Native Keyboard

Every mobile app attempts to expand until it includes chat. Those applications which do not are replaced by ones which can.

-- Luke Wroblewski

Videos of iOS and Android running the included demo app.

So it's just a fancy keyboard?

You're damn right it is! 👍😊

A cross platform WhatsApp / Messenger / Slack -style keyboard even. For your Cordova app.

OK, let me try this..

Open a command prompt and do:

$ cordova create nativekeyboardtest
$ cd nativekeyboardtest
$ cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-native-keyboard

.. and for a nicer demo experience you'll also want to add these plugins:

$ cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-console
$ cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-actionsheet

.. now copy the contents of our demo over www/index.html, and do one of these:

$ cordova run ios
$ cordova run android

I'm no dummy, gimme details man!

ok ok - OK! The plugin is currently entirely focused on the messenger component, but this will extend into other areas in the future. With that being said, this is the current awesome API:

showMessenger

The bare minimum you need to show the messenger and do something useful with the text a user typed is this (make sure you wait for deviceready to fire):

NativeKeyboard.showMessenger({
  onSubmit: function(text) {
    console.log("The user typed: " + text);
  }
});

There are however many options you can pass in to tweak the appearance and behavior:

leftButton

The button on the left is optional and can be used to for instance make a picture, grab a picture from the camera role, shoot a video, .. whatever you fancy, really as the implementation is entirely up to you.

As shown in the video's it's common to present these options as an ActionSheet, either native or a HTML widget.

rightButton

The button on the right is used to submit the entered text. You don't need to configure this at all if you're happy with the default "Send" label as the entered text itself will be emitted through the onSubmit callback.

hideMessenger

It's likely your app only has 1 one page where you want to show the messenger, so you want to hide it when the user navigates away. You can choose to do this either animated (a quick slide down animation) or not.

NativeKeyboard.hideMessenger({
  animated: true // default false
});

showMessengerKeyboard

What if you have previously have shown the messenger and the user dismissed its keyboard, but you want to programmatically pop up the keyboard again? Use this:

NativeKeyboard.showMessengerKeyboard(
    // these functions are optional
    function() { console.log('ok') },
    function(err) { console.log(err)}
);

hideMessengerKeyboard

And if you want to programmatically hide the keyboard (but not the messenger bar), use this:

NativeKeyboard.hideMessengerKeyboard(
    // these functions are optional
    function() { console.log('ok') },
    function(err) { console.log(err)}
);

updateMessenger

Manipulate the messenger while it's open. For instance if you want to update the text programmatically based on what the user typed (by responding to onTextChanged events).

NativeKeyboard.updateMessenger(
    {
      text: "Text updated! ", // added a space so the user can continue typing
      caretIndex: 5,
      showKeyboard: true
    },
    function() { console.log('updated ok') },
    function(err) { console.log(err)}
);

Notes for iOS

• For best iPhone X support (and other iOS devices with rounded screens), update this plugin to at least 1.5.0, and add viewport-fit=cover to your viewport.

Notes for Android

• If you're using cordova-android 7.1 or higher, update the plugin to at least 2.0.0 because cordova-android 7.1 has slightly different internals, making installation fail. With older Cordova Android versions you may need to stick to the 1.x version though.
• Make sure your activity in AndroidManifest.xml has the (default) android:windowSoftInputMode="adjustResize" (or adjustPan) property. Otherwise the inputfield will be hidden when the keyboard pops up.

I like it, hook me up!

This plugin has been a BEAST to implement and its maintenance is killing me already so I need to make this a commercial offering (with a free trial, see below) to keep it afloat. If you have a compelling reason to not pay for an unlocked version let me know and we'll work something out.

• Look up the ID of the app you want to use the plugin with - you can find it at the top of config.xml and is something like io.cordova.hellocordova (if you have a different staging ID, or iOS and Android ID's are different just send me all of those and you'll get multiple license codes and pay for only one).
• Send a one-time fee of USD 199 (or EUR 180) to my PayPal account and make sure to include your app ID. Want to use a bankaccount instead? No problem, just contact me at [email protected] for details.
• You'll quickly receive a license key (and instructions) which you can use to install the plugin.
• You can now forever use this version and any future version of this plugin for this app without restrictions.

Once the license key (abc in this example) is received, you can add the plugin like this:

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-native-keyboard --variable LICENSE=abc

Or if your iOS and Android package ids are different, use this (supported since plugin version 1.5.8):

cordova plugin add cordova-plugin-native-keyboard --variable LIC_ANDROID=abc --variable LIC_IOS=xyz

I heard about a trial!?

ALL features are available without a license, but you'll be restricted to 5 minutes of usage. Just indefinitely kill and relaunch the app if you need more time ;)

Can you remove the license check for my prototype apps?

Sure, just add the word 'prototype' (case insensitive) anywhere in your packageid. Example: 'com.mycompany.myclientapp-PROTOTYPE' or 'com.mycompany.prototypes.myclientapp'.