Apps

Try out iPad’s hidden floating keyboard in Swift Playgrounds

Developer Steve Troughton-Smith recently discovered a one-handed floating iPad keyboard in a beta of iOS 10.3. While it's unclear whether or not Apple will debut this handy unpublished keyboard officially when the software update releases for public consumption, Troughton-Smith has kindly provided a way for iPad owners to try it out early using Apple's free Swift Playgrounds app, here's how.

Gboard gains voice typing, Google Doodles, new languages & iOS 10 emoji in latest update

Gboard, Google's iPhone keyboard that comes with Google Search, glide typing, GIFs, emojis and other advanced features built in, received a notable refresh on App Store. Bumped to version 1.3, Gboard includes support for fifteen new languages and brings a useful dictation feature that Google is calling Voice Typing. Additionally, you can now see a day’s Google Doodle right from the keyboard and enjoy Apple's latest iOS 10 emoji.

Google’s iOS keyboard gains 3D Touch trackpad, new themes, iOS 10 emojis & more

Google's Gboard keyboard for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was bumped to version 1.2 on the App Store this morning, gaining a few new features such as more than a dozen new themes, support for trackpad-like functionality on 3D Touch devices akin to the stock QuickType keyboard, the ability to search and share your contacts without leaving the conversation and support for the new iOS 10 emojis.

Google’s iOS keyboard gains dark theme, GIF suggestions & expanded language support

Following its debut on the App Store nearly three months ago, Google's gesture-driven predictive keyboard for the iPhone and iPad—called Gboard—today received its first feature-focused update. Gboard 1.1 for iOS, a free download, includes a darker keyboard theme, smart GIF suggestions and increased global availability with language support for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal) and Spanish (Spain).

Twitter for iOS adds iPad keyboard shortcuts

Yesterday, Twitter's mobile application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch added a few useful keyboard shortcuts for iPad owners, said Twitter app developer Amro Mousa. If you have an iPad connected to a third-party Bluetooth keyboard or Apple's Smart Keyboard, Twitter for iOS now lets you use various keyboard shortcuts to quickly access some of the most frequently used options without needing to tap on-screen controls.

Meet Swiftmoji, SwiftKey’s new emoji-predicting keyboard

A new emoji-predicting keyboard from Microsoft-owned SwiftKey, called Swiftmoji, launched on the App Store.

Available at no charge on the App Store, it boosts your emoji game by predicting a wall of suggested emojis based on crowdsourced data, the user's own preferences and the actual text written in any of the user's keyboards.

This ability to get perfect emoji predictions based on what you’ve just typed is similar to Apple's much-improved QuickType keyboard on iOS 10.

tvOS 10 preview: all-new Remote app with Siri voice control, tilt gaming & more

A software replacement for the physical remote that came in the box with your fourth-generation Apple TV, Apple's entirely overhauled Remote application provides you with the full range of Siri Remote features complete with touch navigation, tilt-based control in games and voice input via Siri.

And in making tedious text entry on tvOS even easier than before, the new app lets you summon the keyboard right from the Lock screen of your iPhone by pressing a notification that automatically gets pushed every time you select a text field on the Apple TV.

Google’s mobile app gains keyboard shortcuts, busiest hours in search results & more

Google's native search app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad today received a pretty significant update on the App Store, bringing the app to version 15.0.

People who use an external keyboard with their iPad can now use time-saving shortcuts within the app to search faster and navigate the app more easily.

Other improvements in this release of the Google app include busiest hours in search results and dynamic font sizing enhancements.

The Google app is available free on the App Store.

Unicorn sipface and coffee “emojis” are cool, but Starbucks’s iPhone keyboard needs more work

Apparently, software keyboards for the iPhone have become a must for brands. Earlier this morning, Microsoft released Word Flow for iPhone, its gestural Windows 10 keyboard with one-handed typing and predictive text input.

And now, Starbucks has jumped on the bandwagon and released an iPhone keyboard of its own.

Available for free from the App Store, Starbucks Keyboard lets you add a little personality to your emails, texts, social media posts and more with branded “emojis” like Frappuccino blended beverages, iced tea, coffee and even a purple unicorn sipface.

It's a nicely done app that shows potential, but I dislike the fact that they're advertising it as an emoji keyboard because these things are more of stickers that get pasted as image attachments.

Microsoft’s Word Flow keyboard launches with one-handed mode, gestures, themes and more

After releasing an iOS edition of its Hub Keyboard last month, Windows giant Microsoft on Monday launched an iOS port of its predictive text Windows Phone keyboard, called Word Flow. The free of charge iPhone app brings many advanced features that speed up typing, like a cool one-handed mode, gesture based typing, predictive text input, custom themes and more. The Word Flow keyboard is available at no charge in the App Store.