Monday 11 August 2014

New API

Latest InputStick API is now available here.

Previous API-related posts:

What's new in latest release of InputStickUtility (GooglePlay update will be available within next few hours):
  • Firmware upgrade to v0.93,
  • Reminds to update firmware, if new version is available.

Most important new features introduced in latest version of InputStick API:
  • fixed buffer-related problems (slow typing speed, missing characters), which could occur under some conditions,
  • supports new features introduced in latest firmware (v0.93),
  • OnEmptyBufferListener,
  • it is now possible to get error code and message,
  • Dialog, which will ask user to download InputStickUtility, if it is not installed,
  • available keyboard layouts: Dvorak (en-DV), English (en-US), German (de-DE), Polish (pl-PL), Portuguese (Brazilian) (pt-BR), Russian (ru-RU), Slovak (sk-SK),
  • new demo: TypeTextFile.

Although all API and firmware versions should be compatible with each other, it is recommended to upgrade to the latest available versions.

MainActivity of TypeTextFile  demo app, which shows most of new API features.

6 comments:

  1. The new developments are very nice, but I still have a slight problem (ok, not slight at all): if I try using the system keyboard (which, since it's the Hacker's keyboard, does have "arrows") the directional "arrow" keys switch between the "tabs" of the app itself, instead of being transmitted to the remote. Obviously, this is sort of important trying to navigate a menu on the remote side, like on a media player. The custom keyboard of the app does work, of course. Would this be fixable, please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as "tabs" are visible it looks like there is no reliable method to prevent arrow keys from switching between tabs. So, tabs must be hidden when keyboard is used what can be achieved by:
      1) using existing Full-screen mode. I'll add option to display mouse pad in upper half of the screen (similar to custom keyboard version).
      2) I can add hide/show tabs toggle button. This can be improved by automatically hiding tabs when this (keyboard) tab is selected and automatically showing tabs again as soon as keyboard is hidden by user.

      Delete
  2. I like the password option, but it would be nice to be able to not store the password in plain text when first setting the password.

    Currently, when you have a non-protected inputstick, when you set the password, it defaults to saving the password in the app in plain text. I have to then clear the app password and set it again to get the option to store it in non-plain text.

    Alternatively, it would be nice to simply have an option of converting the plain-text to non-plain-text (one-way, of course).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for pointing this out. I'll add "Store plain text?" check-boxes in other dialog screens in next app release.

      Delete
  3. Function Keys and/or Delete key (for BIOS acces for example) are available on Android Interface?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes
      1) if you are using "USB Remote" app, you need to use "<" and ">" buttons in top-most key row until you'll find keys that you need (Del and F1 - F12 are there).
      2) if you develop your own app, you'll need something like this:
      InputStickKeyboard.pressAndRelease(HIDKeycodes.NONE, HIDKeycodes.KEY_F1);

      One more thing: it takes a few seconds (usually 1-2, but sometimes it may take a bit longer) before your Android device will establish Bluetooth connection with InputStick. It may happen that OS will start to boot before you can send any key to your PC, this will depend on your motherboard/BIOS/BIOS settings. Please take this into account.

      Delete