SwiftKey Q&A: Week 1 - Cursor Control
Mostrada DestacadaWe recently brought Cursor Control to your Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard for Android. This much-requested feature had previously only ever been available on iOS.
If you haven't tried it out you can do so by tapping & holding your spacebar to move the cursor.
If you use multiple languages, cursor control will need to be turned on first; this setting can be found in your ‘Typing’ menu.
Make yourself heard!
We'd love to know what you think. This is YOUR opportunity to help us shape the future of Cursor Control, e.g. is it useful? Does it work as you expect? Could it be improved? Do you love/hate it?
Whatever your opinion, we will take all feedback seriously.
Click here to record and submit your video response (60 seconds max).
Your responses will only be viewed by Microsoft. For details about how Flipgrid treats your data please refer to Flipgrid - Terms of Use.
Matt - SwiftKey Community Lead
Hi Rom,
Thank you very much for your feedback. We really want Microsoft SwiftKey to work for everyone, so please be assured that we do take all feedback very seriously and we will take it onboard to help guide future development.
We'd love to share your ideas, do you mind sharing them as well as further feedback here https://aka.ms/sk-support so we can make that happen?
Thank you.
Hi! I was a Windows Phone user for several years. Now, for obvious reasons, I'm back to Android.
Was searching for the best keyboard for me, and the SwiftKey looked very promissing compared to alternatives. But the are some drawbacks that made me switch back to gboard.
Regarding the cursor control there are two issues.
First, is way too sensitive. It takes full concentration to put the cursor a to the exact position. And a slight move when releasing finger usually spoils the thing.
Second, when working with multiple languages, it takes too long to activate cursor control. And again, it you failed to keep your finger deadly at place, it will activate language switch. Even if I release without making a side move, language is still changed, what is awkward.
Overall impression is that you'd better take all the best from competitors and make improvements, than be different in every aspect.
If you're interested, I'll share other particular suggestions.
I'm a long time user of SwiftKey, even pre-Microsoft days. I use the cursor arrows and switched to the spacebar cursor control hoping to free up some screen space by removing the keyboard cursor arrows. However, after a month of using the spacebar cursor control I went back to the arrows just because it has more control and is faster to use.
Deniz, I've submitted feedback using provided link. Just sent a link to this thread.
In case I have more to share, will go there, thank you!
Hi Rom, we've received your email. Many thanks.
I don't really understand how this works. My cursor stays in the same place even though the graphic for the cursor appears. I don't understand the feature? Is there a video that shows how to use it? I can't really see the use for it when you can just tap the field and move the cursor. This is only for a dialog box, correct?
Hi Nancy Bach you can find a video here: How do I use Cursor Control on my Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard? – SwiftKey Support - do you not get this when you activate cursor control?
We need a way to adjust the speed. The cursor moves a bit too fast for my liking, yet if it is too slow (which it is NOT too slow at this time) then it will take forever to edit something in the beginning of a long URL for example.
A speed control slider would be ideal, otherwise slowing down the speed by like 10% would be perfect for me (but every individual has a different ideal speed.)
Sao không làm một phím chức năng có phím mũi tên, chọn, cắt, sao chép, dán, xóa giống Google.
I submitted a video offering two improvements that Microsoft would make in order to improve the functionality of SwiftKey Cursor Control:
https://flipgrid.com/s/YX5Uj_N1PjpM
Please be sure that someone approves the response video so that it is officially visible on the main Flipgrid Cursor Control page.
Lamarr Otems - I made a similar suggestion regarding the speed to which the cursor moves in my video submission!
Thank you.
Hi YediydeYah Allen, thanks so much for your suggestion, we appreciate it. For us to track requests and inform you of any updates, we do suggest submitting your idea via https://support.swiftkey.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.
Hi @... - thank you for the follow-up! I actually did submit a request using the form you referenced. I have an e-mail from June 18 confirming that I did submit a request. The title of my submission is "Addition of Delete, Undo, Redo, and Other Text Editing Features". Here's the link to my request:
https://support.swiftkey.com/hc/en-us/requests/326450
Thank you for approving my comment and I hope the team can implement my suggestion!
I'm with Rom Sem on this. The cursor control slider is way too sensitive. A slider to control its speed would be nice or try to match Gboard's cursor speed.
Hi YediydeYah Allen, thank you for your reply and submitting your idea.
I was able to locate your request and I can see that it has been passed on as a feature request.
Hey!! I was actually waiting for the solution am really thankful to the YediydeYah Allen . Best regards from AOS TV APK tq.
wow, this solution really helped. Thank you :)
Usually I want to move my cursor by one or two characters, otherwise I just click a new location in my text box. As is mentioned repeatedly in this thread, the current implementation as far too sensitive. Not only does it require great attention to move a small amount, the care must be applied to release of the space bar to avoid another character jump. Not surprisingly this is quite frustrating when attempting to move a single character.
Instead of a sensitivity slider bar in the options, I'd suggest it be treated as a repeated arrow key, and the farther you slide from your initial point, the shorter the time between cursor adjustments. As a comparison, just hold a cursor key down on your keyboard. The first step has a pause after it before the speed jumps up and the cursor moves at a continuous, faster rate.
Hello Zabto, thank you for your feedback. We are always looking for ways to improve SwiftKey. Please be assured that we will certainly pass your feedback along to our team. Thank you!
Hi @... - as Zabto recommended - I made a similar recommendation (as well as additional recommendations for functions such as undo, redo, cut, copy, paste; having arrow keys in the toolbar as opposed to at the bottom of the keyboard). Please see my comments from several months ago. In each - I referenced links to a video suggestion that I submitted (which is here: https://flipgrid.com/s/YX5Uj_N1PjpM) and the to the following submission: "Addition of Delete, Undo, Redo, and Other Text Editing Features". Here's the link to my request: https://support.swiftkey.com/hc/en-us/requests/326450)
I can assure you that IF/WHEN Microsoft implements the suggestions regarding text editing features in the above request link - I WILL HAVE NO ISSUE WITH MAKING SWIFTKEY THE ONLY KEYBOARD THAT I USE on my devices (both Android and iOS-based) 😉
Or require a press+hold to activate a carat/cursor button then slide a direction.
Anything so that I'm not accidentally hitting the button and moving my cursor into the previous word.
Hi YediydeYah Allen, thank you for your feedback and for your effort in sending us the link. Your feedback has been forwarded to our Development team for future improvements. Thank you for your support!
+1 on all the sensitivity comments. Cursor control is a great feature and I tried getting used to it but it is extremely sensitive and very difficult to put the cursor in a specific place between letters (which would be its main use). Please add a sensitivity control to make it more manageable. Thanks!