New On-screen keyboard does not appear automatically when selecting some text fields

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Same problem. I can't use my Dell XPS 13 in tablet mode at all, since the keyboard isn't appearing on most apps, and I don't know how to trigger its appearance :-(

Workaround:

sudo apt install onboard

There is an extension to show a panel button to trigger it:
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1061/on-screen-keyboard-button/

Unfortunately, its panel button itself does not react to touch at least for me (on Cosmic, Gnome 3.30, Wayland), which kind of defeats the purpose

That said, in Gnome 3.30 the new OSK (from 2.28) automatically appears for me when I touch certain text entry fields, even when it is not enabled in Accessibility settings. This is IMHO the best solution. However, detection is either buggy or needs application support, as it works for me only in gnome-shell directly, e.g. the search field in Activities, but not anywhere else, not even first-class Gnome apps like Web or Videos

I notice that the release notes for Gnome 2.28 say "The new keyboard automatically activates when a text area is selected". If this worked, no activation button would be needed as far as I can tell, and I suppose this is why there is none. However as I said in my previous comment this is not the case for me

Gnome 2.28 release notes: https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.28/

The Ubuntu help for 18.04 says that you need to activate it in the Accessibility settings, and "When you next have the opportunity to type, the on-screen keyboard will open at the bottom of the screen."
https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/keyboard-osk.html

Neither is true for me:
1. I don't need to enable it in Accessibility in order to trigger in Activities and Applications
2. If I do enable it, it doesn't trigger outside of these two menus anyway

So after much hair pulling I contacted the author of the above mentioned Gnome extension and he set me on the right track (thank you):

1. Auto-summon of OSK only works with application/toolkit support. Text widgets in alien (non-Gnome or non-Gtk?) toolkits don't summon the OSK (Gnome, Firefox, Qt, whatever other toolkits; I don't know if this is even standardized by freedesktop.org.

2. Because of alien toolkits there is always a need to summon on demand. Since Gnome 3.28 in Ubuntu 18.04, you can summon on a touch screen by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. However, this ONLY works in a Wayland session, not in X. I can confirm that it does. None of this is described in the Gnome 3.28 release notes or the Ubuntu 18.04 help. These are clearly documentation bugs.

3. Judging by the confusion int his bug report and the many questions on Askubuntu,com, it seems that the swiping up eluded even those users who have access to the feature because they use Wayland. Quite clearly this is not sufficiently discoverable, which IMHO is a bug. (Of course this is not helped by the buggy docs)

4. The Gnome extension to summon on-demand (https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1061/on-screen-keyboard-button/) does NOT work with touch in Ubuntu 18.04 (Gnome 3.28) according to the author, and neither does it in Cosmic (3.30). It works with the mouse but this is awkward to say the least. The author will hopefully be able to look into it but it may take some time.

5. I don't know why in Gnome 3.30 (Cosmic) the auto-summon only works for Activities and Applications menus search boxes, and not elsewhere in Gnome as far as I can find. Hard to believe that this is a bug in every Gnome application, maybe a Gtk bug?

Duh. In the above comment, it should have been:
"1. (**Chrome** [not Gnome], Firefox, Qt, whatever other toolkits...)

Bug report for Ubuntu documentation:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-docs/+bug/1791548

Bug report for discoverability:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1791551

Sorry my earlier removal of the tag was unintentional, readding

Is there a manual way to have it come-up ? From comment #10 :
"Because of alien toolkits there is always a need to summon on demand."
Ido not have touch screen Ineed the keyboard because my space key does not work asitshould.
Still a very annoying bug.

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Gnome shell side of things has been fixed in 3.30.1

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-settings-daemon - 3.30.2-2ubuntu1

---------------
gnome-settings-daemon (3.30.2-2ubuntu1) disco; urgency=medium

  * Merge with Debian. Remaining changes:
    + debian/control.in:
      - Build-depend on accountsservice
    + debian/patches:
       - 45_suppress-printer-may-not-be-connected-notification.patch
       - 53_sync_input_sources_to_accountsservice.patch
       - 64_restore_terminal_keyboard_shortcut_schema.patch
       - correct_logout_action.patch
          display the logout action on ctrl-alt-del
       - ubuntu-lid-close-suspend.patch
          Reimplement support for setting lid close suspend actions
       - revert-wacom-migration.patch
       - revert-gsettings-removals.patch
          Revert gsettings keys that were dropped since 3.8, for u-s-d
       - revert-mediakeys-dbus-interface-drop.patch
       - ubuntu_ibus_configs.patch
       - git_binary_encoding.patch
       - ubuntu_calculator_snap.patch
    + debian/gnome-settings-daemon.install:
      - Install apport hook
  * Use ubuntu/disco branch, master has 3.31 prepared and I don't want to
    upload it yet

gnome-settings-daemon (3.30.2-2) unstable; urgency=medium

  * keyboard-Enable-ibus-for-OSK-purposes.patch: Cherry-pick from master.
    To fix enabling of the OSK in more circumstances. (LP: #1760399)
  * gbp.conf: Use debian/unstable branch now we've branched for exp

 -- Iain Lane <email address hidden> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 20:20:45 +0000

Does this require some changes in gnome-shell as well? Since I only see a fix for this issue in gnome-settings-daemon for cosmic - are we still missing a gnome-shell upload for this bug there?

Both disco and cosmic side of things should have been fixed in disco 3.30.1-2ubuntu2 and cosmic 3.30.2-0ubuntu1.18.10.1

Right, I think we just didn't include the bug # there since it comes as part of the upstream release.

Hello Amr, or anyone else affected,

Accepted gnome-settings-daemon into cosmic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-settings-daemon/3.30.1.2-1ubuntu3.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested and change the tag from verification-needed-cosmic to verification-done-cosmic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-cosmic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

Hello Amr, or anyone else affected,

Accepted gnome-settings-daemon into bionic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-settings-daemon/3.28.1-0ubuntu1.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested and change the tag from verification-needed-bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

I can confirm on Disco that this is definitely better, but not completely solved for me:

gnome-settings-daemon 3.30.2-2ubuntu1
Screen Keyboard is off in Universal Access settings

* Good in both X and Wayland:

1. Touch Activities on panel
2. Touch "type to search" box
-> OSK comes up.
3. Close OSK with ArrowDown icon
4. Touch "type to search" box again
-> OSK comes up again.
(Same good behavior for:
Applications on dock -> "Type to search"
GDM login screen -> password field)

* Good only in X, not good in Wayland:

1. Two applications side by side e.g. gnome-term and gedit
2. Switch windows by touching
-> In X, OSK comes up on focus change, but not in Wayland . So in X it is good so far but ...
3. Close OSK by ArrowDown icon
4. Touch _same_ window again (and hence no focus switch)
-> no OSK even in X

1. Start on an empty workspace: Firefox, nautilus, epiphany, and others:
2. Touch text entry fields
-> OSK comes up in X but not in Wayland

* Bad in both X and Wayland:

1. Go to empty workspace
2. Launch gnome-term, LibreOffice Writer or Calc, others:
-> no OSK. However in X (but not Wayland) ...
3. Switch focus by touching any menu on Gnome panel
4. Touch gnome-term again
-> Now OSK comes up

* Bad in X when OSK does not come up automatically:

When OSK does not appear automatically, there is still no way to summon it on demand.
(While in Wayland swiping up still works as workaround but remains difficult to discover)

Hello Amr, or anyone else affected,

Accepted gnome-shell into bionic-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/3.28.3+git20190124-0ubuntu18.04.1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested and change the tag from verification-needed-bionic to verification-done-bionic. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-bionic. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

Using gnome-settings-daemon from cosmic-proposed (3.30.1.2-1ubuntu3.1) the OSK shows up when clicking on a text entry and the osk is enabled from the a11y settings. Marking a fixed confirmed.

Using gnome-shell and gnome-settings-daemon from bionic-proposed the OSK shows up when clicking on a text entry and the osk is enabled from the a11y settings. Marking a fixed confirmed.

gnome-shell 3.30.2-0ubuntu1.18.10.1 has been released into cosmic-updates.

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-settings-daemon - 3.30.1.2-1ubuntu3.1

---------------
gnome-settings-daemon (3.30.1.2-1ubuntu3.1) cosmic; urgency=medium

  * debian/*: Update metadata for ubuntu/cosmic branch
  * debian/patches: Enable IBus for OSK (LP: #1760399)

 -- Iain Lane <email address hidden> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 20:29:16 +0000

The verification of the Stable Release Update for gnome-settings-daemon has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-settings-daemon - 3.28.1-0ubuntu1.2

---------------
gnome-settings-daemon (3.28.1-0ubuntu1.2) bionic; urgency=medium

  * debian/patches/keyboard-Enable-ibus-for-OSK-purposes.patch:
    - Enable IBus for OSK (LP: #1760399)

 -- Marco Trevisan (Treviño) <email address hidden> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 20:31:01 +0000

FYI, fix for Wayland: bug #1816808

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-shell - 3.28.3+git20190124-0ubuntu18.04.1

---------------
gnome-shell (3.28.3+git20190124-0ubuntu18.04.1) bionic; urgency=medium

  * New git snapshot release up to commit 24cdcc56d (LP: #1811900)
    - Don't fill journal with osdWindow errors (LP: #1772677)
    - Fix missing icon in keyboard indicator (LP: #1812266)
  * d/p/authPrompt-Do-not-enable-sensitivity-if-retries-are-disal.patch,
    d/p/authPrompt-Unset-preemptiveAnswer-on-reset.patch,
    d/p/gdm-util-Always-allow-to-retry-login-in-unlock-mode.patch,
    d/p/ibus-set-content-type-no-holdKeyboard.patch,
    d/p/popupMenu-Don-t-handle-key-presses-directly-if-there-are-.patch,
    d/p/st-button-Ignore-pointer-emulated-touch-events.patch,
    d/p/shell-ignore-invalid-window-monitor-index.patch,
    d/p/workspace-fix-repositioned-windows-in-activities.patch:
    - Removed patches applied upstream
  * d/p/StIcon-only-compute-shadow-pipeline-when-the-texture-is-p.patch,
    d/p/js-fix-invalid-access-errors.patch,
    d/p/js-ui-Choose-some-actors-to-cache-on-the-GPU.patch,
    d/p/optional-hot-corner.patch,
    d/p/st-texture-cache-Cancel-sliced-image-loading-on-target-ac.patch,
    d/p/workaround_crasher_fractional_scaling.patch:
    - Refreshed as per upstream changes
  * d/p/keyboard-Filter-redundant-FocusTracker-position-changed-s.patch,
    d/p/keyboard-Listen-to-IbusPanelService-focus-in-out-to-track.patch:
    - Fix OSK activation on X11 (LP: #1760399)
  * d/p/power-Label-the-PENDING_CHARGE-state-as-Not-Charging.patch:
    - Label the PENDING_CHARGE state as "Not Charging" (LP: #1745032)
  * d/p/debian/patches/volume-Add-back-sound-feedback-on-scroll.patch:
    - Add missing include (LP: #1811908)

 -- Marco Trevisan (Treviño) <email address hidden> Fri, 25 Jan 2019 18:29:40 +0000

I get this on Eoan, no OSK pop up for Chromium text fields on laptop. Works on desktop.

On Eoan (on the Dell XPS 9575 mentioned before), the OSK auto-summons nearly everywhere as far as I can tell, incl. Chrome. The only application I use and found so far where this does not work is Gnucash.

There is even an improvement in X that helps in this case: the OSK now can be summoned by swiping up from the bottom screen edge, in the same way as it previously worked only on Wayland.

On my laptop (Thinkpad L520) it doesn't work. Curiously, when swiping up with mouse the OSK doesn't come up when Chromium is on the view, but it comes up when on desktop. The OSK pops up fine on terminal, login field and text editor. It also doesn't work on Chrome.

The OSK doesn't work on 19.10 on text fields other than Ubuntu's. I hope it works in 20.04...

*doesn't appear automatically

This bug is closed. If you experience any ongoing problems then please open a new bug by running:

  ubuntu-bug gnome-shell

Same crap in Ubuntu 20. GNOME's OSK is useless crap, it doesn't appear automatically when I need to type something. It only appears when you search for applications in application's menu. Here is no button to call OSK or run it manually, wtf?

This bug is closed. If you experience any ongoing problems then please open a new bug by running:

  ubuntu-bug gnome-shell

@vita-cell : Same here on 20.04 , no OSK in oem-config :-( , did you open a new bug ?

@michel.ekimia, please see bug #1880596