I could not recommend AnySoftKeyboard to my mum. I could recommend Florisboard, tho.
Openboard is virtually dead from what I can see. So that leaves Florisboard as the only open source alternative (that I know of) that could really be used by the masses. And the world would actually be a way better place if we all opensource freaks could install Florisboard on our family/friends phones and them barely noticing anything weird.
The problem is… no word suggestions yet. It’s been years and we are still lacking what is almost an essential feature of a phone’s keyboard.
I wish I could really work on it, but I lack the knowledge to do so; so I hope I am bringing some attention to the project.
Is there any other alternative I am unaware of?
We all know Florisboard has no autocorrect or word suggestions yet. The whole post is about this exactly.
Why would I want to hide the smart bar if it’s actually useful, quick and modern, unline AnySoftKeyboard… which you have a set of options that either bring too little or too much.
No keyboard layout options in Florisboard? In fact, I can do something in Florisboard that I cannot do in AnySoftKeyboard in terms of layouts: I can pick a “spanish layout” for English language. Which is perfect because I hate having to change layouts and relearn key positions, something that AnySoftKeyboard forces you to do.
In terms of features that Florisboard has that AnySoftKeyboard doesn’t… how about a modern and useful top bar that does many more things than the static AnySoftKeyboard’s? How about left-right movement with spacebar? How about swipe deletion? How about good-looking password manager integration (and not AnySoftKeyboard’s aberration)? How about being able to separate layouts and languages? Clipboard support?
Many of the “cool” modular things that AnySoftKeyboard can do are:
The difference here is that for AnySoftKeyboard to include anything that Florisboard does right would require much more work, muuuch more work (basically a full rework of the app); whereas for Florisboard integrating a fancy layout would be… a simple, one file PR.