[jzorn]

Has anyone found an app for android that works like word substitution on Blackberry? None of the android phones (nor iphones) I have tried allow use of multiple paragraphs (like macros) in the word substitution built in the phones. I want to be able to say type the phrase 1a and it will input a multiple sentence or several paragraphs into an email for example. This is a very important feature I have used and loved on the BB since it's inception 20+ years ago. Any suggestions please.

[Yamahammer]

Has anyone found an app for android that works like word substitution on Blackberry? None of the android phones (nor iphones) I have tried allow use of multiple paragraphs (like macros) in the word substitution built in the phones. I want to be able to say type the phrase 1a and it will input a multiple sentence or several paragraphs into an email for example. This is a very important feature I have used and loved on the BB since it's inception 20+ years ago. Any suggestions please.

Create a template perhaps?

"The CB 1M Challenge, where the pantless people go"

[Ben xfg]

Has anyone found an app for android that works like word substitution on Blackberry? None of the android phones (nor iphones) I have tried allow use of multiple paragraphs (like macros) in the word substitution built in the phones. I want to be able to say type the phrase 1a and it will input a multiple sentence or several paragraphs into an email for example. This is a very important feature I have used and loved on the BB since it's inception 20+ years ago. Any suggestions please.

Copy the paragraph(s) of choice and pin them to your keyboards' clipboard.

[jzorn]

Thanks for the reply. I would do that but have too many different messages I need to do this with and dates in them change weekly. It is easy to modify in the word sub section in the BB. I found an app that will work with a mail app on the iphone/ipad but it also is quite time consuming and need to switch back and forth to make it work. I am really looking for some sort of app that might replace the word sub. Or a phone that has a decent functioning word sub built in.

[Yamahammer]

Thanks for the reply. I would do that but have too many different messages I need to do this with and dates in them change weekly. It is easy to modify in the word sub section in the BB. I found an app that will work with a mail app on the iphone/ipad but it also is quite time consuming and need to switch back and forth to make it work. I am really looking for some sort of app that might replace the word sub. Or a phone that has a decent functioning word sub built in.

Which BB are you referring to and how were you achieving this?

"The CB 1M Challenge, where the pantless people go"

[conite]

Has anyone found an app for android that works like word substitution on Blackberry? None of the android phones (nor iphones) I have tried allow use of multiple paragraphs (like macros) in the word substitution built in the phones. I want to be able to say type the phrase 1a and it will input a multiple sentence or several paragraphs into an email for example. This is a very important feature I have used and loved on the BB since it's inception 20+ years ago. Any suggestions please.

SwiftKey does word substitution.

[jzorn]

Using Key2 now but all Blackberry's have had it

[jzorn]

Hi I looked at Swiftkey too but could not figure out how to get it to do word substitution. It had been mentioned in a post on Crackberry at one time.

[conite]

Hi I looked at Swiftkey too but could not figure out how to get it to do word substitution. It had been mentioned in a post on Crackberry at one time.

Well, I use it exclusively. Works great for word substitution.

It's part of the clipboard.

[jzorn]

Thanks I will look at it again, must not be that intuitive

[cribble2k]

You can do this on stock Android and Gboard.

Go into the system settings, system, Languages and Input, Custom Dictionary.

Type some text and add a shortcut

Hit back to return to the custom dictionary

Hit back again.

Go into your email or text app, and type the shortcut. Gboard will have the text of your shortcut as the middle suggestion.

I've verified this works on Gmail and the Google Messages app.

You could also select the text into the Gboard clipboard and pin it for future use.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Yamahammer]

You can do this on stock Android and Gboard.

Go into the system settings, system, Languages and Input, Custom Dictionary.

Type some text and add a shortcut

Hit back to return to the custom dictionary

Hit back again.

Go into your email or text app, and type the shortcut. Gboard will have the text of your shortcut as the middle suggestion.

I've verified this works on Gmail and the Google Messages app.

You could also select the text into the Gboard clipboard and pin it for future use.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

I have my letter s set as "The CB 1M Challenge, where need to know people go"

"The CB 1M Challenge, where the pantless people go"

[SAVVYSCLUTTER]

On the Samsung VKB, you can touch the cog icon then 'Text shortcuts'. This doesn't allow multiple paragraphs and I don't know if it works on other Androids.

[Yamahammer]

On the Samsung VKB, you can touch the cog icon then 'Text shortcuts'. This doesn't allow multiple paragraphs and I don't know if it works on other Androids.

Use the clipboard.

[SAVVYSCLUTTER]

Use the clipboard.

You need to look for the phrase you want manually this way.

[Yamahammer]

You need to look for the phrase you want manually this way.

Well you could also create templates for this purpose if you are always communicating the same information.

Indeed this does not solve the initial question but since it appears that we haven't come across an option to insert multiple paragraphs via keyboard shortcuts...

"The CB 1M Challenge, where the pantless people go"

[ALToronto]

Microsoft keyboard does text substitutions similar to BB.

[jzorn]

I have tried the swiftkey to do word sub like the native blackberry does it. That is the most important thing I need on the phone as I have several multi paragraph clipboard type items that I have in word sub now. I cannot get them to import into emails like it does with the native Blackberry word sub. For instance I have one that is two paragraphs long that I call 1a so if I type 1a in my email on my Key2 it imports it into my email app. Unless I am using Swiftkey wrong it will not import it. Any suggestions please?

[conite]

I have tried the swiftkey to do word sub like the native blackberry does it. That is the most important thing I need on the phone as I have several multi paragraph clipboard type items that I have in word sub now. I cannot get them to import into emails like it does with the native Blackberry word sub. For instance I have one that is two paragraphs long that I call 1a so if I type 1a in my email on my Key2 it imports it into my email app. Unless I am using Swiftkey wrong it will not import it. Any suggestions please?

Works fine with Gmail.

[jzorn]

Thanks Gmail won't work for me as I use a business email address (that is why I have been using a Blackberry since 2000) and need the word sub. I just tried Swiftkey again on a new android phone with it and no luck. Also tried Gboard but that does not do it either.

[conite]

Thanks Gmail won't work for me as I use a business email address (that is why I have been using a Blackberry since 2000) and need the word sub. I just tried Swiftkey again on a new android phone with it and no luck. Also tried Gboard but that does not do it either.

You're using the Gmail app? Word substitution works just fine.

[Polopoulos]

Unfortunately, none of the android keyboard apps work as well as the BlackBerry keyboard app (virtual or physical).

Since recently switching to a stock Android (Pixel 4a. My precious Key2 died after more than 4 years of heavy use, bought on day one. RIP), i have tried them all! Gboard and Swiftkey (and Samsung's one, if you have a Samsung) are the best, no doubt.
However, the word substitution is always bad : hard to make it long enough (forget about multiple paragraphs), almost impossible to make it behave like Blackberry legacy (think BB OS 7) autotext (instant substitution as soon as you hit space, comma or period), etc.

The best alternative would be to use a "text expander". I recommend Textpander or Typing Hero. However: the recent versions of these apps demand a shortcut of at least 2 characters, i don't know why (older versions allowed you to use one character shortcuts, so you can hunt down an older .apk online). This is stupid because in some languages (ie. french) one character words are frequent, especially with apostrophes right next to them (and the BB keyboards had the marvelous "%B" and "%b" macros)...

Another problem with these apps is they don't work well with the Gmail app and many other mail clients (but they work fine with Fairemail, which is a great free mail client, highly customizable, and even more so if you spend the small amount it costs for the paid version).
And their "smart auto capitalization" features are not that smart! (capitalising all of your expanded words, if you type a shortcut beginning with a capital letter, instead of just capitalizing the first letter).
Oh and i forgot! Sometimes they dont "catch" your shortcut if you type too fast... So a keyboard app is better if you can live with their limitations.




Another nice solution would be: using TWO text expanders at the same time. For a while, i was using "GT Auto text" and "text expander: fast typing" (ex "text expander octopus typing" for the older versions), together. Why these two apps?
Because GT Auto text is working in every app (well, mostly!) without jumping through hoops (like you would with textpander and typing hero, which may work in any app if you REALLY want to, but they would then work more like a glorified clipboard), AND the auto-capitalization works best (however, you need two shorcuts for each phrase you want expanded: one with a small letter, and the same one with a capital letter. This may seem weird but none of the other text expanders allows that).
And "text expander: fast typing" is the best text expander for one character shortcuts, but its smart auto capitalization is bad... that's why i can't recommend it as is.




Long story short: i have recently found a working version of the blackberry keyboard apk that works well (for now!) without crashing (here : https://forums.crackberry.com/androi...022-a-1194410/) and i am soooo happy to get my shortcuts and typing habits back!!
Sure, it's missing some of the recent refinements found in Gboard/SwiftKey (cursor moving with spacebar, more efficient text prediction, num pad always on, etc.) and you must be warned that the app is totally outdated (security updates wise), but if you use multiple languages and are a heavy autotext user (not to mention the "flick to type" exclusive to this keyboard), the BB keyboard is still lightyears ahead of its competitors!



Sorry for the long post, but maybe this will help other CB users and save them some time (i've spent the last three weeks trying to find what works best for me, so many hours spent, you wouldn't imagine!).

[conite]

Unfortunately, none of the android keyboard apps work as well as the BlackBerry keyboard app (virtual or physical).

Since recently switching to a stock Android (Pixel 4a. My precious Key2 died after more than 4 years of heavy use, bought on day one. RIP), i have tried them all! Gboard and Swiftkey (and Samsung's one, if you have a Samsung) are the best, no doubt.
However, the word substitution is always bad : hard to make it long enough (forget about multiple paragraphs), almost impossible to make it behave like Blackberry legacy (think BB OS 7) autotext (instant substitution as soon as you hit space, comma or period), etc.

The best alternative would be to use a "text expander". I recommend Textpander or Typing Hero. However: the recent versions of these apps demand a shortcut of at least 2 characters, i don't know why (older versions allowed you to use one character shortcuts, so you can hunt down an older .apk online). This is stupid because in some languages (ie. french) one character words are frequent, especially with apostrophes right next to them (and the BB keyboards had the marvelous "%B" and "%b" macros)...

Another problem with these apps is they don't work well with the Gmail app and many other mail clients (but they work fine with Fairemail, which is a great free mail client, highly customizable, and even more so if you spend the small amount it costs for the paid version).
And their "smart auto capitalization" features are not that smart! (capitalising all of your expanded words, if you type a shortcut beginning with a capital letter, instead of just capitalizing the first letter).
Oh and i forgot! Sometimes they dont "catch" your shortcut if you type too fast... So a keyboard app is better if you can live with their limitations.




Another nice solution would be: using TWO text expanders at the same time. For a while, i was using "GT Auto text" and "text expander: fast typing" (ex "text expander octopus typing" for the older versions), together. Why these two apps?
Because GT Auto text is working in every app (well, mostly!) without jumping through hoops (like you would with textpander and typing hero, which may work in any app if you REALLY want to, but they would then work more like a glorified clipboard), AND the auto-capitalization works best (however, you need two shorcuts for each phrase you want expanded: one with a small letter, and the same one with a capital letter. This may seem weird but none of the other text expanders allows that).
And "text expander: fast typing" is the best text expander for one character shortcuts, but its smart auto capitalization is bad... that's why i can't recommend it as is.




Long story short: i have recently found a working version of the blackberry keyboard apk that works well (for now!) without crashing (here : https://forums.crackberry.com/androi...022-a-1194410/) and i am soooo happy to get my shortcuts and typing habits back!!
Sure, it's missing some of the recent refinements found in Gboard/SwiftKey (cursor moving with spacebar, more efficient text prediction, num pad always on, etc.) and you must be warned that the app is totally outdated (security updates wise), but if you use multiple languages and are a heavy autotext user (not to mention the "flick to type" exclusive to this keyboard), the BB keyboard is still lightyears ahead of its competitors!



Sorry for the long post, but maybe this will help other CB users and save them some time (i've spent the last three weeks trying to find what works best for me, so many hours spent, you wouldn't imagine!).

What's wrong with SwiftKey word substitution? Works exactly like the BB10 keyboard.

Seems to work fine in Gmail too.

[Polopoulos]

What's wrong with SwiftKey word substitution? Works exactly like the BB10 keyboard.

Seems to work fine in Gmail too.

Yes it works perfectly fine in Gmail.

However my biggest gripes about it are:
- no auto capitalization for custom shortcuts (I don't mind in text messages or group chats, but in more formal and professional emails, it just doesn't cut it)
- no delete and backspace macros ("%b" and "%B"). It may seem useless to many, but in French and in worksheets these shortcuts are lifesavers !

For the former, i hope they fix it soon, as many keyboards and text expanders have this feature. For the latter, I wouldn't hold my breath but i could live without that feature (by tweaking the keys and symbols layout).

[jzorn]

Thanks not sure why I did not see this message before. Does these apps you mentioned work on the pixel or samsung just as the word sub on Blackberry? Two character shortcut is fine that is what I usually use I have about 30 of them that I use only 4-6 on a regular bases but those are usually about 3 paragraphs long.

Also the blackberry keyboard you mentioned does that work on the other android phones as well just like the Key2 with word sub? I did try Swiftkey but it is really not even close to the word sub from Blackberry