EdJanx
New Member
Since my Bionic Jellybean upgrade, I've been loving Google Now and it's awesome voice recognition capability. I wanted to use this as the default voice input method for composing texts and emails, but after hours of tinkering and Googling, I couldn't get any further than selecting it as an alternate input method, and those extra clicks made replying to messages with the better voice recognition capability a pain.
Finally, I realized that the voice recognition capability was actually a limitation of the keyboard itself, so I checked with my daughter's Nexus 7 (w/ JB 4.2) and was very impressed with the new and improved keyboard. Back to Google, where I found that the good folks at XDA Developers [APP][4.0+] [UPDATED] Android 4.2 Keyboard With Gesture Typing - xda-developers had come up with a way to allow folks to install the 4.2 keyboard on a 4.1 or earlier device. Since Bionic is doomed never to officially get to JB 4.2, I figured this was my best path.
Before getting into flashing anything, I decided to check Google Play for a 4.2 keyboard option, and I found Jelly Bean 4.2 Keyboard a https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jellybeankeyboard.f.g&hl=en. I figured that I had nothing to loose to try this first, so I installed, went to Settings --> Language & Input, and changed the Default Keyboard & Input Methods to JellyBean keyboard.
Now I couldn't be happier! Not only do I have the superior voice input capability, but also Gesture Typing, which IMHO is better than the Swype I used for years. The predictive word capabilities are also much improved over the 4.1 keyboard.
Hope this helps others who want to complete their Bionic JellyBean experience!
Janx
Finally, I realized that the voice recognition capability was actually a limitation of the keyboard itself, so I checked with my daughter's Nexus 7 (w/ JB 4.2) and was very impressed with the new and improved keyboard. Back to Google, where I found that the good folks at XDA Developers [APP][4.0+] [UPDATED] Android 4.2 Keyboard With Gesture Typing - xda-developers had come up with a way to allow folks to install the 4.2 keyboard on a 4.1 or earlier device. Since Bionic is doomed never to officially get to JB 4.2, I figured this was my best path.
Before getting into flashing anything, I decided to check Google Play for a 4.2 keyboard option, and I found Jelly Bean 4.2 Keyboard a https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jellybeankeyboard.f.g&hl=en. I figured that I had nothing to loose to try this first, so I installed, went to Settings --> Language & Input, and changed the Default Keyboard & Input Methods to JellyBean keyboard.
Now I couldn't be happier! Not only do I have the superior voice input capability, but also Gesture Typing, which IMHO is better than the Swype I used for years. The predictive word capabilities are also much improved over the 4.1 keyboard.
Hope this helps others who want to complete their Bionic JellyBean experience!
Janx
