What?
A quick article on how to replace the return key on a soft keyboard (software based) on a touch-device.

Why?
I have an editText where a user can enter any text value but if they typed a return character, the app would crash because it didn't understand the data. I tried replacing the new lines but just stopping the return key or trying to catch it is an obsolete method.

How?
The following example replaces the return key with a "GO" key:

The XML 
<EditText
        android:id="@+id/myEditText"
        android:hint="Location: City, Zip ..."
        android:imeOptions="actionGo"
        android:inputType="text">
</EditText>

The Java 
EditText location = (EditText)findViewById(R.id.editTextLoc);
location.setOnEditorActionListener(new TextView.OnEditorActionListener() {
        @Override
        public boolean onEditorAction(TextView v, int actionId, KeyEvent event) {
                boolean handled = false;
                if (actionId == EditorInfo.IME_ACTION_GO) {
                        openMap(v);  // do function on pressing the word GO
                        handled = true;
                }
                return handled;
        }
});

Other Noteworthy Actions

android:inputType
In some cases, this will change the keyboard layout (eg. Numbers) 
text                    // Normal text
textNoSuggestions       // No suggestions/autocorrect
textEmailAddress        // valid email address
textPersonName          // name of a person
textPostalAddress       // standard postal address
textPassword            // password type field
textVisiblePassword     // um...
textPhonetic            // text that will sound like
number                  // changes keyboard to numeric
numberDecimal           // allow a decimal number
phone                   // enter a phone number
datetime                // enter a date and time
date                    // selectable date
time                    // selectable time

android:imeOptions
normal
actionUnspecified
actionNone
actionGo
actionSearch
actionSend
actionNext
actionDone
actionPrevious
IME_ACTION(s)
IME_ACTION_DONE         // the action key performs a "done" operation, typically meaning there is nothing more to input and the IME will be closed.
IME_ACTION_GO           // the action key performs a "go" operation to take the user to the target of the text they typed.
IME_ACTION_NEXT         // the action key performs a "next" operation, taking the user to the next field that will accept text.
IME_ACTION_NONE         // there is no available action.
IME_ACTION_PREVIOUS     // like IME_ACTION_NEXT, but for moving to the previous field.
IME_ACTION_SEARCH       // the action key performs a "search" operation, taking the user to the results of searching for the text they have typed (in whatever context is appropriate).
IME_ACTION_SEND         // the action key performs a "send" operation, delivering the text to its target.
IME_ACTION_UNSPECIFIED  // no specific action has been associated with this editor, let the editor come up with its own if it can.

Source(s)