Here’s a wide selection of reviews I made about a year ago:
Thumb Key is VERY different, completely throws qwerty out the window (designed for two hands and 10 fingers) and replaces it with a layout designed to be used with a single thumb.
I’m a pretty big fan of Futo Keyboard. offline voice to text, and pretty decent typing, all in all.
The only thing that I occasionally miss is not being able to insert gifs from Giphy
Fyi the Futo Keyboard is not open source. It is source availabile with a license that includes open source aspects but it limits modification and redistribution. Aka the keyboard more or less dies when futu stops maintaining it under the current license.
Full license https://gitlab.futo.org/keyboard/latinime/-/blob/master/LICENSE.md?ref_type=heads
Notwithstanding the above, you may not remove or obscure any functionality in the software related to payment to the Licensor in any copy you distribute to others.
You may not alter, remove, or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices of the Licensor in the software. Any use of the Licensor’s trademarks is subject to applicable law.
Thanks for pointing it out! I’ve been using it because I had the impression that it was FOSS, but I see now it’s not.
It’s a pity because I thought I had finally found an open source keyboard with decent offline prediction that also allowed for multiple-languages for prediction without having to be switching between keyboard “layouts”… I don’t think there’s any open source keyboard that has those features 😑
The swiping is miles behind gboard right now. Takes me forever to type using it because I have to go back and correct or swipe far more precisely than I had to with gboard.
Just started using Futo myself and so far it’s been pretty good.
Florisboard is great. I think it was the ability to switch $ for € that got me on it initally, but the symbol input is pretty nice too.
+1, Florisboard is awesome. It does the job great, and protects your privacy really well. Plus there’s some pretty cool themes for it.
+1 to FlorisBoard!!
(I am biased, I create themes for it)
Heliboard
Unexpected Keyboard is good for quick typing:
It’s great. It doesn’t have spell check, but it’s great for writing more characters easily (no long press, just swipe slighty to the side). You can completely customise your layout (and I mean completely, I have my name mapped for easy signing, but also copy, paste, back, compose button…), has Ctrl, Fn, arrows, anything.
Each key can have up to 9 (but realistically 5) characters - one upon clicking, the rest upon a short swipe to one of the eight directions. I haven’t seen another keyboard like this, and it’s so much faster than long press!
Yes, it’s the same technique thumb-key uses but will a full blown traditional qwerty layout.
Imho, Unexpected Keyboard is the best FOSS keyboard for (western/latin-rooted) multi-language environments. It’s a pity they don’t have spell check but when you speak multiple languages the spell check can often get in the way if I’m honest… unless you can select multiple dictionaries at the same time (I haven’t really seen any FOSS keyboard allow that yet).
I’m also super curious because I’ve tried several and hated then so much … What I went back to Gboard, deeply defeated.
Nothing else worked well for swipe typing. I need that. Lol.
I found Heliboard with the added files for swiping action just as good or bad as Gboard.
I like heliboard a lot but the swiping is still not as good as gboard
Gonna try this immediately.
@cardfire @TehBamski Isn’t there an open source version of gboard? Anyway, Louis Rossman has a no cloud keyboard so that’s probably the closest thing. I think it’s called futo?
It’s good. I use it. It’s not FOSS.
I really, really wanted to love the Futo keyboard. I was so inaccurate with it I couldn’t function. It required tapping every key instead of swiping.
Just installed it, really good. Thanks for the suggestion cardfire.
I second Futo, nothing compares to the abilities of the iPhone keyboard, at least that is what I remember last time I used an iphone, because nothing on android suits my fat fingers. The biggest draw for me with the FUTO keyboard is the built in voice to text function, that is a game changer and it’s all done on device.
Edit: I don’t think it is available though on F-droid, but I seem to remember Louise Rossman’s reasoning for that was clear and reasonable.
Yes, it is; they have their own separate repository that you can enable in Droid-ify’s upper-right settings.
I totally forgot about that, I do most of my app updates through obtainium these days. Thanks for pointing that out.
heliboard with the holo theme 🥹
In multiple layouts/languages too.
Yeah Hacker for AnySoftKeyboard looks nice! https://f-droid.org/packages/com.anysoftkeyboard.languagepack.hackerkeyboardlayout
Need to type more than a sentence:
Whisper+, offline voice-to-text.
8vim
https://f-droid.org/packages/inc.flide.vi8
A very chaotic option but it is actually quite nice if you are patient.
You can be very precise with inputting letters, it is far more confidence inducing then normal touch keyboards are.
I have a phone with a large screen and I have the keyboard free floating which lets me easily move it around to utilize all the screen real estate without loss of accuracy from being too cramped.
Bonus points, this keyboard works great with a stylus too!
I am perfectly fine downloading emacs and spacemacs (evil/vim bindings with space leader key) in termux and just using 8vim for making and editing simple org mode files. 8vim is deceptively extremely capable if you can get over the hump of getting used to it. Vim modal editing with leader keys fits oddly naturally into 8vims basic control scheme given vim was designed for physical computer keyboards.
screenshot example
I like to leave 8vim free floating like this. This is spacemacs emacs in org mode all running inside termux.
Also Flickboard looks really interesting.
I guess the name is adequate, you really have to read the friendly manual to use this one.
It’s interesting, but I miss the spelling aid other keyboards provide.
You can still use word suggestions/autocorrect, my point is they become optional with 8vim, not a necessity like with normal touchscreen keyboards.
Edit I am mistaken I just tried and I can’t find the option, my bad for giving misinformation.
There are four lines that intersect a circle. Starting with your finger in the circle you can input a letter by drawing a line out of the circle and then passing through one of the four lines in a loop around the circle, the letter inputted is determined by how many additional lines (if any) you pass through before returning to inside the circle. In the following example to make an “r” is just the same as to make a “c” but in reverse.
*example of inputting a “c”, if you wanted to keep typing “cat” as opposed to "c " instead of lifting your finger after finishing the “c” keep drawing an “a” and then “t” in one continuous motion.
I’m actually using it since my last comment yesterday. I’m enjoying the gesture based experience.
You can still use word suggestions/autocorrect
With 8vim or by switching to another app momentarily?
facepalm I was mistaken sorry, I was sure 8vim had a word suggestion feature at least but I must have mixed it up with something else gah, I don’t tend to use word suggestion or autocorrect and haven’t felt I needed it in 8vim but I somehow got in my head it had it.
That being said I unironically use 8vim as my phone keyboard and have for quite awhile now. I bounced off it a time or two trying to get committed to it but the hump of “this is weird” wasn’t actually that bad.
What helps is as you say, 8vim is just more fun fluid (AND more precise) than normal touch keyboards.
I guess I am somewhat slower with it but also it is so much more precise and confident it is hard to compare directly. I can use keyboard heavy UIs like emacs perfectly fine with 8vim without getting frustrated about constantly mistyping inputs, I would never do that except as a meme with normal touch keyboards.
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