Hacker keyboard. Choosing a keyboard for Android smartphones: traditional input method - Hacker's Keyboard, TouchPal X Keyboard and GO Keyboard

There is something non-standard for devices here. mobile communications button layout, and also added some buttons from the computer keyboard, such as “Ctrl”, “Shift”, “Alt”, F2”, “F10” and others. It is worth noting that this application is completely free, which allows users to enjoy the virtual keyboard at any time.

Installation and use

Installing “Hacker's Keyboard” is quite convenient and simple. After launching the program, you need to check the box next to this application in the device settings. After which the program must be selected as the main input method. It should be noted that “Hacker’s Keyboard” is distinguished from other similar programs by its wider functionality. There is computer layout keys, as well as corresponding punctuation marks, a separate number pad and much more. A keyboard like this will be very useful in certain applications that require such elements

What is the game

It should be noted that “Hacker's Keyboard” supports more than twenty languages, which is very convenient for most users. Similar view virtual keyboard Suitable for those users who are accustomed to the computer layout and do not want to wean themselves from it. Many users have already appreciated the benefits of this virtual keyboard, as evidenced by the number of downloads and numerous positive reviews.

If you lack the usual key layout used on a PC or laptop, Hacker`s Keyboard is exactly the application that will allow you to achieve the same functionality of a virtual keyboard on the screen of any Android gadget. A separate row of number keys, cursor control buttons and all the usual function keys are in place. Multi-touch support ensures the operation of modifiers (Alt, Ctrl, Shift).

This keyboard is ideal for using SSH access to other devices using ConnectBot. Esc, Tab and other keys, familiar to standard PC keyboards, will allow you to achieve full functionality on your smartphone or tablet, as if you were holding a laptop or desktop with a full keyboard. Spell checking with support for 14 languages ​​is implemented through additional plugins, any of which you can download and install if necessary. The modular principle of connecting dictionaries saves the memory of your device and allows you to optimize the work with the keyboard to the required extent. Due to the large number of keys, the application is more convenient to use on tablets or smartphones with a large screen diagonal. To improve your work experience, you can independently set the dimensions of the keyboard and the size of the characters on the keys.

Key Features and Functions

• full-size PC keyboard on the gadget screen;
• functionality of modifier keys (multi-touch support);
• connecting dictionaries and layouts using separate plugins;
• Russian language support (dictionary and layout);
• the ability to connect dictionaries from third-party developers;
• designed for tablets.

In the last review of keyboards for mobile gadgets, we looked at the most popular applications: Smart Keyboard, SwiftKey Keyboard and Aitype Keyboard. But besides them, there are other equally valuable and interesting representatives. Let's take a look at them too.

A lot of keys: Hacker's Keyboard

As you know, hackers are tough people. They need a lot of keys, while functions, design and other “bells and whistles” are useless. After all, they already know everything they need. This is exactly how Hacker's Keyboard can be described in three sentences.

Initial setup

After visiting the Hacker's Keyboard menu, you immediately understand who it was created for. The design is extremely simple. More precisely, it is not there. We are presented with a dark background, a standard font, links to application items and a brief instruction. It is worth noting that all interface elements in English.

Click on “Enable keyboard” and select our keyboard, repeat the same with “Set input method”. Thus, we activate this keyboard in the system. If necessary, you can immediately add an input language and load a dictionary. Everything is simple and concise.

Keyboard layout and brief functionality

After the appearance of the keyboard itself, it is not immediately clear whether this is really Hacker's Keyboard. In portrait orientation, everything looks standard, without exaggeration, like a regular AOSP keyboard.

Only the top line with additional symbols and the ability to change the input language by swiping on a space give away a little third party application. But a novice user is unlikely to notice this.

The keyboard behaves adequately. And even after opening the symbols, you can’t find any differences from the standard one. All the necessary letters, numbers and signs are in place.

All this is in portrait orientation... But just turn the gadget 90°, and we will immediately find out why this keyboard is called a hacker keyboard.

There are many additional keys in the letter layout that you won’t find even in SwiftKey Keyboard and Aitype Keyboard. This includes Ctrl, Alt, Escape, Win, and even Fn. In addition, at the top of the keyboard there is a panel with numbers, and holding down in their area allows you to enter various characters.

Each of the “unexpected” keys will not be superfluous and will definitely come in handy. Arrows will be useful in the browser, in text editor and even in Google Play. Win and Escape will not hurt for programs like “Remote desktop”, and Ctrl and Alt will be indispensable when typing text.

After pressing Fn, we find ourselves in the very “lair” of the Hacker’s Keyboard application, where the Num panel, f-keys and many other buttons are waiting in the wings. A user who is distant from programming, application development and other things does not need them, but a hacker simply necessary.

Functions and features

When we get into the settings, we won’t find anything unusual there. More precisely, we won’t find anything there. You can only change the size of the keys, select the number of rows of the keyboard layout, set a graphic theme and adjust a couple more settings for special keys.

The keyboard layout looks like four and five lines. As you can see, the fifth line is a digital strip. At the bottom there are additional keys: Fn, Ctrl, Alt and others.

Above is the minimum and maximum possible keyboard size in portrait orientation.

Hacker's Keyboard has a separate hint function, that is, “predicting” words. But with the Russian language, even after installing the appropriate dictionary, options for entering words are not offered.

Hacker's Keyboard doesn't have many functions, but considering its purpose, this is normal.

Decor

As already mentioned, Hacker's Keyboard is the twin brother of the standard keyboard. Themes can correct this shortcoming. Yes, you can change the graphic design in it. There is only one nuance left - there are only four themes, there are no third-party ones.

There is also a copy of the Apple keyboard and an experimental theme. If everything is clear with the first, then the second is very interesting. It doesn’t look bright or colorful, but given the name and purpose of the program, it’s just right.

Two other topics.

Conclusions on Hacker's Keyboard

Hacker's Keyboard has practically no functions. The most basic ones, in the form of input with a capital letter after a period, should not be taken into account. But the advantage of the application is its extreme unpretentiousness, because the developers paid special attention to the keys. And in the Hacker's Keyboard layout There really are all the keys.

In landscape orientation, the layout of this keyboard is almost completely similar to a regular 101-key computer keyboard, which gives good advantages when typing.

Before you start using Hacker's Keyboard, you need to configure everything correctly. Let's divide each action into points:

1. After launching the application from the desktop or Application Menu, click on the Configure input method button. You will be taken to the Language and Input section of the system settings, where you need to check the box next to Hacker's Keyboard. A standard warning will appear, which you can safely ignore (this application does not have any rights to collect entered information, so you don’t have to worry about data security ).
2. After this, go back to main screen by pressing the Back button on your device. After that, click on the button below - Set current input method. In the pop-up window, mark this keyboard as your primary input method.
3. The keyboard is now set up as the default keyboard, but that's not all, as additional dictionaries need to be downloaded. To do this, click on Get dictionaries and download the dictionaries you need from Google Play (the weight of one dictionary does not exceed 1 megabyte).
4. After successful download, return to the main screen and click Input Languages. Now select the languages ​​in which you will print text from the list. This completes the setup.

With active correspondence and constant typing on smartphones and tablets, the requirements for the software keyboard increase. In this guide, we will explore the keyboard skins available on Google Play.

The information will also be useful to those for whom a standard keyboard is inconvenient for many reasons, be it the inconvenient location of the keys or the lack of necessary languages, layouts, or functions.

Review participants:

Also mentioned:

• Hacker's Keyboard

Smart Keyboard is a multilingual keyboard with support for themes and alternative layouts. The adjective “Smart” in the name is apparently explained by the fact that this shell can automatically correct typos, guess words and work with user dictionary. However, like many other participants in the review.

To enable the keyboard you need to go to system settings"Language and input", activate Smart Keyboard and select it as the default input method.

Russian is present in the list of supported locales; in the “Language” settings of the application, you can mark the layouts available for switching when typing. For the Russian language, QWERTY layouts in 3 or 4 rows, T9 and a phonetic keyboard are available. Accordingly, where there is QWERTY, the usual layout for the Cyrillic alphabet is assumed (hereinafter in the guide).

To fully support the Russian language in Smart Keyboard, you can go to Google Play and download the corresponding dictionary. In the “Text Prediction” section, options are available that will help speed up text entry and reduce the percentage of typos. These include: correction of common errors, hints, word completion and punctuation. Separately, it is worth noting the option of smart auto-completion - that is, the tips take into account the frequency of use of the word.

Custom dictionaries and autotext can be imported/exported in CSV format. The program can copy both dictionaries and user settings to the cloud and synchronize via Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and other web services.

When working with text, Smart Keyboard allows multiple touches (i.e. multi-touch) and gestures (swipe left, right, up and down). You can assign various actions to them: changing the language, switching to compact mode, editing text, and much more. etc.

Through General settings Smart Keyboard you can change the keyboard style. The list contains quite recognizable themes: iPhone, Android, Galaxy, HTC, in various colors, plus it is possible to download other themes on Google Play.

On smaller screens, you can activate the full-screen keyboard. Also, for accurate input, it is easy to increase the height of the keys in landscape and portrait display. Individual keys (arrows), fields and rows are configured for each layout.

Summary. The Smart Keyboard shell will be interesting as a replacement and addition to the standard keyboard. This is a kind of universal option without any “frills” that will suit many users.

MessagEase is significantly different from most keyboard skins available on Google Play. First of all, there is no traditional QWERTY layout. But, as you know, the QWERTY layout is not optimal everywhere and not for everyone. For devices with small screens, it makes sense to test alternatives.

According to the developer, the maximum speed achieved when writing text in MessagEase is 82 words per minute, which is not so low. To learn the MessagEase keyboard and further speed up typing, you can download the educational game MessagEase Game on Google Play. Also, after installation, it will be useful to read the tutorial and look at the help section, which describes in detail the functions of the application.

The MessagEase interface is represented by a keyboard with 9 large buttons. They are arranged in such a way that text entry is intuitive: the most commonly used letters of the alphabet are placed in the center of the keys, and to enter them you just need to touch the center of the buttons. Other letters are entered using gestures (circular movements, swipe to the side, etc.). You can use multi-touch and draw shapes in combination with modifier keys. Thus, it is easy to enter not only letters, but also numbers, special characters, and use editing commands.

In MessagEase you can connect dictionaries to guess words. They are available as add-ons on Google Play, including a Russian-language dictionary. In the “Auto Keys” settings section there are more settings for text: correcting letters to lowercase, punctuation, correcting errors in words, etc.

MessagEase provides macros for quick input. True, these are not so much scripts as abbreviations, abbreviations of expressions. They are convenient for entering frequently occurring text fragments, certain quantities (date, time, contact) and some macros inside others.

And finally, in the additional parameters you can activate the “Turbo speed” mode - synonymous with careless input. Using this method, you need to enter only the main characters in the layout; MessagEase corrects typos on its own.

The MessagEase application allows you to flexibly customize the appearance of the layout. Through the settings you can change the color and shape of the keys, fonts, and remove unnecessary characters on the buttons. In addition, the shape and size of the keyboard itself changes. Left- and right-sided keyboards are available for tablet and landscape modes. You can switch between modes on the fly - directly while entering text.

Summary. This exotic solution can take root on Android, although it requires some retraining and getting used to. There are both pros and cons to this approach. The advantages of MessagEase are undoubted: optimized and convenient layout, many important points: interface customization, full support for languages, gestures. Overall, all this ensures fast and correct text input. However, such habituation can lead to the opposite effect: you will have to relearn the QWERTY layout again.

The application is interesting at least because it was collected through crowdfunding, despite the fact that it was planned to be 10 times less. The Minuum Keyboard is described as a “small keyboard for big fingers,” which is obviously part of its appeal.

Minuum Keyboard offers not so much an alternative layout as its different arrangement - QWERTY in a checkerboard pattern. This allows you to free up the screen and, at the same time, have a full-length set of letters and numbers at hand. It is most convenient to use such a keyboard in landscape display and on a tablet: all letters are clearly visible, the distance is optimal and there is access to the bottom row of symbols. When you press any button, zooming is activated.

In case of sloppy typing, words are corrected automatically. To demonstrate how Minuum Keyboard handles typo correction, you can run a short tutorial inside the program.

As an option, there is a full-size QWERTY layout and others: alphabetical, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Colemak or Dvorak. In the shell settings, you can enable bonus panels, expanding the keyboard with various options. These include: clipboard management, search, input speed, cursor control, etc.

In addition, you can change the keyboard layout: normal, left or right, floating keyboard. The height of tooltips, space, compact and standard layouts can be adjusted.

As for editing text, there are not many such options in Minuum Keyboard: correcting capital letters, smart punctuation, guessing words.

By default, the list of languages ​​for which you can download dictionaries includes only German, French and Italian. To add the Russian language, you need to enable Internet access and wait for the corresponding line to appear in the Language & layout section.

Despite its decidedly minimalistic appearance, Minuum Keyboard offers a variety of design themes. They are divided into flat, soft, diamond-shaped, natural and others. Particularly interesting are chameleon themes that change the background color of the shell depending on the current application.

Summary. Minuum Keyboard will appeal to tablet owners and those users who value typing speed and the ability to automatically correct typos. At the same time, the smartphone version is quite suitable for comfortable work with text, since in Minuum you can change the layout and adapt the keyboard to the size of a small screen.

Hacker's Keyboard

Hacker’s Keyboard is a program for those who need to do a kind of “mobile hack” to return a standard PC keyboard to their device. Almost all the keys on this keyboard are present (for example, the function keys F1-F12) and in their place.

For the Russian language, Hacker’s Keyboard offers regular and phonetic layouts, 4 and 5 rows of keys. A Russian-language dictionary is available separately on Google Play. As you type, you can enable hints, word variations, auto-completion, and punctuation.

There are a sufficient number of interface settings in the keyboard: you can change the keyboard height, number of rows, text size, design themes. It is possible to customize gestures and reassign individual keys.

For the ConnectBot SSH client, the application has separate settings - a PC keyboard, among other things, allows you to work in the terminal without restrictions.

MultiLing Keyboard is a lightweight multilingual keyboard for Android. There is a Russian layout, in addition it is presented here a large number of alphabetical layouts: T9, compact, phonetic Cyrillic, left- and right-handed, Qwerty / Azerty / Qwertz, Dvorak, Neo and others.

To autocomplete, you need to download an additional dictionary from the developer’s website. The setup process is not implemented as conveniently as in other programs: you need to spend a few minutes finding the right dictionary, making your way through advertising modules. However, in fact, everything works, support for the Russian language is implemented well. Auto-correction is available, abbreviations can be used, and hints work. The application's custom dictionary is imported and exported.

For quick input, you can use gestures and hardware keys. For certain buttons (space, dot, Shift, etc.), the action when pressing them for a long time is configured.

As for visual settings, you can change the design theme, change the height of the keys and the distance between them, and the font size. Thus, MultiLing Keyboard adapts well to any fingers. It should be noted here that setting up the display is not that convenient: there is no way to quickly look at the keyboard and test text input.

In addition to setting appearance, you can activate split mode: split keyboards for landscape or portrait display. Split on tablets is especially convenient.

First of all, Go Keyboard is a keyboard that focuses on visual diversity - icons and themes. By the way, more than 1000 design themes are available in the market for every taste and color. True, by default the choice in the program is small, and finding a suitable one among hundreds of topics is not so easy. In addition, in the settings you can easily change some keyboard display parameters: height, font sizes, etc. A separate section of parameters is reserved for sounds - here are collected nothing less than funny voice-over options. GO Keyboard also has extensions (plugins), formally there are only three of them and they do not offer anything significant.

The program is intuitive: at the beginning of use, the user is shown “by the hand” how to switch text input, after which in the settings you can turn on the Russian language and download a dictionary for auto-completion. The Russian layout is presented in two options - YASHERT (phonetic layout) and in 4 rows. In general, support for the Russian language is implemented well, but the impression is spoiled by the quality of the Russian localization: there are blunders that are misleading.

In terms of functionality, Go Keyboard probably cannot offer flexible settings. However, the following features are notable: predictive input, lexicon, autocomplete, hints. If necessary, you can export or import the lexicon to an SD card, but there is no online synchronization of settings and the dictionary.

Fleksy developers claim that their development is the fastest mobile keyboard in the world.

After installing Fleksy, you are offered not only to turn on the keyboard and download the dictionary, but also to view an interactive lesson on using gestures - even the lazy will show interest. The application does not burden the user with many combinations and gestures to learn - instead, a basic set is given to master. After which it becomes clear that in Fleksy a few gestures are enough to simplify text entry and editing. For example: swipe down - correct a word, up - cancel a correction, swipe left - delete a word, double space - smart punctuation.

Although the Fleksy interface is not localized, the Russian input language is supported. In the settings you can enable automatic error correction, display options, correct capital letters, learn words (save to the dictionary) and import contacts. There are not many other settings in Fleksy, which once again indicates minimalism.

The keyboard design is flat and minimalistic, and you can choose from 30 available color themes. In addition, transparency and the size of the keyboard buttons (3 sizes) are adjusted, and the spacebar is removed, which makes the layout even more compact.

Fleksy supports extensions, and among them several interesting ones should be noted: adding a number row, the ability to quickly hide the keyboard, shortcuts, hot keys, etc. However, free version You can use no more than three expansion slots.