InputMethodSubtype:

This class is used to specify meta information of a subtype contained in an input method editor (IME). Subtype can describe locale (e.g. en_US, fr_FR...) and mode (e.g. voice, keyboard...), and is used for IME switch and settings. The input method subtype allows the system to bring up the specified subtype of the designated IME directly.

What is a Subtype

A subtype is a way to present multiple modes of operation for an Input Method Service. Commonly these different modes represent different languages, but they can also be totally different means of input such as voice input or handwriting recognition.

Before the introduction of Subtypes in Android Honeycomb (API version 11) an Input Method mapped directly to an implementation of InputMethodService.

• The Documentation Provided by Android for Subtypes
• The APIs surrounding Input Methods
• InputMethodSubtype
• InputMethodInfo
• InputMethodManager
• The Source code for the Android Latin IME
• The Source code for Android