There are quite a number of keyboard apps for the Android platform if you are not satisfied with the default keyboard and it’s features. To name a few, SwiftKey, Fleksy and Swype have been widely regarded as the best third party keyboard apps that offer lot of customization options and features to help the user type more easily and freely. We now have an Indian company “KeyPoint Technology”, roll out an intent based keyboard app called Xploree which is powered by Natural language processing, machine learning and AI.
Xploree has features like swipe gestures, auto correct, suggestions, stickers etc. which are found in all other keyboard apps but the unique feature of this app is the discovery platform. Since the keyboard is intent based, it offers suggestions or “discoveries” based on the words typed or the context. For example, if the person chatting on any messenger types “How about dinner tonight?”, the keyboard recognizes intent of the message and provides various options for restaurants through the built-in discovery platform. All this due to the NLP and machine learning powering the keyboard app which keeps getting better over time. You do not see the same discoveries every time as well, the suggestions also vary based on the location and time of the day. The discovery options range from restaurants to online shopping which is integrated with the applications like Zomato, Flipkart etc. already installed on user’s device.
The UI of Xploree is pretty simple just like any other keyboard app out there. There are lot of themes which are based on colors and animations. KPT has taken the themes in Xploree to next level by providing themes based on festivals like Diwali. Dussehra etc. targeting the Indian users. The keyboard offers a variety of options in languages, text shortcuts and user dictionary. There are over 130 languages supported in Xploree out of which we have 21 Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil etc. The keyboard also supports words in Kanglish, Tanglish, Hinglish used by the younger generation to convey native words in English. The dictionary of Xploree stores the words frequently used by the users during conversations to avoid correcting them in future. You can store up to 2000 words by adding them manually too.
Users can also save frequently used sentences with shortcuts for easier typing. For example, you can type “HRU” to ask “How Are you?” and save time while typing. When you type any shortcuts during the conversation, you will be notified with “+” mark on the predictions tab and on tapping that, you will see the full form of that shortcut inserted. Then we have Presto, the bot that holds all our discovery cards ready for us to explore based on our conversations in the chat app. It pops up similar to facebook messenger and can be moved around the screen, used to go to settings of Xploree and also see all the discovery cards presented to us.
We even got a chance to attend a meet-up at KeyPoint Technology office and interact with the team behind Xploree including it’s VP who gave us an idea of how they wanted Xploree to evolve as a platform for both sellers and consumers to explore various services and products based on context.
Overall we are happy with the way Xploree works and find it really useful in finding products or services much quickly than opening native apps in the mobile. You will need some time to get used to the app but it’s worth the time and effort you will save later. You can download Xploree app from the Google Play store from the link below. The app is not yet available for iOS users as of now.
