Swipe Down Gesture for Secondary Characters and Shortcuts
Garux TESTER ·
Implement a swipe down gesture on individual keys as a faster alternative to long-pressing.
Functionality: Instead of holding down a key and waiting for the popup character menu to trigger, a quick downwards flick on a key instantly types its assigned secondary character, number, or shortcut.
Usage Examples:
Flick down on the top letter row to quickly input numbers.
Flick down on punctuation keys to trigger alternate symbols without breaking typing momentum.
User Benefit:
Drastically speeds up typing by eliminating long-press delay times (hold delay), providing a much smoother and more fluid typing experience.
Discussion
Sign in to comment or vote.
@Garux added in build 445 (and 2.2 on the App Store), off by default: turn on Settings › Gestures › Corner character by flicking down. A short flick down on a key then types the character in its corner, like 2 on W. The flick has to stop before the key below, otherwise it would eat swipe-typed words like "ok".
I just updated the app and turned it on! I'm trying it out right now, and while it takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of the gesture length, I'm sure it's just a matter of muscle memory.
As a quick feedback: it might feel much more responsive and natural if there were a subtle feedback animation when flicking down—like the secondary character physically dropping down or sliding as you perform the gesture. That would make it feel super polished and visually satisfying!
@Garux until now the flick only showed up in the key preview bubble, so with previews off you saw nothing, and the bubble also vanished once your finger crossed into the key below. Fixed for build 446 (and 2.2 on the App Store): the corner character now slides down to the middle of the key as you flick and snaps in once releasing will type it. If you go too far or sideways it slides back to the corner.
That sounds like the absolute perfect implementation! The visual feedback and the cancel mechanism (sliding back if you go too far) are going to make the gesture feel so much more intuitive. Thanks for listening to the feedback so fast!
The animation looks great—great job, man. I'll keep testing it out, though I still find it a bit hard to get used to swiping down.