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I have been using ConnectBot to connect to shell sessions on Linux machines from my Android phone. What amazes me is how easy it is to use the Vim editor using the virtual keyboard, because the Vi/Vim command mode puts so many useful actions at your fingertips. It is so much easier to edit text that I would like to be able to do it in the same way everywhere in the Android UI.

That is to say, I don't want a Vi editor on the phone, but in the UI itself.

Is something like this available somewhere? What would it take to develop it? What places in Android must be modified? Is there some easy plugin framework where you just fill in some functions and you provide a new text editing method?

ale
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Anon
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  • This rather looks like a development question? – Izzy Jan 07 '13 at 22:09
  • Is development off topic? I don't want to develop anything, if I can just install it. But I have not been able to find anything. – Anon Jan 07 '13 at 22:11
  • Yepp, development questions are off-topic here (see the [FAQ]). And I don't know any other way to get it "into the UI", whatever you mean by that (maybe you edit your question above to make that a bit clearer). – Izzy Jan 07 '13 at 22:41
  • vi/vim is a text editor, it's not specifically a development tool. The main part of this question is not a development question. – Lie Ryan Jan 07 '13 at 22:46

2 Answers2

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Is something like this available somewhere?

Not at the moment, although there are a couple vim-style text editor:

however these are currently implemented as an application, not as an IME.

What would it take to develop it? What places in Android must be modified? Is there some easy plugin framework where you just fill in some functions and you provide a new text editing method?

Android provides the framework for creating custom keyboard (officially known as IME). Anyone that is interested in creating a vim-style IME for Android should check out Creating Input Method.

Lie Ryan
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  • Thanks for your answer. I see from the Creating Input Method page that an input method doesn't just supply characters. It has access to the text field. So it seems that Vim-like editing is at least doable in principle. – Anon Jan 08 '13 at 00:29
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I hope the Hacker's keyboard will help. Don't forget to switch to normal keyboard for passwords or keys.

bmdixon
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Mohamad Ivan Fanany
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