Google isn’t offering a dedicated keyboard for Android Wear

Oct 13, 2014 06:30 GMT  ·  By

Smartwatches are wrist-bound products which usually come with a tiny display, so costumers don’t usually tend to use them for typing messages or surfing the web.

When wanting to send out a message, owners can enter text using the voice recognition feat, but what happens when you’re in a crowded place like an airport or a club? One scenario might involve actually taking your smartphone out of your pocket and writing the message the “old fashioned” way.

But if you want to hold true to the smartwatch scenario and by-pass the “tedious” act of looking for your handset, you now have a new way of handling things.

The latest Android Wear keyboard comes from Microsoft

Virtual keyboards for Android Wear aren't an exact novelty. Fleksy is offering one and Minuum too, but now another player has launched a similar solution. And you’re not going to believe which company sits behind the endeavor.

Out of all, Microsoft is the one that has released an early prototype of the Android Wear app that takes a slightly different approach to writing. It does not bring a virtual keyboard per se, so in order to enter text on your Android Wear, users will have to draw out letters on the screen of the watch.

If you want to try out this system of input, you should know the Analog Keyboard for Android Wear is up for download on the Microsoft Research website.

For the time being, the app is compatible with products boasting a square display with 320 x 320 pixel resolution and the Motorola Moto 360.

But before you get started with the installation process, we should warn you that getting the app onboard of your watch is a tad complicated and includes the Android SDK plus a USB or Bluetooth connection between your PC and the watch.

Analog Keyboard for Android Wear is a prototype

Microsoft is calling the app a prototype with good reason. For the time being, you won’t be able to use upper-case letters, so your writing is limited to lower-case characters only. Furthermore, there is no support for 280 x 280 resolution watches. Not for the time being, anyway.

But wait, there’s more to consider before downloading the app and installing it. Microsoft itself recognizes that the app puts a big strain on battery life simply because all processing is achieved on the smartwatch, not on the cloud or smartphone.

On the bright side of things, the app has auto-correct for frequent used words, so it will allow you to continue writing without going back to fix the misrepresentation of a letter.

As a side note, it is interesting to mention Google itself hasn't built a dedicated keyboard for Android Wear, so other players are jumping in attempting to fill the blanks in this niche market.