Hello Everyone,

I'm starting this thread because I wanted to share my ideas about improving the OSK in UT.
Back in the Canonical days, I suggested to use the space key for controlling the text cursor.
It was a real joy when I learned that Canonical did implemented it which we can now enjoy with UBports.
And I want continue with that idea and improve or extend its functionality.

At the moment, I have two prototypes.

1. [Swipe to trigger cursor mover]
   Instead of the current "Press and Hold" gesture to trigger the cursor mover, I made it to work with just a horizontal swipe in the space key. For me, this gesture is more natural while typing unlike the current one which will some kind of disrupt your flow by long pressing before swiping. There's a catch though because there's more chance of accidental trigger especially for those who tend to drag fingers while typing. My experience so far is good though and did an accidental trigger just once.
   Demo Video

2. [Swipe to switch OSK language]
   This one adds a functionality to change OSK language via swipe in the space key. Some people needs multiple OSK layout/language enabled and it could be a bit hassle to switch between them especially if you have more than 2...remember emoji? yeah that counts I personally don't have this problem so I can''t attest if this one would be really helpful. And also, at the moment, emoji kinda breaks it because it has a very different layout which doesn't have the space key. I'm also planning to propose a new layout for emoji
   Demo Video

Now I don't have a concrete plan yet on how I will propose these. I'm thinking of adding a Gesture section in the settings app so users can customize the gestures and which functionality they want for them. For example, you can set "PressAndHold" for Cursor Mover then "Horizontal Swipe" for Language switch. But that could be too much settings? can't say yet.

EXPAND IT FURTHER!
Currently, I have another idea to expand this idea further and I'm trying to do a quick hack for it.
The idea is to also use the "cursor mover" feature for text selections/manipulations. My initial thought is to use double click/tap (without releasing) to start the text selection. I would also like to put Copy, paste, select all buttons above the OSK. I want to see and use it first in action before thinking of the best way to implement these gestures. Unfortunately, I can't even do the first step yet which is to enable text selection from the OSK and it seems like I have to modify the C++ part of maliit and recompile which I am not familiar enough.

Any thoughts, opinion, violent reaction, help maybe?

FUN FACT: When I got the idea of the "Space key cursor mover", it was a "Eureka" moment for me and I thought I was the first one in the world to come up with that idea. Then days after that, I saw the exact same functionality on my friend's LG G3. At least it was my original idea and it just happened someone got it first LOL

So the OSK theme landed a few OTAs back. Awesome right?!
And now I'm back with my OSK works....finally!....specifically with the advanced text functionalities in the OSK.
I've prototyped and demoed this almost half a year ago but now I want to make it "PR-ready".
So once I get satisfied, I will propose this officially.

List of changes and additional features

• Added audio and haptic feedback to the word ribbon (auto suggest bar)
• Temporary fix for the issue where cursor mover isn't working correctly in QtWebEngine text fields such as in the Morph Browser (some trade-offs to fix this temporarily)
• Horizontal movement in the cursor mover will now move vertically once the start/end of line is reached. I'm not sure how this really affects the experience but it was definitely implemented like that before for a reason. (a trade-off for the issue above)
• A new way to trigger the cursor mover mode (bottom swipe). This is available anywhere in the OSK so regardless of the layout or type, you can now trigger it. Press and hold in the space bar is still available.
• Implemented text manipulation features which are available in a top bar that shows up when in cursor mover mode.
  • Copy
  • Cut
  • Paste
  • Select All
  • Undo
  • Redo
• Implemented text selection mode (no timeout, needs manually exiting)
  • While in cursor mover mode, double tap/click to enter selection mode. You can also immediately select texts by double tapping then swiping immediately without lifting your finger.
  • Word Selection: Double tap while in cursor mover mode without swiping [Disabled for now to fix QtWebEngine issue]
• Added floating buttons in cursor mover mode
  • Move cursor to the start/end of line or document
  • They can also be used in conjunction with the selection mode!
  • Done button: Used to end selection mode and/or cursor mover mode
• Changed timeout of cursor mover mode to 5 seconds (experimental)

Know Issues:

• The new toolbar buttons and floating buttons sometimes retain their previous color when changing OSK theme.
  FIXED: Just needed to bind the colors

• Using the Start of line/document button from the floating buttons while in selection mode doesn't select texts. I'm not really sure why.
  FIXED: Stupid mistake by me....it worked in my first branch and just had a mistake with this new branch

• The bottom swipe trigger might be difficult to trigger in landscape mode especially for devices with protrusion on the sides/bezels especially those with cases.

Please feel free to try it out from the git branch linked below. You'd need to use crossbuilder to compile it and deploy to your device via ADB.
https://github.com/kugiigi/keyboard-component/tree/xenial_-_textfunctions

NOTE: BEWARE EDGE CHANNEL USERS. This won't work on edge because there's a separate branch for it which I don't have a modified fork yet. If there's plenty of interested then I might consider

Suggestions and feedback will also be greatly appreciated especially on the design

Some screenshots

Cursor mover mode

Selection Mode

This guide isn't created by the porter/maintainer of the port. This is only based on my personal experience, specifically on S10 and hopefully it can be helpful for those that needs step by step and more detailed guide than the current ones. Please feel free to correct or add anything in this guide. Hopefully we'll get these devices in the installer soon.

You may also join the telegram group to ask questions/help and/or check the pinned messages.

My device

• S10 (beyond1lte)
• SM-G973F/DS

Starting point

• Locked bootloader
• Security update: 01/2022 with a pending update
• Android 12 - OneUI 4.0

Step by step

A. Unlock the Bootloader:
Source: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-official-3-6-1-x-twrp-for-galaxy-s10-e-5g-exynos.4180287/

1. Make sure OEM Unlock is ON in developer settings (How To)
2. Turn off the phone
3. While pressing Vol Down + Bixby key, plug the device to a PC via USB cable to enter download mode;
4. Long press Vol Up then confirm you want to unlock bootloader (this is needed one time only)
   * Please be aware all your data will be erased including internal storage and phone will reboot!!
5. Let the phone boot normally. Complete Android setup and connect to internet (wireless or mobile data) in order to unlock RMM (Not sure what this is)
6. Make sure OEM Unlock is ON in developer settings
7. Turn off the phone
8. Repeat Step 3 to boot to Download mode then short press Vol Up to confirm you want to go to download mode
   * If by any chance you see RMM state=Prenormal or KG state=Prenormal, redo from step 5!

B. Flash TWRP Recovery:
(You may skip to flashing LOS recovery but I'm not sure how to use that to flash zip files and wiping partitions)

1. Download appropriate TWRP .img file according to your device.

2. Download avb disabled vbmeta .img

3. While your device is in Download mode, open your preferred terminal in linux and run the following (replace texts enclosed by <> with the path of downloaded img files):
   sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY </path/to/twrp.img> --VBMETA </path/to/vbmeta.img>

   After pressing enter to run the command, grab the phone and press Vol Up + Bixby + Power to force it to boot straight to TWRP after flashing
   Otherwise, press the same buttons while the device is turned off to boot to recovery.

!! Only if coming from full stock firmware

• In TWRP home screen, press Wipe > Format data > yes
• Download and flash multidisabler-samsung-3.* zip to disable security and encryption (Install > Choose zip file > Swipe to start flashing)

C. Flash LOS Recovery:

1. Download recovery image from LineageOS
   Sample file name: lineage-18.1-20220311-recovery-beyond1lte.img
2. While your device is in Download mode, run the following command
   sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY </path/to/LOS_recovery.img> --VBMETA </path/to/vbmeta.img>

D. _Flash Ubuntu Touch:
(This is using LOS recovery. I think you may flash with TWRP too but since updates are done by manually flashing, fastboot may be better and simpler instead of transferring files to the device for flashing via TWRP)

1. Download the latest artifacts.zip file by clicking on the action button on the right most side of the latest passed pipeline item. Select the appropriate item for your device.
   Example: devel-flashable-beyond<0/1/2>lte:archive
2. Download vendor image for your device.
3. Boot to recovery
4. Go to Advanced > Enter fastboot
5. Plug the device to your PC.
6. Run the following commands. Replace the texts enclosed by <> with the correct paths and file name.

   fastboot flash boot </path/to/boot.img>
   fastboot flash system </path/to/ubuntu.img>
   fastboot flash vendor </path/to/vendor-ut-beyond<0/1/2>lte.img>
   

7. Reboot and enjoy UT!

Hi,
I'm Kugi and I'm just mimicing this post
I'm posting this to introduce a new tool that I DON'T RECOMMEND to anyone but anyone is free to use No seriously, it can be dangerous to your system so it's important that you know what you are doing and know how to reflash in case of breakage.

Introducing the Jerk Installer!

What is Jerk?

No, it's not an offensive word. It's a physics term just like Snap, Crackle and Pop
Jerk is a script to easily install and uninstall customization on the system (rootfs). It's mostly only applicable on patches that involve text-based files like QML files. I haven't tested with binaries but maybe in the future?

What kind of customization?

Many things! Such as UI changes in Lomiri, new features in the keyboard, and Bluetooth configuration changes. Those are just the ones I came up with but there are more possibilities.

How do I use it?

I won't repeat myself here. You can go to the repo and read the....README
But basically, just download the whole repo, make the jerk script executable and run ./jerk --help. There are sample packages included in the repo.

Sample Packages

I've included many packages in the repo that you can try out. These are mostly the customization and experiments I've done in my devices. I highly recommend the package Lomiri_Ubuntu_22.04.tar.gz. 20.04 (focal) transition is taking a really long time to arrive so let's just skip and go straight to the latest Ubuntu
You can run ./jerk describe <packagename> to check what each package does.

It blocks OTA updates

Yup, it automatically blocks OTA updates until you uninstall all the packages you installed and/or intentionally unblocks it with ./jerk unblock-ota or reset all components with ./jerk reset all. I made this decision so users can avoid installing OTA updates that can possibly have conflicts with the installed packages. It's a good practice to remove all packages before updating then just reinstall after updating. Jerk will tell you if the package is still compatible or not.

I wanna create my own package!

Sure, why not? If you're like me who likes experimenting stuffs and want to share them to others, you can create your own package. Just check the...README
For the target component/path, it'll be better to make a PR to create new configuration if it's not present yet so the script is always aware of all the components with installed packages.

Is it perfect?

YES! No! Of course no
I'm not an expert with bash scripting and the script is a bit simplistic in terms of checking compatibility and no proper way to remember the installed packages. As always, PRs welcome

Can I trust you?

That's up to you

Can I see some screenshots of sample customization/patches?

NO!

Morph can only open files from the Downloads folder. Try copying them there.

Hello Everyone,

I would just like to gather random ideas that we can maybe implement or fix in Ubuntu Touch.
I already have ~100 in my list of ideas but I thought it would also be cool to get other people's ideas. I base my ideas from my personal experience and preference so your ideas may give me wider perspective on things. Of course, I won't be promising anything and it will still depend if my skills would allow me to put your ideas into reality

So that you'll have an idea on what my skills can do, here's a list of some of my previous, current and planned works.

Previous works:

1. Advanced text manipulations in the OSK (selection mode, copy/paste, etc.)
2. Theme support in the OSK
3. New Downloads UX in Morph

Current works:

1. Check my github profile to see my open PRs (https://github.com/kugiigi)
   Most of my recent PRs are related or beneficial to tablets because I recently got one
2. Floating and one-handed mode in the OSK. It's still not an official PR but it's already working and here's a preview
   

Future plans:

1. Split mode and numbers row option in the OSK
2. Redesign language menu to something similar to Sailfish OS/2nd level characters
3. Try to implement tab navigation history save/restore feature in Morph

In summary, I'm quite knowledgeable with QML+JS and I can do a bit of C++ (templating from existing codes ).
Most of my ideas are not life changing and won't compare to the essential works from the core devs, rather, they improve the day to day experience with UT, well at least that's the goal

I've been a bum since early this year so I'm basically full time with Ubuntu Touch so I will have plenty of time working on the ideas I may pick. I'm dealing with something the past weeks though and maybe for a few more but I'm pretty sure I'll be back at full speed eventually

If you want to support me to stay being a bum while contributing to UT, I would greatly appreaciate any amount
http://www.paypal.me/Kugi
https://liberapay.com/kugi_eusebio/donate

I'm looking forward seeing your ideas

This is kind of an update on this post. It's been a year and I've kind of improved and stabilized the tool (Jerk Installer and Jerk Packages) I created, or I'd like to think that Well, I do use it on basically all my devices so I guess it's proven now?

Most importantly, I've streamlined the hacks/packages that I've been developing and maintaining. I've combined them per component and just added settings so you can customize which things you want enabled or disabled. The main 2 ones are the following.

Malakiboard

• A collection of hacks for UT's onscreen keyboard.
• Notable new features and functions are custom keyboard height, floating mode, custom theme, and theme that follows system theme.

Lomiri Plus

• A collection of hacks for Lomiri, UT's desktop environment.
• Notable new features and functions are notch and rounded corners fix, manual rotation button, and so much more to mention and hard to explain too

IMPORTANT NOTES!

• DANGER!: This tool can be dangerous to your system. It can render your device unusable, though it has never happened to me yet and only during development . You can always reflash with the installer to reset the whole system and just make sure to NOT select the Wipe option.
• BE SAFE!: I haven't found a way to automatically create the packages so you'll have to create them manually. I highly discourage downloading and installing pre-created packages from anyone, even from me! although I do that in Telegram LOL. It's easy to manipulate the contents so it's better to be safe. As always, it's best to download from the original source.
• BE RESPONSIBLE!: To avoid creating unnecessary logged issues on the official UBports repos, make sure to reset your system first and reconfirm the bug you're encountering before filling them in Gitlab/Github. Resetting is easy. You can even reset all with the command jerk reset all
• HAVE FUN!: Enjoy all my crazy experiments, ideas, concepts, whatever they are. Let me know if you have comments or any feedback about them. The hope is to have some of them implemented officially

Yes, Dr. Strange knows what will happen
But seriously, apt isn't advisable to be used on UT so enabling a whole repository may cause even more havoc to the system.

Some progress for the themes support hurray!

Here are the repositories I've uploaded which so far works quite well except the settings-app which I was not able to build myself but I've only changed QML and those worked fine when I tested directly on my phone
Keyboard component
Settings app

My initial plan was just create a dark mode for the OSK but since the foundation for the colors is already there so I experimented with different themes and these are the ones I've come up.
(I don't know how to shrink the photos here :P)

Ambiance (Default)

Suru Dark

Suru Black

Just White

Just Black

Just Grey

Bordered White

Bordered Black

Bordered Grey

Colored ones are also possible but I did not include any in the repo but here's a sample

I don't know if this will be accepted but if yes, @CiberSheep I would like get the opinion of the design team and you can check the colors.
They're just in json files in the repo and can be easily modified

And BTW, this completely removed the border images and replaced with rectangles with borders

@Escain

”But I suppose that all FP5 works the same right? so if someone confirms it is working properly for hand-free calls, I should get the same result?

Yes, it should work similarly however it will still depend on the device you are connecting to. If it it works on the cars of others doesn't mean it'll work yours.

That is precisely why I am asking, because considering the UBPort page, it shows exactly like the FP4.
https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/fp5/

There are nuances that won't be reflected in that list so it may seem like they're the same but the actual experience may be slightly different. I think the main factor right now is that the development of the FP5 is quite active so there are still many big changes such as the sleep behavior. There's no stable channel yet as well so you'll be stuck with the dev channel.

Bluetooth experience might still be the same or slightly improved. Honestly UT's bluetooth is kind of a hit or miss. Some devices work well on certain UT devices but some don't so it'll be like a lottery and depends on your luck

GPS works but still won't have AGPS which helps getting your initial location quickly. This is a general issue in UT. Best way to use GPS in UT is to try using mobile data and get out somewhere open and without a roof. Once you get the initial fix, it usually works fine.

As for idle battery drain, FP5 has recently got proper device sleep implementation which helps on this regard however it still has some quirks because of this. For example, Wifi can be finicky coming from a sleep. Also, FP5 has a weird bug where apps don't suspend even when in the background so this still adds to the battery drain if you have apps open. Now I'm thinking maybe the FP3 also has this bug?

Lastly, NFC works but UT doesn't really have any implementation of utilizing it yet so even if it works, connecting to your bluetooth device wouldn't work. Shouldn't it be possible to manually connect though?

In any case, I personally don't daily drive my FP5 yet. In my opinion, it's not ready yet, at least compared to the FP4 which is stable and works well for me.

@messayisto There is a Saved messages thread in Teleports or Telegram in general. If the data isn't sensitive, it's a quick way to share files across your devices.

@Ida_ A more convenient way is to use SSH/SFTP. It needs some setup though since UT by default doesn't allow password authentication so you'll have to setup SSH keys. But once that's good, it's pretty simple and easy to use especially if you use Linux. MTP might be faster though depending on your device's USB speed and WiFi connection. Another advantage of it is that you can access all your files unlike MTP that's limited to the standard folders like Documents and Pictures.

@bbiw I would advise against doing any manual computation for the scaling. If you want to use the native toolkit, use grid unit and the toolkit's components so scaling would works automatically. If not, you could explore using QGuiApplication::setAttribute(Qt::AA_EnableHighDpiScaling);

In any case, scaling can still be buggy in UT so you might also be hitting one. For example, there are apps where some elements have bad scaling once you connect to an external display while the app is already open, however the scaling is fixed if you open the app after the external display is already connected.

@bbiw Oof, you shouldn't have removed it. I heard that you'll need to input a credit card or something before you can create an account now.

Scaling can be confusing to be honest and I'm not sure if the implementation is final because it has changed a few times. UT's native toolkit use gird units unit.gu() for making sure the dimensions scale well. But you can also check the hidpi scaling in Qt/QML. If you set your app to use that then I scaling would work better.

@bbiw Interesting, I don't remember this happening but I haven't tried waydroid on external display in quite a while. I'm gonna try this again and see.

This is currently a limitation in Ubuntu Touch and not specific to the Lenovo M10 tablet. It would need someone to implement it.

Yeah this is a known issue and the porter is still trying to figure out why. If you have your own observation then maybe that could help

It is a missing feature in the settings app. If you're a developer, help would be very much appreciated

I personally use static IP too so all my UT devices have their own IP address and easy to connect via SSH. However I manually edit the connection files. I guess using nmtui/nmcli is easier