QWERTY Keyboard
Key Launcher is not limited to the 9-key grid. Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard type switches the whole home-screen keypad between T9 and a full QWERTY keyboard, and everything else on the tab adapts to the choice.
Both keyboards feed the same search engine — a letter query is matched as text, an all-digit query is still matched the T9 way — so nothing you already rely on changes when you switch.
Keyboard type
The Keyboard type dropdown sits at the very top of the Keyboard tab, above the live preview, because it decides what the rest of the settings mean.
| Type | What you get |
|---|---|
| T9 (default) | The classic 3 × 4 number grid |
| QWERTY | A full letter keyboard — tap ?123 to reach numbers and symbols |
QWERTY layout
When QWERTY is selected, a QWERTY layout dropdown appears underneath with four shapes:
| Layout | Shape |
|---|---|
| BlackBerry (default) | Hardware-keyboard shape. The symbol layer puts 1-2-3 / 4-5-6 / 7-8-9 in a keypad block over wer / sdf / zxc, so the number positions you learned on T9 still work |
| Standard | Touch-keyboard shape, numbers spread across the top row |
| QWERTZ | Standard shape with Z and Y swapped (German layout) |
| AZERTY | French layout, with M moved onto the middle row |
The layout you pick drives both layers — letters and symbols — so keys never jump position when you tap ?123.
The symbol layer
- ?123 switches to numbers, punctuation and symbols; ABC switches back.
- Returning to the home screen (or clearing the query) always brings the letter layer back with the first letter capitalised, so the keyboard is ready to type an app name.
- ★ — the Super Shortcut key — lives on the symbol layer, in the Shift key's place. If you turn Super Shortcuts off, that key falls back to Shift.
Numbers printed on the letter keys
Show Numbers on Letter Keys (on by default) prints the digit from the symbol layer in the corner of each letter key. It is also the only visible hint that the gesture below exists.
Hold a letter to type its symbol
Hold a letter key and a bubble shows the character sitting under it on the symbol layer:
- Drag up, then release → types that character.
- Release without moving → runs the letter's Super Shortcut (see below).
- Drag down or sideways → cancels, nothing happens.
Because both gestures share one press, a Super Shortcut on a letter key now fires when you lift your finger rather than the instant the hold registers.
Super Shortcuts on letter keys
Every letter key can hold a Super Shortcut, and the slot follows the position of the key, not the letter:
- On BlackBerry,
w e r / s d f / z x csit on top of digits 1–9, so they share those nine slots. The remaining 17 letters get slots of their own. - On Standard, the top row
q w e r t y u i ocovers digits 1–9.
Switching layout therefore keeps your shortcut where your thumb expects it. See Super Shortcuts.
Tapping ★ opens Super Shortcut Mode drawn on the QWERTY frame itself — each letter key becomes its slot, so the grid matches the keyboard you were just looking at.
Other QWERTY keys
| Key | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Enter | Opens the first search result — and wears that result's own icon, so you can see what it will open before pressing it. With no query it shows a magnifier |
| Shift | Tap for one capital, long-press for Caps Lock. Capitalisation never affects search results |
| ⌫ | Its own key, so # stays available for the Private Vault |
| Space | Long-press it to enter Super Focus — available on both layers |
| calculate Calculator | Left of the space bar on the letter layer |
| volume_up Ringer | Right of the space bar on the letter layer — tap to cycle ring → vibrate → silent; the key shows the mode you are in |
| flashlight_on Flashlight | Right of the space bar on the symbol layer (BlackBerry), when the phone has a torch. A small green dot in the corner means the light is on — it follows the real torch, so switching it off from Quick Settings clears the dot too |
These launcher keys are always drawn, whatever your plan — tapping one without Pro opens the upgrade dialog rather than the key quietly vanishing, so the keyboard never changes shape based on your subscription.
Each key that produces a character shows a round preview bubble above it while pressed, so you can confirm the hit on the narrower QWERTY keys.
Settings that hide in QWERTY mode
Options that only describe the T9 grid are hidden while QWERTY is selected, and their saved values are left untouched for when you switch back:
- 4-column layout
- Key layout (Stacked / Side-by-side)
- Minimal keyboard buttons
- Alternative characters
- The long-press assignment table for
*,0,#
The Calculator, Super Focus and Ringer feature switches stay visible, but on QWERTY they are forced on and labelled "Always on with the QWERTY keyboard — this feature has its own key."
info The long-press actions for
*and#still work on the symbol layer, so nothing becomes unreachable.