Keyboards

• 2 min read

iOS 8 was brought to everybody only a few days ago. But many people are already downloading it because of one feature: custom keyboards.
The ability to exchange the standard keyboard with one from a third-party developer exists since very long time on Android, but now it is finally possible to iOS users to do the same.
This blogpost will cover some of the most some, those who I find amusing, useful or in an other way worth to mention.

Every keyboard description was written on the described keyboard.

1. SwiftKey

The best part about SwiftKey is SwiftKey Flow. Unlike with a normal keyboard it requires a bit of practise to type fast and efficient with SwiftKey. Although after only using the keyboard for about half an hour it feels natural to "flow" over the keys instead of pressing them all the time.

Flow isn't the only feature which tries to convince you to use SwiftKey. The prediction of the following words is really good. The new iOS8 has its own word prediction but it isn't as good as SwiftKey's one.

Another great feature is SwiftKey Cloud. If you already have an Android smartphone and you plan on switching to iOS, this will be the best thing for you. All word predictions get saved in the cloud and are instantly available on the new phone. If you aren't an Android user but you have an iPad, installing SwiftKey adds the predictions to the iPad.

One disadvantage is that the word prediction makes it more difficult to type without looking on your phone. Using this keyboard for a longer time teaches the prediction algorithm the way toy write. This will make an advantage out of the disadvantage. It is possible to flow over the approximate position of the letters to get the right word.

Minuum

Writing using Minuum keyboard is a total different thing from using Swiftkey flow. There aren't many nifty features like synchronization of the personalized word prediction. That gets compared by an even better word finding algorithm.

You only have to place your finger on the estimate position of the key on an normal keyboard.

A big advantage is that the fingers don't have to travel much. Therefor it is also possible to write long texts like this one using only one hand.

It is possible to show all keys by swiping up on the small keyboard. This is especially useful if a word needs to be typed correctly without using the word prediction.

Minuum is only in version 1.0 when this article was written. All the basic features work and many more will be implemented in the future. Some examples are theme support and multiple language support.

Writing something in the beginning takes more time than using SwiftKey. Using this keyboard continuously trains the word prediction to become more reliable.

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