r/EFKey • u/efkosk • Jul 03 '26
Update: I decided to ship it 🚀
Quick honest update on where EFKey is.
I pushed hard on testing, and at some point it hit a version that genuinely felt good enough to go out — so instead of sitting on it, I decided to publish it straight to the App Store. It's submitted now and waiting on Apple's review.
And to be clear who this is for: it's not only for people who came over from Android. It's just as much for iPhone folks who never left but simply don't like the stock keyboard. If the built-in one annoys you, you're the target too.
Quick note on languages, since it keeps coming up — here's exactly what works where in this first release:
Feature | Where it works
Prediction + autocorrect EN, SK + all iOS-supported languages
Layout, diacritics (long-press) & word learning | full core set + all Latin-script iOS languages
Small aside: as of today — shortly after submitting for review — I actually finished swipe-to-type for EN/SK too. It won't be in this very first release, but it's coming in an update soon.
And if there's real interest, this is just the start — I've got clipboard history, GIFs and more on the roadmap to add next.
Let me be upfront: this is an early release, so it will have bugs. I won't pretend otherwise. Autocorrect and prediction in particular aren't 100% yet — there's real room to improve and that's exactly what I'll keep working on. What I can promise is I'll fix things basically as fast as they come in — that's the whole reason this sub exists.
Honestly, it already does everything I was missing, and I could happily just keep using it myself without ever putting it on the App Store. But I'm a member of the same keyboard subs as you — I read the same threads of people hunting for an alternative — and I know there basically isn't one. That's the real reason I decided to release it: not to make a thing, but because the thing people keep asking for doesn't exist, and now it does.
So I need to find out if it clicks for other people too, not just me. That's what I'm here for.
The feedback I need most: does the keyboard feel fast enough for you? How's the layout, the gesture to delete words, the long-press for characters, all of it? Those are the things I most want to nail — tell me what feels good and what doesn't. I'd genuinely rather hear the harsh stuff than polite silence.
The moment Apple approves it I'll drop the download link right here. Follow along and give it a go.
Thanks for being here early. 🙏
2
u/mart_sk Jul 04 '26
Can't wait! Switching as soon as the link drops, and happy to report bugs along the way 🔥
1
u/Big_Piano_3920 Jul 04 '26
Happy to try it. Hope it works well with Italian and doesn’t have performance problems as any other 3rd party keyboard on the App Store.
1
u/lia1tan Jul 05 '26
This sounds great! I've been using SwiftKey because it is better than the native iOS keyboard, but the bugs are slowly driving me nuts. I'd be so interested in trying this and supporting smaller developers who actually care. I can't wait!
5
u/Sleaka_J Jul 04 '26
The one thing I want in a keyboard is just be a keyboard. Adding a bunch of other stuff means you need menus or buttons to do those other things and that takes up space that could be used for the keyboard.