Wrio Keyboard for iOS Claims up to 70% Faster Typing Speed

[tom.humphrey]

This.

People getting up in arms because an app or keyboard is $3 annoys my especially when stopping for a $3 snack isn't even a second thought. The snack lasts 5 minutes people, the app/keyboard lasts "forever". Priorities you know.

The snack gives you energy and possibly nutrition depending on your choice to go about your day. The app lasts "forever" if you like it and the developers continue supporting and developing it successfully over years to come. However this is highly unlikely due to lots of possibilities and having no reassurance about either of those means people are more hesitant. It's quite simple to understand why and is quite a poor comparison.

With regards to getting up in arms about the pricing and your annoyance. People review apps all the time. Their set price point is part of the app and should also be considered in the review. For this if the full price had been around £1-£1.50 they'd probably have had a customer this morning. However, as they chose to price it around £5 they lost out on business and I don't seem to be the only one who thinks this way.

If your priorities are truly aimed at purchasing apps to test over feeding yourself - I think you seriously need to re-evaluate some things.

Disclaimer: This is purely opinion and talking about developers has no connection to Wrio.

 

[utdrmac]

This.

People getting up in arms because an app or keyboard is $3 annoys me especially when stopping for a $3 snack isn't even a second thought. The snack lasts 5 minutes people, the app/keyboard lasts "forever". Priorities you know.

For those of us who do NOT stop for a $3 snack, this is a big deal. Maybe I'm just frugal, but seeing a snack for $3 would make me pause as well. I don't drink $5 coffee either. Money is important to me (my priority) and I don't spend it unless necessary. Out of the 40-50 apps on my iPhone, I think I've paid $1 for no more than 2 of them.

Feel free to gift me the app since $3 isn't a big deal to you.

 

[macfacts]

Today on Mythbusters, we will determine if iOS users spend more on apps than android users.

 

[MysteriousStain]

And they say monetization on iOS is highest. What a bunch of cheapskates. This just encourages developers to cram their apps full of ads - that other thing you complain about.

 

[smacrumon]

How genuine are the claims of "speeding up typing by between 20 and 70 percent" for all these extra keyboards one can add to iOS?

The fastest way to type in my experience is to use the microphone to dictate the message, then review and send.

Are these keyboards not just a marketing trend and another chance for Apple to scrape another 30% from developer sales?

 

[benjitek]

Another day, another iOS keyboard. So far, my favorite has been gBoard -- but even that one was uninstalled after 5 minutes. If I can't use 3D-Touch to turn the keyboard into a touchpad to move the cursor around, a keyboard is 'unusable' to me. Must be something Apple hasn't included in the API, as no 3rd party keyboard supports it.

 

[DiceMoney]

I tend to use Fleksy the most out any keyboard. Though I do tend to make mistakes when hitting the spacebar, and hitting the (.) dot that is right next to it.

I wish I could get 24 hour test drive on this keyboard. To see if is worth it.

 

[damant]

$3 to be a guinea pig !? ...
No thanks.

 

[Martinpa]

The one thing that really interests me with this is the language thing, and adapting to me switching languages it seems...

I speak to some people in English, others in French, and then sometimes, within the same conversation (or the same sentence), I'll switch from one to the other... There are probably a lot of Spanish-speaking individuals in the US in a similar situation...

As it is now, you have to switch manually, and then when you forget, you end up with an awful sentence that has been autocorrected in the wrong language.

Apple should look into it, actually...

 

[Jessica Lares]

Congrats on a successful Kickstarter. Always good to see projects that actually ship after being crowdsourced.

Pretty sure I've seen Android keyboards with similar layouts in the past. The inclusion of the extra keys within the letters is really smart. I'm sure a lot of people will like that.

 

[LordBeelzebub]

I was really excited when 3rd party keyboards were announced, now years later I'm still using Apple's default keyboard.

That's because all other keyboards are nothing more than a gimmick, trying to be something "new" and "different" to get you to use them and get your money in return all while invading your privacy by tracking what you type. This keyboard isn't any different, just someone else trying to get you to believe their keyboard is revolutionary.

 

[C DM]

That's because all other keyboards are nothing more than a gimmick, trying to be something "new" and "different" to get you to use them and get your money in return all while invading your privacy by tracking what you type. This keyboard isn't any different, just someone else trying to get you to believe their keyboard is revolutionary.

Or some of them might actually have something to them.

 

[waterskier2007]

The fastest way to type in my experience is to use the microphone to dictate the message, then review and send.

A lot of people use their phones in situations where speak-to-text are not optimal. I don't feel like speaking my texts out loud when I am at my desk at work, which is a significant chunk of my day.

 

[Big_Berny]

@Big_Berny I wish there was to test drive this before schlepping out $4 only to find out I don't like it. Could you put a free 24-48 hour app on the App Store? That would give people like me plenty of time to test it out. $4 is pricy for a simple keyboard. My personal issue with typing on iPhone is something I am hoping your keyboard addresses, the size of the keys. Visually, it looks like my thumb is pressing 'r' but the skin contact actually presses 't'. I've wishing for a keyboard that let you actually edit the layout of the keys. If I could move the 'r' a few pixels to the right, my own accuracy would increase. Seeing your slightly larger keys makes me think this would help. But going back to my original point, $4 up front is too much to ask. Make your keyboard, free, with a timeout or after X,000 characters typed, it locks and you need to do an in-app purchase of $4 to unlock full functionality. Gives everyone the ability to decide if it's worth it. Cheers!

Considering that amount of time a keyboard is used we think that charging for the app is reasonable. I mean a keyboard is probably one of the apps you use most. That’s why we want to focus on quality and features which the user really want. For example WRIO Keyboard already has a dynamic layout which does exactly what you mention. It learns how you hit the keys and adjusts it automatically in the background. That way it’s already able to reduce typing errors.
[doublepost=1464300997][/doublepost]

@Big_Berny downloaded this on my iPhone. It's a very interesting idea. I'm going to give it a shot for a bit but initially it isn't as handy (pardon the pun) as something like nintype. It was a steep learning curve there too, but ever since, tapping out messages has not felt as easy or natural as swiping them.

Thanks for your hard work to put this together!

Thanks for your support and the feedback. You're right that it's difficult at the beginning but after 1-2 weeks you get faster. We will definitely try to improve that by fine-tuning the tutorial for example. Let me know what you think about the keyboard when you've used it for a bit.

 

[utdrmac]

Considering that amount of time a keyboard is used we think that charging for the app is reasonable. I mean a keyboard is probably one of the apps you use most. That’s why we want to focus on quality and features which the user really want. For example WRIO Keyboard already has a dynamic layout which does exactly what you mention. It learns how you hit the keys and adjusts it automatically in the background. That way it’s already able to reduce typing errors.

Thanks for the reply. I'm disappointed in your reply but understand your reasonings. It's one of the fundamental issues I have with both the AppStore and the MacApp Store: There's no way to test apps before buying.

When I saw others on this forum of the same opinion as mine regarding the cost, I was really hoping that would have swayed you towards a "we will release a trial version later this week" style reply and not a "pay it anyway and if you don't like it, too bad" reply.

I'm not after a completely free version; That's not what I'm asking for. Let me be clear: I would be more than happy to pay $4, heck, even $10 for the keyboard, but only AFTER I've had a chance to test it and see how well it works for me. But right now, that's not possible. That's why I am asking for a free trial version. Limited to 2,000 characters or 24 hours. After that, I would have to buy the full app and uninstall the trial app.

Best of success to you!

 

[Big_Berny]

Android phones don't have 3d touch but on the Google keyboard, it lets you swipe in the space bar to move the cursor.

Unfortunately we have no space bar.
No, of course we have it on our todo list and there are already ideas how to do it in our community.

How genuine are the claims of "speeding up typing by between 20 and 70 percent" for all these extra keyboards one can add to iOS?

The fastest way to type in my experience is to use the microphone to dictate the message, then review and send.

Are these keyboards not just a marketing trend and another chance for Apple to scrape another 30% from developer sales?

We did user tests in beta phase to check the speed. About the dictation: it might be a very good solution in some situations. But in a bus or at work I think typing is still better because it's private. About your last question: No? QWERTY keyboard layout is over 140 years old and optimized for ten fingers. Actually it was not even optimized for speed back then. They just wanted that machine mechanics' didn't get stuck. This just can't be the best solution for 1-2 finger touch writing.

Another day, another iOS keyboard. So far, my favorite has been gBoard -- but even that one was uninstalled after 5 minutes. If I can't use 3D-Touch to turn the keyboard into a touchpad to move the cursor around, a keyboard is 'unusable' to me. Must be something Apple hasn't included in the API, as no 3rd party keyboard supports it.

I don't know if it's not possible. We just couldn't implement all features in version 1.0. And it's also not useful as we want that the user can decide too what features would be useful in daily business. So WRIO is not complete yet, we will constantly try to improve it - together with the community.

The one thing that really interests me with this is the language thing, and adapting to me switching languages it seems...

I speak to some people in English, others in French, and then sometimes, within the same conversation (or the same sentence), I'll switch from one to the other... There are probably a lot of Spanish-speaking individuals in the US in a similar situation...

As it is now, you have to switch manually, and then when you forget, you end up with an awful sentence that has been autocorrected in the wrong language.

Apple should look into it, actually...

First of all in WRIO you chose one main language. This is used for the main layout of the letters. Then you can add up to 4 additional languages. From all these languages the accents will be added to your main language when holding on the "main" letter (e for éêè for example). Like this you don't have to switch the keyboard itself and you only have the accents you really need.
Autocorrection works different than in other keyboard. You don't have to switch between languages and it only learns the words you really use. That way it will do less wrong autocorrections. Additionally typing errors are reduced by dynamic layout which learns how you hit the letters (buttons) and the large buttons in general.

That's because all other keyboards are nothing more than a gimmick, trying to be something "new" and "different" to get you to use them and get your money in return all while invading your privacy by tracking what you type. This keyboard isn't any different, just someone else trying to get you to believe their keyboard is revolutionary.

I just want to make clear that WRIO Keyboard has no connection to the internet. No cloud is involved and all data stays on the device. We don't even have statistics how it's used except for the default Apple and Android informations (like number of downloads).

Thanks for all the inputs and questions!

 

[smacrumon]

Unfortunately we have no space bar.
No, of course we have it on our todo list and there are already ideas how to do it in our community.


We did user tests in beta phase to check the speed. About the dictation: it might be a very good solution in some situations. But in a bus or at work I think typing is still better because it's private. About your last question: No? QWERTY keyboard layout is over 140 years old and optimized for ten fingers. Actually it was not even optimized for speed back then. They just wanted that machine mechanics' didn't get stuck. This just can't be the best solution for 1-2 finger touch writing.


I don't know if it's not possible. We just couldn't implement all features in version 1.0. And it's also not useful as we want that the user can decide too what features would be useful in daily business. So WRIO is not complete yet, we will constantly try to improve it - together with the community.


First of all in WRIO you chose one main language. This is used for the main layout of the letters. Then you can add up to 4 additional languages. From all these languages the accents will be added to your main language when holding on the "main" letter (e for éêè for example). Like this you don't have to switch the keyboard itself and you only have the accents you really need.
Autocorrection works different than in other keyboard. You don't have to switch between languages and it only learns the words you really use. That way it will do less wrong autocorrections. Additionally typing errors are reduced by dynamic layout which learns how you hit the letters (buttons) and the large buttons in general.


I just want to make clear that WRIO Keyboard has no connection to the internet. No cloud is involved and all data stays on the device. We don't even have statistics how it's used except for the default Apple and Android informations (like number of downloads).

Thanks for all the inputs and questions!

Thanks for the reply! Good luck! Cheers

 

[Fortimir]

That's why I am asking for a free trial version. Limited to 2,000 characters or 24 hours.

If it does indeed take 1-2 weeks to become proficient, I'd suggest a full 30 day trial. At that point I've either forgotten about it, or I can't live without it.

 

[Bawstun]

No. QWERTY was heavily tested by professional typists, years and years ago, before becoming the new mainstream keyboard. It was tested which combination of letters allowed for the fastest speed, and they settled on QWERTY. As a professional typist who averages over 95 wpm, I am calling entire BS on their claim they are 20-70% faster than other keyboards. No.
[doublepost=1464582307][/doublepost]Furthermore, it is a bit concerning to me that the app's co-founder has repeated false information about QWERTY's history several times throughout the thread. While it is true QWERTY was designed primarily to prevent jams in the equipment, it is also true this was done to increase speed. Less jams, more productivity. It was found that by spacing frequently used keys further apart - it helped increase typing speed by frequently making you alternate hands in order to complete the words. Just because it's 140 years old doesn't mean a thing, we're still using the same 26 letters.

 

[C DM]

No. QWERTY was heavily tested by professional typists, years and years ago, before becoming the new mainstream keyboard. It was tested which combination of letters allowed for the fastest speed, and they settled on QWERTY. As a professional typist who averages over 95 wpm, I am calling entire BS on their claim they are 20-70% faster than other keyboards. No.
[doublepost=1464582307][/doublepost]Furthermore, it is a bit concerning to me that the app's co-founder has repeated false information about QWERTY's history several times throughout the thread. While it is true QWERTY was designed primarily to prevent jams in the equipment, it is also true this was done to increase speed. Less jams, more productivity. It was found that by spacing frequently used keys further apart - it helped increase typing speed by frequently making you alternate hands in order to complete the words. Just because it's 140 years old doesn't mean a thing, we're still using the same 26 letters.

So since the while mechanical aspect of what made QWERTY better isn't a consideration now, could there not be perhaps something that is in fact better to some degree if that aspect isn't in consideration at all and aspects of touch keyboards and thumb typing and other similar things that are in fact applicable are considered as part of it all?

 

[Bawstun]

I guess that is a possibility, but I can't really imagine how and I admit maybe it is because I am a typing purist. We can't use all 10 fingers using our phones, but the QWERTY design still ensures you switch off with opposite thumbs to complete your words with the most frequently used letters, so it's still borrowing from that same idea for efficiency and speed.