The Development of the Keyboard Designer

Now that the app is very stable and I have received some inquiries from other countries, I have now decided to activate the keyboard designer for the following countries: Australia, British Virgin Islands, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Have fun with the Keyboard Designer!

Bug fixes:
   - Entering characters in a crossword puzzle of a newspaper app is now possible (including deletion)
   - After exiting the designer, a subsequent crash could occur

Bug fixes:
   - An error could occur when updating all colors using the simplified settings (thanks for notifying support!)
   - The keyboard was not fully opened during a certain game (thanks for the feedback!)

Bug fixes:
   - Fixed issues that occur when using an app that does not use standard functions (reported through support)
   - Minor bug fixes

Bug fixes:
- Key is no longer marked if held during a mode change
- Sometimes the entire keyboard was not visible after the screen was rotated
- Popup key could not be deleted in the designer
- Sometimes the smartwatch did not stretch the keyboard over the entire surface

Welcome to all users in Spain! From today, the app is also officially available in Spanish!

-Phone / Tablet / Smartwatch:
- User interface now available in Spanish (Gracias Pablo !!!)
- It is now sufficient to move the finger horizontally under the popup to select a different key instead of touching it directly, if the popup has multiple keys (thanks to the unknown user providing this tip!)
- Preparations for version 3.0

-Phone / Tablet:
- User interface now available in Spanish (Gracias Pablo !!!)
- Smartwatch:
- User Interface now available in Spanish (Gracias Pablo !!!)

- Phone / Tablet:
- User interface now also in Switzerland and Austria in German
- Fixed issue when adding or deleting UTF16 Unicodes as an icon
- Change of the design name is now taken over directly
- Smartwatch:
- User interface now also in Switzerland and Austria in German

The following fixes are included in this release:
- Provision of Italian and French special characters with appropriate language setting
- Icons in toolbar now abbreviated to clarify what is added or deleted
- On the first click on "Add" of the design tab, the user is asked if he really wants to create a new design (after the first installation this could be unclear)
- Improved speed when starting the designer
- Minor optical corrections

Today was the first time a promotional video in the Play Store published! It shows the most important functions of the Keyboard Designer as well as their usage.

This required the creation of a You Tube channel. The video can also be accessed directly at https://youtu.be/sAvoB5tHUV4.

The following fixes are included in this release:
- Fixed a bug where a mode could be removed when deleting a pop-up key
- Problem with automatic mode change fixed (reported by user)

- Bugfixing:
- Fixed a problem that occures while deleting the left or right word of a password (reported by user)
- Automatic change to the last mode after pressing a key now possible, when mode is assigned to a different design (reported by user)

- Phone / Tablet:
- Following bugs have been corrected:
- Problem when closing the symbol selection (reported by user)
- Fixed issue with advanced color setting
- English texts corrected
- Smartwatch was not displayed correctly during the test
- Smartwatch:
- Speed of synchronization increased significantly
- It does not flash white anymore during app start

+ Provision of Spanish characters and demo keyboard with appropriate system language
+ Preparations for version 3.0
+ Minor corrections:
- At startup, no white screen flashes anymore
- Icons for locking / unlocking the function exchange were displayed exactly the wrong way around
- Significant acceleration of moving keys and exchange of functions
- When moving functions, sometimes the symbol was not displayed
- Revision of texts

Hola españa! From now on, the Keyboard Designer is also available in Spain in the Play Store! Also in all other countries, users with the Spanish language enabled will be able to access the necessary Spanish characters on the demo keyboard after installation. In addition, the symbol search in the "main character" section also displays the Spanish characters to these users. ¡Diviértete con la Keyboard Designer!

+ Revision of the search for Unicode characters
+ Fixed the reported errors, among others
   - Problem assigning a symbol to a pop-up key
   - Problems with text input
   - Automatic preselection of a key during popup for faster entry
   - Fixed a crash that could occur when moving selected text

After user feedback, the response of the operating system on input has been modified. This prevents problems on some devices and increases the responsiveness of the keyboard.

After a request for the keyboard designer came from Switzerland, the app was also released for the Play Store in Switzerland! Have fun designing your own keyboard! As always, I am pleased about feedback!

Today there is already an update! Some users have reported problems with the design change on the key tab. After some research, I found out that the error occurs if the design tab was not previously selected. The solution is provided in version 2.16.

Code cleanups performed to achieve stabilization and a little more speed.

Bugfixing:
- Fixed issue: swipe up (capital letters) could not be used for top letter row when number row and maginier are hidden
- Key mark is canceled when swipe up on key without function

Stability increased due to various messages, including:
- Fixed issue: designer crashes when called by the keyboard
- Fixed issue: swipe up (capital letters) could not be used for top letter row when number row is hidden

Many thanks to all who contacted the support to report these errors !!!

During the development of the Keyboard Designer, it was deliberately avoided to collect data and transfer it to a server for evaluation. In order to allow the users on a voluntary basis to provide feedback to the developer, a questionnaire has now been created on the homepage. You can answer all, a few or just one question - any feedback is welcome!

In order not to use the data longer than needed, the registered answers will be sent to the support by e-mail instead of saving it in a database. As with the support requests, the emails are deleted after the evaluation. If the author wishes a reply, the e-mail address can be entered.

Improvements:
- Headings are now shown in bold font (better readability)
- Button added to call feedback questions of homepage

Bugfixing in general:
- Magnifier will now react when switching from small to uppercase letter with magnifer (searched for reason a long time!)
- Fixed issue that designer was not displayed when invoked from the testing tab using the keyboard

Fixed bugs reported in version 2.10:
- Keyboard preview does not disappear in the "Test" and "Settings" tabs

The new version 2.10 has just been released! The target goal is to improve the clarity. The following topics were implemented:

+ New features smartphone / tablet:
- On request, only necessary settings can be displayed (default for new installations)
- Display mode can be selected in the wizard
- Function added to change the colors, magnifier and key selection of all designs at once
- Info tab added to summarize important data

New version 2.09 for beta testers released:

+ New features smartphone / tablet:
- On request, only necessary settings can be displayed
- Display mode can be selected in the wizard
- Function added to change the colors, magnifier and key selection of all designs at once
- Info tab added to show important data

Due to many requests the Keyboard Designer is from today on also available in Austria! Have fun with designing your own keyboards!

New version 2.04 released:

+ New features smartphone / tablet:
- Additional description for all buttons
- Errors can now also be reported by Google framework
- Improved error handling
- Fixed the problem that a text, which was copied from a website, could not be pasted
- Problem solved, that errors can occur when the mode is changed very fast (reported by user)

New version 2.02 released:



+ New features Wear:
- Button added to show the Play Stores entry of the Keyboard Designer on the smartphone (if not installed on the smartphone)
- Preparations for faster synchronization in future version
+ New features smartphone / tablet:
- Image of the keyboard can now be shared by the designer to other apps
- Keyboard can now be selected directly in the wizard
- Preparation for faster synchronization in future version
- Preparations for "Extended Design Package" in future version
- Minor errors fixed

From today, the Keyboard Designer is also represented on Facebook! The page can be accessed via the link facebook.keyboarddesigner.com.

Since I receive a lot of positive feedback via the e-mail address of the support but also clarify some questions, I have decided to make this available on a public platform to all interested parties. Since Facebook reaches the most, I start today with a separate page.


I look forward to comments, questions and experiences!

It is time! Not only smartphones and tablets can use custom keyboards designed with the Keyboard Designer - from today on they can even be used by smartwatches!

Especially on small screens, it is very difficult to enter texz. Due to this it is important that the keys are arranged as you need them! The keyboard can be created on the smartphone and then be transferred to the smartwatch!

Tip: You can write on the test tab of the smartphone and transfer the text directly to the smartwatch, if its keyboard was activated in a text field!

In addition, there is now a list of standard colors in the color selection.

Now that Version 2.0 has been provided the app will also be available in the USA and Canada.

Thanks to the feedback of the first users the followings topics could be realized:
- Magnifier colors are now releated to design colors (to simplify settings)
- Magnifier should now scroll correctly
- Summary of function on key fragment is now shown if function selector is closed

After all the feedback of the alpha and beta testers, the version 1.0 can be released today - as scheduled! The release will be installed automatically on the devices of all testers.

A big THANK YOU to all testers of the last month, once again!

To fix the reported problems the new open beta version 0.82 was created.

- Improved display of the password in the magnifyer (only if activated)
- Minor corrections
- Optimized automated tests

Today, the reference to the soon-to-be-finished website was removed - as of today the construction is complete! Have fun with the new website!

To fix the reported problems the new open beta version 0.81 was created.

Today the Keyboard Designer is for the first time installable for all interested. The alpha base, limited to a small circle of testers, was abandoned and the app was published in the version 0.80 as a public beta version in the Play Store. Although it can not be found using the app search, every Android user can download it via the link.

While waiting for feedback, building the website is now being started.

Right before the start of the beta phase of the app the construction of the website is now begun. On the one hand it should inform about the meaning and purpose of the app and on the other hand it should be an extensive reference work for the application.

As the project progresses and the beginning of the beta phase is foreseeable, the domain www.keyboarddesigner.de was reserved today. This makes sense especially because the app will initially be available only in Germany.

After many discussions and drafts the new logo was finished!

On the logo is an arrangement of keys watch does not match the usual structure. The border of the keys, which can be recognized as a keyboard, is open at the top right. This symbolizes the openness at any time to make changes and to add or remove keys. The brush on the border, intentionally held in cursor color, is ready to edit right at the opening.

The previous logo of the Keyboard Designer was intended only for the development version. In order to get a really expressive logo, the order was given today to the designer to design a logo. The main idea is to get a logo that illustrates the benefits of the app directly. In addition, colors from the already defined color table should be used.

Some templates for the design of the website were already on the shortlist - but the decision fell today on a template of Sungee Theme. It impresses with its modern design and clear menu navigation. It also offers combinations of surface elements that are ideal for the predominantly explanatory content.

The development has now progressed so far that the basic functionalities are available and can also be carried out quite stably. Now the app launches into the closed alpha phase, so that a small circle of testers also installs the app and tests it in practice.

At the same time, automated tests are implemented so that later on smaller adjustments it can be ensured that the basic functions are still error-free. As a result, the development phase will once again be significantly extended, but since the test effort will increase with the ever-increasing number of functions, this invested time will pay off later.

With big pleasure it was found out that the domain www.keyboarddesigner.com is still available - which was not to be expected with a .com address! Of course, the domain was immediately reserved, even if the construction of the website can only be done after the completion of the alpha version - which will start in a few months.

Today the idea to program an app with which you should be able to put together your own keyboard on an Android device was born. The app should not make any limitations, but the user should be able to arrange the keys as he wants it. It is important that no data is sent to the Internet - something a keyboard should not be able to do.