I built a custom keyboard for iOS 8 | Hacker News Reader

I built a custom keyboard for iOS 8

protonome.com

39 pointsmelloclello26 comments

Hey, nice app! Unfortunately it has a bug on my device (iPad Air, iOS 8.0.2) when used in other apps (Notes app here): http://i.imgur.com/TSZZsYz.jpg

The keyboard never shows up, only this blank area. Hope you can fix it, didn't want to spoil your reviews :).

Gah, this thing again. I've noticed that happening on a couple of the other custom keyboards, as well - I suspect it may be an actual bug in iOS 8. I was hoping it would be fixed when the GM came out but no dice...

PS thanks for not giving me a one-star review :o)

You're right about this being a iOS 8 bug, i haven't tried your keyboard yet but have swype installed and it frequently fails to show up in things ( mainly spotlight for me )

Regarding your German search terms: you should probably remove charakter (which usually refers to a person's character) and klaviatur (which only refers to the keyboard of musical instruments), and replace "eingang" (entrance) with "eingabe" (input or entry).

Thanks! Just doing this...

Zeichen and Tastatur if I recall correctly.

I would love the option to turn off certain groups of characters, since I won't be needing 95% of them. Still cool nonetheless.

Not a bad idea, I could redesign how the listing mode works so there's a checkbox next to each group name. There's whole swathes of blocks for which there is no font support anyway, I wouldn't mind being able to disable those by default.

iOS8 keyboards still make me very uncomfortable. How many of them contain keyloggers?

It's not even if I have one installed, the people I communicate with will be using them too, and they can compromise me.

I can't speak for anybody else's apps, iOS or Android, but Glyf sure doesn't have a keylogger included, at the very least...

I didn't mean to suggest that at all, I was commenting on the concept of having executable keyboards outside of the usual application sandbox rather than yours in particular.

I'm pretty sure they are sandboxed and can't access the network at all. Actually looks like you can set a flag to access the network.

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Genera...

Can users see this flag?

By default, it is false. The app cannot change it without asking the user first. You cannot see it.

http://i.imgur.com/bSIhNOP.png

Big scary warning, I like it. Swiftkey does badger people to enable it though, so presumably it's sending a lot of data back to their servers as a business model. Nasty.

well swiftkey iirc does some data analysis on stuff like commonly used words and then uses those for suggestions for new users. its not totally without user benefit, though the potential for evil is certainly there.

Is a keylogger the best way to determine a list of commonly used words?

Nice scary warning indeed. Default/Suggested action should probably be "Don't allow" tho.

SwiftKey says they do not send any data unless you explicitly enable it (separately from Full Access):

https://iossupport.swiftkey.com/hc/en-us/articles/201466641-...

While it has the potential for privacy issues, it is also the basis for the entire product. The only way to build prediction is to have data.

I think Nasty is a bit strong here.

I have SwiftKey installed and there is an option in the Settings->General->Keyboard->Keyboards->SwiftKey allows me to toggle it on/off:

https://i.imgur.com/RUN4nno.png

But now you can't swipe enter or get predictions. To use it anywhere near as advertised, they extort your data out of you.

Not to mention third-party keyboards are not allowed in password fields. I guess that's unfortunate for anyone with non-standard unicode in their passwords, though.

I also built a custom keyboard, designed specifically for Project Managers: http://posts.danharper.me/project-manager-keyboard-for-ios/

i love this app; you have many choices to choose from and if you are not able to find something you like.

Thanks! I get a kick out of exploring all the stuff in Unicode too.

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