Miss Physical Keyboards? New 'Clicks' Accessory Adds Keys to Your iPhone

[Musocat]

An answer to a question that nobody asked.

 

[Abazigal]

Some people in this thread say: I love keys, I need to have keys, great idea, I ordered.

My honest question:
If you love physical keyboards, why havent you connected a simple Bluetooth keyboard to your iPhone in the past?
Like a Logitech Keys-to-Go?
Connecting an external BT Keyboard is possible at least since the iPhone 6.

Maybe because you can’t fit a keyboard into your pocket?

 

[drewsof07]

 

[eifelbube]

BlackBerry fans that miss having a physical keyboard on their smartphones may want to check out Clicks, a company that has developed a keyboard case that's designed for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models.

Clicks is showing off its keyboard accessories ahead of CES, and the iPhone 14 Pro version of its keyboard will be ready to ship out in February. The keyboard is priced at $139, with an iPhone 15 Pro version coming in mid-March and a $159 iPhone 15 Pro Max version set to release in the spring.

The Clicks Creator Keyboard is available in "BumbleBee" yellow and "London Sky" gray, and it adds a small physical keyboard to the bottom of an iPhone. Clicks says that the case design is meant to "feel like a natural extension" of the iPhone, and the keys have been designed for ideal click resistance and feedback for fast and accurate typing.

The standard QWERTY keyboard features keys for activating dictation, accessing emoji, and activating shortcuts like returning to the Home screen and scrolling. At night, a built-in backlight can be turned on.

An iPhone connects to the keyboard via Lightning (iPhone 14 Pro) or USB-C (iPhone 15 Pro), and passthrough charging is supported. The case also supports wireless charging capabilities, though it does not have MagSafe.

The iPhone 15 Pro version of the Clicks keyboard measures in at 188.45mm, so it is 41.85mm longer than the 146.6mm iPhone 15 Pro. That is equivalent to 1.65 inches, so expect an iPhone equipped with this keyboard to be over an inch and a half longer. It's a little over 3mm wider than the iPhone, and 2.50mm thicker. The case weighs in at 62 grams, a little under half of the 187 gram weight of the iPhone 15 Pro.

Dimensions are similar for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, so the keyboards do add some considerable bulk to the iPhone. Clicks says that the keyboard is easy to put on and remove, and while in use, it does serve as a hardware-based keyboard, so you won't see the software keyboard on the display.

Clicks for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro can be pre-ordered from the Clicks website, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max version can be reserved for $30.

Article Link: Miss Physical Keyboards? New 'Clicks' Accessory Adds Keys to Your iPhone

Too bad a third party cannot add Apple Pencil compatibilty to the iPhone …

 

[HiVolt]

LOL hilarious. Aren't we well past 10+ years of anyone offering a physical keyboard?

 

[webkit]

Aren't we well past 10+ years of anyone offering a physical keyboard?

No. There have been a few smartphones with physical keyboards introduced within the past six years including BlackBerry Key2 and Key2 LE (2018), Unihertz Titan (2019), Unihertz Titan Pocket (2021), and Unihertz Titan Slim (2022).

 

[HiVolt]

No. There have been a few smartphones with physical keyboards introduced within the past six years including BlackBerry Key2 and Key2 LE (2018), Unihertz Titan (2019), Unihertz Titan Pocket (2021), and Unihertz Titan Slim (2022).

ok, that pretty much classifies as "nobody". blackberry is irrelevant now and whoever the other one is. I'm surprised anyone would even make such a niche device in 2021+

 

[spcopsmac21]

Polycarbonate & Silicon,..way to go for the environment. Not only will nobody buy these gimmick plastic cases, the remainder of stock will end up as more landfill.

Yea with the materials I bet it cost $7 to make.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Yea with the materials I bet it cost $7 to make.

Yeah... after millions in R&D, material testing, prototyping, etc...

Also they have to make a different one for each model of phone. They already have three models just for the iPhone. Do we think they will venture into other models for Samsung, Pixel, etc? That'll eat up even more development costs.

What sucks is it will only work for one phone. You will need to buy a new one the next time you upgrade your phone.

I'm curious to see if this product survives long enough for iPhone 16, 17, 18, etc.

🤔

 

[madebybela]

why are people so threatened by the idea of others wanting options lol

 

[Abazigal]

ok, that pretty much classifies as "nobody". blackberry is irrelevant now and whoever the other one is. I'm surprised anyone would even make such a niche device in 2021+

It looks like a fairly small company. Given the iPhone user base, a niche of a niche can still work out to a respectable number of keyboard cases sold, especially at that price. I guess the draw is really that you can type on your iPhone and still get the benefit of a full screen view.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Honestly, the hate coming out from ya'll about this is weird. Like borderline creepy.

I would love a keyboard that would slide out the bottom of the phone.

 

[Thomas Davie]

I can talk faster than I can type and auto transcription is getting very good and getting gooder every day.

Like I said earlier, the "lack of need" isn't universal. Some may find this useful, particularly those hard of sight.

However having thought about it, the thing that is utterly stupid is it doesn't survive versions. The fact this isn't universally designed is a bigger problem than anything else.

I wear reading glasses, and my eyesight is ok; but I have arthritic fumble fingers. That, in my opinion, is an obscenely small keyboard. I use the ever increasingly accurate voice transcription.
]Tom

 

[Playfoot]

Mate, I had the OG droid. I literally stood in line (12 year old me) and I think i was the first one with my dad to order a Droid from that location.

The keyboard was deinitely considered mediocre that it was praised for major improvements in the Droid 2 and future. The keyboard (and Moto's camera) were bad to the point I mainly used the touchscreen keyboard on the droid before I returned the Droid for the HTC droid eris(thus beginning my obsession with htc Phones).



A lot of this sounds like a YOU thing and not a bad keyboard thing.

tactile feedback: it's a touchscreen......it's not going to have tactile feedback. That's what the haptic vibrations are for.

Reliance on auto correct? I am confused at this one. I type mostly accurately 99 percent of the time and if i mess up it usually corrects it right.

I dont ever need to look at the keyboard when typing because i have used it so much.

Shortcuts= again a you thing as I dont see a need for shortcuts.


I live in a very humid area and never had any issues with my phones touch screen.

Physical keybaords definitely do have their plusses but it also depends on how they are made. At least with Virtual Keyboards if i dont like one i can easily replace it with another;. You cant do that with a physical. You take it or leave it.

Well, I am glad it there is still a "YOU thing". Each to their own...

 

[philstubbington]

Oh man! OK so I'm too lazy to do it but this is what I want one of you to do. Bring back Palm Graffiti! It can be a add on cheap case with a junk stylus or even better a virtual keyboard pad that makes you do the old shorthand swipes!

For real got a great nostalgic laugh from this. I used to be so good at Graffiti I used to take hand-written notes in college using it for speed. I also had the full-sized keyboard for my Palm Pilot that was three times bigger than the Palm Pilot itself.

EDIT: Oh dear lord it already exists. https://strokeinput.com/

Thanks for the flashback …. I remember buying some sled type thing for my Palm V (I think) which enabled 3G?

 

[The Game 161]

i guess choice is fine but i don't see why people would spent this amount on it.

 

[KBLuvver]

There are other points of view. Some of us have been waiting ages for a modern phone with keyboard so we can type more than two sentences. Also, for you screen-lovers, it frees up a chunck of real estate for you. Last, going by Mr Mobile's video, they have worked out the balance issue.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Sweet, maybe we can get a big portable battery in a bag with a coiled USB-C cord for plugging in our iPhones, too?

Your move, Anker.

View attachment 2332870

I miss my bag phone.

I bet an iPhone would work for weeks with a battery that size.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Genuinely, I am very excited by this. I can't buy one until I upgrade from an 11 PRO MAX but when I do, I will give this a shot.

It is smart and nostalgic in my opinion. And it will appeal to people who want both or one or the other.

I think I will smirk in a few years when I look back at some the haters here. Perhaps not. But I doubt it.

Seems unlikely. I absolutely despised WhackBerries. The keys were too small to be usable, but took up a huge amount of screen space that would have been better served by a good onscreen keyboard. And voice quality was just awful. Oh, and that stupid trackball was unusable too.

Seriously, worst phones ever.

 

[YoItsTonyMorgan]

BlackBerry fans that miss having a physical keyboard on their smartphones may want to check out Clicks, a company that has developed a keyboard case that's designed for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models.

Clicks is showing off its keyboard accessories ahead of CES, and the iPhone 14 Pro version of its keyboard will be ready to ship out in February. The keyboard is priced at $139, with an iPhone 15 Pro version coming in mid-March and a $159 iPhone 15 Pro Max version set to release in the spring.

The Clicks Creator Keyboard is available in "BumbleBee" yellow and "London Sky" gray, and it adds a small physical keyboard to the bottom of an iPhone. Clicks says that the case design is meant to "feel like a natural extension" of the iPhone, and the keys have been designed for ideal click resistance and feedback for fast and accurate typing.

The standard QWERTY keyboard features keys for activating dictation, accessing emoji, and activating shortcuts like returning to the Home screen and scrolling. At night, a built-in backlight can be turned on.

An iPhone connects to the keyboard via Lightning (iPhone 14 Pro) or USB-C (iPhone 15 Pro), and passthrough charging is supported. The case also supports wireless charging capabilities, though it does not have MagSafe.

The iPhone 15 Pro version of the Clicks keyboard measures in at 188.45mm, so it is 41.85mm longer than the 146.6mm iPhone 15 Pro. That is equivalent to 1.65 inches, so expect an iPhone equipped with this keyboard to be over an inch and a half longer. It's a little over 3mm wider than the iPhone, and 2.50mm thicker. The case weighs in at 62 grams, a little under half of the 187 gram weight of the iPhone 15 Pro.

Dimensions are similar for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, so the keyboards do add some considerable bulk to the iPhone. Clicks says that the keyboard is easy to put on and remove, and while in use, it does serve as a hardware-based keyboard, so you won't see the software keyboard on the display.

Clicks for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro can be pre-ordered from the Clicks website, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max version can be reserved for $30.

Article Link: Miss Physical Keyboards? New 'Clicks' Accessory Adds Keys to Your iPhone

Even on my iPhone 15 Pro Max I have larger hands and fingers so typing on the virtual keyboard is always a major pain. Something like this that slides out would be a game changer for me.

 

[alexandr]

This is especially great for bilingual/trilingual etc people! (...)

 

[maxoakland]

$139?! lol.

For $99 you can nab the apple bluetooth keyboard for your phone, AND use it on other things.

Yeah but I don't think this is a replacement for that, nor would a bluetooth keyboard be a replacement for this

 

[DMG35]

No. There have been a few smartphones with physical keyboards introduced within the past six years including BlackBerry Key2 and Key2 LE (2018), Unihertz Titan (2019), Unihertz Titan Pocket (2021), and Unihertz Titan Slim (2022).

The Key2 and Key2 LE are no longer in production due to poor sales. The Titan you can buy, but you are just getting poor Android performance on a cheaply made phone that doesn't do anything well.

 

[Apple Core]

BlackBerry fans that miss having a physical keyboard on their smartphones may want to check out Clicks, a company that has developed a keyboard case that's designed for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro models.

Clicks is showing off its keyboard accessories ahead of CES, and the iPhone 14 Pro version of its keyboard will be ready to ship out in February. The keyboard is priced at $139, with an iPhone 15 Pro version coming in mid-March and a $159 iPhone 15 Pro Max version set to release in the spring.

The Clicks Creator Keyboard is available in "BumbleBee" yellow and "London Sky" gray, and it adds a small physical keyboard to the bottom of an iPhone. Clicks says that the case design is meant to "feel like a natural extension" of the iPhone, and the keys have been designed for ideal click resistance and feedback for fast and accurate typing.

The standard QWERTY keyboard features keys for activating dictation, accessing emoji, and activating shortcuts like returning to the Home screen and scrolling. At night, a built-in backlight can be turned on.

An iPhone connects to the keyboard via Lightning (iPhone 14 Pro) or USB-C (iPhone 15 Pro), and passthrough charging is supported. The case also supports wireless charging capabilities, though it does not have MagSafe.

The iPhone 15 Pro version of the Clicks keyboard measures in at 188.45mm, so it is 41.85mm longer than the 146.6mm iPhone 15 Pro. That is equivalent to 1.65 inches, so expect an iPhone equipped with this keyboard to be over an inch and a half longer. It's a little over 3mm wider than the iPhone, and 2.50mm thicker. The case weighs in at 62 grams, a little under half of the 187 gram weight of the iPhone 15 Pro.

Dimensions are similar for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, so the keyboards do add some considerable bulk to the iPhone. Clicks says that the keyboard is easy to put on and remove, and while in use, it does serve as a hardware-based keyboard, so you won't see the software keyboard on the display.

Clicks for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro can be pre-ordered from the Clicks website, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max version can be reserved for $30.

Article Link: Miss Physical Keyboards? New 'Clicks' Accessory Adds Keys to Your iPhone

Are there still people that dumb?

 

[macdaddy43]

For as much hate as this is getting, I actually think it is kinda cool. Not that I would ever buy one but the idea is neat. Sometimes I really do miss the physical keyboards but when I charge up my old EnV2 from my drawer and play around with it, I am reminded that the software keyboard probably is better than the physical…. Especially when some of the keys don’t work properly.