iOS8 was one of the most exciting updates Apple has yet offered from a developer perspective. A big reason for this is the update came with Extensibility, which enabled developers to extend functionality of apps into other important parts of the phone. One of those parts? The keyboard. App developers can now build the custom keyboards you’ve always envisioned, while still experiencing the security benefits of iOS. This is because extensions run in the same sandbox as the apps they extend from but operate within separate containers. Basically - you get all the functionality you dream of yet maintain the privacy and security of the system Apple has become known for. Now that developers can essentially replace the default, system-wide iOS keyboard with almost anything you can think of, we wanted to explore the possibilities that have been released so far.   Swype + SwiftKey For years Android users have enjoyed the Swype and SwiftKey keyboards, and both are now available on iPhone and iPad. While theses are two different keyboards, they are similar in function and benefit. The user begins both typing experiences by simply placing their finger on the first letter key of the word. Then without lifting a finger, they then slide to the next letters. A few more swipes like this and the Swype and/or SwiftKey will offer options for what is predicted to be the word, and the user then selects the intended word. Both keyboards get “smarter” with more use, as the predictive technology both feature starts recognizing frequently used words. The one big difference between the two is SwiftKey offers emojis, while Swype does not.   Gifmoji  There’s no better way to express excitement than with a GIF of Stephen Colbert happy dancing. Gifmoji had the same opinion and created the solution for mobile comedians to express themselves through moving GIFs and slapstick emojis. The app comes with three different sections, the first being moving emojis.These are those familiar emojis texters have been using for years, except they perform the movements of blowing kisses or shaking heads from side to side. The second section is a collection of popular kaomoji, such as o/ or (-_-*), making these communications more easily accessible rather than typing them out. Finally is the best part of the app, the GIFs. These are complete with short  2-3 second expressions of popular actors and cartoons acting out full ranges of emotion such as flipping over tables or dancing in happiness. Your friends will not misunderstand your meaning again.   Stack Most of the keyboards we’ve seen thus far focus on features like glittery emoji, predictive text or gesture typing. Stack took a different approach and focuses on an entirely different type of keyboard - by not even opening a keyboard at all. Instead, the area where a QWERTY keyboard usually appears simply displays a blank space, in which the user can draw letters. The keyboard is fast enough to recognize each letter that the user can write the letters on top of each other. This is a good option for those who don’t tend to like traditional keyboards and prefer drawing. We see this most likely being predominantly used on iPads with a stylus pan as opposed to on an iPhone, but the keyboard is available for both.   TextExpander 3 While messages usually must be typed in their entirety, the app developers who created TextExpander are making the ease that is the texting game even easier. With this keyboard new to iOS, users can access a database of commonly used abbreviations, which TextExpander will expand into full phrases or sentences. Such commands can include typing “TY” which TextExpander will translate into “Thank you very much!” This keyboard can also be customized with whatever abbreviations you commonly use and prefer.   Texting can be viewed as a lazier form of communication, in that it doesn’t require much of a greeting or a goodbye, and ideas can be conveyed in one simple line of text. This is much to the delight of the socially awkward or the plainly lazy. However the possibilities have now opened up in such a way that entrepreneurs filled with ideas and developers anxious to try something new, can now create new custom keyboards for the iOS audience.  Do you have a favorite iOS keyboard? Let us know what you think in the comments below.  Or perhaps you have an idea for a new keyboard that hasn’t been released yet. We’ll be happy to help you get started.  

by: Robert Wang Better thank your lucky stars. On October 5th, Adobe announced a workaround to the iPhone's complete incompatibility to Flash. The company showcased a handful of apps, developed in Flash and directly converted to a fully functional iPhone compatible form, in front of a live audience at the annual Adobe Max event in San Francisco. In enabling the channels of conversion, Adobe has opened the floodgates for ever greater volumes of 3rd party applications. Now it’s anyone’s game—provided you can make it past Apple’s heavy-handed censors. By using Flash Pro CS5 (slated for public beta later this year), aspiring developers might finally get their very own piece of the much-sought-after Apple pie. The iPhone/Flash incompatibility has long served as a source of annoyance for many a user: causing anything from minor style disruption to the total catastrophic failure of entire websites. Over the past decade, Flash has grown from amusing novelty to one of the primary mediums of content delivery on the internet. Flash is used to power everything from animated ads, to video players (the likes of which have granted YouTube and Hulu their runaway success), to full on media platforms from which complex applications can be run—all on a lightweight, easy-to-install standalone program. So why hasn’t Apple included Flash functionality on the iPhone? Due to the nature of the Flash player, it would, to be blunt, cut into Apple’s profits. Apple is currently maintaining something of a totalitarian regime over the software and hardware rights to its creations. Users can only gain additional content by purchasing it through the Apple regulated iTunes store…and Apple aims to keep it that way. So will you ever be able to stream that new trailer off MovieFone? Don’t bank on it. The Flash player actually violates the Apple Terms of Service, in fact any sort of plug-in to the Safari Browser would represent a breech in contract. But it’s a start, and with greater pressure to ease up on content restrictions arising from competition like the Google Android, it’s only a matter of time before Apple is forced to reconsider its policies. However, with html 5 in full swing, the need for dynamic content plug-ins like Flash and SilverLight is significantly reduced—potentially to the point of obsolescence. Html 5’s design means that the potential and power behind web apps freshly created on its platform will be unparalleled: faster, more immersive, and ever closer to being indistinguishable from their offline brethren. To date, Apple, Google, Mozilla, and even Microsoft are doing their best to promote it. With the lines already drawn, it’s going to be a tough, uphill battle for Adobe. Is it time to ditch your Flash books in the closest dumpster and move on? Has Flash become so prevalent that it’s now an irreplaceable Internet staple? Look for Barefoot Solutions to weigh in on the debate soon. In the meantime, let the games begin.

If you're someone like Ashton Kutcher, then you don't have a problem getting a lot of followers on Twitter. If you're someone like Ashton Kutcher, you can publicly challenge CNN to a Twitter popularity contest to see who would get 1 million followers first and then beat one of the largest broadcast news organizations in the world. For all the rest of us who aren’t someone like Ashton Kutcher, we would recommend the following to expand your company’s online marketing campaign into the 140-character realm of Twitter. How to Twitter for your company: 1. Before writing your first Tweet, make sure your company’s user profile is completely filled out, especially the bio, website link, user profile picture, and background theme. These elements all lay the foundation for branding your company to fellow Tweeters. 2. Make your company a constant presence. If you’re serious about building a strong online marketing presence in Twitter, you need to consistently be available to post valuable information and respond to any questions. The concept behind Twitter is that Tweeters are constantly looking for new information and are looking to obtain it in the fastest way possible, and so to be effective on this site, you need to provide what your followers are asking for. One tweet may seem like a drop in a bucket, but hundreds and thousands of tweets will start to add up and help build your company’s online marketing campaign. 3. Search for followers. Twitter allows you to search for other Tweeters by their name or user id (if you already know them) or through keywords. Keywords in twitter are identified with the # sign, like #iranrevolution. Search for keywords or trending topics in your company’s field of products or services and select to follow other Tweeters who are interested in or involved in this field. Tweeters you click to follow also have the option of following you back. You can check to see if they do at friendorfollow.com and decide to stop following them if they don’t reciprocate. You should also include keywords in your own tweets to let other people more easily find you. 4. Be yourself. Don’t use Twitter as a soapbox to directly market your company’s products or services. Offer information to set yourself up as an expert in your company’s field or answer questions about your field to help build a potential client base. 5. These are always good reminders: use good text slang grammar and spelling. Make sure your Tweets are clear and focused. There’s poetry in writing a good 140-character Tweet. Always include shortened urls instead of the entire url for a hyperlink in a Tweet. 6. Retweet interesting information you come across, share your friend’s tweets with others, and always acknowledge your Twitter friends and new followers to build a stronger and more supportive base. Bottom line, it takes a large investment of time and energy to learn how to twitter effectively to build a strong online marketing campaign for your company. -- Stephanie