Iphone Keyboard?

[Guest Zephyron]

Hey, I was wondering if it was at all possible to hack/port the keyboard on the iphone over to an android phone or more specifically the N1? Has anyone tried or attempted this? Is it impossible, if so what are the obstacles? Any insight would help, thanks!

[Guest huey-t]

Hey, I was wondering if it was at all possible to hack/port the keyboard on the iphone over to an android phone or more specifically the N1? Has anyone tried or attempted this? Is it impossible, if so what are the obstacles? Any insight would help, thanks!

Impossible, I'd think.

You can skin it though - check out Better Keyboard and try the iPhone skin... doesn't look exactly like it, but it's something.

[Guest Zephyron]

Yeah, I've actually tried the better keyboard one, doesnt feel the same and the spacebar for it is annoyingly small

[Guest stevenz]

Never going to happen unless someone writes a clone from scratch. Different hardware and OS, plus it'll be integrated differently so even if the code _was_ available, it'd likely need to be mostly redone from scratch anyway.

[Guest surfsmurf]

Is it impossible, if so what are the obstacles? Any insight would help, thanks!

I'd file this in the impossible bin. Well, it's not impossible but it's definitely very very very very difficult. There are three approaches here:

1) Steal the source code from Apple and port the code to Android. This is not going to happen.

2) Take the iPhone binary and make it run on Android. Basically you have to have implement a basic iPhone compatibility layer (think Wine). This would be exceedingly difficult, the effort required far exceeds the result.

3) Blackbox reimplementation of the keyboard. The best option. Or to put it another way: Simply download the best keyboard available for the platform, get used to its quirks and be happy.

[Guest kaotix]

Exactly what part of the keyboard do you like? I like how much bigger it feels than the stock android keyboard. I think it has less symbols and other keys on the screen to enable more space for the letters. I think it may be taller too?

I would have thought this could be setup from the stock keyboard some how, if the keys used are mapped to a specific settings file or similar.

I don't rly care for the way the key press shows the letters as much as I prefer the android version as well.

[Guest Zephyron]

Thanks everyone for your input

@kaotix i like the layout of the iphone keyboard, it is ALOT easier to type messages without mistakes. Im not sure if its the extra spacing between the keys or what but typing functionality is a lot better when I compare it to the stock android one.

The Iphone skin for better keyboards was decent but it just wasnt the same either and due to the extra option button in the bottom left forces the space bar to be even smaller which causes more typos. Checked out that Ahome has a iphone theme.. but I rather not change my whole phone to look like the iphone.. I love the android look =)

Edited February 10, 2010 by Zephyron

[Guest 7wonders]

I would wait for swype's full version to come out. I have been using the leaked beta and I dont think I will ever go back to a normal keyboard again. It is quite simply amazing (although only supports english at the moment I think).

Edit: Looks like it just came out today http://www.swypeinc.com/news.html

Edited February 10, 2010 by 7wonders

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

It's not available to buy though, still have to wait for that so we can use it on our devices that do not have it pre-installed.