[FR] Don't remove preceding space when inserting an underscore (_)
RéponduIs it possible to have SwiftKey *not* remove the preceding space when an underscore is being inserted?
This issue (along with a few others) was raised as far as December 2014. Unfortunately, it hasn't received attention from the developers.
It's rather frustrating having to go back through typed text to correct things from
"It_should_ be fixed immediately" to "it _should_ be fixed immediately".
Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem if you could simply backspace and correct it. However, fixing this 'typo' requires a careful placement of the caret (which isn't at all easy) then inserting a space and then moving to the end of the line to continue with the text.
This slows text input especially when writing formatted text on WhatsApp and Telegram, both of which use the underscore for formatting.
Hello,
SwiftKey is a keyboard focus on daily communication. In daily use, in English grammar, the underscore doesn't have space before or after, except for creating blank use.
The way you mentioned "it _should_ be" is a special use for underline the word "should". Which is not a common way in daily use, especially on phone.
This issue does not sound like a bug to me. I'll consider it as a feature request.
Best
Alpert
Thanks for the quick response.
From the way I see it, the underscore character is being treated just like the other punctuations (full stop, comma, question mark, etc.). From the programming perspective, I believe it should be classified as a regular letter or number; simply place the underscore at the current location of the caret without removing it any existing space.
If a user wants to insert a word which contains an underscore (e.g. hello_world), then, they can simply press the backspace key once to remove the space after the hello and then the the underscore after which the following word is added. If a user wants to write a word padded on both ends with underscores (e.g. _this_), then, they can simply type as usual (pressing the backspace if at all necessary).
The workflow as I have described will greatly speed up typing since it is generally easier and faster to backspace than to position the caret especially in text fields in web forms where the magnified view is unavailable.
Thanks for filing as a feature request.
I hope the developers get around to work on this soon.
I am not sure about the suggestion, because the underscore used very much in something like email address and web address, very rare to see it in daily conversations. And if we treated the underscore otherwise, users might ask us why doing it, a little hard to explain.
Anyway, it's considered as a feature request, the priority of development might be low because few users asked for it.
Best
Alpert
With WhatsApp surely being one of the main places ppl are typing with SwiftKey, being able to access its _italics_ feature as easily as its *bold* one seems a nice thing. If this was an option, I'd certainly turn it on.
This! When I try to italicize a word in WhatsApp by using the underscore character before and after the word (_word_) I have to go back and edit the typing as described by OP.
This is a PITA and if the underscore would just go where I want it to go, then this would be so much better.
True, I don't do it that often, but I'd do it more if it werent such a nuisance.
I agree with both usecases mentioned, perhaps a better solution is to amend the "bug" to be a feature request that instead states.
"Add option to not auto-remove spaces preceding underscores."
That way both usecases can be preserved. Users that use apps that follow _italics_ formatting are satisfied, those that don't and use "daily communication" can keep the default behavior.
There are a growing number of commonly used programs which use words enclosed in underscores to designate italics. These programs include major chat applications like Slack and What's app. I'd like to make the same request as OP, the current functionality is an annoyance with these applications.