The younger generation often gapes in disbelief when hearing that people used to have smartphones featuring actual buttons. As they evolved, manufacturers developed keyboards to cater to the emergence of text messaging. Much has changed since the early days of texting, thanks to the arrival of touchscreen smartphones — such as the iPhone — which eliminated the need forkeyboards. This doesn’t mean that some don’t occasionally miss the physical sensation of typing with buttons, however, and Clicks is here to satisfy that desire, in its own awkward way.
Fronted by tech reviewer Michal Fisher, aka MrMobile,Clicksbrands itself as the first “creator keyboard” for the iPhone — specifically, the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The virtually weightless (about a tenth of a pound, if you’re curious) keyboard is an add-on that snugly attaches to the bottom of the iPhone while wrapping it in a protective case, giving it that classic 2009 Palm Pre look.
Clicks promises a “perfect balance” of click resistance and feedback for more accurate, speedy typing — something that former keyboard phone users might miss. However, the company made sure to retain the phone’s standard layout for ease of use. The Clicks keyboard even has keys for voice input, commands, and tab to verify you never feel like it’s lacking. Depending on your iPhone model, you may spend anywhere from $139 to $159 to get your hands — literally — on the Clicks keyboard and start typing.
This isn’t the first time something like this has been tried. In 2014,Typobrought a physical keyboard to iPhones that covered up the Touch ID home button to avoid making the phone as top-heavy as Clicks appears to do. The accessory unabashedly copied the BlackBerry look, even charging via Micro USB since the keyboard communicated over Bluetooth instead of the Lightning port like Clicks.
While you might be wondering if a physical keyboard could solve your typing woes, it’s worth considering alternatives. Keyboard apps have come a long way since the rise of touchscreen smartphones and the elimination of physical keyboards. For instance, Gboard gives youthe option to resizethe keyboard on your display. If spacing is the primary challenge for you while typing, this feature could remedy the issue. Developers are also even beginning to integrate AI into digital keyboards to help with typing woes. For example, Samsung is rumored to be working onadding AI features to its keyboardto help with tone.
Whether you’ve accepted your slow typing speed or you’re still itching to make improvements, there are several ways you can go about it. If you aren’t interested in turning an iPhone into what looks like a BlackBerry Priv permanently slid open, simple changes like altering the size of your keyboard might be all you need. Clicks is certainly hoping that we’ll decide to just revert to using physical buttons — that being said, there may be too many alternative solutions (that don’t come with a price tag) for it to make a splash.
