I'm not sure if it has something to do with SMOLED in general, or if it's particular to the Nexus S, but I'm noticing oddities with the screen. Can't be sure if it's software related, or if it's hardware related.
There are two things. One, it sometimes doesn't register presses, even when an icon is clearly pressed; the orange highlight that surrounds an icon is clearly seen but it doesn't launch the app. It requires a second touch. I'm guessing this is mostly software related, but either way, it's disappointing to see Android like this (or, if hardware related, sad to see SMOLED like this).
The 2nd thing is, the screen seems problematic for the complete opposite reason sometimes. Has anyone ever hovered their fingers over the screen without actually touching it? Sometimes it'll register presses this way. I'm guessing this is hardware related? Either way, I have no doubt this causes unintended screen presses, and might go a long way in explaining typos and frequent errors that occur when typing quickly where your fingers glaze over the screen (like I often see double letter hits, like tthis or thiss - very annoying).
Not sure what the deal is, whether it's software or hardware contributing to these two oddities/problems - or a combination of both. Either way, these two things can make the Google Android experience feel second rate.
Additionally, I think this goes a long way in explaining my frustrations with typing on Android. Missed space bar presses are particularly frequent, resulting in words likethis; while other times, double hits occur, per my example above (like tthis or thiss). Again, it detracts from the overall Android experience and can be frustrating when thumbing out long messages.
The first issue might be related to the Launcher you're using. Are you on stock launcher or did you install something else like ADW or Launcher Pro? If you're on a third party, try it back on stock, or dig into the settings for your 3rd party launcher and see if there are tweaks you can turn on/off that might impact it. I know ADW has a "keep in memory" toggle; stuff like that is what I'd play with.
The other problem is something I've seen several people mention in here. I'm not sure I notice it or not, BUT, I just read this interesting article yesterday, which suggests to me that the screen is ultra-sensitive to touch. The article authors are amazed that they can use the back of their fingernail, or even wear gloves and still register touch on the screen. Other phones aren't so sensitive.
It seems they did something to increase the capacitive touch sensitivity, and perhaps a bit too much. Hopefully it can be software fixed.
The NS is such a lovely device, but it's got it's fair share of quirks, both hardware and software that really mar the experience for many. I love the phone, but am still considering returning it when my 30 days is almost up.
distortedloop said:
The NS is such a lovely device, but it's got it's fair share of quirks, both hardware and software that really mar the experience for many. I love the phone, but am still considering returning it when my 30 days is almost up.
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I agree.
As for the launcher, I am currently using ADW because there are a slew of glitches and issues with the stock launcher, including the unresponsive issue I wrote about in my OP. ADW Launcher is unquestionably more reliable, smoother, and stable.
It's unfortunate the experience with the Nexus S can be so polarizing: sometimes the screen is not responsive, and other times, too responsive.
And I have to reiterate, the experience typing on this phone (and on Android in general) remains a particular sore spot for me.
distortedloop said:
I'm not sure I notice it or not, BUT, I just read this interesting article yesterday, which suggests to me that the screen is ultra-sensitive to touch. The article authors are amazed that they can use the back of their fingernail, or even wear gloves and still register touch on the screen.
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No kidding. I don't have to actually touch the screen at all. Just hovering the tip of the finger 0.5mm over the screen is enough. Which is not really a problem, because it's quite difficult to do that.
I have found the same issue with the screen, it is very sensitive to touch. As for the bad selection and typing errors, I think that is more more likely software related, try a different keyboard?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Corvidd said:
I have found the same issue with the screen, it is very sensitive to touch. As for the bad selection and typing errors, I think that is more more likely software related, try a different keyboard?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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I'm currently trialing Swiftkey. It is impressive the few times it works to perfection, but this is usually a rare occurrence. More often than not, I'm still having to type out my words, however, perhaps it's still "learning" how I type. For now, I feel like the experience is actually slower than manually thumbing out messages because you're so busy concentrating on picking the correct predicted word. In some ways, it's counter intuitive to messaging quickly. I have until the end of the month before the trial expires, so we'll see if the experience is improved.
Prior to that, I was using either stock keyboard, or Smart Keyboard Pro. Both have their positive and negative issues, but those two offerings are as good as it can be on Android, it seems. Which is to say, it's disappointing. I have many typing woes. I have to say, the typing experience pales in comparison to typing on iPhone/iPod touch devices. I can type far more confidently and smoothly on an iPhone than I can with any Android device I've used so far. I'm hoping, one day, when Blindtype is implemented, this will change.
I didn't like swiftkey, and don't understand its popularity, having to check the scrolling bar for which word i wanted slowed me down. I agree that the typing accuracy on an iPhone is superior to android devices, there are many things I don't like about the iPhone keyboard but the accuracy is very good.
Have you tried Swype? I believe the beta is now open to all to try, google it, as its not in the market. Failing that, apps like Shapewriter (when it becomes available again) and SlideIT keyboard are other similar options. Or if you want to go all-out weird with text input, try 8pen.
i found the same bugs
and my guess it has to do with the Concave design, that throws off the screen calibration.
on the SGS, the touches are 110% accurate
you just hover your finger on top, and the work
Corvidd said:
I didn't like swiftkey, and don't understand its popularity, having to check the scrolling bar for which word i wanted slowed me down. I agree that the typing accuracy on an iPhone is superior to android devices, there are many things I don't like about the iPhone keyboard but the accuracy is very good.
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Agreed. However, I'm trying my best to give Swiftkey ample opportunity to grow on me, and as I said, when it actually predicts your words accurately, it's quite intuitive, but this happens rarely. Most of the time it guesses incorrectly and you end up thumbing in almost all the letters to a word anyway. Swiftkey slows me down too and I, ironically, end up taking longer to type out messages. Like you, I'm too busy making sure it's predicting correctly the next words I want to say. In many ways, it's counter-intuitive.
And it's a shame Google didn't set itself apart from Apple's keyboard. They could/should have included custom auto-corrections, etc.
Have you tried Swype? I believe the beta is now open to all to try, google it, as its not in the market. Failing that, apps like Shapewriter (when it becomes available again) and SlideIT keyboard are other similar options. Or if you want to go all-out weird with text input, try 8pen
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Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I forgot to mention I have the Swype Beta. Swype is quite fun and often impressive, but like Swiftkey, I find it cumbersome when I'm trying to type 'personal' words like unique names of places, or uncommon lingo and words, etc. Plus, when you start getting into long words, Swype becomes difficult to track. Perhaps I just need more practice, but ultimately found it slower than thumbing it out. I have tried a few other options, like the one where the keys change sizes depending on predictions, and even 8pen (novel, but no thanks), but nothing seems capable of accurately mimicking the iPhone/iPod Touch typing experience. Anyone who has typed extensively on both platforms will know the difference.
I would just like to be able to thumb out messages minus the odd errors and mis-presses/unregistered presses, or the overly sensitive presses. Smart Keyboard Pro remains the best choice, in my opinion, but even that has hiccups and my aforementioned problems. It's probably a combination of software and hardware that is contributing to my typing woes.
Blindtype, please hurry.
I don't have problems with it not registering presses, but it certainly is sensitive. Depending on conditions, you can register a press by hovering your finger 1-2mm off the screen surface. This has rarely bothered me, but if you keep your fingers very close in while you're typing, yeah, I can see it being really problematic.
EDIT: Actually, Android Central posted a short article and video just this morning about how you can use your Nexus S with certain types of gloves on in the winter cold because of this.
zorak950 said:
I don't have problems with it not registering presses, but it certainly is sensitive. Depending on conditions, you can register a press by hovering your finger 1-2mm off the screen surface. This has rarely bothered me, but if you keep your fingers very close in while you're typing, yeah, I can see it being really problematic.
EDIT: Actually, Android Central posted a short article and video just this morning about how you can use your Nexus S with certain types of gloves on in the winter cold because of this.
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Right, you are. I mention about the hovering finger thing in the OP.
AllGamer said:
i found the same bugs
and my guess it has to do with the Concave design, that throws off the screen calibration.
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But my understanding is that the actual touch screen itself isn't curved...?
onthecouchagain said:
But my understanding is that the actual touch screen itself isn't curved...?
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Yeah, but what that basically means is there's a different thickness of glass between the touchscreen and your finger at different points on the screen. I don't claim to know much about capacitative touch technology, but that seems likely to make for a much touchier sensitivity calibration than a traditional flat screen.
zorak950 said:
Yeah, but what that basically means is there's a different thickness of glass between the touchscreen and your finger at different points on the screen. I don't claim to know much about capacitative touch technology, but that seems likely to make for a much touchier sensitivity calibration than a traditional flat screen.
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Yes, that makes sense.
Not sure if I'm liking what I'm hearing. If the screen is indeed too sensitive and is the cause of my typing woes, I don't suppose there's a way to dial it down via software, is there?
onthecouchagain said:
If the screen is indeed too sensitive and is the cause of my typing woes, I don't suppose there's a way to dial it down via software, is there?
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Click to collapse
I don't know enough about how the technology works to answer that authoritatively. I'm curious too, though.
onthecouchagain said:
The 2nd thing is, the screen seems problematic for the complete opposite reason sometimes. Has anyone ever hovered their fingers over the screen without actually touching it? Sometimes it'll register presses this way. I'm guessing this is hardware related?
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I've had this happen to me a couple times. I could see how its annoying, but I'm coming from a nexus 1 where you could mash the screen at times and nothing would happen so its nice to have a sensitive screen.
I don't see that I've mentioned it in this particular thread, but I have in others, so forgive me for repeating myself, but for short messages I really find the best solution is to just use the voice input.
Not to dismiss the need for an accurate, fast, easy to use keyboard, but I think Voice Actions and Voice Input are one of the absolute best features of Android that don't get a lot of attention.
I won't say Voice Actions has changed my life, but it's definitely changed the way I do several things (like to-do lists), and how I interact with my phone.
edit: Another good keyboard is Better Keyboard, it lets you see where you hit the keys to help train yourself on it; not sure it's any more accurate than the others though.
distortedloop said:
I don't see that I've mentioned it in this particular thread, but I have in others, so forgive me for repeating myself, but for short messages I really find the best solution is to just use the voice input.
Not to dismiss the need for an accurate, fast, easy to use keyboard, but I think Voice Actions and Voice Input are one of the absolute best features of Android that don't get a lot of attention.
I won't say Voice Actions has changed my life, but it's definitely changed the way I do several things (like to-do lists), and how I interact with my phone.
edit: Another good keyboard is Better Keyboard, it lets you see where you hit the keys to help train yourself on it; not sure it's any more accurate than the others though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Voice input is very good with the S, much better than it was with the N1.
Smart keyboard pro is also a good one.
distortedloop said:
I don't see that I've mentioned it in this particular thread, but I have in others, so forgive me for repeating myself, but for short messages I really find the best solution is to just use the voice input.
Not to dismiss the need for an accurate, fast, easy to use keyboard, but I think Voice Actions and Voice Input are one of the absolute best features of Android that don't get a lot of attention.
I won't say Voice Actions has changed my life, but it's definitely changed the way I do several things (like to-do lists), and how I interact with my phone.
edit: Another good keyboard is Better Keyboard, it lets you see where you hit the keys to help train yourself on it; not sure it's any more accurate than the others though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I've attempted to use Voice Actions, especially while driving. Usually it gets what I want to say correct, but unfortunately, it doesn't always get the person I'm trying to send it to correct. In fact, it never does. Same is true for when I'm not driving. So I end up having to cancel the command and type it out anyway.
I bought Better Keyboard long ago. It was one of the first third party keyboards I tried. I found the experience atrocious (at the time, it lacked true multitouch. If you think stock keyboard missed letters... you should try BK!). My understanding is that multitouch is implemented now, so perhaps I'll give it another try.
Edit: Also, Smart Keyboard Pro offers touch points and calibration to help you see where you mistype and to calibrate it to your typing style. These features help, but there's no mistaking that the phone (softward or hardware?) often misfires or misses presses altogether. Problems that appear like tthis or thiss or whenever it misses a space bar press (despite the space bar clearly being highlighted on the keyboard) resulting in words likethis are far too frequent and have nothing to do with pressing accuracy.
zorak950 said:
Yeah, but what that basically means is there's a different thickness of glass between the touchscreen and your finger at different points on the screen. I don't claim to know much about capacitative touch technology, but that seems likely to make for a much touchier sensitivity calibration than a traditional flat screen.
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Click to collapse
exactly... too much empty space in between, that's why the areas around the edge at the bottom are harder to register
I am just having the hardest time making my craigslist ads which require me to cut and past the URLs of my photobucket images. I also need to edit in HTML into the posts and this is proving to be a nightmare on the transformer. In tablet form or docked.
It seems that I can't just click to place the cursor exactly where I want it and the cursor seems to always be moving to places I don't want it. Also trying to cut and paste works great sometimes and others it just seems unusable.
Should I maybe use a text editing app and then just cut and paste it over? Can anyone relate to the things I'm talking about? I'm new to Honeycomb so maybe there are a lot of little tricks I don't know yet.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
getting a stylus may help with the fine aiming of moving the cursor. and if it moves around you may be hitting the trackpad so try turning that off.
but for what your doing, it may be best to make it all in a text editor and then copy/paste it in the browser.
neok44 said:
getting a stylus may help with the fine aiming of moving the cursor. and if it moves around you may be hitting the trackpad so try turning that off.
but for what your doing, it may be best to make it all in a text editor and then copy/paste it in the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any suggestions for text editor apps?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
well the included polaris will work pretty good, color note and basically any other note pad app will as well.
there are a couple apps that can make and create .txt documents and those should work as well.
Ill look around, thanks.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Just an update.
I am currently using Opera forced in desktop mode only. This is the fastest scolling and zooming browser there is. The only thing I hate is how opera functions when selecting text off of a page to copy. It is really cheap. I also like the fact that I can add any search engine to the browser. I couldnt stand how every time I did a Google search it would search through Google mobile, so I just added the main Google search and all was fixed.
Typing on forums has been a breeze for the most part with opera, now if I can just find a way to use the Native copy and paste on web pages it will be almost perfect. At least when editing text or web page URLs it uses the native highlight feature.
In response to the cursor moving, I have that problem and am pretty sure it has to do with the mousepad being set up for "touch to click". On a fullsize laptop, no big deal, but on the smaller keyboard I keep hitting it. As a result, that disable-mouse button gets a ton of use from me.
It was doing it to me while editing on the screen as well. It doesn't seem to be doing it with opera though so Im happy about that.
One weird thing I have noticed as too is that if I really get going and start typing fast, the keyboard will register double I inputs twice. So for example if I type the word that, it will sometimes show as ththat. This only happens when im typing at full pace though and only sometimes. I went to Verizon today to play with a zoom and couldn't get the zoom to recreate this issue, it was only running 3.0 also.
If you are talking about the same thing I'm thinking about, I think this is just a general Android bug. My 2.3.4 phone does it and the stock browser on my TF does it. I have a guess it has to do with text wrapping... but no idea if that's really it.
An easy way to see why I think it seems to be a text wrap issue is by zooming in a little and typing a few lines of text, then try to edit it. Then pull up the green caret move handle thing and notice that it moves where you didn't place it.
Another way is to get a keyboard with arrow keys (thumb keyboard) and select one line and press the down key... it sometimes jumps a line or two. Almost certain its because of the text reflow. I wish you could turn it off or Google would fix it. I HATE working on a long forum post or Outlook Web App on my phone because textarea editing is just a horrible experience.
Finally, I, too use Opera... I'm not a fan, but its the only browser fast enough and that doesn't try to reflow ANY text area. No other browser, that I know, uses text areas that do not reflow.
I completely agree about Opera.
Does anyone know of an app for Android tablets that can do this? I have just switched from an iPad1. I used Noteshelf for taking notes and it was very very smooth. There were plenty of others too.
I have tried all the ones I can find for Android:
Genial Writing
PenSupremacy
Handrite
Freenote
and more
They are incredibly bad with text not appearing until seconds after you lift the stylus/finger or curved lines being squared off. Even the drawing apps are terrible. My guess is either the Asus TF is very under-powered to be able to do this smoothly or there's just no developers focusing on this.
Anyone?
Try:
Writepad
Anripaper note
For drawing I use Sketchbook Pro
I've started using Antipaper, and I like it. I'm unsure of whether or not I wanna pay for the full version though (when it becomes available). I like my tf, but I'll probably use it to supplement with notes, not to take actual notes in class..
you can change the delay setting in freenote to reduce the delay between you stopping writing and it showing the text.
try it again and play with the settings.
CarsnGadgets said:
you can change the delay setting in freenote to reduce the delay between you stopping writing and it showing the text.
try it again and play with the settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed you can....
I found the best speed for my use was 400ms. This cleared up the delay issue.
You can use Myscript notes mobile it can be ported of a lenovo ideapad.
http://www.visionobjects.com/en/myscript/personal-notes-and-forms-management-applications/myscript-notes-mobile/description/
I would look into writepad stylus, he has a thread over on the Xoom forum where you can follow his progress.
Writepad forum thread
Otherwise DrawPro is great for TF for just drawing, otherwise your best bet is still FreeNote right now.
OK, Antipaper looks usable. Looking forward to the PRO version. Shame it can't email the complete notepad, but I can cope.
Thankyou very much for the recommendation.
I have been toying around with the idea of purchasing the keyboard dock for my Transformer.
Yesterday I was messing around with Splashtop HD, which is a remote desktop-ish app.
I wondered if you might be able to control Minecraft using the keyboard dock over Splashtop? Or even if you could plug in a USB mouse and control it through that as well.
If this were possible I would definitely buy a keyboard dock.... like tomorrow lol.
It would definitely play, but good luck with the camera. Android doesn't know how to deal with hovering and relative position of the mouse cursor, because, being primarily a touchscreen OS, it requires that you click and drag everything, just like how you would handle panning and rotation by touching the screen with your fingers. The same applies to most apps currently available. The OS doesn't mechanically "know" where the cursor is until you click on something, so that means in a first person game like Minecraft you have to constantly click and drag to rotate the camera.
AND no right click... kinda pointless if you are the builder type.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Get a netbook
Sent from my Transformer TF101
It works, but not well
I know this is old, but thought I'd respond anyway.
There is a right click you can use; it is under Asus options when you go into settings. Choose to set right click to be context menu instead of acting like the back button.
It does work, but not well. As said above, the cursor has difficulty following you, so I just end up spinning around in really fast circles.
No, it works perfectly if you Buy the app from the market. The 8 bucks is totally worth it, adds trackball mode which eliminates spinning around, and right click works perfectly. My Minecraft experience feels native!
Thought it would be interesting to make a thread on how people are using the S-pen. Give people some new ideas or whatever.
I rarely use it. My handwriting sucks so the Note has no idea what I'm writing. Although normal people can't read my writing when I write with pen/paper anyway, so no surprise there.
I mostly use the S-pen to play Nemo picross actually, ha ha ha! It sure is nice to shrink the grid to a tiny size (20x20 visible) and use the pen to play. When I used my fingers on my mytouch 4g, I'd have to use a 9x9 visible grid, and I'd have to scroll all over the place.
- Frank
Nose & ear hygiene
Keep my girlfriend busy drawing while I'm watching football.
Sent from my Galaxy Note through telekinesis
pjm77 said:
Nose & ear hygiene
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HAHA my granddad uses his car key!
To be honest I only pulled it out to show people what it can do, doubt I will ever need to use it which is a shame considering the time and energy that must have gone into implementing it so nicely!
thebigak said:
HAHA my granddad uses his car key!
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That is so 1980s! You've got to keep up with times, for godssake
Playing World of Goo.
Japanese handwriting recognition.
Faster typing with Swype.
Handwritting with Graffiti Pro recognition method. Works way better than inbuilt one as you use simplified characters.
Also drawing and photo masking/editing.
i use it for swypeing - i rly like it.
GTD. Any time something comes up that I have to do, I do a quick memo and send to evernote inbox. each day I open evernote inbox and process all items. I make a handwritten lists of the task for that day and save the other ones to a next actions folder in evernote.
I use the stylus for Swyping and everything else, any time my fingers are a little damp and not sliding smoothly over the screen.
djowett said:
Keep my girlfriend busy drawing while I'm watching football.
Sent from my Galaxy Note through telekinesis
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Lol.... I do the same thing except I watch cricket.....
But she got so addicted to it that she wants one now....
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
I use the pen for selecting small items on web pages where zooming is not allowed and where a laptop and mouse would be needed e.g. in charting packages. I also find it useful for selecting text during editing where you need to be precise.
removing earwax, my finger is much more accurate than the s-pen to draw with
I figure it's a tool that needs to be learned like a musical instrument.
A little bit every day, until you get to the point where you're fluid, expressive, and extremely efficient.
Right now, I'm practicing here and there. Here's what I hope to be able to do very quickly with the S-pen in a couple months:
-- pull up S memo, jot down a quick note or 5, save in a "pile"; convert to text to be scheduled/organized later; shared to Evernote/Skitch/class notebook
-- screen capture pages and images, then edit/crop them to share later (like in the fancy demos)
-- sketch quick ideas, like charts and graphs, to import into a presentation form (ppt, email to group, into a video tutorial)
-- learn to draw (How to Draw app), to make quick flyers, invites, and ads
-- be very familiar with photo editing, exporting
-- be very familiar with video editing, exporting
-- annotate PDFs, whiteboards
-- be fluent enough to demonstrate all this to gawkers
As of now, I'm just dipping my toes in the all these pools. So much to learn, so little time...
I will say that I'm finding the tiny stylus and the inconveniently placed button difficult. I think the larger Samsung pen accessory into which the stylus can be inserted is somewhere in my future...
-
I use it to use the note when the temperatures are very low and I have my gloves on.
I love drawing and sketching with the s pen...
I also use it to write out messages quickly. Once you get used to using the s pen, handwriting input can be pretty fast - I manage to fit 4-6 words even on the portrait version of handwriting input for msgs and that works out pretty well; it's even better in landscape..
I use the pen for selecting small items on web pages too and also some games are much easier to play using the pen.
In the winter I imagine not having to take gloves off to use my phone (except to get the pen out of the slot of course!)
If you're asking though "Is it a gimmick?" then I will say NO. It is genuinely useful.
Nothing
My 9 year old daughter used it once to draw and keep herself busy whilst waiting for the main course to arrive
show off in front of my freinds it serves no other purpose.
I was so impressed by this I'm pseudo bumping it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1354191
I kind of suspected that either you the stylus a LOT or you don't use it much at all.
- Frank