Keyboard

SwipeSelection and AltKeyboard now play nice together

Sébastien Page ∙ July 11, 2014

The jailbreak community didn't have to wait for iOS 8 to bring third-party keyboard support to iPhone and iPad. For several years now, jailbreakers have been treated to some clever keyboard tweaks to improve on the usability of the devices.

Two of these tweaks, SwipeSelection and AltKeyboard 2, somewhat overlapped each other's functionalities when released a few months ago, forcing jailbreak users to choose either one or the other.

With both tweaks now having been updated to support each other, this issue is a thing of the past, as SwipeSelection and AltKeyboard can now run side by side properly...

Fleksy iOS 8 keyboard launching this Fall with support for 40 languages

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

When iOS 8 launches this Fall, users will finally be able to install third-party keyboards, in line with Apple's newly found openness and extensibility.

Popular Android keyboards like Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey, as well as specialized soft-keyboards such as Adaptxt and Minuum, are all currently being ported to iOS 8 as we speak.

Fleksy already teased its upcoming iOS 8 keyboard and promised to be one of the first third-party keyboards on iOS 8. And now, the company has confirmed in a media release that the Fleksy keyboard should be available when iOS 8 launches this Fall...

TouchPal video shows off upcoming iOS 8 keyboard with sliding text entry

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

You already know Apple at last week's WWDC gave its developer army the tools to build custom keyboards for iOS 8. It's all part of making the mobile operating system extensible, customizable and more open to developers than ever before.

We also know that Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey, as well as KeyPoint and Whirlscape, are all building their iOS 8 keyboards and now TouchPal has demoed its upcoming TouchPal X keyboard running on iOS 8.

Billed as "the first iOS 8 keyboard with gesture/sliding input," next word prediction and other features, TouchPal X allows you to slide over letters for a word, up for a number and down for a symbol.

Check it out in action in a video included right after the break...

Two more Android keyboards in the works for iOS 8: Adaptxt and Minuum

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

In addition to the makers of some of the most popular Android soft-keyboards like Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey - which have all confirmed building downloadable keyboards for iOS 8 - two more companies have now jumped on the bandwagon: KeyPoint and Whirlscape, the respective makers of the Adaptxt and Minuum Android keyboards.

As a result, users will be able to pick among at least five different keyboards in the App Store when iOS 8 launches this Fall, in addition to Apple's normal stock keyboard and the new and much improved QuickType one with adaptive suggestions...

Fleksy teases its upcoming iOS 8 keyboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 28, 2016

Aside from customizable Share sheets and support for third-party Share Extensions, downloadable soft-keyboards is yet another feature making iOS 8 more flexible and way more customizable than ever.

As we explained yesterday, registered iOS developers can now use Apple's iOS 8 SDK to write software keyboards and distribute them in the App Store. And users will be permitted to download any third-party keyboard they like.

This will make it dead simple to finally use new input methods system-wide. I bet you didn't see downloadable iOS 8 keyboards coming! Apple's promotional graphics shown at Monday's keynote and used on the iOS 8 webpage has already hinted at a downloadable Swype keyboard.

And just this morning, an image tweeted out by its developer has confirmed that the popular Fleksy Android keyboard will be available when iOS 8 launches this Fall...

Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey working on custom iOS 8 keyboards as we speak

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 30, 2017

In announcing iOS 8 and Yosemite yesterday, Apple dedicated some stage time to highlighting a new system-wide keyboard with context-aware predictive typing suggestions, called QuickType. But Apple also wooed developers by relaxing its rules to permit users to install third-party keyboards distributed through the App Store when iOS 8 officially releases this Fall.

Needless to say, makers of popular Android keyboards jumped with joy. The likes of Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey have immediately confirmed they will be releasing their software keyboards for iOS 8...

iOS 8 supports third-party keyboards

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Yes! I was just talking about this in my Samsung Galaxy S5 vs iPhone 5s post, and it's actually here. As I type this with tears on my keyboard, it's almost hard to believe that Apple has opened up its SDK with the ability to use third party keyboards.

This means that you will be able to use third party keyboards like Swype for faster more sensible input for touch screens...

VintageKeys lets you switch back to the old iOS 6 keyboard

Joe Rossignol ∙ May 27, 2014

Ryan Petrich is one of the most influential developers within the jailbreaking scene, with his name behind several well-designed and useful jailbreak tweaks for iPhone and iPad. One of his latest releases is VintageKeys, a useful extension that allows you to adjust the keyboard styling on your device. There are four different keyboards to choose from: modern light, modern dark, legacy light and legacy dark…

‘AltKeyboard 2’ is a great sequel to the original keyboard enhancing tweak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

AltKeyboard 2 is a follow-up to the uber-popular A3tweaks release, AltKeyboard. It is perhaps only surpassed in expectation by the brand’s Auxo 2, which released earlier this year to much anticipation.

The rumblings about an iOS 7 compatible version of AltKeyboard have seemingly been around since iOS 7 was first jailbroken, or maybe even before that. Needless to say, AltKeyboard is one of the most popular jailbreak tweaks in the community.

It’s understandable why the tweak proves to be so popular. iOS’ stock keyboard is extremely small on the iPhone, and lacks any features like "swyping," or a 5th row of keys. Because the iPhone has pretty-much maintained its diminutive form factor throughout its lifespan, there’s just not a lot of room for keyboard expansion when it comes to literally increasing the size of the keys or the number of available keys available on screen at once.

With that in mind, AltKeyboard 2 builds on the same formula that made the original release such a success. It adds functionality to the stock keyboard without increasing its size. Have a look at our full walkthrough of AltKeyboard 2 after the jump.

SlideCut: an innovative keyboard shortcut tweak for jailbroken iPhones

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

SlideCut is a brand new jailbreak tweak from developer r_plus. Whenever I see this developer's name behind a tweak, it piques my interest, because they're usually innovative and fun to use. SlideCut is no different.

SlideCut allows you to slide from your spacebar key to any shortcut key to execute an action. For example, you can slide from the spacebar to the 'A' key to select all, or slide from the keyboard to the 'C' key to copy the highlighted text.

We've got a full video walkthrough of SlideCut in action. Have a look inside to see how it works.

Fleksy keyboard breaks Guinness World Record for fastest texting

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2014

Fleksy, the popular Android keyboard and alternative to Apple's stock iOS keyboard, has broken the Guinness World Record for fastest texting. A longtime user named Marcel used Fleksy's Android keyboard app to break Microsoft's Guinness World Record for fastest texting with a final time of 18.19 seconds.

He bested Microsoft's previous Windows Phone WordFlow keyboard record by 0.25 seconds, Fleksy said. Celebrating the award, Fleksy has updated its keyboard software for iOS and Android with core engine improvements focused on accuracy...

Microsoft Research demos mechanical keyboard that can interpret motion gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2014

Microsoft's research and development arm has shown off a novel mechanical keyboard prototype which incorporates elements of natural user interaction such as touch and low-effort motion gestures. The goal is to enhance user interfaces on desktop by allowing for smooth transitions between text entry and gestures.

The system uses an array of proximity sensors embedded in the keyboard itself and is coupled to a software that uses the motion signature technique which utilizes pairs of motion history images and a random forest classifier to robustly recognize a large set of motion gestures.

It works like magic and we have an impressive video right after the break to prove it...