[anon(4099613)]

I think a good amount of us using BB10 devices are seriously annoyed by the BB's current concept of text editing. That little crappy circle that you have to tap letter by letter or line by line just to get position isn't working. I can't see it, my finger's in the way! Those little blue drops used for text selection are like two little wild children that won't behave.

While this may not be the experience for some, it's the experience for many of us. I think the problem is that in trying to replace the trackpad, BB truly failed to deliver a competent text editing solution.

So, here's my idea... a software trackpad, locked into the menu bar at the bottom yet only shows itself when you want to edit text. The real question is, HOW to implement it properly. I have some ideas and if it really catches on and some developers want to me to create some visual, I can do that. Here is what I am thinking in an anecdotal step-by-step...

- You have 5 lines of text and you want to move a sentence from the beginning to the end.
- (as it is now) You hold the area you want to edit
- A circle extends from the menu bar at the bottom (right where the hardware trackpad would be located)

This circle will essentially be like a joystick/D-pad (as found on some games) allowing you to position the cursor. That is, essentially, what the original trackpad does.

- Position the cursor
- Tap the "trackpad" to start selection
- Select your text
- Tap the "trackpad" to bring up options to copy or cut the text (perhaps the options could already exist on either side of the "trackpad")
- Tap "Cut" (because we're cutting the top sentence),
- The "trackpad" goes away opening up some screen real estate
- Tap at the end of your paragraph.
- The "trackpad" pops up again with an option to paste
- Tap "Paste"

Now, it seems like a lot since I broke down every individual action. But, we all did the exact same actions with our trackpad and the action itself probably took only a 1/20th of the time it took to read that breakdown.

Being that the trackpad is more like a joystick, you would have to hold it to "glide" as you're selecting text whereas with the original trackpad you could sort of roll your finger across. However, I guess it would be up to the developer to figure out if that rolling gesture is even possible.

Another idea I had is an invisible trackpad. The same functions or gestures would be used, except the whole screen is your trackpad. You hold the text, the cut/copy/paste options pop up in the menu bar as a prompt signaling that you're in text editing mode. You just slide your finger across the screen to place the cursor, select the text, and so on. That way, it doesn't interfere with your viewing of the text.

OPTIONS
Of course, the old school options would exist as they are useful - selection speed, sounds, etc.

So, any developers out there interested in developing this idea?

Now my next question is a simple marketing survey. As a user....

1. Would you be interested in such a feature on your BB10? (Yes/No)
2. If you said no, would you be against having this feature as an extra option? (Yes/No)
3. How much would you pay if it were offered?
   
   
   a. Should be free/Offered by Blackberry
   b. $ 0.99
   c. $ 1.99
   d. $ 4.99
   e. $ 9.99
   f. $19.99

Thoughts?

[DannySmurf]

I love the concept, but I'd have to go with A. This is something Blackberry has to do.

The issue is that there is no way (currently) to make something that will do this system-wide, without some serious hacking into the OS. The BB SDK is not (actually, no phone/tablet SDK) is set up in a way to allow this to be possible. Since it would circumvent the SDK, even if someone came up with a solution, you could forget about ever having it listed in the store.

[Chanlion]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like you're missing the 10.1 update. They updated the circle with a press on either side to go forward one letter and other enhancements but your ideas are great. But the 10.1 is a start.

[the_igg]

There is already a virtual trackpad app available. However, it is really basic and limited at this moment.

BlackBerry World - TrackPad Editor

[anon(4099613)]

I love the concept, but I'd have to go with A. This is something Blackberry has to do.

The issue is that there is no way (currently) to make something that will do this system-wide, without some serious hacking into the OS. The BB SDK is not (actually, no phone/tablet SDK) is set up in a way to allow this to be possible. Since it would circumvent the SDK, even if someone came up with a solution, you could forget about ever having it listed in the store.

I did wonder about that! That does suck. I agree with you. BlackBerry should do it.

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[anon(4099613)]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like you're missing the 10.1 update. They updated the circle with a press on either side to go forward one letter and other enhancements but your ideas are great. But the 10.1 is a start.

No, I am not missing the update at all. My Q10 came with it on ATT. I'm kinda glad I don't know how bad text selection was before. Unfortunately, whatever upgrades BlackBerry did, they are inadequate at best.

And thank you. I hope Heins is paying! Someone needs to sign him up for an account.

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[m1kr0]

Yes, have dloaded this app. Is rather basic but it gets job done. Issue is it cant integrate systemwide and would probably best be baked into the OS to function. This, to my mind, is going to be the key that unlocks the OS 10 experience for the legacy OS users and will facilitate early adoption. I know I would want this baked right into the OS, with the user's choice to toggle it off or on.

[anon(4099613)]

There is already a virtual trackpad app available. However, it is really basic and limited at this moment.

BlackBerry World - TrackPad Editor

OMG.. just used it. Exactly what I'm talking about!!!!!! Even better, actually! And, I understand the "basic and limited" but that's the best example ever!! BlackBerry needs to pay for this ASAP!! Thank you good sir. Is this your app or you just already know about it?

I wanted to edit this and it hurts even more to see that the software trackpad is definitely possible but not available system wide! Damn damn damn!!!

F'n Awesome!! #takemymoney

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[the_igg]

OMG.. just used it. Exactly what I'm talking about!!!!!! Even better, actually! And, I understand the "basic and limited" but that's the best example ever!! BlackBerry needs to pay for this ASAP!! Thank you good sir. Is this your app or you just already know about it?

I wanted to edit this and it hurts even more to see that the software trackpad is definitely possible but not available system wide! Damn damn damn!!!

F'n Awesome!! #takemymoney

Posted via CB10

Haha no way is this my app. I just always check the new arrivals. Sometimes gems can be uncovered, but they are always cluttered out by some of the junk that BB lets in. I shared this app with another thread that was discussing a virtual trackpad. It seems not many people knew about this app, and it's a shame because I think it has potential. Personally, I won't use it because I have adapted wholly to the touchscreen experience of the Z10, but I do understand that many people still would love this feature. Sadly though, the current API limitations will not let this app be implemented systemwide, which is obviously what most people would expect and want. So until BB allows those APIs, people should email this dev their thanks and encourage him/her.

[SHADOW]

Haha no way is this my app. I just always check the new arrivals. Sometimes gems can be uncovered, but they are always cluttered out by some of the junk that BB lets in. I shared this app with another thread that was discussing a virtual trackpad. It seems not many people knew about this app, and it's a shame because I think it has potential. Personally, I won't use it because I have adapted wholly to the touchscreen experience of the Z10, but I do understand that many people still would love this feature. Sadly though, the current API limitations will not let this app be implemented systemwide, which is obviously what most people would expect and want. So until BB allows those APIs, people should email this dev their thanks and encourage him/her.

Just got it now, however many improvement can be made. Like implementing it on the actual keyboard

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[Smartie020]

For both z10 and q10? Looks cool

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[danielrivers]

I so want this native on my Q10

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[Valdar729]

This a great example of how they should do text selection. Just open up the virtual trackpad when we start text selection.

For q10 users this is great with the shift key for selecting.

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[bob_tn]

Trackpad Editor is so nice. Why, why, why would BlackBerry not release the API to allow devs to use it?


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