Copy & Paste apps: Clippy vs. hClipboard

[wildonrio]

Here's a great review of both:

http://weblog.techdad.net/2009/01/23/copy-paste-on-iphone-2-new-options-clippy-hclipboard/

So which one do you guys like better?

[wildonrio]

Wow after a year and a half of waiting, two copy and paste apps arrive in the same week and no one has any comments?

I'll start. Clippy is extremely simple and highlights what text is being copied, but it's kind of annoying to have it pop up the Copy and Paste menu every time you go to the number keyboard.

hChipboard has it's own special keyboard and is full of cool features like templates, home/end keys, an entire clipboard to save many different copied texts, yet it has a small learning curve and doesn't highlight the text it is copying.

I think overall hClipboard takes the cake. It's slightly counter intuitive, but really that isn't a disadvantage at all once you figure out what the buttons do.

EDIT: Clippy has just gotten a lot better. It no longer pops up on the ?123 keyboard every time, but only when you HOLD the ?123 button for a second first. You can also now copy a lot more things than hClipboard can do. Pretty much any text in the entire iPhone structure can be copied by simply pressing and holding the text, even non-editable text! If I could change my vote to Clippy, I would. Check out my updated review here (http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/third-party-applications/copy-and-paste-apps-clippy-vs-hclipboard-42582-4.html#post417584).

[connie]

It is amazing that 2 did show up in the same week. I voted for hClipboard. It works well for me. I am still waiting to get a viewmymessage to see if it works, although most of my family and friends leave me out of the mms sending now because they are use to me reminding them to email me the pictures instead.
But I am happy that we finally do have a fairly decent copy & paste. It's about freakin' time:smile:.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Using hClipboard with the bookmarklets to copy & paste from Safari is great! Finally!

[wildonrio]

I can't believe there isn't more excitement surrounding this. I mean, this is it. Yeah, it's not Apple sanctioned but jeez, the fact that we can actually do it now is such a relief.

And I really wonder why Chris didn't even post a news article about it on the homepage. He posted about the Cydia bluetooth transfer app and that's not nearly as exciting IMO...

[dcom]

I got Clippy a few days ago and thought "Yay, finally!" but after you brought up hClipboard, I got that and think I like it better. BTW, there was something about Clippy on EIC. I learned about it from EIC tweeting about it on Twitter.

[Lincoln]

I prefer hClipboard - it does a very good job with handling everything - the extra features make it nice as well. I'm having a problem with the copying text bookmarklet - whenever I try to use it, I can't get the text in Safari to turn into a textbox. Any ideas?

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I prefer hClipboard - it does a very good job with handling everything - the extra features make it nice as well. I'm having a problem with the copying text bookmarklet - whenever I try to use it, I can't get the text in Safari to turn into a textbox. Any ideas?

Are you touching the text with your finger?

[wildonrio]

I prefer hClipboard - it does a very good job with handling everything - the extra features make it nice as well. I'm having a problem with the copying text bookmarklet - whenever I try to use it, I can't get the text in Safari to turn into a textbox. Any ideas?

Have are the instructions to add the copy text in Safari bookmarklet, along with find in page and open in new tab:

Find in Page: http://www.ipuhelin.com/en/safariplus/

Copy Text in Webpage: http://code.google.com/p/networkpx/wiki/CopyingTextFromSafari

Open in New Tab: http://gadgets.inventivelabs.com.au/tabulate

By the way, I'm on my phone and I used hclipboard to paste that. It really works!

[Lincoln]

I know where to find them - my problem is that the copy text doesn't work. I run the bookmarklet, then tap the text I want to copy - no entry field appears.

[Ezekiel2517]

theyre both pretty good, and clippy got an update yesterday to add a clipboard. so only time will tell how much better these two will get.

but for the time being, hclipboard seems to work the best, its easier to select and copy. and they work great with the safari bookmarklets

*edit* in the last clippy update, you are now able to copy from texts, so its a lot easier to forward texts

[wildonrio]

I know where to find them - my problem is that the copy text doesn't work. I run the bookmarklet, then tap the text I want to copy - no entry field appears.

Try this. Copy the following text on your home computer, and paste it in an email forwarded to yourself:

javascript:void%28s%3Dprompt%28%27Find%20text%3A%2 7%2C%27%27%29%29%3Bs%3D%27%28%27+s+%27%29%27%3Bx%3 Dnew%20RegExp%28s%2C%27gi%27%29%3Brn%3DMath.floor% 28Math.random%28%29*100%29%3Brid%3D%27z%27%20+%20r n%3Bb%20%3D%20document.body.innerHTML%3Bb%3Db.repl ace%28x%2C%27%3Cspan%20name%3D%27%20+%20rid%20+%20 %27%20id%3D%27%20+%20rid%20+%20%27%20style%3D%5C%2 7color%3A%23000%3Bbackground-color%3Ayellow%3B%20font-weight%3Abold%3B%5C%27%3E%241%3C/span%3E%27%29%3Bvoid%28document.body.innerHTML%3Db %29%3Balert%28%27Found%20%27%20+%20document.getEle mentsByName%28rid%29.length%20+%20%27%20matches.%2 7%29%3Bwindow.scrollTo%280%2Cdocument.getElementsB yName%28rid%29%5B0%5D.offsetTop%29%3B

Now check your email on your iPhone, forward that email to get editable text, then copy and paste all the code. Now go into your bookmarks in Safari, go to your Copy webpage text bookmark that isn't working, select the URL, delete everything in there, and put in the code above. If that doesn't work, I don't know what will.

theyre both pretty good, and clippy got an update yesterday to add a clipboard. so only time will tell how much better these two will get.

but for the time being, hclipboard seems to work the best, its easier to select and copy. and they work great with the safari bookmarklets

*edit* in the last clippy update, you are now able to copy from texts, so its a lot easier to forward texts

I have since deleted Clippy. Tell me, how does this new clipboard work? Does it still pop up the copy/paste bar above the ?123 keyboard every time? Or is there a separate layout like how hClipboard does it?

[drumthrasher109]

I use hClipboard as it seems to be easier to use.

[toothdoc]

I have had Clippy for a week or so but today when i went to use it it said, beta has expired, please upgrade. it is version .94 and i dont see another version. I tried removing and re-installing and still the same. Anyone else getting this??

[Too Many Secrets]

I have had Clippy for a week or so but today when i went to use it it said, beta has expired, please upgrade. it is version .94 and i dont see another version. I tried removing and re-installing and still the same. Anyone else getting this??

I'm getting this too, just today. Looking for a fix.

[toothdoc]

I'm getting this too, just today. Looking for a fix.
oh good..i thought i was going crazy...i downloaded the other program..
hclipboard.. i may like this better

[Too Many Secrets]

oh good..i thought i was going crazy...i downloaded the other program..
hclipboard.. i may like this better

well I just installed an upgrade, but don't see the menu on the number page...

[vegasflyby]

I also installed the Clippy upgrade and it's no longer working.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I just uninstalled Clippy completely and reinstalled it from Cydia, and it's working fine.

Also, for anyone who is having a hard time copying SMS messages with the newest version of Clippy, you need to hold your fingertip on the SMS message for a second (in the previous version, you had to double-tap the SMS message).

[Too Many Secrets]

I just uninstalled Clippy completely and reinstalled it from Cydia, and it's working fine.

Also, for anyone who is having a hard time copying SMS messages with the newest version of Clippy, you need to hold your fingertip on the SMS message for a second (in the previous version, you had to double-tap the SMS message).

There is yet another upgrade and seems to be working. Seems like there is some changes though... the added menu doesn't show up on the # page. But if you just hold down the #/Letter button up pops a menu overlay!

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

There is yet another upgrade and seems to be working. Seems like there is some changes though... the added menu doesn't show up on the # page. But if you just hold down the #/Letter button up pops a menu overlay!

I saw that too, but I only wanted to mention the one item about copying SMS messages.

[Ezekiel2517]

i was having that problem yesterday. the update seemed to fix it (updates?)

but i honestly dont know why they had to disable the beta version, doing that only caused problems.... and i actually NEEDED to use clippy at the point to forward a text message to someone....

[vegasflyby]

The update for Clippy seems to have fixed most issues. I'm having two problems, though. I don't know if they are bugs.

Whenever I try to delete an email by swiping my finger across it I get a pop up that covers the whole screen with options for copy, stack, or cancel. I have to cancel out of it in order to delete the email.

Whenever I hold down the 123 in Safari it crashes.

Anyone else?

[Ezekiel2517]

The update for Clippy seems to have fixed most issues. I'm having two problems, though. I don't know if they are bugs.

Whenever I try to delete an email by swiping my finger across it I get a pop up that covers the whole screen with options for copy, stack, or cancel. I have to cancel out of it in order to delete the email.

Whenever I hold down the 123 in Safari it crashes.

Anyone else?

i tested both of these and youre right... in the email, it only does it sometimes, but it crashed safari everytime i tried it...

[eye-Fone]

I've upgraded to the latest Clippy and it seems that no matter where I am on the iPhone, if I press the screen the wrong way, Clippy pops up. It's actually getting very annoying. I kinda like the previous version, now that I think about it.

A suggestion would be to allow the user to pick a time-delay before Clippy pops-up.

[vegasflyby]

I figured out if you want to delete an email start the swipe from the middle of the screen (or closer to the right). It seems to keep the window popping up.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I just upgraded to the new Clippy update (it just showed up today -- not yesterday's update) and Safari crashed on me every minute or so. I unistalled it, and notified the developer of the problem. I guess I'll wait for v1.0.

[drumthrasher109]

Ok, I'm starting to like Clippy quite a bit.

Is it normal for Safari to crash when I try to manually select text?

[eye-Fone]

I just upgraded to the new Clippy update (it just showed up today -- not yesterday's update) and Safari crashed on me every minute or so. I unistalled it, and notified the developer of the problem. I guess I'll wait for v1.0.
I believe the update to which you are referring is v0.95-5. I'm using 0.95-4 and there is no crashing. There's some annoyance as to the Clippy pop-up popping up if I touch the screen in a certain way, but it has caused no crashing.

I think I'll skip v0.95-5 (today's update). I'd rather be somewhat annoyed than to not be able to use mobile Safari. :(

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I wish I'd skipped it, too.

Oh well, I still prefer hClipboard anyway.

[Ezekiel2517]

of course y'all have to keep in mine that clippy is still in beta, so it's expected for it to be buggy and unstable. but at least it's improving and keeps evolving. I have high expectations for this project. :)

[eye-Fone]

of course y'all have to keep in mine that clippy is still in beta, so it's expected for it to be buggy and unstable. but at least it's improving and keeps evolving. I have high expectations for this project. :)
I agree. However, lately Clippy has been taking one step forward and two steps back. Today's (Wednesday's update) appears to be two steps back.

First the author had the pop-up panel on top of the "1-2-3" keyboard. Then he replaced in favor of double-tapping (one-tap-then-hold). Now, it's hold down a tap for a new-fangled pop-up window, that captures tons of text and tries to display it (wrong!).

It's seems more like an Alpha product to me than an Beta product. At least with Alpha, the feature-set is in place. With Betas, it's more tuning and performance.

That's just my opinion. As a fellow applications programmer, I feel for this guy, but at least he should settle on a metaphor and then enhance it.

[wildonrio]

I don't care if he calls it alpha or beta, it's looking better and better. I don't think you understand completely how it functions:

1. When the text is editable, you hold the ?123 button for a second and it will copy everything in the entire window. BUT, if you only want a certain portion of that text, then you double tap (tap-then-hold) and select the text you want. Now hold the ?123 button for a second and only the text that you've highlighted will be copied. I think this is a near perfect system.
2. When the text is noneditable, unfortunately you can't select which portion you want (yet). You hold the text for a second and all of the text in just that paragraph will be copied. This is eons ahead of hClipboard which can only copy editable text. Most text on the iPhone is noneditable, I'd say over 90%.

As far as whether to use Clippy or hClipboard, I think the answer right now is to use both:


hClipboard is great for quickly putting in logins and passwords. It has a clipboard that is quickly accessible, with a templates section for storing things that you want to paste all the time. Also, if you want to copy a large section of a window, it's much easier with hClipboard since you just pick the beginning of the section and the end of the section and it copies everything in between, without having to drag all the way down like Clippy does.
Clippy copies a lot more things than hClipboard. You can copy pretty much any text on the phone by holding the text for a second or so. This feature alone makes it superior I think.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Wildonrio,

Are you aware that hClipboard can copy non-editable text within web pages? Using two simple bookmarklets, it's pretty simple.

[Ezekiel2517]

Wildonrio,

Are you aware that hClipboard can copy non-editable text within web pages? Using two simple bookmarklets, it's pretty simple.

i dont think hes talking about webpages, but things outside of safari like text messages, emails, phone numbers, etc..

[eye-Fone]

I don't care if he calls it alpha or beta, it's looking better and better. I don't think you understand completely how it functions:...
I'm well aware of how it works, thank you very much. :tounge: I've been using it from Day 1 and the author has a history of completely changing the methodology of how it works from update to update.

You hold the text for a second and all of the text in just that paragraph will be copied.
That's my issue at the moment with Clippy. It is not "a second". It seems that when I simply (or accidentally) tap or swipe on the screen anywhere, for a split-second, Clippy pops up with a screen-full of copied text. This is especially true when I go to swipe an email message from my inbox (in order to delete it). Three out of four times, Clippy will pop up, instead of, or in addition to the red "Delete" button. Many times, if my phone is not locked or asleep, and I go to pick it up from a table, by the time I hold it up to do something, Clippy has popped up because I inadvertently did something with my finger on the screen.

Overall, Clippy is quite annoying, but I use it anyway because I need the cut-n-paste feature. I'm counting on the author to tweak it to make it less intrusive.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

i dont think hes talking about webpages, but things outside of safari like text messages, emails, phone numbers, etc..

hClipboard can copy email text. though.

[Ezekiel2517]

hClipboard can copy email text. though.

and so can clippy, but clippy cant copy text messages and IMO, this is a very strong point for clippy.

and clippy is improving at a faster rate than hclipboard. im not saying theres anything wrong with HCB, just that clippy seems more flexible.

[wildonrio]

I'm well aware of how it works, thank you very much. :tounge: I've been using it from Day 1 and the author has a history of completely changing the methodology of how it works from update to update.

Gotcha, I thought you thought there was no way to select certain portions of text, with the way you said how it "captures tons of text and tries to display it (wrong!)". It doesn't need to capture all that text, but it's there as an option

That's my issue at the moment with Clippy. It is not "a second". It seems that when I simply (or accidentally) tap or swipe on the screen anywhere, for a split-second, Clippy pops up with a screen-full of copied text. This is especially true when I go to swipe an email message from my inbox (in order to delete it). Three out of four times, Clippy will pop up, instead of, or in addition to the red "Delete" button. Many times, if my phone is not locked or asleep, and I go to pick it up from a table, by the time I hold it up to do something, Clippy has popped up because I inadvertently did something with my finger on the screen.

Overall, Clippy is quite annoying, but I use it anyway because I need the cut-n-paste feature. I'm counting on the author to tweak it to make it less intrusive.

You are right. Wouldn't just increasing the delay for Clippy to pop up fix the problem? I don't think anyone would mind having to wait 1 extra second holding something you want to copy...

Wildonrio,

Are you aware that hClipboard can copy non-editable text within web pages? Using two simple bookmarklets, it's pretty simple.
Yes, I have that bookmarklet (only one for me by the way), but the way it works is it makes the webpage into editable text to get hClipboard to be able to copy it. Do your bookmarklets copy text without turning it into editable first?

[Psonyk]

It's sad because with v0.95-4 of Clippy, regardless of how I tapped the screen, I would almost never get the prompt to copy, as if the feature wasn't even available to me.

So I decided to install hClipboard.

Yesterday, I upgraded to Clippy v0.95-5 and, like everyone else, was getting the copy pop-up if I looked at my iPhone a bit crooked.

Now, combine this with the fact that Safari kept crashing even though I wasn't even copying anything (try downscrolling a page with the latest Clippy) and I unfortunately got annoyed enough to uninstall Clippy. I'll reinstall it whenever it's a bit more. ahem, stable.

In the meantime, I'm more than content with hClipboard. Oh and there's an update for that one too.

:)

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Gotcha, I thought you thought there was no way to select certain portions of text, with the way you said how it "captures tons of text and tries to display it (wrong!)". It doesn't need to capture all that text, but it's there as an option



You are right. Wouldn't just increasing the delay for Clippy to pop up fix the problem? I don't think anyone would mind having to wait 1 extra second holding something you want to copy...


Yes, I have that bookmarklet (only one for me by the way), but the way it works is it makes the webpage into editable text to get hClipboard to be able to copy it. Do your bookmarklets copy text without turning it into editable first?

No - the text is made editable first, which I really haven't had a problem with so far.

[eye-Fone]

You are right. Wouldn't just increasing the delay for Clippy to pop up fix the problem? I don't think anyone would mind having to wait 1 extra second holding something you want to copy...
He could give us a configurable setting and let us decide how long we want to wait (or not wait). Seems simple enough, but you never know. :smile:

[toothdoc]

I uninstalled the latest version of Clippy. It kept crashing Safari. I agree, to me it took 2 steps backward. Ill wait and see what the updates bring. But for now HCB is working fine

[wildonrio]

The latest Clippy update is perfect guys. If you've uninstalled it, go ahead and reinstall it and you will be pleasantly surprised. Works great!

[ZR_Yancy]

It keeps locking up & crashing my phone. It seems to have a problem with landscape orientation.

[PepeRB29]

^clippy just updated, seems to be awesome so far, just an FYI

[ZR_Yancy]

I installed it about an hour ago when the update was announced but it keeps freakin out.

[PepeRB29]

works fine for me :)

[ZR_Yancy]

works fine for me :)

When it happened, I was attempting to copy the url from a Flickr image & paste it on this forum. I was also in landscape orientation. When I attempt to copy in landscape, it gives the copy/stack menu in portrait orientation which displays the words vertically & not horizontally.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I think I'll keep hClipboard, which has never "freaked out" on me and has been absolutely stable and easy to use from the beginning.

[wildonrio]

I think I'll keep hClipboard, which has never "freaked out" on me and has been absolutely stable and easy to use from the beginning.
Problem is, as nice as hClipboard is, it only copies editable text. Clippy copies ANY text in any app on the phone, all you do is hold your finger over the text for a couple seconds and a copy/paste window pops up. I say use both hClipboard and Clippy in tandem as they both have their strengths.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

How is the newest iteration of Clippy at web pages?

[ZR_Yancy]

I think the reason why clippy isn't working too well for me because it doesn't play well with Intelliscreen. Maybe an update will fix it because I really like clippy's UI and ease of use(when it's working).

[eye-Fone]

I have the latest Clippy (v0.96) and it, by far, is the best iteration yet. I would say it is ready for production (v1.0).

We've all seen how the author has changed the logic from release to release (many times in a major way), but this one seems to be the one. I love it!

I use Intelliscreen and it is totally compatible. Great job, Ryan!

[bulls6pack]

I must be living under a rock. But are these only available if your phone is jailbroken. I didnt see either of them in the app store! Sorry for being in the dark!

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

I must be living under a rock. But are these only available if your phone is jailbroken. I didnt see either of them in the app store! Sorry for being in the dark!

They're only available through Cydia on jailbroken iPhones.

[wildonrio]

I must be living under a rock. But are these only available if your phone is jailbroken. I didnt see either of them in the app store! Sorry for being in the dark!
This app alone is reason enough to jailbreak...

[Psonyk]

Can anyone tell me if it's gotten easier to select text in Clippy ?

I uninstalled it because 1. it would never highlight despite all my efforts to tap twice at the same place. Please tell me it's not so friggin' hard anymore and 2. I found out it was crashing Safari for no good reason. As soon as I wrote more than 15 words in a text box in Safari, the browser would start freaking out and entire phrases got deleted because the Delete button got stuck (tapping the button did squat to stop the deleting process) or chinese characters would randomly appear out of nowhere (I'm french-canadian, I don't have any chinese language packs installed).

Surprizingly enough, as soon as I uninstalled Clippy, these problems dissappeared.

So if anyone who has Clippy installed are having similar issues, I'll wait for something a bit better from the Clippy crew. :)

[wildonrio]

Can anyone tell me if it's gotten easier to select text in Clippy ?

I uninstalled it because 1. it would never highlight despite all my efforts to tap twice at the same place. Please tell me it's not so friggin' hard anymore and 2. I found out it was crashing Safari for no good reason. As soon as I wrote more than 15 words in a text box in Safari, the browser would start freaking out and entire phrases got deleted because the Delete button got stuck (tapping the button did squat to stop the deleting process) or chinese characters would randomly appear out of nowhere (I'm french-canadian, I don't have any chinese language packs installed).

Surprizingly enough, as soon as I uninstalled Clippy, these problems dissappeared.

So if anyone who has Clippy installed are having similar issues, I'll wait for something a bit better from the Clippy crew. :)
You're talking about the update a couple weeks ago and yes, it sucked. The new one is eons ahead of the old one, selecting text is easy and Safari crashes no more. It's worth your time to try it again.