For those who don’t like their virtual keyboards taking too much space on a phone’s display, Minuum is perhaps the best keyboard app available for Android. Its minimalistic approach means it’s also better suited than most for smartwatches, so it wasn’t surprising when it announced last month that the keyboard would be headed to Android Wear. Today, we can finally see Minuum in action. Minuum teased its keyboard on a Moto 360 last month, but since the watch everyone is waiting for hasn’t launched yet, we will have to settle for a demo on the uninspiring LG G Watch. By the looks of it, typing using Minuum on such a small screen might not be as bad as one would imagine. The heavy use of word predictions and autocorrect will likely come in handy, though those with thin fingers will probably get better results when trying to hit the right letter on the screen.
However, while Minuum might have a working prototype ready, it’s unclear how it will work on Android Wear, since the platform is built around using voice input and might not support text input in the traditional sense. Minuum will likely offer an SDK that will allow other developers to integrate the keyboard in their apps, though it remains to be seen how good the uptake will be given typing through a virtual keyboard on a smartwatch won’t be a top priority for most users. Let us know if you’re looking forward to using a virtual keyboard on your Android Wear smartwatch, and be sure to subscribe for trying out a beta version of Minuum when it comes available.
