The TextBlade keyboard is superb, but you'll have to be patient
It's innovative, its test users are all vocal fans, and the TextBlade portable keyboard has officially been on sale since 2015 -- yet you still can't order it today, and get it quickly. AppleInsider visited the company to see what's happened, and whether it's worth waiting for.
Using a TextBlade keyboard with an iPhone XS Max on the provided stand
If this were a Kickstarter or any other crowdfunding campaign, you'd assume that it had died. Launched in 2015, the TextBlade is a portable Bluetooth keyboard with remarkable features that are genuinely unique and truly desirable. Yet four years on, it's still not on general sale. You can order a TextBlade and you will get it, but you won't get it quickly and it's more like being a limited beta tester than a customer.
The makers WayTools won't discuss figures but do say that they've had millions of dollars in pre-orders from all over the world. They also say that money from these orders is not what's funding the company. The founders of WayTools previously started a firm that produces 3D scanning tools including the one used by Lucasfilm to recreate Peter Cushing's face in Rogue One. It's investments from the founders and friends which are funding the development of the TextBlade.
Rather than being a crowdfunding operation, WayTools and TextBlade are following the Tesla model. You can order a keyboard and you can pay for it, but you're going to wait for the release -- and you can get your money back at any time.
That ability to instantly recall your money is good and the financial backing of the company appears solid as far as we can tell. The online information page about when you'll get your TextBlade is poor, though, with one line suggesting that shipping will take 4-7 days but another quoting a dispatch date in the fall.
So after four years, you have to wonder whether TextBlade is ever coming out and you've got to be puzzled about what could be delaying it. Ultimately, you also have to think about whether the TextBlade is worth waiting for -- and that's one thing AppleInsider can answer.
Then we got to interview users in the official testing group, called TREG, and we got to speak candidly with other testers who maintain a private discussion forum to which WayTools is not allowed. We have never been able to determine just how many people have received TextBlade keyboards, but the majority of people we spoke to have been using theirs daily for at least a year and typically much longer.
What's more, we saw and got and have now used a TextBlade for some months ourselves.
This is the best keyboard we have ever used. It's unquestionably the best portable keyboard we know, to the extent that none others we've tried feel like they come close. We're still sufficiently slower typing on it than on a full-size desktop keyboard that we don't use it daily with our Macs but we could, we have, and a great many TREG users do.
Folded up, the TextBlade is miniscule. There has not been a single day since we got ours that we haven't had it in our pocket or bag. There have been few days when we haven't used it. Together with an iPhone XS Max, we've got our entire office in a pocket.
Yet if the smallness is remarkable, you have to assume that it's going to be cramped to type on. However, the two main blades connect at an angle that means typing may not be the same as a regular desktop keyboard, but it's far better than a typical mini one.
Then, too, the travel on the keys, the distance that they move when you press them, is noticeably more than on Apple's current MacBook keyboards.
There are just eight physical keys and the depth of travel is greater than that of MacBook keyboards
That's mix of size and depth of travel is achieved because the TextBlade only has eight physical keys. Each one, though, has a multi-touch surface akin to an iPhone screen and the processor in each blade reasons which letter you meant to press.
TextBlade also has combinations of keystrokes, which WayTools calls chords, that make the keyboard more than something to type on. There are cursor and selection controls which we miss terribly whenever we then use any other keyboard, for instance, and there are media controls.
In the model we tested, pressing the correct chords would make the TextBlade connect over Bluetooth to any of up to six different devices. We're told that the shipping version will connect to at least double that many.
Each key is a multi-touch surface and also doubles, triples and quadruples up with extra functions
One of the delays to TextBlade, then, has been in determining how it will be used in the real world and then adding features to support that.
However, a perhaps greater reason for the delay is down to technical issues such as Bluetooth. We've been shown circuit diagrams and we've had Bluetooth explained to us at length, but it boils down to how this standard is far more complex and far more unreliable than it appears.
WayTools says it has worked with both Apple and Google to improve those companies' implementation of Bluetooth, specifically in iOS and Android. We checked WayTools' claims with its users who have been following each iteration of the TextBlade -- and we also checked out iOS release notes from Apple -- and it's true. TextBlade has caused improvements in Bluetooth.
It's not flawless. We do use ours a great deal now and we've found that the slim rubber-like feet on the blades and the holder come loose. WayTools has replaced these and we've had fascinating discussions about the engineering of such tiny pieces.
Yet, we still don't know a wide release date. We can say that the TextBlade is likely to ship for $120 or $130 and that people who've pre-ordered it will get theirs for the $99 they originally paid.
And we can say that we want one. We've already got one, yet still this is such a tiny keyboard that we want to buy a spare or two.
There are still some keyboard chords that our fingers keep getting wrong, but really our only exasperation with the TextBlade is that we never get use it uninterrupted. Inescapably, whenever we write on it anywhere, there will be someone across the room who calls out "Is that really a keyboard?" They want to try it, they want to buy it - and they always assume Apple made it.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Using a TextBlade keyboard with an iPhone XS Max on the provided stand
If this were a Kickstarter or any other crowdfunding campaign, you'd assume that it had died. Launched in 2015, the TextBlade is a portable Bluetooth keyboard with remarkable features that are genuinely unique and truly desirable. Yet four years on, it's still not on general sale. You can order a TextBlade and you will get it, but you won't get it quickly and it's more like being a limited beta tester than a customer.
The makers WayTools won't discuss figures but do say that they've had millions of dollars in pre-orders from all over the world. They also say that money from these orders is not what's funding the company. The founders of WayTools previously started a firm that produces 3D scanning tools including the one used by Lucasfilm to recreate Peter Cushing's face in Rogue One. It's investments from the founders and friends which are funding the development of the TextBlade.
Rather than being a crowdfunding operation, WayTools and TextBlade are following the Tesla model. You can order a keyboard and you can pay for it, but you're going to wait for the release -- and you can get your money back at any time.
That ability to instantly recall your money is good and the financial backing of the company appears solid as far as we can tell. The online information page about when you'll get your TextBlade is poor, though, with one line suggesting that shipping will take 4-7 days but another quoting a dispatch date in the fall.
So after four years, you have to wonder whether TextBlade is ever coming out and you've got to be puzzled about what could be delaying it. Ultimately, you also have to think about whether the TextBlade is worth waiting for -- and that's one thing AppleInsider can answer.
Excellent keyboard
We visited the offices of WayTools in California and spent several days with the owner, Mark Knighton. AppleInsider did not get to see the factories where manufacturing is being done, but we did see pallets of finished TextBlades. And, we also got to see some of the precision testing equipment that has been designed specifically for this keyboard.Then we got to interview users in the official testing group, called TREG, and we got to speak candidly with other testers who maintain a private discussion forum to which WayTools is not allowed. We have never been able to determine just how many people have received TextBlade keyboards, but the majority of people we spoke to have been using theirs daily for at least a year and typically much longer.
What's more, we saw and got and have now used a TextBlade for some months ourselves.
This is the best keyboard we have ever used. It's unquestionably the best portable keyboard we know, to the extent that none others we've tried feel like they come close. We're still sufficiently slower typing on it than on a full-size desktop keyboard that we don't use it daily with our Macs but we could, we have, and a great many TREG users do.
Size isn't all
The first thing you notice is something that actually you never quite cease to be surprised by and that's the size. TextBlade consists of three separate parts, or blades, which snap together magnetically. The three are housed in a holder than then doubles as a stand for your phone or tablet.Folded up, the TextBlade is miniscule. There has not been a single day since we got ours that we haven't had it in our pocket or bag. There have been few days when we haven't used it. Together with an iPhone XS Max, we've got our entire office in a pocket.
Yet if the smallness is remarkable, you have to assume that it's going to be cramped to type on. However, the two main blades connect at an angle that means typing may not be the same as a regular desktop keyboard, but it's far better than a typical mini one.
Then, too, the travel on the keys, the distance that they move when you press them, is noticeably more than on Apple's current MacBook keyboards.
There are just eight physical keys and the depth of travel is greater than that of MacBook keyboards
That's mix of size and depth of travel is achieved because the TextBlade only has eight physical keys. Each one, though, has a multi-touch surface akin to an iPhone screen and the processor in each blade reasons which letter you meant to press.
TextBlade also has combinations of keystrokes, which WayTools calls chords, that make the keyboard more than something to type on. There are cursor and selection controls which we miss terribly whenever we then use any other keyboard, for instance, and there are media controls.
In the model we tested, pressing the correct chords would make the TextBlade connect over Bluetooth to any of up to six different devices. We're told that the shipping version will connect to at least double that many.
Each key is a multi-touch surface and also doubles, triples and quadruples up with extra functions
Perfection
In the version we have, that switching between devices feels faster than we're used to from other keyboards. WayTools claims that it is significantly faster and also that current testers have tended to use TextBlade with very many devices. We've got ours set to type on our iPhone, iPad, Mac and even Apple TV, but reportedly there are many users who need more.One of the delays to TextBlade, then, has been in determining how it will be used in the real world and then adding features to support that.
However, a perhaps greater reason for the delay is down to technical issues such as Bluetooth. We've been shown circuit diagrams and we've had Bluetooth explained to us at length, but it boils down to how this standard is far more complex and far more unreliable than it appears.
WayTools says it has worked with both Apple and Google to improve those companies' implementation of Bluetooth, specifically in iOS and Android. We checked WayTools' claims with its users who have been following each iteration of the TextBlade -- and we also checked out iOS release notes from Apple -- and it's true. TextBlade has caused improvements in Bluetooth.
Yet you still can't get it
The Bluetooth details are seemingly just one of very many apparently small issues that have required extensive work. TREG users tell us that the current version of the TextBlade and its software are considerably better than when it was first released in 2015. So, work has been done and the keyboard is improving all the time.It's not flawless. We do use ours a great deal now and we've found that the slim rubber-like feet on the blades and the holder come loose. WayTools has replaced these and we've had fascinating discussions about the engineering of such tiny pieces.
Yet, we still don't know a wide release date. We can say that the TextBlade is likely to ship for $120 or $130 and that people who've pre-ordered it will get theirs for the $99 they originally paid.
And we can say that we want one. We've already got one, yet still this is such a tiny keyboard that we want to buy a spare or two.
There are still some keyboard chords that our fingers keep getting wrong, but really our only exasperation with the TextBlade is that we never get use it uninterrupted. Inescapably, whenever we write on it anywhere, there will be someone across the room who calls out "Is that really a keyboard?" They want to try it, they want to buy it - and they always assume Apple made it.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Comments
I just checked out the website and will wait until they have Bluetooth 5 (they only use Bluetooth 4 now) and then I'll place an order.
Certainly looks interesting, as the keys are all programable and there is an included app to do that.
Looks like a couple decades of progress negated.
Why snyone would do that to themselves is beyond me.
But hey, if it’s a fun toy for product reviewers, at least someone gets to enjoy it. Must be tough for the folks who review everything to actually enjoy the process sometimes.
But the vast majority of regular users would throw it out the window in 10?minutes.
It’s a more pleasurable typing experience when at my desk, and the portability is incredible. I’m attending a conference this week and didn’t even bother to bring my computer because I’m just as productive with the TextBlade and my iPhone.
Once they start shipping, I would not hesitate to recommend a TextBlade to anyone who spends a significant portion of their day on a keyboard.
TextBlade goes with me everywhere and I use it on every device. Such a better feel to typing than any other keyboard I’ve used.
TextBlade has a very low cognitive load for use. I have a consistent interface with all my devices and don’t have to remember shortcut differences between operating systems. TextBlade translates that all for me regardless of when I am on Windows or iOS or Android and others.
Mobile computing with items I keep in my pockets is now real for me. Travelling for work I don’t even have to take a bag.
The customisability is amazing. I can map any keystroke to any key. I can adjust the sensitivity to certain letters to my own needs. The built in layers are so intuitive to use my acclimation period was only a few days.
The community of TextBlade owners has been very supportive and even assisted WayTools to develop a pre-paired Bluetooth dongle to use with devices that may have USB but not native Bluetooth support. To the computer it looks like a USB keyboard but is actually Bluetooth!
Very excited that many others are soon going to be able to experience this.
Very quick to get to root causes allowing me to get back to work with a minimal of fuss.
Since someone mentioned not wanting to pay $120 when it isn't shipping yet, I should point out that it is still $99 for pre-orders with the extra stuff. Most likely if the price goes up, it will be when it ships so those two go hand in hand.
For William Gallagher, you mention you aren't nearly as fast with the TextBlade yet, but give no comparisons. That would be useful. For example, on a regular keyboard before the TextBlade, I could do about 55 wpm at 97% accuracy. For me, it took a few weeks, I think, to get past that (I did work hard at it and also didn't switch back and forth between keyboards). I presently run in the mid-60s at 98% or better.
But since usually I'm typing things like this post, thinking about what I want to say as I type it, my speed is more like 45 wpm. So it wouldn't really matter if my test speed didn't match my old speed (though I'm happy it got better).
Then there are the other advantages that can offset any temporary reduction in speed. Like how easy it is to edit, without reaching for the mouse. This greatly increases other areas of computer use that a typing test doesn't measure.
In the beginning, it was shipping in 2-3 weeks. Then six more weeks. Then next quarter. It was only after they got to be a year late that they created the idea that if you didn’t wait anymore, you could have your money back.
You also missed the best part of the story: the inane explanations of how they’re just days away from shipping only to put up a new post 90 days later that details the several hundred more minute challenges they overcame and they’re now just days away....repeat the loop ... repeat
There's no getting around the fact that the first people in were lied to.
The TextBlade is a truly transformational device. I don’t mean this in a small way, in the sense that it is a remarkable and incredible innovation in the technology. I mean this in a big way: TextBlade has the ability to transform how you interact with technology.
I ordered the TextBlade thinking it would be something to take with me to occasionally type on my phone, and was lucky enough to receive a test unit. This is not just a small, elegant, portable keyboard. It is a smart device in its own right, a small elegant gadget that you can use to communicate in a textual way with all of your other devices, and which miraculously folds into a compact thin unit that can go along with you everywhere.
The TextBlade knows intent. There are key combinations (chords) that “mean” certain things, and it will send the proper characters to your device based on which operating system you are connected to. After decades of constantly reaching out from my typing for a trackpad or mouse because of my refusal to learn arcane key combinations and shortcuts that are unique to each device I now gladly stay on my home keys while typing, editing, and commanding. Want to page up, select a word or sentence, copy, paste, increase volume, change apps? It’s the same whatever device you are on. Want to have 3 or 4 devices on your desk — just hit a jump chord and work or respond on each device as you look at it. Want to set up your own macros or keyboard mappings? You can do that too, and the key mappings can be specific to each device you are jumping to in order for the intent to be the same on each device (or different, depending on your desires).
When I think of the incredible power, and then look down and realize that I’m typing on a simple 8-key device rather than a 101+ key monstrosity, I feel like things are right with technology. I look forward to a moment when this is widely available (and when all those I’ve shown it to during my encounters can finally get one too).
I'm in !!.
Where do I sign up ?
But if you guys (and gals ?) are feeding me a line, a curse on the *&%&&*.... OK
The WayTools forum is at forumDOTwaytoolsDOTcom
I have always felt the bigger "problem" is just getting people to give it the time and effort to adjust. There are multiple levels to this.
Early on in the testing process, fellow testers and myself encountered bugs in *every* vendors' implementation of Bluetooth Low Energy. I reproduced a crasher in Apple's BLE stack. There's lots of non-trivial aspects to doing a Bluetooth keyboard correctly.
For sure, there's a lot of crap shipping out there. All Apple had to do to take the crown for the wireless earphone market, was make the very first pair of wireless earphones that was *reliable* and wouldn't cut out and disconnect at random times, and would pair up and work immediately without having to power cycle, reset the earphones, reset the phone, etc. Sounds easy? Only Apple was able to do it. And they had to make their own W1 silicon to launch AirPods.
There's no pressure at all, and if you need the $99 now, you can wait until it has shipped. But then you'll have to fight for availability. The keyboard is that good.