Installing the HTC IME keyboard under a non-HTC Androïd phone

Presently I’m using an Acer Liquid Metal as my phone. This Androïd phone is running under Androïd 2.2 ( Froyo ), and they keyboard is pretty the stock Androïd keyboard. However my first smartphone was the HTC Legend, and this phone was using the awesome HTC IME keyboard : IMHO the best Androïd keyboard. So I decide to install the HTC IME in my Acer Liquid Metal. I will be using the Androïd SDK and the adb command to install the keyboard, so please read before my previous tutorial explaining how to install applications in an Androïd from a computer runnning Linux : Installing applications to your Androïd phone from your computer using Mandriva.

Download the HTC IME

First you need to download the HTC IME packages on the XDA developpers forum : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416.

You will have to choose the right version :

• If you have Androïd 2.2 or 2.3, and have at least a resolution of 800×480 or a screen of at least 3.6 », then download the High resolution version (Froyo/2.2)
• If you have a pre-Androïd 2.2 version ( version < 2.2 ) and a high resolution screen, then download just the High resolution version
• For people having a small screen, download the Low resolution version for Android 1.6 and up

Once you download the right archive, extract its content in the /tmp/HTC_ime directory. For someone using the High resolution version (Froyo/2.2), this will be : unzip htc_ime_jonasl_hires22_27.zip -d /tmp/HTC_ime.

Install the keyboard

Now if you have a file manager installed in your Androïd phone like Astro File Manager, you can just copy the .apk file to your phone SDcard, and then use Astro  to install them. Here I will explain how to do it using the Androïd SDK.

• if you are not using the Sense UI ( so not using an HTC phone ), you are advised to install the Clicker UI apk file :  adb install -r /tmp/HTC_ime/Clicker_hi.apk
• to install the HTC IME keyboard, just install the HTC_IME apk file : adb install -r /tmp/HTC_ime/HTC_IME_hi22.apk

Enable the keyboard

• Enable the keyboard : Settings -> Language & keyboard and select HTC_IME mod
• Click on HTC_IME mod/HTC_IME mod settings to configure the keyboard. Here you will be able to select the keyboard layout, the keyboard language for the dictionary ( French, English, … ), the keyboard text input, etc ….
  • Text Input : you may want to activate the spell checking and the prediction feature. Theses settings can be activated individually for each keyboard ( QWERTY, Hardware QWERTY for physical keyboards, phone & QWERTY compact ). Don’t hesitate to calibrate the keyboard for you, especially if you have big fingers and tend to select the wrong keypads
  • Mods by jonasl@xda -> Language selection : just enable the languages that you are going to really use : this will help speeding up the keyboard and lower its memory footprint
• If you did notice that some of your settings are not applied, you can reboot your phone, or make the keyboard commit suicide : Settings -> Language & keyboard -> HTC_IME mod -> Tools -> Kill keyboard
• To switch to the HTC IME keyboard, just go to a text entry field ( for example try writing a SMS ), and then do a long press in the field -> Input mode -> [x] HTC_IME mod

Happy HTC keyboard usage

References :

• HTC_IME keyboard topic on xda forum : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416
• Tutorial to install the HTC IME keyboard in french : http://www.android-pour-les-nuls.fr/tutoriaux/utillisation/659-tuto-installer-le-clavier-htc-votre-smartphone