My Droid died a slow death so my frustration level is already at 9.7. Network extender, WiFi router upgrade; I’ve spent dozens and dozens of hours per week trying to get my Verizon phone to work (as it had for years). Abandoning the Android OS and buying an iPhone I thought I would FINALLY enjoy connecting my iMac and MBPro to my phone and sort of ‘live the Apple’ experience.
It’s a nightmare. The texting App is a toy at best (who invents this ap-cray?) The colored balloons of text are bizarre and intolerable at best. Leading the charge is the AWFUL keyboard. I’ve spent hours trying to find a replacement and so I come to the Master of all thing Apple and plead my case:
Gary, are there alternatives to the as-built iPhone 4’s keyboard and text scenario?
As always, should you or your agents be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your incredible gift to us.
sj
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calvinator
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iPhone 4 keyboard
Comments: 6 Responses to “iPhone 4 keyboard”
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I think it is just a matter of what you are used to. Sounds like you spent years with your old phone and got very used to it. So switching to a new one, iPhone or something else, is a hard adjustment.
There are really no good alternatives. If you want to use your official phone number as a texting number, then you've got to use the app with the text balloons and standard iPhone keyboard. There are lots of other texting apps, but none of them have the authority to hook into your official phone account. For instance, I use the Google Voice app for texting -- but specifically because I want to avoid AT&T's dumb texting charges. I'm using my free Google phone number instead for that. Even so, it still uses the standard iPhone keyboard.
I know nothing about iPhone keyboards,but i have been looking for an alternative to the iMac keyboard. I thought i had cracked it when i saw the keyboard for the iPad but the answer came back that its not compatible with the iMac. The reason being the keyboard keeps loosing the connection to the iMac.
Mr C... I have two keyboards for my iMac and prefer the USB-connected full keyboard, i.e., number pad included, over the default wireless kb along with the touch pad (vs mouse). This 'iPhone4 keyboard' discussion refers to the phone's touch-screen as opposed to a separate physical device.
Thanks again, Gary. I'm rather astounded at the difference in ease-of-use and efficiency differences between the iPhone and the Android OS's keyboards (I'm a texter). It's well-beyond habitual usage, it's more like the clay tablet vs the computer. These goofy balloons are childish, ineffective and inefficient; two small words can easily comprise an entire line as it scrolls up beyond view. In landscape mode, one line is all I see. All punctuation (beyond double tapping for a ".") is on the '.?1234' screen. Auto-correct is so slow as to be more in the way than useful... Android is totally different. It's intuitive and very efficient; commonly-used keys are always visible and auto-correct/suggest is lightening fast.
I realize that I'm not telling you anything you don't know but the differences are off-the-chart ridiculous; Android's keyboard options (gazillions) are NOT simply a matter of getting used to, it's daylight and dark (as in Stone Age). It's killing me to return this thing (I'm an Apple guy!) but the Android OS allows for things the iPhone prevents; swiping to the previous page and an option/menu (for the open app) key. And a 274-page on-line manual? Yeeks, whatever happened to "intuitive"? I can see that my Apple stock is going to be in jeopardy when the dust settles... (and I viscerally hate Google with a greater passion than I dislike this keyboard!!)
When i previously had a Nokia hitched up to a PC to charge and sync data, i had a Nokia program that would allow you to send and receive text messages via the PC keyboard, The advantage of using a proper keyboard for heavy usage is great and was the best thing i remember of Nokia.
I have had an iMac for a little while now and have just got myself a new iPhone for compatability's sake and absolutely love it, But i have been unable to find the same sort of capability i had with the Nokia and windows.
What you can do with an iPhone is hook a keyboard directly to it. You can do it using Bluetooth. An Apple bluetooth keyboard, and many third-party ones, can be linked to the iPhone and you can type with it even when your iMac is not connected or around.