Clicks Technology aims to turn your iPhone into a BlackBerry with a surprisingly cool-looking keyboard accessory — yes, you read that correctly.
According to a recent press release, the Clicks Creator Keyboard aims to offer a ‘content first experience’ by moving the keyboard off the display while typing, doubling the screen real-estate available to the user (it also seems to add considerable bulk to the iPhone, unfortunately). The release emphasizes the more precise control offered by a physical keyboard, which, as someone who fondly remembers typing away on a Blackberry Curve 8900, I’m interested in revisiting.
Surprisingly, the keyboard also offers support for keyboard shortcuts, including the following:
- Press CMD + H to quickly navigate to your home screen
- Use CMD + Space to launch Search
- Scroll through web pages with space bar
- Clicks supports keyboard shortcuts across many iOS and third-party apps
Other notable features include a backlight for typing at night, the ability to easily slide the keyboard on and off and versions of the keyboard that feature a Lightning port or USB-C. It’s worth noting that the Creator Keyboard doesn’t feature a battery or require a Bluetooth connection.
There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding the Clicks Keyboard, including whether the accessory works with every iPhone app (I’m guessing it takes advantage of iOS’ accessibility settings), how bulky it makes the iPhone and how it affects battery life. It will also be interesting to see if the keyboard’s build quality is good, especially since it appears to be made of easily bendable silicone.
The company behind the Clicks Creator Keyboard was founded by Michael Fisher (also known as Mr. Mobile), a YouTube-based tech reviewer with 1.2 million subscribers, and Kevin Michaeluk (who you might remember as CrackBerry Kevin if you’re as old as me), along with “a team with mobile experience” from companies like Apple, BlackBerry and Google.
I’m a sucker for wacky mobile accessories, and this is by far the most out there I’ve seen in years. I’ve long since accepted that a touchscreen is the most intuitive way to interact with a smartphone, but part of me still longs for the accuracy of an old BlackBerry keyboard (I could type so much more quickly). I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Clicks Creator Keyboard and testing it.
The unique iPhone keyboard accessory is available to order now at Clicks.tech for $139 USD (roughly CAD $185.65) in ‘BumbleBee’ and ‘London Sky.’ The Clicks Creator Keyboard will officially be released on February 1st.
Image credit: Clicks Technology
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