Microsoft isn’t a stranger to iOS devices. They’ve created a whole host of applications for iPhone, iPad and iPod. Word Flow is the latest Microsoft app to his the App Store. This isn’t just any old app, however. This is a game changer in the 3rd party keyboard world.
Word Flow is currently only available in the US App Store, so my UK-based friends will have to wait just a while longer, but trust me – it’ll be worth the wait. When I first bought my iPhone 6s Plus, the first few weeks left me in some pain as I developed a repetitive strain injury in my thumb as I tried to type one-handed on the behemoth that is the 5.5 inch screen. It was just too big. Fast forward a few months, and here we are.
I’ve tried a number of different 3rd party keyboards over the past few months. Some extremely functional, some just pure novelty. They don’t usually last long. Word Flow, I suspect, will be different. I often find myself either holding the hand of one of my children, or carrying documents or laptop to meetings. If I need to send a quick text or email, it’s nearly impossible.
With Word Flow, you get a standard-layout keyboard with swipe ability to begin with. You can customise it with themes, including pictures, gradients and colours. You can also enable or disable predictive text, contacts and you can have it learn. It will also learn your typing speed, although its not clear why. In addition to all this, there’s the killer feature – the ability to put the keyboard into the single-hand typing mode. You can set it for either left or right-handed mode and they keyboard will curve to match the arc of your thumb. For this reason alone, I suspect this will be (for me, at least) the 3rd party keyboard app I use for a long time to come.
There’s no word when it’ll be ready for a UK market, but you can find it in the US App Store here.
