iOS Custom Keyboard Megathread

[tosbsas]

I am struggling with fleksy. I see suggestions but they are let and I don't get how to choose them.

Anyone else seeing the broken shortcuts support in Swype. I am so p::::::::: that I can't use it anymore as before.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I am struggling with fleksy. I see suggestions but they are let and I don't get how to choose them.

Anyone else seeing the broken shortcuts support in Swype. I am so p::::::::: that I can't use it anymore as before.

I think you have to swipe up or something to switch between the suggested words? I know that swiping to the right does a space, swiping left deletes a letter.

 

[dereknas]

I think you have to swipe up or something to switch between the suggested words? I know that swiping to the right does a space, swiping left deletes a letter.

The suggestions appear in between rows, you need to swipe up from directly underneath them then it will select the word.

 

[iEyeEye]

The suggestions appear in between rows, you need to swipe up from directly underneath them then it will select the word.

Er, not quite. With Fleksy, swiping up anywhere on the keyboard has the same effect, which is to select the word to the left of the currently highlighted one (in the three-word suggestion list). Swiping down selects the word to the right.

If you're at the leftmost word, swiping up adds or removes it from the dictionary.

http://feedback.fleksy.com/knowledgebase/articles/424810-1-how-to-type-using-fleksy

 

[pacorob]

I will add the below two keyboards to the topic start:

-Markdown Keyboard | 4,99 dollar

-ProType | 2,99 dollar

 

[Jessica Lares]

I really like the Markdown keyboard. I actually have mine setup like iKeywi and just have numbers for the first row and then I just swipe whenever I need the other stuff, It's kinda slow to use it for general shortcuts though (I said this in another post), but I keep some symbols like a star, the Apple logo, command key, etc that I copied from Symbolay.

The biggest issue is that a lot of these MD editors all have their own bar. Drafts gave us a way to turn the one it comes with off in its last update, and I think I couldn't turn the one off in Write, but it's getting better.

Apparently ProType doesn't have autocorrect. I still have it in my wishlist.

 

[pacorob]

I really like the Markdown keyboard. I actually have mine setup like iKeywi and just have numbers for the first row and then I just swipe whenever I need the other stuff, It's kinda slow to use it for general shortcuts though (I said this in another post), but I keep some symbols like a star, the Apple logo, command key, etc that I copied from Symbolay.

The biggest issue is that a lot of these MD editors all have their own bar. Drafts gave us a way to turn the one it comes with off in its last update, and I think I couldn't turn the one off in Write, but it's getting better.

Apparently ProType doesn't have autocorrect. I still have it in my wishlist.

Do you know if Markdown keyboard needs full access in order to work? I couldn't find it on their website and/or description in the App Store.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Do you know if Markdown keyboard needs full access in order to work? I couldn't find it on their website and/or description in the App Store.

Yes, they do. It's because they can't write the custom shortcuts otherwise.

 

[dahauss]

Does anyone use path keyboard? I'm trying it now but it has no next word prediction and many times while i swipe the correct word it doesn't know and I need to select the correct word. I'm kind of thinking touchpal works better as it seems to predict the words much better. Anyone care to comment?

No comments?

 

[danny8200]

Currently using Fleksy. It's also growing on me.

 

[pacorob]

No comments?

I'm using Path Input on my iPad mini2 but the word prediction won't work i think as long as you keep 'full access' turned off. I don't want full access to be on so I'm ignoring word suggestions/predictions in the first place.
I do think that it has quite a nice keyboard layout on the iPad and swiping works great but when you want to type a word without swiping it's pretty bad to use.

 

[generalgeek]

Curious about who would buy a hardware keyboard for their iPhone - seems a little crazy, no?

Zagg (which makes great tablet keyboards) just released one for iPhone 6:
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/974125

(about halfway down the page.)

 

[Jessica Lares]

Curious about who would buy a hardware keyboard for their iPhone - seems a little crazy, no?

Zagg (which makes great tablet keyboards) just released one for iPhone 6:
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/974125

(about halfway down the page.)

It's not crazy when you look at how people were using their PDAs back then. I was perfectly fine zipping my way poking with a stylus on my Pocket PC, but lots of people had keyboards. I had a friend when I was in middle school who used to type his papers on his Palm with one (I know, it's crazy - I knew four people my age who had these things then).

I have the 5S and I'm perfectly fine with it, and would like to have a newer iPhone that size again, but if I have to go bigger, yeah, I am going to go for a physical keyboard and stand. It's either that, or I'm going to have to use a handwriting recognition keyboard, and so far I haven't found one that is very good - They all focus on individual letters, or they don't submit once you stop writing. But really, iOS would benefit from a built-in systemwide handwriting system like the Newton had.

It would be interesting if they made a stand that hooked at the bottom of the Apple wireless keyboard that made it sit flat (not slanted), which you would then pull out when needed. Because it would make it a little less awkward to throw in a bag.

 

[danny8200]

An annoying flaw with all third party keyboards on iOS is that sometimes the app freezes and you have to force close and reopen it again, but I've heard this is a bug with iOS itself and not the keyboard software.

 

[dahauss]

ai.type?

Does AI.Type do anything? No word suggestions... no Swipe.. NADA...

Just wondering if I am doing something wrong....

 

[dahauss]

NinType

Just started playing with NINTYPE and I think this will be my new default keyboard. the SWIPE feature is pretty accurate and it seems to almost always get the word prediction right, Unlike Path and other keyboards I have loaded.
It also as a TON of options.

Anyone care to comment on what they like or do not like about this keyboard?

 

[IrishVixen]

Just started playing with NINTYPE and I think this will be my new default keyboard. the SWIPE feature is pretty accurate and it seems to almost always get the word prediction right, Unlike Path and other keyboards I have loaded.
It also as a TON of options.

Anyone care to comment on what they like or do not like about this keyboard?

So far, I feel like I'm the only one who dislikes it! I've had a couple of months using Swype now on both the 6 and the iPad mini, so I'm reasonably comfortable with the motions. Nintype just doesn't seem to give me the right word as often. I badly want to like it for the customization options, but so far it just doesn't do it for me.

(Yes, I recognize this is probably an issue of not enough practice, but I picked up using Swype in about an hour. Without even enabling a tenth of Nintype's features, I'm already far too frustrated to use it in basic swiping mode.)

 

[Stuntman06]

An annoying flaw with all third party keyboards on iOS is that sometimes the app freezes and you have to force close and reopen it again, but I've heard this is a bug with iOS itself and not the keyboard software.

I haven't encountered the app freezing with third party keyboards. On the iPhone 5S and on certain apps, it has issues when you are in landscape. I noticed that some apps that had recent updates no longer had the landscape issue. At least now that many of the apps have been updated, I have been using Swype regularly and have not encountered the app freezing on me.

 

[danny8200]

This mainly happens with the messages app, but sometimes with others. I'm using Fleksy. Have you used this keyboard before?

 

[dahauss]

So far, I feel like I'm the only one who dislikes it! I've had a couple of months using Swype now on both the 6 and the iPad mini, so I'm reasonably comfortable with the motions. Nintype just doesn't seem to give me the right word as often. I badly want to like it for the customization options, but so far it just doesn't do it for me.



(Yes, I recognize this is probably an issue of not enough practice, but I picked up using Swype in about an hour. Without even enabling a tenth of Nintype's features, I'm already far too frustrated to use it in basic swiping mode.)

I think the keyboard is pretty good. The only thing is that I can't figure out how to do auto punctuation. I also wish it had the emoji graphics so I don't have to switch to that keyboard.

 

[dahauss]

An annoying flaw with all third party keyboards on iOS is that sometimes the app freezes and you have to force close and reopen it again, but I've heard this is a bug with iOS itself and not the keyboard software.

I have the issue with dealnews. With most keyboards except stock and swype the program crashes.

 

[iEyeEye]

Nintype thoughts

...
Anyone care to comment on what they like or do not like about this keyboard?

Pros:
- Two-finger simultaneous swiping.
- Tap or swipe or combine the two at will - it's amazingly fast with a bit of practice.
- The dictionary is very customizable, including setting word "preference" rankings.
- Fully resizable keyboard with save options - I've a preset for "full" (two thumbs) and another for "right" (when typing with right thumb only).
- Many different types of user-defined shortcuts: iOS shortcuts accessible via tap-and-hold on the shift key, two-finger gesture shortcuts, slide-key shortcuts (top and bottom rows), and tap-and-hold any key shortcuts. The latter two allow multiple shortcuts to be defined from each key (awesome).
- Cursor movement via sliding spacebar.
- Dismiss keyboard shortcut (slide down from shift key) lets me get rid of the keyboard on my iPhone just like my iPad.
- Unique backspace key functionality - tap to delete word, slide to delete characters. The slide delete functionality is very accurate and precise.
- Unique "undelete" functionality - if you backspace too many characters you can slide right from the shift key to regain those lost characters.
- Ability to change a word's case with ease (you don't have to erase the word or go back to the first letter, delete it, and retype it with the proper case).
- Full Access isn't required for anything. In fact, it's the only third-party keyboard I've used that doesn't _allow_ Full Access.

Cons:
- The dictionary is weak; many words that I think should be there aren't.
- Realizing that the word you just typed isn't in the dictionary and adding it to the dictionary is a slightly arduous process.
- No sound (I like my keys to click).
- No documentation other than the tutorial video and what you can glean from Jormy's reddit pages.

Meh:
- All the eye candy, when enabled, makes it look like you're playing a video game. I have most of it turned off.
- Emoji support is cumbersome. I've assigned my often-used Emojis to shortcut keys so this isn't a big deal #, and the next release addresses this, but I haven't seen it yet.
- The fact that Nintype has *so many options* seems to overwhelm many people. I'm a tech geek and love a gazillion options, but they could be better organized (and Jormy's working on this).

There's a lot more to like and/or dislike; I've just scratched the surface of what's important to me. IMHO, Nintype is far and away the best iOS keyboard available (at any price) but it's not right for everyone.

---

Sent from my iPhone 6 via Nintype.

 

[dahauss]

How are you even getting those emoji (like the happy face) with this keyboard?

 

[iEyeEye]

How are you even getting those emoji (like the happy face) with this keyboard?

The exact steps will vary depending on what type of shortcut you want to use - my example will assign a smiley to the tap-and-hold shortcut for the 's' key.

Ensure that
Options -> Accents / SMS Saver -> Enable accents chooser
is checked.

From your favorite notes app (or Messages, or wherever):

1. Type the smiley with whatever emoji-friendly keyboard you've got.
2. Switch to Nintype, make sure the cursor's just to the right of the smiley.
3. Tap and hold the 's' key.
4. When the key popup appears, you'll see a thumbtack (or two or more, depending on your other settings) which will quickly spin into a pencil as you continue holding.
5. Slide to the position you want for the shortcut (if you have multiple shortcuts allowed).
5. Release your hold. You'll see a "Replace accent to shortcut?" popup window.
6. Tap and hold on the smiley shown. You may see two smileys here, it doesn't matter which one you tap and hold.
7. Keep holding until you see a yellow circle around your finger, then release.
8. Done.
9. #

As with almost everything I've discovered in Nintype, telling someone about it takes fifty times longer than actually doing it - the above process takes me about three seconds to accomplish.

HTH

 

[dahauss]

iOS 8 Custom Keyboard Megathread

Thanks