TT9 is an IME (Input Method Editor) for Android devices with hardware keypad. It supports multiple languages and predictive text typing. NOTE: TT9 is not usable on touchscreen-only devices.
All source code, documentation and the privacy policy are available on Github: https://github.com/sspanak/tt9.
After installing, in order to use Traditional T9, you need to enable it as an Android keyboard. To do so, click on the launcher icon. If you need to take any action, you will see the Initial Setup screen, where you will be prompted to enable TT9 and set it as default system keyboard.
If you don't see the icon right after installing, restart your phone and it should appear. Android is trying to save some battery life by not refreshing the newly installed apps list in some cases.
With the default settings, it is only possible to type in 123 and ABC modes. In order to enable the Predictive mode, there are additional steps:
- Open the Settings screen.
- Select the desired languages.
- Load the dictionaries.
If you don't do the above, there will be no suggestions when typing in Predictive mode.
Once a dictionary is loaded, it will stay there until you use one of the "clear" options. This means you can enable and disable languages without reloading their dictionaries every time. Just do it once, only the first time.
It also means that if you need to start using language X, you can safely disable all other languages, load only dictionary X (and save time!), then re-enable all languages you used before.
Have in mind reloading a dictionary will reset the suggestion popularity to the factory defaults (your custom added words will not be affected). However, there should be nothing to worry about. For the most part, you will see little to no difference in the suggestion order, unless you oftenly use uncommon words.
If you have stopped using languages X or Y, you could disable them and also use "Clear Unselected", to delete their dictionaries and free some memory.
To delete everything, regardless of the selection, use "Clear All".
In all cases, clearing a dictionary deletes both all factory and all custom added words.
Select previous word/letter suggestion.
Select next word/letter suggestion.
Predictive mode only.
- Single press: Filter the suggestion list, leaving out only the ones that start with the current word. It doesn't matter if it is a complete word or not. For example, type "rewin" and press Right. It will leave out all words starting with "rewin": "rewin" itself, "rewind", "rewinds", "rewinded", "rewinding", and so on.
- Double press: Expand the filter to the full suggestion. For example, type "rewin" and press Right twice. It will first filter by "rewin", then expand the filter to "rewind". You can keep expanding the filter with Right, until you get to the longest suggestion in the list.
Filtering can also be used to type unknown words. Let's say you want to type "Anakin", which is not in the dictionary. Start with "A", then press Right to hide "B" and "C". Now press 6-key. Since the filter is on, in addition to the real dictionary words, it will provide all possible combinations for 6: "Am", "An", "Ao". Select "An" and press Right to confirm your selection. Now pressing 2-key, will provide "Ana", "Anb", "Anc". You can keep going, until you complete "Anakin".
When filtering is enabled, the base text will become bold and italicized.
Predictive mode only.
- Clear the suggestion filter, if applied.
- When no filter is applied, accept the current word as-is, even if it does not fully match a suggestion, then jump before it.
- When suggestions are displayed, types the currently selected suggestion.
- Otherwise, performs the default action for the current application (e.g. send a message, go to a URL, or just type a new line).
NB: Every application decides on its own what to do when OK is pressed and TT9 has no control over this.
NB2: In messaging applications, you need to enable their "Send with ENTER" or similarly named setting, in order to send messages with OK. If the application has no such setting, it usually means it disallows sending messages this way.
- In 123 mode:
- Press: type "0".
- Hold: type "+".
- In ABC mode:
- Press: type space, newline or special/math characters.
- Hold: type "0".
- In Predictive mode:
- Press: type space, newline or special/math characters.
- Double Press: type the character assigned in Predictive mode settings. (Default: ".")
- Hold: type "0".
- In 123 mode: type the respective number.
- In ABC and Predictive mode: type a letter/punctuation character or hold to type the respective number.
Add a new word to the dictionary for the current language.
Just deletes text.
NB: Using "Back" as backspace does not work in all applications, most notably Firefox and Spotify. They are able to take full control of the key and redefine its function, meaning it will do whatever the app authors intended. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, because "Back" plays a special role in Android and its usage is restricted by the system.
NB 2: Holding "Back" key will always trigger the default system action (i.e. show running applications list).
In these cases, you could assign another key (all other keys are fully usable), or use the on-screen backspace.
- Press when there are no suggestions: Cycle the input modes (abc → ABC → Predictive → 123). Note that only 123 mode is available in numeric fields and Predictive mode is not available in password fields.
- Press while suggestions are on: Toggle the suggestions between UPPERCASE and lowercase.
- Number-only fields: No special action. Type a "#" with the default key. Changing the mode is not possible in such fields.
Select the next language, when mulitple languages have been enabled from the Settings.
Open the Configration screen.
All functionality is available using the keypad, but for convenience, on touchscreen phones, you could also use the on-screen keys. If you instead prefer to have more screen space, disable them from the Settings.
Open the Settings screen.
Backspace.
On the Settings screen, you can choose languages for typing, configure the keypad hotkeys or change the application appearance.
Click on the Traditional T9 launcher icon.
- Start typing in a text field to wake up TT9.
- Use the on-screen gear button or press the assigned hotkey [Default: Hold ✱].
- Go to Android Settings → System → Languages → Keyboards (or On-Screen Keyboards/Virtual Keyboards). This is where all installed keyboards are configured.
- Select "Traditional T9".
The actual menu names may vary depending on your phone, Android version and language.