Though there’s no dearth of keyboard apps for Android users, but any new entrance to the market tries to give it a new angle. Microsoft has released a new keyboard app for Android users called as Hub Keyboard. It makes it easy to multi-task from one mobile screen.
About Hub Keyboard
Steve Won, a senior designer on the Office team, came up with the idea for the Hub Keyboard about one year ago. “Personally I don’t like switching between apps to do different things on my smartphone,” said Won.
This new Android app released through the Microsoft Garage, Hub Keyboard, brings you relevant information to help complete common tasks. It provides you access to all your Office 365 content in the keyboard form at one place. This Hub keyboard app is an on-screen keyboard app that you can setup as the default keyboard.
Simple concept
Hub Keyboard is a pretty straightforward app and there’s only tap input. In this app, a small bar sits on the top of the keyboard and tapping on its icons lets you grab information from elsewhere on your phone. For example, when your friend asks for someone’s phone number in your contact list, you just tap on the contacts button and search for a friend, then their name and phone number are automatically inserted. That’s simple and straightforward!
Easy access
In addition to Contacts, there are icons labeled Clipboard, Documents and Translate. Clipboard allows you access to your previous copied text while Documents allows you to search all your documents of OneDrive and SharePoint. The translate function allows you to translate your messages to a different language.
Multi-task effortlessly
All the tasks have been integrated into a keyboard and you can choose the ones you want to use in any app that makes use of keyboard. This means that you can use it in any other app that requires text input. So, you need not to switch between apps and save your precious seconds. With this app, you can copy and paste recent items, easily search and share documents as well as instantly translate parts of the messages.
Microsoft has recently bought Swiftkey which is the popular third-party keyboard app for Android and iOS. The Hub Keyboard is a completely separate project.
Some useful insights about Hub Keyboard:
Cost: Free
Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Requires Android: 4.3 and up
Download Hub Keyboard
Hub Keyboard is available for free download at the Google Play Store. Give it a try and let us know how you feel about it in the comments!
