# Typing on the Fire



## MINImum (Oct 15, 2009)

I got my Fire a couple weeks ago and I am getting used to how everything works. One thing that is still difficult is typing. I have never made so many typos in my life. In particular I don't seem to be able to hit the spacebar quite right every time. And having typed on an iphone for past several years, I am learning not to compare the typing experience for each device (for example, double clicking the spacebar on the iphone adds a period, space and capitalizes the next letter; I miss that).

But one big issue I have is the punctuation. It seems the Fire adds a space after every punctuation. In some cases it is helpful. But not when using an apostrophe. I have to go back any manually fix every contraction I type and it is a pain.

I suppose I am just venting, not sure if there is a fix for this. But in case there is a way around it, I would appreciate any advice.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

MINImum--

I agree with you that the Fire virtual keyboard is not as easy to use as the iPad's. I make a lot more mistakes with the Fire's than I do with the iPad. And I also have trouble with the spacebar. (One of the reasons I'm using my Logitech keyboard with "easyswitch" so I can use it with both my iPad and Fire easily.)

That being said, I haven't had the problem on my Fire of a space being added after every punctuation.

And true, double-clicking the spacebar on the Fire won't add the period, space and capitalize the next letter, but swiping from the period to the spacebar on the Fire will.

To add an apostrophe on my Fire, I press and hold on the period until the orange block pops up and the release the key. That adds an apostrophe and I don't have a problem with a space after it.

Here's a post I did in a tips thread here where I discussed some of the keyboard tricks:


Betsy the Quilter said:


> There are a lot of shortcuts or special swipes that do things on the keyboard. You can read about them here:
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_201016100_keyboard?nodeId=201016100#keyboard
> 
> A couple of keyboard things of particular interest.
> ...


Hope this helps. I'm going to check to see if there's any kind of setting that would automatically add a space after any punctuation, because, honestly, that's not what I've experienced.

Betsy


----------



## MINImum (Oct 15, 2009)

Betsy,

I'm not sure if it's every punctuation mark, as I haven't actually tried them all. But I just tried your two tricks and they work great! Look at all the contractions I'm using and I haven't had to fix a single one. And sliding from the period to the spacebar is wonderful, though it doesn't capitalize the next letter for me. Thanks so much!

Off to go read more of your tips.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

It may not do it in Forum posts; I tested it in Tapatalk posting here, and it worked, but I didn't test again using the Silk browser.

Betsy


----------



## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

On my phone I can swype from , to the spacebar and from ! to the spacebar to add those characters and a space. Haven't typed too much on my new Fire 2.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

readingril said:


> On my phone I can swype from , to the spacebar and from ! to the spacebar to add those characters and a space. Haven't typed too much on my new Fire 2.


Thanks! This works great! Love getting tips like this.

Betsy


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I believe the HD Fires have a swype type keyboard -- so it could be the extra space is an artifact of accidentally swiping from the punctuation mark to the space as readingril describes. . . . . . I like a bluetooth keyboard as well, if I'm going to be typing extensively, but, on the whole, haven't had a real problem with the screen keyboard.


----------



## Xopher (May 14, 2009)

I was hearing that the HD versions were being an update that included the ability to swipe. Since I started using swiping keyboards, it has cut down on my typos considerably. Plus, it's neat to just drag your finger from letter to letter and have it type out the words for you (a lot less spelling errors that way). 

If the HD versions don't have it yet, hopefully it will be added soon in an update.


----------



## readingril (Oct 29, 2010)

This works on my Fire 2. It installed an update within four hours of turning the device on for the first time!


----------



## CarolineAM (Apr 21, 2011)

A big thanks to Betsy for the link  To think Personally, I I can't stand the fire keyboard. I the 8.9 keyboard is VERY hard to read - - especially the secondary characters as the Keyboard is sooo dark.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Can someone explain how to swype? I tried it on my HD7 and can't seem to get it to work right (I know it's me and not the HD). Do I press or tap the first letter? Then do I just drag to the next letter and hold for a second then on to the next? I see the orange line when I try this, but like when I press on the letter "e", I get a popup with variations on that letter (accented, unaccented, the number 3 etc.). When I slide to the next letter it seems to register several of the letters I've slid over. Yikes!


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Can someone explain how to swype? I tried it on my HD7 and can't seem to get it to work right (I know it's me and not the HD). Do I press or tap the first letter? Then do I just drag to the next letter and hold for a second then on to the next? I see the orange line when I try this, but like when I press on the letter "e", I get a popup with variations on that letter (accented, unaccented, the number 3 etc.). When I slide to the next letter it seems to register several of the letters I've slid over. Yikes!


This explains exactly why I don't really care for the Swype style keyboard.  And makes it hard for me to understand the people who rave about it. I generally just tap each letter. On the 8.9HD, the keyboard is big enough, when in landscape, for me to pretty much touch type. I only slow down for punctuation. The HD7 Keyboard is a bit small for that, but good enough. If I'm going to really be doing _typing_ I use the BT keyboard.

Now, if there was a 'graffiti' input option, I'd be all over that. . . .


----------



## MINImum (Oct 15, 2009)

HappyGuy said:


> Can someone explain how to swype? I tried it on my HD7 and can't seem to get it to work right (I know it's me and not the HD). Do I press or tap the first letter? Then do I just drag to the next letter and hold for a second then on to the next? I see the orange line when I try this, but like when I press on the letter "e", I get a popup with variations on that letter (accented, unaccented, the number 3 etc.). When I slide to the next letter it seems to register several of the letters I've slid over. Yikes!


If you are getting a pop-up for alternate letters or variations, you may be holding your finger on the letter too long. Just touch the letter then move to the next letter, etc.

Then again, obviously I am no expert. I had to experiment a little to see how it worked. It's much faster for me to just type normally.


----------



## Brodys Mom (Nov 8, 2009)

The Swype style keyboard is my favorite new feature on the Fire HD.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Are you swyping from key to key to make your words, Brodys Mom?

Betsy


----------



## Dragle (Dec 10, 2011)

So far I like the Swype thing.  I just slide from key to key and it guesses the word correctly!  I also want to try and memorize some of those shortcuts.

Another keyboard thing I'd like to ask: on the original Fire keyboard, there is a place to tap to minimize the keyboard for when you want it to go away, but I can't find this option on the new HD 8.9.  I can't remember exactly what I was typing into the other day, but I couldn't get rid of the keyboard for the life of me.  I looked on Amazon's keyboard help and it's not mentioned, so hope someone here knows.


----------

