Bug 371810

Summary: Qt Virtual Keyboard should be smart about where it opens
Product: [Plasma] kwin Reporter: flyos
Component: virtual-keyboardAssignee: KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED LATER    
Severity: wishlist CC: flyos, kde, mail
Priority: NOR Flags: mgraesslin: Wayland+
Version: 5.8.2   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: openSUSE   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description flyos 2016-10-29 06:40:58 UTC
Qt Virtual Keyboard is not sizable (or at least, discovery for it to be resized can be improved, because I failed to find it) and defaults to be placed at the bottom of the screen (and cover half of it).

This leads to difficult situations where the keyboard is hiding what is being typed, but also crucial output after typing.

An example: a default openSUSE session (oS defaults to the "classical" menu plasmoid instead of Kickoff), with Qt Virtual Keyboard activated. When clicking on the K launcher, the focus is automatically given to the search field. The consequence of this is that the virtual keyboard appears on the screen hiding most of the menu. The result is that the user can't see what is being typed and the search results. 

I did not test further, but I expect this kind of experience to be common with the virtual keyboard activated.

A possible (?) solution would be to make the keyboard aware of where the focus is, so that e.g. it appears on the top when the focus is at the bottom of screen and vice-versa. Also, for this to work, the keyboard should not cover more than 50% of the screen.
Comment 1 Martin Flöser 2016-10-29 13:17:46 UTC
Yes, fully agree that there is more work needed. It was not a priority as it's currently Wayland only and requires Qt 5.7.

A few things which should be done include:
 * ensure the window one is typing in is visible
 * inform the window about overlapping areas
 * improved sizing (on my system it's way too big, while on phone way too small)
 * improved styling 

All of that is doable, it just needs a little bit of hacking here and there.
Comment 2 Aitor 2021-03-16 22:49:47 UTC
Virtual keyboard seems to have gone through serious refactor during latest releases. Should this be closed?
Comment 3 David Edmundson 2021-03-16 23:44:36 UTC
>Should this be closed?

Yes.

Virtual keyboard whilst not perfect works as well as intended in the current state