topic Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0 in X Series

What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Michelasso — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 23:09:35 GMT

I've just bought the XC (received it yesterday) and I noticed there was no Xperia keyboard. Swiftkey is the default. "Ok - I thought - I'll download it from Google Play". Well, doing a search it doesn't show. Which usually means an app doesn't support that phone.

I mean.. Really? Is Sony ditching its own keyboard for the one.. owned by MS? Or it is just the X Compact?

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

CameronT — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 23:34:45 GMT

Hi @Michelasso,

I'm not sure what the specific reason is for the change, but yes, the Xperia Keyboard has been replaced with SwiftKey.

The Xperia Keyboard is still out there if you can find the .apk but please be careful when installing apps from unknown and non-Play Store sources.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

_alexdon_ — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 00:47:47 GMT

I have side loaded xperia keyboard on my X as it's one of the best out there. You can find it on apk mirror and it's always up to date.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Michelasso — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 05:32:55 GMT

I have it on my rooted Xperia M2, so getting the apk isn't the issue. I can just copy the update from /data/app to Google Drive and install it from there in the XC. In that way I'm also sure it isn't an hacked apk with malware or else. The problem is that this must be done at each update. What I'd like to know is why the XC is denied from using it and if the Xperia keyboard is going to disappear from all Xperia.

Which the latter, don't get me wrong, would make me extremely happy. Because I could finally modify the accent colors in all my themes to what they are supposed to be, without worrying about the keyboard changing the highlight text color to a stupid, ugly orange. Or light blue. Or whatever else it is in Marshmallow. I'm just surprised I've never read about it before (and googling it I could hardly find anyhting).

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

CameronT — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 05:41:23 GMT

@Michelasso,

I'm afraid I do not have an official reason as to why Xperia Keyboard was removed from the current devices, or any idea if it will return in the future.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

ALg68 — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 18:07:56 GMT

Can some1 please explain what Apk means, side loading is, or Apk mirror is.
I use my phone mostly for texting and email and it is painful now, to the point I'm using my old z1 compact more. I can't get the X compact to learn 1 new word, it doesn't seem to do it automatically and doesn't have a manual way of learning like the z1 c .
I have switched to the Chinese keyboard set in English so that I can have keypad not querty which is very difficult to use 1 handed, the whole point of a compact phone.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

CameronT — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 00:53:17 GMT

Hi @ALg68,

Welcome to the community.

An APK is an Android application package. It is what is used to install apps on your phone. You can download apps from places outside the playstore in the form of a .apk, which is known as side-loading. An APK mirror is just a website that is hosting APK files.

You can add words to your personal dictionary under Settings > Language & input > Personal dictionary.

Swiftkey should learn and predict the words you're typing as you type them. You can make sure this is on under Settings > Language & input > SwipeKey Keyboard > Typing > Typing & Autocorrect.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

ALg68 — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 17:57:28 GMT

I have tried adding words manually and they never appear as an option when they predict. Place names etc, a couple of x's to my wife, nothing not 1 word learnt after a week of using it and yes ive turned on all the settings like you said.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

CameronT — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 01:26:18 GMT

@ALg68,

Very strange. Try resetting the Swiftkey keyboard by going to Settings > Apps > 3 dots > Show System > SwiftKey > Force Stop > Storage > Clear Data.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Hekkie — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:22:10 GMT

On Google just search for "Xperia Keyboard apk". One of the first search results is a website where you can download the latest apk's. When downloaded you can installed it. Make sure you can install from unknown sources. If you don't trust it because it's not from the playstore run a scanner like AVG first.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

alex_ncfc — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 21:51:34 GMT

Just got the Xperia X Compact today and the first thing I noticed was the horrible SwiftKey keyboard - I don't want this, but likewise, I don't want to be messing around with "Unknown sources" APK on my brand new phone!

Can somebody find out why Sony have blocked access to their own app?! Also, I had to do a factory reset after first setting up the phone and I am sure SwiftKey wasn't the default before the factory reset - can anybody confirm?

If I did install the Xperia Keyboard APK, will it be able to link to my Sony Entertainment Network account (on which I had saved all my words, settings etc??) Is this still a feature of the X Compact?

Thanks

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Michelasso — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 09:06:58 GMT

Judging from the new Theme Creator for Xperia I can confirm that Sony is indeed dropping the Xperia keyboard, in favour of Swiftkey. See yourself (the left keyboard is from Lollipop preview, the right from Marshmallow):

I suppose the Xperia keyboard will definitevely disappear in Nougat (Android 7.x). Personally I am not complaining. I had the Xperia keyboard's apk on my Xperia M2, transferred it to the XC, but I find Swiftkey to be quite better.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

alex_ncfc — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 14:57:37 GMT

I think the disappointing thing about this is that when I got my Z1 I noticed I could log in through the keyboard settings with "Backup and sync" options and I thought this looked very handy - it even said that this would ensure the same keyboard experience (settings, skins, dictionaries etc) across all your current and future Xperia phones - there's nothing worse than getting a new phone and finding it is changing all the words you had previously added to your dictionary getting auto-corrected, so this was a very handy feature. The SwiftKey one probably has these features too (haven't looked) but so far it seems pretty naff. I have contacted Sony to ask them to re-instate the old keyboard as an available download. Maybe if enough people do they will reconsider?

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Michelasso — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 06:44:26 GMT

Yeah, I was disappointed about the lack of synchronization for my old Xperia dictionaries as well. I looked for it indeed. Apart that, to be honest, they were full of junk (codes from wakelocks, source codes and stuff like that. I don't even know how they ended there). But with my surprise, after enabling any possible synchronization in Swiftkey (gmail, SMS), many of my defined words were there. Maybe they came from the SMS. It's also true that I used Swiftkey already in the past (and I was always close to make the switch), so maybe it has got the words from there.

Still, at least in Italian, Swiftkey has a much better standard dictionary. Many of my words in the Xperia keyboard were declinations and/or plurals for the the verbs. In Italian there are many different tenses and the Xperia keyboard was just lacking them. Then Swiftkey learns faster and seems to give more priority the the last recently used or most used words. But I do understand some people may want the Xperia keyboard back. Although I wouldn't hold my breath, it seems like a big business decision to me.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

alex_ncfc — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 13:58:37 GMT

Just bringing this subject back up because I can't stand the SwiftKey keyboard still, I've tried to get used to it but it's crap - and I want the previous Xperia keyboard to be re-instated by Sony. I've e-mailed them a few times about this but they say they have no plans to do so. I've never been more infurtiated by a keyboard app. The Xperia one was more than good enough, but this one is always changing words and I also can't find where the user-saved dictionary is, can anyone help me there?

It really is a dreadful keyboard and I don't know why Sony have made this move!

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

UGLYDOLL — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 01:33:04 GMT

I agree, I do not like it one bit... Has a negative effect on the user experience for me.
Yes you can install the awesome Google keyboard but I loved the xperia one. Confusing.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Dragontrumpetar — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 10:09:38 GMT

I just hate this darn Swiftkey-keyboard. I havent found a workin APK for sony-keyboard yet. I tried Google Keyboard, that was ok, but thats all. I tried other types of keyboards and they were just awful. Swiftkey biggest issue is (for me at least) its really bad at writing in swedish. I do write both in swedish and english, and I want swedish to be numberone language. And its not. Everytime I using swipe function or tapping it always choose a english word first. God, its annoying.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

ynk1 — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:47:38 GMT

http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/sony-mobile-communications/xperia-keyboard/xperia-keyboard-7-3-a-0-54-release/xperia-keyboard-7-3-0-54-android-apk-download/

This APK works fine, it's the one from the Play Store. However, I have one issue with it. With STAMINA enabled it is almost impossible to type due to bad touch response. At least on my X Compact. I don't have this issue with Google Keyboard and STAMINA so I think it must be something with the Xperia Keyboard.

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

alex_ncfc — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 14:22:15 GMT

I would suggest all contacting Sony support to let them know (as I did) that you are not satisfied with the app. Hopefully they might get the message.

As you have said ynk, you can get the APK - but with a new phone, I don't want to be having to tick "Unknown sources" just yet, and as you mention, it's not working properly in STAMINA mode, so this isn't ideal anyway. I wish they'd just give us the option to download it from the Play Store, rather than listing it as "Incompatible with your device"

Re: What happened to the Xperia keyboard? o.0

Riz-Mughal — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 14:57:35 GMT

true....old keyboard was better... specially i always used numpad keyboard on small screen like Z3 C, but now unable to use numpad due to swift keyboard...