3rd part keyboards have so many issues even on iOS 8.0.2

[saintforlife]

I have Swype and SwiftKey installed on my iPhone 6, with Swype being my preferred keyboard. However the keyboard freezes up randomly when using with iMessages and stop responding to any input. I have to switch to a different app like Mail and change the keyboard there to standard and then switch back to the Messages apps to continue. This is just one of the many annoyances with iOS 8 keyboards.

Any idea when Apple and the 3rd party keyboards will figure this out? Will all these bugs be fixed by 8.0.3?

 

[chanl]

I gave up on third party keyboards. None of them fully work. Too much hassle. I'll just punch in the keys until another update.

 

[Tubamajuba]

I have Swype and SwiftKey installed on my iPhone 6, with Swype being my preferred keyboard. However the keyboard freezes up randomly when using with iMessages and stop responding to any input. I have to switch to a different app like Mail and change the keyboard there to standard and then switch back to the Messages apps to continue. This is just one of the many annoyances with iOS 8 keyboards.

Any idea when Apple and the 3rd party keyboards will figure this out? Will all these bugs be fixed by 8.0.3?

It's up to the developers to fix the issues and push out the updates. It's up to Apple to find a way to quickly get through the huge backlog of new apps and updates that they have right now. I don't think very much of the issue is with iOS itself, but I might be wrong.

 

[Lloydbm41]

I have Swype and SwiftKey installed on my iPhone 6, with Swype being my preferred keyboard. However the keyboard freezes up randomly when using with iMessages and stop responding to any input. I have to switch to a different app like Mail and change the keyboard there to standard and then switch back to the Messages apps to continue. This is just one of the many annoyances with iOS 8 keyboards.

Any idea when Apple and the 3rd party keyboards will figure this out? Will all these bugs be fixed by 8.0.3?

So far, TouchPal has worked perfectly for me. Better than Swiftkey and Swype because it has numbers and special characters accessible either by long press or a quick swipe up or down (depending on which key it is).
Also like that it has emoji built in. Best keyboard so far IMO.

 

[eipangan]

Any idea when Apple and the 3rd party keyboards will figure this out? Will all these bugs be fixed by 8.0.3?

iOS 8.1 is already available in BETA for developers and I heard there are some fixes for third party keyboards, e.g. the blank keyboard issue, etc. I'm guessing 8.1 will be made available to the public on October 16, together with the iPad/iMac event.

 

[Ardmanz]

So far, TouchPal has worked perfectly for me. Better than Swiftkey and Swype because it has numbers and special characters accessible either by long press or a quick swipe up or down (depending on which key it is).
Also like that it has emoji built in. Best keyboard so far IMO.

Swype also allows you to do this but the characters are hidden for some reason(IE if you hold "Q" you'll get "1").

I'm using Swype and the only problem I find with it is that it sometimes defaults it back to the stock iOS keyboard, only takes a second to change back though.

 

[pacorob]

iOS 8.1 is already available in BETA for developers and I heard there are some fixes for third party keyboards, e.g. the blank keyboard issue, etc. I'm guessing 8.1 will be made available to the public on October 16, together with the iPad/iMac event.

Apple did say that a bug was fixed in iOS8.1 beta 1 related to third party keyboards

Third-party keyboards work with Guided Access enabled

(source: topic here at macrumors)

This is on Apple release notes page for 8.1 Beta in regards to the keyboard(s):

Fixed in iOS 8.1 Beta
Network access gets disabled after adding a new keyboard from the same bundle.
Custom Keyboards may go blank after app switching.
Known Issue
3rd party keyboards may not appear in Safari, Maps or 3rd party apps on the Simulator.

Workaround: Keyboards should be testable in Calendar, Spotlight, Contacts, and Photos.

source: Apple.com)

Known issues still in 8.1 beta 2:

* Deleting an Apple Keyboard and having only a 3rd party one results in only the Apple keyboard coming up.
* Still have been able to get the keyboard to not show. Spotlight just did it to me.

Check the major list of 3rd party keyboards in this topic.

I really like the Path Input keyboard app. The (separate) iPad version of the Path Input app is even free untill the 11th of October.

 

[WordMasterRice]

It's up to the developers to fix the issues and push out the updates. It's up to Apple to find a way to quickly get through the huge backlog of new apps and updates that they have right now. I don't think very much of the issue is with iOS itself, but I might be wrong.

You are partly wrong. Even in 8.1 there are still a lot of issues with keyboards on Apples side.

Probably the biggest example is only having emoji on the lock screen. There are plenty of other issues that are on Apples side though.

 

[Ergates-thi-Ant]

I simply have a massive lack of trust for giving the third party keyboards the sort of access to my phone that they require. Not going to install them.

 

[XboxMySocks]

e.g. the blank keyboard issue, etc.

Still getting it on 8.1,2 :/

 

[fishmd]

3rd part keyboards have so many issues even on iOS 8.0.2

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the blank or no keyboard popping up when I go into iMessage sometimes to text is driving me nuts. (other apps too, but especially texting) If I wasn't so used to swipe for my texting from Android I would have given up already.

 

[pacorob]

I simply have a massive lack of trust for giving the third party keyboards the sort of access to my phone that they require. Not going to install them.

There are 3rd party keyboards out there which do not need full access to work. Although some would like to give you better word predictions but this is NOT needed. So you can click Decline.

Try for example Swype, Path Input of you would like a swipe keyboard. They both ask for full access but if you reject you can still perfectly use them and do not give access to your key strokes. Please check the general 3rd party keyboard megathread to read more about this.

 

[Stuntman06]

Swype also allows you to do this but the characters are hidden for some reason(IE if you hold "Q" you'll get "1").

I think this feature is not that useful unless you actually display what the long press symbol is. Swype (and others) show the symbol on the key you get when you do a long press on Android. I don't know why they don't do the same on iOS.

I also notice that on Android the letters on the keys are in lower case when you are typing in lower case. The letters change to upper case if you are typing in upper case. I would also like to see this on the iOS third party keyboards.

 

[Indecisi0n]

All I want is a OEM keyboard that stretches fully with only keys and not all that extra junk added. WTF was apple thinking when they constructed this new layout.



Hmmm lets make the phone larger but keep the keep spacing the same. Simply idiotic.