Third-party keyboard alternative Fleksy has announced overnight that they’ll be dropping the upfront cost of the keyboard in favour of monetising through the sale of premium themes and extensions via In-App Purchase.
The move mirrors that of Swiftkey who dropped their price in favour of selling themed keyboards through their store just over a year ago. As with Swiftkey, Fleksy recognises that they have already monetised the app from users who paid for it up-front. To compensate users who previously purchased the keyboard, Flesky is offering ‘brand new themes and extension slots worth $8 for FREE as a gift’.
So, why did they go free? Co-Founder and CEO, Kosta Eleftheriou says
We want every smartphone user to have the opportunity to experience fast, expressive, and intuitive typing. We believe the best way to do this is to make the app free for everyone.
The change from a paid app to a freemium based app, is a big one, but not the only update users will see today. Fleksy has introduced a new view called Highlights, which is aimed at helping you include ‘rich content’ such as stickers or GIFs within your conversations more easily. Highlights will auto-suggest media rich content when you tap on the ‘auto-recommmended hashtag’ to bring up a page of content in one easy to view pane.
If you haven’t tried out Fleksy previously, then here’s your chance. Fleksy is now free to download in Google Play, and for those who’ve paid, get ready to claim your free theme and extension.
Never tried Fleksy – how does it compare to Swiftkey?
It’s been a while since I tried it but, if I recall correctly, it didn’t allow swyping which, having got used to it on Google Keyboard and SwiftKey, meant I barely spent more than a few minutes on Fleksy.
Interesting. I don’t use the swype function at all so I might install it and give it a try.
wish whatsapp support gifs 🙂