[FEATURE REQUEST] Add an (English) alphabetical layout.

[shuttittuppitt]

My device = Samsung galaxy tab A7 (tablet)
My android = 12.0 (not rooted)

I have a feature request if anybody ever decides to make a fork of "Hacker's keyboard". Add an (English) alphabetical layout. I will never use any other (English) keyboard layout, because the idea of using any layout that is designed to be OUT of order has ZERO appeal to me. I DON'T have dyslexia or any other condition. I have a hatred of keyboard layouts that are openly hostile to ergonomics/usability.

There are those who will tell me that I could fork this into a new app & develop that myself. To anybody that DOES suggest that, how do I do that? I have searched many times in the past for how to do that, but none of the results ever tell me how to (example) COMPILE some source code into an app, or whether my device (top of post) needs to be rooted to do that. It's frustrating because there are many (android) apps that I want to develop, but I CAN'T without such REQUIRED information.

[KevinBlue28]

Do you mean like this?

You can fork by pressing the Fork button at the to top. Now if want to compile it you have to set up Android Studio and download the right minimum SDK API. Here is an article from Android Authority: Let's Build a Custom Keyboard
Here are some reasons QWERTY is widely used on Quora: Why can't we have ABCDE keyboards from now on? Isn't the reason why the QWERTY keyboard was invented now obsolete?

[shuttittuppitt]

That's the type of layout that I'm interested in (but a keyboard APP, not a physical keyboard), along with the OTHER keys that HK has & that no other keyboard APP does have (at least not in my searches). I'll investigate if it's even possible for me to install "Android studio" on my android tablet (because it's NOT rooted, I've tried everything, but no success). As for the reasons given in the Quora article, those are irrelevant. Keyboard layouts should not be included (or rejected) because 1 of them (by means of the qwerty loving & ABCDE hating Gboard) has been FORCED onto most android devices, & in the SYSTEM partition no less, so that you need to be rooted to uninstall it.

I'm lucky that a long time ago, I found an ABCDE keyboard app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.inputmethod.alphabetical), & since then, using it has become as easy as it gets (whereas the few times that I need to use a PHYSICAL keyboard, you could time me with a calendar). Like I said in my first post, I DON'T have dyslexia or any other condition, but ergonomics/usability mean everything to me.

Finally, I know that HK is basically an abandoned app, so I knew that my request was a long shot, & that it might not even get any replies, so thanks for what information you've offered me.

[KevinBlue28]

Android Studio is not officially supported directly on Android OS supported devices so you would need a computer. You don't actually need a rooted device to test and deploy an Android keyboard or other app by enabling Developer Options. You can do that by opening Settings, scrolling down until you see About tablet then tap it, then tap Software information, and afterwards tapping Build number seven times. Did you check the link to the article from Android Authority in the previous comment about building a custom keyboard? It tells you how to build a keyboard. There is also a link to an article about installing Android Studio. You can also read the Android Developer User Guide for more help.

[KevinBlue28]

Android Studio is not officially supported directly on Android OS supported devices so you would need a computer. You don't actually need a rooted device to test and deploy an Android keyboard or other app by enabling Developer Options. You can do that by opening Settings, scrolling down until you see About tablet then tap it, then tap Software information, and afterwards tapping Build number seven times. Did you check the link to the article from Android Authority? It tells you how to build a keyboard. You can also read the Android Developer User Guide for more help.

Sidenote: You can make any word or phrase a link instead of pasting the link itself by surrounding it with this Markdown code []() . Then putting the words in brackets and links in the parentheses (no space between the the closing bracket and opening parenthesis). Just a friendly tip.

[Spike-from-NH]

Shutt, while one of the reasons for QWERTY is now obsolete (make it hard for physical hammers to jam together), another is still relevant (put the most often used letters in the home row and in the center). Your desire that the keys be in alpha order is not the only usability criterion nor necessarily the best. The brain can adapt to any placement. But it adapts less easily when things keep jumping around. So while my vintage computers remain QWERTY, I am not interested in others going to ABCDEF. (I've gone to great lengths to force CTRL above SHIFT on all of them, likewise to minimize time lost to groping.) It is more important to standardize than the particular choice of standard.