iOS 8 first look video: Installing a third-party keyboard on iPhone
iOS 8 marks the first time ever that Apple will allow iPhone and iPad owners to install third-party keyboards of their choosing. AppleInsider offers readers a first look at the process of installing, enabling and using alternative keyboards in iOS 8.
Keyboard makers TouchPal provided an alpha copy of their forthcoming keyboard for iOS 8 on Friday, and the video above shows how users will go about enabling the keyboard once it's installed on their device. First, a third-party application must be downloaded from the iOS App Store, which then adds a new keyboard option in the iOS Settings application, under "General," then "Keyboard."
Installed keyboards show up under their own section entitled "Third-Party Keyboards." This also comes with a disclaimer that reads: "When using one of these keyboards, the keyboard can access all the data you type."
Apple also offers a quick link to further details about third-party keyboards and privacy. However, as of the second beta of iOS 8, only placeholder text is in place, and no warnings are displayed when a keyboard is enabled.
After the keyboard has been turned on, users can open any app that uses a virtual keyboard. Once the keys are on the screen, simply press the "globe" button at the bottom to switch to an alternatively installed keyboards.
Users can also choose to delete the default iOS "QWERTY" English keyboard if they so choose. Doing so would make it possible to have the third-party keyboard of the user's choosing the only one available when a virtual keyboard pops up.
The TouchPal keyboard tested by AppleInsider on Friday allows sliding input, which means users can guide their fingertip over the letters they wish to use and the keyboard will intelligently interpret what word they might mean. The keyboard also offers quick access to numbers --?as can be seen in the video above, simply sliding a finger up from the top row of letters quickly inputs a corresponding number. Quick access to symbols sucha s "@", "?" and "!" is also available in the bottom row.
In addition to TouchPal, Fleksy, SwiftKey and Swype have all announced they will be bringing their third-party keyboards to iOS 8. And Apple's integrated keyboard will also be upgraded with QuickType, a new feature that suggests words to user and adapts to their language over time.
iOS 8 is currently in beta for developer testing. It is expected to launch on iPhone and iPad this fall. For more, see AppleInsider's other iOS 8 videos, which can also be found below:
Keyboard makers TouchPal provided an alpha copy of their forthcoming keyboard for iOS 8 on Friday, and the video above shows how users will go about enabling the keyboard once it's installed on their device. First, a third-party application must be downloaded from the iOS App Store, which then adds a new keyboard option in the iOS Settings application, under "General," then "Keyboard."
Installed keyboards show up under their own section entitled "Third-Party Keyboards." This also comes with a disclaimer that reads: "When using one of these keyboards, the keyboard can access all the data you type."
Apple also offers a quick link to further details about third-party keyboards and privacy. However, as of the second beta of iOS 8, only placeholder text is in place, and no warnings are displayed when a keyboard is enabled.
After the keyboard has been turned on, users can open any app that uses a virtual keyboard. Once the keys are on the screen, simply press the "globe" button at the bottom to switch to an alternatively installed keyboards.
Users can also choose to delete the default iOS "QWERTY" English keyboard if they so choose. Doing so would make it possible to have the third-party keyboard of the user's choosing the only one available when a virtual keyboard pops up.
The TouchPal keyboard tested by AppleInsider on Friday allows sliding input, which means users can guide their fingertip over the letters they wish to use and the keyboard will intelligently interpret what word they might mean. The keyboard also offers quick access to numbers --?as can be seen in the video above, simply sliding a finger up from the top row of letters quickly inputs a corresponding number. Quick access to symbols sucha s "@", "?" and "!" is also available in the bottom row.
In addition to TouchPal, Fleksy, SwiftKey and Swype have all announced they will be bringing their third-party keyboards to iOS 8. And Apple's integrated keyboard will also be upgraded with QuickType, a new feature that suggests words to user and adapts to their language over time.
iOS 8 is currently in beta for developer testing. It is expected to launch on iPhone and iPad this fall. For more, see AppleInsider's other iOS 8 videos, which can also be found below:
Comments
This I do NOT like. I don't mind it all having to go through the same checks etc but it shouldn't require us to have to have an app. Just create some kind of plug in system that works directly out of the settings.
Maybe I'm just old or used to playing instruments that require you to move your fingers, but swiping to type doesn't seem like it would be much faster.
Certainly not when you are playing Beethoven's Piano Sonata N01. in F Minor (thanks Shazam), with your other hand.
Meh, it'll just go in some deep dark corner of my utilities folder. Out of sight, out of mind.
On the plus side, it can be deleted just like any other app rather than requiring some other UI paradigm.
how does i can do this ?????
Swipe keyboards are much faster to type on with one hand once you get used to it. That's the big advantage
You realize that posting any pictures or videos of iOS 8 is is a clear violation of the Apple NDA? Discussing it is OK.
Swipe keyboarding boils down to a complex gesture system for whole words. Like those unlock patterns I see among non-iOS mobile users.
I love words too much; I try to vary my usage a little every day. With this approach, every word becomes a unique, tiny gesture/performance (to be memorized, if fluency is your goal).
Perhaps someone with a limited vocabulary might find this useful.
(Almost certainly, arthritis sufferers need not apply.)
"First, a third-party application must be downloaded from the iOS App Store,"
This I do NOT like. I don't mind it all having to go through the same checks etc but it shouldn't require us to have to have an app. Just create some kind of plug in system that works directly out of the settings.
I'm perfectly fine with 3rd party tweaks requiring an App to be delivered through the App Store. Rolls it in with ecosystem for discoverability and delivery, and easy install/uninstall. To remove the keyboard, you delete the App. Simple.
I don't like tweaks being installed on people's devices and they have no idea where it went. Not to mention the whole new UI needed for removing tweaks, bleh. Not needed.
The "App" is already a hugely developed mechanism for delivery 3rd party stuff to the device. No need to build a whole new one just for keyboards, or any other types of 3rd party tweaks that come along in the future.
I've never understood the hate for the Apple keyboard. I type fine on it and easily type more accurately and faster than anyone using Android that I've encountered.
I've never understood the hate for the Apple keyboard. I type fine on it and easily type more accurately and faster than anyone using Android that I've encountered.
Android 1.6 on my iPhone can’t even recognize the Q or P keys, and this is using the then-most accurate and sensitive touchscreen on the market. More so than any shipping Android product.
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Most people are capable of typing words with a swipe keyboard without memorizing specific gestures.
My girlfriend often has problems swiping on the edges of screen on her iPhone 5 when playing Candy Crush.
Btw did you really go ahead with the rudimentary hack of installing Android on a iPhone released a few years ago?
It's surprisingly easy to use, but after a few minutes of use it's apparent that the benefits are strictly for one-handed typing. Not sure it's faster than typing with two thumbs.
Oh, that’s just the accidental touch detection that they didn’t need to put in at all.
I can understand accidental touch detection, but it should be able to discern a deliberate swipe from a brief tap.