816486 - First letter is capitalized in the URL bar when using Swype Keyboard on LG Slider

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

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

Description

[Adrian Tamas (:AdrianT)]

Nightly 20.0a1 2012-11-29/ Firefox Mobile 18.0b2
LG Slider (Android 2.3.4)
Swype keyboard version 2.72.77.27618

Steps:
1. Download and install the Swype keyboard form the Google Play Store
2. Set Swype as the default keyboard (Input Method)
3. Tap in the URL bar

Expected:
The Swype virtual keyboard is opened. The Shift key is not pressed.

Actual:
The first letter is capitalized by default (Shift is pressed) when the user sets the focus in the URL bar.

Note: 
Issue is not reproducible on the Stock Android Browser

Comment 1

[(inactive) Jim Chen [:jchen] [:darchons]]

I could reproduce using Swype 2 but not Swype 3. So this seems like a bug in Swype.

Comment 2

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto [:gcp]]

Swype isn't upgradeable in Samsung phones where it is bundled with the OS. If this works correctly in competing browsers, can we consider a workaround instead of WONTFIX?

Comment 3

[(inactive) Jim Chen [:jchen] [:darchons]]

(In reply to Gian-Carlo Pascutto (:gcp) from comment #2)
> Swype isn't upgradeable in Samsung phones where it is bundled with the OS.
> If this works correctly in competing browsers, can we consider a workaround
> instead of WONTFIX?

That's a good point. I looked more into it and turns out it's partly our own doing too. In Bug 767597, we changed the awesomebar input type for Swype from URI to text, which means to Swype, the awesomebar is just a regular text field instead of a URI field. The benefit, per Bug 767597, is that Swype will automatically insert a space for every word entered. The drawback, it turns out, is that Swype will also try to capitalize start of sentences. Between the two, I think for a typical user, the auto-space-insertion is more desirable.

A possible alternative solution, for some extra work, is to change the input type back to URI and insert spaces ourselves. What do you think, Chris?

Comment 4

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

Personally, I like the spaces because I search much more often than I enter URLs, but I know people who hate the spaces. <:)

See bug 759437 for an untested proposal that bnicholson and I devised. If the user enters a space, then assume Text input mode. If the user enters a '.', then assume URL input mode. Whether the initial input mode is Text or URL is open to debate. The problem with this approach is that the user must be aware of the Awesome Bar's (changing!) state.

That said, do we really care? Does the capitalized letter break web searches or browsing?