iPhone Duo - globe button appeared in RC 1 - intended change or bug?

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In Xcode 27.1 RC 1 the native keyboard layout has been changed and now it shows the globe button. It looks like a bug but I'm not sure.

Is the keyboard going to display the globe button in the final release?

On top of that, the keyboard extension tells not to show its own globe button, so it's another point confirming that this is RC 1 regression bug.

Xcode 27.1 Beta 1:

Beta 1 Keyboard.png

Xcode 27.1 RC 1:

RC 1 Keyboard.png

Answered by DTS Engineer in 908252022

Thanks for bringing up this important topic.

For a system keyboard, the global button should always be there (either with a button shape or not). That provides a way for users to switch to other input mode.

For a custom keyboard extension, developers should check needsInputModeSwitchKey, and use the value to decide if it should display the global button (that links to advanceToNextInputMode).

For iPhones that have Face ID, needsInputModeSwitchKey returns false, meaning the system will take care the global button, and so a custom keyboard doesn't need to show it.

For iPhone Duo, and other iPhones that don't have Face ID, needsInputModeSwitchKey returns true, meaning that the system will NOT take care the global button, and so a custom keyboard needs to show the button for itself.

Important: Failing to do so will lead to an App Review rejection, because users will have no way to switch to other input mode once getting to the keyboard.

Best,
——
Ziqiao Chen
 Worldwide Developer Relations.

Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

15h

Recommended

Thanks for bringing up this important topic.

For a system keyboard, the global button should always be there (either with a button shape or not). That provides a way for users to switch to other input mode.

For a custom keyboard extension, developers should check needsInputModeSwitchKey, and use the value to decide if it should display the global button (that links to advanceToNextInputMode).

For iPhones that have Face ID, needsInputModeSwitchKey returns false, meaning the system will take care the global button, and so a custom keyboard doesn't need to show it.

For iPhone Duo, and other iPhones that don't have Face ID, needsInputModeSwitchKey returns true, meaning that the system will NOT take care the global button, and so a custom keyboard needs to show the button for itself.

Important: Failing to do so will lead to an App Review rejection, because users will have no way to switch to other input mode once getting to the keyboard.

Best,
——
Ziqiao Chen
 Worldwide Developer Relations.

Answer 2

maxik OP

15h

I'm aware of that.

My point is that the keyboard layout on iPhone Duo has been changed (between beta 1 and rc 1) and instead of showing the globe button alone on the side, it shows it as a normal button. Maybe it's intended but it doesn't seem so.

If this were an intentional change, needsInputModeSwitchKey would return true, so that custom keyboard could show their own globe button, but the SDK still returns false.

This strongly indicates a bug: either the system should present the globe button, or needsInputModeSwitchKey should return true.

I've already reported it: FB25073949