Fleksy Offers Beta Preview as Keyboard Makers Look Forward to iOS 8

[Traverse]

I tried fleksy, but didn't get the hype. I made more mistakes than on Apple's keyboard. I guess it is suppose to have super autocorrect?

I don know. I never liked swift keyboards either.

 

[ryanasimov]

Why are they called "third-party" keyboards? I'm familiar with the term and it's meaning, but since Apple makes everything in the iPhone, shouldn't any alternatives be called "second-party"?

 

[sza]

keyboard hooks...hmm

 

[bushido]

That was the old way of using custom keyboards on iOS.

iOS 8 allows you to install new keyboards direct from the App Store.

i think I have read that it has to be downloaded as an app like you used to do for emojis back in the day

 

[Zxxv]

I don't see why the keyboard plug-in has to have "full access" in the first place. It's a possible security risk, the option shouldn't even be available in the first place. Keyboard plug-in should mean no communication and no storage.

and this is why I won't bother installing any

 

[thekeyring]

Why are they called "third-party" keyboards? I'm familiar with the term and it's meaning, but since Apple makes everything in the iPhone, shouldn't any alternatives be called "second-party"?

Isn't the same true for "third-party" apps?

 

[NMBob]

I wonder if all of these guys will be using Swift to write their stuff?

And here's another vote for changing upper/lowercase characters on the keyboard. I tried that hack on an old jailbroken touch a while back and it was really nice.

 

[3bs]

Really? Wow. I'm getting around 100wpm with it, maybe I'll have to try SwiftKey...

I never got the hang of using it so I just uninstalled it and moved to stock keyboard with a few tweaks like swipeselection and showcase.

 

[JAT]

Why are they called "third-party" keyboards? I'm familiar with the term and it's meaning, but since Apple makes everything in the iPhone, shouldn't any alternatives be called "second-party"?

You are the 2nd party. If you make a keyboard, you get to call it 2nd party on your phone. For me, it's still 3rd.

 

[KieranDotW]

I wonder if it's possible for someone to make a custom KB with arrow keys... would be useful for Pages documents and just in general

 

[CarpalMac]

Omg custom KB has been on android for years!!!!!

Except one minor detail...on an iphone, the custom KB won't conflict with other operations of the phone and be one of the many reasons your android is a buggy, laggy, useless piece, despite the supposedly superior hardware (since we all know clock speed and RAM size are the only hardware benchmarks).

Clearly you do not speak from thorough experience. My Nexus 5 has been rock solid on KitKat using a custom keyboard, compared to my 4S that crashes at least 3 times a week since moving to IOS 7.

 

[JAT]

That's when a keyboard wants to communicate to the outside world. You're given the prompt before it can happen.

Every time? The article only mentioned at installation.

 

[BMcCoy]

Will I finally be able to have a keyboard with numbers along the top all the time?

 

[SMIDG3T]

Cannot wait for this in iOS 8, there are going to be so many keyboards to choose from!

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Will I finally be able to have a keyboard with numbers along the top all the time?

Yes, if the third-party provides it which I'm sure they will!

 

[rydewnd2]

Omg custom KB has been on android for years!!!!!

Except one minor detail...on an iphone, the custom KB won't conflict with other operations of the phone and be one of the many reasons your android is a buggy, laggy, useless piece, despite the supposedly superior hardware (since we all know clock speed and RAM size are the only hardware benchmarks).

These comments are so utterly useless. x feature being on y platform for years is completely irrelevant. What matters to users of iOS is that the feature is on iOS now.

 

[69Mustang]

and this is why I won't bother installing any

What exactly is the "this is why"? Are you saying:

1.A random forum post with no factual info provides confirmation bias so you won't get keyboard apps?

or

2.Since this is in beta and we don't have all the information, you're going to wait until it's finalized before judging it's worthiness?

or

3.Apple's keyboard is just fine for you?

I'm going to assume it's 2 or 3 since 1 would be sort reactionary and ill informed.

 

[diddl14]

Why are they called "third-party" keyboards? I'm familiar with the term and it's meaning, but since Apple makes everything in the iPhone, shouldn't any alternatives be called "second-party"?

If you take yourself out as being the '1st-party', your are fully correct.

 

[andrea81]

One thing that makes me dubious... While you can't make them system-wide, iOS has always allowed developers to personalize the keyboard within their apps. And this was put to good use by some developers which added relevant keys, keys that maybe make sense for that app alone. If I overwrite one of such customized keyboards with a system-wide one, will I lose the customizations made by the app developer? Or will those be two different "layers"?

 

[576316]

Immensely looking forward to having Swype on my iPhone! Probably the best feature of the GS1 I had many years ago, it made up for how much of a mistake it was buying that phone.

 

[Zxxv]

What exactly is the "this is why"? Are you saying:

1.A random forum post with no factual info provides confirmation bias so you won't get keyboard apps?

or

2.Since this is in beta and we don't have all the information, you're going to wait until it's finalized before judging it's worthiness?

or

3.Apple's keyboard is just fine for you?

I'm going to assume it's 2 or 3 since 1 would be sort reactionary and ill informed.

Read the post I quoted and straight into my reply. Makes perfect sense

 

[Hurda]

Omg custom KB has been on android for years!!!!!

Except one minor detail...on an iphone, the custom KB won't conflict with other operations of the phone and be one of the many reasons your android is a buggy, laggy, useless piece, despite the supposedly superior hardware (since we all know clock speed and RAM size are the only hardware benchmarks).

Says the person with zero Android-experience.

 

[garya73]

The biggest feature I want from an iOS 8 keyboard is long hold. It can be annoying to have to stop and keep switching back and forth between the alpha and numeric/symbolic keyboards.

Also, the keyboards should display upper and lower case on the keys. With the stock iOS keyboard, the letters are capitalized all the time. Pushing the shift key should allow you to switch between cases, and the keyboard should reflect this switch with all the keys.

Real autocorrect with a custom dictionary would also be a much needed feature. I don't care for the current way that iOS handles error correction.

This is a long overdue update for iOS. Don't know why they didn't implement it before now.

 

[Zachari]

Great. I can't wait for my keyboard to have in-app purchases and iAds.

 

[69Mustang]

I can't wait

Upper and lowercase letters on my iPad. yippee. For me, custom keyboards was the best thing to come out of the keynote.

 

[elgrecomac]

Maybe my biggest frustration with the iPhone will be addressed

My BIGGEST complaint with the iphone from the beginning has been the keyboard. Perhaps, with more that possible solution this will finally address my complaint.

My fingers are crossed....