Microsoft is bringing its predictive Windows Phone keyboard, called Word Flow, to the iPhone. The third-party keyboard is now available for free in the US App Store. The keyboard features traditional keycap input as well as the popular swiping-between-letters gesture input method popularized by Swype.
There’s a curved, one-handed mode too. With a gesture, the Word Flow keyboard can morph into a circular layout in a corner, allowing access to all keys with just one finger. It may be handy if you are in a pinch, especially on larger, 5.5 inch iPhone screens. Microsoft also bundles a set of backgrounds and themes for some additional customization options not found on its Windows Phone counterpart.
Word Flow also features its own version of Apple’s Quick Type feature, predicting the next word based on what has already been written for quick entry using natural language analysis, with suggested words available at a tap in a bar at the top of the keyboard.
Word Flow is a free download in the App Store, but availability is currently limited to just one region: the United States. No word yet on an international release. News of the US version first surfaced earlier this year.
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Any idea if this is a US-only thing or if it will be available internationally as the App Store refreshes/updates?
Impressive! I’d love for this to support 3D Touch’s trackpad mode and I really wish Apple would give microphone access to 3rd party keyboards.
How the hell do I activate Arc Mode? I’ve tried everything!
on either side of the top corners there is an icon that looks like an arc, tap/hold and pull down. Top right would be right hand oriented, top left would be left hand oriented.To bring it back to a regular keyboard, it’s usually the bottom corner of the opposite corner, tap on the arc symbol and pull up
How do I and a second language like Spanish?
as usual..MS complete pathetic when it comes to country avilability
How come no one else mentions the fact that you have to allow full access to your iPhone, “allowing the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type… which could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address”
Am I missing something here???
This is standard for every 3rd party keyboard and I’ve honestly never worried about it. There’s a certain element of trust involved, sure. But iOS defaults to the stock keyboard when you have to enter a password for this reason. And no, I wouldn’t type in a credit card number with any 3rd party keyboard.
I love the WordFlow keyboard so far. It’s fantastic with text prediction, and this is really the key element for any keyboard. I really love swipe-to-text, though. And my usual go-to option, SwiftKey, was good with predictions, but its swipe-to-text functionality wasn’t great… It actually made the predictions worse. WordFlow is seamless.