OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy • Hacker News Board

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#101

Post by CarVac » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:37 PM UTC

helmholtz wrote: post #68

CarVac wrote: post #59

I use MessagEase, which has a wacky layout that makes typos much less frequent, and thus doesn't need autocorrect. Not open-source, unfortunately.

Oof. Just looked it up and it immediately gets my fancy. How was the learning curve? And any downsides that you now have?

It took me only three or so days to get used to it.

The lack of autocorrect was so refreshing that I just kept typing for practice.

The downside now is that, unlike the QWERTY to Dvorak switch, I've become exceedingly clumsy at typing on ordinary phone keyboards.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#102

Post by CarVac » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:42 PM UTC

Semaphor wrote: post #84

CarVac wrote: post #59

I use MessagEase, which has a wacky layout that makes typos much less frequent, and thus doesn't need autocorrect. Not open-source, unfortunately.

Thanks, this looks interesting. And the settings. So many settings and I love settings :D No permissions at all is pretty impressive. The only thing I can’t figure out: How will they make money? They seem to have run a IndieGoGo campaign and now ask for donations (hidden in the settings), but that will eventually run out. This is especially worrying with something as specialized as this.

The lack of availability in the future and on other platforms (such as non-Android Linux phones) is my only worry.

But it shouldn't be that hard to clone, if something should happen to it.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#103

Post by helmholtz » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 4:46 PM UTC

CarVac wrote: post #101

helmholtz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oof. Just looked it up and it immediately gets my fancy. How was the learning curve? And any downsides that you now have?

It took me only three or so days to get used to it. The lack of autocorrect was so refreshing that I just kept typing for practice. The downside now is that, unlike the QWERTY to Dvorak switch, I've become exceedingly clumsy at typing on ordinary phone keyboards.

I'm sold :) Going to try it out for a couple of weeks and see how it feels.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#104

Post by catacombs » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

Is there an iOS version?

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#105

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

pmontra wrote: post #44

circularfoyers wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see any reason why someone would use OpenBoard over AnySoftKeyboard. It would of been nice if there was an explanation of what differentiated it. If someone just wanted a different looking keyboard they could just have created a new theme for AnySoftKeyboard. AnySoftKeyboard also is the only open source keyboard for Android that has gesture typing. Which is something I grew to love from when I used Gboard.

Swyping didn't work reliably when I tried one year ago, so I switched back to one of the keyboards of my phone (SwiftKey because I find it slightly better than Samsung's one.) Did they improve it in the last releases?

There is a pull request open which improves the algorithm massively. Author couldn't finish it because of health issues sadly. I've installed it on my phone and it works great but I had to update some parameters in the code so it'd work.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#106

Post by bestouff » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

JeremyNT wrote: post #91

pmontra wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swyping didn't work reliably when I tried one year ago, so I switched back to one of the keyboards of my phone (SwiftKey because I find it slightly better than Samsung's one.) Did they improve it in the last releases?

For me, it just doesn't do the job. I love ASK but this feature isn't competitive with the closed source alternatives. Alas, I wish it were. This is all that's missing IMO.

Can't upvote this enough.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#107

Post by NDICjQ2zlm5vJ6S » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:47 PM UTC

nonbirithm wrote: post #52

Really, really wish there was Japanese support. That's one of the main reasons I have to keep using Gboard. Also, my typing ability on mobile has been spoiled by Google's admittedly superior autocorrect. I find that many of the frequent mistakes I make are not detected or modified incorrectly on other keyboards, and have to re-learn a lot. It almost feels like vendor lock-in from bad typing habits.

I've used a bunch of open source Japanese keyboards: Mozc[0] (might be related to Gboard? haven't used gboard but the app is based off the same source code that powers Google IME), nicoWnnG[1]. I'm not sure how well they fare compared to proprietary keyboards but they've been good enough for my occasional use of Japanese.

[0]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.mozc.android.inputmethod... [1]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.gorry.android.input.nico...

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#108

Post by helmholtz » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:51 PM UTC

CarVac wrote: post #101

helmholtz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oof. Just looked it up and it immediately gets my fancy. How was the learning curve? And any downsides that you now have?

It took me only three or so days to get used to it. The lack of autocorrect was so refreshing that I just kept typing for practice. The downside now is that, unlike the QWERTY to Dvorak switch, I've become exceedingly clumsy at typing on ordinary phone keyboards.

It's proving to be right up my alley. I switched to programmer's dvorak on the PC for exactly this reason; in the harebrained pursuit of ever increasing ergonomic efficiency!

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#109

Post by 3r8riacz » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 5:57 PM UTC

Once you get used to the honeycomb pattern, there is no turning back from Typewise: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.icoaching.w...

It has a free version, too, but the beta users were upgraded to the paid version earlier. Not opensource but doesn't even have access to the net.

Re: OpenBoard – FOSS Keyboard for Android which respects your privacy

#110

Post by solarkraft » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 6:07 PM UTC

yorwba wrote: post #58

jmnicolas wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The search function on FDroid is atrocious. I find all the language packs for Anysoftkeyboard but not the keyboard itself.

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.menny.android.anysoftkeyboa... I think the search function is working fine, the app is just called "AnySoftKeyboard 3D Theme" in the F-Droid app but not on the website for some reason.

With all default repos + IzzyOnDroid enabled and searching exactly for that package name I get all the language packs and a 7 years old PC theme, but not the app itself. I'll just download the APK, I guess.