The keyboard
Children who know some letters can type words that aren't on the board. The keyboard sits in the same place as the board, so switching between them is one tap.
Opening and closing it
Tap the keyboard button in the top bar. To go back to the pictures, tap the same button again (it now shows a grid) or the close key at the bottom left of the keyboard.
Typing
- The word being typed appears in the message bar, so the child sees it grow.
- Space finishes the word.
- Backspace deletes a letter. Hold it to keep deleting.
- Speak says the whole message.
- 123 opens the numbers and marks, including the language's own (¿ ¡ in Spanish, « » in Danish, Russian and Ukrainian, ؟ ، in Arabic). ABC goes back to the letters.
The message bar's Delete and Clear work as on the board.
On a phone, touching a letter shows it larger above the finger, so the child can see which key they're on before lifting. This isn't shown when the board is set to activate on release with a hold time, because the key already darkens while it's held.
Word suggestions
A row above the keys suggests words as the child types. A tap adds the word and a space. Suggestions come from:
- the words on the child's boards,
- what the child has typed before, if Learn from what your child types is on,
- a word list for the language.
They are made on the device; nothing is sent anywhere.
Some families turn suggestions off while a child practises spelling: Settings → Keyboard → Word suggestions.
If Sentence from first letters is on in AI helpers, typing first letters like "iwgp" can offer "I want to go to the park" in a free slot. The child picks it or ignores it.
Letter order
Settings → Keyboard → Layout:
- Standard: the language's usual keyboard.
- ABC order: the letters in alphabetical order, in the same rows, so the keyboard is the same size.
Key size on phones
On a phone, a language with many letters gives narrow keys. Settings → Keyboard → Key size on this phone:
- Automatic (the default) follows the touch settings: if the child needs bigger buttons or taps are shaky, long rows of letters are split in two, keeping the letter order, so every key is at least 40 points wide.
- Standard always keeps the usual rows.
- Larger keys always splits long rows.
When a phone is turned sideways, the keys are already wide, so rows aren't split. Tablets always use the usual rows.
When the phone is turned sideways
If the board is set to landscape on a phone, the keyboard needs the whole height. Stop and help me then move to the end of the suggestion row, in the same place every time. The full phrase row returns when you go back to the board.
Tip: Model typing too. Type a word slowly while you say it, then tap Speak.
Next: Scenes.