The OSK does not auto-activate reliably when selecting any text widget

[Mario Vukelic]

The new OSK does not auto-activate reliably by selecting any text widget as the Gnome 3.28 release notes claim:
"The new keyboard automatically activates when a text area is selected, ..."
-- https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.28/

This does not work with text widgets of alien toolkits (Chrome, Firefox, Qt, ...).

Even in Gnome this does not work everywhere, for me (Cosmic, 3.30) it does only for the search boxes of Activity and Application menus, not anywhere else that I can find. Not even epiphany, gedit, or other first-class Gnome applications. It is the same in Ubuntu 18.04 according to Bug #1760399 (this report is also referenced as evidence further down).
Does this need a separate bug report? Is it a bug in Gnome libraries, Gtk libraries, or in each individual application where it does not work who is using these libraries?

Hence it is necessary to have a way for manual activation. This is possible in Wayland by swiping up from bottom of screen on a touch screen, but there is no UI hint for this and I banged my head bloody until I stumbled on the solution.

In the default X session the swipe does not work and hence it cannot be manually activated at all.

The Ubuntu help for 18.04.1 describes it incorrectly/incompletely and contributes to the confusion. Bug report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-docs/+bug/1791548

I refer you to user confusion on the following links, note that the previously available answers on Askubuntu all provide incorrect or incomplete solutions:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/1760399
(I added a description in comment #10 earlier today)

Askubuntu (I added new answers earlier today):
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1057485/ubuntu-18-04-no-on-screen-keyboard/1073461#1073461
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1035622/screen-keyboard-not-showing-up-in-firefox-ubuntu-18-04/1073756#1073756
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1036983/cannot-consistently-bring-up-on-screen-keyboard/1073754#1073754
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1058176/how-to-make-ubuntu-18-04-on-screen-keyboard-work-with-google-chrome/1073743#1073743

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: gnome-shell 3.28.3-0ubuntu0.18.04.2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-34.37-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-34-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.3
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Sep 9 23:04:26 2018
DisplayManager: gdm3
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-09-15 (2185 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120823.1)
SourcePackage: gnome-shell
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to bionic on 2018-04-08 (154 days ago)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Amr Ibrahim (amribrahim1987)]

This bug could be a duplicate of bug #1760399.

[Efthimios Chaskaris (echaskaris)]

After updating to 18.10, it seems the OSK works as intended in several apps like Chrome, Chromium, the cmd and gedit. Strangely, it doesn't automatically appear in the search box of file explorer.

[Mario Vukelic (kreuzsakra)]

Thanks Efthimios.
I am still a little unclear about what the intended behavior is. Should it auto open when touching a text field e.g. in Chrome? And are you using X or Wayland and it you enable the OSK in Universal Access?
Thanks. FWIW, for me on Cosmic it is still as described in the description at least on Wayland, I did not try X recently

[Efthimios Chaskaris (echaskaris)]

Yes, it auto opens for the apps I mentioned it works. I think I'm using Wayland. Yes, I enabled the OSK in universal access.

[Mario Vukelic (kreuzsakra)]

I cannot confirm this on my machine. I do not know if what I see it intended behavior, but what I see is still not what either the Gnome 2.28 release notes or the Ubuntu help say should happen.

When I enable the OSK in universal access, the OSK opens way too often but not always when it should. This is same in X or Wayland:
- Opens when typing on keyboard into Activities or Applications search box. (I don't know if this is good behavior for universal access, but it is not good behavior for general touch use: When I type on the keyboard I don't need an OSK. )
- Opens when I touch into Activities or Applications search box. (OK)
- Opens when I start a gnome-term even before I touch it or type into it. But it does not open when I switch focus and touch into an already-open gnome-term. (Not OK)
- Does not open with Firefox or Chrome. (May be technically unavoidable, but then requires a way to open the OSK on demand)
- In Wayland, swiping up of from the bottom of the screen opens OSK. This does not work in X and I don't see another way)

Turning OSK off in Universal access, the behavior becomes better for general touch use as the OSK does not uselessly appear when typing, only when touching - at least in those cases when it does. Otherwise the behavior is unchanged compared to being on in Universal Access.