Correcting input when setting keyboard focus

In order to get proper UI navigation using this excellent plugin, I have found it necessary to Set Keyboard Focus on a specific UMG widget. However I have quickly found out that this completely disables my character input. This presents two problems:

  • I cannot “back out” of the UI using a standard input event. This is caused by my Character losing input events (since I switched focus) and UMG widgets not supporting input events.
  • Existing input continues at its last state when focus was shifted. For example:
  • Hold forward on control stick
  • Create UMG widget, switch focus to new widget
  • Let go of control stick
  • Character continues running forward

How can I gracefully handle input on my character when switching to/from a UI widget?