Microsoft is rolling out the popular Word Flow keyboard found on Windows phones to the iPhone 5s or newer models.
The built-in keyboard of Lumia smartphones is arguably one of the best there is. Compared with Word Flow, the slew of Android alternatives and the responsive default iOS keyboard are behind a bit. Of course, the biggest caveat is that a Windows phone is required, and it doesn't exactly have an extensive selection of the best and newest apps.
Fortunately, a portion of iPhone owners will be some of the first to have the opportunity to enjoy everything that Word Flow has to offer without the need to switch to a Lumia.
The news came about when Microsoft sent out emails to a few lucky participants of the Windows Insider program. The company is asking them whether or not they are interested in joining the Word Flow beta program, noting that it'll appreciate the feedback of testers.
"Do you own an iPhone (5s or newer)? Do you think your native iOS keyboard could use improvement?" part of the email reads.
In a bid to curry the recipients' favor, it continues to boast the achievement of Word Flow for winning the Guinness World Record for fastest texting at one point.
"One of the winning features of Windows Phone 8.1 is Word Flow – the world's fastest smartphone keyboard. How fast? Guinness Book of World Records-breaking fast," Microsoft said back in 2014.
Soon after, another virtual keyboard-typing wiz topped the record with Fleksy, but that's a whole different story.
Moving forward, the email continues to say that the company is "working on extending this keyboard to other platforms, starting with iOS." That's a sure sign of a future Android rollout – if everything goes well, at least.
The features of Word Flow include gestures, suggestions, autocorrect, support for other languages and a text swipe similar to the third-party keyboard Swype to write words.
As for the release date, Microsoft has given out no official word yet. Seeing as the company is still inviting people to the beta, that should come as no surprise.
Not everyone is happy about the news, though. There's more or less a pretty good chance that some Windows users are not amused at what the company has in mind. On top of that, Cortana also landed on the Android and iOS just recently. At any rate, the development shows how dedicated Microsoft is in creating a great experience for every user across multiple platforms.
Don't forget to hit up the footage below to see how Word Flow can provide convenience to the fingertips.
Photo: Maurizio Pesce | Flickr
