Typing long vowels

[Mandopicker]

I understand in typing in hiragana, to type a long vowel you just type the vowel a second time. In katakana a long vowel is represented by a 「ー 」and it is not a symbol that is used in hiragana.

In typing vocabulary in WaniKani that uses katakana, why is it that the system does not recognize the long vowels if you type the answer in hiragana unless you use the katakana 「ー」character?

For example, the vocabulary word テーブルの上 meaning on the table or tabletop. The word table 「テーブル」 is a borrowed word so it is typed in katakana normally. The issue I am having is in both the WaniKani website and the flaming durtles app, it is difficult to type the answer using katakana so i am using hiragana. The first reading is typed in hiragana but uses the katakana character ー for the long vowel.

I typed the answer in hiragana as てえぶるのうえ and it is considered wrong even though that should be the same thing using all hiragana characters. My question is, should the ー be used in writing responses using all hiragana for long vowels?

[Wantitled]

You can just type びーだま with a - (minus) and the IME should convert it into ー

[pembo]

I might be barking up the wrong tree but are there actually any Japanese (not loan words) that have a long え vowel?

I thought only あ い お/う could be long vowels hence why typing てえぶる isn’t a correct answer?

[Mandopicker]

There are a few japanese (not loan words) that have a long え sound. One example is おねえさん.

[Gorbit99]

Long え is usually represented with えい, like せんせい, but just like with おう vs おお, there are a few words where ええ shows up, like with ねえ as @Mandopicker mentioned

[Belthazar]

You’ll frequently find “ramen” written on shop signs as らーめん, so yeah, the vowel extender mark is used for hiragana even in real Japanese, in certain circumstances.