Does anyone know of a FOSS version of this (android keyboard with hexagonal keys?) (mashable.com)

submitted 5 months ago by hedge@beehaw.org to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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Contacted typewise, asked if I could purchase apk from them (the pro version or whatever) since I don't use GPlay store and they said no.

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[-] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 15 points 5 months ago

Unless there is an open source app, the next stop will be the piracy sub. It may be able to work if you obtain an apk and patch it to think it's paid. While there, it would also be worth defusing data mining components.

[-] sag@lemm.ee 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Took me 10 second to find LOL. And it's a offline version so It will not connect to android.

[-] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 4 points 5 months ago

And it's a offline version so It will not connect to android.

Not sure I follow, but are you sure about that? However, some things to check for:

does it have the network permission?
AndroidManifest.xml inside it contains if it does, but also app manager or plenty other apps can tell if so because it's relatively straightforward to tell
does it to interprocess communication with other apps? through Intents or some more convoluted way, there's plenty. That's hard to tell.

[-] sag@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

Most modder nowdays not just provide paid version of app but also cut down most of telementry and tracking stuff. Also I check AndroidManifest it doesn't have any unnecessary permission but still I am not gonna use a close sourced keyboard.

[-] hedge@beehaw.org 1 points 3 months ago

Revisiting this, may I ask where you got the Typewise Pro apk, and also is it safe?

[-] sag@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Straight from Popular Modded Apps Forum: Mobilism

[-] hedge@beehaw.org 1 points 3 months ago

Thanks! And, uh, you're confident that this is safe? Sorry to ask again, just need reassurance I guess.

[-] sag@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

It's a offline version.

[-] lemann@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 months ago

Fully agree, patching it is pretty much the only next option available unless OP is fine going back to a regular keyboard

I never even knew you could get a keyboard with this kind of layout 😅

[-] neshura@bookwormstory.social 6 points 5 months ago

I'm trying it out and it feels oddly comfortable. Obviously muscle memory from the regular layout is getting in the way but I can feel that the devs are onto something.

[-] z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 months ago

I can see this being useful, especially if you could scale the space around the characters (i.e. customize the size of the keys). I also think adding more layers like with smaller ortholinear keyboards might be a good idea as well...

Hmm...gonna have to add this to the things to eventually make whenever I get around to learning kotlin/java for android dev.

[-] hedge@beehaw.org 3 points 5 months ago

Hi @z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml, I'm afraid that lemmy.ml might be blocked on Beehaw, but if you do decide to proceed with an open source version of Typewise (Typefool?), please message me and I will seriously consider providing you with a little funding for your efforts.👍

[-] neshura@bookwormstory.social 3 points 5 months ago

Same line of thinking, if someone in the FOSS space would take up a similar project I would absolutely financially support that. For how good that keyboard feels right now probably even a relatively large sum monthly.

[-] TheLongPrice@lemmy.one 4 points 5 months ago

It's a bit different, but Thumb-key is an alternative style keyboard on fdroid

[-] magnus@lemmy.ahall.se 3 points 5 months ago

Not exactly that layout, but I can strongly recommend MessagEase. Also optimized for phone use.

[-] MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 5 months ago

Multiling O has a mode like so. You can pretty much make it look/function almost however you want.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

That's not open-source, though, or is it?

[-] MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 months ago

Not that I can tell. It may even be abandonware. It would make a helluva starting-point for an open-source fork though, if anyone could reach the developer.