How to deploy a soft keyboard in Android?

Question

Dear Android Developers,

I would like to develop a soft keyboard for android, which I can use with any app that requires text input.

I added the InputMethod intent-filter to my manifest as such:

<intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.view.InputMethod" />
</intent-filter>

I also added the BIND_INPUT_METHOD permissions to my application.

What I can't find how to do is how to deploy the soft keyboard to my device. Can anybody tell me how to do this?

Since my soft keyboard has no Activity, I cannot simply deploy it as an Android application. Then how do I test my keyboard?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Take a look at the SoftKeyboard sample project in the SDK.

You can add the project to your workspace very easily via

File->New->Project->Android->Android Sample Project

(If you don't see it, go to the SDK manager (Window->Android SDK Manager) and look for "Samples for SDK".)

Basically your input method is a service, not an activity, but you deploy it the same way (build an apk). The intent-filter must be added to the service entry (see sample code).