This manual explains how to configure and use Traditional T9 in different scenarios. For installation instructions, please consult the Installation Guide on GitHub. Finally, you may want to check out the main repository page, which includes all source code, a developer's guide, the privacy policy, and supplementary documentation.
After installing, first, you need to enable Traditional T9 as an Android keyboard. To do so, click on the launcher icon. If you need to take any action, all options besides Initial Setup will be disabled, and there will be a label: "TT9 is disabled". Go to Initial Setup and enable it.
If you don't see the icon right after installing, restart your phone, and it should appear. It is due to Android trying to save some battery life by not refreshing the newly installed apps list.
If your phone does not have a hardware keypad, check out the On-screen Keypad section.
Predictive Mode requires a language dictionary to be loaded to provide word suggestions. You can toggle the enabled languages and load their dictionaries from Settings Screen → Languages. In case, you have forgotten to load some dictionary, Traditional T9 will do it for you automatically when you start typing. For more information, see below.
By default, the notifications for newly installed apps are disabled. It is recommended to enable them. This way you will get notified when there are dictionary updates, and once you choose to install them, TT9 will show the loading progress. New updates are released at most once a month, so you don't have to worry about getting too much spam.
You can enable the notifications by going to Settings → Languages and toggling Dictionary Notifications.
If you decide to keep them off, TT9 will continue to work without problems, but you will have to manage the dictionaries manually.
All hotkeys can be reconfigured or disabled from Settings → Keypad → Select Hotkeys.
Select the previous word/letter suggestion.
Select the next word/letter suggestion.
Predictive mode only.
- Single press: Filter the suggestion list, leaving out only the ones that start with the current word. It doesn't matter if it is a complete word or not. For example, type "remin" and press Filter. It will leave out all words starting with "remin": "remin" itself, "remind", "reminds", "reminded", "reminding", and so on.
- Double press: Expand the filter to the full suggestion. For example, type "remin" and press Filter twice. It will first filter by "remin", then expand the filter to "remind". You can keep expanding the filter until you get to the longest dictionary word.
Filtering can also be used to type unknown words. Let's say you want to type "Anakin", which is not in the dictionary. Start with "A", then press Filter to hide "B" and "C". Now press 6-key. Since the filter is on, in addition to the real dictionary words, it will provide all possible combinations for 6: "Am", "An", "Ao". Select "An" and press Filter to confirm your selection. Now pressing the 2-key, will provide "Ana", "Anb", and "Anc". Keep going, until you get "Anakin".
When filtering is enabled, the base text will become bold and italicized.
Predictive mode only.
Clear the suggestion filter, if applied.
- When suggestions are displayed, type the currently selected suggestion.
- Otherwise, perform the default action for the current application (e.g. send a message, go to a URL, or just type a new line).
Note: Every application decides on its own what to do when OK is pressed and TT9 has no control over this.
Note 2: In messaging applications, you need to enable their "Send with ENTER" or similarly named setting, to send messages with OK. If the application has no such setting, it usually means it disallows sending messages this way. Yet, for some of them, TT9 can be enabled to send messages in the Compatibility Settings.
- In 123 mode:
- Press: type "0".
- Hold: type special/math characters.
- Hold "0", then press "Next Mode" (Default: hold "0", press "#"): type currency characters
- In ABC mode:
- Press: type space, newline, or special/math characters.
- Hold: type "0".
- Press "0", then press "Next Mode" (Default: press "0", "#"): type currency characters
- In Predictive mode:
- Press: type space, newline, or special/math characters.
- Double press: type the character assigned in Predictive mode settings. (Default: ".")
- Hold: type "0".
- Press "0", then press "Next Mode" (Default: press "0", "#"): type currency characters
- In 123 mode:
- Press: type "1".
- Hold: type sentence characters
- In ABC mode:
- Press: type sentence characters
- Hold: type "1".
- In Predictive mode:
- Press: type sentence characters
- Press multiple times: type emoji
- Press 1-1-3: type custom added emoji (you must have added some using the Add Word key)
- Hold: type "1".
- In 123 mode: type the respective number
- In ABC and Predictive mode: type a letter or hold to type the respective number.
Add a new word to the dictionary for the current language.
You can also add new emojis and then access them by pressing 1-1-3. Regardless of the currently selected language, all emojis will be available in all languages.
Just deletes text.
If your phone has a dedicated "Del" or "Clear" key, you do not need to set anything in the Settings, unless you want to have another Backspace. In this case, the blank option: "--" will be automatically preselected.
On phones which have a combined "Delete"/"Back", that key will be selected automatically. However, you can assign the "Backspace" function to another key, so "Back" will only navigate back.
NB: Using "Back" as backspace does not work in all applications, most notably Firefox, Spotify, and Termux. They can take full control of the key and redefine its function, meaning it will do whatever the app authors intended. Unfortunately, nothing can be done, because "Back" plays a special role in Android and its usage is restricted by the system.
NB 2: Holding the "Back" key will always trigger the default system action (i.e. show the running applications list).
In these cases, you could assign another key (all other keys are fully usable), or use the on-screen backspace.
- Press when there are no suggestions: Cycle the input modes (abc → ABC → Predictive → 123). Note that only 123 mode is available in numeric fields and Predictive mode is not available in password fields.
- Press while suggestions are on: Toggle the suggestions between UPPERCASE and lowercase. In case the suggestions are only special characters, switch to the next character group.
- Number-only fields: No special action. Type a "#" with the default key. Changing the mode is not possible in such fields.
Select the next language, when multiple languages have been enabled from the Settings.
Open the Settings configuration screen.
Open the Android Change Keyboard dialog where you can select between all installed keyboards.
On touchscreen-only phones, a fully functional on-screen keypad is available. Enable it from Settings → Appearance → Show On-Screen Numpad.
It is also recommended to disable the special behavior of the "Back" key working as "Backspace". It is useful only for a hardware keypad. To do so, go to Settings → Keypad → Select Hotkeys → Backspace key, then select the "--" option.
If you do have a hardware keypad and prefer having more screen space, disable the software keys from the Settings → Appearance.
On the Settings screen, you can choose languages for typing, configure the keypad hotkeys, change the application appearance, or improve compatibility with your phone.
Click on the Traditional T9 launcher icon.
- Start typing in a text field to wake up TT9.
- Use the on-screen gear button or press the assigned hotkey [Default: Hold ✱].
- Go to Android Settings → System → Languages → Keyboards (or On-Screen Keyboards/Virtual Keyboards). This is where all installed keyboards are configured.
- Select "Traditional T9".
The actual menu names may vary depending on your phone, Android version, and language.
If you have a device with a hardware keypad, there are two ways of navigating around the Settings.
- Use the Up/Down keys for scrolling and OK for opening or activating an option.
- Press the 1-9 keys to select the respective option and double-press them to open/activate it. Double-pressing will work no matter where you are on the screen. For example, even if you are at the top double-pressing the 3-key will activate the third option. Finally, the 0-key is a convenient shortcut for scrolling to the end but does not open the last option.
After enabling one or more new languages, you must load the respective dictionaries for Predictive Mode. Once a dictionary is loaded, it will stay there until you use one of the "delete" options. This means you can enable and disable languages without reloading their dictionaries every time. Just do it once, only the first time.
It also means that if you need to start using language X, you can safely disable all other languages, load only dictionary X (and save time!), and then re-enable all languages you used before.
Have in mind reloading a dictionary will reset the suggestion popularity to the factory defaults. However, there should be nothing to worry about. For the most part, you will see little to no difference in the suggestion order, unless you oftenly use uncommon words.
If you skip or forget to load a dictionary from the Settings screen, it will happen automatically later, when you go to an application where you can type, and switch to Predictive Mode. You will be prompted to wait until it completes and after that, you can start typing right away.
If you delete one or more dictionaries, they will NOT reload automatically. You will have to do so manually. Only dictionaries for newly enabled languages will load automatically.
If you have stopped using languages X or Y, you could disable them and also use "Delete Unselected", to free some storage space.
To delete everything, regardless of the selection, use "Delete All".
In all cases, your custom-added words will be preserved and restored once you reload the respective dictionary.
The "Export" option allows you to export all added words, for all languages, including any added emoji, to a CSV file. Then, you can use the CSV file to make Traditional T9 better! Go to GitHub and share the words in a new issue or pull request. After being reviewed and approved, they will be included in the next version.
Using "Delete", you can search for and delete misspelled words or others that you don't want in the dictionary.
For several applications or devices, it is possible to enable special options, which will make Traditional T9 work better with them. You can find them at the end of each settings screen, under the Compatibility section.
In: Settings → Appearance.
On some devices, in Predictive Mode, you may not be able may not be able to scroll the list to the end, or you may need to scroll backward and forward several times until the last suggestion appears. The problem occurs sometimes on Android 9 or earlier. Enable the option, if you are experiencing this issue.
In: Settings → Appearance.
On some phones, especially Sonim XP3plus (XP3900), Traditional T9 may not appear when you start to type, or it may be partially covered by the soft keys. In other cases, there may be white bars around it. The problem may occur in one particular application or all of them. To prevent it, enable the "Always on Top" option.
In: Settings → Keypad.
CAT S22 Flip and Qin F21 phones are known for their low-quality keypads, which degrade quickly over time and start registering multiple clicks for a single key press. You may notice this when typing or navigating the phone menus.
For CAT phones the recommended setting is 50-75 ms. For Qin F21, try with 20-30 ms. If you are still experiencing the issue, increase the value a bit, but generally try to keep it as low as possible.
Note: The higher the value you set, the slower you will have to type. TT9 will ignore very quick key presses.
Note 2: Besides the above, Qin phones may also fail to detect long presses. Unfortunately, in this case, nothing can be done.
In: Settings → Initial Setup.
Facebook Messenger fails to recognize the OK key on some devices, making it impossible to send messages with it. If you prefer to send messages using OK, instead of Messenger's own send button, enable this option. This ensures sending is possible on any phone.
In: Settings → Initial Setup.
Similar to the above, but for Google Chat.
This option is still experimental. It may sometimes fail to detect the "Send" button and click another one. If this starts happening, just close the chat and reopen it.
This happens if you are using one of the small-sized layouts. Currently, there is no permanent fix, but you can use the following workaround:
- Go to Settings → Appearance and enable On-Screen Numpad.
- Go back to the chat and click the emoji or the stickers button. They will now appear.
- You can now go back to the settings and disable the on-screen numpad. The emoji and sticker panels will remain accessible until you restart the app or the phone.
If you have opened an application where you can type, but TT9 does not appear automatically, just start typing and it will. Alternatively, pressing the hotkeys to change the input mode or the language can also bring up TT9, when it is hidden.
On some devices, TT9 may remain invisible, no matter what you do. In such cases, you have to enable Always on Top.
Long explanation. The reason for this problem is Android is primarily designed for touchscreen devices. Hence, it expects you to touch the text/number field to show the keyboard. It is possible to make TT9 appear without this confirmation, but then, in some cases, Android will forget to hide it when it must. For example, it may remain visible after you have dialed a phone number or after you have submitted text in a search field.
For these reasons, in order to stick with the expected Android standards, the control is in your hands. Just press a key to "touch" the screen and keep typing.
To mitigate this problem, go to Settings → Appearance, and enable "Status Icon". TT9 should detect Qin F21 and enable the settings automatically, but in case auto-detection fails, or you have disabled the icon for some reason, you need to have it enabled, for all keys to work properly.
Long explanation. Qin F21 Pro (and possibly F22, too), has a hotkey application that allows assigning Volume Up and Volume Down functions to number keys. By default, the hotkey manager is enabled, and holding 2-key increases the volume, holding 8-key decreases it. However, when there is no status icon, the manager assumes no keyboard is active and adjusts the volume, instead of letting Traditional T9 handle the key and type a number. So, enabling the icon just bypasses the hotkey manager and everything works fine.
Xiaomi has introduced several non-standard permissions on their phones, which prevent Traditional T9's virtual on-screen keyboard from working properly. More precisely, the "Show Settings" and the "Add Word" keys may not perform their respective functions. To fix this, you must grant the "Display pop-up window" and "Display pop-up window while running in the background" permissions to TT9 from your phone's settings. This guide for another application explains how to do it.
It is also highly recommended to grant the "Permanent notification" permission. This is similar to the "Notifications" permission introduced in Android 13. See above for more information on why you need it.
The Xiaomi problems have been discussed in this GitHub issue.