Update (2-Jan-2012): more up to date instructions can be found here: http://alexlittle.net/blog/2011/06/03/installing-geez-virtual-keyboard-on-android-devices/
Instructions for installing a Ge’ez Virtual Keyboard on Android:
- Root your device – exactly how this is done will depend on your device and you’ll need to look up on Google how to do this – note that rooting is not the same as unlocking your phone, rooting means you get administrative privileges to update system files, such as the font files we’ll update below.
- Download the files DroidSans.ttf and RootExplorer-v2.15.apk and copy these onto the phone’s SD card (or equivalent)
- Install and run the RootExplorer application and go to the sdcard folder
- In rootexplorer, find the DroidSans.ttf file and copy it
- Go to the /system/fonts folder and push the button marked “mount R/W”, the button will the change to be marked “mount R/O”
- Paste the DroidSans.ttf file into this folder – replacing the existing DroidSans.ttf file. Leave all the other font files as they are. It’s probably a good idea to make a backup of the original DroidSans.ttf file first, before you overwrite it. Just rename the original file to (something like) DroidSans.ttf.bak.
- Now restart the phone and the new font will be installed
- Now to install the keyboard, download the keyboard apk file
- Copy this to your phones SD card and install the application
- You should now be able to switch between the standard and Ge’ez keyboards. You may need to enable the keyboard by going to: Settings -> Language & Keyboard then select check the box to enable the new keyboard
- To find out how to switch between keyboards, watch our video:
We have tested this installation procedure on a few different phone models, though obviously we can’t cover every possible phone type and can’t guarantee it will work for every device. If you have any problems/issues then please post a comment. We’d also be very happy to hear that it did work for you!