Linked List: January 4, 2024

Thursday, 4 January 2024

From the DF Archive: Mobile Phone Keyboards, Circa 2009 ★

Yours truly, back when the iPhone 3GS was new:

I think the question boils down to whether Apple is making a mistake by not making an iPhone with a hardware keyboard. I’m convinced the answer is no — that (a) there will never be an iPhone with a built-in hardware keyboard; and (b) Apple will not suffer for it. [...]

Are software touchscreen keyboards good for everyone? Certainly not. But this is another aspect of the Apple Way. Apple tries to make things that many people love, not things that all people like. The key is that they’re not afraid of the staunch criticism, and often outright derision, that comes with breaking conventions.

Holds up. In 2023 it seems wild that Apple’s all-in bet on touchscreen keyboards for iPhones was controversial at all, let alone the subject of vociferous debate for years.

Ryan Seacrest Tried Making an iPhone Hardware Keyboard Case 10 Years Ago ★

If the aforelinked new Clicks keyboard case for iPhones rings a bell, here’s Jon Fingas reporting for Engadget 10 years ago:

The market for keyboard-equipped phones may be on the wane, but don’t tell that to Ryan Seacrest — the American Idol host is convinced that messaging mavens need real buttons. To that end, he’s jumping into hardware and launching the Typo Keyboard for the iPhone 5 and 5S. The Bluetooth case turns an Apple handset into a makeshift BlackBerry Q10, complete with backlit, sculpted keys that cover up the iPhone’s home button (there’s a small substitute key); we hope you don’t need multitasking, folks. The Typo Keyboard will make its formal debut at CES in early January, and it should ship that month for $99.

The Typo keyboard was doomed in more ways than one: it used unreliable battery-draining Bluetooth, not a wired connection; iOS didn’t have good hardware keyboard support at the time; and, as Fingas alludes in his description above, the Typo keyboard’s design covered the iPhone’s home button. That was pretty much a dealbreaker for the iPhone 5S, which introduced Touch ID.

Even worse, the shell of the company that was once the mighty BlackBerry sued Typo for patent infringement, won, and eventually drove Typo out of business. (Kudos to NBC News for that “Seacrest Out” headline.)

Clicks: New Hardware Keyboard for iPhone ★

I never even owned a smartphone with a hardware keyboard, but as soon as I saw this I wanted one: Clicks is a new $139 hardware keyboard case for the iPhone 14 Pro, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max (that one will cost $159 — Max phones have max prices). One of the creators of the project is Michael “MrMobile” Fisher, who, of course, created a YouTube video for the project. (One of his co-creators is CrackBerry Kevin — so there are some serious “hardware phone keyboard aficionado” bona fides on the team.)

I don’t know how much I’ll wind up using it but it looks fun, useful, and clever — and I’m just a sucker for upstart indie hardware projects. Clicks is even a great name. There’s no Bluetooth involved — it connects via Lightning or USB-C, just like any hardware keyboard can via a cable. If you’ve never connected a hardware keyboard to an iPhone before, you might be surprised how many keyboard shortcuts there are (Command-Space for Spotlight, Space and Shift-Space for paging down and up in Safari, Command-H to go to the Home screen, and more.)

You’ll never guess which color I pre-ordered.

The Talk Show: ‘Halos and Harps’ ★

Apple’s 2023 year in review, with Callsheet developer Casey Liss.