Fleksy

{{Update|part=section|date=October 2022|reason=There is no information beyond 2021.}}

Fleksy was developed by Fleksy Inc., a company founded in 2011.[https://www.fleksy.com "Fleksy"], fleksy.com, Retrieved on 7 February 2013. It was originally developed for the blind and visually impaired to enable typing through muscle memory.[https://www.afb.org/aw/14/2/15840 "2012: A Technology Year in Review"] AFB AccessWorld, Retrieved 7 February 2013.

In July 2012, Fleksy became commercially available on the iPhone as a download from Apple's iOS App Store.[https://apps.apple.com/app/fleksy-happy-typing/id520337246 "Fleksy - Happy Typing"] iOS App Store. Retrieved on 7 February 2013. On June 15, 2016, the company moved on to Pinterest.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fleksy.com/fleksy-acquired-by-pinterest|title=Fleksy Acquired by Pinterest|website=fleksy.com|access-date=2016-06-15|archive-date=2016-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920021249/https://fleksy.com/fleksy-acquired-by-pinterest|url-status=dead}}

In July 2017, Thingthing Ltd., a competing keyboard company, acquired Fleksy and resumed its development.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/25/fleksy-keyboard-to-get-major-reboot-under-thingthing-dev-team/|title=Fleksy gets major robot under ThingThing|website=TechCrunch|date=2017-07-25}} In 2018, the Fleksy keyboard was acquired by Thingthing Ltd., and given an upgrade.

In summer of 2018, Fleksy opened a seed crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube.{{Cite web|url=https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/fleksy/pitches/qrr4Gq|title=Fleksy Keyboard is raising £230,000 investment on Crowdcube. Capital At Risk.|website=Crowdcube|language=en|access-date=2019-06-11|archive-date=2021-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305163901/https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/fleksy/pitches/qrr4Gq|url-status=dead}} In October 2018, Fleksy partnered with Palm and was preinstalled as the default keyboard on all Palm devices.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/25/fleksys-keyboard-grabs-800k-via-equity-crowdfunding/|title=Fleksy's keyboard grabs $800k+ via equity crowdfunding|website=TechCrunch|language=en|date=2018-10-25}}

In 2019, Fleksy introduced Fleksyapps "mini app programs."{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@fleksy/tired-of-switching-between-apps-b2f3d2d8b127|title=Tired of switching between apps?|last=Fleksy|website=Medium|date=2019-02-12}} Afterwards, Fleksy releases its smart assistant, Fleksynext. In October 2019, Fleksy was forced to raise the rating of its keyboard app to PEGI 12 rating on Google Play compared to PEGI 3 carried by Gboard, Google's own app. This rating was restored after the company contacted the International Age Rating Coalition.{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/23/googles-play-store-is-giving-an-age-rating-finger-to-fleksy-a-gboard-rival/|title=Google's Play Store is giving an age-rating finger to Fleksy, a Gboard rival 🖕|website=TechCrunch|date=23 October 2019 |access-date=2019-10-27}} Google refrained to comment.

In 2019, Fleksy became the first keyboard used for Passive Digital Phenotyping in the Healthcare space.

In May 2020, Fleksy completes its pivot towards B2B as its gaining traction in the market, launching its [https://www.fleksy.com/solutions/ Software Development Kit] (SDK) and taking on clients in [https://www.fleksy.com/solutions/healthcare/ Healthcare], Productivity, [https://www.fleksy.com/solutions/generative-ai/ Generative AI], [https://www.fleksy.com/solutions/ar-and-vr/ Augmented Reality], Advertising, Banking and many more.

In February 2021, Fleksy expanded its SDK across 7 verticals. In October 2021, Fleksy announced it has raised a Series A from [https://www.inveready.com/ Inveready] to support the growth of its B2B business, helping clients in various industries leverage its input method technologies.

In August 2022, it officially expands into DevTool territory with the launch of its Developer Platform and Integration Documentation, making it easier than ever for software developers globally to test and build their own virtual keyboard.{{Cite web |last=Lomas |first=Natasha |date=2022-08-30 |title=Fleksy targets devs with SDK platform for smart keyboard features |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/30/fleksy-sdk-developer-platform-launch/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}

In January 2023, Fleksy adds an additional 11 verticals, totalizing 18 verticals served.{{Cite web |title=Notion – The all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. |url=https://www.notion.so/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Notion}}

In February 2024, the company expands officially into Field Mobility (Logistics) and Cybersecurity after winning a prestigious grant from Innovate UK to Combat Financial Fraud on Mobile.{{Cite web |last=Plante |first=Olivier |date=2024-01-03 |title=Blog - Fleksy Granted Innovate UK Funding to Combat Financial Fraud on Mobile |url=https://www.fleksy.com/blog/fleksy-granted-innovate-uk-funding-to-combat-financial-fraud-on-mobile/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Fleksy |language=en-US}}

Fleksy’s auto-correct algorithm functions by combining analysis of user typing patterns and linguistic context. Analysis of tap locations (rather than letters selected) affords it the ability to remain tolerant of drifting errors and allows the user to type on an invisible keyboard or even off the keyboard in some instances.[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4422017 "Hacker News"] news.ycombinator.com, Retrieved on 23 August 2012. As a result, Fleksy has been embraced by the visually-impaired community.[https://www.afb.org/aw/13/11/15869 "An App for Wayward Fingers and Thumbs: An Evaluation of the Fleksy App from Syntellia"] AFB AccessWorld, Retrieved 7 February 2013.[http://assistivetechnology.about.com/od/AccessibilityintheiPhone/a/Fleksy-App-Affords-Blind-Ios-Users-Top-Speed-Typing-Acces.htm "Fleksy Gives Blind iOS Users Top-Speed Typing Access"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115085434/http://assistivetechnology.about.com/od/AccessibilityintheiPhone/a/Fleksy-App-Affords-Blind-Ios-Users-Top-Speed-Typing-Acces.htm |date=2013-01-15 }} About.com, Retrieved 7 February 2013.[http://assistivetechnology.about.com/b/2012/08/01/mistype-every-letter-fleksy-still-knows-what-keys-you-meant.htm "Mistype Every Letter & Fleksy Still Knows What Keys You Meant"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114225300/http://assistivetechnology.about.com/b/2012/08/01/mistype-every-letter-fleksy-still-knows-what-keys-you-meant.htm |date=2013-01-14 }} About.com, Retrieved 7 February 2013.[http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/copingwithsightloss/youngpeople/mindseye/mindseyeblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=27 "Fleksy app: Helping you to type faster"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206012540/http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/copingwithsightloss/youngpeople/mindseye/mindseyeblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=27 |date=2013-12-06 }} Royal National Institute for the Blind, Retrieved 7 February 2013. The software has been considered for the "Story of the Year" of the Technology Year in Review for 2012 by the American Foundation for the Blind.

Fleksy allows sighted people to blind-type on a touchscreen. Quentin Stafford-Fraser said on his website: "I found I could type whole sentences immediately, without looking at the keyboard".{{Cite web |title=Being Accessible {{!}} Status-Q |url=https://statusq.org/archives/2013/01/28/4797/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |language=en-GB}}

Fleksy is available in 82 languages{{Cite web|url=https://fleksy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018578272-What-languages-does-Fleksy-support-|title=What languages does Fleksy support?|last=Fleksy|website=Zendesk|date=20 September 2016 }} and QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ, Dvorak, and Colemak layouts on Android and iOS. The Fleksy SDK provides autocorrection, next word prediction and swipe input.

Fleksy has received a number of awards since its release in July 2012:

• Officially broke Guinness World Record for fastest touch-screen text message in May 2014{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/5/fastest-touch-screen-text-message-record-officially-broken-with-fleksy-keyboard-57380/|title=Fastest touch-screen text message record officially broken with Fleksy keyboard|website=Guinness World Records|language=en|date=2014-05-19}}
• South by Southwest Interactive Accelerator 2013 Winner[http://sxsw.com/interactive/news/sxsw-accelerator-interactive-grand-prize-winners-announced"] SXSW, Retrieved 30 March 2013.
• Apple's Best of App Store 2012[https://web.archive.org/web/20130120183450/http://www.visionaustralia.org/living-with-low-vision/learning-to-live-independently/using-technology-and-computers/blog---accessibility-and-assistive-technology-blog/blog/accessibility-blog/2012/12/17/fleksy-app-gets-main-stream-recognition-in-the-apple-australian-app-store "Fleksy typing app gets main stream recognition in the Apple Australian App Store"] {{sic}} Vision Australia, Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• CES 2013 Innovation honoree[http://www.cesweb.org/awards/ces-innovations-awards/2013.aspx?category=AccessibilityUniversalDesign "CES Innovation Awards"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209055416/http://www.cesweb.org/Awards/CES-Innovations-Awards/2013.aspx?category=AccessibilityUniversalDesign |date=2013-02-09 }} CES, Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• Qualcomm QPrize finalist[http://www.qualcomm.com/media/releases/2012/08/31/qualcomm-awards-100000-venture-financing-mightytext-winner-qprize-2012 "Qualcomm Press Release"] Qualcomm, Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• Royal National Institute of Blind People, app of the month for August 2012[http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/computersphones/updates/techknowmore/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=118 "Fleksy - App of the Month August 2012"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917052446/http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/computersphones/updates/techknowmore/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=118 |date=2012-09-17 }} Royal National Institute of the Blind, Retrieved 7 February 2013.
• Golden Apple Award[http://www.applevis.com/blog/accessories/announcing-applevis-golden-apples-2012 "Announcing the AppleVis Golden Apples of 2012"] AppleVis, Retrieved 7 February 2013.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.fleksy.com/ Fleksy home page]

Category:IOS software

Category:Android virtual keyboards

Category:Input methods for handheld devices

Category:Pointing-device text input

Category:User interface techniques