Show HN: The world's most efficient iOS keyboard | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: The world's most efficient iOS keyboard

herokeyboard.com

4 pointscoreywstone14 comments

Hi all. This is v2.0 of my HERO Keyboard. It's been completely re-coded for better typing action, and it adds the center "Bolt" button which you tap for SPACE, or hold (or 3D touch) to reveal numbers and your most recent emojis and symbols. On iPhone 6/7 and Plus, tilting the device moves the keyboard to the side for easier 1-thumb typing.

It's free for basic typing, with a $0.99/month subscription for premium themes and full emoji, dialpad, and symbol views. This is a self-funded project but I'm a designer not programmer, so I paid contract developers to build it. So basically, I'm out of money, and I'm hoping the v2 launch goes well enough to fund development of swipe typing, Android, GIPHY integration, text snippets, other languages, and any other helpful stuff I can think of! :) Marketing is definitely not my strength, so please let me know if you have any advice for me to help spread the idea. Thanks! -Corey

Looks interesting. I will give it a try!

Do you have any metrics on how long it takes to get through the learning curve? That's my only hesitation to trying a new keyboard layout.

Also, I'm not sure I understand why this would be a subscription service. A one time fee to unlock feature X seems much more appealing to me as a consumer. In my mind a subscription has to provide new value on a regular basis.

Hi Leesalminen - thanks for the comment.

People report about 3 days to feel fairly comfortable on it.

As for the subscription, there will be a new theme every month, so that provides a little recurring value.

The problem I ran into with version 1 and 1.5, which just cost a buck or two upfront, was that with that business model, it takes a lot of customers to pay off continuing development costs (because the customer is essentially getting lifetime updates, all for a buck or two). And it leaves little money for customer acquisition (ie marketing).

So my hope was to: a) Provide a way to let people try the keyboard for free (which Apple's App Store policies don't make very easy to do), and b) Fund continued development so I can keep adding good features.

I admit I'm not sure I have the right pricing model, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes, then adjust from there. :) Pricing per feature might work, though I hate to keep upselling people, and Apple does not allow In-App Purchases to be in the keyboard area, so it doesn't work quite as well as in a normal app. Thanks for trying it! -Corey

Hi Corey,

I was unaware of the IAP limitation with keyboards. That's pretty lame and limiting.

I'll sign up for a subscription and see how I feel in a couple months.

3 days doesn't seem bad at all. Maybe you could consider pushing that in marketing materials some more?

Thanks for the reply!

Good idea, and thanks! And to clarify, Apple seems to allow IAP to exist in keyboards (a subscription is technically an IAP), but you can't promote it or initiate it from the keyboard area (I had to appeal Apple's rejection on clarifying this difference -- it's worded a bit vaguely in their policy.)

Have you checked efficiency of yours against something like MessagEase (my current keyboard of choice)? http://www.exideas.com/ME/index.php

This is my daily driver and, while the learning curve was rough, it has increased my speed and accuracy considerably. It makes coding and writing longer pieces on my phone a much simpler task.

Hi Ginguin - thanks for the comment. I haven't checked compared them, but you're right - MessageEase and HERO were definitely designed with the same principles in mind. I didn't know they had an Apple watch app - I've considered that for HERO.

Even if the claim is true (that you can type faster), it will be a hardsell as it's too different from the current layout. It causes me to not be able to lend my phone to someone, etc. Same issue with drovak.

That's why swype/swiftkey which give a speed bump while retaining the current look and layout are the truly revolutionary ones, by simply utilizing the additional touch interactivity that modern tech enabled for them on top of a recognized layout.

Thanks anilgulecha. Yeah, it's not for everyone! haha. (Side note: the Globe key can always switch it back to the normal keyboard at any time).

The claim I make is "Most efficient" (not fastest) based on the fact that during normal English typing, your finger travel will be reduced 30-35%. Theoretically, that should mean it's faster, but only if the user is become accustomed to it, so I've avoided making claims about it being faster.

I'm definitely hoping to add swipe typing to HERO when I can afford that development cost. My hope is that the 2.0 launch can fund swipe and other new features.

> Tap HERO's revolutionary Bolt button to enter a SPACE, or double-tap it for period+SPACE. Hold or 3D-touch the Bolt then drag for superfast access to numbers, cursor control, and your recent emojis and symbols.

What's revolutionary about this? These features have been implemented in iOS for very long.

> #winning / like a boss

It would be nicer without using "meme-text".

> It would be nicer without using "meme-text".

Yeah, this seems more like a parody because of this "meme" crap. Looks like author tries too hard to be cool/relevent.

Speaking of memes, [0]this is a meme about the copytext of the website.

[0] https://i.imgur.com/VAeA885.jpg

Well I was a skater as a kid and now a very not-cool father of four, so that meme is not far off. :)

I'm a UX guy not a professional copywriter, so I may have missed the mark a bit. I was trying to keep it friendly and casual, and maybe a bit campy with the "HERO" theme. Anyway, I just removed a couple of the memey lines. Thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, I would go with more "professional but not too professional" approach. Unless your main demographics are 13 y/o kids that is.

Hi wingerlang - thanks for the comment. You're right that the features aren't different - the difference is that instead of accessing those features from usually the lower-left corner of the keyboard area (which is out of the "thumb comfort zone,"), the bolt button is right in the middle where your thumb normally is.

Regarding the text, I was trying to keep it friendly and not boring - sort of Mailchimp-like - maybe I went too far. :)

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