Go Keyboard taken for a finger spin

So it’s no big secret, since we did our ‘launcher line up’ and compared what each of the writers were using I’ve taken to liking Go Launcher, and with it comes a -fair- lot of apps.

And there are many which are good. And seeing as I just did a review on the new ICS keyboard, and I’ve revealed my penchant for keyboard hoarding, I figured I’d take the Go Keyboard for a spin for your pleasure.

And you know what? I kinda like it. It’s got that ‘campy’ feel that most of the Go Dev team puts into all their products. And in typical ‘Go fashion’ it’s got a lot of options for you to customize the crap out of it. I’ve played with it over last night and part of today for some of my ‘day to day’ work and it’s not bad as a replacement keyboard.

So I’ve got a lot of screen shots to dive through with it [like I said, a lot of options to play with], but I think I’ll start off with the +/-, then go into some of the features, and finish off with my overall thoughts.

What I like:

It’s got swiping – often I’m using my phone on the go, so I’ve generally only have one hand free – and typing with one thumb seems a little strenuous, but with swiping it’s pretty easy.

It’s got a lot of language options. Not that I’d ever use them, but it’s nice to see that kind of integration.

Novel number pad layout for typing – and surprisingly accurate (but it’s only neat… nothing I’d use functionally)

What I didn’t like:

I get spoiled by SwiftKey’s amazing ability to predict not only the word I’m typing, but the next word to come up. So I miss that.

It feels a little ‘clunky’ still and doesn’t feel quite… fluid.

The cool thing, and also a bit of the pain with “Go stuff” is that it always feels like bloatware with extra plugins and stuff. In order to get the keyboard, you have to download Go Launcher [no problem, it’s a good app], then you have to install the keyboard. Want the tablet version? Download a plugin. Like a theme, install from the market separately… etc… I feel lost in all the warren holes of plugins and themes and apps installed. Not sure how you’d fix it, but it does feel very cluttered.

Now on to some of the screenshots.

Lots to look through there.  Going to be hard to describe them individually.  It had a lot that was great, and a fair bit that was just shy of being mediocre.

So funky, some novelty, but overall it’s not a game changer for me. For sure not a keyboard changer. But hey… it’s free!

Market Link