How to develop a soft keyboard for Android? [closed]

I would like to play around with some ideas and develop a soft keyboard for Android to replace the default one.

• Is there any general information about soft keyboard development for Android out there? Any best practices or guidelines?

• Can I do with my keyboard application pretty much anything I could do with a normal Android application?

• Can I do HTTP connections to synchronize keyboard data with a cloud DB and other phones I have?

• Can I open other windows/screens from a key press, e.g. to display a custom input interface different to a normal QWERTY one. If that doesn't work, can I use a pop-up dialog instead?

Solution 1:

Some tips:

• Read this tutorial: Creating an Input Method
• clone this repo: LatinIME

About your questions:

An inputMethod is basically an Android Service, so yes, you can do HTTP and all the stuff you can do in a Service.

You can open Activities and dialogs from the InputMethod. Once again, it's just a Service.

I've been developing an IME, so ask again if you run into an issue.

Solution 2:

Create Custom Key Board for Own EditText

Download Entire Code

In this post i Created Simple Keyboard which contains Some special keys like ( France keys ) and it's supported Capital letters and small letters and Number keys and some Symbols .

package sra.keyboard;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.view.View.OnFocusChangeListener;
import android.view.View.OnTouchListener;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.RelativeLayout;

public class Main extends Activity implements OnTouchListener, OnClickListener,
  OnFocusChangeListener {
 private EditText mEt, mEt1; // Edit Text boxes
 private Button mBSpace, mBdone, mBack, mBChange, mNum;
 private RelativeLayout mLayout, mKLayout;
 private boolean isEdit = false, isEdit1 = false;
 private String mUpper = "upper", mLower = "lower";
 private int w, mWindowWidth;
 private String sL[] = { "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j",
   "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w",
   "x", "y", "z", "ç", "à", "é", "è", "û", "î" };
 private String cL[] = { "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J",
   "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W",
   "X", "Y", "Z", "ç", "à", "é", "è", "û", "î" };
 private String nS[] = { "!", ")", "'", "#", "3", "$", "%", "&", "8", "*",
   "?", "/", "+", "-", "9", "0", "1", "4", "@", "5", "7", "(", "2",
   "\"", "6", "_", "=", "]", "[", "<", ">", "|" };
 private Button mB[] = new Button[32];

 @Override
 public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
  try {
   setContentView(R.layout.main);
   // adjusting key regarding window sizes
   setKeys();
   setFrow();
   setSrow();
   setTrow();
   setForow();
   mEt = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.xEt);
   mEt.setOnTouchListener(this);
   mEt.setOnFocusChangeListener(this);
   mEt1 = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.et1);

   mEt1.setOnTouchListener(this);
   mEt1.setOnFocusChangeListener(this);
   mEt.setOnClickListener(this);
   mEt1.setOnClickListener(this);
   mLayout = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.xK1);
   mKLayout = (RelativeLayout) findViewById(R.id.xKeyBoard);

  } catch (Exception e) {
   Log.w(getClass().getName(), e.toString());
  }

 }

 @Override
 public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
  if (v == mEt) {
   hideDefaultKeyboard();
   enableKeyboard();

  }
  if (v == mEt1) {
   hideDefaultKeyboard();
   enableKeyboard();

  }
  return true;
 }

 @Override
 public void onClick(View v) {

  if (v == mBChange) {

   if (mBChange.getTag().equals(mUpper)) {
    changeSmallLetters();
    changeSmallTags();
   } else if (mBChange.getTag().equals(mLower)) {
    changeCapitalLetters();
    changeCapitalTags();
   }

  } else if (v != mBdone && v != mBack && v != mBChange && v != mNum) {
   addText(v);

  } else if (v == mBdone) {

   disableKeyboard();

  } else if (v == mBack) {
   isBack(v);
  } else if (v == mNum) {
   String nTag = (String) mNum.getTag();
   if (nTag.equals("num")) {
    changeSyNuLetters();
    changeSyNuTags();
    mBChange.setVisibility(Button.INVISIBLE);

   }
   if (nTag.equals("ABC")) {
    changeCapitalLetters();
    changeCapitalTags();
   }

  }

 }

 @Override
 public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
  if (v == mEt && hasFocus == true) {
   isEdit = true;
   isEdit1 = false;

  } else if (v == mEt1 && hasFocus == true) {
   isEdit = false;
   isEdit1 = true;

  }

 }

 private void addText(View v) {
  if (isEdit == true) {
   String b = "";
   b = (String) v.getTag();
   if (b != null) {
    // adding text in Edittext
    mEt.append(b);

   }
  }

  if (isEdit1 == true) {
   String b = "";
   b = (String) v.getTag();
   if (b != null) {
    // adding text in Edittext
    mEt1.append(b);

   }

  }

 }

 private void isBack(View v) {
  if (isEdit == true) {
   CharSequence cc = mEt.getText();
   if (cc != null && cc.length() > 0) {
    {
     mEt.setText("");
     mEt.append(cc.subSequence(0, cc.length() - 1));
    }

   }
  }

  if (isEdit1 == true) {
   CharSequence cc = mEt1.getText();
   if (cc != null && cc.length() > 0) {
    {
     mEt1.setText("");
     mEt1.append(cc.subSequence(0, cc.length() - 1));
    }
   }
  }
 }
 private void changeSmallLetters() {
  mBChange.setVisibility(Button.VISIBLE);
  for (int i = 0; i < sL.length; i++)
   mB[i].setText(sL[i]);
  mNum.setTag("12#");
 }
 private void changeSmallTags() {
  for (int i = 0; i < sL.length; i++)
   mB[i].setTag(sL[i]);
  mBChange.setTag("lower");
  mNum.setTag("num");
 }
 private void changeCapitalLetters() {
  mBChange.setVisibility(Button.VISIBLE);
  for (int i = 0; i < cL.length; i++)
   mB[i].setText(cL[i]);
  mBChange.setTag("upper");
  mNum.setText("12#");

 }

 private void changeCapitalTags() {
  for (int i = 0; i < cL.length; i++)
   mB[i].setTag(cL[i]);
  mNum.setTag("num");

 }

 private void changeSyNuLetters() {

  for (int i = 0; i < nS.length; i++)
   mB[i].setText(nS[i]);
  mNum.setText("ABC");
 }

 private void changeSyNuTags() {
  for (int i = 0; i < nS.length; i++)
   mB[i].setTag(nS[i]);
  mNum.setTag("ABC");
 }

 // enabling customized keyboard
 private void enableKeyboard() {

  mLayout.setVisibility(RelativeLayout.VISIBLE);
  mKLayout.setVisibility(RelativeLayout.VISIBLE);

 }

 // Disable customized keyboard
 private void disableKeyboard() {
  mLayout.setVisibility(RelativeLayout.INVISIBLE);
  mKLayout.setVisibility(RelativeLayout.INVISIBLE);

 }

 private void hideDefaultKeyboard() {
  getWindow().setSoftInputMode(
    WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);

 }

 private void setFrow() {
  w = (mWindowWidth / 13);
  w = w - 15;
  mB[16].setWidth(w);
  mB[22].setWidth(w + 3);
  mB[4].setWidth(w);
  mB[17].setWidth(w);
  mB[19].setWidth(w);
  mB[24].setWidth(w);
  mB[20].setWidth(w);
  mB[8].setWidth(w);
  mB[14].setWidth(w);
  mB[15].setWidth(w);
  mB[16].setHeight(50);
  mB[22].setHeight(50);
  mB[4].setHeight(50);
  mB[17].setHeight(50);
  mB[19].setHeight(50);
  mB[24].setHeight(50);
  mB[20].setHeight(50);
  mB[8].setHeight(50);
  mB[14].setHeight(50);
  mB[15].setHeight(50);

 }

 private void setSrow() {
  w = (mWindowWidth / 10);
  mB[0].setWidth(w);
  mB[18].setWidth(w);
  mB[3].setWidth(w);
  mB[5].setWidth(w);
  mB[6].setWidth(w);
  mB[7].setWidth(w);
  mB[26].setWidth(w);
  mB[9].setWidth(w);
  mB[10].setWidth(w);
  mB[11].setWidth(w);
  mB[26].setWidth(w);

  mB[0].setHeight(50);
  mB[18].setHeight(50);
  mB[3].setHeight(50);
  mB[5].setHeight(50);
  mB[6].setHeight(50);
  mB[7].setHeight(50);
  mB[9].setHeight(50);
  mB[10].setHeight(50);
  mB[11].setHeight(50);
  mB[26].setHeight(50);
 }

 private void setTrow() {
  w = (mWindowWidth / 12);
  mB[25].setWidth(w);
  mB[23].setWidth(w);
  mB[2].setWidth(w);
  mB[21].setWidth(w);
  mB[1].setWidth(w);
  mB[13].setWidth(w);
  mB[12].setWidth(w);
  mB[27].setWidth(w);
  mB[28].setWidth(w);
  mBack.setWidth(w);

  mB[25].setHeight(50);
  mB[23].setHeight(50);
  mB[2].setHeight(50);
  mB[21].setHeight(50);
  mB[1].setHeight(50);
  mB[13].setHeight(50);
  mB[12].setHeight(50);
  mB[27].setHeight(50);
  mB[28].setHeight(50);
  mBack.setHeight(50);

 }

 private void setForow() {
  w = (mWindowWidth / 10);
  mBSpace.setWidth(w * 4);
  mBSpace.setHeight(50);
  mB[29].setWidth(w);
  mB[29].setHeight(50);

  mB[30].setWidth(w);
  mB[30].setHeight(50);

  mB[31].setHeight(50);
  mB[31].setWidth(w);
  mBdone.setWidth(w + (w / 1));
  mBdone.setHeight(50);

 }

 private void setKeys() {
  mWindowWidth = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getWidth(); // getting
  // window
  // height
  // getting ids from xml files
  mB[0] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xA);
  mB[1] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xB);
  mB[2] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xC);
  mB[3] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xD);
  mB[4] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xE);
  mB[5] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xF);
  mB[6] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xG);
  mB[7] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xH);
  mB[8] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xI);
  mB[9] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xJ);
  mB[10] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xK);
  mB[11] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xL);
  mB[12] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xM);
  mB[13] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xN);
  mB[14] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xO);
  mB[15] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xP);
  mB[16] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xQ);
  mB[17] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xR);
  mB[18] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS);
  mB[19] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xT);
  mB[20] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xU);
  mB[21] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xV);
  mB[22] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xW);
  mB[23] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xX);
  mB[24] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xY);
  mB[25] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xZ);
  mB[26] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS1);
  mB[27] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS2);
  mB[28] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS3);
  mB[29] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS4);
  mB[30] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS5);
  mB[31] = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xS6);
  mBSpace = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xSpace);
  mBdone = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xDone);
  mBChange = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xChange);
  mBack = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xBack);
  mNum = (Button) findViewById(R.id.xNum);
  for (int i = 0; i < mB.length; i++)
   mB[i].setOnClickListener(this);
  mBSpace.setOnClickListener(this);
  mBdone.setOnClickListener(this);
  mBack.setOnClickListener(this);
  mBChange.setOnClickListener(this);
  mNum.setOnClickListener(this);

 }

}

Solution 3:

A good place to start is the sample application provided on the developer docs.

• Guidelines would be to just make it as usable as possible. Take a look at the others available on the market to see what you should be aiming for
• Yes, services can do most things, including internet; provided you have asked for those permissions
• You can open activities and do anything you like n those if you run into a problem with doing some things in the keyboard. For example HTC's keyboard has a button to open the settings activity, and another to open a dialog to change languages.

Take a look at other IME's to see what you should be aiming for. Some (like the official one) are open source.

Solution 4:

first of all you should define an .xml file and make keyboard UI in it:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Keyboard xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:keyWidth="12.50%p"
android:keyHeight="7%p">
<!--
android:horizontalGap="0.50%p"
android:verticalGap="0.50%p"
NOTE When we add a horizontalGap in pixels, this interferes with keyWidth in percentages adding up to 100%
NOTE When we have a horizontalGap (on Keyboard level) of 0, this make the horizontalGap (on Key level) to move from after the key to before the key... (I consider this a bug) 
-->
<Row>
    <Key android:codes="-5" android:keyLabel="remove"  android:keyEdgeFlags="left" />
    <Key android:codes="48"    android:keyLabel="0" />
    <Key android:codes="55006" android:keyLabel="clear" />
</Row>
<Row>
    <Key android:codes="49"    android:keyLabel="1"  android:keyEdgeFlags="left" />
    <Key android:codes="50"    android:keyLabel="2" />
    <Key android:codes="51"    android:keyLabel="3" />
</Row>
<Row>
    <Key android:codes="52"    android:keyLabel="4"  android:keyEdgeFlags="left" />
    <Key android:codes="53"    android:keyLabel="5" />
    <Key android:codes="54"    android:keyLabel="6" />
</Row>

<Row>
    <Key android:codes="55"    android:keyLabel="7"  android:keyEdgeFlags="left" />
    <Key android:codes="56"    android:keyLabel="8" />
    <Key android:codes="57"    android:keyLabel="9" />
</Row>

In this example you have 4 rows and in each row you have 3 keys. also you can put an icon in each key you want.

Then you should add xml tag in your activity UI like this:

<android.inputmethodservice.KeyboardView
        android:id="@+id/keyboardview1"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:background="@color/white"
        android:focusable="true"
        android:focusableInTouchMode="true"
        android:visibility="visible" />

Also in your .java activity file you should define the keyboard and assign it to a EditText:

CustomKeyboard mCustomKeyboard1 = new CustomKeyboard(this,
            R.id.keyboardview1, R.xml.horizontal_keyboard);
    mCustomKeyboard1.registerEditText(R.id.inputSearch);

This code asign inputSearch (which is a EditText) to your keyboard.

import android.app.Activity;
import android.inputmethodservice.Keyboard;
import android.inputmethodservice.KeyboardView;
import android.inputmethodservice.KeyboardView.OnKeyboardActionListener;
import android.text.Editable;
import android.text.InputType;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.view.View.OnFocusChangeListener;
import android.view.View.OnTouchListener;
import android.view.WindowManager;
import android.view.inputmethod.InputMethodManager;
import android.widget.EditText;


public class CustomKeyboard {

/** A link to the KeyboardView that is used to render this CustomKeyboard. */
private KeyboardView mKeyboardView;
/** A link to the activity that hosts the {@link #mKeyboardView}. */
private Activity mHostActivity;

/** The key (code) handler. */
private OnKeyboardActionListener mOnKeyboardActionListener = new OnKeyboardActionListener() {

    public final static int CodeDelete = -5; // Keyboard.KEYCODE_DELETE
    public final static int CodeCancel = -3; // Keyboard.KEYCODE_CANCEL
    public final static int CodePrev = 55000;
    public final static int CodeAllLeft = 55001;
    public final static int CodeLeft = 55002;
    public final static int CodeRight = 55003;
    public final static int CodeAllRight = 55004;
    public final static int CodeNext = 55005;
    public final static int CodeClear = 55006;

    @Override
    public void onKey(int primaryCode, int[] keyCodes) {
        // NOTE We can say '<Key android:codes="49,50" ... >' in the xml
        // file; all codes come in keyCodes, the first in this list in
        // primaryCode
        // Get the EditText and its Editable
        View focusCurrent = mHostActivity.getWindow().getCurrentFocus();
        if (focusCurrent == null
                || focusCurrent.getClass() != EditText.class)
            return;
        EditText edittext = (EditText) focusCurrent;
        Editable editable = edittext.getText();
        int start = edittext.getSelectionStart();
        // Apply the key to the edittext
        if (primaryCode == CodeCancel) {
            hideCustomKeyboard();
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeDelete) {
            if (editable != null && start > 0)
                editable.delete(start - 1, start);
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeClear) {
            if (editable != null)
                editable.clear();
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeLeft) {
            if (start > 0)
                edittext.setSelection(start - 1);
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeRight) {
            if (start < edittext.length())
                edittext.setSelection(start + 1);
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeAllLeft) {
            edittext.setSelection(0);
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeAllRight) {
            edittext.setSelection(edittext.length());
        } else if (primaryCode == CodePrev) {
            View focusNew = edittext.focusSearch(View.FOCUS_BACKWARD);
            if (focusNew != null)
                focusNew.requestFocus();
        } else if (primaryCode == CodeNext) {
            View focusNew = edittext.focusSearch(View.FOCUS_FORWARD);
            if (focusNew != null)
                focusNew.requestFocus();
        } else { // insert character
            editable.insert(start, Character.toString((char) primaryCode));
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onPress(int arg0) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onRelease(int primaryCode) {
    }

    @Override
    public void onText(CharSequence text) {
    }

    @Override
    public void swipeDown() {
    }

    @Override
    public void swipeLeft() {
    }

    @Override
    public void swipeRight() {
    }

    @Override
    public void swipeUp() {
    }
};

/**
 * Create a custom keyboard, that uses the KeyboardView (with resource id
 * <var>viewid</var>) of the <var>host</var> activity, and load the keyboard
 * layout from xml file <var>layoutid</var> (see {@link Keyboard} for
 * description). Note that the <var>host</var> activity must have a
 * <var>KeyboardView</var> in its layout (typically aligned with the bottom
 * of the activity). Note that the keyboard layout xml file may include key
 * codes for navigation; see the constants in this class for their values.
 * Note that to enable EditText's to use this custom keyboard, call the
 * {@link #registerEditText(int)}.
 * 
 * @param host
 *            The hosting activity.
 * @param viewid
 *            The id of the KeyboardView.
 * @param layoutid
 *            The id of the xml file containing the keyboard layout.
 */
public CustomKeyboard(Activity host, int viewid, int layoutid) {
    mHostActivity = host;
    mKeyboardView = (KeyboardView) mHostActivity.findViewById(viewid);
    mKeyboardView.setKeyboard(new Keyboard(mHostActivity, layoutid));
    mKeyboardView.setPreviewEnabled(false); // NOTE Do not show the preview
                                            // balloons
    mKeyboardView.setOnKeyboardActionListener(mOnKeyboardActionListener);
    // Hide the standard keyboard initially
    mHostActivity.getWindow().setSoftInputMode(
            WindowManager.LayoutParams.SOFT_INPUT_STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN);
}

/** Returns whether the CustomKeyboard is visible. */
public boolean isCustomKeyboardVisible() {
    return mKeyboardView.getVisibility() == View.VISIBLE;
}

/**
 * Make the CustomKeyboard visible, and hide the system keyboard for view v.
 */
public void showCustomKeyboard(View v) {
    mKeyboardView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
    mKeyboardView.setEnabled(true);
    if (v != null)
        ((InputMethodManager) mHostActivity
                .getSystemService(Activity.INPUT_METHOD_SERVICE))
                .hideSoftInputFromWindow(v.getWindowToken(), 0);
}

/** Make the CustomKeyboard invisible. */
public void hideCustomKeyboard() {
    mKeyboardView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
    mKeyboardView.setEnabled(false);
}

/**
 * Register <var>EditText<var> with resource id <var>resid</var> (on the
 * hosting activity) for using this custom keyboard.
 * 
 * @param resid
 *            The resource id of the EditText that registers to the custom
 *            keyboard.
 */
public void registerEditText(int resid) {
    // Find the EditText 'resid'
    EditText edittext = (EditText) mHostActivity.findViewById(resid);
    // Make the custom keyboard appear
    edittext.setOnFocusChangeListener(new OnFocusChangeListener() {
        // NOTE By setting the on focus listener, we can show the custom
        // keyboard when the edit box gets focus, but also hide it when the
        // edit box loses focus
        @Override
        public void onFocusChange(View v, boolean hasFocus) {
            if (hasFocus)
                showCustomKeyboard(v);
            else
                hideCustomKeyboard();
        }
    });
    edittext.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
        // NOTE By setting the on click listener, we can show the custom
        // keyboard again, by tapping on an edit box that already had focus
        // (but that had the keyboard hidden).
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            showCustomKeyboard(v);
        }
    });
    // Disable standard keyboard hard way
    // NOTE There is also an easy way:
    // 'edittext.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_NULL)' (but you will not have a
    // cursor, and no 'edittext.setCursorVisible(true)' doesn't work )
    edittext.setOnTouchListener(new OnTouchListener() {
        @Override
        public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
            EditText edittext = (EditText) v;
            int inType = edittext.getInputType(); // Backup the input type
            edittext.setInputType(InputType.TYPE_NULL); // Disable standard
                                                        // keyboard
            edittext.onTouchEvent(event); // Call native handler
            edittext.setInputType(inType); // Restore input type
            return true; // Consume touch event
        }
    });
    // Disable spell check (hex strings look like words to Android)
    edittext.setInputType(edittext.getInputType()
            | InputType.TYPE_TEXT_FLAG_NO_SUGGESTIONS);
}

}

// NOTE How can we change the background color of some keys (like the
// shift/ctrl/alt)?
// NOTE What does android:keyEdgeFlags do/mean