Tag Archives: keyboard

Use The Gesture-Based TouchPal Keyboard As Default Input Method On iOS

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A discussion on gesture-based keyboards for any platform has got to be incomplete without mentioning the famed Swype. The app is massively popular on Android, and even enjoyed a brief period of iOS presence via Cydia. Now, however, it is not easy for iPhone owners to get a keyboard that is based on this type of slider input method. You can get your hands on third-party apps like TouchPal and Path Input, but having to type everything in a standalone app before copying it to the actual destination is never convenient. Every time an app like TouchPal is released in the App Store, users always wonder if they will ever get a tweak that integrates the gesture-based keyboard with iOS. If you have ever wanted to compose texts, notes, emails and just about anything on your iPhone using TouchPal as the default keyboard, there is now a tweak in the Cydia store that lets you do just that. In fact, this TouchPal tweak has been around in the jailbreak store for some time now, but has just shed its beta tag and works perfectly on both iOS 5 and iOS 6. Read More

Get A Gesture-Based, Predictive Keyboard On Your iPad With Path Input

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There was a time when the famous Swype keyboard was available for iOS users with jailbroken devices, but it went the way of the dodo pretty quickly. The only possible option to use a gesture-based keyboard on an iPhone these days is to compose text in a third-party app and then copy it from there. TouchPal Keyboard does a pretty good job on that front, but it is not optimized for the iPad, and makes it tough to type on the tablet’s bigger screen. Path Input is another app that has been around for iPhone and iPod touch devices for quite a while, but has lacked iPad support. Not anymore! Path Input has just been released for the iPad, and its Swype-like typing and intelligent predictions are as good as they have always been. Read More

Send Photos & Videos Directly From iOS Keyboard With QuickPhoto

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When it comes to  jailbreak tweaks, there are ones like FullForce, FolderEnhancer, Winterboard themes et al that significantly alter or enhance your user experience, and then there are one-trick pony tweaks that subtly change one very specific part of your operating system to get one thing done right. Developed by CocoaNuts - the folks who developed the RageBoard keyboard add-on - QuickPhoto is a recently launched jailbreak tweak that's a good example of the latter. It allows you to add photos and videos from local albums to your message compose box directly, much like the Emoji keyboard that you can enable from Settings > General > Keyboard. Check out our hands-on look at it after the jump. Read More

Add Rage Faces & Memes To iPhone Keyboard With RageBoard

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Rage faces have been all the rage since memes became mainstream from being a mere niche interest of 4chan, tumblr and reddit users. Lately, they have been quickly gaining popularity in messaging apps, but you have to go through a lot of steps before you can insert one into your next text. iOS apps like SMS Rage Faces allow you to copy rage faces to your clipboard and then paste them into your messaging app, but it’s a bit too much of a hassle. What if, like inserting Emoji, you could insert rage faces into messages directly from your iOS keyboard? Well, there’s a jailbreak tweak on Cydia for that! Read More

How To Get Voice Dictation In iOS Keyboard On Older Devices

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The topic of Siri being limited to only a few iOS devices has been discussed ad nauseam. Now that it is quite clear that the older iPhone and iPod touch devices are never going to get Apple’s talking assistant, users can only concentrate on finding good apps and tweaks that replicate Siri’s functionality as accurately as possible. While there are already plenty of good Siri alternatives available for iOS, most of them focus on bringing a conversational personal assistant to your device while overlooking one important feature - the voice dictation button that is available in the keyboard of all Siri-enabled devices. Even the tweaks that port Siri to legacy phones usually leave the keyboard untouched. Having said that, voice dictation is as useful as Siri itself, and it is nice to see that a tweak has finally brought this feature to all jailbroken iDevices. Sara Dictation Keyboard adds the small microphone icon to the stock iOS keyboard, letting you dictate to your device in a number of languages. Read More

Get Buttery Smooth Keyboard Scrolling In Google Chrome

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Scrolling a web page with your keyboard is anything but smooth. Every element on the page begins trembling, making it extremely hard - even for someone with good eyes - to scan the page while it's scrolling. Though this might not be as big of an issue as most users prefer using the mouse or trackpad anyway. For those who prefer to work with the keyboard for navigation, there is Smooth Key Scroll - a Chrome extension that makes scrolling with your keyboard smoother by ignoring the repeat rate of navigation keys, and thus, removing the jitters that we usually see on a scrolling web page. Once enabled, scrolling with your keyboard actually seems smoother than scrolling with your mouse. You can manage the scroll speed - speed it up drastically or slow it down to a fine scroll - by pressing the Alt or Ctrl key with a navigation key. It even makes use of Chrome flags to further improve rendering of pages while you're scrolling. Read More

Kii Keyboard For Android Offers Gesture & Predictive Input, Split Layouts, Themes & Much More

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As with all other aspects of its mobile OS, Google has constantly been working hard to improve the stock Android keyboard app to bring it at par with some of the popular alternatives such as Swype, SwiftKey and TouchPal. However, there is still a long way to go before the stock Android keyboard offering can claim to be in the same league as the big names in the business. To make the competition even more intense, new candidates keep emerging on to the scene, trying to impress with their own products. Same is the case with Kii Keyboard – the latest entrant in the list of powerful and hyper-customizable third-party keyboards for Android. Currently in beta, Kii Keyboard combines the best features of some of the aforementioned names, from Swype-like gesture-based text input to Thumb Keyboard-style split key layout, thereby vying to become the ultimate Android keyboard. Read More

TouchPal Keyboard Brings Swype-Like Sliding Text Input To iPhone

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TouchPal Keyboard has been a worthy competitor of Swype on Android for quite a long time. Swype might be the more popular of the two, but TouchPal is the first choice of a considerable percentage of Android owners. Swype has been available for iOS via the Cydia store for more than a year, and now, TouchPal has been released for the platform as well. The big news is, however, that TouchPal Keyboard is not limited to Cydia only, since it has been released in the App Store and works with almost all iDevices! Despite being a fresh release, this standalone app does not disappoint one bit. It supports English, German, Spanish and a few other major languages. The word prediction seems to be great, and text exporting options make it a convenient alternative to the default input method. Read More

Get The Stock iPhone Keyboard To Read Aloud Everything You Type

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The VoiceOver option found under the Accessibility menu in iOS might have the primary purpose of helping the visually impaired, but a lot of other people use it due to the convenience and freedom it brings to the table. One annoyance in using this feature with typing is that you have to type a whole sentence and then select it to make your iPhone read it out loud. A new Cydia tweak called Speaking Keyboard rectifies this by adding text-to-speech to the equation, speaking everything you type, so you don't have to look at the device’s screen constantly. The tweak goes a step further and can be configured to speak separate words (complete with spellings, if you want) or entire sentences. The best part is that you don’t even have to select anything for it to work; Speaking Keyboard speaks as you type. Read More

Input Complete Sentences In One Swipe with SwiftKey Flow For Android

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Such is the versatility and effectiveness of Swype that I haven’t felt the need to look for an alternative Android keyboard replacement app since I laid my hands fingers on it. However, if you’re in love with gesture-based keyboards (which most of us Android users are), you’ll be glad to know that the developers of SwiftKey – one of the most popular third-party keyboards for Android – have just released a public beta of their latest product called SwiftKey Flow. Like most gesture-based keyboards, SwiftKey Flow supports one-motion text input by just gliding your finger over the required letters. However, to its credit, Flow takes it one step further. How? Let's find out past the break. Read More

Get Indicators For Disk Activity, Caps & Num Lock Keys In System Tray

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Almost every standard keyboard comes with indicator lights for Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, and Num Lock keys. These indicators show the current status of the aforementioned toggles. Some old desktop and notebook keyboards however, lack such functionality (time for an upgrade!), which can create a lot of confusion. Since Windows 8 has opted for a rather different (read touchscreen-based) approach to how we interact with the OS, you’re probably going to need some on-screen indicators. Fret not! There’s an app for that. Back in 2010, we covered Keyboard Leds, a useful tool that displays status information for these keys on the system tray. If you were looking for something similar, with support for some additional keys, then locking your sights on TrayStatus. In addition to Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and Num Lock keys, the application hooks you up with Alt, Ctrl, Shift and Win key activity icons. What’s more, there’s a hard drive notification icon, indicating read/write operations from the drive. This can prove to be quite handy if your PC’s chassis lacks an HDD activity LED. Read More

Install Android 4.2 Gesture-Based Keyboard & Clock App On Jelly Bean 4.1 Or Higher

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Is there anything that's impossible in the Android world? Just days after the announcement of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the exclusive set of fresh Nexus devices on which the OS is meant to run, a handful of genius fans managed to port the latest JB Camera & Gallery app with Photo Sphere support to ICS-4.1.x Jelly Bean Android devices. Guess what? The stock keyboard app with Gesture Typing, and the totally revamped clock app from Android 4.2 are now out in the wild, too, courtesy of the efforts of XDA member Gnufabio. Both apps are available as separate flashable ZIP files for any rooted device rocking Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher (4.1.x). Just like with the camera app, some of the features of the new clock app and keyboard won't work as desired. However, if you were as excited to try them out as we were, that probably won't stop you. Past the break, we take a closer look at both apps one by one. Read More

Shortcat Lets You Interact With Apps & Buttons Using Only Your Keyboard [Mac]

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Desktop computers need two essential input devices; a mouse and a keyboard. If you use a desktop computer, you’ve subconsciously developed a system that tells you when to switch between a mouse and keyboard. You hardly think twice about which input device you’re going to use, and unless you’re using complex software, you will never have to rethink how you interact with your system. Generally speaking, the mouse is used to scroll and click buttons i.e. perform GUI actions and the keyboard is used to mainly input text and occasionally execute certain commands. Shortcat is an app that aims to end or minimize your usage of the mouse by making your keyboard smarter. It is activated via a keyboard shortcut and works with any selected app. The app lets you hit buttons without having to switch to the mouse; you just need to type in the action text on a button and hit enter. Read More

Add Emoji Keys To The Default iPhone Keyboard With QuickEmoji

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iOS really values emoticons, and that is why there is a separate, comprehensive Emoji keyboard in the OS. If you aren’t too big of an Emoji fan, though, chances are you have never bothered to enable the Emoji keyboard in iOS. It is a rather strange omission on Apple’s part that by default, there is no indication that iDevices have such a vast stash of emoticons hidden in keyboard settings. QuickEmoji is a new Cydia tweak that makes iPhone Emoji a whole lot more accessible than they originally are. With this tweak, five of the keys on the keyboard are permanently replaced by Emoji shortcuts. The good thing is that the keys replaced by QuickEmoji (all keys in the third row from top in symbol view) are virtually redundant, as they appear twice in the default (QWERTY) keyboard layout - once in the number view, and again in symbol view. This essentially integrates Emoji with the keyboard, eliminating the need for a persistent button and separate keyboard for Emoji. The tweak also supports AZERTY, QWERTZ and HEBREW layouts. Read More

Easily Map One Keyboard Key To Another Using SharpKeys For Windows

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Most of us are completely oblivious of the fact that a keyboard layout is not something that was designed in heavens. You can remap any key on your keyboard. Whenever you press a key, the keyboard actually communicates with Windows through a predefined key map that is stored in the Windows Registry. For instance, when you press Q, your computer - in its own language – responds to Q with mapped key stored in registry. However, if you wish to map that Q key to work as a W key instead, you can do so using a simple registry hack. Since it's not advisable to fiddle around with Windows registry, you can use an application that helps you easily remap keyboard keys. One such utility is SharpKeys. The application isn’t new, but various updates have made it more robust as compared to its initial versions. SharpKeys does the exact same job that you could do by tweaking Windows registry, but in a much easier manner. It lets you assign one key to the other or entirely disable it. If you, like most users, have this habit of accidently hitting the Caps Lock, with SharpKeys, you can easily disable it or map it with the other desired key. Read More

Hot Mouse Flower Is A Hotkey-Triggered Virtual Keyboard For OS X

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Working productively is not just a careful balance of how many times you’re going to check Facebook and look at cats between getting some actual work done. It also involves finding a comfortable arrangement to work with your mouse and keyboard. Not that this is difficult for the average user who can easily switch between using a mouse and keyboard without trouble. Conversely, if you use programs that require you to switch between the two devices very frequently (perhaps in Photoshop) it gets frustrating after a while particularly if you’re working with additional programs. Hot Mouse Flower is a free Mac app that puts a virtual keypad triggered by a hotkey on your screen. The keypad is arranged in a disc and the keys listed are the Function keys, a few letter keys and additional characters. Read More

Keyboard Shortcuts Manager: Easily Create Custom Key Combinations In Windows

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The basic purpose of keyboard shortcuts is to save time normally spent in navigating Windows using your mouse and keyboard. An action, such as opening a window, a menu or a settings panel, which might normally take you 5 or 6 clicks or keystrokes, can be performed in a much lesser time by pressing down a couple of keys on the keyboard. There are some built-in shortcuts in Windows, such as Ctrl + C to copy files, and Win + D to show desktop, while some third party programs allow you to create custom shortcuts for opening programs, URLs and accessing different settings. In 2009, we featured an article with a list of 30 Windows 7 hotkeys. Previously, we have covered different keyboard shortcut related applications, including KeyRocket, an application for Windows that recommends you keyboard shortcuts to use when using different programs and suggests the useful ones when you are working, and KeyboardExt, a versatile tool that allows you to completely manage keyboard shortcuts, launch applications and do a lot more. However, if KeyboardExt is too complex for your simple needs, give Keyboard Shortcuts Manager a try. It is an application for WIndows that allows you to create and edit shortcuts to perform system actions, open different windows and URLs. Read More

Fleksy: A Gesture-Based Predictive Keyboard For iPhone

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Android has got a lot of useful options for quick and easy typing, like Swype, SwiftKey, A.I.type Keyboard etc, and even Windows Phone’s stock keyboard is pretty good. On the other hand, the autocorrect in iOS is notoriously troublesome. There is a rather complex way of unlocking the correction bar for iPhone keyboard, but not many people are likely to go through all that trouble to enhance their typing experience. So, if you are among those who have always found the absence of alternative typing options in iOS a little annoying, Fleksy is here for you. This app provides users with a keyboard that lets you type effortlessly and without having to think too much. With Fleksy, you just type anything that remotely resembles the word you intend to use, and then, with a single swipe, that gibberish will change into the correct word (most of the times, at least). Even if the app doesn’t get it right in the first attempt, you just have to swipe downwards and choose the correct word from the app’s suggestions list. Read More

Multiplicity: Control Up To 9 Computers With One Keyboard & Mouse

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Working with multiple computers at a time requires you get up and go to the PC that you want to control. That can be both time consuming and irritating, especially if a person has to constantly keep getting up during some important work. There are applications available that let you avoid getting up from your PC again and again. It means that the same mouse and keyboard will be used to control all the connected PCs, saving you the trouble of getting up and moving yourself to be exactly in front of the other computer. Previously, we have covered some very useful applications for Windows that allow you to control multiple computers using a single set of mouse and keyboard. ShareMouse is one such cross-platform tool that lets you share your mouse and keyboard on multiple computers on the network, and Mouse Without Borders is another alternative by Microsoft Garage. Today, we have another application, Multiplicity from Stardock, which lets you control up to 9 computers from one set of mouse and keyboard. More on Multiplicity after the jump. Read More

How To Disable Specific Keys On Keyboard While Playing Games

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How many times has it happened to you that while playing a game, you pressed a wrong key on the keyboard - for instance, the Windows key - and the game window lost focus. Since a lot of games use the Space Bar as well as the Left Ctrl key for performing different functions, such as Jumping, Crouching, Running etc, it is very common for people to press the Windows Key by mistake (due to the fact that it lies in between the Left Ctrl and Spacebar). I am sure many of us have gone through this annoyance and wished for a way to disable, at least, the Windows Keys on the keyboard when you are playing a game, or running any other full screen application. One way to handle the issue is to reassign the functions performed by the keys surrounding the Windows Key, to other keys. Today, we found a useful little tool for Windows called KillKeys that lets you disable the desired keys on your keyboard. In this article, however, we will show you how to disable user-specified keys when applications are running in full screen, as well as in window mode. Read More