• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

How does the cupcake keyboard perform against a hardware keyboard? + POLL

Would you buy a phone without hardware keyboard now you know the cupcake keyboard?

  • Yes

    Votes: 15 21.4%

  • No

    Votes: 44 62.9%

  • I dunno

    Votes: 11 15.7%
  • Total voters
    70
Dr.Drane

Dr.Drane

Member
Aloha freaks!

I was wondering how the cupcake keyboard performs against a hardware keyboard.

Nowadays with my HTC Kaiser I can send and SMS typing blindly while driving using my knee against the wheel to tweak the direction (ok, corners and roundabouts are a bit tricky, but you get the deal I guess).

Would I still be able to do this with a software keyboard you guys think? Is there besides sound another way of feedback? (e.g. vibration...)

Because I'm thinking of replacing my Kaiser with an Samsung i7500 but don't know if I can live without my hardware keyboard...

Greets!
 
As far as the G1 goes there is vibration and sound feedback. As far as typing blindly? I could do it with my Blackberry but have yet to be able to with the G1 hardware or soft keyboard. You should be able go into a Tmo store sometime soon and try it out.

I should add, the soft keyboard does take some getting use to but that's about it
 
It really, really depends on what kind of a user you are. SMS is probably ok to use with just the soft keyboard, however, if you are in to typing some serious email, I don't think I could deal with it. It's not that the new keyboard isn't good, I just prefer having both options myself.

Now, the soft keyboard does have predictive text, so that assists, but it would depend on the length of the message you are sending while driving with your knee. :P
 
Thanks guys!

Then I guesss I shouldn't go for a non hardware keyboard phone... I also have a personal exchange account for mails and agenda, so I type quite a lot.

I will get the HTC touch pro2 as soon as it is available in Belgium I guess... it's no Android phone unfortunately :( but I have my hopes up that some guys on the xdadev forum will make it possible after time.

Greets!
 
Crackbone said:
It really, really depends on what kind of a user you are. SMS is probably ok to use with just the soft keyboard, however, if you are in to typing some serious email, I don't think I could deal with it. It's not that the new keyboard isn't good, I just prefer having both options myself.

Now, the soft keyboard does have predictive text, so that assists, but it would depend on the length of the message you are sending while driving with your knee. :P
Click to expand...


It actually takes some getting use to however in landscape mode (longer keyboard) I was vigorously taking notes today and I was typing pretty fast, I love the predictive text and auto correct. You get use to it and love not having to delete and retype on the hard keyboard...
 
Dr.Drane said:
Aloha freaks!

I was wondering how the cupcake keyboard performs against a hardware keyboard.

Nowadays with my HTC Kaiser I can send and SMS typing blindly while driving using my knee against the wheel to tweak the direction (ok, corners and roundabouts are a bit tricky, but you get the deal I guess).

Would I still be able to do this with a software keyboard you guys think? Is there besides sound another way of feedback? (e.g. vibration...)
Click to expand...

Would you still be able to drive recklessly? I don't see why not. Hopefully "Dr. Dane" isn't your real name, as you've just confessed to what may very well be a felony in your area. Thanks to cache results, this post, with your name, is going to be on the internet for a very very long time.
 
The horizontal soft keyboard is much easier to type on than the vertical one. The predictive text is nice but I wish the correction was better. I'm just so used to the keyboard shortcuts in the browser and such that I'm finding it hard to use the menu button when the keyboard is closed.
 
Really loving the predictive text. I'm a horrible speller so having predictive text is a life saver. I have really big hands and I'm not having that much trouble with the buttons even in vertical mode.

I'm definatly not oposed to getting a phone without a physical keyboard (if its a great phone otherwise).
 
I love the new soft keyboard, but for a very different reason:

The introduction of soft keyboard also enabled developers to create their own keyboard layouts, which is a must for those of us who speak more than one language, with one of them using non-latin characters. The developers were quick to post the keyboard layouts for a few different languages, that included a full on-screen properly mapped keyboard, as well as the mappings for the hardware keyboard! Oh, and it's pretty easy to switch between standard keyboard and a number of downloaded ones right in a middle of a text entry!

So that is great, and absolutely a must, and very well implemented, I should add! But... I still find the hardware keyboard easier and more intuitive to use, especially when typing in English. So, no, I will probably not opt for a phone without hardware keyboard in a near future.

LEM.
 
Pros:
-Predictive text
-Typing in portrait mode

Cons
-Easy to mistype a letter
-Easy to mis-select suggested word/s
-Sometimes suggest words that haven't been typed
-Doesn't know it's on vocab -- never suggests "gmail".
-Row of numbers requires extra toggle compared to hardware keyboard
-Doesn't remember previous state (always opens on letter keys)
-When rotated to landscape, screen autorotates and then removes everything from the screen except keyboard and text input.


For me, the "doesn't remember previous state" is rather annoying. I work out six days a week. I track my workout progress using dailyburn.com. So, as I work out, I'm filling out a form that is all numbers. Weights, reps, calories, miles, all numbers. So, as I move from field to field -- the keyboard refreshes itself and it always defaults back to letters. So with every entry I have to toggle to the number keys. A few fields might not be so annoying, but my workout today, for example, had 40 fields. Which means I had to toggle the keyboard from letters to numbers at least 40 times. WinMo did this beautifully, if you had just used the number keys, exited a field, and then entered a new one -- the keyboard came back as number keys. The toggle wasn't erased when you put the keyboard away, it remembered what you did last. I would just like the option for the keyboard to remember what you were using last, letters or numbers, instead of always opening as letter keys.

I also noticed now that it no longer highlights everything in a field. When I tap a field, it used to highlight the whole field automatically, making erasing the field and inputing a new value very easy. Now I have to tap into the field, make sure it's all the way at the right, and then use delete. That's probably not a keyboard issue, but it is related to how it handles text editing.

These are NOT the end of the world. I'm not screaming and stomping my foot. They're easily overlooked bits of functionality that nobody probably thought about. But they are marks against the soft keyboard, nonetheless.
 
I week ago I would have said "no"... but this morning my G1 updated itself with Cupcake and I've been playing with the software keyboard all day.. it is A LOT better than I expected it to be. I tried using the keyboard that came with aHome and a few other applications.. they were fine for typing "OK" or "THX" but that was about it. I made too many mistakes. But the official keyboard is 100x better and I find it perfectly usable. While I will say I still prefer the hardware keyboard and if given the option my next Android phone will have one... but at least now I know that if I see a very cool Android phone come out w/o a built-in keyboard... I will no longer automatically cross it off my list.
 
I went to Maastricht in the Netherlands today to check out the cupcake keyboard (since I'm interested in the Samsung Galaxy)...and OMG, imho it's not usable at all for my not too tiny hands.

I definitely want a device with hardware keyboard so I guess I'm going to get a G1 anytime soon. I hope somebody will port Android to the Touch Pro2 though...but maybe that will never work because of the different screen size. :(
 
My wife has a G1, I'm waiting on the i7500.

I've been practicing on her G1's software kbd. It takes some getting used to, a very very light tough works best for someone with large hands (like me :D ).

I can not imagine trying to use the soft kbd blindly or one handed. If that is a requirement for you, my advice is to wait for the Bigfoot.
 
ManLike said:
My wife has a G1, I'm waiting on the i7500.

I've been practicing on her G1's software kbd. It takes some getting used to, a very very light tough works best for someone with large hands (like me :D ).

I can not imagine trying to use the soft kbd blindly or one handed. If that is a requirement for you, my advice is to wait for the Bigfoot.
Click to expand...

I can type blindly on my HTC Kaiser while driving and steering with my knee. :) I cannot go back to constantly looking at the device while trying to hit the right places on the small keyboard. I wish I could, than I would surely buy the i7500. I also use my phone for email so it's pretty import for me to being able to type text really easily.

Indeed the bigfoot or lancaster would be cool to have but I cannot wait any longer...I've been following android for quite some time now, bought androidsoftware.be + unlocking Android (developers) book, and I really want to start developing for Android asap. Still only yesterday the first Android phone is made available here in Belgium. For 450 euros. :D So I will just buy a G1 for 200 euros on ebay and unlock it for my provider.

Greets
 
I never use the soft keyboard, i am so used to the hardware keyboard, the screen is never sensitive enough to feel the taping like the iphone and the screen is not big enough to accommodate bigger size keyboard. i rather have a bigger screen to view what i am doing then have the keyboard obstructing.
 
I have been using the Magic for about 3 weeks now. (coming from an Xperia X1)
I must say I like the soft keyboard quite a lot better then the hard keyboard (on the xperia). The feedback is much better then hard keyboard.
In landscape mode the keys are larger then on my xperia and they respond more often the way I expect them too. It`s by far the best phone (soft or hard) keyboard I ever used.
 
Most of the problems with the soft-keyboard can be corrected via software updates, just have to let the developers who are involved with it know. Or there may be custom-written keyboards by 3rd party developers that may be even better. HW keyboards, while nice, adds to the cost and bulk of a phone so I don't think they'll stick around long.
 
I love that the G1 has the soft-keyboard now... to compliment the hardware keyboard. I prefer a hardware keyboard for anything beyond a few words. I am getting worried that none of the new phones seem to have a hardware keyboard.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom