With Keyman 11 on Android, is this still the best way to install a .mkp file?
https://help.keyman.com/developer/10.0/guides/distribute/install-kmp-android
Thanks,
James
Yes, there are a number of different ways to send .kmp files to an Android device, and some of the details will vary from manufacturer-to-manufacturer, but that tutorial shows one good way. Another easy way to distribute is using Dropbox or Google Drive.
If you want to include the keyboard in the Keyman catalog of keyboards (which we’d encourage), the steps at https://help.keyman.com/developer/keyboards/ will take you through the process. Most of the work involved is focused around quality assurance and ensuring a standard of maintainability.
Thanks for the info.
These methods all pose a problem in PNG, especially if somebody wants to install a keyboard out in the village where they have no internet access.
Without Internet, Dropbox or Google Drive don’t work.
Creating an HTML file with a link also poses a challenge, because while you can download the .kmp file, when you try to open it, it doesn’t know that Keyman should be used.
People can Bluetooth/share it, but that poses the same problem (it doesn’t know Keyman should be used).
As well, many (most?) of the Android devices I have worked with in PNG have a default file manager that does not recognize that Keyman can open a .kmp file (FYI: they also didn’t recognize the Bloom Reader could open Bloom files, this is relevant later). I have found that ES File Explorer works, so can install ES File Explorer on a device that I have access to.
But then when that person shares the vernacular Keyman keyboard file with somebody else, the next phone probably does not have ES File Explorer (or another file manager that works). They don’t know that they need to get one (or which one works), or they don’t have internet so can’t get another file manager. Now they’re stuck.
The way that Bloom Reader dealt with this was to add a “Find Bloom books on this device” feature. This scans the whole device (including SD card) and automatically imports any Bloom content into Bloom Reader:
Adding something like this to the Keyman app (that would look for .kmp files on the device and offer to install them) would be really helpful. I imagine something like a “Find keyboards on this device” option on the “add keyboard” screen. It’s possible there could be multiple .kmp files (older vs newer or different languages), so that would need to be considered too.
Thanks,
James
In the field, if you have a mobile phone and laptop with you is to start a web sever on our laptop, and make it vailable that way, use oyur phone as a hotspot, connect laptop to hotspot nad then phone you wish to install package on should also ocnnect to hotspot, alternatively take a portable router oyu can sue as a htspot with you. Its a useful item at times, esp for training sessions .
For downloading, i have found the most reliable browser is Firefox on Android, I can launch teh dwnlaoded file when i get the message in the browser download has finished and the browser will successfully pass the package to keyman for installation.
For bluetooth sharing, its a question of finding a file manager that will do the right thing, I haven’t experiemented personally with this approach.
James,
That’s a useful suggestion. Would you be happy to make the same suggestion in the Keyman issue system at New Issue · keymanapp/keyman?
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