Portable electronic device having touch-sensitive display with variable repeat rate

1. A method of controlling touch input on a touch-sensitive display of a portable electronic device, the method comprising:

displaying a keyboard having at least one button on the touch-sensitive display, the at least one button being activatable by a first control input for a single instance of a text editing action;

providing an input element separate from the at least one button, the input element being activatable to activate a variable repeat control mode;

when the variable repeat control mode is activated:

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeating the text editing action associated with the at least one button of the keyboard at an input rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated:

disabling ability of the second control input to cause repeated text editing action and reverting to enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the text editing action.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rate is proportional to the second control input.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second control input is a touch gesture detected by the touch-sensitive display, and the rate is dependent on a speed of the detected touch gesture or a travel distance of the detected touch gesture.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the text editing action is repeated a defined number of times defined by a travel distance of the detected touch gesture, wherein the text editing action is performed once for every length of a threshold distance travelled by a centroid of the touch gesture.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the threshold distance is 10 linear pixels, wherein the text editing action is performed once for every length of 10 linear pixels travelled by the centroid of the touch gesture.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second control input is a touch gesture detected by the touch-sensitive display, wherein the rate is proportional to a distance of a centroid of the touch gesture from a location of the button.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the location of the at least one button is an edge of the at least one button.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the location is a centroid of the touch input activating the at least one button.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the rate is increased in response to movement of the centroid in a first direction and decreased in response to movement of the centroid in a second direction generally opposite to the first direction.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

when the variable repeat control mode is activated, repeating the text editing action at a default interval in the absence of the second control input.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the variable repeat control mode is activated, the text editing action is not repeated in the absence of the second control input.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying the at least one button in a first visual state when the variable repeat control mode of the at least one button is not activated;

displaying the at least one button in a second visual state different from the first visual state when the variable repeat control mode of the at least one button is activated.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein a visual indication of the predetermined control input for varying the rate of repeating the action is displayed on the touch-sensitive display when the variable repeat control mode is activated.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein a variable repeat control mode area is defined for receiving the second control input.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein a visual indication of the variable repeat control mode area is displayed on the keyboard when the variable repeat control mode is activated.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input element separate from the at least one button is a hardware element of the portable electronic device.

17. An electronic device, comprising:

a processor;

a touch-sensitive display having a touch-sensitive overlay coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured for causing:

displaying a keyboard having at least one button on the touch-sensitive display, the at least one button being activatable by a first control input for a single instance of a text editing action; providing an input element separate from the at least one button, the input element being activatable to activate a variable repeat control mode;

when the variable repeat control mode is activated:

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeating the text editing action associated with the at least one button of the keyboard at an input rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated:

disabling ability of the second control input to cause repeated text editing action and reverting to enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the text editing action.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of a portable electronic device having a touch-sensitive display, causes the portable electronic device to:

display a keyboard having at least one button on the touch-sensitive display, the at least one button being activatable by a first control input for a single instance of a text editing action;

provide an input element separate from the at least one button, the input element being activatable to activate a variable repeat control mode;

when the variable repeat control mode is activated:

in response to receipt of a second control input, repeat the text editing action associated with the at least one button of the keyboard at an input rate dependent on the second control input; and

when the variable repeat control mode is not activated:

disable ability of the second control input to cause repeated text editing action and revert to enabling the first control input to cause a single instance of the text editing action.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the second control input is a touch gesture detected by the touch-sensitive display, and the rate is dependent on a speed of the detected touch gesture or a travel distance of the detected touch gesture.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the text editing action is repeated a defined number of times defined by a travel distance of the detected touch gesture, wherein the text editing action is performed once for every length of a threshold distance travelled by a centroid of the touch gesture.