1 page.title=Wear Input Method Framework 2 meta.tags="wear", "wear-preview", "input-method", "ime" 3 page.tags="wear" 4 5 @jd:body 6 7 8 <div id="qv-wrapper"> 9 <div id="qv"> 10 11 <h2>In this document</h2> 12 <ol> 13 <li><a href="#creating">Creating an Input Method for Wear</a></li> 14 <li><a href="#invoking">Invoking IME</a></li> 15 <li><a href="#considerations">General IME Considerations</a></li> 16 </ol> 17 18 </div> 19 </div> 20 21 22 <p>Wear 2.0 supports input methods beyond voice by extending the Android 23 Input Method Framework (IMF) to Android Wear. IMF allows for virtual, on-screen 24 keyboards and other input methods to be used for text entry. The IMF APIs used 25 for Wear devices are the same as other form factors, though usage is slightly 26 different due to limited screen real estate.</p> 27 28 <p>Wear 2.0 comes with the system default Input Method Editor (IME) 29 and opens up the IMF APIs for third-party developers to create custom input 30 methods for Wear.</p> 31 32 <p><img src="{@docRoot}wear/preview/images/new_input_methods.png"></p> 33 <p><b>Figure 1</b>. Sample input methods </p> 34 35 <h2 id="creating">Creating an Input Method for Wear</h2> 36 <p>The Android platform provides a standard framework for creating IMEs. To create 37 a Wear-specific IME, you need to optimize your IME for limited screen size. 38 </p> 39 40 <p>This document provides guidance that can help you create a Wear-specific IME. 41 Before you continue with this guide, it's important that you read the 42 documentation for 43 <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/text/creating-input-method.html">Creating an Input Method</a> 44 on handsets. 45 </p> 46 47 48 <h2 id="invoking">Invoking an Input Method</h2> 49 If you are developing an IME for Wear, remember that the 50 feature is supported only on Android 6.0 (API level 23) and higher versions of 51 the platform. 52 To ensure that your IME can only be installed on Wearables that support input 53 methods beyond voice, add the following to your app's manifest: 54 <pre> 55 <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="23" /> 56 </pre> 57 This indicates that your app requires Android 6.0 or higher. 58 For more information, see <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html#ApiLevels">API Levels</a> 59 and the documentation for the <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element.html"><uses-sdk></a> 60 element. 61 <p> 62 To control how your app is filtered from devices that do not support Wear 63 IMEs (for example, on Phone), add the following to your app's manifest: 64 </p> 65 <pre> 66 <uses-feature android:required="true" android:name="android.hardware.type.watch" /> 67 </pre> 68 69 <p>Wear provides user settings on the watch that lets the user to enable multiple 70 IMEs from the list of installed IMEs. Once the users enable your IME, they 71 can invoke your IME from:</p> 72 <ul> 73 <li>A notification or an app using the 74 <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/support/v4/app/RemoteInput.html">RemoteInput</a></code> API.</li> 75 <li>Wear apps with an 76 <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/widget/EditText.html">EditText</a> 77 field. Touching a text field places the cursor in the field and automatically 78 displays the IME on focus.</li> 79 </ul> 80 81 82 <h2 id="considerations">General IME Considerations</h2> 83 84 <p>Here are some things to consider when implementing IME for Wear:</p> 85 86 <ul> 87 <li><strong>Set Default Action</strong> 88 <p> 89 <a href="http://developer.android.com/reference/android/support/v4/app/RemoteInput.html">{@code RemoteInput}</a> 90 and Wear apps expect only single-line text entry. The ENTER key should always trigger 91 a call to <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/inputmethodservice/InputMethodService.html#sendDefaultEditorAction(boolean)">sendDefaultEditorAction</a>, 92 which causes the app to dismiss the keyboard and continue on to the next step 93 or action.</p> 94 </li> 95 96 <li><Strong>Use full-screen-mode IME</strong> 97 <p> 98 Input methods on Wear consume most of the screen, leaving very little of the 99 app visible; using full-screen mode ensures an optimal user experience regardless 100 of the app UI. In full-screen mode, an 101 <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/view/inputmethod/ExtractedText.html">{@code ExtractEditText}</a> provides a mirrored 102 view of the text field being edited and can be styled to blend with the rest of 103 the input method UI. For more details on full-screen mode, see 104 <a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/inputmethodservice/InputMethodService.html">InputMethodService</a>. 105 </p> 106 </li> 107 108 <li><strong>Handle InputType flags</strong> 109 <p> 110 For privacy reasons, at a minimum you should handle the {@code InputType} 111 flag {@code TYPE_TEXT_VARIATION_PASSWORD} in your IME. When your IME is in 112 password mode, make sure that your keyboard is optimized for single key press 113 (auto spelling correction, auto completion and gesture input are disabled). 114 Most importantly, keyboard in password mode should support ASCII symbols 115 regardless of the input language. For more details, see 116 <a href="{@docRoot}training/keyboard-input/style.html">Specifying The Input Method Type</a>. 117 </p> 118 </li> 119 120 <li><strong>Provide a key for switching to the next input method</strong> 121 <p> 122 Android allows users to easily switch between all IMEs supported by the platform. 123 In your IME implementation, set the boolean 124 <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/text/creating-input-method.html#Switching">supportsSwitchingToNextInputMethod = true</a> 125 to enable your IME to support the switching mechanism 126 (so that apps can switch to the next platform-supported IME). 127 </p> 128 </li> 129 </ul> 130 131 132 133 134
