Remember the big hullabaloo a couple of weeks back when SwiftKey finally arrived on iOS? Well, fellow smart keyboard app Fleksy has just announced that it’s rolling its iOS software development kit (SDK) out of private beta as it looks to become the first iOS-wide alternative keyboard.
As you no doubt know, Apple restricts third-party keyboards from replacing the default iOS incarnation. But that doesn’t stop developers from creating their own keyboards for use within specific apps.
As we saw with SwiftKey, which has been offering its own replacement keyboard on Android for some time already, its arrival on iOS was restricted to the standalone SwiftKey Note app.
Fleksy, on the other hand, has also offered an iOS keyboard alternative of sorts for a while (on Android too), again as a standalone app that lets you export the text to other services, including Facebook and Twitter. Back in December, the company announced it was ramping up its presence across the iOS ecosystem by opening the Fleksy SDK to third-party services.
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For the private beta phase, apps such as Wordbox, Google Voice Connect, Launch Center Pro and BlindSquare were the first to offer Fleksy as an alternative.
Today, Fleksy is unveiling an updated SDK as it opens the curtains for its official public launch. So now any app developer can offer Fleksy as an alternative keyboard.
The new Fleksy SDK will be completely free of charge, and can be implemented into any iOS app in minutes. For launch, more than ten new partner apps have been brought on board too, including You Doodle, Cotton Notes, Write for iOS, Tap Forms Organizer, SnapStatus, Remoter VNC, EVOmail, hAppy for ADN, Matcha, Vert 2, and MUDRammer.
If Apple isn’t going to allow third-party system-wide keyboard apps, this is probably as good as you’re going to get for now. And it will be interesting to see how the uptake goes in the coming weeks and months now that it’s open to everyone.
Meanwhile, check out the official Fleksy SDK promo video below.
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