Capitalizing "i"

[snpaul22]

This keyboard has lots of settings to it and I'm still figuring things out but is there an easy way to get it to auto capitalize the letter i? It's probably silly to most people but it kind of annoys me that i doesn't auto capitalize.

[ska2704]

Not silly at all, and it should happen on its own. A lone "i" is in the English word list's capitals, so autocorrect turns it into "I" when you press space (that was #620, fixed in 0.6.0). If it isn't happening for you, check these:

1. Version. Update to 0.6.4 (released yesterday). It fixes a bug where backspacing over the auto-capitalised "I" once, or the keyboard having learned "i" in lowercase, kept blocking the capital, sometimes for months (commit c9847c4, "a lone i gets its capital back after one stray undo"). If you're on F-Droid, the update can take a few days to show up there.
2. Autocorrect is on.
3. Capitals from the word list is on. It's on by default, but it's an advanced setting, so it only shows when "How many settings to show" is set to Everything. The settings search finds it either way.
4. You're typing with an English language/layout. The capital "I" comes from the English word list.

After updating, if you backspace over the "I" it stays lowercase for the rest of that typing session, but it comes back after that.

[snpaul22]

• I am running 0.6.4. I manage my updates directly from your GitHub releases via Obtainium.
• Autocorrect is turned on.
• Capitals from the word list is on as well as how many settings is set to everything.
• I am using an English language/layout.

I may need you to elaborate a little more on the "after updating" part at the end.

If I still can get it after that, do I need to open an issue?

[ska2704]

Thanks for checking all of those. On the "after updating" part: if you backspace over an "I" the keyboard just capitalized, it treats that as "don't do this" and leaves "i" alone for the rest of what you're typing in that field. It should come back the next time.

Since everything else is set, my best guess is an older undo memory. Two undos of the same correction stop it "for good" (that's the Normal setting of Remember my undos), and that record is kept across updates. Before 0.6.2, clearing text with backspace could log an undo of i → I by accident, and 0.6.4 only stops a single undo from blocking the capital. So if two got recorded earlier, the pair is still blocked, and in the code a blocked pair skips the capital entirely.

To test that:

1. Find Remember my undos (the settings search finds it) and set it to Off. With Off, the keyboard ignores all stored undos.
2. Type i and a space somewhere. If it becomes I, that was it. Note that switching back to Normal brings the old record back into play until it ages out, and "Forget all learned corrections" doesn't clear undone corrections. So for now, leaving it on Off (or trying Light) is the way to keep it.
3. Also check the blacklist (words added with "Never suggest"). If i is on it, the keyboard won't correct to it either.

If it still stays lowercase with undo memory Off and i not on the blacklist, then yes, I'd open an issue. Mention 0.6.4, #620, and that all of the above is set, so the maintainer can look at what's left.

[snpaul22]

There are no words in my blacklist. I did turn off the "Remember my undos" category and that fixed it. Should I leave it off indefinitely or can I turn it back on after a certain period of time?

I appreciate all your help.

[ska2704]

Glad that fixed it!

Leaving it Off is fine. The only trade-off is that the keyboard stops learning from undos: if you backspace over any autocorrection, it'll make the same correction again next time instead of backing off.

If you switch back to Normal, the old i → I record comes back with it. It doesn't wear off while the setting is Off, because Off ignores the record without deleting or updating it. It only fades with age: once the keyboard has saved its stats 180 times without that pair coming up, the record drops from two undos to one. Then Normal lets the capital through again, and after you keep it three times the record is gone. I can't tell you how many days 180 saves is, since it depends on how much you type. One correction to my earlier reply: Light doesn't help here, because a pair that's already at two undos stays blocked under Light too.

So I'd leave it Off for now. Maybe try Normal again in a few weeks and switch back if i stops capitalising. There's also no button to clear just the undo memory ("Forget all learned corrections" skips it). A feature request for one, or for forgiving i → I undos left over from before 0.6.2, might be worth opening.