Fleksy- GIF, Web & Yelp Search

Hello,
I still can't access word suggestions. Sometimes, I'm able to access them, but after a while, it just focuses on an unlabeled button. As for the betas, I haven't received an email yet. They'll probably send an email to everyone at the same time.

I received the email to beta test last night. Hopefully everyone will also receive an email.

I got my email, but I am finding the install process far from straight forward,
firstly I was rather annoyed to find I was forced to use the ios mail app to accept the invitation I dislike the ios mail app and I prefer to use safari for checking my mail.
After having accepted the invite though I am unable to work out how to install the beta, I go into the test flight app, and all I can see is a description of the app, and no easy way to install it, I keep finding an unlabelled button but nothing seems to happen when I tap it, and I am not sure if this is down to the ios focus bug, I have tried scrolling the screen but this hasn't made any difference
has anyone figured out how to install the beta? I am not finding this new test flight a smooth or enjoyable experience so far.
and am actually beginning to regret updating to ios8.1, as I keep getting the virtual keyboard popping open randomly in places where it isn't needed, the only reason I bothered upgrading was for fleksy, now beginning to wonder if it was worth it, though I realise issues with testflight and ios are not fleksy's fault.

The unidentified buttons are related to the space bar used by sighted users. You can hide them by flicking down with two fingers when the VoiceOver cursor is on the keyboard. There will be no verbal feedback, but the buttons should become hidden.

Well I just tried unsubscribing and now it says the invitation is invalid when I try to accept again, over all not very impressed with apples new testflight service, can we go back to the old method of installing apps through safari? that seems so much easier from a VoiceOver point of view.

When I clicked the link from the email it opened test flight and there was a button to install the beta Fleksy. It then asked me if I wanted to install the beta version instead of the app store version and then the install went right through.

the unlabelled button I was seeing is in testflight, not fleksy.
I think I will need a new invite from them, as I tried unsubscribing in testflight and now it says the invitation is invalid when I try to use the link in the email.

I got my beta invitation today, and didn't have any trouble with the TestFlight install.

Hi all, well just a bit of a heads up for you if you can't install the beta like me and are seeing the screen with the unavailable text and the unlabelled buttons.
I sent fleksy a screen shot and they said it indicated that the beta was expired and that it shouldn't be, its annoying that VoiceOver didn't read me this information and that I had to send a screen shot to find out the problem. Anyway after a lot of messing around I had an idea I wondered if the 24 hour time setting would make a difference, because I have my phone set on 12 hour time normally, and I remembered that the RNIB navigator app also has an issue with this setting which causes it not to display subscription information properly.
So I tried enabling the 24 hour option in date and time and installation was allowed, disabling the 24 hour option again produced the expired problem.
I just thought I would put this here in case others experience this problem, guess its a bug for Apple to fix.
You don't have to have the option to automatically set the date and time enabled the problem seems to purely be down to the 24 hour setting.

lol, I like my 12 hour time, its a strange bug not quite sure how to report it to the testflight developers.
Oh and fleksy seems to run fine if you reset to 12 hour time, its just testflight that complains if you try and run it, but a reset to 24 hour time soon deals with that.

I too got my beta email. Only problem I have is how are we supposed to send them feedback? Are we supposed to do it through Fleksy or TestFlight? Suggestions? Thanks.

There is a feedback section in the fleksy app I believe, or you can just email support@fleksy.com

Would those involved in beta testing for Fleksy please remember that this is a private program and that you should not be posting information about the beta to public forums such as AppleVis.

That was not my intention. I just needed to ask a question about how to send feedback. Sorry for the inappropriateness.

For those of you who are beta testing it is reAlly important that you provide this specific feedback to the Fleksy team. They can't fix what they don't know is broken.

To send the Fleksy developers feedback on the app or the beta mail them at:

support@Fleksy.com

They can only know about the problems and fix them based on input from users!

--Pete

Saw Alex's response, but thanks for reiterating. And this is as close as I will come to discussing any beta information. Sorry.

In order to enable voice feedback:
1. Go to the IOS settings app > general > keyboards > keyboards > fleksy
2. Switch the "allow full access" switch to on and accept the warning box.
3. Go back to fleksy and open settings.
4. Now the voice feedback switch will work.

Thanks for the suggestion to "Enable full Access" to the Fleksy app in order to get the "Use Voice Feeback" switch to toggle on/off. This worked. Now I am able to toggle the "Use Voice Feedback" from "off" to "on" and with this set to "on" I do hear the new selections as I flick down to select a new word.

I am a bit disappointed that one has to allow Fleksy to grab all of our keystroeks in order to have this work for the blind. If I disable "Enable Full Access" by Fleksy to what I type in, then the "Use Voice Feedback" button cannot be toggled from "Off" to "On", and as a result, the VoiceOver user will not be able to hear the newly selected word as they pop up.

Hopefully this can be fixed in a later release.

But at least now I can hear these new words and use the app reasonably well. I don't mind allowing full access while the bugs are being worked out, but wouldn't want to allow this long term since I don't like sharing sensitive information that I might type in with third parties.

Anyway, a step in the right direction!

--Pete

I, too, am having issues with word suggestions not reading well with VoiceOver. I have enabled the minimal layout, and have voice feedback (or whatever it's called) turned on. I just keep hearing the word space when flicking down to read word suggestions.

I'm running the latest version of Fleksy on iOS 8.1, and my device is an iPhone 4S.

Thanks,
Shersey

Fleksy doesn't actually get your input when you type under full access. It's a warning from apple, since I could develop a keyboard that did steal your input. Instead, the setting allows keyboards to access other system things, like the text to speech libraries and the internet. For example, to download new languages, you would have to allow Fleksy to use the internet, which falls under full access. Fleksy doesn't collect what you type, and so it is quite safe. When you trust the company, like with fleksy, there is no problem with full access. Only worry about it if you don't know or trust the developers.

If you are still having problems with hearing the new word suggestions when flicking down after entering a word, then you should try switching to the minimal keyboard by swiping down with two fingers. This hides the spacebar.

Note: You must also have "Allow full Access" to Fleksy set in the iPhone Settings / General / Keyboards / Fleksy dialog, and you must toggle the "Use Voice Feedback" to "On" in the Fleksy Settings.

Hopefully these hints will appear in the Fleksy documentation for VoiceOver users when the developers get around to it.

Hope that helps.

--Pete

In general I don't mind sharing things with apps or browsers - after all,they are often trying to make our browsing and/or purchasing decisions easier and more customized to my taste.

I do object to sharing some information that I type however. I may be sharing passwords, credit card info, and/or other sensitive info via e-mail with other people. This could include patents and proprietary information at work, marketing plans, etc.

I imagine the warning is from Apple not fleksy.
Regarding word suggestions though, do others find they only get two or three suggestions now instead of the old ten suggestions?

What's New in Version 4.0.4

*Note: Please update to the latest version of iOS 8.1 to fix key known issues with custom keyboards and improve your Fleksy experience.

INTRODUCING:

- Brand new layout! Backspace and shift keys have been moved above the spacebar row.
- Support for more layouts including Dvorak, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Colemak.
- Typing shortcuts from iOS! Add shortcuts in System Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

FIXED:

- Option to delete English (US).
- Eliminated the double punctuation bug.
- Labelled keyboard buttons for VoiceOver mode.
- Additional bug fixes and stability improvements.

So the release notes state that the buttons are labeled... Other than the bottom row with the spacebar, has anyone had any luck with noticing labels?

I would like the ability to be able to hear the individual characters if I hold my finger on the screen. I also noticed that there are still some issues with Voicever and 3rd party keyboards on IOs8.1 as when using the Fleksy keyboard, I found it quite tricky to use the Voiceover rota.

I can't find Version 4.0.4 in the App store.

To fix any rotor issues, just touch anywhere away from the keyboard itself. Once the keyboard's been touched once, it's considered active and gestures route to it.

This update is a partial improvement. It's at least functional now. Suggestions work.

Noticed a bug though. Seems like Fleksy inserts apostrophes in odd ways. If I type "don't" for instance, VO only reports the t. If I backspace the word, it's reported normally. Keep this in mind as you enter text. If you only hear a single letter when typing a word with an apostrophe, it's probably right. Don't know if this is a widespread bug or if it's just me.

Obviously manually entering words still doesn't work. You can alleviate this somewhat by going into the fleksy app and manually adding stuff to your dictionary. Annoying, but at least it's possible to use it now. Here's hoping the rest of these bugs get sorted out soon.

At least we're seeing progress with the accessibility improvements. Hopefully we see more improvements, and hopefully the third-party keyboard bugs on Apple's side are fixed.

Has Anyone had any luck switching from the normal keyboard to the minimal keyboard with the two finger swipe? I am able to bring up the bottom row of keys with the gesture, but I haven't been able to go back to the minimal keyboard with the gesture either up or down... Any tips or suggestions?

In general I haven't had a hard time doing this. the two finger up/down action to unhide/hade the spacebar and extra buttons doesn't seem to be 100% reliable, but it mostly works.

Try swiping a bit lower on the screen. Make sure when you swipe that you are on the keyboard area of the screen and not the text edit field.

--Pete

What's new in 4.0.5?

- Fix for language download errors.

I think things have gotten better with fleksy and voiceover in this update. Most noticeably, the buttons for switching keyboards and spacebar and enter are now labeled! When swiping to the right after typing a word such as that's or don't, it actually says the whole word now instead of just 's or 't. Swiping up and down for word suggestions has gotten even better. There are still minor things that aren't necessarily bugs, but I would like to see them changed. Because I use the minimal setting while typing, those buttons at the bottom of the keyboard are hidden. when I have to switch keyboards for any reason, I need to come out of minimal mode to get to that button. The two-finger swipe down doesn't work for me. I haven't gotten it to work successfully even one time. I was very careful to swipe down over only the keyboard part of the screen, but still no luck. I even tried a two-finger swipe up in case I got it wrong, but that didn't do the trick either. In order to get out of minimal mode, I have to go back into the fleksy app and find it under appearances. They either need to fix this gesture, or maybe come up with a quick gesture for switching keyboards while you're in other apps. If anyone else has a suggestion, let me know. Other than this minor issue, I love fleksy, and appreciate what the developers are doing. Things are looking much better than they were just after the launch for iOS 8, and I can't wait to see the improvements they make in the next update!

I tried with updated fleksy, but since I'm unable to switchover to the normal keyboard for some places, I've deleted it from the keyboard list. I dono how to switchover either. And again, it is frustrating since the fleksy is not telling me the letter I press. In some cases, like for some abbreviations for example, we can't depend upon the dictionary or predictions though.

I am still unable to look for more word suggestions. Has anyone figured out how to do that?

In order to hear the new word suggestions as you flick up and down, you must do the following:

1. In the iPhone Settings / General / Keyboard / Fleksy dialog you must allow "full Access"

2. In the Fleksy Settings menu you must turn on "Use Voice Feedback"

Unfortunately, it does not seem possible to turn on the "Use Voice Feedback" button when VoiceOver is running if you don't allow full access.

--Pete

I have tried as suggested and still do not get word suggestions. Perhaps turning voice feedback off and back on will work.

Agreed - If one has to keep switching keyboards back and forth in order to enter individual letters, that can be a real nuisance. In a response from their support team, they indicated that this is a feature they plan to bring back at some point.

Speaking of using the Fleksy app for work, if one is using VoiceOver, then one needs to enable "Full Access" to keystrokes by the Fleksy app in order to toggle the "Use Voice Feedback" button in the Fleksy Settings to "on". This is the only way to be able to hear the changes in making a word selection. Although the support team indicated that they don't share or personalize this data, I think there is too much proprietary and/or sensitive data in some environments for a user to confidently enable "full Access". I hope they change this. Maybe it is workth a note from other users about this.

--Pete

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone who has the time could maybe do a podcast on how the current state of the system-wide-keyboard works with Voiceover and IOS 8.1.1

That's of course, if it is worth doing.

I for one, would like to know such things from how to get it setup and running to typing text messages sending them, typing in Safari edit boxes etc. I'm still on IOS 7.1.2 and if someone out there would be willing to show how the current state of accessibility and usability goes with the keyboard and Voiceover,
through a demo, this then may sway me to update to 8.1.1

What do you all think?

Many thanks

Daniel

If need be, I could try and do a podcast some time today. I do not believe I have anything going on so I can try to help in that regard. Will let yall know when it's up

In addition to another new name, below is what's new in version 5.0.

Although there is mention of VoiceOver, my early impressions are that this is moving even further away from being an app that will be of interest or use to blind users.

Release Notes:
*Note: Please update to the latest version of iOS 8 to fix key known issues with custom keyboards and improve your Fleksy experience.

INTRODUCING

- Many more themes, including branded themes!
- Keyboard Extensions! Drag and drop extension cards to add or remove the features you enjoy! 5 Extensions at launch including:
- GIF Keyboard
- Numbers Row
- One-handed Mode
- Cursor Control
- Rainbow Pops
- New emoji scroll mode for finding emoji faster and easier
- Long-press period for quick punctuation/symbols (.,?!@#)
- New long-press key animations
- Single-character input now easier in VoiceOver mode
- Access to Arabic secondary characters by tapping shift key

IMPROVED

- Autocorrect will now change what you mean to type less
- Stability and performance improvements

FIXED

- Autocorrect turned on (sometimes) in email textfields
- Accented characters are hidden for some languages

If you've been enjoying Fleksy Keyboard, please take a minute to leave a nice review. It really goes a long way!

yes, i'm very disappointed in fleksy these days. it works, sort of, when it feels like it, but for the most part, it's a useless app that sits here and gets updated, checked, then ignored again. come on guys at fleksy team, don't leave us behind.

I agree with the above comments posted since the release of version 5.0,
I am a member of the beta test program, and I can tell you 5.0 wasn't tested for very long before actual release,
also I have given my feedback several times regarding VoiceOver that the actual fleksy app is very difficult to get around, the menu button can't easily be flicked to that you have to hunt on the screen for it.
The fact that I have no confidence at all when trying to type with fleksy because of the awful sounds included in it for swiping and character entry,
I suggested offering several sound packs to solve this issue.
another issue I raised was the themes scattered all over the screen and the 3 copyright notices as well as all the purchase buttons.
and none of this feedback appears to have been acted on,
other issues I have identified are the extensions screen is very difficult to use, it talks about being able to drag extensions but this isn't VoiceOver accessible, and after every extension name there is a graphic or something that isn't spoken buy VoiceOver.
I also find that I still only get 3 or 4 word suggestions from fleksy at best.
another issue I have raised with regard to VoiceOver is that there are no helpful prompts suggesting VoiceOver users the best method to achieve optimal performance now this would be doable as I think developers can detect when VoiceOver is running in fact I know they can because fleksy have talked about this in the past.
I mean its not obvious about having to enable full access from the ios keyboard settings for example so a little popup message outlining these common things would be helpful.
Another thing I have mentioned a lot is the lack of a prompt saying no more text to delete when we have deleted everything on the screen and a sound indicating this.
There is also no VoiceOver feedback indicating if the gesture to activate and deactivate the minimal mode is successful the minimal mode being the mode where space and other keys are hidden.
I have noticed that other users on the beta test group have given feedback relating to right to left written languages and they have made requests for fixes which also haven't been acted on.
It seems to me fleksy are fixated on graphical changes and not listening to users especially there oldest and most faithful supporters.
Put it this way I install the beta then end up deleting it soon after installation because of the lack of interest in VoiceOver fixes fleksy just isn't a viable productivity tool for me any more and hasn't been for a long time.
I hate saying this because fleksy was great years ago.
I wrote to fleksy outlining my concerns that feedback isn't being listened to and got an email back promising VoiceOver fixes but nothing has materialised.
I also don't mind stating on hear that none of the developers have ever made a post to the facebook beta group and I would think surely the point of this group would be to engage with testers in a dialogue, instead of which its testers talking to each other.
I also think but could be wrong that a lot of the group is sighted and that's fine a balanced mix is good but when the developers don't respond to anything said on the group especially when several users give similar feedback its rather telling.
I said it in my email and will say it hear fleksy needs to sit down, and have a long hard look at feedback and have an accessibility review.
I was so excited when apple introduced third party keyboards, but I think this has done a lot more damage to fleksy than good as I routinely use a Bluetooth keyboard these days. But I think fleksy has been on a downward spiral ever since it introduced the sdk and that sort of thing.
But this isn't confined to fleksy I think third party keyboards really haven't benefited VoiceOver users in general not just fleksy.
The most revolutionary change for me that is keyboard related is apples own braille screen input I don't use it often as it isn't efficient when compared to a Bluetooth keyboard but its better than fleksy lol.
as with fleksy I find it so easy to get it to turn out rubbish, I mean not even real words years back fleksy always gave me proper words they might not have been anything like what I meant to type but it was still a word these days I can easily make it turn out nonsense the prediction engine fleksy uses certainly doesn't seem smarter these days in my opinion.