767597 - Change AwesomeBar entry mode for Swype

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: Keyboards and IME, defect)

Description

[Brian Nicholson (:bnicholson)]

Normally, when using Swype, spaces are automatically added between words. But since our search bar is in URL entry mode, Swype does not automatically add these spaces.

We've had this annoyance since XUL Fennec, and I've heard other Swype users complain about it. We should consider disabling "URL mode" for Swype keyboards since (I think) searching tends to be a more common operation than direct URL entry. Or perhaps we could add a pref that controls this?

For most keyboards, the URL entry mode seems to just add a ".com" button with other minor changes; Swype seems to be an outlier in that it actually affects the text entry.

Comment 1

[Brian Nicholson (:bnicholson)]

Just found bug 691078, which is the same complaint. I doubt Swype will find a good way to address this problem. I'd argue it is partly our (and other browsers') bug because we chose to merge the search and URL entry into one text field.

Comment 2

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

As a Swype user myself, I think this is a great idea. :)

I opened bug 759437 with a similar suggestion a few weeks ago. I suggested disabling "URL mode" (for Swype keyboards) only after the user enters the first space character. If the Swype user deletes an automatically inserted space, we could switch back into "URL mode".

But I like Brian's suggestion because it is simpler and avoids the awkward special case of entering the first space character.

Other IMEs with automatic spell correction may benefit from this mode, too.

Comment 4

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Attachment: part-1-disable-Swype-textUri.patch

Part 1: Unset AwesomeBar inputType:textUri when using Swype.

mbrubeck, I'm CC'ing you because you closed same feature request (bug 691078) for XUL Fennec last year. Do you still have qualms about this workaround?

The Awesome Bar is used for both searches and URLs, so we enable URL input mode. However, Swype's URL mode disables automatic spaces between words without adding any useful new VKB keys like ".com" or "/".

Some Swype users (mostly Mozilla developers ;) have complained that, since they enter many more searches than URLs, Swype's URL mode is frustrating because Awesome Bar text entry behaves differently from every other text field in every other app. The one exception is the URL bars of other Android browsers, but I feel that matching users' expected behavior than matching other browsers.

See also: bug 691078, bug 759437, bug 769087

This bug is a HUGE pet peeve of mine and, if you guys approve it and it receives positive feedback on Nightly 17, I would love to uplift this fix to Aurora 16 or even Beta 15.

Comment 5

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Attachment: part-2-move-autocomplete-blacklist.patch

Part 2:
1. Move autocomplete IME blocklist from GeckoInputConnection to FormAssistPopup
2. Replace redundant code in GeckoInputConnection with calls to new InputMethods class.

Patch part 1 could be uplifted to Aurora 16 or Beta 15 without this patch part 2.

Comment 6

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Attachment: part-1-disable-Swype-textUri-v2.patch

Patch part 1 v2 removes a stray comment.

Comment 7

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

Comment on attachment 644839 [details] [diff] [review]
part-1-disable-Swype-textUri-v2.patch

Swype is popular enough that I think it's reasonable to go out of our way to support / work around its quirks.

Comment 8

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/mozilla-inbound/rev/96ab13aa22f2
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/mozilla-inbound/rev/de5586db4247

Comment 9

[Ed Morley [:emorley]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/96ab13aa22f2
https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/de5586db4247

Comment 10

[Aaron Train [:aaronmt]]

Is this wanted on mozila-beta 15?

Comment 11

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Comment on attachment 644839 [details] [diff] [review]
part-1-disable-Swype-textUri-v2.patch

[Approval Request Comment]
Bug caused by (feature/regressing bug #): N/A

User impact if declined: Swype will not auto-insert spaces between words in the AwesomeBar. This is the current behavior in Fennec 14's AwesomeBar, BUT different from *ALL* other Swype text input on the device. This behavior is HUGELY frustrating for Swype users. At least 4 separate bugs have been filed by Swype users (3 of them by Mozilla developers :) requesting this feature.

Testing completed (on m-c, etc.): m-c for a couple days. I also got "thumbs up" feedback from the developers who file the duplicate Swype bugs.
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): Swype users will have to hunt-and-peck type to enter URLs without spaces in the AwesomeBar.
String or UUID changes made by this patch: None

Comment 12

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Comment on attachment 644838 [details] [diff] [review]
part-2-move-autocomplete-blacklist.patch

btw, patch #1 can be uplifted to Aurora 16 or Beta 15 without patch #2 (which is just some code cleanup).

Comment 13

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-aurora/rev/21b0be1a9e2a

Comment 14

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/20bf04f1471d

Comment 15

[Adrian Tamas (:AdrianT)]

Spaces are added after each word when using Swype 3.9.86.27849.2113.P4_WIFI in the Awsomebar.

Tested on:
Firefox Mobile 15.0b3/Nightly 17.0a1 2012-08-02/Aurora 16.0a2 2012-08-02
Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android 3.1)