FlickType - Watch Keyboard

I was initially very interested in this app for its Apple Watch functionalities- as I often find myself replying to messages without my phone and scribbling them out is a huge pain. I love the keyboard layout, and the ability to scroll between words to pick the correct one. It’s a faster, far more convenient way for me to reply to texts when I am unable to use my phone. HOWEVER. I am literally unable to type out any words that the app doesn’t recognize, which is a BIG problem for me. I tried adding a few to the dictionary on the phone, but thus far it has not translated over. I know I have the option to scribble specific words if I need to, but I got this app to get AWAY from that. This would be a perfect 5 star review if I was simply able to cancel the auto-correct to type the word I want without it insisting on the wrong letter to find the closest word to its internal dictionary.

I am writing this review solely for the app's performance on Apple Watch, not on iOS. I think the app works really well on my watch, and I love it's ability to accurately predict the words I'm typing. I envision myself using this keyboard all the time as it (hopefully) becomes accessible to other apps than iMessage. So why am I rating this 3 stars? The only problem I have encountered with this keyboard, and the one thing making using it extremely difficult, is that the backspace doesn't work. Every single time I tap on it, it triggers the spacebar instead. I literally cannot undo any typos. And tapping the space bar twice creates a period, and pressing the space bar again then creates another period... and so on. The app works amazing when I don't make any typos, but when autocorrect is unable to figure out what I'm trying to say, then I'm basically screwed. The only solution I have discovered to remove all the text is to choose to send the message, and then tap on cancel, so I can try typing again. If the backspace key is made to work, then I will happily rate this app 5 stars. I have the iPhone Xr and the Apple Watch Series 4 40mm. Edit: the developer contacted me, and he was able to fix the issue!! I have no problems with this app now, and I'm recommending it to everyone I know that has an Apple Watch.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Flicktype so far. While it’s unfortunate that Apple doesn’t yet support 3rd party input methods in the stock Messages app, the developer has implemented some clever workarounds that I think work almost just as well to make replying to messages with a full keyboard on the watch so easy. The keyboard itself works surprisingly well for such a small screen and I keep finding myself shocked as the correct word pops on screen after I just tapped the keyboard on screen a few times in almost the exact same places. Other than the lack of being able to directly reply to notifications (again, out of the developer’s control) everything about this feels “stock” and exactly how Apple themselves would handle this sort of functionality within watchOS. I think this is a great example to show Apple how much 3rd party input methods would benefit the next version of watchOS!

I never write reviews for anything, but I saw a post about this keyboard on Reddit and it was getting a lot of positive feedback. I figured what the hell I would check it out. So far I’m really enjoying it! It’s a little weird having to close the text message app and open the FlickType complication to type but I’m assuming that’s because Apple doesn’t allow perfect integration. It’s not weird enough to knock the rating down though. I’m still learning all the gestures but the predictive text so far has been pretty solid and after a bit more time with it I’m sure I’ll have it down. It’s definitely increased my typing speed on my wrist at least 20 times over. Definitely get this app if you find yourself typing on your wrist even a couple times a day!

I've been using FlickType for over a year now and can't tell you how much time it has saved me typing out messages, emails, and so much more. I used to use a lot of shorthand when writing messages because typing out whole words sometimes just took so much time. I'm happy to say that FlickType changed this and I don't feel quite so bad or dread writing email messages anymore. Having FlickType on apple watch is also a good experience. I can't say I would leave my phone at home just yet and use my watch alone, but for those times when my phone is in my backpack and I can't use speech to text for what ever reason, FlickType is their for me when I really need to send those messages or two.