Cannot switch to Chinese language virtual keyboard

rhimbo

By "language support" I mean "support for a particular language." Based on the particular language in question, support would include

One or more virtual keyboards
Input method editor (IME)
Fonts
Other (for example, predictive completion)

For example, the French virtual keyboard contains the same letters as the English keyboard, but they are organized differently (not QWERTY, but AZERTY).

In addition to the basic alphabet for a given language (supported by a suitable keyboard), there are the input method editors (IME). Both English and French keyboards have pop up menus that display extended Latin characters (with accents) in response to a 'long press' of certain keys such as the 'a' or 'e' keys. French requires it; English does not. I'm guessing the English language support includes the accented characters just for typing proper names, but that is just a guess.

Support for Chinese language must include the first 3 items from the list above (#4 is optional but often present). Previously when I used both iOS and Google's OS, I could use various combinations of keyboards, fonts and IMEs. For example, I successfully used the following combinations:

bopomofo (注音符號) keyboard and IME, display of traditional Chinese characters
pinyin keyboard and IME, display of traditional Chinese characters
pinyin keyboard and IME, display of simplified Chinese characters

I hope to be able to configure this capability on Graphene OS. I'll look around for packages as you suggested. It's unclear to me at this point whether I would need to install the components separately:

fonts
IMEs
keyboards

I was just curious how Graphene OS is designed/architected with respect to language support. I know it wasn't the topic of my original post; I was just curious after trying to understand the system menus under "Languages" and "Keyboard".

Thanks for the replies....

stupidcreature

rhimbo fcitx5-android supports both bopomofo and pinyin. Predictive input is necessary to type with either. Also, an IME is usually included with the keyboard. This means that fcitx5-android has #1, #2, and #4. Support for simplified character is included with the CJK font I have sent to you, though, on my device, I didn't need to install any fonts and all characters were supported as is.

rhimbo

de0u No worries...! Thanks anyway for your help...!

rhimbo

stupidcreature
OK, thanks much.
I downloaded fctix5-android. But I'm doing something wrong or missing something. I 'activated' it (or 'enabled' it) on the Settings -> Keyboard -> On-screen keyboard menu. Thereafter it was the default keyboard that appeared (I tried a few different apps). But only an English keyboard was available.
What do I need to do in order to get different keyboards? Must I download fonts such as the noto-CJK fonts you referenced on Github?
I have already enabled the languages under Settings -> Languages -> System Languages

stupidcreature

rhimbo Hello, as you seem to be a Putonghua speaker, it must mean that you want pinyin support. Luckily for you, it is already included in the app, all you need to do is open the fcitx5 app and go to Input Methods, then press the blue plus button and add Pinyin or another variant you like and you should be ok to go.
If you want support for bopomofo, then you need to download the chewing "plugin". Basically, a plugin is a separate .apk file (application) which you need to install, that has the functionality you need. Go to the releases page on the fcitx5-android Github page and download the "org.fcitx.fcitx5.android.plugin.chewing-0.1.0-0-g78c03d12-arm64-v8a-release.apk" file (or if you're using Obtanium, add the link for the app again, but this time, instead of selectiong the usual version of the app, select the chewing plugin). Don't forget to add the bopomofo input method after downloading the plugin, it will not be done automatically.

I hope you have a good journey with GrapheheOS :)

rhimbo

stupidcreature Well, noooo....! I'm not really a fluent speaker... just know enough to get myself into trouble.... ;-)

I mostly know the traditional characters. But I would not mind having the simplified characters installed as well.

I'd like both keyboards: pinyin and bopomofo, the latter just so I can practice so I don't forget the phonetics.
I will try to configure per your suggestions. If I have a problem, I'll write again here.

rhimbo

stupidcreature So does the Pinyin IME support only simplified characters? Can I input traditional characters using the Pinyin keyboard? Or, must I get the bopomofo keyboard and IME? I'm just curious. I am perfectly comfortable typing zhu yin fu hao phonetics...

By the way, I did get the Pinyin working. I only see simplified characters.
Thanks for your guidance...

stupidcreature

rhimbo It is just that for trad. characters people prefer jyutping because unless you're speaking canto (or hokkien? idk guess that is an exception) why would you need trad. characters? Majority of people don't use canto pinyin either. Canto bopomofo isn't a thing anymore either so either you learn jyutping (genuinely not that hard) and try using the jyutping plugin (it is literally called jyutping-plugin) or learn cangjie (good luck).

P.S. there may be some other input method I am not aware of. I have no idea what Shuangpin or Wubi are so maybe try those and see if they work.

tac

rhimbo So does the Pinyin IME support only simplified characters? Can I input traditional characters using the Pinyin keyboard?

It's been a while, not sure you're still looking for an answer. But…

You can actually type traditional characters with the built-in pinyin IME without any plugins, it's just that the way to switch from simplified to traditional is completely obscure: you first have to tap on the > (angle bracket) in the upper-left corner, then on the … (three dots) that appear as one of the options in place of the candidate selection bar, and then, voilà, the toggle has been there all along:

[Here I prepared a screenshot to illustrate it but turns out no images can be uploaded, so I hope the description where to find it is enough.]

rhimbo

stupidcreature Did you mean the pinyin IME is only for simplified characters (not traditional characters)? As I said, not a big deal; I'm just curious as this is a convenience. For example, on macOS one can choose the keyboard and the language independently, for instance pinyin input and traditional characters or pinyin and simplified characters.
I downloaded the apk but I don't know if I installed it correctly. I don't see bopomofo as an option on the Settings -> System -> Keyboard -> On-screen keyboard menu
On the fcitx5 "Plugins" menu I see no candidates.
And I should see bopomofo as an option on the Fcitx5 Input Methods menu, right? When I hit the green "+" sign to add an IME to fcitx, I don't see bopomofo as an option.
I believe I installed the .apk correctly (opened it in File app, tapped it, answered "Update" to the question "Do you want to update this app?"
But I continue to get notifications from fcitx saying "Finish setting up the app". When I click the notifcation, it takes me to the same menu that prompts "Select Fcitx5 as your default input method" with a button "SELECT INPUT METHOD"
When I click the button, the resuting screen show input methods (English, French, Pinyin) but no bopomofo. If I select "Skip" I am taken back to the general Fcitx5 settings.

stupidcreature

rhimbo Hello, the bopomofo option will only appear in the fcitx5 app. Nowhere else. If it does not appear there, it will not be anywhere else. The various input methods are handled by the app, they are not added to the phone as system languages. I honestly have no idea how to troubleshoot this, I guess you could try to restart the profile and see whether that helps. Sorry.

Also, I did a little bit of searching, and RIME plugin might be what you're looking for. It has pinyin IM and it supports mainly trad. characters.

rhimbo

stupidcreature OK, thanks for all your help...
I will probably post a new question to refocus the discussion to the current problems I'm having.
Most definitely bopomofo does not appear in the fcitx5 app anywhere. I already tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Something is definitely wrong.
What I meant to say in my previous comment was that there is definitely a division between support languages and keyboards. And both languages and keyboards might have multiple set of glyphs. How these are organized are a mystery to me.
I saw the RIME plug in, absent any real documentation on what it is actually. Github is the Wild West at best... very frustrating.
Thanks for your patience....

on how to debug installation of .apk but also

rhimbo

Thanks much for the reply tac

I tapped the globe to get from the english keyboard to the Chinese keyboard.
I tapped the left angle bracket at the top left (above the letter 'q')
I tapped the three dots to the far right on the bar appearing above the top row of keyboard letters.

After these steps that you instructed, I tapped the globe to the left of the space bar to get an indicator above the "less than" (left angle bracket) above the menu bar (the menu bar above the top row of the qwerty keyboard) to get switch from "En" to simplified Chinese input.

Then, upon selecting the three dots at the right end of the menu bar I saw another pane with these icons and options:
From there I see a new pane below the normal message entry text field with these 5 options with icons:
Theme
Input Method Options
Reload Config
Virtual Keyboard
Simplified Chinese
Full Width punctuation
Half width character
Prediction enabled

I presume this means that the keyboard is in traditional Chinese mode.

But when I went to start typing pinyin, I still saw simplified character options. And, when I reverted to "simplified characters" mode, I could see traditional characters. For instance, I experimented with typing "tai wan" and "gao xing"

tac

rhimbo I really should've posted the screenshot. Let me try:

How to Set Fcitx5 to Traditional Chinese

[Edit: direct link to image doesn't work for some reason]
Image: https://imgur.com/a/0wB2kh6

You have to tap on Simplified Chinese and then it should change to Traditional Chinese. At least that's what it does for me.

You might also want to check the settings: hold the 🌐 key (IME switch on the keyboard, not the one on the status bar down below) → Input Methods → Pinyin → ⚙️ (the clockwork button next to it) → Simplified and Traditional Chinese Translation. What I have there:

Translate Engine: OpenCC
OpenCC profile for Simplified to Traditional: s2tw.json
OpenCC profile for Traditional to Simplified: tw2s.json

I'm not very familiar with Fcitx5 as I have yet to start using it myself. In fact, I've only just found out about it while looking for a privacy-friendly pinyin IME with traditional character support as part of my long overdue switch to GrapheneOS (then I was trying to figure out how to make it output traditional characters, which in turn is how I found your post).

So I'm not sure if the above settings control it or these are just the built-in defaults that accidentally match my usage scenario but as far as I'm concerned, it pretty much works great out of the box. For example, when I type yingmu, it suggests 螢幕 not 熒幕, for luxian it's 路線 not 路綫, and limian is 裡面 not 裏面 – and this is all exactly what I want (in each case, the 1st variant is what's used in Taiwan, while the 2nd is what a typical pinyin IME would usually suggest).

I guess some characters still have to be typed in a special way, for example I can't get 堤 as a choice by typing ti only di but as things are, it seems much better in that regard than Microsoft Pinyin, at least in my use case.

rhimbo

I'm experimenting...

OK, I see the problem. There is a bug.

When selecting "traditional" the icon and text beneath the icon says "Simplified Chinese" but the icon is not highlightied. When tapping again (it's a toggle), the text below the icon then says "Traditional Chinese" and is not highlighted.

This confused me. The highlight should indicate the selection of the button. Thus, for either "Traditional Chinese" or "Simplified Chinese" it should be highlighted (blue in my case). The change of the text below the icon (to either "Simplified Chinese" or "Traditional Chinese") indicates the mode.

« Previous Page