KeyboardKit 8.7
KeyboardKit 8.7 is out. This is a massive update that improves autocomplete, adds next character prediction & persistent settings, improves the design and layout handling, and much, much more.
Improved Autocomplete
KeyboardKit 8.7 greatly improves the autocomplete behavior and makes it possible to register your own custom autocorrections for all keyboard locales.
First of all, AutocompleteProvider is renamed to AutocompleteService to better reflect the increased set of responsibilities that this type will get.
The Autocomplete.LocalService now returns proper unknown statuses, which the action handler will then use to ask the service to learn all unknown suggestions that the user applies.
You can toggle this on and off with the new isAutoLearnEnabled property in AutocompleteContext.
The AutocompleteContext also has a new suggestionsDisplayCount property that is used to cap the number of suggestions that are returned by the suggestions property.
The AutocompleteContext also has a new autocorrectDictionary property that can be used to define custom autocorrections for all supported locales, to work around any limitations you find.
These new way to learn unknown suggestions and customize autocorrect will hopefully solve many frustrations involved with autocomplete, where the provider will behave better over time.
Improved Autocomplete Disabling
The KeyboardInputViewController will now check more places before performing autocomplete. The KeyboardContext prefersAutocomplete will now be used as well, as will the native keyboard type.
This change means that autocomplete will for instance be properly disabled when you enter URLs and email addresses, which aligns well with the native keyboard behavior.
Next Character Prediction
The AutocompleteService protocol has a brand new nextCharacterPrediction function, which is now implemented by the KeyboardKit Pro LocalService.
Next character prediction lets you get percentage-based probabilities for which characters keys that are most likely to be tapped next by the user.
Next character prediction can be used to implement dynamic tap areas, where the input key tap areas can vary based on the probability that a key may be tapped next.
Dynamic tap areas will be implemented in a future version of KeyboardKit.
New Settings Types
This version adds new, observable AutocompleteSettings, DictationSettings, FeedbackSettings, and Keyboard.Settings types, which can be used to manage various settings.
KeyboardSettings is now an observable class with general settings. KeyboardInputViewController also has a new settings property, like it has for services and state.
Unlike the context classes, these settings types will persist changes, and can sync changes between the main app and the keyboard. KeyboardKit will sync any settings changes to its contexts.
Sentence Configurations
KeyboardBehavior has a new endSentenceText property, which can customize how sentences should be ended. This makes it easy to configure the library for other locales, like Simplified Chinese.
Native Keyboard Types
This version fixes a bug, where the native keyboard type was synced before becoming available. This version improves this, and also renders a correct layout for the URL and webSearch types.
Native Font Support
The KeyboardStyle.StandardProvider and Keyboard.ButtonStyle now both supports specifying native Fonts, instead of just the KeyboardFont.
This makes it possible to more easily define a custom font for your designs, using the native APIs.
Host Application Improvement
The KeyboardKit Pro KeyboardHostApplication type is extended with more applications, and has a new url property that can be used to open each app.
This makes it even easier to interact with many well-known apps, like LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc.
Conclusion
KeyboardKit 8.7 is another huge release, that adds many new features and improves many things. Please give it a try and let us know what you think.
For more details, see the release notes.