A few days back, Microsoft began sending out invites to Insiders to try out Microsoft’s Word Flow keyboard on iOS that will eventually be coming to Android as well. At the time, fans from the Windows Phone community lashed out at the company for taking away yet another reason why someone would buy a device running Windows 10 Mobile.

In the beta test of the iOS version of the Word Flow keyboard, the company has a new one-handed design that will make it easier to type using only your thumb. The design is a fan style layout; each keyboard row is on an arc, similar to the one you see from Windows Vista below.

The biggest difference from what is shown in this picture is that all the keys are on the fan grid (in the Vista design, keys were split up into two thumb keyboards) and while I have not used the keyboard myself (images of the new layout were sent to me by a friendly Insider who asked that they not be published), it does look like it will make typing with one hand on iOS devices easier.

The current version of Windows 10 Mobile does have a one-handed mode, but it acts more like a compact keyboard that is shifted to the side whereas the new version is a complete re-arrangement of the keys.

This additional feature will likely not sit well with those who are currently using Windows 10 Mobile as the feeling of Microsoft is abandoning the platform grows a little bit more real each time they take something that was unique about the OS and give it to iOS and Android users. Of course, the company could easily build this feature into the next release of the OS but at that point, the OS is, at best, on parity with its rivals.

While the company could pull this feature before release, I suspect images of this keyboard will show up very soon considering Microsoft is already publicly beta testing the app.

Tagged with Word Flow