Windows Keyboard

anon(9169048)

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Hello Windows Peeps! I'm a long term BlackBerry user and I picked up a Windows Lumia 650 DS as a travel/backup device. I got it in the 'Black Friday' sale and I have to say the device and its OS have completely surpassed my expectations. Well, surpassed except for one thing: The Keyboard.

It truly is the worst VKB I've ever used but I'm not going to labour on as to why; my concern is whether there are any better alternatives? I've looked in Windows Store but nothing seems to pop up. Are there any 3rd party keyboard apps available?

I hate to say it, but I find the KB bad enough to leave the 650 behind on my next trip to the UK in a couple of weeks, precisely the reason why I bought it in the first place.
 

Vasil Dechkov

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Unfortunately, you cannot change the default keyboard.

Check out the settings, though. There could be something that helps you.

Sent from mTalk
 

anon(9169048)

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Personally I think it's the worst I've ever used. Auto-complete is unreliable and word prediction seems to be non-existent. In most cases when I use it within an app (WhatsApp for instance) spell check completely ceases to work, even in Facebook (web). But the most annoying thing about it is having to constantly switch between one screen and another to type numbers and even some basic punctuation. Maybe I've been spoiled and this is how VKBs are supposed to operate? It just seems so awkward and clunky.

I do like the phone despite the basic specs and I find W10 to make so much more sense on a device than on my laptop, but the one thing that ruins the whole experience just so happens to be one of the most important apps on the phone.
 

dov1978

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The keyboard I would say is the best stock Keyboard of any OS but once you've used Swiftkey etc then you really do see what you're missing
 

anon(9169048)

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The keyboard I would say is the best stock Keyboard of any OS but once you've used Swiftkey etc then you really do see what you're missing

I'm not saying you're wrong but a lot of people say that the stock VKB from BlackBerry is by far the best. It's word prediction is superlative and the "flick" to insert is genius, I also find it's 'tactile' response and accuracy to be more logical. Maybe it's something I'm missing but I find the WP keyboard simply awful and I'm desperate for an alternative but I just can't find one in the Windows Store.
 

nate0

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I'm not saying you're wrong but a lot of people say that the stock VKB from BlackBerry is by far the best. It's word prediction is superlative and the "flick" to insert is genius, I also find it's 'tactile' response and accuracy to be more logical. Maybe it's something I'm missing but I find the WP keyboard simply awful and I'm desperate for an alternative but I just can't find one in the Windows Store.
With the newer redstone releases coming I saw a report stating Microsoft is soon to support 3rd party keyboards. If you keep using the phone despite the set back, keep a look out.
 

anon(9169048)

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I have no intention of not using the phone at all but it may have to skip my next trip, I mostly got it for its dual SIM capability and I travel a lot. Hopefully soon there will be more options because otherwise it's a good little phone, perfect as a backup/travel device.
 

Chintan Gohel

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The keyboard used to be better when it was windows phone 8.1 - the word flow was the best part - very untuitive and precise - nowadays the prediction is still way off what it used to be - feedback seems to be going nowhere
 

HM84

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Personally I think it's the worst I've ever used. Auto-complete is unreliable and word prediction seems to be non-existent. In most cases when I use it within an app (WhatsApp for instance) spell check completely ceases to work, even in Facebook (web). But the most annoying thing about it is having to constantly switch between one screen and another to type numbers and even some basic punctuation. Maybe I've been spoiled and this is how VKBs are supposed to operate? It just seems so awkward and clunky.

I do like the phone despite the basic specs and I find W10 to make so much more sense on a device than on my laptop, but the one thing that ruins the whole experience just so happens to be one of the most important apps on the phone.

Something's not right here. Because this VKB should (assuming it is working correctly) be hands down the best default keyboard, and one of the best all round (I know from experience with Samsung and iPhone). For punctuation marks, if you hold the fullstop, don't other marks pop up? They should. Otherwise you are missing something. The going assumption here is that you are talking about the English keyboard. In the keyboard settings, text suggestion, highlighting and correcting misspelled words, even suggesting emoticons are options you can enable.

I think you will be disappointed to learn that no, there is little in the form of keyboard customization, but you'll be glad to know that there are plenty of people here who are happy to help. So put up some more details, and surely one of us can figure it out for you.
 

PerfectReign

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Hello Windows hate to say it, but I find the KB bad enough to leave the 650 behind on my next trip to the UK in a couple of weeks, precisely the reason why I bought it in the first place.
Probably my biggest complaint about the device. You can get Swype, SwiftKey, and even the Microsoft Hub keyboard on other platforms but not here.

Stupid.

Sent from mTalk
 

greedo_greedy

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WP8.1 predictive keyboard was better for me as well.
There is one workaround for this and I think this might just work, it will disable swipe feature however.

From Settings > Time & Language > Language > + Add languages

Choose another English keyboard from another region. In my case I use English (Philippines)
This will give you an English keyboard but disable swipe and predictive text.

So basically you just get a plain keyboard after.
 

fatclue_98

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I'm not saying you're wrong but a lot of people say that the stock VKB from BlackBerry is by far the best. It's word prediction is superlative and the "flick" to insert is genius, I also find it's 'tactile' response and accuracy to be more logical. Maybe it's something I'm missing but I find the WP keyboard simply awful and I'm desperate for an alternative but I just can't find one in the Windows Store.
The BB keyboard is probably the best and you won't get any argument from anyone who's ever used it. That being said, Windows is the next man up. If you think basic punctuation is missing, don't even bother with iOS. Tap and hold the period key and you get more common options. One awesome feature the Windows kb has is the ability to move the placement on the screen by holding down the space bar. The always present mic button opens up text to speech which is very accurate and punctuates properly.

I suggest you play with it for a while to get familiar with all it can do.

Sent from Alcatel Idol 4S with Windows via mTalk
 

Ariel Takom

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Personally I think it's the worst I've ever used. Auto-complete is unreliable and word prediction seems to be non-existent. In most cases when I use it within an app (WhatsApp for instance) spell check completely ceases to work, even in Facebook (web). But the most annoying thing about it is having to constantly switch between one screen and another to type numbers and even some basic punctuation. Maybe I've been spoiled and this is how VKBs are supposed to operate? It just seems so awkward and clunky.

As @Chintan Gohel mentioned, the spell-check of W10M is very far off from what it used to be in WP8.1, but personally it isn't too bad as you make it out to be, especially when using the swipe-to-type functionality. But considering the keyboards you've used in other OSes, then yes, the keyboard might not be the best, but it certainly can't be the worst.

For the numbers and punctuation, as some users mentioned here, you can type them without the need to switch to the numbers and punctuation keyboard. For punctuation, hold the full stop "." button, and it will bring up a list of basic punctuation that you can use instantly. Just hold it, and release your finger at the punctuation that you want to use. Same goes for numbers, where you can just press and hold either one of the QWERTYUIOP letter, where each letter corresponds to a number, where Q = 1, P = 0.

But of course, this has it's pros and cons, imo. For me, a user with quite large hands and thus very large fingers, I tend to mis-press the letters of a keyboard. By removing the numbering to hold and select interface, the letters are now larger (since there are more space for it to occupy) and thus makes it easier for me to type with. On the other hand, it does becomes cumbersome since press and holding to bring up the numbers and punctuation aren't exactly intuitive (they don't even bring up the tutorial on how to use the keyboard anymore!).

Just have to get used to it, I guess. I tried typing on my mother's Android phone (XiaoMi Mi3) and a friend's phone with SwiftKey, I didn't really find it good for me compared to the one in W10M. I guess different people has different preference, I guess.
 

fatclue_98

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As @Chintan Gohel mentioned, the spell-check of W10M is very far off from what it used to be in WP8.1, but personally it isn't too bad as you make it out to be, especially when using the swipe-to-type functionality. But considering the keyboards you've used in other OSes, then yes, the keyboard might not be the best, but it certainly can't be the worst.

For the numbers and punctuation, as some users mentioned here, you can type them without the need to switch to the numbers and punctuation keyboard. For punctuation, hold the full stop "." button, and it will bring up a list of basic punctuation that you can use instantly. Just hold it, and release your finger at the punctuation that you want to use. Same goes for numbers, where you can just press and hold either one of the QWERTYUIOP letter, where each letter corresponds to a number, where Q = 1, P = 0.

But of course, this has it's pros and cons, imo. For me, a user with quite large hands and thus very large fingers, I tend to mis-press the letters of a keyboard. By removing the numbering to hold and select interface, the letters are now larger (since there are more space for it to occupy) and thus makes it easier for me to type with. On the other hand, it does becomes cumbersome since press and holding to bring up the numbers and punctuation aren't exactly intuitive (they don't even bring up the tutorial on how to use the keyboard anymore!).

Just have to get used to it, I guess. I tried typing on my mother's Android phone (XiaoMi Mi3) and a friend's phone with SwiftKey, I didn't really find it good for me compared to the one in W10M. I guess different people has different preference, I guess.
What he ^ said..

Sent from Alcatel Idol 4S with Windows via mTalk
 

anon(9169048)

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Thumbs to all, and I don't mean that to be patronising: advise is always a good thing. I have to admit that perhaps I jumped the gun too quickly and I haven't given the KB much of a chance; I'm used to things working a certain way and if they don't I generally don't have a lot of patience. So, I'm going to use the KB as much as I can between now and when I leave for the UK and maybe my perspective will change.
 

Ariel Takom

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Thumbs to all, and I don't mean that to be patronising: advise is always a good thing. I have to admit that perhaps I jumped the gun too quickly and I haven't given the KB much of a chance; I'm used to things working a certain way and if they don't I generally don't have a lot of patience. So, I'm going to use the KB as much as I can between now and when I leave for the UK and maybe my perspective will change.

No problem, mate. Also I'd like to add the fact that, if you choose to allow it, the keyboard's swipe to type functionality can learn and adapt to your typing and spelling patterns. In my case, I often type messages in mixed languages, Malay (along with it's Bornean dialect) and English. At first, I am forced to type out those Malay words since I set my keyboard to English (US). Now, I can easily swipe the Malay words and it'll come out accurately. The only problem I face with this is sometimes it'll type the words in full caps i.e. THIS, which is kinda annoying but well, such is life in W10M's world. Basically speaking, the keyboard gets better with use.
 

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