EDIT: Thanks, guys! I ended up downloading Heliboard from f-droid :)
I’ve been down this rabbit hole and here’s the haul from Wonderland:
Conventional:
- Heliboard - Has glide typing, but the available library is unstable and old. The most polished.
- Florisboard - Currently under heavy development, but what’s there is more than usable and very well done.
- Unexpected Keyboard - I actually love this one, but as a Fold user I need some auto correct. Uses swipe motions on each key for symbols and punctuation.
Unconventional:
- Thumbkey - A 3x3 grid using taps and swipes to type. I flip flop between this and Heliboard atm. Has circular motions to input caps or numbers. MASSIVE amount of layouts, including language, programmer, writer and more. Easy layout switch key on the fly.
- Flickboard - Same setup as Thumbkey. This would be my go to ever since they added a landscape layout that smart switches on inner Fold screen, but there’s no separate key height for it, so you have to deal with non-uniform on one screen which isn’t easy to type on. Also has circular motion for caps. No numeric, but there’s the option of having a small number column.
- 8vim - The only one of it’s kind since 8pen died. I’m learning this one and it’s great, but wonky on inner Fold screen. Its hard to explain, but you use circular motions around on X wheel to input whole words at a time letter by letter. Start center, drag out into a quadrant, rotate to get your letter, go back to center, without lifting go to your next quadrant for the next letter. When you’re done and back on center, let go to insert space, or you can move out into a quadrant then lift to end without a space. Takes a lot of getting used to.
Hey thanks for posting info about various keyboards. I’m typing this on flickboard. I downloaded it after reading your post. The circle to capitalize the center letter is a little wonky for me but otherwise so far so good.
I like trying non-standard keyboards since they might work better and there’s no physical form constraints so why not.
My all time favorite keyboard was minuum, but it wasn’t open source so I stopped using it when I started to care about that stuff.
U have nerfed my typing speed by 99% with thumb key. Its fun tho
Lol I know the pain. It takes a few days to get to acceptable typing speed, but you can get pretty fast (some report 56 wpm which is pretty good for a virtual keyboard).
Just make sure you know what you want between Thumbkey or Messagease layouts. I started with Messagease layout and it was all good until I spotted some really nice Thumbkey programmer layouts and switched.
Gonna stick with it for a bit, and check the other one out. Some words are already coming out quicker. Thanks for the tips
Do you also know if any of them support multi language spell checking?
Heliboard has multiple dictionary support. Florisboard is still in development for this feature, from what I know. Unexpected Keyboard has none by design, being made for termux and programming.
The unconventional list also has none by design, maybe because there’s less of a chance to fat thumb the keys.
Heliboard would be your winner there, for now.
Thanks, I’ll try it again
EDIT: It works well
It should be noted that Heliboard does not “have glide typing” but rather it supports loading the proprietary Google swype library.
One that’s two years old at that. Its not the best solution, but it’s the only one we have if you absolutely need glide typing.
It hitches up sometimes and I find myself getting the wrong words more than other glide typing solutions from closed source keyboards, but it’s not horrible.
Sorry I wasn’t more clear on this in my original post.
Oh wow, I’ve abandoned Thumbkey on a Fold, but I didn’t know of Flickboard.
Thumb-key.
It takes a bit to adapt and create muscle memory but I can’t change it now that I am used to it.
yeah. Takes a bit to get used to but I now have less typos than on regular keyboards. 🙂
I use Fcitx5 for its Chinese language support.
I used to use Gboard for Cantonese input. I downloaded fcitx5 reading your comment and tried it for some time. There are some features noticeably missing compared to Gboard.
- top numeric row
- single-hand mode
- simplified and traditional characters selection#
# Found it. It’s in the settings bar at the top of the typing area. Click it open and go deep inside it.
What Gboard and fcitx5 both don’t have for Jyutping input is glide typing. I wish fcitx5 have it because it is really what could make me switch and not look back. Gboard in general has better finger tap detection/correction because duh Google had more data to train on. But I will definitely start using fcitx5 because being open source is sufficient for me to switch.
For languages that isn’t supported by its plugins like Japanese, I have to keep using Gboard though.
FUTO keyboard no doubt, it’s very modern. It has voice typing and swipe typing which is essential to me. It’s also just a nice typing experience.
if I wanted this mod abuse I would’ve stayed on reddit, what are all these removed comments bruh
Sadly this community is on the instance lemmy.ml which is known for mod abuse. Other instances are better
Tho this specifically is admin abuse, which is visible on the modlog. The mods aren’t involved in this one.
I have tried
- Florisboard
- Openboard
- Simple Keyboard
- Heliboard
- Ask
They’re good, but they lack some basic functionality that would deter an average user. Futo keyboard checks all the boxes for me.
What did Futo do that heliboard didn’t, or what made you end up going with that one?
Voice input is a big one everyone brings up
Florisboard is highly configurable, it can provide a good keyboard for the avarage user, if a more advanced user sets it up properly
Dude, I had been using the default keyboard from GrapheneOS since I couldn’t find a decent keyboard and gave up on swiping all together. I had heard about the futo keyboard but was unaware how mature it is. I installed it and set it up. I am very pleased! It has a lot of settings, and while the swiping isn’t perfect yet, I can actually feel like it’s learning from my usage. Very encouraging and it really brings me joy.
The Google keyboard was the best for me, but this is really not far behind. Thank you FUTO! Will be donating <3
If you want to train FUTO keyboard’s swipe typing, go to this link. They are sourcing swipe data from the community.
Oh yes I’ve trained it extensively on that website when it first launched! But thanks for the reminder!
IIRC it’s not open source
It’s “open source” but not fully free. You can modify it to your liking, but you cannot modify it commercially.
Florisboard beta is what I use. Extremely customisable. I think the biggest things that lacks are custom background photo and text-gliding (I ~dont use any of these though).
I made it almost identical to the gboard theme I was using previously and it’s so cool.
Best keyboard so far
Agree.
Wow, I missed the introduction of extensions, thanks! That’s cool
I am a big florisboard fan too, but I can not get autocorrect to work? How did you manage that? Also, I have glide typing, how do you not?
Oh, I don’t use any autocorrect.😅 Does it have one? I know it has autofill, suggestions with dictionaries and spell check, but not sure if it has autocorrect.
I have all of these disabled (I only have the auto-capitalization after a period and auto period after double space).😄
Wait, are you on beta? I think they have gliding, but it is only for gestures, not typing.
ive been using heliboard for a while now. no complaints.
Heliboard which is an active fork of OpenBoard.
I’ve been using Heliboard for a while. It does most that gboard does, but the predictions aren’t as good of course.
Yeah, I’ve been using it for about a year now. It’s a little frustrating that it will learn my misspellings before it suggests a proper replacement, but otherwise I have no complaints. Direct upgrade over the stock AOSP keyboard.
I’ve had the same problem with HeliBoard learning garbage. I just changed my settings though, and I think it should help:
- Open HeliBoard settings
- Open Text correction settings
- Scroll all the way to the bottom, and turn off “Add words to personal dictionary”
If you scroll all the way to the top again, you can manually manage the personal dictionary, including adding words you do want, and deleting any junk that was added by mistake, before switching that setting off.
I just use futo keyboard
I don’t think it is OS
It is. Source code here, license here
That is a non-commercial license, so it is not open source.
Since when is allowing commercial derivative work essential for it to be called open source?
Since always https://opensource.org/osd
Aye thanks, for the privacy aspect tot be somewhat covered I guess it fits the bill in its current state, but not true open source as the question asked then. Found the issue asking them to change but highly doubt they will https://github.com/futo-org/android-keyboard/issues/17
An extract taken from a statement on this exact topic, by FUTO:
"Our use of the term “open source” thus far has been not out of carelessness, but out of disdain for OSI approved licenses which nevertheless allow developers to be exploited by large corporate interests. The OSI, an organization with confidential charter members and large corporate sponsors, does not have any legal right to say what is and is not “open source”. It is arrogant of them to lay claim to the definition.
There is a reason these licenses and the organizations affiliated with them have the support of Google, Microsoft, Apple, and other giants. Corporate interests benefit directly from the “Fields of Endeavor” criteria within the OSI definition of open source. At FUTO, we fully believe that these kinds of licenses have failed to properly protect developers and community members from being exploited.
Furthermore, the OSI has done nothing to stop the proliferation of closed source malware, with “the customer is the product” as the dominant business model. They wrongly removed Eric S. Raymond from the OSI mailing list and are currently pushing for AI standards that are arguably closed source. While it is not our intention to bog this statement down in digressions about these internal OSI issues, they are worth mentioning.
The community has told us that “open source” has a particular meaning to them and suggested we call it “source available” instead. We have been reluctant to do so for numerous reasons.
Source available is not a real licensing standard and is so wildly generalized that it applies to free software, “open source” software, and in some cases even proprietary software. Many codebases deemed to be source available have extreme restrictions on everyday user’s ability to access and modify software.
Often, source available licenses require users to pay to access source code and then restrict the distribution of it to paying organizations. These restrictions do not apply to our software whatsoever. Using such an overly broad catch-all category that applies to nearly anything does not adequately inform people about what they can and cannot do with our software.
Thus, we have been calling our software “open source.” Our goal has never been to start semantic arguments about definitions, but to call attention to the wider issues we see occurring with open source software"
Fyi, the futo keyboard isn’t open source. The license heavily restricts against who can modify it and for what purpose. https://gitlab.futo.org/keyboard/latinime/-/blob/master/LICENSE.md?ref_type=heads
This license, plus that the app require microphone access, plus all the AI features, make my BS alarm go bzzz.
Is it vulnerable to enshittification?
Once Luis Rossman dies likely…
Until then, i trust that bro
Ah I wasn’t aware, I just assumed that even if it’s from its own repository, it is still on F-droid
Edit: reading the license, seems open source enough but I don’t have a legal background so I’m not the most well versed in that stuff, as long as code it open is the bare minimum for me.
even if it’s from its own repository, it is still on F-droid
There is nothing to stop anyone from running their own f-droid repo and distributing non-free software through it.
seems open source enough
This is the definition. Compare it with Futo’s license; it fails to meet both the Open Source Definition and Free Software Definition in several ways. After insisting they could redefine the term for a while (despite the definition’s wide acceptance) and inspiring some of their very vocal fans to promulgate their dishonest argument on their behalf, Futo themselves finally came around and agreed to stop calling their software open source.
That seems like a open source license to me? The main parts seem to disallow making money from it and commercial use.
That goes against at least one of the fundamental freedoms for FOSS software, but that I mind much. Still, technically but open source.
sounds like an actually great license. tired of companies using open-source plugins in propertiary applications for nefarious purposes
Exactly, that’s more than good enough for me. This model should be encouraged for companies trying to make profit, it gives the individual privacy and protects their work from being stolen by other malicious companies.
it is, you just can’t understand what open-source means, even though it is in its name
you just can’t understand what open-source means
FYI, nearly everyone (including Futo themselves), except for some Futo fans like yourself who haven’t gotten the memo, agrees that this is the definition of “open source” (and Futo’s license obviously does not qualify).
Other comments in this thread suggesting that Futo keyboard is open source have been deleted as offtopic.
all I hear is yapping, I can read, modify, and redistribute the source, what’s the big deal?
Whoa, I found the discussion rather insightful 😕
no, they delete it because they can’t tolerate the truth and they resort to censorship. Orwell has seen this and wrote a book about it
I’ve actually tried everything that was recommended here, but AnySoftKeyboard still fits me the best.
I don’t know, but Thumb-Key is written to by a core Lemmy developer, dessalines.
what a fantastic way to indicate my turbo nerd status to my friends and family!
Thumb-Key, hands down!
I like HeliBoard. It automatically switches between the languages I write in.
How do you set it up to do that? I just discovered multilingual typing, but that does not seem to be quite it.
I installed the dictionaries I need and then followed https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard/wiki/FAQ#multilingual-typing-type-in-multiple-languages-without-switching-manually
How do you make it switch automatically?
I just start writing in the different language and the suggestions + autocorrect switch for me. All the languages (other than Korean) use the same keyboard layout and for the umlauts I need to hold the aoeu shortly to get the right umlaut, or I just rely on the autocorrect.
Thanks, but couldn’t get it to work. These all fuss about futo decided to check it out, and all languages are working fine. The predictions are also better.
Yeah heliboard is the only one ive found that is actually usable on a day to day. Just wish the autocorrect was better, other than that no complaints.
Heeliboard, Hands Down
thanks, a lot of people talked about it, I downloaded it yesterday.
Dammit people stop asking this question I have 5 different keyboards now
