iOS Noob is back with more questions - iOS keyboard sux!
1(abridged version included for @elimanningface):
TL;DR? Help me find an Android style keyboard for iOS
Last month I decided to drink the Apple Kool-Aid and I picked up an old iPad 2 I picked for a song. As it turned out, I managed a bargain on a iPad Air 128GB, so the iPad 2 went away, and I kept the iPad Air.
In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say, I decided to go back and take a big 'ol tug from the Apple Kool-Aid jug, diving into a iPhone 6 Plus.
I saw this challenge on the iPad, and didn’t bother to solve it before jumping into the iPhone. But now that I’ve had the iPhone active for a couple days, this keyboard thing is really driving me nuts.
I NEED THE STUPID LITTLE NUMBERS ON THE MAIN KEYBOARD LIKE AN ANDROID DEVICE!
If you’ve never used Android before, here’s what your missing out on:
On an Android keyboard, if you want to access numbers, you only need to press and hold their respective keys. For example, to type a “5” I just press and hold the T key for a second and it gives me a 5.
On my Android Marshmallow keyboard I can access everything from numbers and dollar signs and dashes and slashes, to umlauts and acute accents, simply by holding certain keys down for a second.
At the very least… I NEED THE FREAKIN NUMBERS! Maybe 20% of my email and text traffic is numerically oriented. Quantities, costs, etc.
I’ve shopped alternate keyboards in the App store, but with no success finding anything that offers this feature. And up front, I’ll tell you: I don’t do Swype, SwifKey, Fleksy, etc. Can’t do it. Tried, didn’t work for me.
PLEASE HELP!!!
- 5 comments, 21 replies
- Comment
Don’t know of any, but if you hold down on the number key then slide your finger up to the number it’ll type that number and switch back to the QWERTY keys.
@Ignorant And, you beat me to it. Hah!
@brhfl not by much
Until someone chimes in with better advice (which I don’t have), you can increase efficiency a tad by swiping from the ‘123’ key up to the respective key instead of tapping and then tapping again. Of course, the numeric/symbolic keyboard won’t stay up, so that makes more sense for few digits (or punctuation).
@Ignorant & @brhfl, great minds… this is a help, at least for the short term. I was unaware of this capability and have been switching back and forth between char sets. So this is progress. Thanks for the tip!
@ruouttaurmind It’s late and my brain is half asleep, so don’t laugh if this question makes me sound as if I’m i-everything illiterate. (I am, but I don’t like sounding as if I am.)
Have you considered using SwiftKey? Umpteen different skins with as many different configurations as one could reasonably expect.
@magic_cave I’ve been avoiding “gesture” oriented keyboards, but I should probably have a second look to see if I can use them without gestures.
@magic_cave Just gave it a quick test. No numerical access from the home keyboard.
@ruouttaurmind Unless ipads and Android devices work totally differently, you can use Swiftkey’s various configurations to give yourself a full line of numerical keys above the alpha characters, more or less like a standard keyboard. Check out what they call “themes” to explore the options. What are “gestures?”
@magic_cave I will reinstall and try again. I just did a cursory test while watching the news last night before bed. It definitely warrants more effort, so I will seek out the themes and see what I can find.
“Gestures” are motions you make on your touch screen which are interpreted by the software as commands. Swype relies on smart gestures to interpret your motions and guesstimate what you’re really typing.
@magic_cave Did a more thorough review of Swiftkey. There is theme support in the iOS version, but it appears to be limited strictly to appearance, not function. There are 8 or 10 themes available for purchase in the App store, but each is functionally equivalent with the only variation being in appearance.
I appreciate your advice! Back to the drawing board for me.
@ruouttaurmind Now I feel really stupid. After reading this, I went to my own devices to get the exact path. Ahem. From the swiftkey menu, go to settings (not themes), then to typing, and the first or second entry is a check-box for showing the number line. Click it. Because this is an upper level setting, it over-rides into each theme. Click once, have numbers for life. Assuming this works the same in the IOS version, anyway.
@magic_cave You shouldn’t feel stupid at all! I really appreciate your time and effort in trying to help me out!
I went back to Swiftkey and tried to follow your instructions, but the iOS version of Swiftkey seems to be brain damaged. There doesn’t seem to be the same level of control in the iOS version. Here’s a cap of my Settings screen:
No joy! Looks like I’ll have to either learn to work with the limitations, or sell on the iPad and iPhone and go back to Android. Decisions, decisions.
have you tried the gboard?
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gboard-search.-gifs.-emojis/id1091700242?mt=8
@thismyusername
I’ve gotten numerous people to get it.
@thismyusername
Now if only they would finally bring it to Android. (And yes, I know they said they have to figure out the best way to accomplish this.)
@thismyusername Thanks for the suggestion. I looked at Gboard, but it doesn’t offer quick access to numerical input like an Android keyboard. It does the same umlauts, accents the default iOS keyboard does, still no numbers. The other things it adds are a very low priority compared to numbers.
@ruouttaurmind didn’t even think of that… after re-reading I get what you are after.
Have you tried the hold 123 and tap? if you are typing just hold the 123 while you tap the number then when you let go it will revert back to the alpha keyboard… not as nice as the number row/number pop but once you get used to it it works.
I will update if I run across any android keyboard clones…
@FroodyFrog to be fair I mainly use it for the “swype like” without the cost
I can’t say I have used the search much yet… but I am sure I will one day.
@ruouttaurmind one thing to keep in mind with 3rd party keyboards with iOS…I believe on password pages/forms it’ll switch back to the default iOS keyboard, so if you find one that does what you want it might not help you on any password pages.
@Ignorant my iPhone switches from gboard to default keyboard on everything new it seems. Text message to a new person. Email, the first time. Keyboard in any new app. It’s weird but I’ve gotten used to it.
@thismyusername
If they brought it to Android by incorporating it into the current Google Keyboard, I probably wouldn’t use the search feature anyways.
If they make it a whole new keyboard I probably wouldn’t download it.
I also got an iPad Air to test the Apple waters. I know you said you don’t like Swype, but you can use it as a regular keyboard. You can get the numbers and letters with accent marks by holding the keys down like on an Android device, even though they don’t display on the keys themselves. You just have to remember that ‘T’ will give you a ‘5’ if you hold it down.
@heartny Did you switch to iOS from Android, or is the iPad your first tablet?
@ruouttaurmind My phones are Android. Didn’t want to get an iPhone, so I figured I would try an iPad. Yes, it is my first tablet, but I am hoping to get an Android tablet someday soon. I miss having the control and data access with Android, even without rooting the device. By the way, if you like numbers, with the iPad Swype keyboard if you hold down the Swype key you get a number keypad.
@heartny It’s been a transitional challenge for me. I miss the nuts-n-bolts of Android. Obviously I miss the keyboard. Also I really miss having a “back” button. I’ve had to make a few minor adjustments to my usage but it’s been pretty painless otherwise.
I like being able to receive phone calls and text messages from my iPhone ON my iPad. The overall operation is smooth and painless. I haven’t had an app crash or screen freeze. I haven’t had an app report “not compatible with your device” which happened frequently on my HTC EVO phone and generic tablet. So overall it’s good. Expensive. But good.