Language does not switch on the phone keypad. Switching the keyboard in Android and installing an alternative

Today I will start a series of articles on the topic "Learning Android". Articles will be intended for novice users for whom Android is still a curiosity. Therefore, I ask advanced gurus not to be ironic in the comments, but rather share their experience. And I will ask novice users to unsubscribe in the comments if articles of this type are needed on the site.

So, let's begin. Today, as you already understood, we will talk about the keyboard in Android. For some users, the stock keyboard ceases to suit very quickly, especially since in the market you can find a keyboard for almost every taste. And so we downloaded the keyboard, it was installed on the phone or tablet, but the next time we enter text, we again see the old keyboard.

What to do? Everything is very simple. To get started, go to the settings menu, and find the item "Language and keyboard" there. By opening it, we can see a list of keyboards installed on our device. Yes, there may be several - two, three or more. We make sure that the keyboards we need are selected. If not, tick them off. If necessary, go to the settings of our new keyboard and set the parameters we need.

Now we need to switch to the keyboard we need. It's very simple. In the text input field ( address bar browser or message text Email), press the screen and hold your finger (the so-called "long tap"). A drop-down menu will appear on the screen. Select "Input Method" in it, and then in the list that appears, mark the desired keyboard.

Everything. In the future, all text will be entered using the new keyboard.

Everything is quite simple, isn't it? Now let's consider this situation: you have connected an external USB keyboard, and it worked with your tablet, but the joy was short-lived - you can't switch to another language other than the default language.

What's the matter? Again, everything is simple. There are two options here.

The first is that the Android keyboard or other on-screen keyboard you have installed does not support working with external keyboards. Therefore, you need to install a keyboard that supports the hardware keyboard. For example, Smart KeyboardPro or Russian Keyboard, which you can download from the Market.

The second one is in your settings. on-screen keyboard you just need to find and enable the ability to work with a hardware keyboard. There you can also find a combination of keys that switch input languages. For example, for Smart KeyboardPro, this is Shift + space.

That's it, now you can enjoy working on a "real", external keyboard.

The issues of upgrading the smartphone operating system are of concern not only for beginners, but also experienced users Androids trying to customize the device for themselves. It includes flashing, installing side applications, and much more. Everyone pays attention only to visual changes, ignoring the built-in keyboard.

You may not practice appearance main menu, performance and various effects of the phone, but any user needs the keyboard. With its help, you can communicate, search for important information on the Internet and create the necessary notes in a notebook, which greatly simplifies life.

This article will show you how to change the keyboard and customize it in your own way.

How to change the "native" settings for yourself

You may not need to install a new application if you are only interested in the nuances of how it works. Some, for example, are very annoyed by the automatic correction of words (“T9” function). In order to fix this minor problem, it is not necessary to run to Google Play for a new application. You can rummage through the settings of the old one.

First, go to your phone settings. Next, find the item called "Language" and click on the gear symbol next to the selected option. An extensive list of all kinds of options will open, which will allow you to customize everything for yourself and change the application settings.

Change input language and type. Depending on the firmware, 300 languages or only 3 can be available. The most common options are English and Russian with a QWERTY layout (computer view).
Word prediction. At this point, you can set automatic correction and prediction, which will greatly simplify the use of the application.
Automatic punctuation. Set this item if you forget about periods at the end of a sentence: just put two spaces in a row.
Touch responses. In this menu, you can set the sound effects and vibration when pressing the keys. It's on by default, but it's up to anyone who likes it.

If the setting did not help, start searching for the application.

Popular free installation options

To get started, you will need access to the Internet. It is recommended to connect to the nearest Wi-Fi in order for the app to load faster.
Launch Google Play ( Play market- in older Android models), installed by default on any version of the operating system.
To gain access, get a new account or sign in to an existing one. Do not be afraid of lengthy operations: registration in the system takes no more than 5 minutes.
Go to the search field at the very top of the screen and enter a keyword there.
Choose the option you like best from those offered. It is recommended to download one of the very first apps on the list.

Now that everything is installed, you need to make sure that it will function by default. To do this, go to the same settings. The list of downloaded keyboards will show off just installed application, check the box next to it. In this case, you can also change the settings according to the instructions in the previous section.

The best Android app: how to make a practical choice

If you don't want to pick a random app from the list, check out our custom Android keyboard hit parade. The top five are as follows:

GO Keyboard.
Ginger.
SlideIT.
touchpal.
Flexy.

There is a huge range of various applications on the Internet, customized for any needs of users. The above guide will help you choose and install the best option, thanks to which you will feel comfortable typing texts even on the smallest screen. Good luck with your work, experiment with pleasure!

Each smartphone manufacturer tries to embed its own virtual keyboard. But it does not always meet the requirements of the user. In this case operating system Android allows you to replace the keyboard by downloading any other. But not all smartphone owners understand how to change the keyboard on Android. If you are also asking this question, then today's material is written just for you!

How are keyboards distributed?

Any virtual keyboard for a tablet or smartphone is a regular application. If the manufacturer has installed its own keyboard, then it is impossible to remove it without special tricks. But that doesn't mean you can't change the keyboard that's shown by default every time you type.

Third-party keyboards are distributed through the well-known Google Play online store. From each other, they can differ in the location of the keys (layout), the ability to stick to the edges of the screen, a set of stickers and emoticons, support for themes, and many other features. You can read more about this in our selection.

When installing a new keyboard to activate it, most often you do not need to go to " Settings", following our instructions. It is enough to agree with the offer at the first start by answering it by pressing the button " Yes". Or the utility itself will transfer you to the desired settings window, where you only need to activate the switch on the installed keyboard.

Changing the virtual keyboard

You can easily select a different keyboard on your phone. To do this, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Proceed to the section " Settings».

Step 2. Select " Language and Input».

Step 3. Here you should select the item " Current keyboard". It can be located in a subsection or tab " Keyboard and input methods».

Step 4. Here put a circle near the item " Russian", then press the button" Select layout».

Step 5. You will be taken to the section described above. Here you need to activate the virtual keyboard that you want to use. Here you can also enable voice and some other unusual input methods.

Step 6. Activate the keyboard for the English layout in the same way.

That's all. Installing a keyboard on Android is very simple - just download it from Google Play. There is nothing complicated in activating it - now you know how to do it.

Some users standard android keyboards stops working for some reason. Moreover, we are not talking about the quality or inefficiency of the built-in keyboard, just the taste and color, as you know, all felt-tip pens are different. One of the most popular Android keyboards is the Go Keyboard. Consider how to connect it on the example of Android 4.1. As an experimental device, we will have the Galaxy Nexus.

When we have a text field, we can choose which input method to use. Our device had English and Russian QWERTY keyboards, in addition, it was possible to voice input. In order to select one or another input method, press and hold your finger on the input field. A window like this should appear:

these are standard keyboards. We also need to put third party application Go Keyboard. To do this, we need to download this application, which we will do:

After we have downloaded and installed the keyboard, we need to activate. To do this, go to settings, "Language and keyboard" and select Go Keyboard. Put a tick in the right place:

and then choose our new keyboard as main:

I hope our readers understand that when the following dialog box appears, you must click "OK": the Go Keyboard application is absolutely safe:

As a result, when entering text, we will be shown the "native" keyboard, and the Go Keyboard installed by us. All this beauty will look like this:

You can also use multiple keyboards. This is especially convenient when you often have to enter a lot of information: for one dialog boxes it is better to use a keyboard "sharpened" for the Latin alphabet, for others - a keyboard that is convenient for typing characters. To be able to switch keyboards, the required keyboards must be activated by ticks in the corresponding menu (Menu - "Language and Keyboard").

When you need to start entering information, press and hold on the input field. A window will appear where we select our keyboard as "input method".

I hope everything works out for you. Changing the keyboard is not the most difficult task. At any time, you can remove a keyboard that does not meet your needs, as well as install a new keyboard (this can be useful if the phone's firmware language does not match the language that you have to constantly work with).