Full-Cycle Development of a Leading App for Multi-touch Input on Android Keyboards

ThickButtons is a leading app for multi-touch input on Android keyboards.

ThickButtons makes typing easy and lightning fast. As you type a word it enlarges and highlights buttons, which you are most likely to press and shrinks the remaining ones, reducing the chance of making an error especially on touchscreen phones with small and medium-sized screens. Unlike other keyboards that makes people learn new input methods, ThickButtons learns user typing patterns and adjusts to them, remembering new words and abbreviations that are in user active vocabulary.

Partnership overview

Client’s challenge was to create a leading Android app without internal mobile expertise. N-iX set up a dedicated team of Android developers who worked closely with the client and transformed his idea into a smart technical and design solution needed for a successful application.

N-iX fully provided the mobile competency to design, implement and support the application and successfully solved a number of technical challenges during development, such as the speed challenge.

The app had to process large vocabularies very fast, adjust the screen in real-time and work fast even on slow phones. The team found a solution in using multi-level cashing and custom data structure.

Also, with N-iX’s extensive database of proven contractors, the client obtained the flexibility of allocating human resources with niche skills for project’s temporary tasks. ThickButtons’ screens design was fully subcontracted to a high-caliber contractor, which contributed to operational and cost efficiency of the development.

Location
USA
Industry
Hi-Tech
Partnership period
January 2010 - present
Technologies
Android

Product overview

ThickButtons

ThickButtons became an award winning app with 700,000 downloads and was recognized by leading industry and business publications including LifeHacker, CNet, PCWorld, Wired and Fortune. Success of ThickButtons’ technical and design solutions was also proven in usability tests performed against the standard QWERTY keyboard. The tests demonstrated: 24% faster and 31% more accurate text input and 92% of people said they would like to use the app.

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