One nice thing about phones being slimmed down in themselves is that you can add things to them as you like, building them out in personal ways.
I have mostly been a naked robotic core person, using a bare Iphone without a case or other additions.
The exception was my Iphone 6, which I kept in a case and also broke harder and more often than any other phone. Cases are clearly not meant for me.
Not for protection, at any rate.
But I do like to try new things as well. And when I do, I tend to go all in.
So, now have my largest phone ever, and today I added my largest case ever to it.
But it does bring something special to the party.
This is the Clicks keyboard, and I am childishly excited about having tiny physical keys for a phone again.
(I may also need to get a purse or something, even though it still is somewhat pocketable it is not a very comfortable or well-fitting event.)
To the phone, Clicks is like any external keyboard. It plugs in to the lightning or USB-C port depending on model, so no pairing or battery is required. You just slide the phone into the case and start typing wherever input is required. Just like the Ipad, the phone does not display the on-screen keyboard when a physical one is connected (but you can still bring it up if you wish). That means you get quite a lot of extra space on the screen as you type. Chat apps in particular take on a completely different look, but text apps like Obsidian where I am currently typing also change in appearance. Things look a bit ... cleaner and calmer, if that makes any sense.
Typing itself also feels a bit calmer, and of course much more tactile. So far I am slower like this, but I would not be surprised if I catch up speed-wise over time. Not least when you take correction of mistakes into account. Just hours into clicking, I am already starting to be able to find some things without looking, and when I do make mistakes they are the single-letter ones of physical keyboards, rather than the confusing messes of getting misinterpreted or even worse auto corrected by on-screen "smarts".
The keys feel good too, as good as any key this small can possibly feel. Depending on how you angle your finger, the keys can feel a bit stiff, but I think they have the right firmness to avoid accidental presses and to provide clear feedback when a press is registered.
This is literally my first day with Clicks, so all impressions are of course assumed to change and evolve. And that is a huge part of the fun.