In the Linux desktop version I can create a new list item (and checkbox) by pressing ENTER at the end of a line. A new item is inserted just below and even the indent is preserved.
This feature is missing in the Android version. I have to enter "- [ ] " manually every time which is even more difficult on a smartphone.
If would be nice to have it on a smartphone as well.
I requested this feature yesterday. Apparently this behavior cannot be achieved on Android at the moment.
I’m aware that this is not going to be a viable option for a lot of people but what I ended up doing was downloading and configuring Multiling O Keyboard to have markdown shortcuts in the suggestion bar:
Thanks @Shamp0o, that could be useful to some so I’ll add an entry about it in the FAQ linking to your post.
Great minds think alike 
Thanks for the tip
Great tip, I am just strating with Joplin and it wil surely save my fingers !
Tiping the checkbox is the real pain to me...
I would lik to thank everybody from joplin as it is really changing my life from a paper cluttered one to a digitalized stream of notes, logs and journal I use to write.
By teh way Irediscovered Markdown and applied it with much pleasure.
The webdav compatibility allows me to sync everything with my Pcloud wich is beyond my expectations.
BIG THANKS ! 
I think you can have these shortcuts on any Android keyboard by adding shortcuts to your Personal Dictionary which is in the Language & input section of Settings of your device, rather than the keyboard itself.
