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MessagEase APKs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MessagEase) circa 2018. Free (from paywall and otherwise)
MessagEase is a legendary keyboard, originally developed in 2003 for the PalmOS.
This keyboard uses 9 large keys with all the others alongside: you swipe to them to use them.
It also can do Ctrl, Alt, and the F-keys; always uppercase mode, 9 quick-paste slots, "Keyboard Exchange" (copy your keyboard's customization, fonts etc as a long text stream other people can use), multilingual and much much more.
I depend on this keyboard for my mobile usage.
Included in this archive depot is also the original ICMI 2003 paper that started it all (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/958432.958437 , released for free on https://messagease.com) and a MessagEase Teaching Game, which I played in high school on a 3.0 inch phone. Ah... what memories...
As of February 2024, new versions of the keyboard APK nag users to download a "Pro" version that has a paywall. This version is free from that, and its API minimum is 8 (Froyo, 2010), while its target is 27 (Android 8.1 Oreo, 2017), albeit it regardless runs like a Swiss clock in Android 13.
Exideas' decision to charge for what was free is all the more vexing given it was effectively a complete work and didn't need any changes anymore. This 2018 version is sure to please you, just as a 2017, 2016... when you first start it up, it has a Google Nexus One (2010) picture as the example phone! Not much has changed since then, besides more customization options.
As of June 2025, the iOS version is still free, and anecdotally, still works to perfection on iOS 18!
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