Toolbar keys order is reversed

[codokie]

Describe the bug
The toolbar keys order is reversed when switching from an RTL to a LTR (or vice versa) keyboard layout.

To Reproduce
Add RTL layout (like Hebrew or Arabic) and a LTR layout (like English), then switch between the two layouts.

Expected behavior
The order of the keys should not be reversed because that makes it impossible to memorize the different locations of the toolbar keys.

Screenshots

Screen_Recording_20240313_222713_Joplin_1.mp4

App version
1.0-alpha1

Device (please complete the following information):

• Model: Samsung Galaxy S24
• OS: Android 14

[Helium314]

Changing the layout direction according to active language has been default behavior of AOSP keyboard and its forks for more than 10 years.
If this should be changed, it must be optional.

[codokie]

Hi @Helium314, thanks for looking into this issue.
I have no experience with other AOSP keyboard forks but I'm fairly certain that the direction of the toolbar buttons is fixed between layouts in Florisboard, Samsung keyboard & AnySoftKeyboard.
(The direction of the toolbar buttons in Samsung keyboard is set according to the system language, and it does not change upon pressing the language change key)

[codokie]

I do not believe this is a desired behavior, I think it affects the user experience and makes no sense to not have a fixed position for such buttons.
Notice how the left and right arrow buttons order is switched when typing in the RTL layout: the right arrow is on the left, and the left arrow is placed on the right, which is very unintuitive.
I would greatly appreciate if this aspect could be improved, sadly I have no idea what source file is responsible for configuring the rendering of the toolbar buttons.

[Helium314]

I have no idea what source file is responsible for configuring the rendering of the toolbar buttons.

The toolbar views are handled in SugggestionStripView

[codokie]

Thanks for letting me know!
I created a pull request with a proposed fix which I've tested shortly.
I believe this is undesired behavior for anyone who types in both RTL and LTR layouts.

[codokie]

I checked the behavior of the GBoard toolbar and it matches the one currently set in the HeliBoard.
So you are right that this is not a bug, but I still think it's an inconvenience for those who frequently switch between LTR and RTL layouts.
I honestly don't know why Google thought this was a good idea. Maybe its because their keyboard has no navigation (left, up, right, down) toolbar keys.