Fleksy- GIF, Web & Yelp Search

The latest version of Fleksy that was released today was a hot fix and did not include any feature updates or additions. Many users running iOS 6 were experiencing crashes in version 3.1 that rendered the app useless, so we submitted this fix to Apple immediately after it was discovered last week.

In an attempt to reduce the confusion some of our VO users were experiencing, we also updated the VO Gestures instructions in the app to accurately reflect the current VO functionality of Fleksy. We are listening to your feedback and will continue to improve accessibility within the Fleksy app, and future accessibility updates will certainly be announced here.

Fleksy Keyboard - Happy Typing version 3.3 is now available:

"What's New in Version 3.3

Fleksy broke the Guinness World Record for Fastest Texting!

-Updated engine with improved accuracy and space error corrections!
-Additional bug fixes and performance improvements
-Added 6 new languages!
* Czech
* Danish
* Hungarian
* Malay
* Slovak
* Swedish"

AnonyMouse-

Besides the changes you mention in the changelog (and other minor VO bug fixes), version 3.3 also includes an accessibility update for VoiceOver. We have improved the functionality for VO to read back the text you have written. First, tap above the keyboard, and then use VoiceOver to select the text in the way you prefer and it will then read back what you have typed.

We are currently planning ways to improve this functionality, and are working to add more VoiceOver features for future releases. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to our development process, and if you would like to help our team improve Fleksy and the app's accessibility, you can sign up for our Beta Community at http://tflig.ht/MnDRVF. As a Beta tester, you will get:

- Early previews of brand new features, before they are introduced to our production builds.
- Your input on Fleksy goes straight to our product and engineering teams. You will have a genuine input in our product and design decisions.

Several members of the AppleVis community have been active contributors to our Beta program for quite some time, and we are very thankful. More testers and feedback will help make Fleksy even better!

Now typing with VoiceOver is faster, and the up and down flicks to select between suggestions works much better. The fast deleting is still not possible and VO pronounces the previous word deleted.
The accuracy has improved but still needs to be polished

I'd love to see the "Clear and Copy" and "Fast Deleting" features back.

Fleksy version 3.4 is now available and includes an improvement to VoiceOver Mode:

"What's New in Version 3.4

- Support to use already downloaded languages from older versions with an option to update language packs
- Swipe left and hold functionality (delete faster) for Voice Over mode
- Various fixes for crashes and bugs that some users were experiencing

**** Love Fleksy? Please take a moment to leave us a nice review. It really helps! ****"

I have a couple of suggestions which, for me, would really improve this app and make me think about deleting Fleksy VO.

First, I'd like it if there was some kind of auto clear function where when you do something with the text, it clears rather than staying in Fleksy. I'm used to this on Fleksy VO, and there's been a few times when I've gone onto this app, typed in what I need then realised there was text I previously typed still there. If you can't do an auto clear feature for some reason, it would at least be nice to have a clear text button somewhere.

The second one is the way VO announces deleted words. I find it a bit confusing at times. In Fleksy VO, and in older versions of Fleksy, when a word was deleted VO would announce deleted, whatever the word was. Now, instead of saying the word that has been deleted, it now says the word before it. Say I typed "testing Fleksy" and deleted the word Fleksy, in the older version I would swipe left and it would say "deleted Fleksy", where as now I swipe left and it just says "testing".
Maybe it's just me but I find it confusing as to what word I've actually deleted when I'm trying to type quick.

These are just my suggestions. Other than this it is a fantastic app!

Thanks for all the hard work put into this!

I've just checked the app store to see if there were any changes to the normal version as I'm still on the VO version, and when I searched for Fleksy, all that came up were a few other text apps. Also the link to the app in the app store on here doesn't work. Same for Fleksy VO.

The developers are probably preparing for iOS 8 and the exciting new feature to come!

I listened to an interview about Fleksy on the Eyes on Success podcast and it sounded like there will be a new app for the system wide keyboard, and most likely a charge for it.

As an early adopter of Fleksy, I already paid for it. Wait, I'm not going to complain. I am still using an iPod Touch 4g, and while I love Fleksy, the device is so slow that using the app is cumbersome and I rarely open it. Assuming there is a new Touch coming soon, I will be first in line for it, the KNFB app, and will happily pay for a system wide Fleksy keyboard.

I have my fingers crossed.

You may have already heard about keyboards and iOS 8. If you haven’t, the news is that the big update to Apple’s operating system coming next week is going to support third party keyboards to work system-wide.

What this means, is that you will be able to use technologies like Fleksy in every app of your phone. No more copying and pasting, no more going through 10 steps to get a fast typing experience fully integrated with your device.

Fleksy has been on iOS since 2012, and we couldn’t be more excited about the changes. As we prepare for our launch , we wanted to update you on what to expect from the first iOS 8 enabled version of Fleksy.

1) We’ll be there for launch day, September 17. We’ve worked hard through the summer for this, including nights and weekends. Our approach is to make our product available early, and update it frequently after launch.
2) You will be able to install our keyboard system-wide, and use it in every app, including the built in Mail and Messages apps.
3) We will launch in multiple languages for launch. While we can’t confirm the exact list or number of languages yet, visually impaired users will get the Fleksy experience in more languages than what we have supported previously.
4) We’d rather be upfront and tell you now: there will be bugs and issues in the first version. iOS 8 is a very new system, and fully integrated keyboards are a completely new thing for the iOS platform. We will have to walk before we can run, and our approach is to be there early, listen to feedback, and keep improving through updates. Those who have followed Fleksy over the years will know this is our style anyway.
5) We have made specific optimizations for blind users in our software, and we’ll make more as we listen to feedback. We are proud of our heritage in the VoiceOver community. Can’t wait to share these with you next week.
6) We have integrated all aspects into one unified Fleksy app for sighed and blind users alike - no more Fleksy VO.
7) In the first iterations, we may have some issues which affect VoiceOver users more than sighted people. Some of them are bugs in Fleksy which we’ll fix, and there’s also iOS 8 bugs which we hope get improved in iOS updates.
8) In particular, there’s a couple of issues with Direct Touch and third party keyboards that we are trying to work around. It may be that you will have to switch VoiceOver off for some functions to make Fleksy more responsive in the initial version. We are still working through some of these bugs, but we’ll ensure that there’s always a way for blind users to use Fleksy with audible feedback from our first version in the store.

For us, this is the beginning of a brand new journey. We are fully committed to the iOS platform, and can’t wait to work with you over the coming months to make a dream come true.

We will truly revolutionize what the iPhone can do for the blind.

Can’t wait.

- The Fleksy Team

Hi Ioannis,
I look forward to the release. Thank you for updating the AppleVis community. From the beginning you have shown your loyalty to the Blind community.
I for one appreciate your honesty of bugs and glitches. I know your support is receptive to feedback. Good Luck with launch!

I also appreciate this. Having always been a regular user of both fleksy and fleksy vo, I look forward to your updates.
Many thanks and again good luck with the launch.
Mike

Good evening!!!
I am also looking forward to the launch as well. Is the system wide keyboard going to have a cost? Please note that I am more than happy to pay for it, I was just wanting to know so I know how to budget everything.
Thanks so much for all you do!!!

Thank you so much for the update. this is one of the biggest reasons I plan to update to IOS8.
I have used fleksy sense day one and its the only keyboard I ever use so it'll be wonderful to have it system wide on my phone.
I think that @fleksy has done one hell of a incredible job on keeping us in the applevis community very well informed and I thank them for developing an application specifically for us when they knew that things they did to their native app would break accessibility.
Great job and look forward to working all those bugs out with you guys.

We will update the AppleVis community on how to use Fleksy with VoiceOver over the next 24 hours. We are still doing some testing using the release version of iOS 8.

Thanks.

Always glad that you spend so much time keeping us informed. Have a great day. Something tells me it's going to be a long couple of days and nights for you guys. Drink lots of coffee. :)

Hi there,

I just updated Fleksy to version 4.0on iOS 8 and want to share my first impressions of running the Fleksy keyboard systemwide.

- Currently Fleksy doesn't work with VoiceOver enabled, to use it, you must first go into the Settings tab in the Fleksy application and enable Voice Feedback. Then, when you are ready to type something, you must disable VoiceOver and then proceed to type as usual. This is surely an annoyance but it shouldn't be significant enough to keep you away from using Fleksy.
- On Fleksy, you now have the option to show or hide the bottom row of keys, either in the Appearence tab in the Fleksy application or by performing a 2 finger swipe up or down. I find it to be easier to type when the bottom row is not visible, otherwise you can accidentally press the keys on the bottom row. The bottom row includes a shift key, a key to switch to the numbers key or to other keyboards, a spacebar and a delete key. These keys are currently poorly labeled for VoiceOver.
- Currently I was unable to input specific keys by performing a long hold on a key to have it spoken to me, therefore, it is impossible to locate and type keys like numbers or symbols.
- Perhaps the mose annoying bug I found has to do with editing text that has been already typed. Placing the VoiceOver cursor on the textfield and swiping up or down does not appear to actually move the input cursor backwards and forward. Also, deleting text that has been sitting on a textfield for a while is inconsistent, sometimes not working at all.
- Being a Spanish speaking user, I frequently type both in Spanish and English, but my device's system language is set to US English. When typing in Spanish, Fleksy still uses the US English voice to announce the words that are being entered instead of switching to a Spanish voice. This makes it difficult for me to understand exactly what word is being entered. Also, when switching between keyboards, VoiceOver always announces Fleksy as being in English despite Spanish being selected.

Should you start using the Fleksy keyboard for all your typing needs on iOS 8 today? Perhaps not, but doing a bit of testing and playing around with it will do you no harm. Just be sure to know how to switch back to the stock iOS keyboard before begining. To do this, the bottom row of keys must be visible, then, you need to perform a double tap and hold on the key currently labeled as "123 globe white", and then move your finger upwards until the keyboard you want is announced by VoiceOver.

Regards!

I hope we aren't going to end up and another Fleksy versus VO argument? Surely the ios8 version should have been accessible right away after the debacle we've had in the past? Disappointed

For those who have not noticed, Fleksy was made available to iOS 8 users today as a system keyboard.

The good news:
- We have built our app to be VoiceOver accessible, with labelled buttons etc.
- We have built some features specifically with the blind users in mind. Notably, we have a "large" keyboard setting which we spent a lot of time building and which is unique amongst all third party keyboards.
- We have made our app an update, so those who bought Fleksy earlier, or even if you got it as a free download, get it for free. It's $0.99 as a launch promo for other users.

The bad news:
- There's a iOS 8 bug with Direct Touch which affects all third party keyboard extensions. Basically, Direct Touch does not work on third party keyboards. We had noticed this in the GM release of iOS 8 and we know Apple is planning a quick fix, but sadly it seems that it didn't make it in time for the iOS 8 first release. The bug affects ALL third party keyboard extensions, except the built in iOS keyboard.
- The bug means that Fleksy is very hard to use with VoiceOver on. You can still use it by switching VoiceOver off to type, and this is still better than typing in a separate app. But this is now how we have designed the experience for blind users so it leave things to be desired.

We are currently working to figure out any workarounds to the bug, and also to get a better understanding of when it might be fixed.

Please remember iOS 8 is very, very new (only a few hours old!) and so is Fleksy on the platform. We'll improve many things over time.

Thanks.

Ioannis @ Fleksy

I am so disappointed in Fleksy right now. For months I have been looking forward to finally having the ability to use the Fleksy keyboard wherever I wantdd. All I hear for months from Fleksy is how they will make sure that the app is available on launch day and what happens? A great big flop.
We as the blind community were the first to support Fleksy. We paid $15 to help get the application off the ground. We dealt with all of the bugs along the way and waited patiently for a great typing experience. Fleksy has completely forgotten about who supported them from day one. We are left in the cold and I am so amgry.

Thanks for acknowledging that you messed up Fleksy and tahnks for leaving your supporters in the dark. I have lost all trust in your company.

Wow. Really? I deleted the rest of what I wanted to add here. The first two words say it all.

Thanks for your input Ioannis, I know that I speak for the vast majority of the community when I say that we appreciate and are very thankful for the time and effort that the Fleksy team has put into this new system keyboard.

I forgot to mention the "large keyboard" feature in my previous comment. I have to say that it was perhaps the most useful addition I found on the new app. Since we will no longer be able to use the entire screen to type, increasing the keyboard area will help with accuracy for sure. I also liked the fact that VoiceOver users can now choose between several keyboard colors, not just black or white. I am partially sited and having a blue or green keyboard on the screen will help me identify the active keyboard area much better.

Very sad to hear about this direct touch bug; I hope that Apple gets rid of it on iOS 8.0.1 which I've heard will be released very soon. BTW, the public version released today is identical to the GM, build 12a365.

Serina, obviously you have no programming experience whatsoever, and therefore, no idea of the huge challenges that must be overcome...

Regards!

A previous poster said there is a way to hide the bottom row of keys on the Fleksy keyboard. How does one accomplish this? I didn't see that option on the appearance tab. Am I just missing something? Some guidance would be appreciated. I thought someone said there was a gesture for hiding them as well. Also, how do you choose the large keyboard? I think Fleksy has done an awesome job, and I'm sure they are hard at work on making this great app even better.

Its interesting how this direct touch bug affects all third-party keyboards, except for Apple's. I've noticed this on other third party keyboards today, besides Fleksy. Hopefully Apple fixes it soon. As for the people complaining about Fleksy with VoiceOver, you obviously do not have any experience in the field of programming. Besides, the developers of Fleksy cannot do anything regarding a bug on iOS 8. Only Apple can fix this issue.

I'm not going to have a go at the developers, they are doing a great job overall, and the main bug with direct touch is out of their control. However I am still having other issues with the keyboard in iOS8. Please tell me if these are my own issues rather than the app itself.
If I am in the Fleksy keyboard, I can't seem to switch back to the iOS keyboard. I assumed I need to press the (poorly labelled) "123 Globe White" key, but this doesn't work for me. It just takes me into the numbers section.
I can't edit text. Letter and word navigation don't work to move the cursor, and neither does the double-tap to move to the start or end of the text field.
I can't get a gesture to show or hide the spacebar row to work.
In the settings found in the Fleksy app itself there are issues too. The tabs at the top are ok, but below that, VoiceOver doesn't tell you what is or isn't selected. For example the large, original or minimal options aren't clear, and also have a button called spacebar in the middle of them which is a bit confusing. It doesn't tell you which colour is selected either. It's just a bit messy.
While the direct touch bug is out of Fleksy's control and will hopefully be fixed soon, these other issues are down to Fleksy I would imagine which is a pity. If I can't switch between it and the standard keyboard, or edit text, then for the time being I can't use the Fleksy keyboard.
Any thoughts or corrections to what I've said appreciated :) and I look forward to using Fleksy in the long term.
Dave

Hello all, how do yu use the system wide Fleksy Keyboard on IOS8?

You see, I am still on IOS 7.1.2 and using the Fleksy VO version. Don't get me wrong, I would like to update but I'm using Fleksy all the time and would hate to update, only to find that I wouldn't be able to use it anymore. So, tips, for using it with Voiceover in case there are any bugs to work around etc, I would be forever grateful before I know what I'm letting myself in for. Better yet, in all honesty, if you would advise me not to update then I will heed your warning and stay away until such bugs get squashed. I would hope that it wouldn't be as all bad as that though. This is though, why I'm saying how much I relie on this app as it was known in ios7. Now a system wide keyboard in IOS8

Thanks in advance for any input, advice etc.

At this time, you cannot reliably use iOS8 and Fleksy together until Apple fixes an issue with direct typing and third-party keyboard issues. If Fleksy is your mainway of typing, then I highly suggest not upgrading to iOS8 unless you are comfortable typing on the regular keyboard or in braille. Even typing in Braille on iOS8 is not free of issues either

this app was just working yesterday. What happeneD? I haven't done anything to my phone. I enabled voice feedback. I turned off VO and typed and then turned it on again. Today there is no clicks or sound and no more voice feedback? #ios8problems although like I said I swear it was working yesterday.

I'm still using iOS 7.1.2 and will continue to do so until an update with a considerable number of bugs squashed is released.

That said, it seems to me I recall when Fleksy VO was released, the blurb that came with it said that it would be around "forever". With respect, a year isn't "forever".

I've always been in the minority in that I've never been enthusiastic for including Fleksy as a "third-party" app built into iOS. For my money, a separate app is far preferable in that updates can be made independently of iOS assuming that incompatibilities with iOS are fixed. I never thought it a hassle to do my typing in Fleksy VO, then paste into an email or message. Different strokes, etc.

I thought the Fleksy folks had it just about right with Fleksy VO and would hate to see it go away. For my money, there are too many problems making Fleksy be all things to all people with the regular version.

Ah well.

Hi. If Fleksy is Unusable by Voiceover users! Does that mean their money has gone to waste as I recall this app cost around £10 to begin with. I do understand the fault lies with Apple as the problem is something to do with direct touch but I could be wrong here.

Our money went to waste the moment the app went free and mainstream, we were used as a piggy bank, and fleksy haven't offered to refund those of us who purchased the app. I guess of course they are not likely to either despite all the funding and awards they now have. Regarding access on the latest fleksy I guess this is apples fault not there's, and all we have to hope is that a future ios update fixes the issue.

Hello: I to have started using fleksy vo again on ios 8, how ever I notice that the dialogs don't go away for instance if you use the copy and clear it does do that but remains in the menu. so I don't think it plays as nice with IOs8 but it most definitely does better than the current version of fleksy. it is sad though that it doesn't work as planned as I do believe that a ton of us loil fleksy users really were wanting it to be third pardy, and at least work properly.

I haven't even bothered trying Fleksy in iOS 8 since I don't have time for the frustration members here and my friends have mentioned.

while I understand there is a bug in iOS 8 that is preventing Fleksy and other third party keyboards to work correctly, there are other issues being reported that have nothing to do with that bug and the main app was messed up for VO users even before the iOS8 update.

I have to admit I feel the same anger and frustration as others have mentioned about how the blind community were seemingly the tests subjects for this app and also its original funders. I can't help but feel used.

I understand Fleksy is working hard and I'm trying to remember my old faith in them as a company. time will tell but I think right now it's ok for those of us who aren't happy to feel those feelings . We can't help how things make us feel.

I'm going to be patient and see what happens, but I'm also going to feel my feelings over all this. I'm also incredibly grateful for dictate haha.

Hi all. I have a small query... If direct touch isn't working in ios 8, then how come I am typing this post using Fleksy VO? Yes, the copy and clear function isn't smooth but works unlike the favourites etc but it is still useable to a point, unlike the mainstream app as we know. Just a thought... the plot thickens? Maybe the developers could clear this up please?

Macky - thanks for your question.

To be clear - Direct Touch generally works, but does not work in keyboard extensions.

Fleksy VO is not a system-wide keyboard extension - it's a contained (sandboxed) app, so it does not suffer from this bug.

We are watching the iOS updates closely and will keep the community updated with developments.

Ioannis @ Fleksy.

Direct Touch will still work fine inside apps, including those games that use it and fleksy VO. Only on the new keyboard portion is the bug present. This is the area that Fleksy uses and any other keyboards that would use direct touch would be broken too. This would be true if any of the braille keyboard apps tried to launch an omnipresent keyboard as well. Speaking for myself, I have no doubts about fleksy. I was a beta tester, and although I needed to drop it because of time constraints, I know how responsive the team is to fixing bugs. They have created a truly revolutionary keyboard technology, and I am not surprised in the least that it is having problems with the, let us be fair, very buggy IOS8. I know the bugs will be fixed, and I applaud the team that will do so. I would also not hesitate to pay again for fleksy, even if they requested twenty dollars. It is that worth it to me.

Yes fleksy has done a great job on fixing bugs in a timely manner. I to have been a beta tester, and loved it. I sure hope apple gets these bugs fixed to so that we can all go back to enjoyig fleksy.

If you have backed up your iPhone since you have downloaded Fleksy VO, you should be able to find the app in your iTunes. Then, it's just a matter of making sure the check box is checked for the app to make sure it will sync with your iDevice, and ... Well, hit the Sync button. If you have not backed up Fleksy VO, however, I don't know what to tell you. Good luck to you, though.

Okay. now this is getting bad! we're not ven getting the support we payed for. can't even use the VO app any more. or at least not very reliably. is this Apple or fleksy? verry irritated.

This is getting rather frustrating I'm afraid. I purchased the Fleksy App as soon as it was available on the first day of release. I understand the problem with the direct touch, but surely the new name for the App reveals where theFocus of the developers now lies. Collars are irrelevant to the majority of the members of this community. it's such a shame as Fleksy was the tipping point in my decision for finally getting an iPhone from my old Nokia. I supported the Fleksy VO idea the last time, but surely this is a step too far? or is it time for a permanent ios 8 and beyond Fleksy VO? I don't want to criticise but at the same time I also refuse to hide my disappointment.

I really to say this butI just removed it entirely. I can't deal with it any more. each new update getw worse and worse. you can't even change the settings in the app any more for what they were worth changing.

lets be honest hear, the fleksy developers know a lot of us were to say the least disappointed when they made the app free after they had used us to get money to initially fund the app and for testing. But once the app became free they made no effort to try to refund customers who had effectively wasted money on the app where if we had waited we could have got it for free, they haven't tried to address that issue and I think it still rankles with a few of us. I know things move and its great fleksy is successful but they haven't made any effort to show loyalty to there original backers. I do think though they are still committed to accessibility, I mean they didn't have to make fleksy vo they could have just said we will fix the app in a few months sorry guys but you will have to wait. I don't get there revenue model though as I believe fleksy is free on ios but they charge for it on android so I am not quite sure of the reasoning for that one.