select and watch to really hit
> the comma. This extra effort is slightly annoying and in contrast to my
> previously learned touchtyping.

Comment 10

[Julien Wajsberg [:julienw]]

I agree with the reporters especially for the dot/comma issue.

Yet for the letters, I think the current behavior makes sense.

Comment 11

[Frederik Braun [:freddy]]

(In reply to Harly Hsu from bug 1171353 comment #4)
> This was the intended design by our UX designer, the reason behind it is to
> avoid user from accidentally triggering the "alternative keys" when
> hesitated while typing. We can do some user testing to see if this actually
> is the case, if not, UX is OK with changing the design.

I wouldn't assume slow typers being confused. The popup indicates that something happened, after all?