Open Source @lemmy.ml

5mo ago

What's the best open source keyboard for android?

EDIT: Thanks, guys! I ended up downloading Heliboard from f-droid :)

95 comments

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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dZh8r-xErGE
  
  After watching that vid, I'm sad to see that it's no longer being developed and that the devs didn't leave any open source behind. :( That would have been really cool to try out.
  Good rule of thumb to capitalize letters with circle is just to make the circle as large as it can go within the keyboard area. It doesn't have to be centered around the key, just needs to start on the key. For center I usually just circle down from the key as far as I can.

ive been using heliboard for a while now. no complaints.

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.
- 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.

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!

I like HeliBoard. It automatically switches between the languages I write in.
- Yeah heliboard is the only one I've found that is actually usable on a day to day. Just wish the autocorrect was better, other than that no complaints.
- 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.
- I'm currently using OpenBoard but you sold me on that one, thanks!

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. 🙂

Fcitx5 for Chinese, and Flickboard for English. Honestly sad that there isn't a decent open-source keyboard for Japanese though.
- There's Mozc, but it's oudated and no one maintain it anymore.
  
  True. It doesn't even install on Android 14.

FlorisBoard

I've actually tried everything that was recommended here, but AnySoftKeyboard still fits me the best.

Preference for AnySoftKeyboard.
Why is there so many censored posts about keyboard apps?
- there is a thread about the moderation of this thread here.

Openboard (fdroid)

I love the fulliness of unexpected keyboard
- Unexpected keyboard is just the best!
  
  Which lemmy client is this? It looks very nice
  
  trying this one, pretty interesting so far any way to get gifs in?

I've been using heliboard for more than a year without any issues. Only think I don't like is the lack of emoji search(?)

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.
- Fcitx5 is the best for Chinese. Honestly very impressed that there is a open-source keyboard this good for Chinese. Only thing missing is fat finger error correction (like autocorrect but it works on the preedit text instead of text already output)

After trying couple of keybords (mostly AnySoftKeyboard and TypeWise [proprietary]) I have settled on Unexpected Keyboard due to easy switch of keybords to get to japanese keyboard and tts button.

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

https://f-droid.org/packages/rkr.simplekeyboard.inputmethod

Could you specify wether these support physical keyboards? (showing only a toolbar when one is detected). I'm using the default proprietary Kika-keyboard on my device and it's not great. Microsoft Swiftkey works but is not perfect and not FLOSS.

I like Fossify's, but I won't recommend it - it has no predictive text and no symbols on its main keyboard, the first which is a huge deal for almost everyone. Not sure if they're working on those or if it will never get those features, because if it had those two it would be the perfect keyboard because it's so great in every other sense.

I just wish languagetool made an android keyboard, all the open source options require some compromise with the autocorrect in my native language

the base aosp keyboard or florisboard

95 comments