JustType User Manual

This manual is the single source of JustType’s help: the information shown by the ⓘ icons in Settings, the explanations Help Mode shows for keyboard keys, and the pages of this manual are all the same text. Sections marked draft have not yet been reviewed, and may change in later releases.

Part I — Using JustType

What JustType is and how to type with it: the eight-key idea, how a key sequence becomes a word, and the strategy that makes eight keys fast, in How to JustType. The later chapters cover what surrounds the keys: layouts, input methods, the selection list, editing, automatic spaces and capitals, the two voices, and vocabulary. Part II then describes every page and every key, and Part V every setting.

What Is JustType?

JustType is an Android keyboard with eight keys in place of a full set of letters. Six keys each carry several letters: you press the key that shows the letter you want, and word prediction works out from the whole sequence which word you meant, much like the “T9” method of early mobile phones but with a modern prediction engine. The other two keys are UnDo, which takes back your last step, and SELECT, which chooses a different word from the list. Eight large targets are far easier to hit than thirty small ones, so typing becomes possible, and fast, for people whose control of a pointer is limited.

Who it is for. People with motor impairments who cannot use a standard on-screen keyboard, and people who do not speak, for whom JustType can also be their voice.

Why

A conventional on-screen keyboard asks for one of thirty or more small targets per letter. For someone who points by head movement, a joystick, a switch or an imprecise touch, every one of those targets costs time, effort and errors; eight targets cost far less. The price is ambiguity, since one key press no longer names one letter, and JustType pays it with word prediction, which is usually right and cheap to correct when it is not. Why Eight Keys? sets out the trade-off; the way of typing that makes it pay is in How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type.

How it works

The keys. A 3×3 grid: six letter keys around the edge, UnDo and SELECT in the middle column (by default), and a center square that is not a key but shows information: the word JustType thinks you are typing, or the name of the page you are on. How the letters are grouped is in Keyboard Layouts; what happens to a sequence of keys is in How Ambiguous Typing Works.

An Android keyboard. JustType is an IME (Input Method Editor): once installed and enabled it is your device’s keyboard, and it works in any Android app that accepts text: messaging, email, web browsers, social media, notes and more. Enabling it is a step of Quick Setup, the screens that JustType shows the first time it opens; you can use Open Quick Setup, in System Settings, to run them again.

Speaking. What you write can be spoken by a personal voice, chosen with Personal voice selection; see Personal voice and Spoken feedback.

Where the rest is. Part II describes every page and every key, in the words on the keys; Part V is the page-by-page companion for every setting, what it does and when to change it.

Why Eight Keys?

A conventional on-screen keyboard presents 26 letter keys plus punctuation, modifiers, function keys, and a spacebar. For someone who controls a pointer with limited precision — whether through direct selection, head movement, a joystick, or switch scanning — activating one of 30+ small targets can be slow, fatiguing, and error-prone.

JustType reduces the number of targets to only eight — no matter what you need to do. The keys are arranged to make selecting them easy. This design offers several advantages:

• Easier target acquisition. Fewer targets — fewer keys — are easier to reach with imprecise control.
• Faster and easier key activation. In JustType, when you point at the keys by touch, head movement or a joystick, activating a key no longer requires dwelling on the key, activating a switch, or any other separate activation step. A key is activated simply by touching it, or simply by moving in the direction of the key. The kind and amount of movement needed can be adjusted to suit your preferences. This makes a huge difference in how fast and easy it is to type.
• Lower fatigue. Fewer and shorter movements reduce the physical demand of typing.
• Compatibility with many input methods. The same eight-key layout works with head tracking, joystick input, switch scanning, and direct touch — so your keyboard skills transfer even when your input method changes. And each input method is “tuned” to work optimally for one simple job: choosing one of eight targets.

The trade-off is ambiguity: when you press a key, the system does not immediately know which of the key’s letters you intended. JustType resolves this through word prediction, which is not always perfect, so you will occasionally need to select a different prediction.

How Ambiguous Typing Works

Each of the six letter keys carries several letters. To type a word, press, for each of its letters, the key that shows that letter, and ignore the other letters on the key: JustType looks at the whole sequence of keys and lists the words that fit it, most likely first. That is why it is called JustType: just type the letters, and once the word is spelled one press of SELECT takes it. A word JustType knows is always in the list once all its letters are typed.

Why

Pressing one of eight keys is far easier than hitting one of thirty, and the ambiguity it brings is the prediction engine’s problem, not yours: the sequence of keys for a word is almost always enough to find it, and the words that share a sequence (“the” and “toe”, say) are a press or two of SELECT apart. Looking at the list after every key slows you down and tells you nothing yet; type the whole word, then look, or do not look at all and let the feedback voice tell you. Why Eight Keys? has the trade-off; the habit that makes it pay is in How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type, and the loop around SELECT in How to JustType › The typing loop.

How it works

The MAIN page. Six of the eight keys on the MAIN page are labeled with a group of letters; the other two are UnDo and SELECT. The UnDo key does many useful things, and its face changes to say what it will do when pressed. Some letter keys also show digits or punctuation, and these are typed the same way, by pressing the key that shows the character: with the Optimized layout, the ISKW key also carries the period, the digits 1 to 5 and the underscore (shown as “15_”), and BANQ carries the digits 6 to 0 and the + sign (shown as “60+”), so a word with digits in it is typed with ISKW for 1 to 5 and BANQ for 6 to 0. For the apostrophe in “can’t”, press TRP, the key that shows the apostrophe, the hyphen and the hash.

The list. As you press keys, JustType builds the list of the words that could match the sequence so far, ranked by probability, and shows the most likely one in the text. To type “the” with the Optimized layout: TRP (the key with T), OJVHDX (the key with H), GEMZ (the key with E). After two keys the top word is “to”, a common word that is already completely typed; after the third, the list changes and “the” is at the top. Press SELECT once and start the next word.

Another word from the list. “toe” is typed with the same three keys, because the second key also carries O. Press SELECT as many times as it takes to highlight it; it is the same for any word. With the usual Pages of six list layout, the first words are highlighted one at a time (two by default, Words before the first page); after that each SELECT shows the next six words on the letter keys, and you press the key that shows your word. For the vast majority of words, SELECT is pressed once.

When a word is final. A word you have highlighted with SELECT is finalized, and stops being underlined in the text, as soon as you press a letter key to start the next word; a space is put in before that word for you. A letter key pressed before SELECT adds another letter to the word you are typing instead. Until you start the next word, take as long as you like: press SELECT again to choose a different word, or UnDo to take back your last press, whether it was a SELECT or a letter key.

Words JustType does not know. Once every letter of a known word is typed, the word is somewhere in the list, usually at or near the top. A word that never appears is one JustType does not know yet: add it with ADD CUSTOM WORD (see Vocabulary Management).

How to JustType

JustType is not a smaller keyboard. It is a different way of typing, and the eight keys only pay off when you type the way they were designed for. This chapter is the strategy in one place; the help for each key and setting says how that key or setting fits into it.

Trust the keys: just type

Every letter key carries several letters. Ignore that. For each letter of your word, press the key that shows it, and keep going until the word is spelled. Sorting out which letter you meant is JustType’s job, not yours: it looks at the whole sequence and finds the words that fit, and a word it knows is always in the selection list once you have typed all its letters, usually at the top. Looking at the list after every key slows you down and tells you nothing yet. Look when the word is spelled, or do not look at all (see Typing by ear). How the matching works is in How Ambiguous Typing Works.

The typing loop

Type the letters, press SELECT, start the next word. That is the whole loop, and most words need nothing more: the word you want is the first in the list, one press of SELECT takes it, and the first key of the next word seals it, with the space and the capital added for you. When the word is not first, press SELECT again to step down the list; with the usual Pages of six layout, the third press puts the next six words on the letter keys and you press the key that shows your word. Punctuation goes in with its space from the SYMBOLS page, and the keyboard comes back to MAIN by itself. With nothing typed, SELECT offers likely next words.

Let mistakes be cheap

If you press the wrong key, UnDo recovers from it with one press: a wrong letter, a wrong word in the list, a wrong symbol, a wrong page. This is one of the principles behind JustType. Because a mistake only costs one extra press, you can, if you want, speed up your typing until you occasionally hit a wrong key, since one extra key will usually fix it. Typing carefully enough never to miss is slower than typing quickly and pressing UnDo now and then. The UnDo key’s face always says what the next press will do. UnDo never does harm, because ReDo EDIT can generally put back whatever it took. A mistake in a sealed word is cheap too: the word is edited rather than retyped (see Fixing what is already written).

Typing by ear

You do not have to watch the screen to know what you typed. With Speak each selected word on, the spoken feedback voice says each word as SELECT takes it; the words you hear are the words in the text, so you can keep your eyes, and your attention, on the keys. This is how someone who cannot see the screen types with JustType, and it is also a way for anyone to type faster, because listening costs no time and looking does. Speak each selected letter key and Speak each selected function key add the keys themselves, for learning or for working blind. The feedback voice is yours alone and has its own volume and rate; what you write is spoken by a second voice, your personal voice, only if you turn that on. The settings are explained in Spoken feedback and on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page.

Let JustType finish the work

Much of what makes typing slow on an ordinary keyboard is not letters: spaces, capitals, punctuation, repeated phrases. JustType takes those over. Spaces and capitals are automatic; a symbol brings its own space; after a pause on a selected long word, family expansion offers its other forms in the list; the dictionary knows abbreviations and web addresses. Anything you say often, from your address to a greeting, becomes an Abbreviated phrase: a few letters offer the whole text. The fewer keys a message takes, the less it costs you, and most of these savings need nothing from you once they are set up.

Learning to spell with hints

Next-letter hints show, on each key, which letters can still continue the word you are typing, so a key tells you whether it is right before you press it. For someone who is learning to spell, accented hints go further: the words of a vocabulary module, say this week’s twenty words, get bright red hints while every other word keeps the plain ones, so the learner is guided through exactly the words they are working on and nothing else. The hints fade from a word once it has been spelled correctly often enough, which keeps them meaningful. Teachers set this up under Vocabulary.

Fixing what is already written

A word already in the text is never retyped. Put the cursor on it, press RELOAD WORD, and the word is back on the keys exactly as if you had just typed it: step to a different word in the list, add letters, or take some back. Moving, cutting, changing case, deleting by word and searching are EDIT MODE’s, with its own UnDo EDIT. The rules for what happens when the cursor lands on a word, with Auto-load word at cursor on and off, are in Editing existing text.

Choose and tune your input method

Eight keys — one key in every direction — are easy to hit, and that is what makes head tracking, a joystick, one or two switches, or a touch that is not precise enough for a typical keyboard all work. Choose one adaptive input method; touch can be used alongside it. Then tune it: every method has settings for how much movement, time or tolerance a key press takes, and the goal is always the same, the least effort per key that still hits the key you meant. Spend the time on this once; it pays on every word. Keyboard Settings on the keyboard and System Settings in the JustType app change the same values, so use whichever is easier for you.

Speaking for yourself

For someone who does not speak, JustType is the voice. Your personal voice can speak each sentence as you finish it, or speak when you ask: SPEAK SENTENCE and the other keys of the SPEAKING CONTROLS page. Abbreviated phrases are spoken as they are entered, so a saved phrase is a sentence said in a few keys. Volume and rate for this voice are set apart from the feedback voice, so what others hear and what you hear can each be right.

Make it yours

JustType learns from you: the words you spell and the words you choose come up sooner next time, and the words it does not know are added when you spell them out once with ADD CUSTOM WORD. What is personal can stay personal: a privacy circle keeps private words, phrases and places out of public view. A backup keeps all of it, so a new device or a new version starts where you left off. And whenever a key or a setting is unclear, Function Help Mode on the keyboard and the ⓘ icons in Settings show this manual’s text for it.

Keyboard Layouts

JustType arranges the letters over six keys in one of two ways, chosen by the Letter layout setting in Keyboard Setup. Each typing language has its own Optimized layout; Optimized layout from lets you keep one language’s layout while typing another. The default is the Optimized layout, which groups letters so that the word you intend is almost always first in the selection list. The Alphabetical layout keeps letters in A to Z order, which will likely seem more familiar at first, but is less efficient because it ends up requiring more presses of the SELECT key. In our experience, getting familiar with the Optimized layout does not take long, and the increased efficiency is well worth it.

Optimized Layout

The default layout — the Optimized layout — groups letters to maximize prediction accuracy. Common letters are distributed across keys so that ambiguous key sequences produce fewer “collisions”: cases where the second word in the list is almost as likely as the first, making it more likely that you will need to press the SELECT key more than once. The result is that in the vast majority of cases, SELECT only needs to be pressed once. Though the Optimized layout may look unusual at first sight, it is easy to learn, and the gain in efficiency is well worth the short time it takes to become familiar with it.

Key	Letters
NW	G E M Z @ /
N	UnDo/Delete
NE	T R - ’ P #
W	I S . K W 1–5 _
E	L U F C Y
SW	B A N Q 6–0 +
S	SELECT
SE	O J V H D X

The period is on the ISKW key, the hyphen, apostrophe and # on the TRP key, and @ and / on the GEMZ key, so common punctuation can be typed without leaving the MAIN page. In the default placement, the SYMBOLS, FUNCTIONS and NAVIGATE pages open from the list-functions on the TRP, LUFCY and OJVHDX keys, the NE, E and SE keys.

The Select / UnDo key placement setting (Keyboard Setup) can instead put UnDo on the W key and SELECT on the E key, in case those keys are easier for you to press than the N and S keys. The N and W keys swap, as do the S and E keys, on every page except the EDIT MODE cursor page, SEARCH MODE and the Keyboard Settings pages: the six letter groups take the NW, N and NE keys (GEMZ, ISKW, TRP) and the SW, S and SE keys (BANQ, LUFCY, OJVHDX), the SYM, FNS and NAV list-functions are on the SW, S and SE keys, and on other pages the back and next-page keys sit where UnDo and SELECT do.

Alphabetical Layout

An alternative layout arranges letters in alphabetical order, proceeding down the left column of keys and then down the right column (with the default UnDo-on-top placement). This may feel easier at first for someone who is still learning the alphabet, but the Optimized layout is ultimately more efficient, and is worth learning as soon as possible.

Key	Letters
0 (top-left)	A B C D ’
2 (top-right)	N O P Q R
3 (left)	E F - G H
4 (right)	S T U .
5 (bottom-left)	I J K L M
7 (bottom-right)	V W X Y Z

You can switch between layouts in Settings › Keyboard Setup › Letter layout.

Input Methods

JustType offers several ways to activate the eight keys, and each input method has its own settings. Choose one adaptive input method — head tracking, a joystick, a mouse joystick, single-switch scanning, or two-switch selection. Touch can work alongside it: Direct Selection or Directional Selection (one or the other), and a Touchscreen Switch.

Head Tracking (via HeadBoard)

With typical head-tracking, you steer an on-screen cursor by moving your head. JustType divides the space around the keyboard center into eight directional zones, one for each key. You won’t see a cursor because you don’t need it: moving your head in the direction of a key highlights it; as soon as the key turns pale green, it is armed, and moving your head back toward the center activates it. Then you can move to the next key. If you see the wrong key turn pale green, it will virtually always be the key next to the one you meant — just move onto the correct key BEFORE you move back to the center, and ONLY the intended key will activate. And if the wrong key is activated anyway, one activation of the UnDo key takes it back.

Head tracking requires the companion app HeadBoard (based on Google’s Project Gameface), which uses the device’s front-facing camera to track head movement and send coordinates to JustType.

Setup parameters include the resting, active and exit zones, activation threshold, aim tolerance, exit delay, restart timer, vertical sensitivity, responsiveness and corner weighting — all adjustable on the Head Tracking settings pages to match your range of motion. Moving up into the exit zone leaves the keyboard for the text; moving right pauses head tracking and moving left resumes it. If HeadBoard stops sending for a while, JustType switches to Direct Selection until it comes back.

Joystick / Gamepad

A physical joystick or gamepad connected via Bluetooth or USB. You move the joystick toward one of the eight compass points, which match the eight key positions. Pushing into a key’s active zone arms it (the key turns pale green); letting the stick come back activates it. As with head tracking, if the wrong key arms, slide “sideways” onto the neighboring key before releasing back to the center and only that key activates; the Correction gesture beep and Correction gesture - canceled key flashes red settings under Head Tracking apply here too. The Joystick settings cover the resting zone, active zone and corner weighting, and a choice of one device or any joystick; a gamepad’s D-pad types the key in that direction at once.

Mouse Joystick

A mouse or trackpad acts as a virtual joystick. Moving the pointer away from the resting center toward a key arms it (the key turns pale green); moving back toward the center activates it. If the wrong key arms, slide onto the neighboring key before coming back and only that key activates, as with head tracking. The Mouse Joystick has its own setup page with tuning presets (Light touch, Standard, Firm push) plus resting zone, active zone, corner weighting, movement needed, and exit and reengage delays. Since most wheelchair controller joysticks have a mouse (computer control) mode, this makes JustType compatible “out of the box” with most of them.

Single-Switch Scanning

JustType highlights the keys one at a time, on a layout made for scanning, and you press a single switch to activate the highlighted key. With only eight keys, a simple linear scan can be far more efficient than the row-column scanning needed for a large keyboard. The scan order is SELECT first, then the letter keys, then UnDo, and the keys are laid out in that order. The switch can be external hardware, the on-screen switch bar, or a HeadBoard head-movement or facial-gesture switch. The Single Switch settings cover the scan speed, an extra delay on the first key, debounce, auto-repeat, how many times the scan repeats, a beep at each step, and whether to skip keys that have no valid letters left.

The Scanning layout key size setting shows the keys either in two rows of four (larger, more readable keys) or in one row of eight (more screen space for the text).

Selecting a word. When the scan reaches SELECT and you press the switch, the first word in the selection list is selected — a manual SELECT. To reach a word lower in the list there are three ways, from fastest to slowest:

• Hold the switch (with Key activation auto-repeat mode ON): SELECT repeats while the switch stays closed, stepping down the list; release the switch when your word or its block is reached.
• Press twice (with Select key triggers automatic selection list scan ON): the press on SELECT starts an automatic scan of the list, one word at each scan step and then, with Pages of six, one page block of six words at each step; press the switch again when your word or its block is reached, and the keys are scanned again, a block’s words among them. This takes two switch closures for a word, three for a word in a block.
• One manual SELECT per word, each time the scan comes around to SELECT — for someone who can manage neither the timing of a release nor of a second press.

With Pages of six, a SELECT past the first listed words, by any of these ways, puts the next page block of six words on the letter keys, and the scan of the keys then reaches its words; with One column, each SELECT moves one word down the list.

In every case a miss is fixed with another activation: UnDo steps back up the list (a whole automatic list scan at once), and SELECT steps further down or, after an automatic list scan, does what Auto-scan select restart action says. With Speak each selected word (Input Methods) ON every word is spoken as it is selected — including each step of an automatic list scan and each auto-repeat — so the list can be followed by ear; Speak each scanned key on the Single Switch page names each key as the scan reaches it.

Two-Switch Selection

Two switches — conventionally colored red and green — can be used to select any key with exactly three switch presses, and without any timing requirements on when a switch is pressed. At the start, half the keys are highlighted red and the other half green. All that is needed is to look at the key you want and press the switch that matches the highlighting color on the key. Doing that three times — each time, watching what color the key changes to — activates the key. With only a little practice, you can learn the pattern for each key (e.g. red-green-red) and become faster and faster. Switches can be external hardware or the two halves of the on-screen switch bar if no hardware is available: the left half acts as the Green switch and the right half as the Red switch. An optional reset delay clears a half-finished sequence, and holding a switch can repeat the switch press until the key is activated, and then repeat the key (see the Two Switch settings).

A frank note on spoken feedback: Two-Switch Selection does not yet have a good spoken-feedback design for someone who cannot see the key colors. The third press is the activation, so unlike scanning there is no moment at which the key about to be taken can be spoken first; the spoken feedback settings only confirm a key after the fact. Someone who cannot see the screen well and has another viable input method — Single-Switch Scanning with Speak each scanned key, for instance — will likely be better off with it.

Direct Selection (Touch)

You tap keys directly on the touchscreen. Direct Selection can be used together with an adaptive input method that does not need the screen to be touched. Its settings cover debounce, and auto-repeat for the movement and scroll keys of the SYSTEM NAV keyboard and the cursor arrows of EDIT MODE when you hold them. Direct Selection is on by default and turns off when you turn on Directional Selection.

Directional Selection (Swipe)

The eight keys sit at the eight points of a compass (the center of the compass is the center of the keyboard, and the top of the screen is “North”). You swipe — anywhere on the screen — in the compass direction of the key you want. A swipe toward the “Northeast” activates the upper-right key, a swipe straight down activates the bottom-center key (SELECT, in the default placement; with UnDo left and SELECT right, swipe right for SELECT), and so on. The settings cover the minimum swipe length and debounce; any swipe longer than the minimum counts.

Touchscreen Switch

An on-screen switch bar for someone who wants to use switches but does not have external switch hardware. It follows the input method in use: with Single-Switch Scanning the whole bar is one switch; with Two-Switch Selection the left half is the Green switch and the right half the Red switch. Its height, opacity and whether it floats over the app are adjustable in the Touchscreen Switch settings.

Navigation Mode

Beyond typing, JustType can drive the whole device. Navigation Mode shows a small floating keyboard — the same eight-key grid — on top of any app: arrow keys move focus, and other keys perform actions such as tapping, scrolling, dragging, and Back. It accepts the same input methods as the typing keyboard (except Mouse Joystick), so your selection technique carries over to controlling the rest of the device. See System Navigation for its pages.

Navigation Mode runs as an accessibility service, so it requires both enabling the JustType Navigation accessibility service in Android’s Settings app and granting the “display over other apps” permission. Joystick input on the Navigation keyboard requires Android 14 or newer.

Setting it up (first time):

• Open Navigation mode in System Settings (or press SYSTEM NAV MODE on NAVIGATE 1 once it is set up). The setup screen shows two status lines: the accessibility service and the overlay permission.
• Select Open accessibility settings and turn on the JustType Navigation service (Android will warn that the service can observe your actions — that is what lets it move focus and tap for you).
• Back in the setup screen, turn on Enable navigation mode.
• Select Show overlay now — if the “display over other apps” permission is missing, this first takes you to Android’s grant page for JustType; then the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard appears on top of whatever app is open.

The SYSTEM NAV keyboard can be minimized to a small movable button; select the button to bring it back. If touch input ever gets stuck, press volume-down three times quickly: the SYSTEM NAV keyboard shrinks to its button and gives touch back to the screen. On a JustType installed from a downloaded file, Android first shows a “Restricted setting” block; the setup screen walks you through it.

Word Prediction and the Selection List

When you type an ambiguous key sequence, JustType looks up the matching words in its dictionary and produces a ranked list of candidate words. The top candidate is automatically shown in the text field.

• SELECT steps through the candidates. With the usual Pages of six list layout, after the first two it shows the next six words on the letter keys and you press the key showing your word; One column steps one word at a time. With nothing typed, SELECT opens pages of likely next words, and with an empty list it loads the word the cursor touches so you can change it (see Editing existing text).
• Once you have selected the word you want (usually with the first press of SELECT), that word becomes finalized as soon as you start typing a new word, type punctuation, or take another action. The word already in the text field stays there.
• Alternate case forms (for example, capitalized forms), when Automatically add capitalized word forms to selection list is on, can also be chosen from the selection list, which can be simpler than remembering to use SHIFT.
• Family expansion forms (other forms of a longer word), when Family expansion is on in Language Options, appear in blue after you pause on a selected long word (English and Spanish), and can be chosen from the list, which can save keystrokes.

Abbreviations and Phrases

An Abbreviated phrase is a phrase you save under a short abbreviation; typing the abbreviation offers the whole phrase. For example, typing “ADDR” could offer a full mailing address. Add, replace or delete Abbreviated phrases with ADD PHRASE on NAVIGATE 2 (see Phrase entry): give an existing abbreviation a new phrase to replace it, or an empty phrase to delete it. The phrase is spoken when both PERSONAL VOICE is on and Speak each Abbreviated phrase is on. If they are, then once a phrase is selected it can be spoken automatically after the Auto-speak delay (1.5 seconds by default) or sooner if you type the next key. Keyboard Setup › Selection List controls whether phrases appear in the list and how they are shown. All phrases are Abbreviated phrases: the function keys say PHRASE for short, and the manual says Abbreviated phrase for clarity.

Dictionary Abbreviations

The JustType dictionary includes common abbreviations (Mr., Dr., and so on) with proper period handling. After a title such as Mr. or Dr., JustType inserts a space and capitalizes the next word (a name); after other abbreviations the usual sentence rules apply.

URL Domains and Extensions

The dictionary includes common URL domains (gmail.com, google.com, and so on) and extensions (.com, .org, .pdf, and so on). These entries automatically leave out spaces where they would not be wanted, making it easier to type web and email addresses.

Editing existing text

Everything above is about typing new words. Editing is about words that are already in the text, and it turns on one question: what should happen when the cursor arrives at an existing word — by a tap on the text, a tap made through SYSTEM NAV, the arrows of EDIT MODE, or a jump to a bookmark? JustType has one answer for each of two settings of Auto-load word at cursor, and everything else follows from it.

Where the cursor sits matters. A cursor can be inside a word (between two of its letters), right after its last letter, or just before its first letter. Just before a word counts as outside it: that spot is kept free so placing the cursor there lets you insert a new word in front of an existing one without disturbing it, and an automatic space keeps the two apart. Right after a word is also treated as outside for anything automatic, so you can put the cursor there and go on typing the next word — it simply appears after an automatic space.

With Auto-load ON (the default), a cursor that arrives inside a word loads that word onto the keys: the Selection list shows it and its alternatives, so you can switch to a different word, lengthen it with more letters, or shorten it with the UnDo / DELETE key, exactly as if you had just typed it: the key reads DELETE, and each press takes back one keystroke. The load itself is not something this key reverses — leave the word alone and it stays as it was. Putting the cursor back where it came from is UnDo EDIT’s job, so with Auto-load on you may need EDIT MODE where Auto-load off would have needed one UnDo. A cursor that arrives right after a word loads nothing; the UnDo key offers RELOAD WORD, and a press loads the word on request.

With Auto-load OFF, nothing is ever loaded on its own. A tap into a word leaves the cursor there with an empty Selection list. One press of UnDo returns the cursor to where it was. To work on the word, press SELECT with nothing typed: it loads the word the cursor is in, and from then on it is an ordinary word showing the keys that type it — the UnDo / DELETE key is labeled DELETE and takes back its last keystroke, as it would for a word you had just typed. SELECT’s face tells you when this is what will happen: it's labeled RELOAD WORD when a press would load the word at the cursor, and SELECT otherwise. Only one key is labeled RELOAD WORD at a time: right after a word it is the UnDo key, while SELECT works on the words predicted to follow, or is dimmed when there are none.

Outside a word, the keyboard is ready for the next one. In both settings, wherever the cursor lands outside a word — at the start of a sentence or a line, just before a word, or right after one — the keys and the Selection list are ready for whatever word you want to type there: at a sentence’s start SHIFT is on, as Auto-Capitalization would set it, and the list offers likely words to start a sentence; after a word it offers the words likely to follow it. Inside a word nothing is predicted: with Auto-load ON the list shows the loaded word, and with it OFF the list stays empty until SELECT loads it.

Loading takes the whole word. However a word is loaded — automatically, by SELECT, or by RELOAD WORD — the whole word comes onto the keys, not just the part before the cursor, and the Selection list is built around it as it was typed.

Highlighted blocks are never loaded. A block highlighted in EDIT MODE comes back to MAIN as it is; the first word you type replaces it. For anything more than replacing a word — moving text, cutting and pasting, changing case, deleting by word, searching — use EDIT MODE.

Auto-Spacing

JustType automatically inserts spaces between words, so you almost never need to type a space yourself during normal text entry. Just type what you want, and the spacing will almost always be handled correctly. Auto-spacing includes several smart behaviors:

• Standard words: A space is added before each new word.
• Punctuation: No space is inserted before . , ! ? : ; ) or an apostrophe, but a space follows where needed.
• Inside existing text: A word, phrase or predicted word that goes in between words already written gets exactly one space on each side: a space is added only where none is there already, never two, and none before a mark that belongs to the word, such as a period, a comma, or a closing bracket or quote. One of the marks . , ! ? : ; ) typed after the space that follows a word goes right after the word, and the space is put after the mark. The bottom line? Spaces pretty much take care of themselves. See Editing existing text.
• Abbreviations: A space is inserted after abbreviation periods (for example “Mr. Jones”, not “Mr.Jones”).
• Web address, email and similar fields: Auto-spacing is turned off entirely in web address, email, password, phone, number, date/time and filter fields (phone and number fields also open 123 NUMBER MODE by themselves).
• LETTER / SYMBOL MODE and numbers: Everything typed in one visit to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE — letters, numbers and symbols alike — goes in as one piece: it gets a space before it and after it where none is there already (never inside a word, and none before a mark that belongs to the word before it), and no spaces between its letters, numbers and symbols. A number typed in 123 NUMBER MODE goes in the same way. Deleting the piece back to nothing takes its spaces out again.
• Domains and extensions: No space is added before domain and extension entries, so you can build a web address in one go.

Auto-Capitalization

JustType automatically capitalizes the first letter of a new sentence, the first word in a field and the first word on a new line; but not in a web address, email, password, phone, number, date/time or filter field. Sentence boundaries are detected intelligently. For words that are sometimes capitalized and sometimes not (for example “my friend Bill...” or “pay the bill...”), JustType remembers the form you use most and lists it first; turn on Automatically add capitalized word forms to selection list to see both forms in the list. To capitalize a word yourself, use SHIFT.

Personal voice and Spoken feedback

JustType can speak text automatically as you type it, or when you ask it to — to speak for you, or to give you spoken feedback if you have difficulty seeing the screen. Two voices are used: your personal voice speaks what you write, and the UI feedback voice speaks to you (key names, prompts, the words you select); each has its own ON/OFF switch, volume and rate, on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page and in Settings. Nothing typed is ever spoken in a password field. Personal voice options (under Personal voice in Settings) include:

• Speak output word (OFF by default) — each word is spoken when it is finalized, or earlier when the Auto-speak delay runs out (words that are still only candidates are not spoken)
• Speak each Abbreviated phrase (ON by default) — a selected phrase is entered and spoken when you type the next key, or when the Auto-speak delay runs out
• Speak output sentence (ON by default) — each sentence is spoken as soon as you end it with . ! or ?, however you type the mark (a period after an abbreviation such as Mr. does not count)
• Speak punctuation names (OFF by default) — each punctuation character you type is spoken by name (needs Speak output word)
• Auto-speak delay (1.5 seconds by default; OFF to 5 seconds) — how long JustType waits before automatically speaking a selected word or phrase (and, for a phrase, entering it in the text). This lets you hear a word spoken without having to start typing the next one.

Vocabulary Management

Each typing language ships with a built-in dictionary with frequency data — about 60,000 words for English. You, or a teacher or clinician, can:

• Add Custom words directly from the keyboard (ADD CUSTOM WORD on NAVIGATE 2); the way you use words is also learned
• Choose vocabulary sources — which sources JustType predicts from: the JustType dictionary, your Custom words, your Abbreviated phrases and any vocabulary modules (see Vocabulary Sources)
• Adjust frequency thresholds — control which words appear in predictions and next-letter hints (see Limit Uncommon Words)
• Turn on accented next-letter hints — to support learning to spell specific words in selected vocabulary modules (see Accented Next-Letter Hints)

Part II — The keyboard, page by page

JustType is eight keys, and everything a full keyboard can do is reached by moving between pages: each page puts eight different functions on the same eight keys, worked by the same input method you type with (How keyboard pages and page keys work). This part describes every page and every key, in the words you see on the keys. The same text is what Function Help Mode (Part IV) shows on the keyboard: with it on, pressing a key explains the key instead of doing what it does.

Naming the keys by direction

The eight keys sit around the empty center square like the points of a compass, and this manual names each key by its direction from the center: the NW key (top left), the N key (top center), the NE key (top right), the W key (middle left), the E key (middle right), the SW key (bottom left), the S key (bottom center) and the SE key (bottom right). A key keeps its direction on every page, whatever its face says. The directions assume the default UnDo on top, Select on bottom; with UnDo on left, Select on right, the N and W keys swap places, as do the S and E keys, on every page except the EDIT MODE cursor page, SEARCH MODE and Keyboard Settings.

The directions are also how several input methods choose a key: with Directional Selection, a touchscreen method, a swipe toward the north-east presses the NE key, and with head tracking or a joystick you select a key by moving “toward it” — in the same direction that it lies from the center of the keyboard.

How keyboard pages and page keys work

The middle of the MAIN page shows the word JustType thinks you are typing — when the word you want appears there, you can just press SELECT and go on to type the next word. To reach the other pages, use the list-functions on three of the letter keys — SYM, FNS and NAV — which appear whenever JustType is ready for the first key of a new word. When you go to other pages, the center square shows the name of the page you are on. Most of these pages keep the same two keys in the middle column: the top-middle key is BACK TO MAIN, which always returns to the MAIN page, and the bottom-middle key goes to the next page of the group, going round from the last page back to the first. On pages opened from other pages, that key is BACK to that previous page. If SELECT and UnDo are placed left and right in Settings, these two keys move to the left and right keys as well.

Some pages, such as FUNCTIONS 1 and SYMBOLS 1, contain keys that perform one action and then automatically return to MAIN, for example CAPS LOCK, SHIFT or the period key. Such keys are seldom repeated, and this saves you from having to press BACK TO MAIN. Keys you are likely to press several times in a row, such as DELETE CHAR on FUNCTIONS 2, stay on their page until you press BACK TO MAIN. When you go back to FUNCTIONS 1 from FUNCTIONS 2, the automatic return to MAIN is turned off.

The MAIN page

The MAIN page is where words are typed. Six keys carry letters; the other two are SELECT and UnDo, which sit in the middle column by default. SELECT and UnDo tend to be used frequently, and they can be moved to the side keys in Settings (Select / UnDo key placement, UnDo on left, Select on right) if the side keys are easier to press. The letters then fill the top and bottom rows, and when the BACK TO MAIN and next-page keys on other pages are in these same top-and-bottom positions, they move along with UnDo and SELECT.

The UnDo key changes its label to show what it will do when you press it:

• DELETE: While you are typing a word, the key takes back your last letter key press — removing a keystroke is a deletion, so the face says so. It reads DELETE as well when a character will be deleted from the text at the cursor.
• UnDo: Although not perfect, the key will try to make it as easy as possible to correct whatever your last press did. After a SELECT, it takes the SELECT back by stepping backward up the list. With nothing typed, it reverses your last key press as a whole: if, for example, you just typed a period and following space from the SYMBOLS 1 page, it will delete the period and the space and automatically take you back to SYMBOLS 1 so you can type different punctuation or just cancel and go BACK TO MAIN.
• RELOAD WORD: When the cursor is touching a word in the text field, it loads that word back into the selection list, so you can choose a different word, add letters, or remove letters with DELETE.
• DELETE & RELOAD WORD: When a single character stands between the cursor and a word, and Auto-load word at cursor (Keyboard setup › selection list) is ON, one press deletes that character and loads the word. When that setting is OFF, the key reads DELETE instead, and a second press (now reading RELOAD WORD) loads the word.

Letter Key

Each letter key on the MAIN page carries several letters. Press the key that holds the letter you want and keep going — “just type!” Some letter keys also show digits or punctuation; when typing a word with a digit or punctuation character, just press the key that shows it. JustType works out the word from the whole sequence and shows the best matches in the selection list. You never have to stop to choose a specific letter while typing a word — JustType searches through the words that it “knows” and figures out which one you are typing. When you need a word that JustType doesn’t know yet, such as a new name, use ADD CUSTOM WORD (on NAVIGATE 2) to teach it. If you only need the word once, use LETTER / SYMBOL MODE (from NAVIGATE 1) and JustType won’t “remember” it.

When you are typing words on the MAIN page, the letter keys can show next-letter hints (when Next-letter hints is ON in Keyboard setup › Appearance): the letters that could come next in a known word are drawn boldly, the others fade. So if the next letter you want to type is NOT bold, then either there was a typing error to fix, or this word is not in the dictionary yet (you can add it as a Custom word).

Letter Key with List-Function

When you have finished typing a word and press SELECT, you are ready to start typing the next word. When JustType is ready for the first key of a word, three of the letter keys show a small keyboard picture with a label under it: SYM (Symbols), FNS (Functions) and NAV (Navigation). Pressing one of those keys fills the selection list with pictures of that group’s keyboard pages; pressing SELECT at that point opens the first page of that group (the next-page key reaches its other pages), and leaves the MAIN page until you return. If instead of SELECT you just type another letter key, that becomes the second letter of whatever word you are typing. Soon you won’t even notice the list of keyboard pages — but whenever you need a different keyboard, it is right there.

When you do jump to a different page, the middle of the keyboard shows the name of the page you are on, and the page keys work as described under How keyboard pages and page keys work above.

SELECT

After typing one or more letter keys, pressing SELECT highlights the word shown at the top of the selection list. At the beginning of a sentence, before you type any letter key, the predicted words are always shown as pages: the first SELECT shows six predicted words on the letter keys, and you press the key showing your word. With List layout set to Pages of six (the usual setting), the first SELECT presses step through the top words one at a time (Words before the first page, normally 2); after that, each SELECT shows the next six words on the six letter keys, so you can press a key to select that specific word, or UnDo to go back. With One column, each SELECT moves down the list one word. After you SELECT a word, pressing a letter key to begin the next word automatically adds a space first.

With nothing typed and an empty list, SELECT loads the word the cursor is in onto the keys, so an existing word can be changed like you had just typed it; this is the way to load a word when Auto-load word at cursor is off (see Editing existing text). The key says so: when a press would load a word, its face reads RELOAD WORD instead of SELECT. With the cursor placed after a word the UnDo / DELETE key offers the load instead (it's labeled RELOAD WORD or DELETE & RELOAD WORD) and SELECT can choose from the words predicted to follow; when there are none, SELECT is dimmed, having nothing else to do, and a press gives the error beep.

In addition to selecting words from the selection list, the SELECT key can also select different keyboards: before starting to type a new word, three of the letter keys are marked with a small keyboard icon (labeled SYM, FNS, or NAV). Pressing one of these keys as the first key of a typing sequence puts pictures of that group’s pages (Symbols, Functions or Navigation) in the selection list, and pressing SELECT opens the first of them.

UnDo / DELETE

Takes back your last step, one press at a time, so a wrong key costs you one extra press. The key’s face always says what the next press will do:

• DELETE, while you are typing a word: removes the last letter key you pressed.
• UnDo, after a SELECT: steps back up the selection list. With nothing typed: reverses your last key press as a whole, the text it entered and the page it opened.
• RELOAD WORD, when the cursor is touching a word already in the text: loads that word back onto the keys so you can change it.
• DELETE & RELOAD WORD, when one character stands between the cursor and a word: deletes it and loads the word.

Anything UnDo reverses can be put back with ReDo EDIT in EDIT MODE.

Why

JustType is built so that you can type with minimal checking: trust the first word, press SELECT, go on. That only works if every mistake is cheap to fix, and this key is the fix: if you press the wrong key, UnDo recovers from it with one press, whether it was a wrong letter, a wrong word in the list, a wrong symbol or a wrong page. One of the principles behind JustType follows from that: you can, if you want, speed up your typing until you occasionally hit a wrong key, because one extra key will usually fix it. The press never does harm either, since ReDo EDIT puts back any text UnDo took. The same key is also the way into a word already in the text: touch it and press RELOAD WORD, and its letters are on the keys as if you had just typed it - so you can change it however you like. The whole strategy for existing words, with Auto-load on and off, is in Editing existing text. How to JustType › Let mistakes be cheap

How it works

What one UnDo reverses. With nothing typed, the last key press as a whole: a symbol with its automatic space, a DELETE WORD, a deleted highlight, a CUT or PASTE, a case change, a SELECT that opened the SYMBOLS or FUNCTIONS pages. After “!” from SYMBOLS 1, one press removes “! ” and re-opens SYMBOLS 1, where the key you meant is one press away. Several presses undo one per press, newest first. A cursor move you made by hand, a tap on the text or a tap made through SYSTEM NAV, is reversed too: one press puts the cursor back, and what you could reverse before the tap is reachable again.

Pages. Only a typing page is re-opened (SYMBOLS, 123 NUMBER MODE, LETTER / SYMBOL MODE), because there the key you meant is one press away; after a FUNCTIONS or EDIT MODE key, UnDo reverses the edit and stays on MAIN. BACK TO MAIN completes a page visit and is never itself reversed, so BACK TO MAIN followed by UnDo reaches the symbol typed on that page. Moving between the FUNCTIONS, NAVIGATE and EDIT MODE pages is never reversed, only the edits made from them.

RELOAD WORD. The cursor is touching a word when it is right after it or anywhere inside it; just before the first letter counts as outside, so a new word can be inserted there without loading the next one. The whole word is loaded, not only the part before the cursor, and it is loaded whether Auto-load word at cursor is on or off: a press of this key is not automatic loading. (Letter-by-letter editing is EDIT WORD SPELLING in EDIT MODE.) When the cursor has been moved away from the last edit, after an EDIT MODE visit, a tap or a jump to a mark, RELOAD WORD wins over UnDo: the word at hand comes first, and the earlier edit stays reversible once that word is dealt with.

DELETE and Auto-load. With one character between the cursor and a word (a space, a full stop): with Auto-load ON the face reads DELETE & RELOAD WORD and one press does both; with Auto-load OFF it reads DELETE, the press deletes only the character, and the next press offers RELOAD WORD. With more than one character before the word, or nothing there, the face reads DELETE and the press deletes one character. With Auto-load ON, a tap into a word loads it and the face reads DELETE: it takes back the word’s keystrokes, as for a word just typed; the load itself is not this key’s to reverse (that tap is UnDo EDIT’s). A tap that lands right after a word loads nothing: the face reads RELOAD WORD, and typing goes on after an automatic space.

What this key never does. It never takes a sealed word back whole: edit it again with RELOAD WORD, or reverse it as a block with UnDo EDIT in EDIT MODE. Cursor runs made in EDIT MODE belong to UnDo EDIT and are forgotten when you leave. A change to the text that JustType did not make, by the app you’re typing into or by another keyboard, ends what UnDo can reverse: after that it deletes characters.

ReDo EDIT. Any output text UnDo reversed, or a character this key deleted on its own, can be put back with ReDo EDIT on EDIT ACTIONS 1 in EDIT MODE. Keystrokes deleted while typing a word are not redoable, only changes in the text field.

History. The history survives closing and re-opening the keyboard on the same note, and a detour through another field (a search box, a dialog) and back. JustType tells notes apart by their text: a note you come back to with its text as you left it gets its history back, another note opened in the same app starts clean. The last few histories are kept.

Spoken. With Speak each selected function key on, the key says what it did, “UnDo” or “Delete”, then the keyboard it opened.

Symbols pages

Three pages of common punctuation on SYMBOLS 1 to 3, plus ENTER (NEWLINE) on the first page and SPACE on the second. Each symbol key types its symbol and automatically returns to MAIN, because common punctuation marks are most often used one at a time. But the first page also has a TYPE REPEATED SYMBOLS key, which turns off the automatic return and lets you type as many symbols as you want before you press BACK TO MAIN. Page 3 has a jump to ALL SYMBOLS MODE, which opens a browsable tree of every symbol: punctuation, quotes, currency, math, fractions, arrows, shapes, science signs and more (accented letters are in TWO-KEY SPELLING). Keys descend into a group, page through it, or go back up; a symbol key inserts that symbol exactly as shown. These symbols are rarely used, so you will automatically return to the MAIN page unless you first press TYPE REPEATED SYMBOLS.

JustType spaces most punctuation for you; after . ! or ? the next word starts with a capital letter and, if speech is on, the sentence is spoken.

ENTER

There are two ENTER keys, both on the W key of their pages, and they are slightly different. ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1 works like the Enter key on a full keyboard: in a field with an action of its own it performs that action (search, send, go, next), so on a web page it tells the page you have finished with the field; in other fields, such as a note, it starts a new line. ENTER (NEWLINE) on SYMBOLS 1 only ever starts a new line and never performs the field’s action: so you can use it for a line break inside a message, or to give an Abbreviated phrase several lines (an address, say) while you type it on the phrase screen.

How it works

• Both automatically return to MAIN, like the other keys of their pages, except ENTER when you came back to FUNCTIONS 1 from FUNCTIONS 2. ENTER (NEWLINE) is also on REPEATED SYMBOLS 1, where it stays on the page.
• On the screens where you type a phrase, a password or a search text, ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1 is what finishes the field and moves on.
• Extra blank line on Enter makes ENTER’s new line a blank line; ENTER (NEWLINE) always inserts a single line break.
• A field that holds a single line may ignore a line break.

SYMBOLS 2

Opens SYMBOLS 2, the second page of symbols.

Symbol key (Symbols pages)

Types the symbol shown, with the usual spacing rules for that symbol, and returns to the page you came from (MAIN, or LETTER / SYMBOL MODE) unless you are on the REPEATED SYMBOLS pages.

TYPE REPEATED SYMBOLS

Opens the REPEATED SYMBOLS pages: the same symbols, but you stay on the page after each one so you can type several in a row (an ellipsis, a smiley, a URL); ALL SYMBOLS MODE is on pages 1 and 3. Press BACK TO MAIN when done.

<SPACE>

Types one space. You rarely need it: JustType adds spaces between words for you.

SYMBOLS 3

Opens SYMBOLS 3, the third page of symbols.

ALL SYMBOLS MODE

Opens a browsable tree of every symbol in groups: punctuation, quotes, currency, math, fractions, arrows, shapes, science signs and more. Pick a group, then a symbol; the bottom key shows more pages of the group and the top key goes back up (BACK at the top level returns to the SYMBOLS page you came from). After one symbol you return to MAIN, or to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE if you came from there; if you came from REPEATED SYMBOLS you stay, back at the top of the tree.

SYMBOLS 1

On SYMBOLS 3: goes back to SYMBOLS 1. BACK TO MAIN (BACK, if you came from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE) is in the same place on all three pages.

REPEATED SYMBOLS 2

Opens REPEATED SYMBOLS 2.

REPEATED SYMBOLS 3

Opens REPEATED SYMBOLS 3.

REPEATED SYMBOLS 1

On REPEATED SYMBOLS 3: goes back to REPEATED SYMBOLS 1. BACK TO MAIN (BACK, if you came from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE) is in the same place on all three pages.

Letter / Symbol Mode

The page where JustType works at the character level rather than the word level of the MAIN page: here you type and delete individual characters, so it is the page for things that are not “words” in JustType’s dictionary: a spelling JustType does not know, a symbol, a number — literally any string of characters you might want to type. It also has arrow keys that move the cursor left and right one character at a time, in case you need to insert or delete a character somewhere; moving the cursor here never loads a word onto the keys, whatever Auto-load word at cursor says, and under Direct Selection’s Auto-repeat key activation holding an arrow repeats it. Everything typed in one visit goes in as one piece: it gets a space before and after if there isn’t a space there already (never inside a word, and none before punctuation such as . or , that belongs to the word before it), but Auto-spacing adds none between its letters, numbers and symbols (type any other spaces yourself). Deleting the piece back to nothing takes its spaces out again. The page also has 123 NUMBER MODE and BACK TO MAIN.

!.? SYMBOL MODE

Opens the usual SYMBOLS pages from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE; symbols join the rest of what you type there with no automatic spaces between them, and BACK returns you to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE.

Three pages of common punctuation on SYMBOLS 1 to 3, plus ENTER (NEWLINE) on the first page and SPACE on the second. Each symbol key types its symbol and automatically returns to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, because common punctuation marks are most often used one at a time. But the first page also has a TYPE REPEATED SYMBOLS key, which turns off the automatic return and lets you type as many symbols as you want before you press BACK and return to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. Page 3 has a jump to ALL SYMBOLS MODE, which opens a browsable tree of every symbol: punctuation, quotes, currency, math, fractions, arrows, shapes, science signs and more. Keys descend into a group, page through it, or go back up; a symbol key inserts that symbol exactly as shown. These symbols are rarely used, so you will automatically return to the LETTER / SYMBOL MODE page unless you first press TYPE REPEATED SYMBOLS.

DELETE (Letter / Symbol Mode)

Deletes the character to the left of the cursor, one for each press, with no limit: it goes on past where you started typing on this page, and if text is highlighted the press deletes the highlight instead. LETTER / SYMBOL MODE works at the character level, so this key never takes back a key press, never loads a word onto the keys and never re-opens a page; that is the MAIN page’s UnDo / DELETE. A page for exact strings of characters needs a plain backspace, and this is it.

Why

On MAIN a mistake is a wrong key press, and UnDo reverses presses; here a mistake is a wrong character, so the key deletes characters, and nothing else, however far back you go. What it deletes is never lost, because UnDo on MAIN can still put it back. How to JustType › Let mistakes be cheap

How it works

• The key sits where UnDo sits on MAIN and does the same thing as DELETE CHAR on FUNCTIONS 2; it stays on the page, so you can press it repeatedly.
• Back on MAIN, UnDo reverses the press and re-opens LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, since on a typing page the key you meant is one press away; ReDo EDIT re-applies the deletion.
• In TWO-KEY SPELLING opened from this page, DELETE is the same character-level backspace.

TWO-KEY SPELLING

Enters TWO-KEY SPELLING. Each letter costs two key presses (though some will require three). First press the key that shows the letter (along with the other letters on the key); the keyboard then spreads that key’s letters over the eight keys, one per key. Press the one you want. Accented forms of the letter (á, ä, ầ and so on — those of your typing language, or more under Include diacritic letters in TWO-KEY SPELLING) appear on spare keys of the second page when there is room; otherwise a key there opens a third page of them. Digits take three presses: the key that shows 15_ or 60+, then the key with those digits, then the digits spread out. DELETE removes the last letter you spelled under ADD CUSTOM WORD or ADD PHRASE (and stops at the first); from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE it is an ordinary backspace that edits the field character by character, back as far as you want to go: LETTER / SYMBOL MODE works at the character level. DONE finishes: under ADD CUSTOM WORD it saves the word, adds a space and returns to MAIN; from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE it returns there. A word spelled from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE is typed but not added to your vocabulary, even one JustType does not know — use ADD CUSTOM WORD from NAVIGATE 2 to add it.

← (one character left)

Moves the text cursor one character to the left, so you can fix a letter in the middle of what you are typing.

→ (one character right)

Moves the text cursor one character to the right, so you can fix a letter in the middle of what you are typing.

TWO-KEY SPELLING

TWO-KEY SPELLING enables you to type exactly the letters you want to type, even to form a “word” that JustType doesn’t know. Each letter requires two key presses (though a few will require three). First press the key that shows the letter (along with the other letters on the key); the keyboard then spreads that key’s letters over all six letter keys, one per key. Press the one you want. Accented forms of the letter (á, ä, ầ and so on — those of your typing language, or more under Include diacritic letters in TWO-KEY SPELLING) appear on spare keys of the second page when there is room; otherwise a key there opens a third page of them. Digits take three presses: the key that shows 15_ or 60+, then the key with those digits, then the digit. DELETE removes the last letter you spelled under ADD CUSTOM WORD or ADD PHRASE (and stops at the first); from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE it is an ordinary backspace that keeps deleting characters one at a time, back past where you began spelling. LETTER / SYMBOL MODE always works at the character level; MAIN works at the word level. DONE finishes: under ADD CUSTOM WORD it saves the word, adds a space and returns to MAIN; from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE it returns there. A word spelled from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE is typed but not added to your vocabulary, even one JustType does not know — use ADD CUSTOM WORD from NAVIGATE 2 to add a new word to JustType.

DELETE (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Under ADD CUSTOM WORD or ADD PHRASE, removes the last letter you spelled and stops at the first. From LETTER / SYMBOL MODE or EDIT WORD SPELLING it deletes the character to the left of the cursor, whatever it is — these work at the character level.

DONE (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Finishes the spelling. Under ADD CUSTOM WORD it saves the word, adds a space and returns to MAIN; from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE it returns there.

Letter group key (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Press the key that shows the letter you want; the next page spreads that key’s letters out, one per key, so you can choose the exact letter you want.

Accented letter key (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Types this accented form of the letter.

(CANCEL) (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Returns to the letter-group page without typing a letter.

Letter key (TWO-KEY SPELLING pick)

Each letter key carries several letters, so typing a specific letter from a key costs two key presses (though some will require three). The first press is on the key that shows the letter you want (along with the other letters on the key); the keyboard then spreads that key’s letters over the other keys, one per key, so you can press the specific one you want.

SHIFT (TWO-KEY SPELLING)

Capitalizes the next letter you choose from that page, then switches itself off. Press it again before spelling a letter (it now reads CAPS LOCK ON) and caps lock will stay on: every letter you spell is a capital until you press it once more, CAPS LOCK OFF. The face always reads what the next press will do. It is how a name or an acronym spelled letter by letter gets its capitals.

Why

Spelling is for what the dictionary does not have, names and acronyms above all, and those need capitals in particular places. One press before a letter gives that letter its capital; two presses give every letter one until you turn it off, and you spell the word as you would any other, under ADD CUSTOM WORD as well as from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• Three states in a cycle: off → SHIFT (the next letter only) → CAPS LOCK ON → off. The face shows the next state: SHIFT when nothing is set, CAPS LOCK ON while a one-letter shift is waiting, CAPS LOCK OFF while caps lock is on.
• The key is on the pages that spread a group’s letters out, one per key, and on their accented-letter and digit pages, in the position DONE has on the letter-group page (bottom center by default); the letter-group page itself has no SHIFT. The letters on those keys are shown as capitals while SHIFT or CAPS LOCK is set, so you see what you will get.
• A one-letter shift is used up by the next letter spelled, accented or not. Caps lock stays on until you press the key again.
• Caps lock here is the same caps lock as CAPS LOCK ON / OFF on FUNCTIONS 1; SHIFT there is the equivalent for words typed on MAIN.

123 Number Mode

123 NUMBER MODE is used to enter numbers efficiently.

Open it from NAVIGATE 1 or LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. Two pages of digits: 1 to 5 and 6 to 0, each with DELETE and a key to the other page. DONE, on the 1 to 5 page, finishes the number and returns to typing on the MAIN page (or to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE if you came from there); a space is added before the number and after it where none is there already (from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, the visit as a whole gets these spaces), and deleting the number back to nothing takes them out again. The +-./, key on the 6 to 0 page opens number punctuation: a point, comma and colon, plus keys for currency signs, brackets, # % ° K M or a space, and + - / * = e. Each symbol joins the number and you return to the 6 to 0 page.

To teach JustType a number such as a phone number, use ADD CUSTOM WORD and spell the digits with the 15_ and 60+ keys. Then that number can be typed ambiguously on the MAIN page: type the key that shows a small 15_ for each digit 1 to 5, and the key that shows a small 60+ (or 60.) for each digit 6 to 0. Just type the key that corresponds to each digit of the stored number, and phone numbers and the like will appear in the selection list just like other words.

6 - 0

Opens the 6 to 0 page of 123 NUMBER MODE, which also has number punctuation.

DELETE (Number Mode)

Removes the last digit of the number you are entering; with no number pending it deletes the character before the cursor.

DONE (Number Mode)

Finishes entering the number and returns to MAIN (or to LETTER / SYMBOL MODE if you came from there); normal spacing resumes.

Digit key (Number Mode)

Types the digit shown. The number builds up until you press DONE to leave 123 NUMBER MODE.

+-./, (number punctuation)

Opens the number-punctuation page: a point, comma and colon, plus keys for currency signs, brackets, # % ° K M or a space, and + - / * = e. Each symbol joins the number and you return to the 6 to 0 page.

1 - 5

Opens the 1 to 5 page of 123 NUMBER MODE, which is also where DONE is.

+-/*=e (arithmetic symbols)

Spreads out the symbols shown on the key, one per key, so you can pick the one you want.

CANCEL

Returns to the 6 to 0 page without typing a symbol.

Symbol group key (Number Mode punctuation)

Spreads out the symbols shown on the key, one per key, so you can pick the one you want.

(CANCEL) (Number Mode punctuation)

Returns to the 6 to 0 page without typing a symbol.

Symbol key (Number Mode punctuation)

Adds the symbol to the number, with no space, and returns to the 6 to 0 page.

Function pages

Two pages of functions and typing controls. Page 1 holds functions used once, such as ENTER and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION, and goes back to MAIN after each; it also opens SPEAKING CONTROLS and OPEN NOTE BY NAME. Page 2 holds functions you repeat, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE and FUNCTION HELP MODE, with PRIVACY, which shows the circle that is on and returns to MAIN, and a key that jumps to EDIT MODE. The pages open from the FNS list-function on the MAIN page. BACK TO MAIN is the N key of both pages, and the S key switches between them. When you come back to page 1 from page 2, its functions no longer return to MAIN: press BACK TO MAIN when you are done.

BACK TO MAIN

Returns to the MAIN typing page from any menu page (FUNCTIONS, NAVIGATE, SYMBOLS, SPEAKING CONTROLS, ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, MEDIA, LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, EDIT MODE, the Who is this for? page) and ends whatever special typing mode you might have been in, going back to the usual “ambiguous” typing on the MAIN page. 123 NUMBER MODE and TWO-KEY SPELLING end with DONE instead.

The MAIN page is where words are typed. Six keys carry letters; the other two are SELECT and UnDo / DELETE, which sit in the middle column by default and can be moved to the side keys in Keyboard Setup (Select / UnDo key placement).

CAPS LOCK ON / OFF

Switches between ALL CAPITALS and normal case for everything typed from now on. The key face shows which is active. Returns to MAIN, unless you came back to FUNCTIONS 1 from FUNCTIONS 2.

FUNCTIONS 2

Opens FUNCTIONS 2.

PRIVACY [circle]

Shows which privacy circle is on, PUBLIC or a circle’s name in brackets, and changes it. The press opens the Who is this for? page, where the circle that is on is bracketed; choose PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 or 3 (by name once named) or PUBLIC (PRIVATE HIDDEN), and the choice applies at once; the page also offers RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE, ALWAYS IN THIS APP and CANCEL. Going back to public is the same two presses, PRIVACY then PUBLIC, so the key always says where you are and never changes it without asking. While a circle is on, the center square shows a lock and takes that circle’s color. A circle keeps what you type for one person, and the words JustType learns from it, out of the lists everyone else sees.

Who it is for. Anyone who types for more than one person or purpose on the same device: a carer’s notes and the user’s own messages, work and home, one friend and another.

Why

JustType learns from everything you type and offers it everywhere: a name, a nickname or a private word used once comes back as a prediction in the next app. A circle stops that. Words, phrases and word pairs learned while the circle is on are predicted only while it is on, and the circle’s own custom words and phrases are hidden while it is off. Turn the circle on before the private part of a conversation begins; for text already written, MARK THIS PRIVATE moves it afterwards. Turn it off when you go back to writing for everyone. What a circle is, and what stays private, is in What a privacy circle is. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

Where. The NE key of FUNCTIONS 2. The press returns to MAIN and the chooser page opens from there; its BACK TO MAIN or CANCEL leaves the circle as it was. A circle’s name longer than 10 characters is cut short on the key face; the re-name screen says so. The key is not shown while Enable privacy circles is OFF.

How long a circle stays on. The circle you choose stays on in every app and field until you choose PUBLIC. Turning the screen off, or waking the device, does not change it; when the screen wakes with a circle on, a brief notice names the circle, spoken too when spoken feedback is on, and asks nothing. If the keyboard itself restarts, it starts in public. The rules in full are in Turning a privacy circle on and off.

Contacts. In Google Messages, Gmail and the Phone app, with the JustType Navigation service on, a choice made while a conversation is open is remembered for that person only, PUBLIC included, and JustType says so; the circle you had on elsewhere is unchanged. When that person already has a circle and you choose another, JustType asks first, “Apply <circle> to <name>?”: NO keeps the person’s circle. See Private contacts.

Places and marked notes. Some fields switch by themselves while you are in them and switch back when you leave: a note you have marked private and an app you have made a private place. Inside a private place, choosing PUBLIC makes the current field public and JustType tells you how to remove the place. When a marked note and a private place disagree about a field, JustType keeps the mode you set and tells you.

SHIFT

Capitalizes the first letter of the next word only, then switches itself off; pressing it again before typing turns it off. If JustType was about to capitalize automatically (at the start of a sentence, say), SHIFT cancels that capital instead. With CAPS LOCK on, SHIFT lets the next word through in lower case. JustType already capitalizes the first word of a sentence and names that it knows, so SHIFT is only needed for the exceptions.

SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION

The SW key of FUNCTIONS 1, which then returns to MAIN, and of SPEAKING CONTROLS, which stays. Speaks the text that is currently highlighted, if any. Otherwise it repeats the last thing JustType spoke, whether that was a word, a phrase or a sentence. While PERSONAL VOICE is OFF it asks first, like SPEAK SENTENCE. Use it to hear a word or sentence again when it went by too fast, to speak a passage you have highlighted in EDIT MODE, or to say the same thing to a new listener without typing it again.

SPEAK SENTENCE

Speaks the sentence the cursor is “in.” A period after an abbreviation such as Mr. or Dr. is read as part of the sentence, not as its end, and the abbreviation is spoken as its word: “Mr.” is read “Mister”, “Dr.” “Doctor”. Only what is spoken changes; the text stays as written. While PERSONAL VOICE is OFF it asks first — “Personal voice is currently OFF. Speak anyway?” — and speaks only if you answer YES, then offers to turn PERSONAL VOICE on; NO leaves everything as it was. It never speaks in a password field. When SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE has just moved the cursor, pressing SPEAK SENTENCE will repeat the sentence SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE just spoke. It is the NW key of SPEAKING CONTROLS and stays on that page, so you can repeat a sentence with SPEAK SENTENCE and then carry on with SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE. You can also move in the text, one sentence at a time, in either direction, with PREVIOUS SENTENCE ← and NEXT SENTENCE →. SPEAK SENTENCE is also on EDIT ACTIONS 3 in EDIT MODE.

SPEAKING CONTROLS

Opens the SPEAKING CONTROLS page, where text is read aloud: SPEAK SENTENCE, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE, PREVIOUS SENTENCE ← and NEXT SENTENCE → and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION, with ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE for the voice they speak in. Its ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT key opens the page for the two voices: PERSONAL VOICE ON / OFF and ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE for the voice that speaks what you write, SPOKEN FEEDBACK ON / OFF and ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK for the voice that speaks to you (key names, prompts and the words you select), SPEAK TEST SENTENCE and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME. Everything about speech is one or two presses away, so a voice can be switched or made louder in the middle of a conversation without leaving the keyboard.

How it works

• The E key of FUNCTIONS 1. Like OPEN NOTE BY NAME, and unlike the page’s other function keys, it does not return to MAIN: SPEAKING CONTROLS opens, and its BACK TO MAIN (the N key) leaves.
• The two voices, and why they are kept apart, are explained in Personal voice and Spoken feedback. The same switches and levels are in Settings: Personal voice and Spoken feedback.
• How to JustType › Speaking for yourself

ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT

Opens the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page, where JustType’s two voices are switched and tuned: PERSONAL VOICE ON / OFF and ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE for the voice that speaks what you write, SPOKEN FEEDBACK ON / OFF and ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK for the voice that speaks to you, SPEAK TEST SENTENCE to hear the result, and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME.

How it works

• The S key of SPEAKING CONTROLS. On ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, the same key reads SPEAKING CONTROLS and takes you back, so you can move between the two pages; BACK TO MAIN leaves either.

DELETE CHAR

Deletes the character before the cursor, or the highlighted text if there is any. Stays on the page so you can press it repeatedly.

DELETE WORD

Deletes the word the cursor is in or just after, together with any spaces between it and the cursor; a number is deleted whole, and highlighted text is deleted instead if there is any. Stays on the page.

EDIT MODE

Opens EDIT MODE, where you can move the text cursor, select any block of text, and use cut, copy, paste and other functions to create — or speak — exactly the text you want. The same key is on NAVIGATE 1.

EDIT MODE moves the cursor, selects text, and cuts, copies, pastes, re-cases, speaks and deletes it. Its cursor page is the hub, for moving the cursor easily: its mode key chooses whether the arrows move by a character or a line, by a word or a sentence, by a paragraph or a page, or set and jump to bookmarks. EDIT ACTIONS opens the second cycle, EDIT ACTIONS 1, 2 and 3 (cut, copy and paste with UnDo EDIT; case changes and SEARCH; speaking, deleting and spelling), each with a BACK TO CURSOR MOVEMENT key. BACK TO MAIN is the bottom-right key on every EDIT MODE page.

FUNCTION HELP MODE ON / OFF

Turns Function Help Mode on or off. While it is on, pressing a key shows what that key does, in the words of this manual, instead of doing it: OK closes the help, OK, DO IT does what the key does, and keys that only move between pages still work. Pressed while Function Help Mode is off, the key first explains itself and asks whether to turn it on. It is the way to find out what a key does without risking anything by pressing it.

Who it is for. Anyone learning the keyboard, and anyone setting it up for someone else.

Why

Eight keys carry many faces, and a face such as DELETE & RELOAD WORD or SELECT A TO B does not say everything. With Function Help Mode on you press the key you are unsure of, read its help, and press OK, DO IT if it was the one you wanted, so exploring costs nothing. Turn it on when a key is unfamiliar and off again when you are typing; it never stays on behind your back. The whole system, with the ⓘ icons in Settings and the Help viewer, is in Function Help Mode. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• Key 0 of FUNCTIONS 2. The press stays on FUNCTIONS 2; the key face shows ON or OFF.
• The answers. The key’s name and its help pop up above the keyboard, read aloud when Speak prompts aloud is on, and the keys become the answers: OK (Key 0) closes the help and does nothing; OK, DO IT (Key 2) closes it and performs the key as if Function Help Mode were off; HELP FOR THIS KEY (Key 7) is a switch that stops that key being explained once you answer. When the help has links, PREVIOUS HELP LINK and NEXT HELP LINK (Keys 3 and 4) step through them and OPEN THIS HELP LINK (Key 5) opens the chosen one in the Help viewer. Show all key help again in Settings restores the help of every key you switched off.
• Pressed while off. The answers read LEAVE FUNCTION HELP OFF and TURN FUNCTION HELP ON, with the same HELP FOR THIS KEY switch. Pressed while on, it turns off at once.
• What is never explained. Keys that only move between pages (BACK TO MAIN, FUNCTIONS 2, NAVIGATE 2 and the like) work as usual, so you can move around the keyboard and ask about anything; a question’s answers, the PASSWORD page and the Keyboard Settings pages are not explained.
• Off when the keyboard closes. Function Help Mode never stays on across a close. With Speak each selected function key on, the key says “Function help mode on” or “off”.

FUNCTIONS 1 / 2

Switches to the other FUNCTIONS page: the S key of both pages (the face reads FUNCTIONS 2 on page 1 and FUNCTIONS 1 on page 2).

Two pages of functions and typing controls. Page 1 holds functions used once, such as ENTER and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION, and goes back to MAIN after each; it also opens SPEAKING CONTROLS and OPEN NOTE BY NAME. Page 2 holds functions you repeat, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE and FUNCTION HELP MODE, with PRIVACY, which shows the circle that is on and returns to MAIN, and a key that jumps to EDIT MODE. BACK TO MAIN is the N key of both pages, and the S key switches between them. When you come back to page 1 from page 2, its functions no longer return to MAIN: press BACK TO MAIN when you are done.

Remembered notes

A remembered note is a note in Notepad Free that JustType knows by name: the privacy circle it is written in, where you left the cursor, and when you were last in it. OPEN NOTE BY NAME lists them above the keyboard and brings any of them up with one key, from whatever app you are in, so one note can be kept for each person or purpose, each already in its own circle. Remember a note with REMEMBER THIS NOTE on NAVIGATE 2 while you are in it, or make one with CREATE NEW NOTE from the list. Notepad Free is the supported app for now.

You can rename a note and JustType will still remember it in the list under its new name. If you want to remove a note from the list, you do that by going to NAVIGATE 2 and pressing CHANGE PRIVACY / FORGET NOTE, then selecting the FORGET NOTE key (while privacy circles are off, the key itself just reads FORGET NOTE). The note will still be on your device; if you want to delete it, you can use SYSTEM NAV MODE and use the app’s method to delete the note (in Notepad Free, a long press on the note in its list, then Delete).

OPEN NOTE BY NAME

Opens the list of remembered notes above the keyboard: CREATE NEW NOTE first, then the notes, most recently opened first. Choose one with ↑ and ↓ and press OPEN NOTE: Notepad Free comes forward, the note opens with the cursor where you left it, and the keyboard is in that note’s privacy circle. A remembered note you open by hand gets its cursor back too, even when the app lands on the title.

Why

A conversation partner, a diary, a shopping list: each is a note you come back to, and each belongs in its own circle. Finding the note by hand means leaving the keyboard for the app’s list every time. This key makes a named note one press away, and because the note carries its circle, nothing has to be switched on or off. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• Key 7 of FUNCTIONS 1. Opening a note needs the JustType Navigation service (System Settings › Navigation mode); without it the key says so.
• Opens the list of remembered notes. Use the UP and Down arrows to select the note you want, or OPEN NOTE / CREATE NEW NOTE to create a new one. Use SEARCH TITLE to find a note by name. Rearrange the list order with SORT LIST NAME / DATE, and BACK TO MAIN exits without switching the current note. A private note shows its circle after its name.
• Opening. JustType brings Notepad Free forward, goes to its list when another note is open, finds the title (through the app’s search box when it is off screen) and enters the note. If the note cannot be found within a few seconds, the keyboard says so and gives the error cue.

OPEN NOTE / CREATE NEW NOTE

Opens the selected note. On the first row the key reads CREATE NEW NOTE: it asks for a title, then which circle the note is for (Who is this for?, PUBLIC included), makes the note in Notepad Free and opens it, already remembered.

↑ / ↓ and PAGE ↑ / PAGE ↓ (notes list)

Move the selection one row, or a page of rows, up or down the list. While a search is on, ↑ and ↓ step between the matching titles only.

SEARCH TITLE / CANCEL SEARCH

Asks for part of a title, typed on the phrase screen like a search target; the list comes back with the first matching note selected, and ↑ and ↓ step between the matches. The key then reads CANCEL SEARCH, which shows the whole list again.

SORT LIST NAME / DATE

Switches the list between name order and date order (most recently opened first); the face shows which is on. The selected note stays selected.

REMEMBER THIS NOTE

Key 7 of NAVIGATE 2 while you are in a note in Notepad Free that JustType does not know yet (once the note is remembered the key goes blank and CHANGE PRIVACY / FORGET NOTE on Key 4 takes over). Asks which circle the note is for (Who is this for?, PUBLIC included), marks the whole note for that circle as MARK THIS PRIVATE would, and adds it to the OPEN NOTE BY NAME list under the title the app shows; JustType still recognizes the note after you rename it.

CHANGE PRIVACY / FORGET NOTE

The E key of NAVIGATE 2, shown only in a remembered note. Asks which you want: CHANGE PRIVACY re-marks the whole note for another circle (PUBLIC included) and updates the list of remembered notes; FORGET NOTE, after a yes / no question, takes the note off the list. While Enable privacy circles is OFF the key reads FORGET NOTE and goes straight to the yes / no question. The note itself, its text and its privacy marks stay as they are.

Navigation pages

Two pages that lead to the other parts of JustType: media control, settings, numbers, letter and symbol typing, editing, Android system navigation, passwords, privacy, remembered notes, and adding your own words and phrases.

123 NUMBER MODE

Opens 123 NUMBER MODE: two pages of digits with their own DELETE and DONE, for entering a number quickly without the word list getting in the way.

How it works

• Key 4 of NAVIGATE 1; the same key is on LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. It opens the 1 to 5 page.
• DONE, on the 1 to 5 page, finishes the number and returns to where you came from: MAIN, or LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. The two pages, the number punctuation, and how to teach JustType a phone number so that it can be typed on MAIN like a word, are in 123 Number Mode.
• How to JustType › Let JustType finish the work

LETTER / SYMBOL MODE

Opens LETTER / SYMBOL MODE.

The page where you can type any string of characters you can imagine, whether or not they are words JustType “knows”: letters, symbols, numbers, whatever. You can also move the cursor right or left a character at a time. Auto-spacing is switched off for the whole visit, so what you type stays exactly as typed. The page also has 123 NUMBER MODE and BACK TO MAIN; the bottom-right key is empty for now.

MEDIA

Opens the special MEDIA keyboard page, where you can control whatever is playing on your device: PAUSE / PLAY, PREVIOUS and NEXT track, REWIND and FAST FORWARD, VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN (when you type by touch, the middle of the keyboard shows the volume level; otherwise Android’s own volume panel appears). BACK TO MAIN returns to the MAIN keyboard.

NAVIGATE 2

Opens NAVIGATE 2.

SETTINGS

Opens Keyboard Settings: nearly every JustType setting on the keyboard itself, moved through, changed and confirmed with the same eight keys. The same settings are in System Settings in the JustType app, so whoever sets up the keyboard can use whichever is easier.

How it works

• The W key of NAVIGATE 1. It is one-shot: when you later leave Keyboard Settings, you will return straight back to MAIN.
• The two places change the same values. A few things exist only in System Settings: Developer settings, the switch that enables navigation mode and the accessibility service behind it (the Navigation Mode screen), the joystick device picker, and file operations such as backup and restore.
• Settings describes each setting. In System Settings that text is behind the ⓘ button next to the setting; in Keyboard Settings, HELP ON THIS SETTING opens it in the Help viewer.
• How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

SYSTEM NAV MODE

Opens the System Navigation keyboard: tapping, scrolling, dragging, the Android Back, Home and Recents buttons, the notification and quick-settings panels and media, all from the eight keys. It is how your input method reaches the rest of the device, not only the text.

How it works

• Key 5 of NAVIGATE 1. The typing keyboard closes and the SYSTEM NAV keyboard appears.
• It needs the JustType Navigation accessibility service and Enable navigation mode, both turned on from the Navigation mode screen in System Settings (Navigation Mode); if either is off, the key says which, and nothing opens.
• The pages and their keys are in System Navigation; the service and its settings in Navigation Mode.
• How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

ADD CUSTOM WORD

Teaches JustType a word it does not know. Spell the word letter by letter in TWO-KEY SPELLING and press DONE: the word is typed, followed by a space, and added to your vocabulary, so from now on it is predicted like any other word.

Why

JustType can only offer words it knows. A name, a place, a term of your trade or a number you type often is worth adding once; after that it costs the same few keys as any word. Words you spell from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE are typed but not added, so this key is the way to add a word on purpose. While a privacy circle is on, the key first asks which circle the word is for, PUBLIC included, so a word stays in the right place without turning anything off; in public no question is asked. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• The NW key of NAVIGATE 2. The keyboard opens TWO-KEY SPELLING: two presses per letter (the key that shows it, then the letter), three for a digit (the key that shows 15_ or 60+, then the key with those digits, then the digit) or an accented letter. Pressing DONE at the end adds the word you spell as a new word that JustType knows so you can type it on the MAIN page.
• DELETE removes the last letter spelled; DONE saves the word, types it with a space before it when needed and a space after it, and returns to MAIN.
• Privacy. In public the word is public and no question is asked. While a privacy circle is on, the Who is this for? page opens first, with the circle that is on in brackets, and the word goes into the circle you choose, PUBLIC included; BACK TO MAIN or CANCEL on the chooser adds nothing. A word in a circle is predicted only while that circle is on (see Private words and phrases).
• A phone number added this way can then be typed on MAIN with the keys that show 15_ and 60+, as 123 Number Mode explains.

ADD PASSWORD

Saves a password as a secure phrase, locked by a secret key sequence that only you know. After an explanation and CONTINUE, one screen takes you through five steps: a name for the password (not the password itself), the password, the password again, then your secret on the PASSWORD page, and the secret again. From then on, a password field opens the PASSWORD page by itself: typing the secret types the password for you and sends it.

Who it is for. People who cannot type a long password reliably each time, and anyone who would rather remember a sentence than a password.

Why

A password is the worst text an eight-key keyboard can type: no prediction helps, every character is spelled, and a mistake is invisible. Saved once, it is typed for you by a sequence of key presses you choose, and JustType never shows, speaks or learns either the password or the secret. The secret is a sequence of keys, not letters, so it can be a sentence you will not forget, typed as the first letter of each word. Using and deleting passwords is in Passwords. How to JustType › Let JustType finish the work

How it works

• The SW key of NAVIGATE 2. It first shows the explanation, with CONTINUE; CANCEL leaves.
• Steps 1 to 3 are fields on the screen: the name (left empty, the password is called “Password”), the password, and the password again. End each with ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1; two passwords that differ are asked for again.
• Seeing what you type. While you type the password (steps 2 and 3, and in any password field) the Selection list, the key history and the center square show dots instead of letters, and the field shows dots. To see the text, go to NAVIGATE 2, where this key reads SHOW TYPED PASSWORD ON / OFF while a password is being typed: ON shows the field, the list, the history and the square; it goes back to OFF for every new field, and the screen’s step 2 says which way to switch.
• Giving up. ENTER with both password fields empty asks “Cancel ADD PASSWORD?” on the keyboard: YES closes the screen with nothing saved, NO stays.
• Steps 4 and 5 are typed on the PASSWORD page: the letter keys, UnDo, and ENTER in SELECT’s place. Each press shows only as a *, nothing is spoken and no word list appears. A secret needs at least 10 presses and must not be the key sequence of one of your phrase abbreviations; the second entry must match the first, or the secret starts again. If the secret already opens another saved password, JustType asks whether to replace that password; NO asks for a different secret.
• UnDo with nothing typed goes back one step, as far as the fields. Leaving for another app abandons the flow without saving. “Password saved.” confirms a save.
• The PASSWORD page keeps the letter keys as they were when your first password was saved, whatever layout you use later (see Passwords).

ADD PHRASE

Saves a phrase that is offered when you type a short abbreviation. Type the phrase, end it with ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1, then spell the abbreviation in TWO-KEY SPELLING and press DONE; from then on, typing the abbreviation brings up the whole phrase in the Selection list. Anything you tend to write repeatedly, from your address to a greeting, can recall whole sentences with just a few keys. And using ENTER (NEWLINE) on SYMBOLS 1 lets a phrase — like an address — extend over multiple lines.

Why

Much of what we type is text we have typed before and will likely want to type again. An Abbreviated phrase turns it into one entry in the list: select it and the whole text is written out, and spoken for you when your personal voice is on, so a saved sentence is a sentence said in just a few keys. Every phrase JustType stores is recalled by its abbreviation. How to JustType › Let JustType finish the work

How it works

• The W key of NAVIGATE 2. The two-field screen and its rules, replacing a phrase, deleting one and canceling, are in Phrase entry.
• Takes you to a dedicated screen where you can add a new Abbreviated phrase, or replace or delete an existing one.
• Privacy. In public the phrase is public and no question is asked. While a privacy circle is on, the Who is this for? page opens first, with the circle that is on in brackets, and the phrase belongs to the circle you choose, PUBLIC included; it is offered only while that circle is on. When a later ADD PHRASE asks whether to replace or delete a private phrase, its text is not read out; it is called “a private phrase”.
• Giving an existing abbreviation a new phrase replaces it after a confirmation; an empty phrase deletes the phrase its abbreviation names.
• Phrases in general: Abbreviations and Phrases.

BACK TO LAST APP

Takes you back to the app you were using before this one, with the SYSTEM NAV keyboard up on it: the way back after BACK TO TYPING brought you to your writing. Pause a video or a game to say something, then go straight back to it.

Why

Much of your time may be spent writing and speaking, but now and then you step into another app, and then you want to come back. BACK TO TYPING takes you from that app to your writing, and BACK TO LAST APP takes you back again: one key each way between talking and whatever else you are doing.

How it works

• The NE key of NAVIGATE 2. The same key is on SYSTEM NAV 3 and MEDIA 2 of the System Navigation keyboard, next to BACK TO TYPING (on MEDIA 2, PAUSE & GO BACK TO TYPING).
• It goes to the app you used most recently, other than the one you are in and the one you write in (the app BACK TO TYPING returns to); when there is no such app, to the most recent other app. The app switcher shows for a moment while it brings the app back up.
• From NAVIGATE 2 the typing keyboard closes and the SYSTEM NAV keyboard comes up in that app, on the page you left it on (MEDIA 2, for example, after PAUSE & GO BACK TO TYPING). It needs what SYSTEM NAV MODE needs: the JustType Navigation accessibility service and Enable navigation mode; if either is off, the key says which, and nothing happens.
• On SYSTEM NAV 3 or MEDIA 2, pressing it again goes back and forth between the two apps you used most recently.
• When there is no other app to go back to yet, the key says so; if the app does not come up, you hear the error cue and stay where you are.

MARK THIS PRIVATE

Makes the note or conversation you are in private, or public, after the fact: choose the circle on the Who is this for? page, and what JustType learned from that text moves into it. With text highlighted the key reads MARK HIGHLIGHT PRIVATE and marks only that text; in a note that is already marked it reads CHANGE PRIVACY. It is the repair for a conversation that should have been private from the start.

Why

Often you realize part-way through that a conversation should have been private, when its words have already been learned in public. This key re-reads the text and moves each word and word pair it taught JustType out of the mode it was learned in and into the mode you choose, then writes a mark into the text so that the note switches to that mode by itself whenever you come back to it. Turning a circle on with PRIVACY before you start is still the better habit; the key is for the times you did not. Details: Marking a note or conversation private. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• Key 7 of NAVIGATE 2. In an empty field it only beeps. In Notepad Free the same key reads REMEMBER THIS NOTE; once the note is remembered it goes blank and CHANGE PRIVACY / FORGET NOTE on Key 4 takes over.
• Scope. With a highlight, only the highlighted block moves, no question is asked, and the note’s own mode is unchanged. Otherwise, if there is text before the last mark, or before where you came into the field, JustType asks THIS CONVERSATION (from that point) or WHOLE NOTE; with no earlier text it marks at once.
• Afterwards. The chosen mode is on for this field. Marking is safe to repeat, because a mark closes the text before it; marking the same text with a different mode moves it again; PUBLIC with WHOLE NOTE moves everything back to public and removes every mark. Text you deleted is not moved, and text the app has already sent is gone and cannot be.
• Fields that keep no marks. Where a mark cannot be written, JustType says so, and the mode applies while you stay in the field.

NAVIGATE 1

On NAVIGATE 2: goes back to NAVIGATE 1. BACK TO MAIN is in UnDo’s place on both pages.

Edit Mode

EDIT MODE performs many functions to enable you to edit a note or document: you can move the cursor, select text, and cut, copy, paste, re-case, speak and delete it. Its pages form two cycles that each remember where you left them. The cursor movement pages are the first: the SW key is a mode key that chooses how the arrows move: by a character or a line; by a word or a sentence; by a paragraph or a page; or you can set bookmarks and jump back to them later. With Auto-repeat key activation (Direct Selection) on, holding an arrow key keeps moving the cursor. EDIT MODE keeps its own UnDo history for actions that change the text you are editing (UnDo EDIT and ReDo EDIT, on EDIT ACTIONS 1): cursor moves, cuts, pastes and case changes, newest first. Cursor moves are saved in groups that remember the final and starting position from a series of moves. BACK TO MAIN is the SE key on every EDIT MODE page; it also ends any text selection in process. With Auto-load word at cursor on, a cursor left inside a word will re-load that word on the keys when you go back to MAIN; a cursor right after a word’s last letter does not — typing inserts a new word after an automatic space, and the UnDo key offers RELOAD WORD. A highlighted block remains as it is when you go back to MAIN, with nothing loaded: the first word you type replaces it. Unless a word is re-loaded, the Selection list starts empty (the rules for re-loading an existing word, with Auto-load on and off, are in Editing existing text). Both cycles return to the same pages if you go back to EDIT MODE in the same field — someone jumping between marks A and B and cutting and pasting in both places comes straight back to BOOKMARK MODE and EDIT ACTIONS 1. Entering again in a new field starts back at CHAR / LINE and EDIT ACTIONS 1.

The second cycle is the three EDIT ACTIONS pages. EDIT ACTIONS ⟳ on the cursor pages opens the one you were last on; on each of them Key 2, BACK TO CURSOR MOVEMENT, returns to the cursor page you left, Key 4 steps to the next EDIT ACTIONS page, and Key 7 is BACK TO MAIN. EDIT ACTIONS 1 holds CUT, COPY and PASTE down the left, UnDo EDIT and ReDo EDIT above and below. EDIT ACTIONS 2 (CHANGE CASE / SEARCH) holds the three case keys and APPLY Sentence case…, and SEARCH. EDIT ACTIONS 3 (SPEAK / EDIT) holds SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE and SPEAK SENTENCE, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD, and EDIT WORD SPELLING. In BOOKMARK MODE the SET and JUMP keys for each mark face each other, and the top-left key is SELECT A TO B / SELECT ALL.

SEARCH opens SEARCH MODE, which is often available in the app you are using, but almost certainly will be much easier to use here. In SEARCH MODE, the center square shows the search text in use (and the replacement text once replacing is on): ↑ NEXT and NEXT ↓ find the search text earlier or later in the field and highlight it, SAVE CURRENT LOCATION and JUMP TO SAVED LOCATION keep a place to return to, so you may want to use SAVE CURRENT LOCATION before jumping around the document. REPLACE or REPLACE ALL appear once replacing is turned on. DEFINE SEARCH is where you set the search text and the replacement text — each typed on the same screen as any text you like, typing from the MAIN page, LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, or even PASTE from EDIT MODE if you copied something you want to search for. Here you can also set other standard search options: REPLACE MODE, REPLACE TYPE, CASE SENSITIVE and WRAP SEARCH.

Cursor mode key (CHAR / LINE, WORD / SENTENCE, PARA / PAGE, BOOKMARK MODE)

The four arrow keys move the text cursor. How far it moves depends on the cursor mode shown on the bottom-left key, which cycles through CHAR / LINE (left and right by a character, up and down by a line), WORD / SENTENCE, PARA / PAGE, and BOOKMARK MODE. The middle of the keyboard names the current mode, and each arrow key is labeled to show how far it moves the cursor. In BOOKMARK MODE the arrow keys are replaced by SET MARK A / B and JUMP TO MARK A / B: as you move around a document, you can remember two locations and jump back to them later.

EDIT ACTIONS

Opens the EDIT ACTIONS page you were last on — EDIT ACTIONS 1 (CUT, COPY, PASTE, UnDo EDIT, ReDo EDIT), 2 (the case keys and SEARCH) or 3 (speak and delete keys, EDIT WORD SPELLING) — the first of them on your first visit to EDIT MODE in a field; after that, each field remembers its page. BACK TO CURSOR MOVEMENT on each of those pages brings you back here.

SELECT TEXT

Starts highlighting from the cursor; the arrows then extend the highlight from the starting point instead of moving the cursor, and the key reads (SELECTING TEXT) and is highlighted while you move the highlight boundary. Press it again to stop, leaving the highlighted block selected; CUT, COPY or PASTE also ends selecting. BACK TO MAIN keeps the highlight too, and the first word typed on MAIN replaces the block. When a highlighted block exists, CUT, COPY, PASTE, the case keys, TWO-KEY SPELLING, SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD act on the highlighted block; SPEAK SENTENCE and SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE always work from the cursor. If no block is highlighted, they all act at the text cursor. In BOOKMARK MODE the same key is SELECT A TO B / SELECT ALL: it reads (SELECTING TEXT) while selecting is on and a press ends it.

← (cursor left)

Depending on the cursor mode shown on the bottom-left key, each press on the LEFT arrow key will move the text cursor to the left (backward toward the start of the text field or document) by one character, one word, or one paragraph. The label on the LEFT arrow key shows how far the cursor will be moved.

↑ (cursor up)

Depending on the cursor mode shown on the bottom-left key, each press on the UP arrow key will move the text cursor upward (backward toward the start of the text field or document) by one line, to the start of the sentence, or one page (in PARA / PAGE mode the app itself pages, and paging back the same number of times returns the cursor to where it started). The label on the UP arrow key shows how far the cursor will be moved.

→ (cursor right)

Depending on the cursor mode shown on the bottom-left key, each press on the RIGHT arrow key will move the text cursor to the right (forward toward the end of the text field or document) by one character, one word, or one paragraph. The label on the RIGHT arrow key shows how far the cursor will be moved.

↓ (cursor down)

Depending on the cursor mode shown on the bottom-left key, each press on the DOWN arrow key will move the text cursor downward (forward toward the end of the text field or document) by one line, to the end of the sentence, or one page. The label on the DOWN arrow key shows how far the cursor will be moved.

JUMP TO MARK A

Moves the cursor to mark A, the place you remembered with SET MARK A. While SELECT TEXT is on it extends the highlight to the mark instead, so a block that starts or ends at a remembered place is selected without arrowing across it.

How it works

• BOOKMARK MODE, the fourth page of the cursor mode key cycle in EDIT MODE, is used to remember - and later return to - two separate locations A and B. These locations are set independently in each document that you edit. The N and W keys are SET MARK A and SET MARK B — pressing them will remember the current cursor location in that document. Across from those keys on the S and E keys are JUMP TO MARK A and JUMP TO MARK B — pressing them will jump to the previously saved locations. Setting a bookmark replaces any earlier location saved in that mark. When there is a highlighted block, the mark is set at its start. If you insert or delete text in the document, the bookmarks stay with the text where they were set. Jumping to a mark that was never set does nothing.
• Marks follow the text: words inserted or deleted before a mark move it along, and a mark inside a block you delete moves to the start of that block; an UnDo or ReDo moves them back the same way. Marks belong to the note, like the UnDo history: they are kept for the last few notes and found again when you return to one.
• Back on MAIN, a cursor the jump has left touching a word is offered as RELOAD WORD on the UnDo key.
• How to JustType › Fixing what is already written

JUMP TO MARK B

Moves the cursor to mark B, the place you remembered with SET MARK B. While SELECT TEXT is on it extends the highlight to the mark instead, so a block that starts or ends at a remembered place is selected without arrowing across it.

How it works

• BOOKMARK MODE, the fourth page of the cursor mode key cycle in EDIT MODE, is used to remember - and later return to - two separate locations A and B. These locations are set independently in each document that you edit. The N and W keys are SET MARK A and SET MARK B — pressing them will remember the current cursor location in that document. Across from those keys on the S and E keys are JUMP TO MARK A and JUMP TO MARK B — pressing them will jump to the previously saved locations. Setting a bookmark replaces any earlier location saved in that mark. When there is a highlighted block, the mark is set at its start. If you insert or delete text in the document, the bookmarks stay with the text where they were set. Jumping to a mark that was never set does nothing.
• Marks follow the text: words inserted or deleted before a mark move it along, and a mark inside a block you delete moves to the start of that block; an UnDo or ReDo moves them back the same way. Marks belong to the note, like the UnDo history: they are kept for the last few notes and found again when you return to one.
• Back on MAIN, a cursor the jump has left touching a word is offered as RELOAD WORD on the UnDo key.
• How to JustType › Fixing what is already written

SELECT A TO B / SELECT ALL

Selects a block in one press. When MARK A and MARK B are both set in this note, at different places, the key reads SELECT A TO B and highlights everything between them; otherwise it reads SELECT ALL and highlights the whole field. A long block can then be cut, copied, spoken or re-cased without arrowing across it.

How it works

• Key 0 of BOOKMARK MODE, the fourth setting of the cursor mode key in EDIT MODE: the key that is SELECT TEXT on the other cursor pages.
• The faces. While SELECT TEXT is on from one of the other cursor pages, it reads (SELECTING TEXT) and that mode continues; a press ends it, as on those pages. SELECT A TO B runs from the earlier mark to the later, whichever letter each carries. Once the A-to-B block is highlighted, or when the marks are not both set, the face is SELECT ALL.
• The highlight. It stays when you move to the EDIT ACTIONS pages: CUT, COPY, PASTE, the case keys, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD act on it. BACK TO MAIN keeps it too, and the first word typed on MAIN replaces it.
• How to JustType › Fixing what is already written

SET MARK A

Remembers where the cursor is as mark A, so that JUMP TO MARK A can bring you back to it later. With mark B it gives you two places in a long note to move between, and a way home after editing somewhere else: set a mark before you leave, jump back when you are done.

How it works

• BOOKMARK MODE, the fourth page of the cursor mode key cycle in EDIT MODE, is used to remember - and later return to - two separate locations A and B. These locations are set independently in each document that you edit. The N and W keys are SET MARK A and SET MARK B — pressing them will remember the current cursor location in that document. Across from those keys on the S and E keys are JUMP TO MARK A and JUMP TO MARK B — pressing them will jump to the previously saved locations. Setting a bookmark replaces any earlier location saved in that mark. When there is a highlighted block, the mark is set at its start. If you insert or delete text in the document, the bookmarks stay with the text where they were set.
• Marks follow the text: words inserted or deleted before a mark move it along, and a mark inside a block you delete moves to the start of that block; an UnDo or ReDo moves them back the same way. Marks belong to the note, like the UnDo history: they are kept for the last few notes and found again when you return to one.
• When both marks are set at different places, the page’s NW key reads SELECT A TO B and highlights everything between them.
• How to JustType › Fixing what is already written

SET MARK B

Remembers where the cursor is as mark B, so that JUMP TO MARK B can bring you back to it later. With mark A it gives you two places in a long note to move between: the start and the end of a section, say, or where you are reading and where you are writing.

How it works

• BOOKMARK MODE, the fourth page of the cursor mode key cycle in EDIT MODE, is used to remember - and later return to - two separate locations A and B. These locations are set independently in each document that you edit. The N and W keys are SET MARK A and SET MARK B — pressing them will remember the current cursor location in that document. Across from those keys on the S and E keys are JUMP TO MARK A and JUMP TO MARK B — pressing them will jump to the previously saved locations. Setting a bookmark replaces any earlier location saved in that mark. When there is a highlighted block, the mark is set at its start. If you insert or delete text in the document, the bookmarks stay with the text where they were set.
• Marks follow the text: words inserted or deleted before a mark move it along, and a mark inside a block you delete moves to the start of that block; an UnDo or ReDo moves them back the same way. Marks belong to the note, like the UnDo history: they are kept for the last few notes and found again when you return to one.
• When both marks are set at different places, the page’s NW key reads SELECT A TO B and highlights everything between them.
• How to JustType › Fixing what is already written

BACK TO CURSOR MOVEMENT

Returns to the cursor page, in whatever cursor mode was last used — BOOKMARK MODE included.

COPY

If a highlighted block exists, CUT and COPY act on the highlight, and fill the clipboard with what was highlighted; with nothing highlighted they beep and do nothing. PASTE inserts the clipboard at the cursor, or replaces a highlighted block if one exists. UnDo EDIT reverses a cut or a paste.

CUT

If a highlighted block exists, CUT and COPY act on the highlight, and fill the clipboard with what was highlighted; with nothing highlighted they beep and do nothing. PASTE inserts the clipboard at the cursor, or replaces a highlighted block if one exists. UnDo EDIT reverses a cut or a paste.

EDIT ACTIONS 1 / 2 / 3 (cycle key)

Steps to the next EDIT ACTIONS page — the face names it — and round again from the third to the first. The cycle remembers the page you leave it on: EDIT ACTIONS on the cursor pages opens that one.

PASTE

If a highlighted block exists, CUT and COPY act on the highlight, and fill the clipboard with what was highlighted; with nothing highlighted they beep and do nothing. PASTE inserts the clipboard at the cursor, or replaces a highlighted block if one exists. UnDo EDIT reverses a cut or a paste.

ReDo EDIT

Puts back what UnDo EDIT reversed, newest first, staying in EDIT MODE: a run of cursor moves, a cut, a paste, a case change, a deletion, and the earlier text edits UnDo EDIT took back as text only, typed words among them. The key is blank when there is nothing to put back, so UnDo EDIT can be pressed freely.

How it works

• Key 6 of EDIT ACTIONS 1 in EDIT MODE, below UnDo EDIT (Key 1). The page stays EDIT ACTIONS 1, so several presses redo one step each.
• When UnDo EDIT had to ask the app to undo (Ctrl+Z), ReDo EDIT asks the app to redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z), which not every app supports; being the most recent reversals, those are put back first.
• Another edit forfeits what could be redone: a typed word, a symbol, a deletion, a cut or a paste. Leaving the note and coming back keeps it, as the UnDo history is kept.
• The same history as UnDo’s on MAIN, seen from EDIT MODE, so it also puts back what MAIN’s UnDo reversed before the visit; cursor runs reversed in this visit can be put back only here, because leaving EDIT MODE drops them.
• How to JustType › Let mistakes be cheap

UnDo EDIT

UnDo EDIT reverses what you did in this visit to EDIT MODE, newest first, staying in EDIT MODE: a run of cursor moves (in any movement mode, however many steps — one press puts the cursor back where the run started), a cut, a paste, a case change, a delete. ReDo EDIT, below it on EDIT ACTIONS 1, puts a reversed step back. When nothing of this visit’s is left to reverse, it takes back JustType’s earlier text edits one by one — a typed word as one block (with the space that came with it), a DELETE CHAR, a DELETE WORD, a symbol — as text only, without opening the page they were made on; after those it asks the app to undo (Ctrl+Z), which not every app supports. It never takes back keystrokes or deletes a character — that is the MAIN page’s UnDo / DELETE.

EDIT MODE keeps its own history because the MAIN page pulls words in and moves the cursor as you type; leaving EDIT MODE drops the cursor history (the text edits stay reversible from MAIN). A cursor move you made by hand — a tap on the text — is the exception: it survives the visit, and either UnDo puts the cursor back.

APPLY Sentence case…

APPLY Sentence case… re-capitalizes sentence starts across a highlighted block, and changes the rest to lower case. If no highlighted block exists, it acts on the sentence containing the current cursor location.

SEARCH

Opens SEARCH MODE, where NEXT finds the search text earlier or later in the field and BACK returns here to EDIT ACTIONS 2. Once you’re on the SEARCH page, use DEFINE SEARCH to set the text you want to search for, and other aspects of the search.

Word ↓ word

Changes all text in a highlighted block (if one exists), or the word at the cursor, to lower case.

word ↓ WORD

Changes all text in a highlighted block (if one exists), or the word at the cursor, to UPPER CASE.

word ↓ Word

Changes all text in a highlighted block (if one exists), or the word at the cursor, to Title Case, where the first letter of each word is capitalized (also after a hyphen, but not after an apostrophe) and the rest is lower case.

EDIT WORD SPELLING

Opens TWO-KEY SPELLING so you can delete or insert specific characters at the cursor location. Each letter goes straight into the text and DELETE removes the character before the cursor; DONE returns to the SPEAK / EDIT page (EDIT ACTIONS 3). This lets you change any text however you want, even if it creates words that JustType doesn’t “know” in its dictionary; nothing is added to your vocabulary.

BACK (Edit Mode)

Leaves SEARCH MODE for the page you opened it from.

DEFINE SEARCH

Opens the DEFINE SEARCH page: the search text and the replacement text, and the options REPLACE MODE, REPLACE TYPE, CASE SENSITIVE and WRAP SEARCH. DONE returns to SEARCH MODE.

JUMP TO SAVED LOCATION

Puts the cursor back where SAVE CURRENT LOCATION was pressed, so a search excursion ends where it began. Like the bookmarks, the saved location follows the text as it changes. Nothing happens when no location is saved.

NEXT ↓ (later match)

Finds the next place later in the field where the search text occurs and highlights it, so REPLACE can act on it or the arrows can move from it. With WRAP SEARCH on, the search continues from the start of the field when nothing is found below; otherwise JustType says and beeps that there is no more.

REPLACE / REPLACE ALL

Blank while REPLACE MODE is off. REPLACE changes the highlighted match to the replacement text and finds the next one (if the highlight is not a match, it only finds the next). REPLACE ALL changes every occurrence in the field at once and says how many. Either is one step for UnDo EDIT.

SAVE CURRENT LOCATION

Remembers where the cursor is, so that JUMP TO SAVED LOCATION can bring you back after you have searched through the field. One location is kept per field, separate from the bookmarks.

↑ NEXT (earlier match)

Finds the nearest place earlier in the field where the search text occurs and highlights it. With WRAP SEARCH on, the search continues from the end of the field when nothing is found above.

CASE SENSITIVE ON / OFF

When ON, the search text matches only where the capitals and small letters are the same; when OFF (the usual setting), “cat” also finds “Cat” and “CAT”.

DEFINE REPLACE TARGET

Opens the text screen for the replacement text — the same screen as ADD PHRASE, so you may type it with any keys, paste it, or spell it; ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1 keeps it and returns to DEFINE SEARCH. UnDo in the empty field cancels and keeps the old text.

DEFINE SEARCH TARGET

Opens the text screen for the search text — the same screen as ADD PHRASE, so you may type it with any keys, paste it, or spell it; ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1 keeps it and returns to DEFINE SEARCH. UnDo in the empty field cancels and keeps the old text.

DONE (Edit Mode)

Leaves DEFINE SEARCH for the page you opened it from, SEARCH MODE as a rule.

REPLACE MODE ON / OFF

Turns replacing on or off. While it is off, SEARCH MODE only finds, its REPLACE key is blank, and REPLACE TYPE cannot be changed.

REPLACE TYPE SINGLE / ALL

Chooses what the REPLACE key does: SINGLE replaces the highlighted match and finds the next; ALL replaces every occurrence in the field at once. Needs REPLACE MODE on.

WRAP SEARCH ON / OFF

When ON, a search that reaches the end of the field continues from its start (and one that reaches the start continues from the end), so NEXT always finds the next occurrence if there is one. When OFF, the search stops at the ends.

Media page

MEDIA controls whatever is playing on your device. From NAVIGATE 1 it is one page: PAUSE / PLAY, PREVIOUS and NEXT track, REWIND and FAST FORWARD, VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN, with BACK TO MAIN at the top. From the System Navigation keyboard it is three pages, adding mute, the ways back to your writing and to the app you used before, and page turning for reading. Music, a video or a book is controlled from the keys you already use, with the input method you already use.

Why

An input method that reaches only the keyboard leaves the rest of the device out of reach. The one MEDIA page covers the everyday case (pause the music, turn it down) from the typing keyboard; the SYSTEM NAV pages are for when the device is a player or a reader for a while, and the keyboard itself should get out of the way. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

From NAVIGATE 1. REWIND (Key 0), BACK TO MAIN (Key 1), FAST FORWARD (Key 2), VOLUME DOWN and VOLUME UP (Keys 3 and 4; VOLUME UP takes the upper key where the two are stacked), PREVIOUS (Key 5), PAUSE / PLAY (Key 6), NEXT (Key 7). The keys send the same media keys as a headset’s buttons, so the app decides how far REWIND and FAST FORWARD go. When you type by touch, the middle of the keyboard shows the volume level until the next key press; otherwise Android’s own volume panel appears.

From SYSTEM NAV. MEDIA 1: MORE, REWIND, FAST FORWARD, VOL −, VOL +, PLAY / PAUSE, MUTE / UNMUTE and HIDE / SHOW KEYBD. MEDIA 2: BACK (to MEDIA 1), PAUSE & GO BACK TO TYPING (pauses whatever is playing, never starts anything, and takes you back to the document you were writing in, as BACK TO TYPING does, for when someone walks in mid-video), BACK TO LAST APP (back to the app you used before this one), PREV and NEXT track, READING MODE (opens MEDIA 3), BACK TO SYSTEM NAV KEYBD and HIDE / SHOW KEYBD. MEDIA 3 (PRINT MEDIA) is for readers: PREV PAGE and NEXT PAGE turn the page, and PAGE TURN chooses how: TAP (a tap at the edge of the page, as Kindle and Play Books expect), SWIPE (a swipe across the page) or SCROLL (one screen down or up, as PDF viewers and browsers expect). JustType picks a sensible mode for the app you are in and remembers the one you last used there.

HIDE / SHOW KEYBD. Hides the SYSTEM NAV keyboard so that it no longer covers a video or a page you are reading. Until you turn on Enable hidden keyboard mode in the Navigation mode settings, the key reads ENABLE KEYBOARD HIDING and opens that setting. If the setting While hidden, key presses is set to Are ignored and the HIDE / SHOW key is what shows the keyboard again, a caution will come back each time and ask HIDE KEYBOARD? with CANCEL, HIDE and HIDE, DON’T ASK AGAIN, unless you choose HIDE, DON’T ASK AGAIN; the question is skipped when a touch or a switch press shows the keyboard anyway. A hidden keyboard takes no touches, so they still go to the app displayed underneath, and your input method goes on selecting the keys of the page that is now hidden (unless the While hidden, key presses setting says to ignore presses until the keyboard is shown again). This way, once you remember which keys are where on the keyboard, head tracking, a joystick, two switches and Directional Selection work exactly as before, without the keyboard getting in the way of what you are watching or reading. Direct Selection needs keys to tap, so while hidden you can set it up to use swipes instead (Directional Selection), or (your choice under Input method for the hidden keyboard) a touch anywhere will bring the keyboard back with its HIDE / SHOW key under your finger. With Single-Switch Scanning a switch press brings the keyboard back and scanning starts after a short delay. So, you can either set it up so you can select HIDE / SHOW KEYBD on a hidden keyboard to show the keyboard again, or to use the show gesture instead (holding a touch, or volume-down three times); it can also hide itself when idle. The settings are under Navigation Mode › Hidden keyboard.

FAST FORWARD

If supported by the current media app, this skips forwards in what is playing.

NEXT

If supported by the current media app, this goes to the next track.

PAUSE / PLAY

Starts playing, or pauses or resumes what is playing.

PREVIOUS

If supported by the current media app, this goes back to the previous track.

REWIND

If supported by the current media app, this skips backwards in what is playing.

VOLUME DOWN

Turns the media volume down one step. When you type by touch, the new level shows in the center square until the next key press (and is spoken if Speak each selected function key is on); otherwise Android’s own volume panel appears.

VOLUME UP

Turns the media volume up one step. When you type by touch, the new level shows in the center square until the next key press (and is spoken if Speak each selected function key is on); otherwise Android’s own volume panel appears.

Keyboard Settings pages

Nearly every JustType setting, on the keyboard. The eight keys move through the list, open a sub-page, change a value and confirm it, so the keyboard can be set up by the person who uses it, with the input method they use, and not only from the touch screen.

Why

Settings in the JustType app are a touch screen away, and the people JustType is for may not have one. Keyboard Settings puts the same settings behind the same eight keys as typing, including the settings of the input method itself, so that tuning can be done where it is felt. The two places change the same values; use whichever is easier. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

The keyboard displayed after you enter SETTINGS from the NAVIGATE 1 keyboard enables you to adjust ALL of JustType’s settings using the same eight keys you use everywhere. The arrow keys ↑ and ↓ (N and S keys) move through the rows; BACK (SE key) leaves the page. The NE key changes the value for the highlighted row. It reads TURN ON or TURN OFF for a simple switch; ADJUST for a slider (ADJUST/TEST where the setting can be tested), which takes you into a page where you can change the slider setting; NEXT VALUE for a choice from a list; ASSIGN for a key or switch action to capture; and OPEN for a sub-page or an action.

While a switch or a choice is highlighted, a list of its possible values appears in the Selection list area (where typed words usually appear, with the chosen value highlighted); NEXT VALUE steps to the next one, just as SELECT steps down the Selection list.

ADJUST opens a slider page with ← DEC and → INC on the W and E keys, and the new value that can be applied is shown in the center square. The NE key sets the STEP: how far each DEC or INC moves the value (1 notch, 5% or 10%).

The W key, ADJUST FONT, changes how this list looks, with the same keys as in the Help viewer: TEXT LARGER + and TEXT SMALLER − (N and S keys), LIGHT / DARK (NE key), and LINE SPACING − and LINE SPACING + (W and E keys); BACK (SE key) returns. Keyboard Settings keeps its own font, apart from the Help viewer’s; the same three settings are under Keyboard Settings text.

Once a value has been changed, the NW key shows REVERT TO followed by the previous value of the changed setting, so you can go back with one keypress.

IMPORTANT: In order for any change to actually take effect, you MUST press the APPLY function on the SW key, which applies all of the changes on the page. If you try to leave a page with changes you haven’t applied, JustType asks whether to APPLY or DISCARD them; if the keyboard is somehow closed instead — without making that choice — any changes are discarded. Also important to know: some settings are considered to be “critical” settings — settings that could change things so that your current selection technique stops working for you, leaving you unable to press keys! For critical settings, after APPLY is pressed and the new setting takes effect, the SW key changes to read “CONFIRM” and shows a 15 second timer counting down. In order to keep the new setting, you need to use your selection technique (with the changed settings) to press the SW “CONFIRM” key before the timer runs out. If the timer expires before the SW key is pressed, the assumption is that the setting change “broke” your selection technique and you can no longer press keys. If this happens, the settings change is automatically REVERTed to the previous setting so you can keep using JustType.

When an ADJUST slider is adjusting a critical setting, once you change the value, the S key changes to TRY, and the center square reminds you to press it. After pressing TRY, you will go back to the settings keyboard where you will need to press CONFIRM within the 15 second window or the slider will REVERT. Once you press CONFIRM, the settings keyboard returns to normal, and as with any other change, the new value is kept only when you press APPLY (with no second CONFIRM). If you press BACK instead of TRY, your change waits on the settings keyboard, and APPLY then asks for CONFIRM, as for any critical setting.

Many of the ADJUST pages include two additional keys: the S key is labeled TEST, and pressing it opens a test keyboard where you can test the effects of the setting change to see if it feels right. The N key shows TEST TIME and toggles through different time intervals from 5 to 60 seconds, and the TEST keyboard will automatically close after the interval elapses. This is a safety measure in case it turns out to be difficult to press the keys during the test. The test ends when the time is up or when you press BACK (the SE key), and you return to the ADJUST keyboard, where you can adjust and test again as often as you like. When you are done, press BACK to return to the settings keyboard, where APPLY keeps the new setting and REVERT goes back to the previous one. For a “critical” setting, TEST always tests the value already in effect, so to test a new value, first TRY it and CONFIRM it, then choose ADJUST/TEST again and press TEST. You must press CONFIRM to show that the new setting works for you; then if you’re not sure, TEST can help you decide whether you want to.

Which settings are critical. The input method choices, the zone and threshold sliders of head tracking and the joysticks, the keyboard size, and turning off Enable privacy circles.

Help. Settings describes each setting; in System Settings the same text is behind the ⓘ button on each row, and here HELP ON THIS SETTING (the E key) opens it in the Help viewer. The first row, Open Welcome Guide, opens the Welcome Guide in the Help viewer at the page you last read; the second, Open User Manual, opens this manual there.

System Navigation

With the JustType Navigation accessibility service on, and Enable navigation mode turned on in System Settings, the SYSTEM NAV keyboard drives the rest of the device: it moves a target around the screen and taps it, scrolls, drags, opens the notification and quick-settings panels, presses Android’s Back, Home and App switcher, and controls media, all from the same eight keys and the same input method as typing. Three pages, each with a key to the next, and a MEDIA key.

Why

A keyboard that only types leaves the rest of the phone for someone else to touch. System Navigation is JustType’s answer: whoever can press its eight keys, by head, joystick, switch or touch, can open an app, answer a message, scroll a page and turn down the music. Open it from SYSTEM NAV MODE when you need the screen, and come back to the document you were writing with BACK TO TYPING. The service and its settings are described in Navigation Mode. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

SYSTEM NAV 1 (SELECT TARGET in the center): the arrow keys move a target around the screen and TAP SELECTION activates it; TAP ON SCREEN opens a page where a free cursor taps or long-taps any point; MEDIA opens the media pages; the SYSTEM NAV 2 key goes to page 2. Over a slider, TAP SELECTION reads SELECT SLIDER and the arrows then move the value until DESELECT SLIDER.

SYSTEM NAV 2 (SCREEN ACTIONS): ANDROID NOTIFICATIONS and QUICK SETTINGS (ANDROID), the pull-down panels, each opening its panel or closing whichever is up; NEXT TEXT FIELD and ENTER TEXT FIELD, for forms; Android’s BACK, HOME and APP SWITCHER; and the SYSTEM NAV 3 key. NEXT TEXT FIELD moves the target to the next text field on the screen, top to bottom then left to right, without opening it, so you can press it again to step past the fields you do not want; the arrows and TAP SELECTION work on the stepped-to field like any other. ENTER TEXT FIELD opens the targeted field: the cursor goes into it and the typing keyboard comes up. Only fields on the screen are found; scroll first for one below. With no text field on the screen, or no text field under the target, the key gives the error cue.

SYSTEM NAV 3 (MORE ACTIONS): the SYSTEM NAV 1 key, takes you back to page 1; BACK TO TYPING, back to the document you were writing in with the keyboard up on MAIN (if you have left that app, the app switcher shows for a moment while it brings the app back up; the error cue tells you the document is no longer on the app’s screen or the keyboard did not come up, and the SYSTEM NAV keyboard stays so you can carry on yourself); BACK TO LAST APP, back to the app you used before this one (pressed again, back and forth between the two); RE-LOCATE KEYBOARD, which moves the keyboard to another part of the screen; SCROLL, which scrolls the screen under the target on its own page with adjustable length and speed; and DRAG, which picks a target up, moves it and drops it. The other keys are empty for now. A document, for BACK TO TYPING, is a text field that takes more than one line, a note or a message you are composing; a form box, a search field or a password field you fill on the way is not remembered, so BACK TO TYPING still returns to the note. Nor is a field on JustType’s own screens, such as System Settings. As a reminder: if you haven’t installed Notepad Free yet from the Play Store, give it a try — it can simplify a lot of things.

Opening and returning. When the keyboard opens, the element nearest the center of the screen is already selected. When it comes back after you have typed, it returns to the page you were on. If the service is off, SYSTEM NAV MODE says so; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings opens Android’s Accessibility settings for you.

If touch gets stuck. Press volume-down three times within a second and a half: the SYSTEM NAV keyboard shrinks to its floating button and gives touch back; tap the button to bring it back. (When the hidden keyboard’s show gesture is set to volume-down three times, the presses show a hidden keyboard instead.) A long press on the keyboard’s drag handle shrinks it the same way.

Phrase entry

The screen ADD PHRASE opens, with two fields: the phrase, typed with any keys you like and ended with ENTER on FUNCTIONS 1, then its abbreviation, spelled in TWO-KEY SPELLING and ended with DONE. The same screen replaces a phrase and deletes one, so every phrase you keep is managed from the keyboard.

How it works

Entering. Type the phrase in the first field; ENTER (NEWLINE) on SYMBOLS 1 starts a new line within it, for an address, say. When it is complete, go to FUNCTIONS 1 and press ENTER. The keyboard then switches to TWO-KEY SPELLING for the second field, with CAPS LOCK on so that the abbreviation is upper case: spell the abbreviation that will recall the phrase and press DONE. The phrase is saved and CAPS LOCK returns to how it was.

Replacing. If the abbreviation already recalls another phrase, JustType asks whether to replace it, naming the old phrase (or calling it “a private phrase” when it belongs to a circle). YES replaces it and a short notice confirms; NO empties the abbreviation so you can spell a different one.

Deleting. Leave the phrase empty, press ENTER, spell the abbreviation of the phrase to delete and press DONE. JustType asks you to confirm; NO empties the abbreviation for another try. If the abbreviation recalls nothing, JustType says so and empties it. A notice confirms the deletion.

Canceling. DONE with nothing spelled, or UnDo (DELETE while spelling) in an empty field, cancels, and nothing is saved.

Public or private. In public a phrase is public; while a circle is on, ADD PHRASE first asks who the phrase is for. How a saved phrase is used is in Abbreviations and Phrases. How to JustType › Let JustType finish the work

Question pages

Sometimes JustType needs to ask a question to clarify what you want: which privacy circle to rename or to use in an app; whether to apply a mark to one section or the whole note; whether to replace an existing phrase; and so on. The answers are always keys on the keyboard, so every input method can choose one: they fill the keys from the top left, the question is in the center square (and is shown above the app, and spoken if SPOKEN FEEDBACK is on), and CANCEL at the bottom right always chooses the answer that changes nothing. The question stays until you answer it.

The Who is this for? page

The page that asks which privacy circle something is for. PRIVACY opens it to turn a circle on, and ADD CUSTOM WORD and ADD PHRASE (while a circle is on), MARK THIS PRIVATE and REMEMBER THIS NOTE open it to ask which circle the word, phrase, mark or note goes into. On it you choose a circle or PUBLIC, or bind the app you are in to a circle; the circle that is on wears brackets, or PUBLIC when none is; the center square reads WHO IS THIS FOR?. You can also give a circle a new name here. This one page is used for every privacy choice, so the circles always look the same wherever you meet them.

How it works

• The keys. PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 and 3 down the left (Keys 0, 3 and 5), each showing its name once you have given it one; PUBLIC (PRIVATE HIDDEN) (Key 2) and RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE (Key 4) on the right; ALWAYS IN THIS APP (Key 7); and BACK TO MAIN and CANCEL (Keys 1 and 6), which leave without choosing.
• What a choice does. Choosing a circle or PUBLIC is applied to what brought you here: the circle is turned on (from PRIVACY) and applies to what you do after that, or the word, phrase, mark or note becomes part of that circle. A circle chosen for a word or phrase does not change the circle that is on; a mark or a remembered note turns its circle on for that note. After your choice, you return to MAIN.
• The circles themselves: What a privacy circle is. How to JustType › Make it yours

ALWAYS IN THIS APP

Asks which circle (1, 2 or 3), then binds the app you are in to it: from then on, typing anywhere in that app uses that circle, and leaving the app returns you to whatever you had set. An app that is always for one person, a chat with a partner, say, never needs the circle turned on by hand again.

How it works

• Key 7 of the Who is this for? page. The question offers the three circles by name; CANCEL returns to the page. PUBLIC is not offered: an app is bound to a circle, or not listed.
• If you came here from ADD CUSTOM WORD, ADD PHRASE, MARK THIS PRIVATE or REMEMBER THIS NOTE, whatever you’re doing is added to the chosen circle. From PRIVACY, the binding is the choice: the circle you had on elsewhere is unchanged.
• The app is listed under Settings › Vocabulary › Private places; select its row to remove the binding. How a private place behaves, and what PUBLIC does inside one, is in Private places.
• How to JustType › Make it yours

BACK TO MAIN / CANCEL (Who is this for?)

Both leave the Who is this for? page without choosing: BACK TO MAIN at the top (Key 1), CANCEL at the bottom (Key 6). The circle that is on stays on, nothing is added or marked, and the keyboard returns to MAIN.

How it works

• Two keys, one effect: the action that opened the page, PRIVACY, ADD CUSTOM WORD, ADD PHRASE, MARK THIS PRIVATE or REMEMBER THIS NOTE, is dropped.
• CANCEL is the answer that changes nothing, as on every question page, but here it is the S key, since the SE key is ALWAYS IN THIS APP; BACK TO MAIN is where every page keeps its way out.

PRIVACY CIRCLE 1 / 2 / 3

Chooses that circle. From PRIVACY it turns the circle on, in every app and field until you choose PUBLIC: what JustType learns from now on stays in the circle, and the circle’s own words and phrases are predicted. From ADD CUSTOM WORD, ADD PHRASE, MARK THIS PRIVATE or REMEMBER THIS NOTE it determines the circle that word, phrase, mark or note goes into. The key shows the circle’s name once you have given it one.

How it works

• Keys 0, 3 and 5 of the Who is this for? page, for circles 1, 2 and 3; the press returns to MAIN.
• From PRIVACY. The circle stays on until you choose PUBLIC, unless a private contact or a private place takes over while you are with them. With a conversation open in Google Messages, Gmail or the Phone app (and the Navigation service on), the choice is remembered for that person instead, and the circle you had on elsewhere is unchanged.
• For a word, phrase, mark or note. The chosen circle receives it. A word or phrase leaves the circle that is on unchanged; a mark or a remembered note turns the chosen circle on for that note.
• What a circle keeps, and what stays hidden while it is off: What a privacy circle is. How to JustType › Make it yours

PUBLIC (PRIVATE HIDDEN)

Turns privacy off: public prediction only, with every circle’s words hidden, in every app and field until you choose a circle again. From ADD CUSTOM WORD, ADD PHRASE, MARK THIS PRIVATE or REMEMBER THIS NOTE it makes that word, phrase, mark or note public. It is the way back to writing for everyone.

How it works

• The NE key of the Who is this for? page; the press returns to MAIN. PRIVACY always opens this page, and choosing PUBLIC here is how you turn privacy off.
• With a contact. With a conversation open in Google Messages, Gmail or the Phone app (and the Navigation service on), PUBLIC is remembered for that person, and JustType says so: private words stay hidden with them from now on. See Private contacts.
• Inside a private place. PUBLIC makes the current field public and turns off any circle you had on elsewhere; JustType tells you how to remove the app from Private places.
• With MARK THIS PRIVATE. PUBLIC with WHOLE NOTE moves everything the note taught JustType back to public and removes every mark; with THIS CONVERSATION it marks the note public from that point.
• What a privacy circle is. How to JustType › Make it yours

RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE

Asks which circle, then lets you spell its name in TWO-KEY SPELLING; the name replaces PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 or 3 on the keys and in JustType’s notices. A circle called by the person it is for is a circle you will not mix up.

How it works

• Key 4 of the Who is this for? page. The question offers the three circles by their current names; CANCEL returns to the page.
• Spell the name and press DONE: it is saved, trimmed of spaces at either end, and the page returns. DONE with nothing spelled keeps the old name.
• The names can also be typed in System Settings under Vocabulary management › Privacy circles. A circle’s name is never written into your text. See Naming privacy circles.
• How to JustType › Make it yours

All Symbols Mode

Opens a browsable tree of every symbol in twelve groups: punctuation, brackets, quotes, currency, math, signs, fractions, superscripts and units, arrows, shapes, marks and science. Keys descend into a group, page through it, or go back up; a symbol key inserts that symbol exactly as shown. After you pick a symbol you return to where you started (MAIN, or LETTER / SYMBOL MODE), unless you came from REPEATED SYMBOLS, in which case ALL SYMBOLS MODE stays open at its top level for the next one. It is opened from SYMBOLS 3 and from REPEATED SYMBOLS 1 and 3.

BACK (All Symbols Mode)

At the top level, leaves ALL SYMBOLS MODE and returns to the SYMBOLS or REPEATED SYMBOLS page you came from. Inside a group the same key reads UP and goes back up a level.

PAGE 2 … / RETURN TO PAGE 1 (All Symbols Mode)

Appears when the current level has more than six entries: shows the next six (PAGE 2, PAGE 3 …) and, on the last page, reads RETURN TO PAGE 1. The twelve top-level groups take two pages.

Symbol group key (All Symbols Mode)

Opens that group of symbols. There are a very large number of symbols in ALL SYMBOLS MODE, so some groups contain more than six symbols — other symbols related to the six shown are sometimes on additional pages. So if you don’t see the exact symbol you are looking for, it’s worth pressing a key with similar kinds of symbols to see if there are additional pages. For example, ▼ is on page 2 of the Shapes group, whose key shows • ◦ ‣ ⁃ ● ○ (the Shapes group itself is on PAGE 2 of the top level).

Symbol key (All Symbols Mode)

Any key that displays only a single symbol types exactly that symbol, with no added space. Unless you came from REPEATED SYMBOLS, you then return to where you started (MAIN, or LETTER / SYMBOL MODE); from REPEATED SYMBOLS, ALL SYMBOLS MODE stays open at its top level.

UP (All Symbols Mode)

Goes back up to the page where you chose the current group.

Speaking Controls and Adjust Speech Output pages

Two pages for JustType’s voices. SPEAKING CONTROLS, opened from FUNCTIONS 1, is where text is read aloud: SPEAK SENTENCE, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE, PREVIOUS SENTENCE ← and NEXT SENTENCE →, which move the cursor a sentence at a time, and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION. ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, one press from there, is where the two voices are switched and tuned. PERSONAL VOICE is the voice that speaks what you write, and is the voice used by SPEAKING CONTROLS; there is also a direct link on the NE key to ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE where you can quickly change the volume and speaking rate. SPOKEN FEEDBACK is the UI feedback voice, which speaks to you, and its ON / OFF key is on ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT. SPOKEN FEEDBACK also has a page of its own for volume and rate, ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK; and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME sets the device’s own volume, which both voices depend on; and SPEAK TEST SENTENCE lets you hear the result. The voices’ switches, volume and rate are also in Settings; these pages are for changing them without leaving what you are typing or speaking.

Why

The two voices have two listeners. Your personal voice is for the people you talk to, so it has to be loud enough and slow enough for them, in the room you are in; spoken feedback is for you, and only needs to reach your own ear. Rooms and listeners change during a day, and a trip to Settings in the middle of a conversation is a long detour, so the switches and the volume and rate steps are on keyboard pages, a few presses from MAIN, and every change is heard at once with a test sentence. Turn a voice OFF when speaking would disturb others, or when you can see the screen and want silence; turn it on again from the same key. Volume here is a share of the device’s media volume, so when a voice at 100% is still too quiet, the next step is the device volume, on ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME. How the two voices divide the work, and the settings that decide what is spoken automatically, are in Personal voice and Spoken feedback. How to JustType › Speaking for yourself and How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

The pages. SPEAKING CONTROLS holds the speaking keys and ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE; ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT holds the two voices’ ON / OFF and ADJUST keys, SPEAK TEST SENTENCE and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME. On both, BACK TO MAIN is the N key, in UnDo’s place, as on every page, and the S key, in SELECT’s place, switches to the other page; on the three ADJUST pages the S key is BACK, which returns to ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT (or to SPEAKING CONTROLS when called from there). The other keys keep you on the page, except the ADJUST keys, which open their pages. The center square names the page.

The ADJUST pages. The same keys for each voice: SOFTER − and LOUDER + step the volume and SLOWER − and FASTER + the rate, the SW key speaks so you can hear the result, BACK is the S key, and the SE key opens the rest of the voice’s settings (PERSONAL VOICE SETTINGS or SPOKEN FEEDBACK SETTINGS). The center square shows the voice’s current VOLUME and RATE. The rules for the step keys are under Volume and rate keys.

The values. Volume runs from 10% to 100% of the device’s media volume, rate from 50% to 250%, both in steps of 10 and both 100% by default. The same values are the sliders in Settings: Personal voice volume and Personal voice rate under Personal voice, Spoken feedback volume and Spoken feedback rate under Spoken feedback. The ON / OFF keys are the switches Personal voice on and Spoken feedback on.

ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME. Laid out like the voice pages, but for Android’s own volume: ADJUST [stream] VOLUME chooses the category (MEDIA to begin with), VOLUME SOFTER − and VOLUME LOUDER + step it, MUTE / UNMUTE silences it, and ANDROID SOUND SETTINGS opens the rest of Android’s sound settings for the SYSTEM NAV keyboard.

Password fields. Nothing typed is ever spoken in a password field, whatever the switches say.

ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME

Opens the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page for the device’s own volume — the level Android applies on top of the voices’ volume settings. The page works on one volume category at a time: the ADJUST … VOLUME key cycles through MEDIA (what the voices and media players use), CALL, RING, NOTIFICATION, ALARM and, on Android 13 or newer, ASSISTANT; the center square shows that category’s level. VOLUME SOFTER and VOLUME LOUDER step it; MUTE / UNMUTE silences and restores it (where Do Not Disturb forbids muting, the level is remembered and set to zero instead). SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE lets you hear the result without leaving the page (it reads SPEAK TEST SENTENCE when nothing follows the cursor). ANDROID SOUND SETTINGS opens Android’s Sound & vibration settings and hands over to the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, so it is blank when Navigation mode is off. BACK returns to ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT; BACK TO MAIN to the typing page.

ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE

The ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE function is just a page jump to a page where the Personal voice volume and rate can be adjusted; SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE is also on the page so you can listen to the effects of any changes; and PERSONAL VOICE SETTINGS jumps to the section of Keyboard Settings that controls the Personal voice. It is the NE key of both SPEAKING CONTROLS and ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, and BACK on the page returns to whichever of the two you came from.

ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK

Opens the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page, where SPOKEN FEEDBACK SOFTER − and LOUDER + change the UI feedback voice’s volume one step per press and SLOWER − and FASTER + its rate, with the current values shown in the middle of the keyboard. SPEAK TEST SENTENCE lets you hear each change at once, and SPOKEN FEEDBACK SETTINGS opens the rest of the voice’s settings. The feedback voice is for your own ear, and this page lets you set it by ear, where you are, without leaving the text.

Who it is for. Anyone who uses spoken feedback: people who cannot see the keyboard well, and people who type by ear, listening for each selected word.

How it works

• Volume runs from 10% to 100% of the device’s media volume, rate from 50% to 250%, both in steps of 10, both 100% by default. A key beeps when its value can go no further. The step keys add no speech of their own; the rules they share with the personal voice’s keys are under Volume and rate keys.
• The values are the same as Spoken feedback volume and Spoken feedback rate in Settings, under Spoken feedback; a change here shows there.
• The SW key is always SPEAK TEST SENTENCE, in the feedback voice. On ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE that key is SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE, which would use your personal voice and so would tell you nothing about this one. The test sentence is spoken even while SPOKEN FEEDBACK is OFF, so you can hear the voice before turning it on.
• At 100% the voice is as loud as the device’s media volume allows; to go louder, raise the media volume with ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page.
• BACK returns to ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT; BACK TO MAIN to the typing page. Nothing needs confirming: each press is applied as it is made.

PERSONAL VOICE ON / OFF

Turns your personal voice ON or OFF. When ON, JustType will speak what you type according to the Personal voice settings (each word, each phrase, each sentence). While it is OFF, the SPEAK SENTENCE, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION keys ask before speaking (“Personal voice is currently OFF. Speak anyway?”), since PERSONAL VOICE may be off because speaking would disturb others and the key may have been pressed by accident; after speaking they offer to turn PERSONAL VOICE on. The face shows the current state. The key is on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page and stays there; the setting is remembered until you change it.

PREVIOUS SENTENCE ← / NEXT SENTENCE →

Move the text cursor one sentence at a time without speaking, so you can find a specific sentence you already typed and then read it with SPEAK SENTENCE. PREVIOUS SENTENCE ← moves to the start of the sentence the cursor is in, or of the one before when it is already at a start; NEXT SENTENCE → moves past the end of the sentence, to where the next one begins.

How it works

• The E and SE keys of SPEAKING CONTROLS; both stay on the page.
• They are EDIT MODE’s sentence moves, the same as the ↑ and ↓ keys in WORD / SENTENCE mode, whatever mode EDIT MODE was last left in. They are also here for convenience.
• A period after an abbreviation such as Mr. does not end a sentence here either.

SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE

Speaks the sentence after the cursor and moves the cursor to the start of the one after that, so repeated presses read a text aloud sentence by sentence; at the end of the text nothing is spoken. A period after an abbreviation such as Mr. or Dr. does not split a sentence, and the abbreviation is spoken as its word: “Mr.” is read “Mister”, “Dr.” “Doctor”. Only what is spoken changes; the text stays as written. While PERSONAL VOICE is OFF it asks first — “Personal voice is currently OFF. Speak anyway?” — and speaks only on YES, then offers to turn PERSONAL VOICE on; NO leaves everything as it was. It never speaks in a password field. Stays on the page where the function appears: the E key of FUNCTIONS 2, SPEAKING CONTROLS, ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE, ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME and EDIT ACTIONS 3 (SPEAK / EDIT) in EDIT MODE. To hear the sentence just spoken again, use SPEAK SENTENCE.

SPEAK TEST SENTENCE

Speaks one fixed sentence, “This is the current speaking volume and rate.”, so you can hear a voice with nothing typed in the current field. On ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT it uses the voice whose volume or rate you adjusted last (your personal voice if you have not yet adjusted either); on ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK it always uses the feedback voice. On ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME the SW key reads SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE while there is a sentence after the cursor and SPEAK TEST SENTENCE when there is not, and speaks in your personal voice. Changes to volume or rate should likely be confirmed, and this key is the quickest way to test the voice being adjusted.

How it works

• The personal voice speaks the sentence in the typing language, the feedback voice in the language of JustType’s own screen, so you hear each voice as it will sound in use.
• It speaks even if that voice is switched OFF, and asks no question, unlike SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE, which asks “Personal voice is currently OFF. Speak anyway?” while PERSONAL VOICE is OFF. You can therefore hear a voice before turning it on.
• What you hear is the voice’s own volume applied to the device’s media volume. If the sentence is too quiet at 100%, raise the media volume on ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME.
• On ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, “the voice you adjusted last” means the last SOFTER, LOUDER, SLOWER or FASTER press on ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE or ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK; the ON / OFF keys do not count.
• The key stays on its page, so you can press it after every step.

SPOKEN FEEDBACK ON / OFF

Turns the UI feedback voice ON or OFF: the voice that speaks to you, saying key names, the words you select, prompts and questions, Settings announcements and notices. When OFF, none of that is spoken; what you write is still spoken if PERSONAL VOICE is ON. The face shows the current state. Feedback is for your ear alone, so switch it off when you can see the screen and would rather have silence, or when announcements would disturb the people around you.

How it works

• The key is the same switch as Spoken feedback on in Settings, under Spoken feedback. It is ON by default, remembered until you change it, and the key is the W key of ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, staying on its page.
• OFF silences everything addressed to you: key names (Speak each selected letter key, Speak each selected function key), selected words and page blocks, prompts and questions, help read aloud, Settings announcements and the notices above the keyboard. Those settings keep their values and work again when the voice is ON. A notice is still shown above the keyboard, only not spoken.
• OFF does not touch your personal voice, and it does not silence SPEAK TEST SENTENCE on the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page, which speaks so that you can hear the voice before turning it on.
• The voice’s volume and rate are kept while it is OFF.
• Nothing is spoken in a password field either way.

BACK

On the three ADJUST pages (ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE, ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK and ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME), BACK returns one level up to the page you came from: ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT, or SPEAKING CONTROLS if you opened ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE from there, with every value as you left it; BACK TO MAIN, in UnDo’s place, leaves for the typing page instead. The two keys let you tune one voice, step back and tune the other, without passing through MAIN.

How it works

• BACK is in SELECT’s place: the S key, or the E key with UnDo on left, Select on right. On other groups of pages that key turns to the next page (see How keyboard pages and page keys work).
• Nothing is undone or confirmed by BACK: each volume or rate step was applied when you pressed it.
• Other keys that read BACK have their own rules: BACK in ALL SYMBOLS MODE and BACK in the Help viewer and Keyboard Settings.

PERSONAL VOICE SETTINGS

On the ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE page. Opens Keyboard Settings at the Personal voice settings, with the cursor on Personal voice on: the switch, volume and rate you have just been stepping, and the settings that decide what is spoken on its own (each word, each Abbreviated phrase, each sentence, punctuation names) and the Auto-speak delay. The ADJUST page holds the two values you change often; everything else about the voice is this one press away.

How it works

• Leaving Settings returns to MAIN, not to the ADJUST page.
• These are the same settings as System Settings › Personal voice; a change on either surface shows on the other.
• Its twin, SPOKEN FEEDBACK SETTINGS on the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page, opens the feedback voice’s settings instead.
• HELP ON THIS SETTING in Keyboard Settings explains any setting on the page; see Help in Settings.

Volume and rate keys (ADJUST pages)

SOFTER − and LOUDER + change the voice’s volume one step; SLOWER − and FASTER + its rate. The middle of the keyboard shows both values. The keys add no speech of their own. Volume is a percentage of the device’s media volume: at 100% the voice is as loud as the device volume allows, and the device’s media volume itself can be adjusted with ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page. A rate of 100% is the voice’s normal speed. Volume runs from 10% to 100% and rate from 50% to 250%, in steps of 10; a key beeps when it can go no further. (With UnDo on left, Select on right, the rate keys are the N and S keys, with FASTER + on the N key.)

SPOKEN FEEDBACK SETTINGS

On the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page. Opens Keyboard Settings on the Input Methods page at the Spoken feedback settings, with the cursor on Spoken feedback on: the switch, volume and rate, and the settings that choose what the feedback voice says, such as each selected word, the words of a selected page block, each selected letter key or function key, punctuation, only the valid letters on a key, and prompts. The ADJUST page holds the two values you change often; what the voice says is set here.

How it works

• Leaving Settings returns to MAIN, not to the ADJUST page.
• These are the same settings as System Settings › Input Methods › Spoken feedback; a change on either surface shows on the other.
• Its twin, PERSONAL VOICE SETTINGS on the ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE page, opens the personal voice’s settings instead.
• HELP ON THIS SETTING in Keyboard Settings explains any setting on the page; see Help in Settings.

ADJUST [stream] VOLUME

On the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page. Each press moves the page on to the next of the device’s volume categories, and the key’s face and the middle of the keyboard say which one: MEDIA, CALL, RING, NOTIFICATION, ALARM and, on Android 13 or newer, ASSISTANT, in that order and round again. The page’s other keys, VOLUME SOFTER −, VOLUME LOUDER + and MUTE / UNMUTE, then act on that category. The voices use MEDIA, but the same page can quiet a ringer or an alarm without opening Android’s Settings.

How it works

• MEDIA is what both voices and media players use: a voice’s own volume setting is a share of it. The page starts on MEDIA; the category you move to is not a saved setting.
• The center square shows the category, its level and its maximum as Android counts them, for example MEDIA VOLUME 7 / 15.
• ASSISTANT is offered only on Android 13 or newer; older devices go from ALARM back to MEDIA.
• The rest of Android’s sound settings are behind ANDROID SOUND SETTINGS on the same page.

ANDROID SOUND SETTINGS

On the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page. Opens Android’s own Sound & vibration settings and hands the screen to the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, so you can work those settings with your input method; JustType’s keyboard hides until you come back. The key is blank, and does nothing, while Navigation mode is off. Everything the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page cannot reach, such as Do Not Disturb, vibration and the sounds themselves, is there.

How it works

• The key needs Navigation mode ON and the JustType Navigation service running, because without the SYSTEM NAV keyboard there would be no way to operate the settings screen. Otherwise the face is blank and a press only beeps.
• Android’s settings open as a separate screen; the SYSTEM NAV grid comes up over it. If the device has no screen for these settings, the press beeps.
• Nothing on the page is changed by the press; the volume category and levels are as you left them.

MUTE / UNMUTE (ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME)

On the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page. Silences the volume category chosen with ADJUST [stream] VOLUME, or restores it: the face reads MUTE with the category’s name while there is sound, and UNMUTE while it is muted or at zero. One press for silence when a ring, a call or your own voice must stop at once, and one press back.

How it works

• Android’s own mute is used first. Where a Do Not Disturb policy refuses it, JustType remembers the level, sets it to zero, and UNMUTE puts the remembered level back; with nothing remembered, UNMUTE sets half the maximum. The remembered level lasts while JustType is running.
• A category already at level zero counts as muted, so its face reads UNMUTE.
• The press beeps when nothing could change.
• MUTE on MEDIA silences both voices; their own volume settings are unchanged, and UNMUTE brings them back.

VOLUME LOUDER +

On the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page. Turns the device’s selected volume category up one step, as the device’s volume button would, and the middle of the keyboard shows the new level. A voice’s own volume is a share of the device’s media volume, so this is the next step up when a voice at 100% is still too quiet.

How it works

• The step is Android’s own; the center square shows the level and the maximum as Android counts them, for example MEDIA VOLUME 8 / 15.
• You hear the volume tick instead of seeing the system’s volume panel, which would cover the keys.
• Beeps at the top of the range, and when a Do Not Disturb policy refuses the change.
• Acts on the category chosen with ADJUST [stream] VOLUME, MEDIA to begin with. VOLUME UP on the Media page changes the same media volume.
• Its twin is VOLUME SOFTER −.

VOLUME SOFTER −

On the ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME page. Turns the device’s selected volume category down one step, as the device’s volume button would, and the middle of the keyboard shows the new level. A voice’s own volume is a share of the device’s media volume, so this is the way down when a voice at 10% is still too loud, and a way to quiet media without leaving the keyboard.

How it works

• The step is Android’s own; the center square shows the level and the maximum as Android counts them, for example MEDIA VOLUME 6 / 15.
• You hear the volume tick instead of seeing the system’s volume panel, which would cover the keys.
• Beeps at the bottom of the range, and when a Do Not Disturb policy refuses the change. At zero the MUTE / UNMUTE key reads UNMUTE.
• Acts on the category chosen with ADJUST [stream] VOLUME, MEDIA to begin with. VOLUME DOWN on the Media page changes the same media volume.
• Its twin is VOLUME LOUDER +.

Part III — Privacy circles

JustType learns from what you type, and what it learns shows in the predictions: a word at the top of the list is a word you have typed before, and whoever can see the screen can see it. Privacy circles keep what you learn in one part of your life from surfacing in another. This part explains what a circle is, how to turn one on, private places, private words and phrases, marking a note after the fact, and how passwords are kept.

What a privacy circle is

JustType has a public mode and up to three privacy circles, which you can name: a person, a topic, anything. While a circle is on, the words and word pairs JustType learns, the words and phrases you add (which ask which circle) stay in that circle; back in public, none of it is predicted, listed or completed. A privacy circle still sees everything public, so nothing becomes harder to type. The aim is that a caregiver, a bystander or the person you are talking to does not see, in your predictions, words that belong to a different conversation.

Who it is for. Anyone whose screen other people see, which, for a keyboard that is often operated with help, is most people.

Why

Prediction is a record. The better JustType knows you, the more a glance at the selection list says about what you have written before: a name, a medicine, a word from a conversation the person beside you was not part of. The ordinary answer, learning nothing, would make typing slow for everyone. Privacy circles keep the learning and sort it by audience: what you learn with one person, or on one subject, is predicted only when that circle is on. Turn a circle on at the start of a conversation that is for one person, or bind the app that conversation lives in; leave public mode for everything else. A circle is not a lock on the device: someone who can open JustType’s files can read them. It is about what appears on the screen. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

Modes. There are four: PUBLIC, and PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 and 3. PRIVACY on FUNCTIONS 2 opens the Who is this for? page, where you can turn a circle on or go back to PUBLIC, give a circle a new name, or have the app you are in always use a circle; see Turning a privacy circle on and off. While a circle is on, the center square shows a lock, and the circle’s name too when Show circle name on keyboard is on.

What goes into a circle. What JustType learns while it is on: how often you use each word, how recently, and which word pairs you use. While a circle is on, ADD CUSTOM WORD and ADD PHRASE ask which circle a new word or phrase is for, PUBLIC included. See Private words and phrases.

One direction. A circle sees everything public plus its own; public sees nothing of any circle, and one circle sees nothing of another. JustType’s built-in dictionary is never private; only what it learns from you is. The counts that rank words are kept per mode, so a word used often in a circle does not climb the public list (What stays private). Inside a circle JustType records which words and pairs you use; the finer public adjustments, such as which capitalisation of a word you prefer, are left as they are.

Per circle. Each circle remembers its own Excluded words level; the setting’s row shows which circle you are changing.

Where a circle is on. Everywhere, until you choose PUBLIC, except where a private place, a private contact or a marked note takes over, each for as long as you are in it.

The device. Privacy circles change what JustType predicts and what it writes into the text as invisible marks; the words themselves are stored on the device as before. Backups carry every mode.

Turning a privacy circle on and off

PRIVACY on FUNCTIONS 2 turns a circle on or off. Each press opens the Who is this for? page, where you choose PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 or 3 (by name once named), or PUBLIC (PRIVATE HIDDEN) to turn privacy off — meaning that anything you have marked as private will be hidden; your choice applies at once. The key face shows which circle is on, or PUBLIC. One key, so that switching is quick enough to do at the start of every conversation.

How it works

What the choice applies to. A circle chosen here stays on in every app and field until you choose PUBLIC. Turning the screen off, or waking the device, does not change it; if the keyboard itself is restarted it starts in public. Three things take over for as long as you are in them: a private place, a private contact and a note you have marked. If a marked note and a private place disagree about a field, JustType keeps the mode you set and says so: “This field has more than one privacy setting. Staying as you set it.”

The page. Besides the three circles it offers PUBLIC (PRIVATE HIDDEN), RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE, ALWAYS IN THIS APP, and BACK TO MAIN or CANCEL, which leave without changing anything.

Waking up. When the screen wakes with a circle still on, JustType says so once, “Privacy circle <name> is on.”, in a brief notice above the keyboard, spoken too when spoken feedback is on, and asks nothing: the circle stays on.

Private contacts. In Google Messages, Gmail and the Phone app, with the JustType Navigation service on, a choice made while a conversation is open is remembered for that person only, PUBLIC included, and JustType says so (“<circle> will be used with <name> from now on.”); the circle you had set elsewhere is unchanged. The list is under Settings › Vocabulary › Private contacts.

Inside a private place. Choosing PUBLIC makes the current field public and turns off any circle you had on elsewhere; a notice tells you how to remove the app from Private places if you want it public for good. And the same thing applies to notes: just open a note marked private, and any conversation you type in that note lands in that same privacy circle.

Inside a marked note. Switching circles with this key writes a boundary mark at the end of the text, so the text before it keeps the mode it was written in.

Private places

ALWAYS IN THIS APP on the Who is this for? page asks which circle, then binds the app you are in to it: from then on, typing anywhere in that app uses that circle, and leaving the app returns you to whatever you had set. It is for an app that is always one conversation, a diary or a messaging app you use with one person, so that you never have to remember to switch.

How it works

• Reach the page with PRIVACY, or through ADD CUSTOM WORD, ADD PHRASE or MARK THIS PRIVATE: in that case the action goes ahead in the chosen circle once the app is bound. CANCEL in the question returns to the page.
• The question offers circles 1 to 3 only, not PUBLIC; binding an app does not change the circle you have set elsewhere.
• Choosing PUBLIC with PRIVACY inside a private place makes this field public, turns off any circle you had on elsewhere, and JustType tells you how to remove the app from Private places: the place itself stays until you remove it.
• The list of private places is in Settings under Vocabulary (Private places), on both settings surfaces; select a row to remove it.
• A marked note inside a private place that disagrees with the place keeps the mode you set, and JustType says so.
• The same idea per person is a private contact: a circle chosen while a conversation is open, in the apps the Navigation service can read.

Private words and phrases

While a circle is on, ADD CUSTOM WORD and ADD PHRASE on NAVIGATE 2 ask who the word or phrase is for, then add it to that circle (PUBLIC is offered too); in public they add a public word or phrase without asking. It is predicted, listed and completed only while that circle is on. A name or a phrase that belongs to one conversation should not come up in another, and this is how you keep it there.

How it works

• When a circle is on, ADD CUSTOM WORD and ADD PHRASE ask you to choose which circle to put them in, PUBLIC included; and in public they ask nothing.
• A private word can belong to more than one circle. A word that is already public, including every word in the JustType dictionary, stays public however it is added.
• A private word that you spell out letter by letter in public stays private. Typing never moves a word between modes; marking text can: a word you added that is used only in the marked text moves with it.
• A private phrase’s abbreviation works only while its circle is on.
• Excluded words never leaves out a custom word, public or private.
• A circle’s words show in the selection list like any other, so anyone looking at the screen while the circle is on sees them; see What stays private.

Marking a note or conversation private

MARK THIS PRIVATE (NAVIGATE 2) makes the note or conversation you are in private, or public, after the fact: choose the mode on the Who is this for? page, and if there is text before the last mark, or before where you came into the field, JustType asks whether you mean THIS CONVERSATION (from that point) or the WHOLE NOTE. What JustType learned from that text moves into the mode you chose. Often you realize part-way through that a conversation should have been private; this key fixes that.

How it works

The face. With text highlighted the key reads MARK HIGHLIGHT PRIVATE and marks only the highlight, without asking; in a note that already starts with a mark it reads CHANGE PRIVACY. In an empty field the key only beeps.

What moves. JustType re-reads the text and moves what it learned from it out of the mode it was learned in and into the mode you chose: each word and word pair, counted from the text itself. A custom word that is used only in the marked text moves with it. Text you deleted is not moved (it is not what you meant to write). Text the app has already sent and cleared cannot be moved, because it is gone; for messaging apps, turn the circle on before you start, or make the app a private place.

Afterwards. The chosen mode is on for this field, and for this field only; it does not change the circle you set with PRIVACY for other fields. JustType writes an identity mark at the start of the note and a boundary mark at the end, so the note re-enters the same mode when you open it again.

The highlight. MARK HIGHLIGHT PRIVATE moves only the highlighted block and marks it off with a boundary before and after; the note’s own mode and the active mode are unchanged.

Repeating. Marking is safe to repeat: a mark closes the text before it, so a second press cannot move the same text twice. Marking the same text with a different mode moves it again, to the new mode. PUBLIC with WHOLE NOTE moves everything back to public and removes every mark.

Fields without marks. In a field where marks cannot be written (see Privacy marks in the text) the learning still moves and the mode still applies while you stay; JustType says once that the marks could not be saved.

Privacy marks in the text

To remember which circle a note belongs to, JustType writes invisible marks into the text: an identity mark at the start of the note and, inside a marked note, a boundary mark wherever the circle changes. They are made of zero-width characters, five to a mark; they do not print, take no space and are not spoken. They are what lets JustType re-enter the right mode when you open the note again, in any app that keeps them.

How it works

• A mark is written by MARK THIS PRIVATE, and a boundary mark also when you switch circles with PRIVACY inside a note that already has an identity mark.
• JustType steps over marks when you delete: DELETE CHAR removes the character beyond them, and deleting a highlight does not lose the note’s identity mark or the boundary inside it. JustType never speaks them.
• If copied text that begins with a note’s identity mark is pasted at the start of another document, that document joins the same mode.
• Marks are written only in ordinary multi-line text fields. In any other field (passwords, addresses, email, numbers, search, single-line fields and fields that ask for no learning) MARK THIS PRIVATE writes nothing and says so once: “Privacy marks can’t be saved in this kind of field. The privacy mode applies while you stay here.”
• Marks are never shown as text in this manual’s examples or in Settings; names are never written into the text at all.

Naming privacy circles

On the Who is this for? page, RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE asks which circle, then lets you spell its name; DONE with nothing spelled keeps the old one. The name replaces PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 or 3 on the page, in JustType’s notices and in Settings, where the names can also be typed, under Vocabulary › Privacy Circles. A name you recognize at a glance, a person or a topic, is what makes switching a habit.

How it works

• Names are never written into your text.
• The name is used wherever the circle is shown: the keys of the Who is this for? page, the question ALWAYS IN THIS APP asks, the rows of Private places and Private contacts, and the notice on waking (“Privacy circle <name> is on.”; an unnamed circle is announced as PRIVACY CIRCLE 2, for example).
• The center square shows a lock while a circle is on, and the name next to it when Show circle name on keyboard is on; it is off by default, for when other people see the screen.
• The three Name Privacy Circle rows in Settings (1, 2, 3) set the same names, on both settings surfaces. A blank name there, as here, keeps the old one.

What stays private and what a partner can see

While a privacy circle is on, the Selection list may show private words in that circle. Anyone looking at the screen sees them, and you can use them, which is the point: you are in a conversation that circle is for. What privacy circles prevent is the other case: a private word will not appear in the list while you are in public, or in a different privacy circle.

How it works

• The learned counts that make a word rank higher are kept per mode too, so a word used often in one mode does not climb the public list. Public ranking reflects only public use.
• What the screen shows of the circle itself is a lock in the center square; the circle’s name is shown only when Show circle name on keyboard is on. Names are never written into the text.
• Spoken feedback reads a selected word aloud in a circle as it does in public: with Speak each selected word on, a private word is said out loud when you select it.
• The text you write is the same in every mode, apart from the invisible marks. Someone who can open JustType’s files, or a backup, can read every mode’s words; the circle is about the screen, not the device.
• A password is in no circle: it is never shown, spoken or learned at all.

Passwords

A password kept as a secure phrase is typed for you in a password field when you enter its secret: a sequence of at least 10 key presses that only you know. JustType never shows, speaks or learns the password or the secret, and stores the password encrypted so that it opens only with that secret. It is for the passwords you type often enough to want on the keyboard, and never want to see on the screen.

Who it is for. Anyone who types passwords with JustType, and anyone setting up a keyboard for someone whose passwords must not be readable by the people helping them.

Why

A password typed letter by letter on a keyboard that predicts, speaks and remembers would be a password given away: in the list, in the spoken feedback, in what JustType learns. So a password is handled apart from everything else. It is stored encrypted with a key made from the secret, and neither the secret nor the key is stored, so there is nothing on the device that opens the password except your memory. The secret is a sequence of keys, long enough that guessing is impractical, and entered blind, with no aid that could show it. Use it for the few passwords you need at the keyboard; keep the account’s password somewhere you can recover it, because a forgotten secret cannot be recovered by anyone. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

Adding one. On NAVIGATE 2 choose ADD PASSWORD, then CONTINUE after the explanation. A screen lists five steps:

• A name for the password, such as “Bitwarden”. This is not the password: the name only identifies it in your list of passwords. Left empty, it is called “Password”.
• The password itself.
• The password again.
• Your secret, typed on the keyboard, then ENTER.
• Your secret again, then ENTER.

When a field is complete, go to FUNCTIONS 1 and press ENTER to move to the next step. After step 3 the keyboard shows the blank PASSWORD page for steps 4 and 5: the letter keys in their MAIN positions, UnDo at the top, and ENTER where SELECT usually is; the center square reads NEW SECRET, then SECRET AGAIN. The screen says which step you are on. On that page, UnDo with nothing typed goes back one step, as far as step 3; Android’s Back button leaves without saving. The secret must be at least 10 presses and must not be the key sequence of one of your phrase abbreviations; if the two entries differ you start again at step 4. If the secret already opens another password, JustType asks whether to replace that password with this one; NO asks for a different secret.

Using one. Once you have saved a password, a password field opens the PASSWORD page by itself as the keyboard comes up: type the secret and press ENTER (in SELECT’s place on this page). The password is typed into the field, and only into a password field, and JustType then presses the field’s own ENTER for you, so a sign-in form is sent, or the cursor moves on where the form asks for a next field. UnDo removes your last press; UnDo (or ENTER) with nothing typed leaves the page without typing anything, and the keyboard is the ordinary one again; to get the page back, leave the field and return to it. After a wrong secret JustType says “No match. Try again.” and the PASSWORD page comes straight back for another try. In a password field with no password saved, the keyboard says so once and points to ADD PASSWORD.

No typing aids. While you type a secret, the keyboard shows only a * for each press, so you can see each press arrive; UnDo removes one. There is no selection list, the key history shows no letters, there are no next-letter hints, nothing is spoken and nothing is logged. Any of these would give the secret away. Entry depends entirely on your memory. A good method is to remember a sentence and type the first letter of each word, and numbers as digits: “I went to the store and came back home with 23 apples and 17 bananas” becomes IWTTSACBHW23AA17B. Capital letters make no difference; only the keys count. The digits 1–5 and 6–0 are on two of the letter keys, so a digit is one press of its key.

The same keys every time. The secret is a sequence of keys, and you spell it from the letters on them. So the PASSWORD page always shows the letter keys as they were when you added your first password, even if you later change typing language or letter arrangement. Swapping the SELECT and UnDo keys makes no difference. If you delete every password, the next one you add takes the keys as they are then.

Wrong secrets. The first three wrong tries cost nothing. After that each further try must wait before it is accepted, 5 seconds, then 10, 20 and so on, up to five minutes, and JustType says how long (“Please wait N seconds before trying again.”). A right secret resets the count.

Deleting. Keyboard Settings › Vocabulary › Passwords lists your passwords by name, and so does System Settings › Vocabulary management › MANAGE VOCABULARIES (IMPORT / EXPORT / MERGE / DELETE), as Passwords (N) ›. Choosing one asks for its secret on the keyboard (“Type this password’s secret, then ENTER on this page, to delete it.”); only that password’s own secret deletes it, a wrong one says “No match” and asks again, and UnDo with nothing typed keeps the password. A password whose secret is forgotten can be neither used nor deleted, so keep the account’s password somewhere you can recover it, such as your password manager.

Help Mode and privacy circles. Function Help Mode never explains the PASSWORD page while a secret is being typed, and a password belongs to no privacy circle; backups carry it encrypted, as stored.

Backups

Backups include private words, private phrases and the learned data of every mode, so a restore brings every circle back as it was. The readable word list a backup also writes names public words only, unless Include private items in listing is on. A backup is the one copy of everything you have taught JustType, so it is made complete; what is readable without JustType is your choice.

How it works

• The backup archive always holds everything: every language’s learned data, custom words with their circles, phrases, private places, private contacts and circle names. The restore is complete whatever the listing setting says.
• The listing (a plain word list for reading) is public words only by default; Include private items in listing adds the private ones. The phrase file is the restore copy, so it holds every phrase, public and private, either way: keep the backup folder private whichever way the setting is.
• Passwords travel encrypted, as stored, and open with the same secret after a restore; the backup gives no way to read them.
• Include private items in listing is on the Backup & restore page of both settings surfaces, and off by default.

Coming later

Planned: cursor movement that steps over privacy marks in every app, as deleting already does.

Part IV — Function Help Mode and this manual

JustType explains itself in two places: Function Help Mode on the keyboard, which shows what a key does instead of doing it, and the ⓘ buttons and HELP ON THIS SETTING in Settings, which show what a setting does. Both show this manual’s text, and the Help viewer shows the whole manual above the keyboard. This part covers all three.

Function Help Mode

FUNCTION HELP MODE ON / OFF is on FUNCTIONS 2. While it is on, pressing a key shows what that key does, in the words of this manual, instead of doing it: the key’s name and its explanation pop up above the keyboard, read aloud if Speak prompts aloud is on, and the keys become the answers. OK closes the help and does nothing; OK, DO IT closes it and performs the key as if you had pressed it with Function Help Mode off. Keys that only move between pages still work, so you can walk the keyboard and ask about anything. It is the way to find out what a key does without the risk of doing it.

Why

A keyboard of eight keys and many pages has faces that cannot say everything, and the only way to learn a key by pressing it is to accept what it does. Function Help Mode takes that risk away: every press is a question, the answer is the manual’s own text for that key, and OK, DO IT lets you go on with the press once you know. A key you have understood can be excused from explaining itself, so the mode stays useful once you know most of the keyboard. Turn it on when you are learning a page or showing someone the keyboard; it turns itself off when the keyboard closes. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

The answers. OK closes the help without actually performing the function; OK, DO IT closes it and does what the key does. HELP FOR THIS KEY is a switch: when ON the key is explained each time; set it to OFF when you know the key well, and after you answer OK or OK, DO IT that key will no longer be explained. When the help text contains links, PREVIOUS HELP LINK and NEXT HELP LINK step through them, and OPEN THIS HELP LINK, shown once a link is selected, opens the linked topic in the Help viewer; EXIT HELP there returns to the key’s pop-up, so you can still choose OK or OK, DO IT.

Spoken. With Speak each selected function key on, OK and OK, DO IT are spoken on the first press and taken on the second, so you cannot answer by accident; with Single-Switch Scanning or Two-Switch Selection, which already confirm a press, one press answers. HELP FOR THIS KEY says “Help for this key, on” or “off” as it flips.

The key itself. FUNCTION HELP MODE explains itself when you press it with the mode off: its answers are LEAVE FUNCTION HELP OFF and TURN FUNCTION HELP ON, with the same HELP FOR THIS KEY switch. Pressed while the mode is on, it turns the mode off at once.

What is explained. Every key with a topic in this manual, letter keys included: a letter key shows the Letter Key topic, or Letter Key with List-Function when it has one. Keys that only move between pages, such as BACK TO MAIN, FUNCTIONS 2 and the other page keys, work as usual, so you can move around. The answers on a Question page, the Keyboard Settings pages, the Help viewer and the PASSWORD page while a secret is being typed are never explained.

Keys you switched off. Show all key help again, under Help resources in Settings, brings back the help of every key you turned off with HELP FOR THIS KEY.

Leaving. Function Help Mode switches itself off when the keyboard closes; a help that was up is taken down with it.

The Help viewer

The Help viewer shows help text above the keyboard, as large as you like, and is used for every kind of help: the User Manual, a setting’s help (HELP ON THIS SETTING in Keyboard Settings) and the links in Function Help Mode’s text. Open User Manual, the second row of Keyboard Settings, opens the manual at its index, and Open Welcome Guide, the first, opens the Welcome Guide.

Use the arrow keys ↑ and ↓ to page through long text. PREVIOUS HELP LINK and NEXT HELP LINK step through the links in the text on the screen: the selected link is highlighted, and moving to a link further down turns the page for you; after you page with ↑ or ↓, NEXT takes the first link on the page shown and PREVIOUS the last. OPEN THIS HELP LINK, shown only while a link is selected, opens it. Every topic ends with a link to the next topic, by name, and a link back to the index.

When SPOKEN FEEDBACK is ON, each topic will start to be read aloud in the UI feedback voice when you open it (coming back to a topic with BACK, only its title and the link you followed are said); with or without SPOKEN FEEDBACK on, pressing READ TOPIC, the SW key, also reads the topic aloud. While a topic is read, that key says PAUSE (then when paused says CONTINUE), and the SE key says STOP READING, which makes the topic start over if it is read again. Otherwise the SE key is BACK, which returns to the topic you came from, with the link you followed selected, or EXIT HELP at the first topic you opened. ADJUST FONT lets you choose the text size, a light or dark background and the line spacing — one saved choice for all help, also under Keyboard Setup › Help text in Settings. Once you are two links deep (where leaving would take three BACK presses), ADJUST FONT changes to EXIT HELP instead and so you can leave in one press; go BACK and it becomes ADJUST FONT again.

Opened from Function Help Mode, EXIT HELP returns to the key’s pop-up, so you can still choose OK or OK, DO IT. In System Settings the same text and links are on the Help screen, where links are simply tapped; OPEN IN MANUAL on a setting’s ⓘ dialog takes you there.

Help in Settings

In System Settings, most settings have an ⓘ button next to their name. Tap it to read what the setting does; with Speak prompts aloud on, it is spoken as well. In Keyboard Settings, HELP ON THIS SETTING (key 4) shows the same text for the setting under the cursor. The text is the first paragraph of that setting’s section in this manual, and OPEN IN MANUAL takes you to the rest. A setting’s name rarely says when to change it; its help does.

How it works

• System Settings. The ⓘ dialog shows the setting’s name and its short help; OK closes it, and OPEN IN MANUAL opens the whole section on the Help screen, where links are tapped. Speech stops when the dialog closes.
• Keyboard Settings. HELP ON THIS SETTING opens the setting’s section in the Help viewer, with its links and READ TOPIC; where the viewer is not available the short text pops up above the keyboard instead, spoken with Speak prompts aloud, and BACK takes it down. The key is blank for a row that has no help.
• The text. It is the short body of the setting’s topic in Settings, the paragraphs before the manual’s “more”; the same words on both surfaces, and the same words Function Help Mode shows for a key.

Part V — Settings reference

Every setting, in the order of the JustType System Settings screens and the on-keyboard Keyboard Settings pages. The opening text of each setting is the short help you see with its ⓘ icon (see Help in Settings); the rest is background and guidance.

Settings

JustType’s settings can be changed in two places that control the same values: System Settings, the app you open by tapping the JustType icon, made for a touchscreen and so handy for a helper; and Keyboard Settings, opened with SETTINGS on the NAVIGATE 1 page and worked with the same eight keys and input method you type with. Use whichever is easier for you. This part describes every setting once; the same text is behind the ⓘ icon in System Settings and the HELP ON THIS SETTING key in Keyboard Settings.

How it works

The first page. Both surfaces start with Open Welcome Guide and Open User Manual (System Settings adds Open Quick Setup), then the pages:

• Input methods: how you press keys, and the feedback for each press.
• Language options: UI and typing languages, voices, accents.
• Keyboard setup: layout, appearance, the selection list, help text.
• Navigation mode: the keyboard that works the rest of the device.
• Vocabulary management: privacy circles, vocabulary sources, hints.
• Backup & restore and Beta testing.

Below them, on the first page itself: Optimize for slower devices, the Personal voice settings, Help resources and About. A Developer page exists for the developers and stays hidden.

Only in System Settings. Troubleshooting › Emergency reset (input method), at the end of the first page, switches typing back to Direct Selection and keeps your other settings, for when the keyboard has become unusable.

Risky settings. Changing the input method, a zone slider of head tracking or a joystick, or the keyboard size from the keyboard could leave you unable to press any more keys, so in Keyboard Settings such a change must be confirmed with CONFIRM within 15 seconds; otherwise it reverts to the previous value, and leaving Settings with it unconfirmed reverts it too.

Open Welcome Guide

Opens the Welcome Guide, which takes you through customizing JustType for yourself, one step per page, with links into this manual. It opens at the page you last read. From Keyboard Settings (using just the keyboard) it opens in the Help viewer, and EXIT HELP brings you back to Keyboard Settings, where you can make any of the changes you just read about; in System Settings it opens on the Help screen, using the touchscreen.

Quick Setup, the screens that JustType shows the first time it opens (what JustType is, enabling the keyboard, Optimize for slower devices and help choosing an input method), will run again from Open Quick Setup, in System Settings. Its last screen opens the Welcome Guide.

Open User Manual

Opens this manual’s index in the Help viewer (in System Settings, on the Help screen). Every chapter is a link: step to one with PREVIOUS HELP LINK and NEXT HELP LINK and press OPEN THIS HELP LINK.

Performance

This section has one setting, Optimize for slower devices. Turn it ON only if JustType feels slow on an older or lower-power device: it makes JustType run faster, at some cost to its predictions.

Optimize for slower devices

When ON, JustType turns off context predictions (and with them the Confidence signal), leaves out the rarest dictionary words, and skips some background learning and key animations, so it runs faster on an older or lower-power device. This reduces JustType’s ability to predict what you are typing, so only turn it ON if typing feels slow or JustType won’t run otherwise. Quick Setup turns it ON by itself on a low-resource device.

Personal voice

These settings control when what you type with JustType (words, phrases, sentences) is spoken aloud. They work together so you can set up speech to suit the way you communicate.

Personal voice on

Turns your personal voice ON or OFF. When OFF, what you write is not spoken automatically and the Personal voice settings below have no effect; the SPEAK SENTENCE, SPEAK NEXT SENTENCE and SPEAK (LAST) SELECTION keys ask before speaking. The UI feedback voice has its own switch and is not affected. This is the same switch as the PERSONAL VOICE ON / OFF key on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page (reached from SPEAKING CONTROLS on FUNCTIONS 1): changing it in either place changes both, and the setting is remembered.

Personal voice volume

Sets how loud your personal voice is, as a percentage of the device’s media volume: at 100% it is as loud as the device volume allows. From 10% to 100% in steps of 10 (default 100%). The UI feedback voice has its own volume setting. You can also change this on the keyboard with ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE (on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page). Note that the device’s media volume can also be adjusted using ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page.

Personal voice rate

Sets how fast your personal voice speaks: 100% is the voice’s normal speed, and the setting can vary from 50% to 250% in steps of 10 (default 100%). You can also change this on the keyboard with ADJUST PERSONAL VOICE (on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page).

Speak output word

OFF by default. When ON, each word you type is spoken aloud as soon as it is finalized, that is, after you SELECT it and then type the first key of the next word. A word also becomes finalized when it is selected as the chosen word from a Page of six. Words that are still only candidates in the selection list are not spoken. This lets you confirm that the right word was entered in the text without looking at the text field. If Auto-speak delay is ON (it is by default, at 1.5 seconds), the selected word is also spoken when the delay runs out, so you hear it even if you don’t go on to type another word.

Speak each Abbreviated phrase

ON by default. An Abbreviated phrase will appear in the selection list when you type its abbreviation. When this setting is ON, an Abbreviated phrase that you then select in the selection list is spoken aloud as it is entered into the text: when you type the first key of the next word, or when the Auto-speak delay runs out (if it is ON). The delay lets you speak a phrase you have recalled without having to type another key first.

Speak output sentence

ON by default. When ON, each sentence you complete is spoken aloud as soon as you end it with a period, exclamation point or question mark, however you type the mark: from a SYMBOLS page, from LETTER / SYMBOL MODE or ALL SYMBOLS MODE, or as a punctuation candidate on a letter key. A period after an abbreviation such as Mr. or Dr. does not end a sentence, so it does not trigger speaking a sentence; when the sentence is spoken, each abbreviation in it is read as its full word (“Dr.” as “Doctor”).

Speak punctuation names

OFF by default. When ON, each punctuation character you type (period, comma and so on) is spoken by name as it is entered, so you can confirm that the right punctuation was typed. This works only when Speak output word is also ON.

Speaking indicator icon

Chooses the small animated icon shown in the top-right corner of the keyboard while JustType is speaking, so you can see when something is being spoken even if it is hard to hear. Choose Outlined or Audio wave (Outlined by default). The icon appears whenever either voice is speaking, your personal voice or the UI feedback voice, and there is no option to hide it.

Auto-speak delay

The number of seconds JustType waits after you select a word or Abbreviated phrase before speaking it automatically: from OFF up to 5 seconds, 1.5 seconds by default. When the delay runs out, a selected Abbreviated phrase is also written out in full into the text, even if it is not spoken. When set to OFF, a selected word or phrase is spoken (if Speak output word or Speak each Abbreviated phrase is ON) only when you begin typing the next word.

Choose a delay at least a little longer than it takes you to press SELECT again. Then you can step through several candidates in the selection list without each one being spoken, and the one you stop on is spoken after a short pause. This suits a conversational pace.

Help resources

Two ways to get help: Submit feedback gathers JustType’s logs into a file you can send to the developers (nothing is sent until you choose where, and the logs may include text you typed, so send them only to someone you trust), and Show all key help again brings back the key explanations you turned off. If you are a beta tester, thanks for helping!

Submit feedback

Packs the debug and crash logs and a summary of your SELECT key use into a zip file and opens the Android share sheet so you can send it to the developers by email, Drive or any other app. Nothing is sent until you choose where. The logs can include text you typed while Enable debug logging (on the Beta testing page) was on, so send them only to someone you trust with what you typed.

Show all key help again

Brings back the explanation of every key you switched off with HELP FOR THIS KEY in Function Help Mode. Nothing else changes.

About

This shows the JustType version and build number, and which source code it was built from. This is useful for support requests, so please include this information whenever you ask for help or report a problem.

Private places

When you type in an app listed here, JustType switches to that app’s privacy circle. To add an app, press the PRIVACY function on FUNCTIONS 2, then choose ALWAYS IN THIS APP on the keyboard’s Who is this for? page while you are typing in that app; ALWAYS IN THIS APP offers circles 1 to 3 only, not PUBLIC. Select a row to remove it. You find the list in the Privacy circles section of Vocabulary management (the Vocabulary page in Keyboard Settings).

Private contacts

When you choose a privacy circle while you are communicating with someone, JustType uses that circle with that person from then on, PUBLIC included, and says so. This works in Google Messages, Gmail and the Phone app, and needs the JustType Navigation accessibility service (see Navigation Mode) so JustType can determine who the conversation is with. Select a row to remove it. You find the list in the Privacy circles section of Vocabulary management (the Vocabulary page in Keyboard Settings).

Passwords

Each password here is locked by its own secret. Only its name is shown. To add one, use ADD PASSWORD on the keyboard (NAVIGATE 2). Select a row to delete it: the keyboard asks for that password’s secret first.

How it works

• Two places. In Keyboard Settings the list is under Vocabulary › Passwords. In System Settings it is one level further down: Vocabulary management › MANAGE VOCABULARIES (IMPORT / EXPORT / MERGE / DELETE), then the row Passwords (N) › under Select vocabularies to merge, delete or export, where N is how many you have saved. Both open the same list.
• Deleting. A row deletes only with that password’s own secret, typed on the keyboard’s PASSWORD page and ended with ENTER; a wrong secret says “No match” and asks again, and UnDo with nothing typed keeps the password. Deleting from System Settings opens a field for the secret and raises the keyboard on it.
• Using a saved password, and what the secret is, are in Passwords.

Language Options

The Language options page controls everything about languages: the language JustType’s own menus and prompts use, the language you type in, the voices used for speech, and some other options that may only apply to particular languages (spelling region, accents, tones). You can also download additional languages with Get more languages…

UI language and Typing language are separate choices. If you want JustType’s menus in a different language, change the UI language first: every label on the pages that follow is then in that language, along with the labels on JustType’s function keys. You can also choose two voices: a Personal voice that speaks what you type, and a UI feedback voice that speaks JustType’s own prompts and announcements. Other settings control whether coarse words are offered in the word predictions (you can still spell or add any word), and turn other features ON or OFF according to your preferences. Some settings further down this page appear only when a language that uses them is installed: regional language variations, accent keys, tone settings and similar options. Each setting has its own help explanation.

UI language

Sets the language JustType uses for its own key labels, menus, prompts, help text and messages. System default (the default) follows your device’s language; you can also choose English, or any language that you have downloaded. The settings pages change language at once. Note that the UI language can be different from the Typing language.

Choosing a specific language keeps JustType in that language even if the device language changes.

Typing language

Chooses the language you type in: JustType uses that language’s dictionary for predictions, and offers its accented letters in TWO-KEY SPELLING. English is built in; other languages appear here once you download them with Get more languages…. Changing it reloads the keyboard in that language.

Personal voice type preference

The type of voice you prefer for your personal voice, the one that speaks what you write: No preference, Male, Female or Child. JustType uses it to suggest a voice whenever you choose a Personal voice selection for a language and, while no voice is chosen, to pick a matching one from the speech engine. Set it once, before you browse voices, so every language starts with the kind of voice you want.

How it works

• No preference by default. One preference covers every typing language; the voice itself is chosen per language.
• In the voice list the suggested voice is one of this type when there is one; if none matches, the list says so (“Couldn’t find a voice matching your preferred voice type”) and you choose by listening. TEST plays a sample.
• With no voice chosen for a language, JustType binds a voice of this type from the engine at run time, if it can recognize one; the row still reads the engine’s default voice.
• The match is a best guess from the voice’s name (Android reports no voice type), helped by a table of known Google voices; always TEST before you confirm. Child voices are uncommon.
• The UI feedback voice has its own UI feedback voice type preference; many people choose a different type for it, so JustType’s own announcements are easy to tell from their words.

Personal voice selection

Chooses the Text-to-Speech voice that speaks what you type in the current typing language; each typing language remembers its own voice. The list shows every installed voice for the language, with one suggested based on any Personal voice type preference. Use Test (TEST on the keyboard) to hear a spoken sample so you can compare voices, and Use this voice (APPLY on the keyboard) to keep your choice. This will be the voice people hear when you talk to them, so choose it by listening.

How it works

• The list is built by scanning the speech engines installed on the device for voices that speak the language. A voice that comes in an on-device and an online version appears once; the online one is used when the device is online.
• No installed voice for the language: the dialog says so and offers Install a voice, which opens the speech engine’s voice download, or the device’s speech settings.
• When the list opens by itself. In System Settings, when you switch to a typing language that has no voice chosen yet; and after you download a language with Get more languages…, on either surface. A voice chosen for a language you are not typing in yet is kept and used when you switch to it.
• In Keyboard Settings the same list appears on the keys, with TEST and APPLY.
• Until a voice is chosen the engine’s default voice for the language speaks, matched to your type preference when possible.
• The voice JustType uses to speak to you is chosen separately, with UI feedback voice selection.

Get more languages…

Opens the list of languages you can download, with the ones already on the device marked. Each language is a separate download that adds it to the Typing language choices and, where JustType’s own text exists in that language, to the UI language choices; here you also update a language or remove it. Downloading needs an internet connection.

How it works

• English is built in; other languages are downloaded as packs.
• An installed language shows UPDATE when a newer pack exists for your version of JustType, and REMOVE. A pack that needs a newer JustType says so.
• After a download the Personal voice selection list opens for the new language, so you can choose its voice at once.
• In Keyboard Settings the same list is worked with the keys: download, remove, and the voice list afterwards.

UI feedback voice type preference

The type of voice you prefer for the UI feedback voice, the one that speaks to you (key names, prompts, announcements): No preference, Male, Female or Child. JustType uses it to suggest a voice in UI feedback voice selection and, while no voice is chosen, to pick a matching one from the engine. Many people choose a different type from their personal voice, so JustType’s feedback is easy to tell apart from their own words.

How it works

• No preference by default.
• Saved per UI language: change the UI language and the preference you set for that language comes back, and the voice chosen for it with it.
• Works as the personal preference does: a suggested voice of this type in the list when there is one; a run-time match from the engine while no voice is chosen; a best guess from voice names, so TEST before you confirm.

UI feedback voice selection

Chooses the voice that speaks JustType’s own prompts, key names and announcements, in the UI language; each UI language remembers its own voice. The list suggests a voice based on your UI feedback voice type preference for that language. Many people pick a voice of a different type from their personal voice, so that JustType’s feedback is easy to tell apart from their own words.

Excluded words

Chooses how much coarse language is omitted from the dictionary, and thus from the word predictions. To type an omitted word on the MAIN page, you would need to spell it out using TWO-KEY SPELLING and add it to your own vocabulary as a Custom word.

Offensive words (the default) omits common profanity and crude terms.

Potentially offensive words also omits milder words that some people find objectionable, such as anatomical and sexual terms.

None allows you to type every word in the dictionary, including all of the above.

Racial, ethnic, religious and anti-LGBTQ slurs are not included in JustType’s dictionary, and will never be predicted at any setting. Apart from that, for completeness, other words that many people might consider “offensive” are included in JustType’s dictionary, and this setting decides which of them will be omitted from predictions. Each privacy circle remembers its own setting; the setting’s row shows which circle you are changing. To set the Excluded words level for a different circle, switch to that circle using the PRIVACY key. Excluded words never leaves out a custom word; a custom word that belongs to a privacy circle is predicted only while that circle is on (see Private words and phrases).

English spelling

Applies only when the Typing language is English. American (US) or British (UK) chooses which spelling is offered first where British and American English differ (color/color, center/center, realize/realize), and which regional words rank higher, such as lorry or apartment.

Both spellings are always available, whichever you pick; the other one simply appears further down the selection list. General (the default) offers them in plain frequency order, preferring neither.

Spanish region

Applies only when the Typing language is Spanish. Choose your regional variety: forms that belong to a different region (Spain’s vosotros verb forms, and words such as ordenador vs. computadora) sink to the bottom of the selection list. General (the default) keeps all regions equal. For now, México behaves the same as Latinoamérica: the dictionary does not yet distinguish Mexican usage from the rest of Latin America.

Family expansion

When ON, this can save keystrokes when you type long words. After just a few keys, a long word may appear in the selection list highlighted in light blue. It may not be the word you want, but it belongs to the same word “family”. Select it and pause briefly: JustType then adds pages of related words that start the same way but end differently (plurals, verb forms and longer words), also in light blue. The word you want is often among them, and you can simply select it. If the pause was unintentional, just use SELECT to step past them. Available in English and Spanish, and only with the Pages of six list layout. OFF by default.

Family expansion delay

How long a light-blue word must stay selected before the pages of related words appear: 1 to 3 seconds, 1.5 seconds by default. For a word that can expand, this delay replaces the Delay to add capitalized forms in Keyboard setup, and the word’s capitalized forms arrive along with its family.

Show accented characters on keys

Applies only to languages whose accented letters can appear on their own keys, such as Spanish. When ON, each accented letter appears on its own key, separate from its unaccented letter, for the most efficient typing. When OFF, the keyboard shows only the unaccented base letters: just spell accented words with their base letters, and the correctly accented word still appears in the selection list for you to choose. ON by default; each typing language remembers its own setting. Greyed out when the letter layout in use has no accent keys.

Require use of accented character keys

Available only when Show accented characters on keys is ON. When OFF, a word spelled by typing letters without accents still appears in the selection list, slightly lower: typing q-u-e also offers qué. Turn this ON only if you always type accents exactly; the reward is a small gain in efficiency. OFF by default; each typing language remembers its own setting.

Include diacritic letters in TWO-KEY SPELLING

Chooses which accented letters TWO-KEY SPELLING offers when you pick a base letter: From current typing language (the default) shows only the accents of the language you are typing; From all downloaded typing languages adds the accents of every language on the device; All shows every accent JustType knows; None shows no accents. Widen it when you spell names and words from other languages; keep it narrow so the spelling pages stay short.

How it works

• Each language’s accents are learned from its own words when its dictionary is installed, so a downloaded language brings its accents with it.
• In TWO-KEY SPELLING a base letter leads to its accent page only when it has accents in scope; with None, or for a letter with no accents in scope, the letter is entered directly.
• All takes the accents from JustType’s full table of accented letters, whether or not their language is installed.
• This setting affects spelling only. The accented keys on the MAIN page follow Show accented characters on keys.

Tone mark entry position

Applies only when the Typing language is Vietnamese. Sets where in a syllable you press the tone-mark key. End of syllable (the default) follows the standard Telex/VNI convention. After tone vowel enters the tone right after the vowel that carries it: until then, the candidates show unmarked vowels, and the tone keys show the marked forms of the vowels on the letter key you just pressed. Changing this setting takes a moment while the dictionary index is rebuilt. With End of syllable, Tone key labels sets how the tone keys are labeled.

Tone key labels

Applies only when the Typing language is Vietnamese and Tone mark entry position is End of syllable. Each syllable’s tone is then typed as its own key press at the end of typing its letters, and the tone’s symbol is shown at the bottom of its key. Choose how those symbols are labeled: Tone marks (the default) shows the marks themselves; VNI digits (1–5) shows the digits used by the VNI typing method; Telex letters (s f r x j) shows the letters used by Telex.

Keyboard Setup

How the keyboard is laid out and how it looks: which letters sit on which keys, where SELECT and UnDo sit, the size of the keyboard and of the selection list, the key-history strip, and how the selection list behaves. This page includes some important settings for making JustType work as efficiently as possible for you.

Keyboard Setup

The layout of the keys themselves: the letter groups, the placement of SELECT and UnDo, which language’s Optimized layout to use, and what ENTER inserts.

Letter layout

JustType arranges the letters over six keys in one of two ways, chosen by this setting. The default is Optimized, which groups letters so that the word you intend is almost always first in the selection list. Alphabetical keeps letters in A to Z order, which will likely seem more familiar at first, but is less efficient because it ends up requiring more presses of the SELECT key. In our experience, getting familiar with the Optimized layout does not take long, and the increased efficiency is well worth it. You can easily change this setting, so you can try either layout and switch back and forth whenever you want; System Settings asks you to confirm before switching.

Select / UnDo key placement

This setting chooses which keys hold SELECT and UnDo. SELECT is the most frequently used key, so it should be where it is easiest for you to reach. The default, UnDo on top, Select on bottom, puts UnDo on the N key and SELECT on the S key. The alternative, UnDo on left, Select on right, puts UnDo on the W key and SELECT on the E key, for people who find up-and-down movements harder to repeat than side-to-side. The letter keys shift to fill the other positions, with the SYM, FNS and NAV list-functions along the bottom row. On most other pages, BACK TO MAIN and the next-page key move along with UnDo and SELECT.

With UnDo on left, Select on right, the N and W keys swap places, as do the S and E keys. On MAIN the six letter groups then fill the top and bottom rows instead of the left and right columns, and the SYM, FNS and NAV list-functions move from the right column to the bottom row. The same swap is made on the other pages, so a page’s back or cancel key and its next-page or DONE key usually follow where UnDo and SELECT are. Only the EDIT MODE cursor page (with its arrow keys and its BOOKMARK MODE keys), SEARCH MODE and the Keyboard Settings pages keep their keys in place, since those keys have a “spatial” relationship to what they do, and moving them would be confusing.

Optimized layout from

Each language has its own Optimized letter layout. If you have memorized one language’s layout, you can keep using it for every language you type in — word prediction still uses the language you selected. Setting this to Match typing language switches the layout automatically. A language’s tone marks stay on their keys under any layout, and the accented-key settings apply only when the layout in use has accent letters on keys of their own.

Each language has its own Optimized letter layout that is “tuned” to give the most efficient results for that language. However, it is likely that you first used JustType in your native language, and in the process memorized that particular letter layout. In that case, if you also want to type in another language, you may want to keep using the layout you are familiar with — JustType will still produce words in the Typing language you select. To do this, just set Optimized layout from to the language you are most familiar with. You can also set Optimized layout from to Match typing language, and whenever you switch to a different typing language, the keyboard will switch to the layout for that language automatically.

Extra blank line on Enter

When ON, pressing ENTER inserts two line breaks instead of one, creating a visible blank line between paragraphs. Useful for drafting emails or documents with paragraph spacing.

When ON, pressing ENTER inserts two line breaks instead of one, producing a visible blank line between paragraphs. This is helpful when drafting documents or emails that use paragraph spacing rather than indentation. When OFF (the default), ENTER inserts a single line break.

Appearance

The keyboard’s colors, the sizes of various keyboard areas and the key-history strip. Keyboard theme and High contrast set the colors of the typing keyboard; Selection list text size sets the size of the words in the Selection list; other settings fine-tune the strip above the keyboard that shows the keys pressed for the current word.

Keyboard theme

Chooses the colors of the typing keyboard: Light, Dark, or System default, which follows the device’s dark theme. Pick the one that is easiest on your eyes where you usually type.

How it works

• System default (the default) turns the keyboard light or dark whenever the device does; Light and Dark keep it one way whatever the device is set to.
• The keyboard redraws in the new colors as soon as you change the setting. It changes the typing keyboard only; Keyboard Settings and the Help viewer have their own Dark background for Keyboard Settings and Dark background for help.
• With High contrast ON, the keyboard shows its high-contrast colors in either theme.
• Keyboard setup › Appearance, in Keyboard Settings and in System Settings; both change the same value.

High contrast

When ON, the typing keyboard shows white keys with black outlines and black letters on a black background, whichever Keyboard theme is chosen. The strongest contrast between keys and background makes each key easier to find and read.

Who it is for. People with low vision, and anyone typing in bright light.

How it works

• OFF by default. The keyboard redraws as soon as you change the setting, and the change applies to the typing keyboard only.
• Keyboard setup › Appearance, in Keyboard Settings and in System Settings; both change the same value.

Keyboard size

Sets how much of the keyboard’s width the key grid takes (50–95%, 55% by default); the selection list gets the rest. Increase for larger, easier-to-read keys; decrease to give the selection list more room. Not used with single-switch scanning.

The key grid is square, so bigger keys also make the keyboard taller, leaving less room for the text field above it. Smaller values reverse the trade-off. On the keyboard, a change must be confirmed within 15 seconds.

Most people settle on a value once and rarely change it. Adjust it after changing the device’s display zoom or when switching between a phone and a tablet.

Selection list text size

Sets the text size of the selection list next to the keys. From 12 to 32; the default depends on the screen size. Increase for easier reading; decrease to fit more words on screen at once. In scanning layouts, larger text can also mean fewer words per column.

Next-letter hints

As you type a word, JustType works out every word in its dictionary that matches the keys you have typed so far, and which letters could come next in any of them. When Next-letter hints is ON, JustType shows those next letters in bold on the keyboard, while all other letters are grayed out. This can guide you as you spell longer words: if you have typed the right keys so far, the next letter of your word will be bold. If your next letter is grayed out, you probably need to back up and fix a typing mistake (or add the word as a Custom word). When all of the letters on a key are grayed out, the key does nothing if pressed (and if Beep when keystroke has no effect is ON, under Input Methods › Feedback, you will hear a short beep). On by default.

This is one of JustType’s most distinctive features. As you type, JustType continuously works out which letters could come next in any word that matches the keys typed so far. With Next-letter hints ON, JustType shows those letters in bold on the keyboard, while letters that cannot continue any matching word are grayed out.

Two practical consequences:

• If the next letter you intend is grayed out, you have made a typo or are trying to type a word that is not yet in the dictionary — back up and fix it (or add the word as a Custom word).
• When every letter on a key is grayed out, pressing that key has no effect. If Beep when keystroke has no effect (Input Methods › Feedback) is ON, JustType beeps on such presses.

Show key history

When ON, a strip above the keyboard shows the sequence of keys you have pressed for the current word. Helps you track your progress and spot errors.

When ON, a strip just above the keyboard shows the sequence of keys pressed for the current word. This helps you track your progress through a long word and spot where a typo entered the sequence. Also see Highlight word in key history.

Key history height

Sets the height of the key history strip above the keyboard. You set the height as a percentage (from 25% to 100%, 75% by default) of the height of the keys in the keyboard. Increase for a taller, more readable strip; decrease to save screen space and be able to see every key in longer sequences.

Sets the height of the key history strip as a percentage of the regular key height, from 25% to 100%. A taller strip is more readable; a shorter strip leaves more room for the text field. Only meaningful when Show key history is ON.

Shrink key history to fit

When ON, the key history strip automatically reduces its height for longer words so that all of the keys pressed fit on the display. When OFF, the strip always uses the full configured height, and earlier keys scroll off to the left for longer words.

When ON, the key history strip automatically reduces its individual key size for longer words so that all the keys pressed remain visible. When OFF, the strip uses the full configured height and earlier keys scroll off to the left as the word grows.

Highlight word in key history

When ON, the history strip highlights, on each key, the letter used in the currently selected word — or in the first word in the list if SELECT has not been pressed. This shows you exactly how “disambiguation” is working to find the word being presented. The marks follow along as you move through the selection list. When OFF, history keys show their letters with no highlighting.

Vertical key history in landscape

When ON, rotating to landscape moves the key history to a column beside the keyboard, using the extra horizontal space and leaving the keys larger. In the vertical column the newest key is outlined in blue, so you can always tell which end is newest. When OFF, landscape keeps the horizontal strip above the keyboard, the same as portrait. Portrait is not affected.

Selection List

These settings control how the selection list of word candidates next to the keyboard behaves.

List layout

How SELECT steps through the selection list. With One column, every word in the list is displayed in a vertical column, and each SELECT press moves down the list one word at a time. With Pages of six (the default), up to three words can be listed in one column first (Words before the first page); words after that are displayed in pages of six words on the six letter keys (two columns, or two rows with the left/right key placement). After stepping past the first listed words, the next press displays the next page of six words on the six letter keys — press a key to choose its word, press SELECT again for the next six, or UnDo to step back. An advantage of Pages of six is that when you choose a word from a page, JustType “knows” you are done with that word and can immediately show predicted next words before you type a single letter key. When you are typing word combinations you have used before, this can be quite helpful. Under Single-switch scanning this setting works the same way: the scan of the keys reaches a page block’s words like any other key, and with Select key triggers automatic selection list scan ON the automatic scan steps through the listed words and then the page blocks.

Words before the first page

With the Pages of six layout, how many words SELECT steps through one at a time before switching to pages of six on the letter keys. From 0 to 3 (the default is 2); set it to 0 to show pages immediately on the first SELECT press. Before you have typed any key, predicted words always start as pages. The advantage of keeping at least one word before the first page is that the first word can be selected with a single press of SELECT. When no word comes before the first page, even the first word in the list is on a page, so it takes two key presses to select it: one SELECT to load the page onto the keys, and a second on the key that then shows the word. The first word in the list is often your intended word, so you may want to experiment and see which setting feels most efficient to you, noticing whether you seem to spend a lot of time selecting that first word.

Auto-load word at cursor

What happens when the cursor arrives inside an existing word — by a tap, through SYSTEM NAV, by EDIT MODE’s arrows or a bookmark. ON (the default): the word is loaded onto the keys and into the Selection list, so you can switch it, extend it by typing more letters, or shorten it with UnDo / DELETE, which is labeled DELETE; the load itself is not reversed — UnDo EDIT returns the cursor. OFF: nothing is loaded; the cursor stays where you put it with an empty list, one UnDo returns it, and pressing SELECT with no keys typed yet loads the word. In both settings a cursor placed right after a word’s last letter loads nothing — typing goes on after an automatic space, the Selection list offers the words likely to follow, and UnDo / DELETE is labeled RELOAD WORD — and a highlighted block is never loaded. The whole picture is in Editing existing text.

When ON, tapping (or moving the cursor) inside an existing word in the text field automatically loads it into the Selection list, so you can edit the keystrokes that produce the word. This lets you cycle through alternate forms; extend it by typing more letters; or shorten it with DELETE (the UnDo / DELETE key). When OFF, to edit an existing word, place the cursor inside it and press SELECT; with the cursor right after the word, press the UnDo / DELETE key, which then reads RELOAD WORD.

The setting also decides what the UnDo / DELETE key does when one character stands between the cursor and a word. ON: the key reads DELETE & RELOAD WORD and one press deletes the character and loads the word. OFF: the key reads DELETE, the press deletes only the character, and a second press (now reading RELOAD WORD) loads the word.

Automatically add capitalized word forms to selection list

When ON, the selection list includes any capitalized forms of a word that are available (for example “brown” for the color, and perhaps also “Brown” for “Ms. Brown”). When OFF, only the usual capitalization of each word is shown in the list, and you use SHIFT or CAPS LOCK to capitalize a word when you want to.

When ON, the selection list includes capitalized forms of each candidate word — for example, both “brown” (the color) and “Brown” (the surname). When OFF, only the usual capitalization appears, and you use SHIFT or CAPS LOCK to capitalize a word when you want to.

Turning this ON makes capitalized forms one SELECT press away; turning it OFF keeps the selection list shorter. When this is OFF, you need to remember in advance that you want to capitalize the next word, and use three key presses to reach FUNCTIONS 1 and press SHIFT.

Wait until word is selected to add capitalized forms

When ON, capitalized forms of a word are not added as soon as the word is selected — they are added only after Delay to add capitalized forms has passed. This keeps the selection list shorter (fewer words to step over), while still making other forms available when wanted.

When ON, capitalized forms do not appear in the selection list immediately. They are added only once you have selected the word and Delay to add capitalized forms has passed. This keeps the selection list short during normal typing while still making capitalized forms available when wanted.

This setting only has an effect when Automatically add capitalized word forms to selection list is ON.

Delay to add capitalized forms

The number of seconds to wait before showing capitalized forms of a word once it is selected in the selection list. This delay only applies when Wait until word is selected to add capitalized forms is ON and the selected word has one or more capitalized forms. From OFF (0) to 4 seconds; OFF is the default, and capitalized forms are then shown as soon as a word is selected. For a word that can family-expand, Family expansion delay is used instead. By setting this delay slightly longer than it usually takes you to press SELECT again, you can step over a word before its capitalized forms are added and make the list longer.

Show phrase abbreviation in selection list

When ON, the Selection list shows the abbreviation of an Abbreviated phrase (for example “CMBL” for “Call me back later.”), along with the phrase itself if Show expanded phrase in selection list is also ON. When OFF, phrase abbreviations are not shown in the Selection list, only the phrase itself (at least one of these two settings must be ON).

Show expanded phrase in selection list

When ON, Abbreviated phrases (for example the phrase “Call me back later.” abbreviated as “CMBL”) are shown in full in the selection list. When OFF, only the abbreviation is shown.

When ON, the full text of an Abbreviated phrase (e.g., the literal “Call me back later.”) appears in the Selection List. When OFF, only the abbreviation appears.

The two phrase-display settings combine to give you three ways of presenting Abbreviated phrases — abbreviation only, phrase only, or both (“ABBR - phrase”) — depending on whether you recognize your phrases more easily by abbreviation or by content. If both are turned off, the abbreviation is still shown.

Word ordering

How the selection list balances prediction against a fixed, learnable order:

• Predicted: the most likely words lead, judged from the words before; the fewest keystrokes (the default, recommended).
• Consistent first word: the first slot always shows the same word for the same keys; predictions follow.
• Consistent first two: the first two slots are fixed; predictions follow.
• Fixed: no prediction at all; the list depends only on the keys you typed.

Choose Predicted unless you know you would rather learn the list than read it.

Why

Fixed is how classic JustType worked: the same keys always produced the same list, whatever came before, so a person learned over time which key sequence produces which word, and could type it and press SELECT without checking. If TRP OJVHDX always gives “to” first, TRP OJVHDX SELECT is “to”, every time. That rote approach can be fast once the sequences are learned, because no time is spent checking whether the wanted word has appeared. What it gives up is every case where prediction would have been right, “tomorrow” or “toward” first because of what you wrote before. The consistent orders are the middle ground, a learnable head of the list with prediction behind it, and the Confidence signal can take over the checking for the predicted orders. The bottom line: you get to choose. How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type

How it works

• Predicted by default. Measured on test text, the other orders cost more keystrokes: Consistent first word roughly 7–15% more, Consistent first two 16–33% more, Fixed 40–69% more (the lower figure for English, the higher for Vietnamese, whose short syllables make fully typed matches common).
• The consistent orders pin the top one or two words of the fixed order, fully typed words first, above the predicted words; the rest of the list is as Predicted.
• Fixed turns prediction off: the Confidence signal and its settings are grayed out. With nothing typed, SELECT still offers likely next words under every order.

Confidence signal

Signals you, with a beep or a green flash on SELECT, when the word in the center of the keyboard is probably your word, so you can stop typing letters and press SELECT if it is. Off by default; turn it ON when you type by ear or would rather not watch the list, and a false alarm now and then costs you only a glance.

Why

With prediction, your word is often first in the list before you have typed all its letters, but you only profit if you notice, and checking the list after every key costs more than it saves. The signal does the checking: it stays silent until the top word is likely enough to be worth a look, and you type on without looking the rest of the time. It will not always be right, so you tell JustType how right it must be with the Signal accuracy target: “if you interrupt me, be right at least 85% of the time; otherwise let me just type”. Set that way, you can focus on the keys and be pleasantly surprised each time finishing a word takes one press of SELECT. How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type

How it works

• OFF by default. Confidence signal type chooses the beep, the flash or both (the beep by default); the Signal accuracy target runs from 60% to 95%, 85% by default, and JustType measures its own accuracy on your typing to meet it.
• Works only when Word ordering is not Fixed (it is grayed out otherwise), Optimize for slower devices is OFF, and the typing language has prediction data.
• While it is OFF, JustType counts the keystrokes the signal could have saved you and, after 300 of them and at most every three days, offers to turn it on.
• The word the signal refers to is the one shown in the center of the keyboard.

Confidence signal type

How the signal is delivered: a short rising beep, a green flash on the SELECT key, or both (the beep is the default). The word you would get is the one shown in the center of the keyboard.

Signal accuracy target

If the signal is going to interrupt you, it should be right at least this often. JustType measures its own accuracy on your typing and tunes the signal to meet your target. Higher settings make the signal more trustworthy but it will happen less often. From 60% to 95%, 85% by default.

Help text

How help text looks in the Help viewer and on the Help screen: text size, light or dark background and line spacing. ADJUST FONT in the viewer changes these same three settings.

Developer help

OFF by default. The manual’s Developer chapter, the settings that rank the selection list and tune the search, is written for developers and testers. While this is OFF the chapter is left out of the help index and the links to it elsewhere in the manual show as plain text, so a reader never lands among settings that are not meant for them. Turn it ON to see the chapter and its links.

How it works

• Keyboard Settings › Keyboard setup › Help text, and System Settings › Keyboard setup. Takes effect the next time a help page opens.
• The Developer settings screen itself is unaffected: its own help opens whatever this says.

Help text size

The size of help text, from 1 (small) to 5 (very large); the title grows with it. The default, 3, suits most tablets. ADJUST FONT in the Help viewer changes this setting too.

Dark background for help

When ON (default), help text is light on a dark background. When OFF, it is dark on a light background, which some readers find easier with smaller text. You can also change the Help text size; ADJUST FONT in the Help viewer changes both. Keyboard Settings has its own Dark background for Keyboard Settings.

Help line spacing

The space between the lines of help text: Normal, Wide (default) or Wider. More space makes long passages easier to follow with limited eye movement.

Keyboard Settings text

How the list of settings looks in Keyboard Settings: text size, light or dark background and line spacing. They are kept apart from the Help text settings, since you may want the two to differ. ADJUST FONT, the W key of the settings keyboard, changes these same three settings while you watch the list.

Keyboard Settings text size

The size of the text in Keyboard Settings, from 1 (small) to 5 (very large); the page title grows with it. The default, 3, is the size the list has always had. ADJUST FONT on the settings keyboard changes this setting too.

Dark background for Keyboard Settings

When ON (default), the settings list is light on a dark background. When OFF, it is dark on a light background. You can also change the Keyboard Settings text size; ADJUST FONT on the settings keyboard changes both.

Keyboard Settings line spacing

The space between the rows of the settings list: Normal (default), Wide or Wider. More space makes a long list easier to follow.

Input Methods

This page chooses how you activate keys. You can pick exactly one adaptive input method — head tracking, joystick, mouse joystick, single-switch scanning or two-switch selection — for someone who cannot reliably touch the screen. When no adaptive method is chosen, one touchscreen input method (Direct Selection or Directional Selection) must stay on; with an adaptive method chosen, both can be turned off. The page also has the feedback settings — sounds, flashes, vibration and speech — that confirm each key press and input action.

Adaptive Input Method

Choose one adaptive method (head tracking, a joystick, a mouse joystick, single-switch scanning or two-switch selection) or none, and switch the touchscreen methods on or off. Direct Selection and Directional Selection cannot both be on, and if no adaptive method is chosen one of them always stays on, so a helper can operate the keyboard by touch.

Adaptive input method

There are five adaptive input methods that can activate keys, and any of them can be used in addition to a touchscreen method: (1) Head Tracking (a cursor moves in response to head movement); (2) Joystick (requires an external joystick); (3) Mouse Joystick (requires an external joystick, such as a wheelchair joystick in computer control mode); (4) Single-Switch Scanning (single-switch linear scanning of the eight keys); (5) Two-Switch Selection (a sequence of three activations of either of two switches activates one of the eight keys); or (6) None (use only one of the touchscreen methods, either Direct Selection or Directional Selection).

Selects an additional way of activating keys that can run alongside whichever touchscreen method is active. The options are:

• Head Tracking — a cursor on the keyboard moves in response to your head movements (front camera; requires the HeadBoard app).
• Joystick — an external joystick or gamepad: push toward a key to arm it, and let the stick come back to activate it.
• Mouse Joystick — very similar to Joystick but using an external wheelchair joystick in computer control mode.
• Single-Switch Scanning — JustType scans through the eight keys one at a time and you close a switch when the key you want is highlighted.
• Two-Switch Selection — three closures of two switches, in a planned sequence, with no timing constraints — jump straight to the key you want.
• None — no adaptive method; you type only with the touchscreen.

Each option has its own setup page, listed under Method Setup.

Direct selection

When ON, you can tap directly on each key to activate it. This is the default touchscreen input method. Direct and Directional Selection cannot both be on; when no adaptive method is chosen, one of them always stays on so a teacher or clinician can interact with the device directly.

When ON, each key activates by a direct tap. This is the default touchscreen method and is on by default because it is the familiar model that everyone knows. But make certain not to overlook Directional Selection. This method is only possible because of the unique nature of JustType, and the fact that eight keys are all that is needed. JustType requires at least one of Direct Selection or Directional Selection to remain on whenever no adaptive input method is set, so the keyboard always has some way to receive input.

Directional selection

When this method is ON, keys can be activated by swiping anywhere on the screen and tracing a stroke in one of the eight possible directions (toward any of the eight compass points). This method is only possible because of the unique nature of JustType, and the fact that eight keys are all that is needed. A stroke longer than the minimum swipe length (set on the Directional Selection page), anywhere on the screen, will activate the key that is in the same direction relative to the center of the keyboard. The swipe does NOT need to touch, or even come anywhere close to, the intended key — it only needs to travel in the general direction in which the key is positioned relative to the center square. For many people — for most people — this is much easier and quicker than having to precisely tap a specific key. Off by default, and not available together with Single-Switch Scanning. Direct and Directional Selection cannot both be on; when no adaptive method is chosen, one of them always stays on so a teacher or clinician can interact with the device directly.

When ON, keys activate by a swipe in one of eight compass directions, anywhere on the touchscreen. Any swipe longer than the minimum swipe length counts; what matters is that the swipe runs parallel to the direction in which the key lies relative to the center of the keyboard. For someone who has trouble landing precisely on a key, a directional swipe will likely be dramatically easier and faster than a tap. As above, at least one of Direct Selection or Directional Selection must be on whenever no adaptive input method is set.

Touchscreen switch

When ON, the touchscreen area at the bottom of the screen acts as a virtual switch, providing switch-style input without requiring any external hardware. Can operate in Single- or Two-Switch mode. When enabled, other settings control the size and behavior of the Touchscreen Switch.

When ON, a strip of the screen below the keyboard becomes a virtual switch — no external hardware required. It works with Single-Switch Scanning (one switch) or Two-Switch Selection (two side-by-side switches), alongside Direct or Directional Selection on the rest of the screen. Size and behavior are configured on the Touchscreen Switch page.

Method Setup

One setup page per input method. Each page holds only the settings for that method; open the page for the method you use. On the keyboard, only the pages for the methods that are turned on are listed.

Feedback

What JustType does to confirm each key press: a flash on the key, a beep, a vibration, or speaking the key or the selected word aloud. They work with every input method and can be combined.

Flash key when activated

When ON, each key that is activated flashes briefly with a visual highlight. Provides immediate visual confirmation of each key that is activated.

When ON, each activated key briefly flashes with a visual highlight — a strong visual confirmation that pairs well with the audible beep below. This can also be useful in a demo of JustType, making it easy for an observer to see which keys are being activated.

Beep when key is activated

When ON, a short single beep sounds each time a key is activated. Provides auditory confirmation that a key activation was detected.

When ON, a short single beep sounds each time a key is activated — useful auditory confirmation that a key press registered.

Beep when keystroke has no effect (error beep)

When ON, a short double-beep sounds when you activate a key that has no effect in the current context, so you hear at once that it was likely not the key you meant.

When ON (it is off by default), a short double-beep sounds whenever a keystroke has no effect: a letter key that matches no known word (the keystroke is discarded), SELECT at the end of the list, DELETE with nothing to delete, and so on. Whatever this setting, such a key flashes red instead of giving its normal feedback. The double-beep flags an audible “that key cannot come next here,” alerting you as soon as possible that the current key sequence likely includes one or more typos.

Vibrate when key is activated

Vibrate briefly when a key is activated, and with a distinct double-pulse when a keystroke has no effect (an error signal corresponding to an error beep). Useful in quiet or noisy environments, or alongside the beep. Turn off if vibration is distracting.

Spoken feedback (UI feedback voice)

The UI feedback voice speaks to you as you work: the keys and words you select, the pages you open, Settings and prompts. It is separate from your personal voice, which speaks what you write to say to other people (see Personal voice and Spoken feedback). These settings turn the feedback voice on or off, set its volume and rate, and choose what it speaks. On the keyboard, SPOKEN FEEDBACK SETTINGS on the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page (reached from ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT) opens these same settings.

• Spoken feedback on, Spoken feedback volume and Spoken feedback rate: the voice itself.
• Speak each selected word, Speak all words in selected page block and Pause between columns in block: the words you choose from.
• Speak each selected letter key, Speak each selected function key, Speak punctuation on key and Speak only valid letters: the keys you press.
• Speak prompts aloud: Settings announcements and the ⓘ prompts.

Who it is for. People who cannot see the keyboard or the text well, and people who would rather listen than look: hearing each word as SELECT takes it lets you keep your eyes on the keys.

Why

Looking up at the text after every word is the slowest part of typing on any keyboard, and for someone with limited vision it is not possible at all. Spoken feedback replaces the looking: the word you hear is the word in the text, so you can trust the keys and go on. The settings are a ladder. Speak each selected word alone is enough for most people who type by ear; the letter-key and function-key settings add every key, for someone learning the layout or working without sight; the page-block reading lets a page of six be chosen by ear. Turn off what you no longer need, because every extra announcement costs listening time. The voice is yours alone: keep it quiet with its own volume while your personal voice speaks up for the people you talk to. How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

• Where. On the Input Methods page of Settings, after the Feedback sounds, flashes and vibration. On the keyboard, SPOKEN FEEDBACK ON / OFF on ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT is the same switch as Spoken feedback on.
• The voice. Key names, pages, prompts and announcements are spoken by the UI feedback voice, in the UI language. Words taken from the text, a selected word or a page block, are spoken by the same voice when the UI and typing languages match; when they differ, by your personal voice, because the feedback voice cannot pronounce the other language.
• Never in a password field. Nothing typed is spoken there; the feedback voice still names keys and pages.
• One press, one utterance. What a press did is spoken as one piece, and your next press cuts it short, so a fast typist never waits for the voice.

Spoken feedback on

Turns the UI feedback voice ON or OFF: the voice that speaks to you, naming keys, pages, selected words, Settings and prompts. When OFF, none of that is spoken; what you write is still spoken if PERSONAL VOICE is ON. Leave it ON if you ever type by ear; turn it OFF where the announcements would disturb others and you can see the screen.

How it works

• ON by default. The SPOKEN FEEDBACK ON / OFF key on ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT is the same switch: change it in either place and both change, and the setting is remembered until you change it again.
• OFF silences everything the feedback voice says: key names and pages, selected words and page blocks, questions, notices, Settings announcements and the ⓘ prompts. The other Spoken feedback settings keep their values for when it is ON again, as do Spoken feedback volume and Spoken feedback rate.
• Your personal voice has its own switch and is not affected. SPEAK TEST SENTENCE on the ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK page speaks even while this is OFF, so you can hear the voice before turning it on.

Spoken feedback volume

How loud the spoken feedback voice is: the voice that reads you key names, selected words, Settings and prompts. It is separate from the volume of your personal voice, the one that speaks what you write, so each can be set for its own listener.

Who it is for. Anyone who uses spoken feedback: people who cannot see the keyboard well, and people who type by ear, listening for each selected word instead of taking time to look at the text.

Why

Spoken feedback is for you; your personal voice is for the people you talk to. Keeping the two volumes apart lets JustType’s own announcements stay quiet while your words come out at a level others can hear, or lets the announcements be loud when you are working alone. See Personal voice and Spoken feedback. How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

• A percentage of the device’s media volume: 10% to 100% in steps of 10, 100% by default. The setting can make the voice quieter than the media volume, never louder; to go louder, raise the media volume itself, with ADJUST DEVICE VOLUME on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page or the device’s volume buttons.
• Two places change the one value: this slider, and the SOFTER − and LOUDER + keys of ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page, one step per press.
• Your personal voice has its own Personal voice volume.
• Nothing is spoken while SPOKEN FEEDBACK is OFF; the volume is remembered for when it is on again.

Spoken feedback rate

How fast the UI feedback voice speaks: the key names, selected words and prompts spoken to you. 100% is the voice’s normal speed. A faster rate makes each announcement cost less time once you know the voice; slow it down while you are learning what the keys are called.

How it works

• From 50% to 250% in steps of 10; 100% by default.
• Two places change the one value: this slider, and the SLOWER − and FASTER + keys of ADJUST SPOKEN FEEDBACK on the ADJUST SPEECH OUTPUT page, one step per press.
• Your personal voice has its own Personal voice rate.
• The silence of Pause between columns in block grows as this rate slows, so a slow listener gets a longer gap.

Speak each selected word

When ON, each time you press SELECT, the word that becomes selected in the selection list is spoken aloud. Since the vast majority of the time your intended word will be the first word in the list, turning this ON lets you focus on the keyboard as you spell each word: the word is spoken aloud when you finish typing and press SELECT, so you don’t have to keep looking up at the text to confirm that you are getting the word you intended. When only Speak output word is ON (under Personal voice in Settings), the word is not spoken until you start typing the next word. This delays the time the word is spoken, but has the advantage of not speaking a word you don’t actually want to say when you have to “step over it” to select a word lower down in the selection list.

Under Single-Switch Scanning every SELECT speaks its word, however it was made — a press on SELECT, each repeat while the switch is held with Key activation auto-repeat mode ON, and each step of an automatic scan of the selection list — so someone who chooses by ear hears every word on the way to the one they want. The press that ends a list scan keeps the word it stopped on and speaks nothing more.

When ON, the word that is selected when you press SELECT is spoken aloud at that moment. Because the intended word is the first item in the selection list the vast majority of the time, this lets you keep your eyes on the keyboard while spelling — you hear confirmation as soon as you finish the word.

The closely related Speak output word setting (under Personal voice in Settings) does not speak when the word is selected; it waits until you start typing the next word. This setting gives faster confirmation; Speak output word avoids speaking words you step over to reach a word lower in the selection list.

Speak all words in selected page block

With List layout set to Pages of six, reads the six words of a page block aloud whenever SELECT shows a new block, in the order the keys hold them, so you can hear a page before choosing from it.

Who it is for. People who cannot read the selection list: with this ON, a word further down the list can still be chosen by ear.

Why

Speak each selected word tells you the word SELECT is on; when that is not your word, the next six are on the letter keys, and someone who cannot read them would have no way to choose. Reading the block gives them the page: hear the six, count to the one you want, press its key. For a sighted typist the reading is usually wasted time, so leave it OFF unless you need it. How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

• OFF by default. Grayed out unless List layout is Pages of six.
• The words are read in rank order, the order the keys hold them: the left column top to bottom, then the right. Under Single-Switch Scanning they are read in the order the scan offers them. Empty slots are skipped.
• Pause between columns in block adds a silence between the third word and the fourth.
• The six are one utterance: your next press cuts it short, so you need not wait for the end.
• Spoken by the feedback voice when the UI language and the typing language match, otherwise by your personal voice, which then does not interrupt a sentence it is already speaking. Nothing is read in a password field.

Pause between columns in block

Puts a short silence between the block’s first three words and its last three, the left and right columns, so the ear can tell which column a word is in. Only with Speak all words in selected page block.

How it works

• OFF by default; grayed out unless Speak all words in selected page block is ON.
• The silence is half a second at a Spoken feedback rate of 100% and grows as the rate slows: one second at 50%, a fifth of a second at 250%.
• The first three words are read, then the silence, then the last three; a press during the silence still cuts the reading short.

Speak each selected letter key

When ON, the letters on a letter key are spoken in the feedback voice when the key is pressed (“G E M Z”). On the first key of a word, a key that also carries the small SYM, FNS or NAV badge says so after its letters — “G E M Z, SYMBOLS” — so someone who cannot see the badge knows that SELECT now would open that list. There is no confirmation step: a wrong key is taken back with UnDo. Spelled letters and symbol keys count as letter keys; a symbol key says exactly what went into the text, automatic space included — “exclamation point, space”. Function keys have their own setting, Speak each selected function key.

When ON, the letters of each pressed letter key are spoken at the moment the key activates, and on a first key the list it offers (SYMBOLS, FUNCTIONS or NAVIGATE). Useful when looking at the keyboard is difficult or when someone is working on letter-by-letter spelling.

Speak each selected function key

Speaks the name of a function key when it is pressed: DELETE WORD, SPEAK SENTENCE, and SELECT, which speaks the word it lands on. A key that opens another page announces the page instead, “Open symbols page 2”, “Back to Main”, so someone who cannot see the keyboard knows where it is. Letter keys have their own setting, Speak each selected letter key. Turn this ON while you learn the pages or whenever you cannot see the keys; most people turn it OFF again once the pages are familiar.

Who it is for. People who type without seeing the keyboard, and anyone learning what the keys and pages are called.

Why

A function key changes something you cannot always see, such as the text, the page or a setting, and a mistake is only easy to fix if you know it happened. Hearing “Delete word” or “Open speaking controls page” as you press the key tells you what is happening. Pages matter most: after a page change the same eight keys do different things, so the voice names the page that opens, not the key that opened it. When you need to know what a key is for rather than its name, Function Help Mode explains it. How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

• OFF by default.
• What is said. The key’s face, as words. SELECT says the word it lands on; onto a page row (SYMBOLS, FUNCTIONS, NAVIGATE) it says only the page that opens. UnDo says what it did instead of its name: “UnDo”, “Delete”, “Reload word” or “Delete and reload word”; ReDo EDIT says “ReDo”. A key that does nothing says so: a letter key with no valid letters left “No valid letters”, a blank key “Invalid key”.
• Pages. Whenever a key opens another page it is announced, including the number for a numbered page: “Open symbols page 2”, “Open speaking controls page”, and “Back to Main” for the MAIN page. A question page just speaks its question instead, since that is the only reason you landed at that page.
• Also spoken. The name and value of each setting you move to in Keyboard Settings, the keys of the Help viewer, the device volume level after VOLUME SOFTER or VOLUME LOUDER, and FUNCTION HELP MODE on or off.
• Choice keys speak first. A key that answers a question (YES, NO, CANCEL, OK) or picks a circle on Who is this for? is spoken on the first press, “Yes. Tap Yes again to confirm.”, and performed on a second press of the same key; pressing a different choice speaks that one instead. The reason: a question that disappears cannot be undone, so you should hear what the key is before it acts. The second press counts only once the choice has had time to be heard, at least a second (twice the debounce of your input method when that is longer); an earlier repeat, a bounce or a tremor, restarts that clock and confirms nothing. There is no deadline: once the choice has been heard, the confirming press can come whenever you are ready, until you press another key or the page changes. This does not apply under Single-Switch Scanning, where the scan itself names each key (Speak each scanned key) and one press takes it, nor under Two-Switch Selection, where three switch presses are already the activation.
• One press, one utterance. What a press did is spoken as a single piece, and the next press interrupts it.

Speak punctuation on key

When ON, punctuation names are included when speaking selected key contents (e.g., “I S K W period” instead of just “I S K W”). Only applies when Speak each selected letter key is ON.

When ON, punctuation symbols are named when they appear in a spoken key. For example, a key would read as “I S K W period” rather than just “I S K W” — this setting only matters when Speak each selected letter key is ON.

Speak only valid letters

With Next-letter hints on, a letter key names only the letters that can still continue the word — the ones the hints leave black — so what you hear is what the key can do right now. OFF, a key is always spoken the same way, all its letters, which some people prefer: the sound never changes, so they can stop listening for it and just type. A key with no valid letters says “No valid letters” either way. Only with Speak each selected letter key.

Speak prompts aloud

When ON, JustType speaks Settings announcements (such as “Keep change?”, “Reverted” and warnings) and reads aloud the info prompt opened with an ⓘ button in System Settings. Turn OFF if you prefer visual-only prompts.

Setting names and values in Keyboard Settings are spoken when Speak each selected function key is ON, not by this setting. Both use the UI feedback voice.

Head Tracking

Head Tracking types by head movement: the HeadBoard app watches you through the front camera and JustType turns the movement into key presses. Inside the keyboard there is no cursor to aim: move your head from the center toward the key you want, and when it turns pale green move back; the key is pressed. These pages tune how far you move, how a wrong key is corrected, and how you pause and leave the keyboard.

Who it is for. People who cannot use their hands on the screen but have some controlled head movement. Precision is not needed: the eight keys are large targets in eight directions, and a near miss is corrected before it counts.

Why

Eight keys around a center are what make head tracking practical: every key is a direction, not a spot, so a small, rough movement is enough, and the zones can be fitted to the movement each person actually has. The settings are worth an hour at the start, with a helper if possible, because every word afterwards costs less effort. Start from the defaults; enlarge the Resting zone if keys arm while you rest, shrink the Active zone if reaching a key is tiring, and change one setting at a time. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

Setup. Install the HeadBoard app (also from the Continuous Path Foundation) and follow its prompts; then choose Head Tracking as the adaptive input method. HeadBoard tracks your head with the front-facing camera and moves an on-screen mouse cursor. That cursor shows whenever you work outside the JustType keyboard; most people will find JustType’s SYSTEM NAV keyboard a better way to work there than the HeadBoard cursor, which suits only very well-controlled head movement.

Pressing a key. Once the cursor has entered the keyboard its exact position is no longer shown, because you press keys by direction, not position. From the resting area in the center, move your head toward the key (its compass direction from the center). The key turns yellow as you approach and pale green when it is armed; move back toward the center and it is pressed, and you can go straight on toward the next key. The center square is filled blue while you rest in the middle.

Correcting and canceling. If the wrong key turns green, it is almost always the neighbor of the one you meant: slide onto the right key before moving back and only that key is pressed (a correction, marked by its own beep and a red flash on the key you left). Sliding two keys away cancels: all keys turn red and nothing is typed until you return to the center. A wrong key that was pressed anyway is taken back with UnDo.

Pausing and leaving. Push to the right and hold until the Exit delay runs out to pause head tracking (the keyboard border shows, then flashes; the list area reads HEAD TRACKING PAUSED); push to the left the same way to resume. Push up to leave the keyboard for the text above, where the HeadBoard cursor appears. After a resume, key presses wait for the Restart timer while you return to the center.

If HeadBoard stops. When no frames arrive for eight seconds while the keyboard is showing, JustType turns on Direct Selection so you can tap keys, and says so: “Head tracking stopped responding. You can tap keys directly for now”. Head tracking comes back by itself when the frames do (“Head tracking resumed”), and Direct Selection goes back to the setting it had.

Settings. The Zone thresholds section sets the distances for how far your head must turn to cross certain thresholds: Resting zone, Active zone, Exit zone, Activation threshold; and also Aim tolerance, Exit delay and Restart timer. The Tuning and feedback section sets how the cursor responds (Vertical sensitivity, Responsiveness, Corner weighting) and the correction cues. When you change the zone settings, Activation threshold or Aim tolerance in Keyboard Settings, you must press CONFIRM within 15 seconds or the setting goes back to its previous value, so a value that doesn’t work for you cannot lock you out.

Zone Thresholds

The center of the head-tracking space is a Resting zone where head movement does not trigger or activate anything. Its size can be adjusted to suit each person: a larger resting zone needs more head movement away from the center before the surrounding keys start to respond. Increase it if keys start to activate even though you are just trying to rest in the middle. Each boundary is a distance from the center (0) toward the edge (100%), shown as a percentage in Keyboard Settings and as a decimal on the phone screen. The zones are nested: Resting zone 10–50%, Active zone 10–75%, Exit zone 10–99%.

Resting zone

The size of the resting area in the center of the keyboard, where head movement does nothing: where you rest between keys without fear of pressing one. A larger zone needs more head movement before the keys start to respond. Increase it if keys arm while you are only resting in the middle.

Why

Resting is half of typing by head: between words, while you think, while you read. The zone has to be large enough that your natural settling and small tremors stay inside it, and no larger, because everything added to it is added to every key press. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• From 10% to 50% of the distance from the center to the edge, in steps of 1%; 23% by default. Keyboard Settings shows it as a percentage, the phone screen as a decimal (0.23).
• The zones are nested: the Active zone always lies outside the Resting zone, so the distance between the two is what a key press costs.
• While the cursor is in the Resting zone the center square is filled blue; moving out of it, the key in that direction turns yellow.
• A risky setting: in Keyboard Settings a change must be confirmed with CONFIRM within 15 seconds or it reverts.
• The Joystick and the Mouse Joystick have their own Resting zone.

Active zone

The relative distance that you have to move away from the center in order to activate a key. When you enter the Active zone for a key, the key will turn pale green. After you enter the Active zone and a key turns pale green, you just move back toward the center to activate the key. Decreasing the Active zone makes it so that you can activate keys with less head movement, but may increase the chance that a key will be accidentally activated.

How far your head must turn before a key is “armed”: as you move out, the key in that direction turns yellow once you pass the Resting zone, then pale green when it is armed. Range 10–75%, default 38%; it always stays above the Resting zone. Once a key is “armed” — turns pale green — then moving back toward the center will press the key. A smaller Active zone arms keys sooner, with less head movement, at the cost of potentially more unintended activations.

Exit zone

The relative limit that defines the outer boundary for head movement within the keyboard region. You can pause head tracking by turning your head to the right until you reach the boundary of the Exit zone, and then keep your head turned until the Exit delay time elapses. When you reach the Exit zone the keyboard border appears, and it starts flashing halfway through the Exit delay. Decrease the size of the Exit zone to reduce how far you need to turn your head to pause or leave the keyboard. When you move upward (instead of to the right) into the Exit zone, you can move the cursor out of the JustType keyboard. The keyboard border will start to flash, and then the cursor will appear in the region above the keyboard once the Exit delay time elapses.

The outer boundary for cursor motion within the keyboard (10–99%, default 80%). When the cursor leaves the Active zone outward, into the Exit zone, the keyboard border appears and flashes for the second half of the delay. “Up” includes up-left and up-right; moving down does nothing. If you keep the cursor in the Exit zone for the Exit delay below, JustType either pauses head tracking (when you moved right) or releases the cursor into the region above the keyboard (when you moved up). To resume, reverse the motion. Decrease the Exit zone if pausing or exiting the keyboard requires too large a head turn.

Activation threshold

Once a key turns pale green and you start moving back toward the center, this threshold determines how far you must move back before the key activates. A lower value means keys will be activated more quickly, since it will happen before you have to move very far back toward the center. Setting this value to 100% means that you have to go all the way back to the start of the Active zone in order to activate the key.

The percentage that controls when in the return motion a key actually activates. After a key has armed (turned pale green) in the Active zone, you move back toward the center; activation happens when you have moved back this much of the way. 0% activates the key as soon as it is armed, without moving back; 100% requires the cursor to fully re-enter the start of the Active zone before activating. The default is 33%. Lower values are faster but more error-prone.

Aim tolerance

Once a key has armed (turned pale green), how far sideways the cursor may drift before JustType decides you meant the neighboring key and moves the arming there. At 0% the key’s own sector is the limit; at 100% the armed key keeps the arming a full half-key into each neighbor. Raise it if keys switch to a neighbor you did not intend; lower it if a correction toward the next key is slow to register.

Why

A head is not a mouse: on the way back to the center it wanders, and the key that armed should not be lost to a wobble. But the correction gesture, sliding onto the right neighbor before coming back, depends on the arming moving when you mean it to. This setting is the balance between the two: tolerance for the wobble, speed for the correction. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• From 0% to 100% in steps of 1%; 67% by default.
• Each key owns a sector of the circle around the center (Corner weighting sets how wide the corner sectors are). The armed key’s sector is widened on both sides by this percentage of its own half-width: at 100% it is twice as wide, reaching the middle of each neighbor.
• When the cursor leaves the widened sector, the arming moves to the neighbor (a correction); two keys away is a cancel. The beep and the red flash mark a correction.
• A risky setting: in Keyboard Settings a change must be confirmed with CONFIRM within 15 seconds or it reverts.
• The same value is used by the Joystick and the Mouse Joystick.

Exit delay

How long the cursor must stay in the outer Exit zone before the action happens: pushed up, the cursor leaves the keyboard for the text above; pushed right, head tracking pauses; pushed left while paused, it resumes. The keyboard border shows while the time runs and flashes for the second half; moving back in cancels. Increase it if you pause or exit by accident; decrease it for a quicker escape.

How it works

• From 2 to 5 seconds in steps of 0.1; 3 seconds by default.
• The timer starts when you move past the Exit zone boundary going up (up-left and up-right count as up), right, or, while paused, left; moving down does nothing. The keyboard border appears at once and starts flashing when the delay is half over; the center square reads “Pausing JustType” or “Exiting JustType”. Moving back inside the Exit zone boundary before the time is up cancels, and the border clears.
• Right: head tracking pauses and the list area reads HEAD TRACKING PAUSED. Left, while paused: it resumes, and the Restart timer holds key presses while you return to the center. Up: the cursor pops out of the keyboard into the text, where the HeadBoard cursor is shown; move down to push against the top border of the keyboard to re-enter it.
• If pausing or exiting happens too easily, lengthen this delay or enlarge the Exit zone.
• The Mouse Joystick has its own Exit delay.

Restart timer

After pausing head tracking or exiting the keyboard, this is how long key activations are temporarily disabled when you re-enter. The delay prevents unintended activations from cursor wobble during re-entry. While the timer counts down, the blue center square flashes as a visual reminder to return your cursor to the center — that’s the best position to begin selecting your next key.

Tuning and Feedback

How the cursor responds to head movement (Vertical sensitivity, Responsiveness, Corner weighting), the correction gesture’s beep and red flash, and two developer diagnostics.

Vertical sensitivity

This adjusts the relative ease with which up/down head movement moves the cursor vertically compared to how much left/right movement moves the cursor horizontally. Increase if vertical movements feel sluggish compared to horizontal (or simply if it is more difficult to move your head up and down). From 1.0 to 2.0, default 1.1: higher values make up and down head movement go further; 1.0 treats both directions equally.

The relative ease of vertical vs horizontal cursor motion. Values above 1.0 amplify vertical motion (good when up/down head movement is more limited than side-to-side); 1.0 treats them equally. Range 1.0–2.0, default 1.1.

Responsiveness

Shapes how head movement near the center translates into cursor movement. Values below 1.0 make small head movements count for more; values above 1.0 need more movement near the center, for steadier aiming. Full movement reaches the edge either way. Range 0.5–1.5, default 1.0.

A curve applied to the distance from the center: below 1.0 the cursor leaves the center readily and small movements go further; above 1.0 the center is calmer and more head movement is needed before the cursor gets going. The full range of head movement still reaches every corner.

Corner weighting

Adjusts the relative sensitivity of diagonal/corner keys (the “ordinal” directions — Northeast, Southwest, etc.) compared to “cardinal” keys (straight up/down or left/right — North, South, East, West). For some people, corner keys seem harder to trigger than the straight up/down/left/right keys. Values above 1.0 make it easier to reach corner keys — they become bigger targets relative to the other keys. Values below 1.0 do the opposite and make the cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) become bigger targets.

How it works

• From 0.50 to 2.00 in steps of 0.05; 1.00 by default, where all eight keys get an equal share of the circle around the center.
• The value determines how much wider the zone for a corner key is than the zone for a straight one: at 2.00 each corner key is twice as wide as a straight key, at 0.50 half as wide. For most people, first try widening the corner keys with values > 1.00.
• You can set it in Keyboard Settings (Input methods › Head tracking settings) or on Set up head tracking in System Settings; both change the same value.
• The Joystick and the Mouse Joystick have a Corner weighting of their own.

Correction gesture beep

When ON, a short low tone plays when the arming moves from one key to its neighbor because you slid sideways (a correction), so you hear that the next press will be a different key. It is independent of the ordinary key beep, so someone who has turned the key beep off can keep this one. Turn it OFF if the extra tone is distracting.

How it works

• ON by default.
• The tone plays on a correction and on a backtrack (sliding back onto the key you first armed). The double tone for a cancel (sliding two keys away, so all keys turn red and nothing is typed) follows Beep when key is activated instead.
• The same setting sounds the correction for the Joystick and the Mouse Joystick.
• The visual cue is Correction gesture - canceled key flashes red.

Correction gesture - canceled key flashes red

When ON, the key you slid away from turns pale red when the arming moves to its neighbor, while the new key is pale green, so you can see which key will be pressed. Turn it OFF if the color change is distracting.

How it works

• ON by default.
• The red stays on the abandoned key for the rest of that movement and clears when the cursor comes back inside the Active zone boundary or to the center. A cancel (two keys away) turns every key red whatever this setting says.
• The same setting marks corrections for the Joystick and the Mouse Joystick.
• The sound cue is Correction gesture beep.

Joystick

The Joystick input method: a joystick or gamepad connected by Bluetooth or USB. You press a key by pushing the stick toward it and letting the stick come back; nothing moves on the screen, the push itself is the choice. The settings here set how far a push must go, Resting zone and Active zone; how the eight directions are shared out, Corner weighting; and which device is listened to, Accept any joystick. Tune them so that a key costs the least movement that still lands on the key you meant.

Who it is for. Anyone who can move a stick in eight directions. A wheelchair joystick with a computer-control (mouse) mode uses Mouse Joystick instead.

Why

A joystick needs no cursor: the eight keys sit at the eight compass points around the center of the keyboard, so a push in roughly the right direction is a key, and there is no target to aim at. The keys tell you what the push is doing before anything happens, yellow as you leave the center, pale green when the push is far enough to arm the key, and the key is only pressed when the stick comes back, so a push you regret can still be moved to the neighbor or abandoned. The two zones set the size of that push, and they are set together: the Resting zone large enough that you can rest in the middle without arming anything, the Active zone small enough that every key is inside the movement you can make reliably. Spend the time once; the saving is on every key. A key pressed by mistake costs one press of UnDo. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Pressing a key. Push from the center toward the key. Past the Resting zone the key in that direction turns yellow; at the Active zone it turns pale green, armed; letting the stick come back toward the center presses it, and you can push straight on to the next key.
• Correcting before release. If the pale green key is the neighbor of the one you meant, slide onto the right key before coming back: the pale green moves there, the key you left flashes pale red, and a short tone sounds; coming back then presses only the right key. The red and the tone are Head Tracking’s Correction gesture beep and Correction gesture - canceled key flashes red, and they apply here too. Sliding two keys away cancels: every key turns red, and coming back presses nothing.
• D-pad. A gamepad’s D-pad presses the key in that direction at once, with no arming.
• Feedback. The press gives the usual beep and flash.
• Outside the keyboard. The joystick drives the SYSTEM NAV keyboard in the same way; on that keyboard it needs Android 14 or later.
• Two places. Keyboard Settings, Input Methods › Joystick, shows the zones as percentages; System Settings, Set up joystick, shows them as decimals; the values are the same. Choosing one device, Select joystick, is in System Settings only.

Resting zone

The size of the center region where moving the stick does nothing: where you rest between keys without arming one. A larger Resting zone needs more movement away from the center before the surrounding keys start to respond; increase it if keys arm while you are only trying to rest.

How it works

• A fraction of a full push: 0.10 to 0.80 in steps of 0.01, 0.25 by default. Keyboard Settings shows it as a percentage (10% to 80%), System Settings’ Set up joystick as a decimal; the same value.
• Keep it below the Active zone: between the two, the key in the push’s direction shows yellow, so you see where the push is going before it arms anything.
• Mouse Joystick and Head Tracking have Resting zones of their own; this one is the joystick’s alone.

Active zone

How far the stick must be pushed before the key in its direction turns pale green, armed. Letting the stick come back toward the center then presses it. A smaller Active zone arms keys with less movement, at the cost of more keys armed by accident.

How it works

• A fraction of a full push: 0.10 to 0.90 in steps of 0.01, 0.60 by default. Keyboard Settings shows it as a percentage, System Settings’ Set up joystick as a decimal; the same value. Keep it above the Resting zone.
• On the way out the key is yellow between the two zones and pale green from the Active zone on. Once armed, the push has to come back a little inside the boundary (0.05 of a full push) before the key fires, so a stick that wavers on the line does not press the key over and over.
• While a key is armed, sliding to a neighbor moves the pale green there; the correction gesture is described under Joystick.
• Mouse Joystick and Head Tracking have Active zones of their own.

Corner weighting

Adjusts the relative sensitivity of diagonal/corner keys (the “ordinal” directions — Northeast, Southwest, etc.) compared to “cardinal” keys (straight up/down or left/right — North, South, East, West). For some people, corner keys seem harder to trigger than the straight up/down/left/right keys. Values above 1.0 make it easier to reach corner keys — they become bigger targets relative to the other keys. Values below 1.0 do the opposite and make the cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) become bigger targets.

How it works

• From 0.50 to 2.00 in steps of 0.05; 1.35 by default, so each corner key starts about a third wider than a straight one (at 1.00 all eight keys get an equal share of the circle around the center).
• The value determines how much wider the zone for a corner key is than the zone for a straight one: at 2.00 each corner key is twice as wide as a straight key, at 0.50 half as wide. For many people, first try widening the corner keys with values > 1.35.
• You can set it in Keyboard Settings (Input methods › Joystick settings) or on Set up joystick in System Settings; both change the same value.
• Head Tracking and the Mouse Joystick have a Corner weighting of their own.

Accept any joystick

When ON, the default, any connected joystick or gamepad drives the keyboard. When OFF, only the device chosen with Select joystick on the Set up joystick screen in System Settings is listened to, so a second controller in the room, a child’s gamepad for instance, cannot type.

How it works

• Until a joystick has been chosen, every joystick is accepted even with this OFF.
• Select joystick waits for you to move the joystick you want (Move the joystick you want to use…) and remembers that device; the screen then shows Selected: and its name. The choice is in System Settings only; this switch is on both surfaces.

Mouse Joystick

The Mouse Joystick input method: a mouse or trackpad used as a joystick, which includes almost every wheelchair controller joystick that has a computer-control (mouse) mode. You press a key by moving the pointer from rest toward the key and back; how far and how fast that movement has to be is what this page tunes. Start with a preset; adjust under Fine tuning if needed; Advanced rarely needs a change.

Who it is for. Anyone with a wheelchair joystick, a mouse or a trackpad who cannot touch the screen reliably.

Why

A mouse has no center to return to, so JustType makes one: while the keyboard holds the pointer, a movement is a push, and its speed is the push’s strength. A gentle movement leaves the resting zone and shows you, in yellow, the key it is heading for; a firmer one reaches the Active zone and arms the key in pale green; bringing the movement back presses it. Nothing has to be aimed at, which is why the pointer is hidden on the keyboard. Movement needed and the Resting zone are the two settings that fit this to a person’s hand, which is what the three presets set, and the goal is the least movement that still lands on the key you meant. A key pressed by mistake costs one press of UnDo. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• The pointer. Outside the keyboard you see the normal Android pointer, moved by the joystick. When it moves onto the keyboard JustType takes it over and hides it; keys are pressed by direction, so there is no dot to follow.
• Pressing a key. As for the Joystick: yellow past the Resting zone, pale green at the Active zone, pressed when the movement comes back toward the center. If the wrong neighbor is pale green, slide onto the right key before coming back and only it is pressed; the key you left flashes red and a tone sounds, under Head Tracking’s Correction gesture beep and Correction gesture - canceled key flashes red.
• Letting go. Push up, past the keyboard’s top edge, and hold for the Exit delay: the keyboard border shows, then flashes, and the pointer is released above the keyboard. A mouse-button press releases it at once. The Reengage delay keeps the keyboard from taking the pointer straight back.
• Not on SYSTEM NAV. The SYSTEM NAV keyboard does not take the Mouse Joystick; see Navigation Mode.
• Two places. Keyboard Settings, Input Methods › Mouse joystick, and System Settings, Set up mouse joystick, hold the same values and the same three presets.

Tuning presets

Three ready-made combinations of the settings below: Light touch, Standard and Firm push. Choose the one that matches how far you can comfortably move the mouse; you can still change individual settings afterward.

Light touch — small, easy movements

Sets Movement needed to 500 and the Resting zone to 0.25: a slow movement already counts as a full push, and a larger center area lets you rest without arming a key. Choose this if large or fast movements are hard.

How it works

• Writes those two values and nothing else; the other Mouse Joystick settings keep what they had, and you can still change either value afterward.
• The same preset is on the Set up mouse joystick screen in System Settings, where the two sliders move to show the new values.

Standard

Restores the default tuning: Movement needed 800 and the Resting zone 0.20. A good starting point for most people, and the way back after trying the other two presets.

How it works

• Writes those two values and nothing else; the Active zone and the other Mouse Joystick settings are not reset, and you can still change either value afterward.
• The same preset is on the Set up mouse joystick screen in System Settings, where the two sliders move to show the new values.

Firm push — larger, deliberate movements

Sets Movement needed to 1400 and the Resting zone to 0.15: a faster, deliberate movement is needed to count as a full push, and the resting area is smaller. Choose this if keys arm when you did not mean them to, or if your movements are large and steady.

How it works

• Writes those two values and nothing else; the other Mouse Joystick settings keep what they had, and you can still change either value afterward.
• The same preset is on the Set up mouse joystick screen in System Settings, where the two sliders move to show the new values.

Fine tuning

The settings most people need to adjust: how fast the mouse must move to count as a full push, Movement needed; the size of the resting area in the middle, Resting zone; and how long to keep pushing upward before the keyboard lets go of the mouse, Exit delay. The presets set the first two; come here when a preset is nearly right.

Movement needed

How fast the mouse must move (in dp per second) to count as a full push. Lower values make the joystick more sensitive — a slow push already counts as full. Higher values require a faster push. Range 100–2500, default 800; the presets set 500, 800 or 1400.

Resting zone

The size of the center region where mouse movement has no effect: where you rest between keys without arming one. A larger Resting zone needs more movement before the surrounding keys start to respond; increase it if keys arm while you are only resting.

How it works

• A fraction of a full push, where a full push is the speed set by Movement needed: 0.01 to 0.80 in steps of 0.01, 0.20 by default. The presets set 0.25 (Light touch), 0.20 (Standard) or 0.15 (Firm push).
• Keyboard Settings shows it as a percentage, System Settings’ Set up mouse joystick as a decimal; the same value.
• Keep it below the Active zone: between the two, the key the movement is heading for shows yellow.
• The Joystick and Head Tracking have Resting zones of their own.

Exit delay

How long (0.5 to 5 seconds, default 2) you must keep pushing the mouse upward — past the keyboard’s top edge — to release the joystick and restore the pointer. The keyboard border shows for the first half and flashes, with ticks, for the second half; a push down or sideways cancels. A mouse-button press releases it immediately at any time. Increase if you find yourself accidentally exiting; decrease for a faster escape.

Advanced

Settings that rarely need changing: where keys arm, Active zone; how the corner keys compare with the straight ones, Corner weighting; and how soon the keyboard may take the mouse back after you let it go, Reengage delay. Come here when the presets and Fine tuning have not made the Mouse Joystick work well for you.

Active zone

How strong a movement must be before the key in its direction turns pale green, armed. Moving back toward the center then presses it. A smaller Active zone arms keys with less movement, at the cost of more keys armed by accident.

How it works

• A fraction of a full push: 0.01 to 0.90 in steps of 0.01, 0.55 by default; a percentage in Keyboard Settings, a decimal in System Settings’ Set up mouse joystick; the same value. Keep it above the Resting zone.
• Yellow between the two zones, pale green from the Active zone on. Once armed, the movement has to fall a little inside the boundary (0.05 of a full push) before the key fires, so a movement that wavers on the line does not press the key repeatedly.
• The setting stops at 0.90 because beyond 0.95 of a full push is the exit band: an armed key is dropped there, and the upward hold for the Exit delay is read there.
• While a key is armed, sliding to a neighbor moves the pale green there; see Mouse Joystick.

Corner weighting

Adjusts the relative sensitivity of diagonal/corner keys (the “ordinal” directions — Northeast, Southwest, etc.) compared to “cardinal” keys (straight up/down or left/right — North, South, East, West). For some people, corner keys seem harder to trigger than the straight up/down/left/right keys. Values above 1.0 make it easier to reach corner keys — they become bigger targets relative to the other keys. Values below 1.0 do the opposite and make the cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) become bigger targets.

How it works

• From 0.50 to 2.00 in steps of 0.05; 1.35 by default, so each corner key starts about a third wider than a straight one (at 1.00 all eight are equal). The presets do not change it.
• The value determines how much wider the zone for a corner key is than the zone for a straight one: at 2.00 each corner key is twice as wide as a straight key, at 0.50 half as wide. If the default does not make the corners wide enough, try widening the corner keys with values > 1.35.
• You can set it in Keyboard Settings (Input methods › Mouse joystick settings) or on Set up mouse joystick in System Settings; both change the same value.
• Head Tracking and the Joystick have a Corner weighting of their own.

Reengage delay

How long after a voluntary release (a mouse-button press, or holding up to exit) before the joystick will recapture the mouse on hover. Prevents the joystick from immediately grabbing the pointer back when you meant to use the pointer. Set to 0 to recapture instantly; range 0–2 seconds, default 0.75.

Single Switch

Single-Switch Scanning: JustType highlights the keys one after another, and you close one switch to activate the highlighted key. Assign the switch first (ACTIVATE SCANNING SWITCH), then set the scan speed (Scan step delay time); the remaining settings make scanning faster or easier to follow.

ACTIVATE SCANNING SWITCH

If you want to use a Bluetooth switch, make sure that you have paired it with your Android device as a “Connected Device” in Android’s Settings app. If you want to use a switch that can be set up in HeadBoard (either a Head Movement switch or a Facial Gesture), first configure and enable that switch in HeadBoard. Then press ACTIVATE SCANNING SWITCH, and either press the physical switch or perform the HeadBoard action you want to use. JustType will record which switch you triggered and then use it as your scanning switch.

Press this button to enter switch-assignment mode, then press the physical switch (or perform the HeadBoard gesture) you want to use for scanning. JustType records that switch identity. The line below the button shows the current switch, for example “Switch configured as: Space” (with the touchscreen switch on, “+ touchscreen”); if no switch is assigned and the touchscreen switch is off, it shows “No switch assigned” in red. An X clears the switch, and pressing the button again while it waits cancels. A D-pad direction can be assigned too. Until a switch is assigned, the first switch press is learned automatically, and the number keys 1, 2 and 3 work as the switch.

If you want a Bluetooth switch, pair it in Android’s Settings app first. If you want a HeadBoard-defined switch (a head-movement switch or a facial gesture), configure and enable it in HeadBoard before pressing this button.

Ignore rapid switch hits (debounce)

This setting enables the system to ignore rapid repeated switch activations within a short time window. Increase this time if your device registers double-taps or multiple presses when you are simply trying to do a single closure of the switch. The default is 120 ms.

A short cool-off after each switch closure during which subsequent closures are ignored. Default 120 ms. Increase if the system is registering multiple presses for what you intend as a single activation — this is common with noisy mechanical switches. The same debounce applies to every physical switch, including the Red and Green switches of Two-Switch Selection.

Scan step delay time

The number of seconds that the scanning highlight stays on each key before the scan moves on to the next key. Decrease for faster scanning; increase if you need more time to react.

The number of seconds the highlight rests on each key before moving to the next. Lower values give faster scanning; higher values give you more time to react. This is the single most important tuning knob on this page.

Add extra delay on first scanned key

Extra time (in seconds) added to the first scan step after you press the switch or when the scanning process restarts. This allows you more time to release the switch and have enough time to press the switch to select the first key when the next scan actually starts. Set to OFF (0) for no extra delay.

Extra time (0 to 1.5 seconds) added to the first key of every pass: after you press or release the switch, and each time the scan starts over at the first key. Gives you a moment to release the switch before the next scan begins. Set to OFF (0) for no extra delay.

Number of times to repeat scan if no key is selected

When scanning continues but no key is selected, this is the number of times the scanning will cycle through all of the keys before automatically stopping. The default is 3; at 0 the scan never stops by itself. Reduce the number of repeat cycles if you find the repeated cycling distracting. Once scanning stops, just press the switch once to restart scanning.

How many times the scan cycles through the eight keys, when no key is selected, before it stops by itself: 0 to 10, default 3. At 0 (shown as Infinite in Keyboard Settings) the scan goes on until you select a key. Reduce the number if the cycling becomes distracting; pressing the switch once restarts a stopped scan.

Skip keys with no valid next-letters

When ON, the scanner automatically skips over keys that have no valid next-letters highlighted on the key. Speeds up scanning by skipping over useless keys. This also makes the scan less predictable, so you may want to turn ON the next setting, Show next key to be scanned.

When ON, the scan automatically skips keys whose every letter has been grayed out by Next-letter hints — there is no point dwelling on a key that cannot produce a valid next letter. This significantly speeds up scanning. It needs Next-letter hints ON (with hints off every letter key would count as empty); SELECT and UnDo are never skipped. The trade-off is that the scan rhythm becomes less predictable, so you will probably also want Show next key to be scanned (next setting) ON to compensate.

Show next key to be scanned (when any key will be skipped)

When Skip keys with no valid next-letters is ON, the progress of the scan becomes less predictable. When Show next key to be scanned is ON, then whenever one or more keys in the current scan cycle will be skipped, the next key that will be highlighted for selection is shown first with a pale yellow highlight, giving you an advance indication that the key will be scanned next (highlighted in bright yellow) to help you prepare to close the switch when it is actually highlighted.

When ON, and when the next scan step will involve a skip, JustType pre-highlights the upcoming target key with a pale yellow tint before it actually arrives. The pale yellow gives you a visual warning (“you are about to need to fire the switch”) on top of the bright yellow current highlight. Only meaningful when Skip keys with no valid next-letters is ON.

Key activation auto-repeat mode

When you close the switch during a scan, it immediately activates the highlighted key. When Key activation auto-repeat mode is ON, you can keep holding the switch closed to repeat that same key at the Auto-repeat delay time interval (below). When the word you are spelling has two or more letters in a row on the same key, this is much faster than releasing the switch, waiting for the scan to start over and come all the way back to the same key, and closing the switch a second time. If holding the switch closed and releasing it at the right time is not difficult for you, this is highly recommended: it saves significant time for roughly 17% of the letters you type. Holding the switch on SELECT works the same way: each repeat activates SELECT again, moving one word further down the Selection list (or, with Pages of six, one page block further), and you release the switch when your word or its block is reached. For the SELECT key, another alternative is to turn ON Select key triggers automatic selection list scan in Set up single-switch scanning.

When ON, holding the switch closed after an initial activation continues to fire that same key repeatedly at the Auto-repeat delay time interval. This is significantly faster than waiting for a full scan cycle to come around when the same key is needed twice in a row, which happens roughly 17% of the time in typical English typing.

Auto-repeat delay time

The number of seconds between repeated key activations while you hold the switch closed with Key activation auto-repeat mode ON.

The number of seconds (0.25 to 3, default 1) between repeated activations when the switch is held with Key activation auto-repeat mode ON. A practical default is to set this to the same value as the Scan step delay time above.

Select key triggers automatic selection list scan

When ON, pressing the switch on SELECT starts an automatic scan of the Selection list: it steps through the listed words one at a time and then, with List layout set to Pages of six, through each page block of six words, and a second press takes the word or block it has reached. OFF by default.

Who it is for. Single-switch scanners who can watch or listen to the list and recognize their word quickly, even far down a long list.

Why

With a single switch, the first word in the list is one press; a word lower down needs more. Holding the switch on SELECT with Key activation auto-repeat mode ON steps down the list one word per repeat, which asks for a timed release. With this setting the list moves by itself: the first press starts it, a plain tap stops it. With Pages of six, each step past the listed words shows a whole block of six, so a word far down the list is a few steps away rather than many, and someone who spots their word quickly can type much faster. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• First press. The scan has reached SELECT and you press the switch: the first item is selected and the list scan begins. Only the list is scanned now, not the keys, and the highlight stays on SELECT. The first step waits the Scan step delay time plus any Add extra delay on first scanned key; every step after that moves one item, with the Beep at each scanning step if that is on.
• The items. First the listed words (Words before the first page, and any list-function entry, such as the one that opens TWO-KEY SPELLING), one per step; then each page block in turn, its six words on the keys while the scan is on it. A list-function entry opens its page only when you take it.
• Second press. Takes the item reached, and the scan of the keys starts again. A word stays selected, and a letter key starts the next word; a block leaves its words on the keys, and a press on a word key types that word.
• Round again. After the last item the list scan starts over, for up to Number of times to repeat scan if no key is selected passes. If nothing is taken, the scan stops on what you had before the press on SELECT; the next press of the switch scans the keys.
• SELECT again. Once a word or block is taken, a press on SELECT does what Auto-scan select restart action says.
• UnDo. A whole list scan is one UnDo: after the two presses, UnDo returns to the keys you typed, with nothing selected.
• By ear. With Speak each selected word on, every word the scan steps onto is spoken; with Speak all words in selected page block on, every block is read, and Wait until each page block is spoken holds the scan on it until its words have been said.
• Two places. On the Single Switch page in Keyboard Settings and on Set up single-switch scanning in System Settings; the same value.

Auto-scan select restart action

What a press on SELECT does once a word or page block has been taken from the automatic list scan. Step manually to next item in list (the default) moves one item further, and the scan of the keys goes on; Resume automatic scan from start scans the list again from its first item; Resume automatic scan from next item in list scans on from the item after the one taken. Only with Select key triggers automatic selection list scan ON.

How it works

• After the last item, each choice starts over at the first.
• UnDo. With Step manually, UnDo steps back one item. With either Resume, UnDo returns to the item taken before that press on SELECT; a further UnDo reverses the first list scan too.
• Nothing taken. When a resumed scan runs out of passes, you are left on the item taken before; the next press of the switch scans the keys, where UnDo, a word or letter key, and SELECT are waiting.
• Two places. On the Single Switch page in Keyboard Settings and on Set up single-switch scanning in System Settings; the same value.

Wait until each page block is spoken

When ON (the default), the automatic list scan stays on each page block until its words have been spoken, and then one more scan step, so there is time to take the block after hearing its last word. Only with Speak all words in selected page block ON.

How it works

• Single words keep the Scan step delay time; only page blocks wait.
• A press of the switch takes the block at once; it need not wait for the last word.
• OFF: the blocks move on at the scan step, and the next item cuts their reading short.
• Two places. On the Single Switch page in Keyboard Settings and on Set up single-switch scanning in System Settings; the same value.

Extra scan time on page blocks

How much longer than the Scan step delay time the automatic list scan stays on each page block, to read its six words: from 0 (OFF, the default) to 3 seconds. Only with Select key triggers automatic selection list scan ON.

Why

Six words take longer to read than one. Someone who looks over the whole list before pressing SELECT, and knows where their word is, needs no extra time; someone who reads each block as the scan reaches it may.

How it works

• Single words keep the Scan step delay time.
• With Wait until each page block is spoken on, the extra time comes after the block’s words have been spoken.
• Two places. On the Single Switch page in Keyboard Settings and on Set up single-switch scanning in System Settings; the same value.

Beep at each scanning step

When ON, a short beep sounds each time the scan highlight moves to the next key. Provides auditory tracking of scanning progress that can help support visual tracking of the progress of the scan.

When ON, a short beep sounds each time the highlight moves to the next key. Provides an auditory rhythm that helps you track scanning progress without staring at the keyboard.

Speak each scanned key

Names each key as the scan reaches it, in the spoken feedback voice, so you can hear which key the switch would take without looking at the keyboard. OFF by default. It is how a single-switch scanner who cannot see the screen well follows the scan.

Who it is for. Single-switch scanners who cannot see the keyboard well, or who would rather follow the scan by ear.

Why

Scanning asks you to notice the moment the highlight lands on your key. Spoken names make that moment audible, so the eyes are free and a dim or distant screen no longer matters. Scanned is not selected: this setting says what the switch would take, and the Speak each selected … settings say what it did take, which is why the two are separate. Turn it on for anyone scanning by ear; turn it off when the names are more noise than help, for a sighted scanner at a fast Scan step delay time, for instance. How to JustType › Typing by ear

How it works

• Each name cuts the one before it short, so a fast scan does not fall behind.
• With Speak each selected letter key or Speak each selected function key also on, a key is heard twice: when the scan reaches it and again when the switch takes it, which confirms the activation.
• Words in the selection list are Speak each selected word’s, which under scanning speaks every word a list scan or an auto-repeat steps onto.
• It uses the spoken feedback voice, so it follows the Spoken feedback master, volume and rate.
• Single-switch scanning only: Two-Switch Selection has no moment at which a key can be spoken before it is taken.
• Two places. On the Single Switch page in Keyboard Settings and on Set up single-switch scanning in System Settings; the same value.

Scanning layout key size

Choose between Large (bigger keys, easier to read) and Small (more compact, leaves more room for other content to be displayed above on the screen).

Choose Large (two rows of four keys, easier to read) or Small (one row of eight, leaves more room above for other content). Larger keys are usually preferred unless screen real estate is scarce.

Two Switch

Two-Switch Selection: two switches, red and green, choose any key with exactly three presses and no timing constraints. Assign both switches first (ACTIVATE GREEN SWITCH and ACTIVATE RED SWITCH); the other settings control repeating switch closures or key activations, feedback and what happens if a switch gets stuck. Spoken feedback can only confirm a key after its third press — there is not yet a good way to hear a key before taking it under Two-Switch Selection (see the Two-Switch Selection overview).

ACTIVATE RED SWITCH / ACTIVATE GREEN SWITCH

Assigns the two switches of Two-Switch Selection: ACTIVATE RED SWITCH identifies the Red switch and ACTIVATE GREEN SWITCH the Green one. For each, press ASSIGN, then press the switch you want: a Bluetooth or USB switch or key, or a HeadBoard head-movement or facial-gesture switch. The row then shows what is assigned. Both switches must be assigned, or the touchscreen switch turned on, before you can type with Two-Switch Selection.

How it works

• In Keyboard Settings. Each row reads either Not assigned, or Assigned: and the switch’s name. Press ASSIGN; the keyboard shows Press switch now… and records the first switch you press. While it waits, only BACK works on the keyboard, and it cancels.
• In System Settings. On Set up two-switch selection, press Assign red switch or Assign green switch (the button then reads Press your switch…) and press the switch; the label below it reads Red switch = or Green switch = and the switch’s name, with a note when the touchscreen switch is on as well. The X beside it clears the switch; pressing the button again while it waits cancels. No switch assigned shows in red when there is neither a switch nor the touchscreen switch.
• One switch, one color. A switch can be Red or Green, not both: assigning the Red switch as Green clears it from Red, and the other way round, in either place. The same switch may also be assigned as the scanning switch (ACTIVATE SCANNING SWITCH), since scanning and Two-Switch Selection never run together.
• Before assigning. Pair a Bluetooth switch in Android’s Settings app first; and/or configure and enable a HeadBoard switch (head movement or facial gesture) in HeadBoard first.
• Afterwards. Both switches follow Ignore rapid switch hits (debounce) and the Stuck switch timeout.

Auto-repeat key activation

When ON, keep holding the switch after the third press of a sequence to repeat that key at the Auto-repeat key activation delay time interval. Saves time for doubled letters and repeated deletes. Off by default. Note: when both Auto-repeat key activation and Auto-repeat switch activation are ON, holding a switch first completes the three-press sequence, then repeats the key.

When ON, holding the switch closed after the third press of a sequence produces repeated key activations at the Auto-repeat key activation delay time interval. Neither auto-repeat works with the touchscreen switch.

Auto-repeat key activation delay time

The number of seconds between repeated key activations while you keep holding the switch after the third press of a sequence, with Auto-repeat key activation ON. Shorter repeats faster; longer gives you more time to let go after the one press you wanted.

How it works

• 0.25 to 3 seconds in steps of 0.05, 1 second by default. The first repeat comes this long after the third press, and each further repeat this long after the last; releasing the switch stops it.
• The same value is on Set up two-switch selection in System Settings.
• Nothing repeats from the touchscreen switch, whatever this is set to.
• Auto-repeat switch activation delay time is the other timer: the repeat of the switch press itself, before the sequence is complete.

Auto-repeat switch activation

When ON, the default, holding the Red or the Green switch repeats that press at the Auto-repeat switch activation delay time interval until the three-press sequence is complete. It lets someone who can hold a switch, but not press it three times in a row, type at a steady rhythm: SELECT in its usual place is three Green presses, so you hold Green for the time it takes.

How it works

• The hold stops at the end of the sequence: the press that completes it cancels the repeat, so a held switch never starts the next sequence by itself. Release, then hold again for the next key.
• With Auto-repeat key activation also ON, a hold first completes the sequence, then repeats the key it pressed at that setting’s own delay.
• Releasing the switch cancels either repeat at once.
• Nothing repeats from the touchscreen switch; only a physical or HeadBoard switch can be held.
• The same value is on Set up two-switch selection in System Settings.

Auto-repeat switch activation delay time

The number of seconds between repeated switch presses while a switch is held with Auto-repeat switch activation ON. Too short and a hold overruns the presses you meant; too long and holding saves nothing over pressing.

How it works

• 0.25 to 3 seconds in steps of 0.05, 1 second by default. The first repeat comes this long after the press, then one per interval, until the sequence completes or the switch is released.
• The same value is on Set up two-switch selection in System Settings.
• Nothing repeats from the touchscreen switch.
• The other timer is Auto-repeat key activation delay time: the repeat of the key after the third press.

Beep on each switch activation

When ON, you hear a short beep on the first and second switch press of each three-press sequence, so you know each press was detected; the third press gives the usual key beep. It works only while Beep when key is activated is ON.

This gives an immediate confirmation rhythm — “tap-beep, tap-beep, tap-beep” through a three-closure sequence.

Show color band

When ON (the default), a colored band with a sequence of three green or red segments is displayed along the bottom of each key, showing the sequence of switch activations that activates that key. This helps to memorize the sequence for each key and speed up input, since you can plan the sequence of switch activations without waiting to see how the key highlight colors actually change.

When ON, each key shows a small horizontal band along its bottom edge with three colored segments — the green/red sequence that selects that key. Helps you learn and recall sequences without waiting for the live red/green key highlighting to change.

Two-switch selection reset delay

Each key activation using Two-Switch Selection requires a sequence of three consecutive switch activations. There may be times when you start to enter a switch sequence to activate a key but turn your attention to something else before all three switch activations are entered. When you come back to typing, this may be confusing, or you may simply want to type something different at that time. When Two-Switch Selection reset delay is set to something other than 0 (which is “OFF”), then after that many seconds without a switch press the red and green highlighting disappears, whether or not a sequence was started. When you are ready to resume typing, press either switch: that press only brings the highlighting back, and you then enter the three presses as usual. This is a Two-Switch setting; it does not affect single-switch scanning.

Each key activation requires three switch closures. If you start a sequence but pause before finishing — perhaps your attention shifts elsewhere — the partial sequence will sit there unfinished until you remember it. This setting controls how long an unfinished sequence is held: when set to a non-zero number of seconds, an unfinished sequence is automatically canceled after that pause, and the next switch closure only brings the highlighting back. OFF (0) disables cancellation entirely; the range is up to 120 seconds.

Stuck switch timeout

In case the system fails to detect when a switch is released, this is the number of seconds that the system will wait until deciding to treat what seems to be a continuously closed switch as a “stuck switch” and treat it as released. It applies to the scanning switch too; range 2 to 30 seconds, default 10. This prevents “runaway input” if a switch malfunctions or is accidentally held closed. Set this time higher if it triggers when you are intentionally holding a switch for long periods.

If the system fails to detect a switch release, this is the number of seconds it will wait before deciding the switch is stuck and treating it as released. Prevents runaway input when a switch jams or is accidentally held closed. Increase if it triggers when you are intentionally holding a switch for long stretches.

Touchscreen Switch

When ON, the touchscreen area at the bottom of the screen acts as a virtual switch, providing switch-style input when external switch hardware is simply unavailable. The touchscreen switch can make it significantly harder to position the device: the screen has to be easy and comfortable to see, but the device also needs to be placed where the bottom of the screen can be touched to activate the switch. That said, when a scanning technique appears to be the best fit, the touchscreen switch can at least make this possible in the absence of any external switch devices. The switch bar follows the input method: with Single-Switch Scanning it is one switch, with Two-Switch Selection its left half is Green and its right half Red; it is only offered with those two methods. Turn it on with Touchscreen switch on the Input methods page, in Keyboard Settings or System Settings; System Settings also offers it as Use touchscreen switch on Set up single-switch scanning and Set up two-switch selection. It needs permission to display over other apps, because it works by screen touch capture: while the switch is on, JustType takes every touch inside the switch bar for itself, so the apps underneath cannot be tapped there. Holding a touch for the Touch capture timeout closes the keyboard and hands the screen back. Other settings control its size and behavior.

How Touchscreen Switch Works

The Touchscreen Switch is a bar along the bottom of the screen, the full width of the display, that acts as a switch. With Single-Switch Scanning the whole bar is one switch, shown green: tap anywhere on it. With Two-Switch Selection the bar is split in two: the left half is the Green switch and the right half the Red switch, the same left-to-right order as the color bands on the keys.

Screen readers: while TalkBack or another screen reader with explore-by-touch is on, the screen reader takes every touch first, so taps on the switch bar never reach JustType. Turn the screen reader off while using the Touchscreen Switch.

How it works

• Where it sits. Under the keyboard, in its own space, unless Overlay mode is on or the keyboard and bar together would fill more than two thirds of the screen; then it floats over the app, translucent, with the app showing through.
• Size and look. Button height and Button opacity; a tap can flash the bar and beep.
• Touch capture. The bar takes every touch inside its own area, so the app underneath cannot be tapped there; the rest of the screen stays the app’s. Holding a touch still for the Touch capture timeout closes the keyboard and hands the screen back. The bar needs permission to display over other apps.
• Holding. Under scanning a held tap works like a held switch, so keep a hold shorter than the Touch capture timeout. Under Two-Switch Selection a held tap is one press: its auto-repeat settings work with physical switches only.

Touchscreen Settings

How the on-screen switch looks and behaves: its height and opacity, whether it flashes or beeps, and whether it floats over the screen as an overlay.

Ignore rapid switch hits (debounce)

This setting enables the system to ignore rapid repeated touches within a short time window. Increase this time if your device registers double-taps or multiple presses when you are simply trying to do a single tap on the switch bar — common when a finger bounces on the screen. The default is 120 ms.

A short cool-off after each tap on the bar during which further taps are ignored. Default 120 ms; values above 500 ms are treated as 500.

Touch capture timeout

While JustType is capturing screen touches (see Touchscreen Switch and Directional Selection), holding a touch still for this many seconds (2 to 10, default 4) closes the keyboard; in Navigation Mode it opens the SYSTEM NAV keyboard’s menu instead. If you use auto-repeat by holding the switch bar, keep the hold shorter than this.

One value serves the Touchscreen Switch and Directional Selection. It is the escape from screen touch capture, not a display timeout: the switch bar never fades.

Flash switch bar on activation

When ON, the touchscreen switch area briefly flashes when tapped, providing visual confirmation that the touch was registered and the switch was activated.

When ON, the touchscreen switch area briefly flashes when tapped — visual confirmation that the touch was registered.

Beep on switch activation

When ON, a short beep sounds when the touchscreen switch area is tapped, providing auditory confirmation that the touch was registered and the switch was activated.

When ON, a short beep sounds when the touchscreen switch area is tapped. In single-switch scanning this setting also controls the beep for a physical switch press.

Button height

The height of the switch bar, as a percentage of the screen’s long side, so that it keeps its size when the device is rotated. Taller is easier to hit; shorter leaves more room for the app above.

How it works

• 5% to 100% in steps of 5, 15% by default. Keyboard Settings and System Settings’ Set up touchscreen switch (Touchscreen switch height) share the value.
• If the bar and the keyboard together would fill more than two thirds of the screen’s height, the bar floats over the app instead of taking space under the keyboard, as with Overlay mode on.
• The bar only ever captures touches in its own area; at 100% that is the whole screen.
• The SYSTEM NAV keyboard’s switch bar uses the same height and opacity.

Button opacity

How solid the switch bar looks, from faint to fully opaque. It changes only the look: the bar takes taps the same way at any setting. Lower it to see more of what is underneath when the bar floats over the app.

How it works

• 10% to 100% in steps of 5, 50% by default. Keyboard Settings and System Settings’ Set up touchscreen switch (Button opacity) share the value.
• It applies whether the bar floats (Overlay mode) or sits under the keyboard.
• The SYSTEM NAV keyboard’s switch bar uses the same opacity and height.

Overlay mode

When ON, the switch bar floats as a translucent overlay at the bottom of the screen instead of taking space under the keyboard: the app shows through it, but touches in the bar’s area still go to the switch, not to the app. The keyboard keeps its full size. OFF by default; turn it on when a bar under the keyboard would leave too little screen for the app.

Why

On a small screen the bar and a keyboard big enough to read do not both fit: something has to shrink, or the bar has to float. Overlay mode is the second choice, and JustType makes it for you when there is no room: whenever the keyboard and the bar together would fill more than two thirds of the screen’s height, the bar floats whether this is on or not. Turn it on yourself when you want the floating bar at smaller sizes too, and set Button opacity so that the app underneath stays readable. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Permission. Floating needs permission to display over other apps; without it the bar sits under the keyboard even when this is on.
• Capture. The bar captures only its own area, the whole screen only at 100% Button height; everything above the bar still answers to the app.
• Automatic floating. The height counted is the keyboard’s, including Key History if shown, plus the bar.
• Two places. Keyboard Settings and System Settings’ Set up touchscreen switch; the same value.

Direct Selection

When ON, you can tap directly on each key to activate it. This is the default touchscreen input method. At least one of Direct Selection or Directional Selection always stays on (unless an adaptive input method is chosen), so a teacher or clinician can work the keyboard directly.

How Direct Selection Works

Direct Selection is the simplest touch input method. Simply tap directly on any key to activate it.

This mode works best when you can accurately point and tap on the screen. Each tap on a key immediately activates that key. While your finger rests on a key, the key lights up green to show that lifting your finger will activate it; slide off the key before lifting and nothing is activated.

Tips

Tap once on a key to activate it. Use the Keyboard size setting to adjust key sizes. Ignore rapid key hits (debounce) helps if a single tap sometimes counts twice, and with Auto-repeat key activation you can keep your finger on cursor movement and scroll keys to repeat them: the movement and scroll keys of the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, the cursor arrows of EDIT MODE and the arrow keys of LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. Important: Even if you do NOT have difficulty with precise taps, you should consider trying Directional Selection instead. In virtually ALL cases, it is reasonable to expect that Directional Selection will be both faster and easier than precisely tapping individual targets. If precise screen tapping is at all difficult, you should definitely try Directional Selection.

Settings

Debounce and auto-repeat for tapping keys directly.

Ignore rapid key hits (debounce)

This setting enables the system to ignore rapid repeated key activations within a short time window. Increase this time if your device registers double-taps or multiple presses on a key when you are simply trying to tap it once. The default is 120 ms.

A short cool-off after each tap during which a second tap on the same area is ignored. Default 120 ms. Increase if a single tap is sometimes registered as a double tap — common for people who have a tremor or rest their hand on the screen, and with some screen-protector materials that produce double-touch artifacts.

Auto-repeat key activation

When ON, keeping your finger on a movement or scroll key of the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, on a cursor arrow in EDIT MODE, or on ← → in LETTER / SYMBOL MODE repeats that key at the Auto-repeat delay time interval. OFF by default. It is faster than tapping the same key again and again when stepping across several elements, scrolling a long way or moving the cursor along a line.

How it works

• Which keys. Only keys whose action makes sense repeated: the SYSTEM NAV keyboard’s movement and scroll keys, and on the typing keyboard the cursor arrows of EDIT MODE’s cursor pages and the ← → of LETTER / SYMBOL MODE. Letter keys and one-off actions never repeat, however long they are held.
• Timing. The first repeat comes one delay after the press, then one per delay; lifting the finger stops it and adds no extra press.
• Feedback. Each repeat gives the usual key feedback, beep and flash.
• Two places. Keyboard Settings, Direct selection page, and System Settings, Set up direct selection; the same value.
• Scanning and Two-Switch Selection have auto-repeat settings of their own: Key activation auto-repeat mode and Auto-repeat key activation.

Auto-repeat delay time

The number of seconds between repeats while your finger stays on a repeatable key, a SYSTEM NAV movement or scroll key, an EDIT MODE cursor arrow or a LETTER / SYMBOL MODE arrow, with Auto-repeat key activation ON. Shorter moves faster; longer makes a lingering tap less likely to repeat.

How it works

• 0.25 to 3 seconds in steps of 0.05, 1 second by default. The first repeat comes this long after the tap, then one per interval until the finger lifts.
• The same value is on Set up direct selection in System Settings.

Directional Selection

When this method is ON, keys can be activated by swiping anywhere on the screen and tracing a stroke in one of the eight possible directions (toward any of the eight compass points). A stroke of almost any length, anywhere on the screen, will activate the key that is in the same direction relative to the center of the keyboard. The swipe does NOT need to touch, or even come anywhere close to, the intended key — it only needs to travel in the general direction in which the key is positioned relative to the center square. For many people — for most people — this is much easier and quicker than having to precisely tap a specific key. Directional Selection and Direct Selection cannot both be ON: turning one on turns the other off. If no other input method is chosen, one of them always stays on so the keyboard can still be used. Directional Selection works by screen touch capture: while the keyboard is open, JustType takes every touch on the whole screen as a swipe for its keys, so the app underneath cannot be tapped until the keyboard closes. Holding a touch still for the Touch capture timeout closes the keyboard and hands the screen back. Capture needs permission to display over other apps, which JustType asks for when you turn Directional Selection on.

How Directional Selection Works

Swipe in one of eight directions to activate the key that lies in that direction from the center of the keyboard. Nothing needs to be highlighted first: as soon as your stroke is long enough to count, the key in its direction lights up green, the highlight follows the stroke if you change direction, and lifting your finger activates the key that is lit.

Swipe from anywhere on the screen in the direction of the key you want to select. The swipes can be whatever length is easiest and most effective for you.

Screen readers: while TalkBack or another screen reader with explore-by-touch is on, the screen reader takes every touch first, so swipes never reach JustType. Turn the screen reader off while using Directional Selection, or choose Direct Selection.

Settings

Settings that fit Directional Selection to the way you swipe: Debounce ignores a swipe that comes too soon after the last one; the minimum swipe length sets how far a swipe must go to count; Corner weighting changes the relative size of the directional target zones for the straight and corner keys; and the swipe area outline shows where a swipe can start in Navigation Mode. The Touch capture timeout is here too: hold a touch this long to end screen touch capture and close the keyboard (the same setting as on the Touchscreen Switch page).

Ignore rapid screen swipes (debounce)

This setting enables the system to ignore rapid repeated screen swipes within a short time window. Increase this time if a single swipe gesture is registering as multiple inputs. The default is 120 ms.

A short cool-off after each swipe during which subsequent swipes are ignored. Default 120 ms. Increase if a single swipe is being registered as multiple inputs — sometimes happens on fingers that drag slightly at the end of a swipe.

Swipe sensitivity (minimum swipe length)

The minimum distance that a screen swipe is required to cover in order to register as a swipe. Decrease to make swipes easier to trigger with smaller movements; increase to prevent accidental taps being interpreted as swipes that activate keys. The value is a percentage of the screen’s width in portrait, from 2% to 20% (default 5%). In System Settings the slider shows the length on screen; match it to the shortest swipe you can make comfortably. Navigation Mode uses the same length.

The minimum distance a finger must travel on the screen to register as a swipe, as a percentage of the screen’s width in portrait (2–20%, default 5%). In System Settings, adjust the slider so that its on-screen length matches the desired minimum swipe length. Lower values make swipes easier to trigger with smaller movements; higher values prevent accidental swipes from incidental finger contact.

Corner weighting

Divides the eight swipe directions between the straight keys (up, down, left, right) and the corner keys. At 1.00, the default, each direction gets an equal 45° slice. Above 1.00 the corner keys take more of each quarter turn, so a swipe that is only roughly diagonal still reaches a corner key; below 1.00 the straight keys take more. Raise it if your diagonal swipes tend to come out nearly straight; lower it if your straight swipes drift toward the diagonals.

How it works

• 0.50 to 2.00 in steps of 0.05, 1.00 by default. In each quarter turn the straight key’s slice is 90° divided by one plus the value, and the corner keys take the rest: at 2.00 a straight key gets 30° and each corner key 60°; at 0.50, 60° and 30°.
• A swipe exactly on a border counts as the straight key.
• The same value applies wherever Directional Selection is used, the typing keyboard and the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, and the two surfaces share it: the Directional selection page in Keyboard Settings and Set up directional selection in System Settings.
• It is the same control as Corner weighting under Joystick, Mouse Joystick and Head Tracking, but a value of its own.

Show the swipe area outline in Navigation Mode

When ON (the default), a thin white outline shows the area that accepts swipes in Navigation Mode. That area stops short of the screen edges so that Android’s own back gesture and notification shade still work, and a swipe that starts in that reserved edge is not seen: the outline shows where to start. It has no effect while typing, and it is a Directional Selection setting only; the Touchscreen Switch has no such outline.

Vocabulary

The words JustType can predict, and what it does with them: the Privacy Circles that keep some words private, the Vocabulary Sources predictions are drawn from, the Limit Uncommon Words settings that hold rare words back, the Accented Next-Letter Hints that single out words someone is learning, and the TWO-KEY SPELLING diacritics section. The page is called Vocabulary in Keyboard Settings and Vocabulary management in System Settings, where it also holds the tables for importing vocabulary modules and choosing which are active; both change the same values.

A word JustType knows is always in the selection list once you have typed its keys, so these settings decide what it knows and what comes first: the fewer words that compete for the top of the list, the sooner the one you want is there. How to JustType › Make it yours

Privacy Circles

Whether privacy circles are used at all (Enable privacy circles), names for the three circles, whether the active circle’s name is shown in the center of the keyboard, and the lists of apps and people that always use a circle: Private places and Private contacts. The section also opens the Passwords list; in System Settings that list is reached through Vocabulary management › MANAGE VOCABULARIES (IMPORT / EXPORT / MERGE / DELETE).

A circle is easier to use when it is called what it is for, a person or a topic, because the name is what you see wherever JustType asks which circle you mean, and what the center of the keyboard can show while the circle is on. Name a circle as soon as you start using it, and leave the name off the keyboard if people looking at the screen should not read it. The circles themselves are explained in Part III. How to JustType › Make it yours

Enable privacy circles

ON by default. Turn it OFF and JustType forgets about circles until you turn it back on: every circle’s words, phrases and learned word pairs are predicted everywhere, nothing you type is kept private, no question about circles is ever asked, and the privacy keys, PRIVACY and MARK THIS PRIVATE, leave the keyboard. Nothing is deleted: the circle marks in your notes and the words in each circle stay where they are, and turning the setting ON again restores them. What you typed while it was OFF is public and stays public.

Who it is for. Someone who will never type for more than one person or purpose, or a device set up for a child, where privacy questions would only get in the way.

How it works

• Turning it OFF is confirmed first, because it makes everything kept in a circle visible to everyone: in System Settings a dialog says so, and on the keyboard the warning is shown and spoken, and the change reverts unless you press CONFIRM.
• While OFF, ADD CUSTOM WORD and ADD PHRASE add public words and phrases without asking; in Notepad Free, REMEMBER THIS NOTE remembers a note as public and the key then reads FORGET NOTE; private places and private contacts are ignored.
• Show circle name on keyboard is unavailable while this is OFF.

Show circle name on keyboard

While a privacy circle is on, the center of the keyboard shows a lock. With this ON it shows the circle’s name beside the lock (PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, 2 or 3 if you have not named it), so a glance tells you which circle you are typing in. Leave it OFF, the default, if you would rather people looking at the screen did not see the name. In public, nothing is shown either way.

Why

The lock says that a circle is on; the name says which, and that matters when you use more than one. Show it when the keyboard is for your eyes, hide it when the screen faces the person the circle is about. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• OFF by default. The Vocabulary page in Keyboard Settings and Vocabulary management in System Settings change the same value.
• Shown only in the resting center square, and only while a circle is on; the lock stays whether or not the name is shown.
• The notice when the screen wakes with a circle on names the circle whichever way this is set; see Turning a privacy circle on and off.
• The name is never typed into your text.

Name privacy circle 1

Gives privacy circle 1 a name of your own, such as a person or a topic, so that the keys and questions say who the circle is for instead of PRIVACY CIRCLE 1. On the keyboard you spell the name and press DONE; in System Settings you type it into a box. The name is only ever shown to you; it is never typed into your text.

Why

A circle you can recognize is a circle you will use: the name is on the key you press to turn it on and in every question that asks which circle. See Naming privacy circles. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• On the keyboard. This row leaves Settings and opens the spelling page: spell the name and press DONE, and the keyboard returns to MAIN. RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE on the Who is this for? page does the same.
• In System Settings. The row under Vocabulary management opens a box holding the current name; OK saves it.
• A blank name keeps the old one, on both surfaces; a name cannot be cleared back to PRIVACY CIRCLE 1, only replaced. Spaces at the ends are dropped.
• Where it shows. On the Who is this for? page, in the questions that ask which circle (ALWAYS IN THIS APP, RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE), in the notice when the screen wakes with the circle on, in the Private places and Private contacts lists, and in the center of the keyboard when Show circle name on keyboard is on.
• The names of circles 2 and 3 are the next two settings.

Name privacy circle 2

Gives privacy circle 2 a name of your own, such as a person or a topic, so that the keys and questions say who the circle is for instead of PRIVACY CIRCLE 2. On the keyboard you spell the name and press DONE; in System Settings you type it into a box. The name is only ever shown to you; it is never typed into your text.

Why

A circle you can recognize is a circle you will use: the name is on the key you press to turn it on and in every question that asks which circle. See Naming privacy circles. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• On the keyboard. This row leaves Settings and opens the spelling page: spell the name and press DONE, and the keyboard returns to MAIN. RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE on the Who is this for? page does the same.
• In System Settings. The row under Vocabulary management opens a box holding the current name; OK saves it.
• A blank name keeps the old one, on both surfaces; a name cannot be cleared back to PRIVACY CIRCLE 2, only replaced. Spaces at the ends are dropped.
• Where it shows. On the Who is this for? page, in the questions that ask which circle (ALWAYS IN THIS APP, RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE), in the notice when the screen wakes with the circle on, in the Private places and Private contacts lists, and in the center of the keyboard when Show circle name on keyboard is on.
• The names of circles 1 and 3 are the settings on either side.

Name privacy circle 3

Gives privacy circle 3 a name of your own, such as a person or a topic, so that the keys and questions say who the circle is for instead of PRIVACY CIRCLE 3. On the keyboard you spell the name and press DONE; in System Settings you type it into a box. The name is only ever shown to you; it is never typed into your text.

Why

A circle you can recognize is a circle you will use: the name is on the key you press to turn it on and in every question that asks which circle. See Naming privacy circles. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• On the keyboard. This row leaves Settings and opens the spelling page: spell the name and press DONE, and the keyboard returns to MAIN. RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE on the Who is this for? page does the same.
• In System Settings. The row under Vocabulary management opens a box holding the current name; OK saves it.
• A blank name keeps the old one, on both surfaces; a name cannot be cleared back to PRIVACY CIRCLE 3, only replaced. Spaces at the ends are dropped.
• Where it shows. On the Who is this for? page, in the questions that ask which circle (ALWAYS IN THIS APP, RE-NAME PRIVACY CIRCLE), in the notice when the screen wakes with the circle on, in the Private places and Private contacts lists, and in the center of the keyboard when Show circle name on keyboard is on.
• The names of circles 1 and 2 are the two settings above.

Vocabulary Sources

Where predicted words come from: the built-in JustType dictionary, your Custom words, your Abbreviated phrases, and any vocabulary modules you have imported. Each source has a switch, all ON by default, and Promote words from active vocabulary modules lists a module’s words first once they are fully typed.

Every source you leave on adds words to the vocabulary JustType predicts from, so they can be typed, and any word not in that vocabulary has to be spelled out with TWO-KEY SPELLING, so for everyday typing keep them all on. Turn sources off only when the point is to limit what can be typed, such as practice sessions for students learning how to spell, and turn them back on afterwards. You choose which modules are active on the Vocabulary management screen in System Settings. How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type

Include JustType dictionary

When ON, the words contained in the built-in JustType dictionary are included in the words that JustType can spell. Turn this OFF only if you want to limit the words that can be generated to only those contained in selected vocabulary modules (and/or Custom words).

When ON, the built-in JustType dictionary (about 60,000 words, in the case of English) is included in JustType’s spelling repertoire. Turn this OFF only when you specifically want JustType limited to just the words in selected vocabulary modules and Custom words — for example, in a literacy-training session focused on a specific set of words.

Include Custom words

When ON, your Custom words (added with ADD CUSTOM WORD on NAVIGATE 2) are included in the words that JustType can spell.

When ON, Custom words (added with ADD CUSTOM WORD on NAVIGATE 2) are included in the words JustType can spell. These typically include personal names, places, jargon, or any word missing from the main dictionary. Custom words that came in with an imported vocabulary module follow that module’s setting instead.

Include Abbreviated phrases

When ON, the selection list also includes your Abbreviated phrases (added with ADD PHRASE on NAVIGATE 2) when you type the abbreviation.

When ON, Abbreviated phrases added with ADD PHRASE (NAVIGATE 2) appear in the selection list when you type the abbreviation. For example, the phrase “Call me back later.” saved under the abbreviation CMBL appears when you type CMBL.

Promote words from active vocabulary modules

JustType can help someone who is learning to read and spell by making some selected sets of words easier to enter. You can import a file containing a list of words to create a vocabulary module, named after the file. Each module has two switches: one for whether its words are predicted, one for whether they get accented hints; the same goes for the JustType dictionary. When Promote words from active vocabulary modules is ON (the default), a word from an imported module (that is currently enabled) is listed ahead of every other matching word once you have typed all of its keys. Words from vocabulary modules you have used in the past can also get a smaller boost.

When ON, a word from any enabled vocabulary module moves ahead of every other fully-typed match as soon as all of its keys have been typed; it does not change the order of completions. This puts a learner’s current words at the front of the Selection list, one SELECT away, rather than buried under more common but less relevant words.

Limit Uncommon Words

This section restricts the words JustType displays or generates to more frequent ones, on the rationale that less common words add clutter and selection-list noise. The settings here only take effect when Restrict uncommon words is on; Add restricted words to end of list only has an effect while the Limit selection list to common words slider is above 1.

Restrict uncommon words

When ON, the settings below restrict the words that JustType displays or generates to words that are more common.

When ON, the two settings below take effect; this umbrella switch lets you turn the filtering off at once without losing the slider position.

Limit selection list to common words

Drops the rarest words of the JustType dictionary from the selection list and from next-letter hints, so that common words are not buried under rare ones. At 1, the default, nothing is dropped; the higher the slider, the more is dropped, until at 14 only the most common words remain. It only works while Restrict uncommon words is ON. Custom words, Abbreviated phrases and vocabulary modules are never dropped.

Why

Rare words add clutter to the list and light keys for letters you will never want; pruning them during ordinary typing keeps the word you want near the top, and for early literacy practice a high setting leaves only the words a learner should meet. How to JustType › Trust the keys: just type

How it works

• Range 1 to 14, step 1, default 1. Dictionary words are banded into fourteen frequency classes; each step up drops the next rarest class. The Vocabulary page in Keyboard Settings and Vocabulary management in System Settings change the same value.
• Nothing happens at 1, or while Restrict uncommon words is OFF; the slider keeps its position, so the switch can turn the filtering off and on without resetting it.
• The dropped words no longer contribute to next-letter hints either.
• Add restricted words to end of list puts the dropped words back at the bottom of the selection list, after every word that passed, so they stay reachable.
• A dropped dictionary word never gets accented hints: while this slider is above 1 it raises the Minimum frequency for accented hints to match.

Add restricted words to end of list

When ON, words that were filtered out by the frequency filter are still shown at the end of the selection list (after all qualifying words). This allows you to still access less common words, but without having them clutter the top of the list.

When ON, words filtered out by the selection list filter still appear at the end of the selection list, after the qualifying words. This lets you reach a less-common word when needed, without it cluttering the top of the list during normal typing.

Accented Next-Letter Hints

This section enables a second, distinct kind of next-letter hint that appears in bold bright red rather than the regular hint bold. Accented hints are shown only for the words you choose: words in chosen vocabulary modules, chosen frequency classes of the JustType dictionary, and your Custom words or Abbreviated phrases if you choose them. The visual contrast means they really stand out when typing — which is the point.

Enable accented next-letter hints

When ON, this lets JustType show a second type of “accented” next-letter hints for selected groups of words. (Next-letter hints are set under Keyboard Setup › Appearance.) Accented next-letter hints show a letter on a key in a bold, BRIGHT RED font so that they stand out from ordinary next-letter hints. The following settings let you define the specific groups of words that will be displayed with accented next-letter hints so that they naturally draw attention when typing with JustType. When someone is trying to learn new vocabulary, this can help by making the next-letter hints for those words really stand out.

Turns accented hints on or off. When ON, the Vocabulary management page in System Settings shows the total number of words that currently get accented hints, so you can see at once how many words your choices cover. Reducing the total number of words that produce accented hints means that the hints that show up really stand out.

Minimum frequency for accented hints

When set to a value above the maximum frequency class (slider all the way to the right), this feature is OFF. When set to a frequency class, accented hints will be shown ONLY for JustType dictionary words that are at least that frequent (or higher).

When set to a frequency class (1–14 in the standard frequency banding), accented hints will only fire for dictionary words at least that frequent. Set the slider to its maximum to disable this filter (no minimum — all words qualify). Minimum and Maximum apply only while the JustType dictionary is included and marked for accented hints; System Settings grays them out otherwise. While Restrict uncommon words is on with its slider above 1, words dropped from the selection list never get accented hints either.

Maximum frequency for accented hints

When set to 0, this feature is OFF (disabled). When set to a higher frequency class (a number from 1 to 14), only lower-frequency words will be displayed with accented hints when typed. Combining this with Minimum frequency for accented hints allows you to limit accented hints first to very common words, and then as those are learned, limit accented hints to limited groups of lower frequency words (even just one frequency class at a time). The lower the frequency class, the more words it will contain.

When set to 0, this filter is OFF (no maximum — all words qualify). When set to a frequency class (1–14), only dictionary words no more frequent than that class qualify. System Settings will not accept a Maximum below the Minimum. Combining this with Minimum frequency for accented hints lets you target a specific frequency band — say, “words rarer than the top 1,000 but more common than the rarest 10,000.”

Accent max use count

Stops the accented Next-Letter Hints for a vocabulary-module word once you have typed it this many times. OFF (0, the default) keeps the hints for every module word, however often it is typed. Accented hints are for words you are still learning; this setting keeps them for those words only, because accented hints stand out most when few words carry them.

Vocabulary modules are intended to help students practice spelling. When one or more modules are selected, and Enable accented next-letter hints is on, this setting can increase how much Accented hints tend to “stand out” on the keyboard by reducing the number of words that trigger Accented hints. The way this happens is that, as JustType is used, it automatically counts and records how times each word in the dictionary has been typed. For a given student, let’s say an assumption is made that once a word has been typed a certain number of times — let’s say, perhaps 10 times — then it makes sense to assume the student has learned that spelling, so Accented hints would no longer be needed. Setting the Accent max use count to 10 achieves this: even when a word is included in an enabled vocabulary module, when JustType sees that it has already been typed 10 or more times, that word no longer generates Accented hints, and the hints for the other words become just a little easier to follow. You can set the Accent max use count to whatever number matches the learning style for the student.

Why

A word you have spelled correctly this many times is probably a word you know; dropping its hints leaves the bright red hints on the words you are still learning, where they do the most good. The count is per word, so a module can stay selected for months while the hints fade from the words each person has mastered. How to JustType › Learning to spell with hints

How it works

• Range: 1 to 20 times, or OFF (0).
• JustType counts each time a word is spelled by typing it with JustType, in any app. A word newly added to a module starts at zero.
• Once a module word reaches the count it is shown with the ordinary next-letter hints, like any other word. Nothing else about the word changes.
• Turning the setting OFF later brings the hints back for every module word; the counts are kept.
• Words from the JustType dictionary and Custom words have their own limit, Accent Max Use (JT), the next setting.

Accent max use (JT)

Stops the accented Next-Letter Hints for a word from the JustType dictionary or your Custom words once you have typed it this many times. OFF (0, the default) keeps the hints however often a word is typed. It is the twin of Accent Max Use Count, which does the same for vocabulary-module words, and like it keeps the bright red hints on the words you are still learning.

Who it is for. Teachers and learners who have marked the JustType dictionary or Custom words for accented hints. If neither is marked, or Enable accented next-letter hints is off, this setting does nothing.

Why

Accented hints stand out most when few words carry them. A frequency band of the dictionary can hold thousands of words, so without a limit the hints stay on words the learner typed correctly long ago; this count drops them one word at a time, as each is learned, while the band stays the same. How to JustType › Learning to spell with hints

How it works

• Range: 1 to 20 times, or OFF (0). The Vocabulary page in Keyboard Settings and Vocabulary management in System Settings change the same value.
• JustType counts each time a word is spelled by typing it with JustType, in any app. Once a word reaches the count it is shown with the ordinary next-letter hints, like any other word; nothing else about the word changes.
• A dictionary word must also fall inside the Minimum and Maximum frequency band to be accented; Custom words have no frequency class and are limited by this count alone.
• Turning the setting OFF later brings the hints back; the counts are kept.
• Vocabulary-module words have their own limit, Accent Max Use Count, the setting above.

TWO-KEY SPELLING diacritics

Settings for how TWO-KEY SPELLING treats letters that a language writes differently. Today the section holds one setting, the Turkish / Azerbaijani case override, which makes a spelled i capitalize to İ and ı to I whatever language the device is set to. Which accented letters the spelling page offers is chosen elsewhere, with Include diacritic letters in TWO-KEY SPELLING under Language Options.

These settings matter only for letters you spell one at a time; predicted words already carry the right letters. Turn the override on if you type Turkish or Azerbaijani on a device set to another language and your capital i comes out wrong. How to JustType › Make it yours

Turkish / Azerbaijani case override

When on, capitalizing a spelled i gives İ (dotted capital) and capitalizing ı gives I (plain), whatever language your device is set to. It affects only letters you spell one at a time with TWO-KEY SPELLING, not predicted words. Only turn it on if you type Turkish or Azerbaijani on a device set to another language.

Navigation Mode

Drives your device with the same eight-key grid. A small floating keyboard, the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, appears on top of any app: arrow keys move focus, and other keys tap, scroll, drag and press Back. It works with the same input methods as the typing keyboard, except Mouse Joystick, so the technique you type with carries over. This chapter holds its settings: Live Drag, Remember Scroll Length & Speed, the Hidden keyboard and the Keyboard appearance. The pages themselves are described in System Navigation.

Turning it on needs the JustType Navigation accessibility service and permission to display over other apps; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings shows the status of both and walks you through them, and Navigation Mode explains the steps. Keyboard Settings shows the same settings as rows. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

Live drag

When on, DRAG continuously holds the target down, as a finger would, from the moment you pick it up, and moves it in real time as you press the arrows; DROP TARGET lets go of it where it is. When off, the target stays put while you move the cursor to where you want the target to go, and the whole move happens at once when you press DROP TARGET.

Remember scroll length & speed

Keep the scroll page’s LENGTH and SPEED adjustments for next time instead of resetting them each visit.

Hidden keyboard

Whether HIDE / SHOW KEYBD, the bottom-right key of the MEDIA pages of the SYSTEM NAV keyboard, may hide the floating keyboard; how you select keys while it is hidden; what those selections do; how the keyboard comes back; and whether it hides by itself when idle. A hidden keyboard takes no touches at all: they go to the app underneath.

Hiding is for the moments when the keyboard is in the way of what it controls, a video or a page you are reading, and it pays off because your input method keeps working on the keys you cannot see: one remembered layout, the MEDIA page you hid, is enough to pause, skip or turn a page with nothing on screen. Head tracking, a joystick, two switches and swipes all do that; a touch and a single switch cannot reach an unseen key, so for them a touch or a press brings the keyboard back instead. If working blind is not for you, set While hidden, key presses to Are ignored. Everything here is off until you turn on Enable hidden keyboard mode; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings show the same rows. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

Enable hidden keyboard mode

Lets HIDE / SHOW KEYBD hide the SYSTEM NAV keyboard so that it no longer covers a video or a page you are reading. While this is OFF, the default, the key reads ENABLE KEYBOARD HIDING and opens these settings instead; turn it ON here, and the six settings below it come to life.

Why

Hiding is a second way of working, blind, and some people never want it, so it is off until asked for; the key’s ENABLE KEYBOARD HIDING face brings you here the first time, so there is nothing to find. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• OFF by default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• While OFF. ENABLE KEYBOARD HIDING on the MEDIA pages opens Keyboard Settings at this section; closing Keyboard Settings brings the SYSTEM NAV keyboard back on the MEDIA page you left. The settings below are greyed out.
• While ON. The key reads HIDE / SHOW KEYBD: one selection hides the keyboard, the next shows it. How the keys are selected meanwhile is Input method for the hidden keyboard; what they do is While hidden, key presses; what brings the keyboard back is Show the hidden keyboard with.
• A keyboard that was hidden when you started typing comes back hidden when the typing keyboard closes. Bringing it back by its floating button, or by HeadBoard, always shows it.
• Turning this OFF again leaves the other settings as they were.

Input method for the hidden keyboard

How you select keys while the SYSTEM NAV keyboard is hidden. My input method, the default: head tracking, a joystick, two switches or Directional Selection work exactly as when the keyboard is shown; only the picture is missing. Swipes (Directional Selection): swipes anywhere on the screen select the hidden keys, whatever your usual method. A touch shows the keyboard: touch anywhere and the keyboard appears with its HIDE / SHOW key under your finger. Direct Selection needs keys to tap, so with My input method it falls back to swipes.

Why

A method that does not need to see the keys loses nothing when they are hidden, so keep My input method unless it is Direct Selection. Choose Swipes if you would rather drive the hidden page with a finger than with your usual method, and A touch shows the keyboard if you never want to work blind: the touch also chooses where the keyboard appears, so it is a way of placing it as well as showing it. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Default My input method. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• My input method carries on unseen for head tracking, a joystick, Two-Switch Selection and Directional Selection. With Direct Selection, or no adaptive method, it is the same as Swipes.
• Swipes. If Directional Selection is not already running, JustType starts its swipe layer when the keyboard hides and removes it when the keyboard shows again; the swipe settings are those of Directional Selection. A touch held still on that layer for the Touch capture timeout is the Hold a touch show gesture.
• A touch shows the keyboard. The keyboard is moved so that its HIDE / SHOW key is centered under the touch; the touch does nothing else.
• Single-Switch Scanning always shows the keyboard on a switch press, whichever option is chosen: that press is spent on showing it, scanning starts by itself after the Scan start delay after the keyboard appears, and you select HIDE / SHOW KEYBD again when you have finished.
• With A touch shows the keyboard, or with scanning, the caution page described under While hidden, key presses is never shown, since the keyboard comes back by itself.

While hidden, key presses

What your selections do while the SYSTEM NAV keyboard is hidden. Still work, the default: every key of the page that was showing keeps working, so one remembered layout controls a full-screen video or a reader with nothing on screen. Are ignored: nothing happens until the keyboard is shown again, for someone who cannot hold the layout in mind or selects keys by accident; only the HIDE / SHOW key or the show gesture does anything.

Why

Working blind is the whole gain of hiding: the keys you know are still there. Choose Are ignored when a stray selection would do more harm than the convenience is worth, with a method that fires on its own now and then, or for someone who would rather see the keyboard every time; the cost is one extra selection to show it before each action. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Default Still work. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• Still work. The hidden keys stay at their positions, so the page you hid is the page you drive; nothing is drawn, and touches go to the app underneath.
• Are ignored. A selection is dropped silently. The one exception is the HIDE / SHOW key when Show the hidden keyboard with is The HIDE / SHOW key: that key stays live where nothing is drawn, so that the keyboard can be brought back. The show gesture always works too.
• The caution. Because one key stays live in an empty space, hiding with Are ignored and The HIDE / SHOW key first shows a page that reads HIDE KEYBOARD? Its SHOW key stays live while hidden, with CANCEL, HIDE and HIDE, DON’T ASK AGAIN keys. HIDE, DON’T ASK AGAIN hides and stops the question for good. The page is skipped when a touch or a switch press shows the keyboard anyway (Input method for the hidden keyboard set to A touch shows the keyboard, or Single-Switch Scanning), and for an automatic hide.

Show the hidden keyboard with

How a hidden SYSTEM NAV keyboard comes back. The HIDE / SHOW key, the default: selecting that key, the bottom-right key of the page you hid, shows the keyboard again; with presses ignored it is the one key that stays live. A gesture: the show gesture below, and no key at all stays live. The gesture always works as a fallback, whichever you choose.

Why

The key is the quickest way back for anyone who can select it unseen. Choose A gesture when you would rather no key were live while the keyboard is hidden, or when your method cannot find one key in an empty screen. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Default The HIDE / SHOW key. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• The HIDE / SHOW key. HIDE / SHOW KEYBD is the bottom-right key on each MEDIA page, so it is the same selection whichever page you hid. Selecting it while hidden shows the keyboard; with While hidden, key presses at Are ignored it is the only selection that is not dropped, which is why hiding then asks once.
• A gesture. With Are ignored, no key is live: only the gesture shows the keyboard, so there is nothing to ask and no caution page.
• The chosen gesture brings the keyboard back in either case, as does a touch under A touch shows the keyboard, a switch press with Single-Switch Scanning, and the keyboard’s floating button.

Show gesture

The gesture that brings a hidden SYSTEM NAV keyboard back, whatever Show the hidden keyboard with says. Hold a touch, the default: with Directional Selection, keep a finger still on the screen for the Touch capture timeout. Press Volume Down three times: three quick presses of the device’s volume-down button.

Why

The gesture is the way back that needs no key, so pick the one you can always make: the touch hold if you drive the hidden keyboard by swipes, the volume button if your hands are on the device or someone helping you needs a sure way to show the keyboard. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Default Hold a touch. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• Hold a touch is a touch held still on Directional Selection’s swipe layer for the Touch capture timeout (2 to 10 seconds, 4 by default), so it needs swipes to be the input while hidden: Directional Selection as your method, or the swipe fallback of Input method for the hidden keyboard.
• Press Volume Down three times means three presses within about a second and a half. The presses still lower the volume. When this is not the show gesture, or the keyboard is not hidden, the same three presses shrink the SYSTEM NAV keyboard to its floating button and give touch back to the screen, as described in Navigation Mode.
• The gesture works even when Show the hidden keyboard with is The HIDE / SHOW key.

Hide automatically when idle

Hides the SYSTEM NAV keyboard by itself after this long without a selection, exactly as HIDE / SHOW KEYBD would: Off, the default, or after 5, 10 or 20 seconds. It saves a selection each time you start a video or settle into a page: do what you came for, and the keyboard gets out of the way on its own.

Why

Turn it on when you hide the keyboard anyway every few minutes; leave it off while you are learning the pages, or with a method that selects slowly, so the keyboard does not vanish between two steps. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Off, After 5 seconds, After 10 seconds or After 20 seconds; Off by default. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• The countdown starts over at every key selection and at the end of every touch; a finger resting on the screen stops it. It does not run while the caution page is open, nor while the keyboard is already hidden.
• Hiding this way is the same as HIDE / SHOW KEYBD: the keyboard comes back by the show action or the show gesture, and While hidden, key presses decides what the hidden keys do. The caution page is not shown for an automatic hide.

Scan start delay after the keyboard appears

Single-Switch Scanning only. With the SYSTEM NAV keyboard hidden, a switch press makes it appear; scanning starts by itself after this delay, giving you time to find your place before the first key is highlighted.

Why

Scanning cannot run on keys you cannot see, so the press that would have selected a key shows the keyboard instead, and the delay is what stops the scan from racing off before you are looking at it. Lengthen it if the first highlighted key is often past you; shorten it once the layout is familiar. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• 0.5 to 5 seconds in steps of 0.25, 1.5 seconds by default. Greyed out until Enable hidden keyboard mode is on; the Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• The press that shows the keyboard is spent on that; it selects nothing. After the delay the scan runs as usual, with the Single Switch settings; select HIDE / SHOW KEYBD again when you have finished.
• With scanning, a switch press shows the keyboard whichever Input method for the hidden keyboard is chosen, and the caution page is never shown.

Keyboard appearance

How the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard looks on top of other apps: its colors; how see-through the keys and the panel behind them are, and what fades when the keys are see-through; its size; and whether the handle used to drag it is shown. None of them changes the typing keyboard.

The keyboard sits over the app it controls, so every choice here trades seeing the keys against seeing the app: big solid keys are easiest to hit and read, faint small ones hide the least. Set the size for your input method first, then take the keys down until enough of the app shows through, and pick the theme that stands out against the apps you use most. A change shows on the floating keyboard at once. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same values. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

Theme

The colors of the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard. System default follows the device’s light or dark mode; Light gives pale keys with black symbols; Dark gives dark gray keys with white symbols. Choose whichever stands out best against the apps you use most.

Why

The keyboard is read against whatever is behind it, so the theme is chosen for contrast with your apps rather than for taste: a dark keyboard over a white reader, a light one over a video. System default is right when your apps follow the device’s mode too. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• System default, Light or Dark; System default is the default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• System default follows the device’s night mode as set in Android, so the keyboard switches with it.
• The theme colors the keys and their symbols; how much of them you see is Key opacity and When keys are transparent. The typing keyboard’s own colors are not affected.

Key opacity

How solid the eight keys of the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard are, from invisible at 0% to fully opaque at 100%. What fades is chosen by When keys are transparent: by default only the key faces fade and the symbols stay solid, so the keys stay readable while the app shows through. Lower it to see more of the app underneath.

Why

The keys are what you aim at and the app is what you are looking at; this slider sets the balance. A method that needs to see the key boundaries, a touch or a joystick, wants the keys fairly solid; head tracking and switches can work with faint keys, or with symbols alone. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• 0% to 100% in steps of 5, 66% by default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value. The keyboard changes as you move the slider.
• With Keep glyphs and outline, the default, the slider fades the key faces and the symbols stay solid. With Fade everything together the whole key fades, symbols included. With Glyphs only there are no key faces, and the slider has no effect.
• The panel behind the keys has its own Background opacity.

Background opacity

How solid the rounded panel behind the keys of the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard is, from invisible at 0% to fully opaque at 100%. It is set apart from the keys, so you can keep clear keys on a faint panel, or the other way round.

Why

The panel is what makes the keyboard a visible block on the screen: a solid panel finds the keyboard for you against a busy page, a faint one leaves the page readable through the gaps between the keys. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• 0% to 100% in steps of 5, 33% by default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value. The keyboard changes as you move the slider.
• Independent of Key opacity and of When keys are transparent, which affect the keys only.

Keyboard size

The size of the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard on top of other apps, from 70% to 150% of its standard size. Larger keys are easier to hit and to read; smaller ones cover less of the app. It does not change the typing keyboard.

Why

Size is the first thing to set, because it decides what your input method can hit: a joystick or head tracking is happiest with a big target, a touch wants keys the size of a fingertip, and a switch user who never aims can go small. The opacity settings then decide how much of that size shows. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• 70% to 150% in steps of 5, 80% by default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value. The keyboard changes as you move the slider.
• The keys and the drag handle scale together; 70% is the smallest at which a key face still carries a readable word.
• If a bigger keyboard no longer fits where it was, move it with the drag handle or RE-LOCATE KEYBOARD.

When keys are transparent

What Key opacity fades. Keep glyphs and outline, the default: the key faces fade but the symbols stay solid, so the keys stay readable at low opacity. Glyphs only: no key faces at all, just the symbols floating over the screen. Fade everything together: symbols and faces fade to the same degree.

Why

The symbols are what tell you which key is which, and the faces are what tell you where a key ends; keep both while you are learning the pages, keep only the symbols once you know them and want the app to show through, and fade everything when the keyboard should be barely there, for a method that does not need to see it. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• Keep glyphs and outline, Glyphs only or Fade everything together; the first is the default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value.
• Keep glyphs and outline: Key opacity fades the key faces; the symbols are always solid.
• Glyphs only: the key faces are removed; Key opacity has no effect, and the symbols are always solid.
• Fade everything together: Key opacity fades each whole key, symbols included; at 0% the keys are invisible but still there.
• Background opacity is separate and fades the panel in every mode.

Hide drag handle

The drag handle is the dotted strip above the floating SYSTEM NAV keyboard: drag it to move the keyboard, long-press it to shrink the keyboard to a small button. When this is ON the handle is hidden to save space; you can still move the keyboard from its own keys with RE-LOCATE KEYBOARD.

Why

Hide the handle once the keyboard lives where you want it, or when you never move it by touch: a switch or head-tracking user has RE-LOCATE KEYBOARD for that, and the strip is only one more thing on the screen. Keep it while someone who helps you is still finding the best place by hand. How to JustType › Choose and tune your input method

How it works

• OFF by default. The Navigation mode screen in System Settings and the Navigation Mode page of Keyboard Settings change the same value. The handle appears or disappears at once.
• With the handle. Drag it to move the keyboard anywhere; long-press it to shrink the keyboard to its floating button, which you select to bring the keyboard back. The handle is as wide as the keyboard and scales with Keyboard size.
• Without it. RE-LOCATE KEYBOARD on SYSTEM NAV 3 (reach it with the SYSTEM NAV 2 and SYSTEM NAV 3 keys; see System Navigation) turns the eight keys into places: each key moves the keyboard to the corner or edge of the screen that matches the key’s own position in the grid, top-left to bottom-right. The page closes by itself after 8 seconds if you select nothing. Three quick presses of the volume-down button still shrink the keyboard to its button, unless that is your show gesture.

Backup & Restore

You can back up all of JustType, including everything you have added or changed: vocabulary modules, Custom words, Abbreviated phrases, all of your settings, and everything JustType has learned from the way you use it. Private words and phrases are included too (see Backups). All of the data is written to a folder that you select — either on your device or in a Google Drive folder that you can access. Later, if you need to, you can use the files in that folder to restore JustType, or to set JustType up exactly the same way on a different device.

To create a backup (or update an existing one to reflect additional changes):

(1) Press “Choose backup folder”. A standard Android dialog opens where you select the folder to store the backup. Navigate to the folder and press “Use this folder”; if a prompt asks for permission to access files in that folder, press “Allow”.

(2) You return to the previous screen, which shows the selected folder and, once a backup exists there, the date and time it was made.

(3) Press “Create backup now” to write a complete backup to the folder. Pressing it again later updates that backup with everything that has changed since.

(4) “Restore from backup” becomes available whenever the chosen folder holds a backup made by a compatible version of JustType. After a reinstall, JustType offers to restore from the last folder you used.

Updates and your data. Every new version of JustType preserves the data created as you use it — your Custom words, phrases, passwords, settings and everything it has learned from your typing about how you like to use words — and saves it so the new version takes up right where you left off. Nothing you added, and nothing JustType learned, is dropped by an update. If you open the keyboard while this is under way, its Selection list reads “Updating database for new version – please wait.” (said aloud as well when SPOKEN FEEDBACK is on), and the keys appear the moment the update is done. “Create backup now” and “Restore from backup” wait for it too: pressed while it is under way, they show the same words on this screen and start the moment the update is done, so a backup never copies your data halfway through. If an update cannot finish, JustType puts the copy back and keeps the old version running on it: the keyboard shows a short notice (“JustType could not update its data. Everything was put back as it was. Open JustType Settings to send a report.”), and the first Settings page shows a banner with Send report, which opens your mail app with a report addressed to the JustType beta team — the error details, the data formats and your device model, never anything you typed. Sending that report is the one thing we ask of you; after the problem is fixed, the next version tries the update again by itself, and you lose nothing in the meantime. If the device is short of space, JustType says so instead and tries again the next time it starts.

Setting yourself up to succeed. Choose a backup folder and press “Create backup now” once, and again before you install a new version or after a day of adding many words or phrases: a backup in a folder of your own is the one copy that survives anything, including a reinstall. Keep that folder private. With Offer crash report after crash on (under Beta testing), the report mail opens by itself after a failed update, so there is nothing to find.

Backup & Restore

The Backup & restore page of Keyboard Settings holds one setting, Include private items in listing, and a note: backups are made and restored in System Settings, where Backup & Restore has the Choose backup folder, Create backup now and Restore from backup buttons and the same switch. Everything JustType has learned and everything you have added goes into a backup.

A backup in a folder of your own is the one copy of your words, phrases, settings and learning that survives a reinstall or a new device, so make one before an update and after a day of adding many words; the steps are in the chapter lead. The setting here decides only what the backup’s readable word list shows to someone who opens the folder by hand. How to JustType › Make it yours

Include private items in listing

A backup holds everything, private words and phrases included, so that it can be restored whole. It also carries a human-readable list of your Custom words, which restore never reads. With this OFF, the default, that list names public words only, so a backup you open or share by hand shows nothing from a privacy circle; with it ON, private words are listed too, for your own housekeeping.

Why

The readable list is for you to look at, not for JustType; keeping private words out of it means a backup folder passed to a helper, or synced to a drive others can open, gives away nothing a circle was meant to hold. Turn it on only while you are checking your own private words, and off again before the next backup. How to JustType › Make it yours

How it works

• OFF by default. The switch on the Backup & restore screen in System Settings and this row on the keyboard’s Backup & restore page change the same value.
• The list is written when you press Create backup now, so a change takes effect at the next backup.
• The copy restore uses always holds every word, public and private, whatever this says. Phrases are different: the phrase file is both the readable list and the copy restore uses, so it always holds every phrase. Keep the backup folder private either way; see Backups.
• Passwords travel encrypted, as stored.

Use touchscreen settings for backup and restore operations

Backups are made and restored in System Settings, not from the keyboard. Open System Settings on the touchscreen (tap the JustType icon) and choose Backup & restore: Choose backup folder first; Create backup now is then enabled, and Restore from backup becomes available when the folder holds a backup made by a compatible version of JustType. The steps, what a backup holds and what an update does with your data are in Backup & Restore; the one setting the keyboard page shares with that screen is Include private items in listing.

Beta testing

Settings a beta tester may be asked to change by the JustType team: the debug log and what it records, a few diagnostic switches, and the tuning values under test. Leave them at their defaults unless you are asked otherwise; most of them slow the keyboard slightly or fill the log quickly. Two things every tester should do before the first update: make a backup in a folder of your own, and leave Offer crash report after crash on — see Updates and your data under Backup & Restore.

Typing statistics

To learn how JustType is used in practice, a beta tester can let it count their typing: numbers only, how many keys were pressed, how many words and characters came out and how much time went on active typing, never the text itself. The counts are kept per input method, with the days JustType was used and the version in use, in one small file on the device, and nothing leaves the device until you send it. Recording is off until you turn it on, here or by answering YES when the keyboard asks.

Who it is for. Beta testers. The question is only asked while recording is off, and DON’T ASK AGAIN ends it.

Why

The point of JustType is the number of keys a message costs, and the only honest measure of that is real typing over real days, by people using their own input method: words per minute of active typing, keys per word, how often a correction is needed, how much of the work happens on the MAIN page and how much on the other pages. Those numbers tell the team where the strategy pays off and where it does not, and a tester cannot get them by introspection. They are counts only; the keyboard records which of its keys was pressed and when, never what was written, so the file can be sent without reading it first. Recording costs nothing you can notice and can be stopped at any time.

How it works

• Record typing statistics is the switch, off by default; the keyboard’s Beta testing page and System Settings › Beta testing change the same switch.
• SHOW TYPING STATISTICS shows the totals so far, SEND TYPING STATISTICS mails the file to the beta team, RESET TYPING STATISTICS starts a new period without erasing the old ones.

The question. While recording is off, the keyboard asks whether you would be willing to record: the first time it opens, and again a week after NOT NOW, or a day after a question swept away unanswered, until you answer YES, which turns recording on, or DON’T ASK AGAIN. It is a question page: the text on the help screen above the keyboard, in the size and colors set under Help text, the answers on the keys. The question waits for a moment after the keyboard opens and is never asked while you are in the keyboard’s settings or another question is up. Turning the switch on in Settings is the opt-in itself; no question follows.

The file. One file in JustType’s private storage, written every 50 key presses and whenever the keyboard closes. It holds, per app version and per RESET, the counts for each input method on the MAIN page and on the other pages, the key presses per day for the last 400 days, the install date, and when the counts were last sent. The file rides along with any debug or crash report you send while recording is on.

Reminders. While recording is on, the keyboard reminds you every seven days to send the file, with a notice above the keyboard, spoken when spoken feedback is on; a SEND starts the seven days over.

Record typing statistics

When on, JustType counts your typing: key presses on the MAIN page and on the other pages, words and characters output, corrections (UnDo / DELETE, DELETE CHAR and DELETE WORD presses), and the time you spent typing. A run of key presses counts as typing time while the pauses between presses stay short, so time with the keyboard open but idle is left out. It records numbers only, never the text you type, and keeps them per input method and per day. Off by default; turning it on here is the opt-in, and nothing more is asked.

Who it is for. Beta testers who are willing to let the team see how they type, in numbers.

How it works

• Off by default. The keyboard’s Beta testing page and System Settings › Beta testing change the same switch; it can be changed at any time. Turning it off stops the counting; the counts already made are kept.
• While it is off, the keyboard asks now and then whether you would turn it on: YES turns it on, NOT NOW asks again in a week, DON’T ASK AGAIN ends the asking. The schedule is under Typing statistics.

What is counted.

• A key press is one activation of the typing keyboard’s keys, kept under the input method in use: the adaptive method, or else the touchscreen method that is on. Presses on the MAIN page and on every other page are counted apart; a SELECT that leaves MAIN for a page, and the list-function key before it, count as the other pages.
• A correction is a press of UnDo / DELETE, DELETE CHAR, DELETE WORD or the DELETE key of LETTER / SYMBOL MODE.
• Words are counted as they go into the text, each word of an Abbreviated phrase on its own; characters as they are inserted and deleted.
• Active typing time is the sum of runs of presses whose gaps stay under one and a half times your own typical gap for that method and page, measured as you go; the first 20 gaps use a 5-second limit, the limit is never under 0.3 seconds, and a gap over 30 seconds always ends a run. A run of a single press counts for nothing; each run is charged one average gap for its last key.
• The presses of each day give the days JustType was used: light under 50 presses, medium under 500, heavy from 500.
• Nothing is recorded for key presses the keyboard replays on its own.

SHOW TYPING STATISTICS

Shows the totals so far: whether recording is on, the days since JustType was installed and the days it was used (light, medium or heavy), and for each input method the key presses, words, characters and active minutes on the MAIN page, the words and characters per minute of active typing, the presses, characters and active minutes on the other pages, and the corrections. It lets you see what would be sent before you send it.

Who it is for. Beta testers recording typing statistics.

How it works

• An action row on the Beta testing page, keyboard and System Settings alike; it shows the same text SEND TYPING STATISTICS puts in the mail.
• The totals are the sum over every period in the file: every app version and every span since a RESET. The last line says how many periods there are and the current version.
• Words and characters per minute are the MAIN page’s words and inserted characters over its active typing minutes. Corrections, counted on all pages, are the presses of UnDo, DELETE CHAR, DELETE WORD and the DELETE key of LETTER / SYMBOL MODE, together with the characters deleted.
• With nothing recorded yet, it says so.

SEND TYPING STATISTICS

Opens your mail app with the statistics file attached and the totals in the message, addressed to the JustType beta team. Nothing is sent until you press Send in the mail app. The file is cumulative, so a report you forget to send is not lost: the next one carries everything.

Who it is for. Beta testers recording typing statistics; once a week is enough.

How it works

• An action row on the Beta testing page, keyboard and System Settings alike. The message goes to betatest@continuouspath.org with the file as an attachment and the text of SHOW TYPING STATISTICS as the body; your default mail app opens, or a chooser when there is none. If no mail app can be opened, a notice says so.
• The file is written up to your last key press before it is attached.
• Opening the mail app counts as a send for the reminder: while recording is on, the keyboard reminds you seven days after recording began, after the last send, or after the last reminder, whichever is latest, with a notice above the keyboard, spoken when spoken feedback is on.
• The same file also travels with any debug or crash report you send while recording is on.
• The file holds numbers only; the Typing statistics lead says what.

RESET TYPING STATISTICS

Starts the running counts over from now, as happens by itself when JustType is updated to a new version. The history is not erased: the earlier counts stay in the file under their own period, so a report still shows the whole picture. Use it when you change something about how you type, a new input method or a new setup, so the periods can be compared.

Who it is for. Beta testers recording typing statistics.

How it works

• An action row on the Beta testing page, keyboard and System Settings alike. A notice confirms the reset and that the history is kept.
• Every open run of key presses is closed first, so no typing time is lost; the new period starts under the current version.
• The keyboard’s request to record starts over as well: with recording off, it asks again at the next opening, even after DON’T ASK AGAIN.
• SHOW TYPING STATISTICS and SEND TYPING STATISTICS always cover every period.

Debug logging

The debug log records what the keyboard does, one file per day in JustType’s private storage, so that a problem you report can be traced. It never leaves the device unless you send it with Submit feedback.

Toggle debug logging

Switches debug logging on if it is off, and off if it is on, and tells you the new state. The same as flipping Enable debug logging.

Enable debug logging

When on, JustType keeps a diagnostic log in its private storage, one file per day, so that a problem you report can be traced. The log can include text you type; Debug log categories decide what it records. It never leaves the device unless you send it with Submit feedback. Release builds keep no log.

Submit feedback

The same button as Submit feedback under Help resources on the first Settings page, placed here beside the log it sends: packs the logs into a zip file and opens the share sheet. Nothing is sent until you choose where.

Offer crash report after crash

When on (default), after JustType crashes, opening System Settings offers to email a crash report. The report includes the error, your device model and the Android and JustType versions — never anything you typed. Turn it off to stop the prompt.

IME debug / timing

On-screen diagnostics of the keyboard service itself.

Show edit operations

For developers. When on, messages the keyboard service writes to the debug log are also flashed briefly on screen. Needs Enable debug logging and a non-release build. The messages can include text you typed.

Debug log categories

Which kinds of event the debug log records, one switch each. Only Lifecycle / UI (keyboard shown and hidden, fields entered and left) is on by default, and it records no typed text. The other categories record what is typed, selected or edited, so turn one on only when a developer asks for it and turn it off afterwards.

Who it is for. Testers asked by a developer to trace a particular problem; everyone else leaves the defaults.

How it works

• Nine switches under Debug log categories on the Beta testing page, keyboard and System Settings alike: Lifecycle / UI, Undo flow, Pull-in flow, Ambiguous buffer, Selection / cursor sync, InputConnection ops, Word database, Shift state, Text editing. A change takes effect at once.
• Nothing is written while Enable debug logging is off, while you are in a password field, or while you type the secret of a password, whatever the switches say.
• Beta builds record only Lifecycle / UI, Word database, Shift state, Pull-in flow, Undo flow, Selection / cursor sync and Text editing; Ambiguous buffer and InputConnection ops are compiled out, so their switches do nothing there. Release builds write no log at all.
• The log is one file per day, kept for Debug log retention days, and leaves the device only with Submit feedback; see Debug logging.

Other debug settings

Diagnostic switches for head tracking, the joystick and System Navigation, and the debug-log file itself. All off by default except Re-arm in feedback zone.

Head tracking debug overlay

For developers. When ON, a red outline marks the key your head is pointing at (solid once you are in the Active zone, faint otherwise), and extra timing data is written to the system log. Off in normal use.

Force pre-34 joystick path (Nav)

For developers. When on, System Navigation reads the joystick the way it does on Android versions before 14 (API 34), even on a newer device. Use it only to check whether a joystick problem depends on the Android version.

Log switch/gamepad input routing

For developers. When on, every switch and gamepad event is written to the Android system log with the route it took (which device, which key code, where it was delivered). Helps when a switch is not recognized or presses the wrong thing.

Log edge-scroll diagnostics

For developers. When on, System Navigation writes its edge-scrolling decisions to the Android system log: the edge reached, the speed chosen and the scroll performed. Off unless a developer asks.

Head tracking diagnostic logs

For developers. When ON, head tracking writes timing and zone diagnostics (frame rate, lost frames, zone changes, activations) to the Android system log; nothing changes on screen. OFF by default.

Re-arm in feedback zone

When ON, after a key activates you can go straight on to arm the next key without first returning to the center, which makes repeated activations faster. When OFF, the cursor must return to the Resting zone after every activation before another key can lock; until it does, moving outward only shows a yellow highlight.

Show debug.log path

Shows (and in Keyboard Settings speaks) the folder where the daily debug-log files are written, in case a developer asks you to find them with a file manager.

Clear debug.log

Deletes the debug-log files on the device. The crash logs are kept. Use it before reproducing a problem so the log you send holds only that problem.

Special settings

Tuning values under test during the beta: the confidence signal, case-form learning, family expansion and SELECT behavior. Change them only when the JustType team asks, and mention the change when you report a problem.

Adaptive confidence threshold

For developers. When on, the confidence threshold places itself from your own typing: every finished word confirms which thresholds would have signaled correctly, and the lowest one meeting your accuracy target is used (seeded from measured defaults until enough evidence accumulates). When off, Confidence threshold is used as is.

Confidence threshold

For developers. How sure JustType must be before signaling. Higher values signal less often and are almost always right; lower values signal more often and can save more keystrokes. Used only while Adaptive confidence threshold is off.

Consecutive usages required to change preferred case form

For developers. For words that come in two capitalizations (brown and Brown), the form you choose is counted each time. The word’s default form flips once the other form has been chosen this many more times. Larger values make the default slower to change.

Required remaining keys for expansion candidate

For developers. A word offers a family (its plurals, verb forms and longer words) only if it still needs at least this many key presses to finish: shorter words are quicker to type than to pick from pages. These three settings matter only while Family expansion is on.

Minimum new family members before the stem stops shortening

For developers. A family is offered only when it has at least this many members; smaller families are not worth a page.

Maximum family page groups inserted

For developers. The most pages of family members that are inserted after the selected word.

Select behavior (adaptive FTS promotion ladder)

For developers. How fully typed words are promoted when you press SELECT. Observe (default): records SELECT-press patterns only; nothing changes. Force page 1 / Force head: at a SELECT press with no confidence signal, fully typed words sitting below the head of the list are promoted onto page 1 or into the head. Adaptive: reserved; it only observes until automatic adjustment is built.

Show select-behavior stats

Shows the counts behind Select behavior: per language, how your SELECT presses were distributed over the states the adaptive mechanism tracks. Numbers only, never text you typed.

Share

Opens the share sheet with the same select-behavior counts as plain text, so you can send them to the JustType team. The counts also travel with every Submit feedback zip.