I'm developing an Android program to analyze a user's text input and measure typing speed, error rate, average key presses to enter a single character. By doing so, I can compare characteristics of different input methods. To do this, I need to count and record all key presses made by the user during the text entry process.
For example, a user using a basic qwerty keyboard would have to press at least one key for each letter. However, a user using a keyboard with word completion would need to press fewer keys. But how many key presses are made (on average)? Does word completion actually improve typing speed? These are the questions my program will help answer.
Reading other posts, I know that (by default), onscreen keyboards don't send key events for all key presses. Physical (hardware) keyboards do, but most mobile devices don't have a physical keyboard. I also know that I can implement a TextWatcher to detect when a letter is typed in an EditText field. However, some IMEs might require the user to press a sequence of keys to enter a single letter (or word). I need to handle the intermediate key events (i.e., by counting and logging key presses).
My question: How would I capture every key press event from an IME (even events that don't trigger a typed character) without modifying the IME's user experience (e.g., auto completion, word prediction, T9 disambiguation, etc.)? Is this even possible?
Thanks in advance for your time.
