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I was trying to create a note on my tablet (Samsung S6) using an external keyboard and found that other than cut/paste and a few system-wide commands, the usual Evernote shortcuts don't seem to work. What I tried was to insert the full date/time. I'm used to Alt-Shift-D doing this but that doesn't do anything here. I tried searching the forum for a list of shortcut keys but that came up empty. Is there a list somewhere?

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Hi, @Salvor, and welcome to the forums. As @jefito says, the Evernote Android app has to work within the constraints of the Android operating system, and doesn't offer all of the keyboard shortcuts that the Windows desktop program does. (The same is actually true of the Evernote Web client under Windows, since it has to interact through a browser.) I've actually been pleased with all the functionality that a Bluetooth keyboard does add to the app, including a limited set of keyboard shortcuts. My BT KB has a touchpad, giving me mouse functions for clicking menus, selecting text, etc. Sorry, this probably isn't telling you anything you don't already know. We just have to work with what we get, which is different in different environments.

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5 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Hi, @Salvor, and welcome to the forums. As @jefito says, the Evernote Android app has to work within the constraints of the Android operating system, and doesn't offer all of the keyboard shortcuts that the Windows desktop program does. (The same is actually true of the Evernote Web client under Windows, since it has to interact through a browser.) I've actually been pleased with all the functionality that a Bluetooth keyboard does add to the app, including a limited set of keyboard shortcuts. My BT KB has a touchpad, giving me mouse functions for clicking menus, selecting text, etc. Sorry, this probably isn't telling you anything you don't already know. We just have to work with what we get, which is different in different environments.

It's fairly trivial to add keyboard shortcuts to android apps, just as it is to add them to windows apps or to web apps. I think the problem is that Evernote just hasn't done so. Maybe they will at some stage - it would certainly improve the web app immensely.

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1 minute ago, ehrt74 said:

It's fairly trivial to add keyboard shortcuts to android apps, just as it is to add them to windows apps or to web apps. I think the problem is that Evernote just hasn't done so. Maybe they will at some stage - it would certainly improve the web app immensely.

Hmm. Maybe it depends on expectations about what kinds of Android devices and keyboards people will be using. On my phone, the onscreen keyboards don't offer Ctrl or Alt keys, so I'm not sure what shortcuts would be possible, without intercepting keystrokes that are meant to insert characters. Can you elaborate?

(WRT the Web client, see https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/123199-keyboard-shortcuts-for-web-client/ and https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/123773-keyboard-shortcut-broken-with-caps-lock/.)

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14 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Hmm. Maybe it depends on expectations about what kinds of Android devices and keyboards people will be using. On my phone, the onscreen keyboards don't offer Ctrl or Alt keys, so I'm not sure what shortcuts would be possible, without intercepting keystrokes that are meant to insert characters. Can you elaborate?

(WRT the Web client, see https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/123199-keyboard-shortcuts-for-web-client/ and https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/123773-keyboard-shortcut-broken-with-caps-lock/.)

Yeah, i think you're right that Android is mostly thought of as an operating system for phones. However, Android apps can now be installed on Chromebooks and you can always attach a bluetooth keyboard to your android device anyway. But most people won't, so most people won't be affected by missing keyboard shortcuts. Personally i don't regard this as being that important. I use a Blackberry Key2 as my daily phone (running Android 8 ) and although it has a physical keyboard (with 2 physical meta keys: shift and alt), the screen is just way too small to spend too much time formatting notes. If i want to do that, i move to my Chromebook and use the web app.

If you want to, you can of course also install a keyboard from the playstore with alt + ctrl + esc + lots of other keys. It's just that most people won't do this, so it doesn't make much sense for Evernote to spend time adding keyboard shortcuts to Android.

Of course Evernote seems to be wanting to move to one code base to rule them all (which requires using a technology which can be compiled to javascript for the web and android byte code and whatever-iOS-uses: desktop platforms are much less picky about the technology you use). Maybe they could add keyboard shortcuts to this shared code base and then all platforms would profit from them automatically.

Thanks for the links!

 

Edited by ehrt74
added clarity.
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3 minutes ago, ehrt74 said:

If you want to, you can of course also install a keyboard from the playstore with alt + ctrl + esc + lots of other keys. It's just that most people won't do this, so it doesn't make much sense for Evernote to spend time adding keyboard shortcuts to Android.

Nice tip, thanks. I use a KB with lots of non-English languages; it never occurred to me to look for one with meta keys. It'd be cool to install one and find out what it can do in various apps. Nothing like sharpening your tools to avoid actual work! :D

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16 minutes ago, jefito said:

I'd be happy to move this to the Android request forum, so that other users can vote it up. I'd add a vote, too!

Not sure what's to request. KB shortcuts are only possible with special keyboards (onscreen or Bluetooth), which not many users use, or on Chromebooks. Only guessing, but the majority of Android users are likely on phones with no shortcuts available. IAC, the new editor, when it rolls out, might already include this. But what the hey, it's your nickel. :)

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1 hour ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Not sure what's to request.

The request is exactly as stated. You don't need to be an Android dev or guru to make requests, nor does a request need to be something that's used by a large percentage of the user base. It's just a request; guesses/ information relating to sort of stuff is of course fine for other users to add, but ultimately it's up to Evernote to process and prioritize. And it's up to @Salvor to decide whether they want their post to be turned into something that other users can support via post and/or vote..Which is why I asked.

Not being an Android developer myself, I can't speak from a position of knowledge, but my guess would be that operations on Evernote stuff (make boldface, cut/copy/paste, date insertion, etc.) would need to be somehow exposed so that a user could make the connection between keyboard events and that API. If those operations aren't exposed by Evernote, then it would be up to them to do so. So yes, if my guess is correct, then yes, Evernote might indeed need to do something to make this possible. Again, I'm not an Android developer, so I could be way off (in which case, I'd be happy to be educated).

1 hour ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

But what the hey, it's your nickel. :)

It takes about 5 seconds to do this. It's really just an organizational thing in many cases, though in this case, it's a courtesy to the original poster.

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1 hour ago, jefito said:
3 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

But what the hey, it's your nickel. :)

It takes about 5 seconds to do this. It's really just an organizational thing in many cases, though in this case, it's a courtesy to the original poster.

That's what I'm sayin', $.01/second, isn't that you're going rate? ^_^

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3 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

That's what I'm sayin', $.01/second, isn't that you're going rate? ^_^

Moving stuff around is free. I do upvotes for $1000, if anyone will pay me, that is...

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I'm using the tablet sort of as a spare system in a spare room. With a large monitor it's decent and with a BT mouse and keyboard most things are possible. Just not keyboard shortcuts I guess. I put the date/time into notes perhaps a few times a day and at 16 keystrokes each time that adds up. Why over the span of a few years I might waste as much as 2 or three minutes! Seriously though, it's no big deal. I'm using a Logitech K480 BT keyboard (it has a slot to hold tablets) and since it has the regular Windows keys I thought there might be a way to save all that time by using shortcuts.

Thanks for all the replies.

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Interesting. There appears to be a number of users who would appreciate keyboard shortcuts on the Android app. Though when you think about it, it isn't that surprising. Android is far and away the most used operating system in the world.

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