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Okay boys, rate my setup
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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On Gboard you can change settings to hold a character down and choose one of their non ASCII versions, as well as changing the language on your keyboard settings (but that's messy), as well as using keymapper. Since you're on pixel now, I heavily recommend using GrapheneOS.org . You will thank me later. If you have any questions let me know.
The problem with the standard Gboard non-ASCII method is that you have to use the touchscreen.
What the article mentions is that on iOS, you can hold E, then press 2 on the physical keyboard to enter É.
When I used a Blackberry, I could type out longish messages without even looking at the phone, but I had to rely on autocorrect for the accents (which worked pretty well for Spanish). If this method works, I could do the same, but not relying on autocorrect.
can confirm this works on a razr with clicks i use it for esperanto all the time ñ ĉ é ŭ
Oh, that's precisely the combination that was tempting me. Have you written somewhere about your experiences?
no but it's pretty nice. i originally bought the razr because i wanted a smaller footprint overall. without any cases it is pretty small and light and i was very happy. the back pleather feels nice although it is fragile and in less than a year i am on my 3rd phone (i keep dropping it mostly but the hinge isn't great either) so definitely get insurance. i have the 2024 model and at the time it had a much bigger and more usable front screen than the rival contemporaneous samsung flip. i use the front screen almost exclusively except for the rare app that needs a full vertical screen
with the clicks i have probably 20 or so shortcuts using keymapper so i don't need to go to any menus and can open almost all apps without thinking or looking. if i want to open an app i don't use as much i bound the gemini key using key mapper to anothe app called "app search" which lets me search and launch apps usually after typing only 2 or 3 letters, open webpages, or search google without having to open firefox (which i have bound to meta+f). the numpad is quite nice too and not having the virtual keyboard pop up makes the front screen even more usable.
i don't type as fast as i did when i was swipng although after a few weeks there's not too much of a difference. i might even be slightly ahead since fixing mistakes are usually one letter here or there vs retyping entire words (which for swiping tend to be longer more esoteric words). either way the app shortcuts and instant search are gamechangers and the tactile typing is mostly a nice bonus. i dont even have to switch apps anymore let alone use a launcher because i can instantly switch with my shortcuts. i did use to have a magnetic ring i stuck on the back of the phone but the built in mag ring is a nice touch too; too bad no wireless charging although i went back to wired charging anyway since wireless is slower less efficient and too hot degrading the battery faster. it is a little bulkier with the clicks and especially the magsafe wallet i attached but still viable and when folded still shorter than most other phones
Thanks for the long writeup!
I've been using a BlackBerry Bold, Classic, KeyONE... then the Titan Pocket. Keyboard shortcuts for apps never seemed superuseful for me, while I longed for keyboard shortcuts in apps (e.g. ctrl+l to open the URL bar in a browser).
There's a distinct lack of information on Clicks and other ways to have a phone with a physical qwerty (e.g. the Minimal Phone), esp. about the things that really matter about keyboard usage. Hopefully more people publish their experiences as you did.
yes unfortunately i have searched far and wide for options to enable ctrl L and crtl T and shortcuts to cycle through tabs etc. really what I wanted was to put vim keybindings on firefox like vimperator or vimium but sadly none are supported for android builds. apparently even a few years ago there were options to downgrade to an older version that would allow for some partial buggy functionality with an extension but none worked for me
i am optimistic that there will be more support in the future as options like clicks and titan and minimalist phones become more popular but of course they are likely to remain niche communities. there are a lot of people who use their phones with a bluetooth keyboard on the go as phones become more powerful and laptops start using more power efficient architectures and the lines between phone tablet and computer become more blurred
ideally i would love to have a flagship level device with perhaps an even smaller form factor but better compatibility with apps and a sleeker keyboard built in and maybe even a matte e ink screen... one can dream
how do you like the titan pocket?
Honestly, it sucked a bit. The keyboard deteriorated quickly and I couldn't touch-type without looking at the screen like I did on real BlackBerries. (Plus, it didn't handle accents nor writing in Catalan well :( Also I had my second swollen battery last week, so I decided to ditch it.
...
I don't know. Now I have a Pixel 9A and I should play with the Linux VM feature. It should be possible to run Firefox for Linux, which would then support keyboard shortcuts. But even though the Pixel has 8gb of RAM and the processor feels snappy, I suspect it will suck a bit. But really if Linux applications could handle well a physical keyboard...
Yeah, I think it's sad that we had beautiful phones with a physical keyboard as late as in 2018 with the Key2, but no one bought them... and people are slowly realizing that... maybe keyboards on phones are good. I see that Google is adding more and more physical keyboard features to Android, so perhaps some day...
Although my preferred way would be if services such as WhatsApp didn't force people to use iOS or Android, and using niche OSes on niche phones was more viable.
Oh I think on swift key you can press a button for it to switch, other than that you would need to use keymapper and press a combination of keys like the new AI button and 'e' to get your desired version. However if you select Spanish as your language your keyboard should automatically correct the spelling after anyway most times lol
https://programming.dev/post/36053940/18886266 looks good.