MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

8833 · 08-10-2025, 07:25 AM

Hello, unfortunately the Nxtpaper 11 doesn't handle combining unicode sequences correctly. Long shot but would anyone be willing to test it on Nxtpaper 11 plus or Nxtpaper 14?

The sources, and apk are here: https://github.com/intxgo/colemak/tree/master/Android

I'm touch-typing on colemak layout, however I have a customized version to handle Polish and other languages comfortably. It's impractical to try to map the vast number of accented letters so for less frequently used languages I'm fine with 2 steps process of typing a dead key for the accent, follow with the plain letter and let the OS combine them into one character with accent instead of switching between many layouts. For example to type ç I type AltGr+, (right alt + comma) which produces only highlighted ¸ accent then I type c and the OS combines them in place into ç. I gave this example as the position of C and comma keys are the same on colemak and qwerty, other dead accent keys on my layout works the same way.

I've tested the apk on Samsung and Huaweii android devices, it works. On Nxtpaper 11 typing AltGr+, produces the highlighted accent on screen but when I follow with c it just replaces the accent placeholder with plain c without combining both unicode points.

It's disappointing. For years, I lived in unaware that it's possible to add hardware keyboard layout to Android OS without rooting via KMC files https://source.android.com/docs/core...cter-map-files The file however have to be bundled in an app, even dummy one with zero code. I just found out about this accidentally and so I immediately jumped into implementation hoping to get much more practical use of my tablet from now on. The original post which inspired me is here https://sites.google.com/site/polishhardwarekbd/ with screenshots explaining how to use it on the OS. Basically when installed the "Polish (€ colemak)" layout (that's my layout) will be available for selection for external hardware keyboard in the system settings.

The keyboard layout only defines which keys produce which code points, but the "magic" of the dead accent keys is handled by the OS entirely. Here's a list of all combining code points https://unicodeplus.com/block/0300 so if the unicode handling is broken in the OS, well my layout is broken. I can use now the tablet with external keyboard for English, Polish, German, which is already a lot, my main use case, but for French and Spanish I need the dead accent keys. I'm just curious it it'd be worth to upgrade to the 11 plus or 14 to get fully functional keyboard as well as better screen ratio.

08-10-2025, 07:25 AM	#28
8833 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 529966 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: Nxtpaper 11	Hello, unfortunately the Nxtpaper 11 doesn't handle combining unicode sequences correctly. Long shot but would anyone be willing to test it on Nxtpaper 11 plus or Nxtpaper 14? The sources, and apk are here: https://github.com/intxgo/colemak/tree/master/Android I'm touch-typing on colemak layout, however I have a customized version to handle Polish and other languages comfortably. It's impractical to try to map the vast number of accented letters so for less frequently used languages I'm fine with 2 steps process of typing a dead key for the accent, follow with the plain letter and let the OS combine them into one character with accent instead of switching between many layouts. For example to type ç I type AltGr+, (right alt + comma) which produces only highlighted ¸ accent then I type c and the OS combines them in place into ç. I gave this example as the position of C and comma keys are the same on colemak and qwerty, other dead accent keys on my layout works the same way. I've tested the apk on Samsung and Huaweii android devices, it works. On Nxtpaper 11 typing AltGr+, produces the highlighted accent on screen but when I follow with c it just replaces the accent placeholder with plain c without combining both unicode points. It's disappointing. For years, I lived in unaware that it's possible to add hardware keyboard layout to Android OS without rooting via KMC files https://source.android.com/docs/core...cter-map-files The file however have to be bundled in an app, even dummy one with zero code. I just found out about this accidentally and so I immediately jumped into implementation hoping to get much more practical use of my tablet from now on. The original post which inspired me is here https://sites.google.com/site/polishhardwarekbd/ with screenshots explaining how to use it on the OS. Basically when installed the "Polish (€ colemak)" layout (that's my layout) will be available for selection for external hardware keyboard in the system settings. The keyboard layout only defines which keys produce which code points, but the "magic" of the dead accent keys is handled by the OS entirely. Here's a list of all combining code points https://unicodeplus.com/block/0300 so if the unicode handling is broken in the OS, well my layout is broken. I can use now the tablet with external keyboard for English, Polish, German, which is already a lot, my main use case, but for French and Spanish I need the dead accent keys. I'm just curious it it'd be worth to upgrade to the 11 plus or 14 to get fully functional keyboard as well as better screen ratio.