Samsung Galaxy S5: How to Enable or Disable Character Preview in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

By default, Samsung Galaxy S5 uses the stock qwerty keyboard that has similar layout with those in laptop or PC. Since qwerty keyboard will place a single character(letter, number, symbol) in a single keyboard key then you may find that this keyboard has smaller keyboard keys. For some users, those small keys sometimes make them hard to make sure that they have tapped the right key because it may be covered with their fingers. Luckily, there's an option in the Samsung keyboard called character preview which will help you to verify that you're typing correctly because if it's enabled the device will show a big character bubble when a key on a qwerty keyboard is tapped.


How to turn on or off character preview in the Samsung keyboard?
Generally, there are two methods available that can be used to enable or disable character preview in the Samsung keyboard: from the settings menu and when you're typing.

Method #1: From the settings menu

1. On any screen, swipe down the top of the screen to open up the notification panel and then tap to go to the settings menu.
2. With the settings menu is displayed in grid view, scroll down to the System section and then tap Language and input .
3. If necessary, tap Default and then select Samsung keyboard.
4. Tap next to Samsung keyboard to view more detailed settings.
5. Scroll the screen to the very bottom.
6. Depending on your current settings, tap Character preview to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox next to this option is checked means the character preview is enabled.

Method #2: When you're typing
This method can be applied when you're in any app or screen where you can enter texts. As the example, we'll enable or disable character preview when composing a new text message in Messaging app:

1. Open Messaging app and then tap to create a new text message.
2. If necessary, tap the Enter message field to view the keyboard.
3. See the key located in the left side of the space bar.
• If the key already displays the keyboard settings icon , then tap the key to view the Samsung keyboard settings.
• If the key does not display the keyboard settings icon, long tap the key until a pop up window appears and then select to view the Samsung keyboard settings.
4. Scroll the screen to the very bottom.
5. Depending on your current settings, tap Character preview to enable or disable this option. When the checkbox next to this option is checked means the character preview is enabled.

As a note, character preview is optimized to be used in qwerty keyboard so that if you're using other keyboard layout then this feature won't work.