this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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61
Recommended keyboard for Android (lemm.ee)
submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've been using SwiftKey since before the Microsoft acquisition, but now I want to move on because it's pushing copilot.

What do you recommend? I'm fine with the play store or F-droid, and I'll pay for a good one if necessary

top 33 comments
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[–] [email protected] 44 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

HeliBoard has been my chosen SwiftKey replacement: https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard

Features I value:

  • Multilingual typing (as someone who writes EN, PT and dabbles on DE and NL daily, having to check which language I'm on and switch keyboards/layouts every time sucks)
  • Glide typing (with optional closed source library)
  • Clipboard history
  • Comprehensive layout customization
  • Autocorrect (with customizable level of confidence)
  • Emoji selection and history

It does suck to see an app that I loved and paid for (yes, I used it for THAT long) get enshittified and try push AI* down my throat.

Not to mention M$ owning my typing history (which I kinda could live with).

RIP SwiftKey.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Just tried this one and it seems decent. most of all I'm noticing that it's way quicker to load than SwiftKey which has become soooo bloated.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Happen to know if it's going to be on f-droid at some point?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago

It's not in the default F-droid repo, but you can get it on fdroid in the izzyondroid repo

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

The latest release hints towards F-Droid availability: https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard/releases/tag/v1.2

Just updating 1.1 APKs would have created issues with incoming F-Droid build.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

If you add Izzy-on-Droid as a source to f droid you can install it from there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I downloaded it using Droid-ify. It's like F-droid without the F-droid drama, which i forgot the details of. Someone convinced me to switch and it was painless.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

It's on froid

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Since I run GrapheneOS, I just install any keyboard I like, and deny it network access in the permissions panel to disable any privacy invading features.

I would rather be running a fully open source keyboard, so I'll be watching this thread for better solutions.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

This is what I've done too. I've tried a bunch of other keyboards from F-Droid, but haven't been 100% happy with any of them. So I'm using GBoard still with all network permissions disabled.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm using Florisboard: https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.patrickgold.florisboard/

It can be a bit rough around the edges, but it's got the features I want.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

I did until yesterday too, but go for heliboard as top comment suggests. Improved my life drastically in 24 hours

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

HeliBoard is the best so far for me

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm using thumb key. It takes some getting used to, but I like it very much and it is easy to use one-handed especially one large devices.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Does it work like Nokia's old keyboard where you could press a key once and it would approximate the word you're typing from the letters contained within each key?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

No. You press for the letter that is in the middle of the key and for the other letters you have to swipe. If the letter "p" is in the top right corner of the middle key you have to swipe to the top right corner. It takes some getting used to, but one-handed typing is much faster with this keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I used to use Swiftkey for a long while and switched to AnySoftKeyboard 2 years ago and for single language Swype capable keyboard it's the best replacement I've found.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It's what I use too, best open-source option I've found, but I've had Android complain about it using CPU in the background sporadically.

I also wish that it had support for arbitrary Unicode input and the ability to modify the keyboard on-the-fly in the UI, add keys and pop-up menus linked to user-specified characters and sequences of text.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I personally use an expected keyboard. Really nice, especially if you use termux. FCITX5 for Android is another good keyboard if you like the more AOSP style keyboard that supports other characters

https://github.com/fcitx5-android/fcitx5-android?tab=readme-ov-file#supported-languages

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yay for Unexpected! I was really surprised when I found out just how many keyboard shortcuts it supports. I find myself using the keyboard-based text selection/copy/cut/paste/cursor-movement/etc more often than the "normal" way. It's also a great help when using Termux or generally writing code.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

^5 Unexpected Keyboard!! <3 it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Looks like I have some keyboards to try out. I'll try sample all of these but I'll probably fall on one I like and not think about moving on from there

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I've never encountered a keyboard app with UI/UX comparable to Fleksy, so that's what I use (and UI/UX is everything for a keyboard).

The settings became a bit silly in terms of UI in the course of updates though, I mean specifically the keyboard itself.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I use Hackers Keyboard from f-droid repos.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I used Hacker's Keyboard for years and I loved it. A few years ago, I switched to Dvorak, and the Dvorak implemention in Hacker's Keyboard is weird and awkward to use (I think, anyway). I've been using HeliBoard recently, which is still pretty new; it's a fork of OpenBoard which is no longer maintained. I think as long as HeliBoard keeps working as well as it has been, I'll keep using it forever, honestly. I would say it's basically like getting to have Gboard except also FOSS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Well I am downloading and testing this. Thanks.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I just got swiping to work in Heliboard, which is nice. Works and looks just like Gboard. You just have to go to the advanced settings, scroll all the way to the bottom, then load the required library manually.

This is a direct link to the library if you have an ARM 64bit v8 phone. Otherwise, you can find different version in that same repo, I think. Just use the 3-dot menu to download it:

https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/tree/master/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a

I found the link to that file in this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fossdroid/comments/15j3m2a/openboard_updated_dual_language_custom_dictionary/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I'll set that up as I got used to swiping and typing normally is slowing me down on heliboard at the moment

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Give a try to typewise

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Does anyone know a keyboard where you swipe up on a letter to capaitalize and swipe down on it to do the underlying number/symbol? That's what I've got at the moment on my keyboard, but it was removed from the play store years ago, so would like to move on

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

If it uses diagonal swipes on the keys to do that, might be unexpected keyboard...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I just switched to HeliBoard. I was using OpenBoard, but I don't think it was getting updated. The worst part of OpenBoard was it would autocorrect email addresses, so it would turn [email protected] into "my email address mail come" or something, and if I forgot to hit delete right after it did so, there was no way to undo the autocorrect. HeliBoard seems to recognize the @ and stop autocorrecting it.

I just discovered that HeliBoard has an undo button! I can't count how many times I've deleted whole sentences or paragraphs by accident while editing a large block of text.

It has a bunch of other new features and preferences that OpenBoard doesn't have. For instance, you can swipe up/down from the keyboard in the same way you can swipe left and right to move the cursor.

It just needs an emoji search.