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Hi guys! We’re David and Janis, co-founders of Typewise based in Switzerland. We’ve created a keyboard designed for smartphones. Conventional smartphone keyboards use the same layout as a typewriter, which was developed for 10-finger typing. How can a layout that was designed 200 years ago work well on a small smartphone screen? That’s why we built a hexagonal keyboard that focuses on utilizing your two thumbs as the main tools of typing. Why hexagonal, you may ask? Well, conventional keyboards have the issue that their keys are small, resulting in a lot of typos. A recent study by Cambridge University and ETH Zurich found that 1 of 5 words written on smartphones contains typos (https://userinterfaces.aalto.fi/typing37k/). Hexagon shapes resemble our fingerprints, enabling a more comfortable typing experience that results in 4X fewer typos (using the above-mentioned typing test as comparison). Another point about the keyboard is to protect user privacy. Most keyboard apps get access to all sorts of data, incl. GPS location or browser history, which can be very problematic. Many keyboards have been banned as a result of this overreach and abuse. Our entire keyboard, including the AI algorithms, are private-by-design, and no typing data ever leaves the device. To achieve same or even better text predictions than data-collecting alternatives such as Gboard, we’re working with top AI engineers from ETH Zurich as part of a Swiss government-funded research project. The first results will be available in early 2021 (they’ll be awesome, promised). Which smartphone keyboard do you use? Is this something you see as an improvement? What features do you enjoy most in a smartphone keyboard? What other elements of our daily typing experience should be rethought for the digital age? What do you think of the privacy issues surrounding smartphone keyboards? We hope you guys give it a spin. Let us know what you think, we are eager to hear your feedback |
I don't use my phone's default keyboard, but have been locked into a different solution for a while, for better or worse. Allow me to jump straight to the questions.
> Which smartphone keyboard do you use?
I have been using Minuum since I found out there's a version for Android. I had stumbled across the Kickstarter campaign years prior but had forgotten about it until I got a Mini version of a popular smartphone at the time, and the default keyboard took up like half the screen. In a messenger I would see like two lines of the message I am responding to and in terms of user experience it was unacceptable. After making the switch to reclaim some screen estate, and learning about some other neat features (switching between languages with a single swipe was a killer feature at the time, I think Gboard does that now?) it grew on me and I haven't looked back or wished for an alternative once in 7 years or so. It has been unmaintained for years now but I'm still using it. For the peace of mind alone I would happily pay for a maintained version or an alternative, because not having a keyboard I enjoy devalues my phone to the point that I would actively avoid using it, and I am dreading the day I upgrade to a new phone and can't get the same experience anymore.
> Is this something you see as an improvement?
I might just not be the target audience, but I think the approach Minuum took is much more intuitive. It's the exact opposite, the keys are much smaller and put much closer together, but the words I type are almost always recognized, and deleting the word to retry if it's not is fast. The solution provided here is the opposite of what I want personally, provided there is a solution for me that gives me a great experience and free screen estate on top of it.
Also, the thought of using different layouts on mobile vs laptop/PC when my time is split proportionally between the two sounds alienating.
> What features do you enjoy most in a smartphone keyboard? > What other elements of our daily typing experience should be rethought for the digital age?
Screen estate. It's the number one priority besides efficiency imo. The screen should be filled with the things I want to see, not the things I have to see, as much as possible.
Fast dictionary switching. All the communities I interact with are in English. My contacts mostly aren't. This context switch happens frequently, and should be free of needless friction.
Full word deletion to retry if things don't work out. I don't know if it's me or a symptom of the keyboard I use, but deleting words letter by letter is weirdly stressful, especially with auto correct trying to be smart between every keystroke. Being able to have the word gone with one swipe is much closer to the experience I have on the computer keyboard, and I find that to be very reassuring in a way.
> What do you think of the privacy issues surrounding smartphone keyboards?
This is huge. Really. My tolerance for the invasion of privacy keeps dwindling and uncomfortable compromises keep getting more frequent.
Your permission comparison is a big selling point and the main driver that would bring me back to this solution should my preferred option eventually disappear as I dread it will.
Again, thank you for investing time in this space. It's very much needed. Sorry I don't have more positive things to say, but I hope it can still be valuable feedback in some way.