Fleksy keyboard for Android now has achievement badges and cloud syncing
Even though Fleksy's predictive touch typing is fairly easy to learn, not everyone is familiar with all that this alternative keyboard has to offer. That's one of the reasons the company has incorporated …
Context & Ripple Effects
Fleksy had moved its Android keyboard out of beta in December 2013 with multilingual support, while setting out an ambition for broader iOS keyboard integration. The product was therefore expanding from predictive typing into a cross-platform software-keyboard proposition.
The new features build on the Android release from beta by addressing two practical adoption issues: teaching users what the keyboard can do and retaining their setup across use of the app.
First-order effects
- Fleksy’s Android users gain badges that surface keyboard features and cloud syncing that preserves the app’s information across installations or devices.
Second-order effects
- Fleksy’s Android product competes less on predictive typing alone and more on onboarding and continuity, raising the feature baseline for alternative keyboard apps seeking repeat use.
Third-order effects
- If Fleksy carries synced user setups into its planned iOS integration, software keyboards may increasingly compete as persistent services rather than isolated phone utilities.
The trend: Mobile keyboard makers are broadening from input algorithms into cross-device software experiences designed to improve discovery and retention.