Developer Finds Two New ‘Floating Keyboards’ for iPad Buried Deep within Code of iOS 10.3 Beta
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Whenever Apple releases the first beta of a forthcoming iOS update, we can usually be certain of two things: one, being that the update will contain exciting new features and enhancements of benefit to the end user; and two, being that Apple’s iOS app developers — who are among the first to receive these inaugural beta releases — will typically dig deep, deep within the code, revealing what the lion’s share of those features are even long before Apple releases the final version to the public.
To that end, Apple recently began seeding iOS 10.3 beta to developers, and while the details of that update and all the goodies that will come along with it are still trickling in, we can add yet another interesting feature to what we know so far, courtesy of notorious hacker/developer/extraordinaire, Steve Troughton-Smith.
Word has it that Troughton-Smith, while digging through iOS 10.3 beta’s code, discovered that Apple has included two new keyboards — both of which were “hidden” and are supposedly “floating” style, meaning they can be moved anywhere on the screen at the user’s discretion.
One of the keyboards, for instance, hovers above apps and the home screen, and, with a mere press-hold gesture, can be uprooted and moved anywhere else on the screen. The keyboard is also said to feature Apple’s new iOS trackpad mode, which allows you to control the text cursor during input. A second keyboard, also of the floating variety, features advanced gesture input, for example, allowing you to swipe to the left and right on certain keys to control certain functions.
Both of these keyboards, as Troughton-Smith pointed out, will be of great benefit to iPad users, especially when using Apple’s tablet computer in spilt-screen mode, when two apps are open side-by-side. And while we’d love to see a similar floating keyboard eventually make its way to iPhone — even though it probably will sooner or later, there’s currently no word as to when, if, and in what form it could touch down on Apple’s pocket-sized device.
However, with the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) just a few short months away, we probably won’t be waiting much longer to find out.
What iOS 10.3 features are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!
