
Show HN: Winston – iOS Productivity Keyboard - teer
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/winston-productivity-keyboard/id1006278205?mt=8
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twodayslate
What is so great about this that hasn't already been done by all the other 3rd
party keyboards on the market?

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teer
I think there are a couple of things. First, it's meant to complement rather
than replace your default keyboard, which is where I think most third party
implementations go wrong (it's very hard to best Apple's autocorrect and
people are used to using the default keyboard for typing). Then I think the
advantages with Winston are that it aggregates a number of useful services
(Yelp, Giphy, Spotify, etc.), has a simple design with no need to learn
anything new (like gestures or swiping), and includes search functionality.
But I'd love to get any feedback as well!

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thecosas
Yeah, I've noticed a tricky part about 3rd-party keyboards is discoverability.
Many people get far enough to enable it, but in my own experience, iOS is
pretty buggy when it comes to keyboards.

I like the approach of augmenting the system keyboard with additional
features. When it's done this way, it's not so infuriating that it's not
working :-)

~~~
teer
Agreed, and it doesn't help that it takes about 10 taps to enable keyboards in
settings. I think all 3rd party keyboards are actually getting less buggy,
especially in my experience since updating to iOS 9.

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ryanSrich
Gify is completely broken. The search doesn't work (hitting the search button
doesn't do anything) and when I reload the gif it crashes messages. Great idea
though.

iPhone 6s Plus 9.0.2

~~~
teer
Thanks for the feedback. The keyboard should be loading results from Giphy
after every letter typed in the search field. The problem might be a weak
connection, but I should definitely be handling the error better. Thanks
again.

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anjneymidha
This is an intellectually fascinating implementation of an alternative app
store - great work, keep at it!

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thecosas
What's your plan for revenue? IAP?

~~~
teer
Yes. I think I'll add features for free in the next update (and continue to
improve the existing features) and then begin to experiment with premium
features. Keyboards require a bit of creativity to monetize since users have
to go to the containing app to purchase IAP, and I don't know how well that
works. Ideally with enough downloads, I might also be able to monetize with
some form of sponsored content.

