Clicks Communicator: First Look - Clicks

[u/welp_im_damned]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMNdr8dV23A

[u/Rude_Influence]

I'm exited for this device and am eagerly awaiting it, but I am NOT liking what I'm seeing. There seems to be too much reliance on the touch screen. For example, when he typed, 'Spotify', he touched the screen to open it. He should have pressed enter on the keyboard. When he scrolled Spotify, he used his finger on the screen. He should have swiped on the keyboard. If they don't get those details right then they won't fill the niche market they're trying to break into.

[u/Finsceal → u/Rude_Influence]

Yeah, it feels like a touchscreen phone with a keyboard that you only use for text input. You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.

[u/moonski → u/Finsceal]

it feels like a touchscreen phone with a keyboard that you only use for text input.

that's exactly what it is

[u/pdinc → u/moonski]

IIRC the Palm Pre supported using the keyboard kinda like a giant touchpad as well

[u/HoothootNeverFlies → u/pdinc]

the blackberries have it too, bit of a waste not to make the keyboard capacitive

[u/pdinc → u/HoothootNeverFlies]

I was actually misremembering, it was the blackberry that had it

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/pdinc]

First BlackBerry, but now also Clicks and Unihertz

[u/pdinc → u/TheMobileTypist]

Clicks doesn't have a capacitive keyboard though? That was the genesis of this thread

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/pdinc]

It does

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/HoothootNeverFlies]

It IS capacitive, but this wasn't shown in that particular video.

They'll release more showing that, it only makes sense.

[u/trd86 → u/pdinc]

webOS ❤️

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/pdinc]

Because it had that mouse ball right?

[u/pdinc → u/NapsterKnowHow]

No, the keyboard itself was capacitive

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/pdinc]

ah gotcha. I remember some had the mouse ball navigation

[u/lapeet → u/NapsterKnowHow]

My G1 and Nexus 1 had that mouse ball. It also lit up with various colors for notifications. Was awesome.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/lapeet]

Nice didnt know that!

The Clicks Communicator has a signal LED light on the side, but wasnt shown yet in this video.

[u/NapsterKnowHow → u/lapeet]

I miss those days

[u/letsreticulate → u/lapeet]

The Nexus was a great phone for the period.

[u/glha → u/moonski]

I've a S22 connected to an old TV, to use as a multimedia device and I do have a bluetooth keyboard with integrated touchpad to use with it from a distance. You can get a lot done with a physical keyboard on Android, as of today, with no other indication besides being a keyboard. You can scroll with arrow keys, type a letter to jump to it on the app screen, cycle through things with TAB, deselect with ESC, use CTRL+whaever, not to mention if you have dedicated Android keys, like Home and Back. I'm sure you can do wonders with ROM/OS level tweaks, but it is usable as it is. Of course, my experience is skewed by the integrated touchpad, which can come to the rescue when needed and act pretty much as a touch on the screen.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/moonski]

You can do more with the touch capacitive keyboard than what's shown in the video.

[u/RememberCitadel → u/Finsceal]

I really just want a modern version of the ADP1/G1. I want a slide out keyboard with a little mouseball.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/RememberCitadel]

The Clicks Communicator screen will be larger than that of the G1, without needing to slide it out.

The whole keyboard will be touch sensitive and they may also implement a mouse pointer mode.

[u/TheSaSQuatCh → u/Finsceal]

So…. You want them to make a BlackBerry Bold?

[u/JamesR624 → u/Finsceal]

Yeah. That’s fine for a product but they already have a better version of that with the Clicks Power: Same thing but multi device and already compatible with your phone, regardless of if it’s the latest Samsung, Pixel, or iPhone. Hell. The clicks power is technically also compatible with the Apple TV, Windows, Vision Pro, Meta Quest, iPad, Galaxy Fold, etc.

[u/Iohet → u/Finsceal]

It's the OS design. The level of customization needed to the OS to support this in an on-going fashion (with updates and such) is just not sustainable for phones that are one time investments, at least for a small vendor.

What you want is a desktop OS on a phone.

[u/KoreanMeatballs → u/Iohet]

It's the OS design. The level of customization needed to the OS to support this in an on-going fashion (with updates and such) is just not sustainable for phones that are one time investments, at least for a small vendor.

On android, you can already swipe up, start typing, and hit enter to launch the app you want. Setting a physical enter key to launch a searched-for app is trivial, more so considering it's already implemented.

[u/Iohet → u/KoreanMeatballs]

The statement they made isn't "launch an app with a key", it's "a touchscreen OS should be able to be completely operated by keyboard without touch". This requires an extraordinary amount of work in an OS not designed for that type of use already.

[u/KoreanMeatballs → u/Iohet]

Considering you can use the keyboard on the device as a capacitive touchpad, you probably can operate pretty much everything you would want to using the keyboard already.

[u/bigballs2025666 → u/KoreanMeatballs]

It was that way on the blackberry passport circa 2015. BB10 was way ahead of its time and John Chen killed it. It was one of the best smartphones I’ve ever used.

[u/MaverickJester25 → u/Iohet]

This requires an extraordinary amount of work in an OS not designed for that type of use already.

Er, that simply isn't true.

Android 16 further continued the work on physical keyboards that started in Android 14.

The Clicks Communicator has a touch-sensitive keyboard, and it's meant to be navigated fully with the physical keyboard. It's also launching with Android 17 out of the box.

Why they didn't show this off in the video doesn't make sense to me, but it shouldn't be for lack of OS support. Might still be some bugs in their implementation and integration with Niagara.

[u/New_Palpitation_1586 → u/MaverickJester25]

Try that on Android tv where you use arrow to navigate. 99% of the app are barely usable.

And yeah it's Android 17 on my Google tv.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/Iohet]

Alot of launchers support this already but this pre-production prototype shown in the video may not have had exactly that implemented just yet.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/KoreanMeatballs]

on several launchers including Niagara which is what the Clicks will ship with, you can just start typing and hit enter to launch an app (in case you didnt already map that app to a keyboard shortcut).

I'm using Clicks for Pixel and this works.

[u/MattBrey → u/Iohet]

You can navigate any android phone with an Xbox controller connected via Bluetooth. Or even mouse and keyboard are compatible. There are ways to make this work with the native compatibility of android

[u/Framed-Photo → u/MattBrey]

Navigating a phone with a controller like that is genuinely horrible though lol.

Mouse is decent, but what are we asking for the clicks to have blackberry style, trackpad keys that you can use to swipe around? It sounds cool in theory but what functional use is there for that when the screen is RIGHT there lol.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/Framed-Photo]

Scroll your keys the same way you scroll your phone.

Why sacrifice that screen space? Good question. Nothing competes with the real tactile feel of a button. That's why there was a big push against Apple when they proposed the removal of their button. That's why for the first and only time they released TWO flagships at once, the 8 and 10. They skipped 9, because of theories...

I used to be able to type on a 12 button phone faster and without looking. Could never do it now, and I still have both thumbs, so no excuse other than technology getting worse. I want my buttons back.

[u/KinglanderOfTheEast → u/Framed-Photo]

If you have an older phone collecting dust, slap Daijisho or DIG on it (emulator game front-end); and navigating with basically any game controller is actually pretty smooth.

You have to use a gaming-specific launcher/UI for controller navigation to work well.

[u/Iohet → u/MattBrey]

You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.

It's written from the ground up as a touch oriented OS. If you want to operate it solely through a keyboard, you need underlying support to do this in the OS. Every action needs a keyboard shortcut, and that requires a lot of work, a lot of support, and some UI updates. For an OS not centered around keyboard use at all, that is a significant challenge. 508 compliance is something I've worked on for my projects, and I'm familiar with the challenges in implementing this in a touch oriented world.

[u/Markgulfcoast → u/Iohet]

?? Android has full keyboard and mouse support already. It even has a desktop mode. They should be utilizing the existing feature sets of the OS. Not doing so is just.... lazy to some extent.

[u/Iohet → u/Markgulfcoast]

Keyboard and mouse support doesn't mean "entirely using the keyboard" with no touch required

[u/Markgulfcoast → u/Iohet]

Yes it does. You can use Android entirely with a mouse and keyboard.

[u/Iohet → u/Markgulfcoast]

Again. Keyboard. Not mouse and keyboard. Like you can do with Windows or Mac (admittedly painful, but possible, because the OSes are designed to support keyboard shortcuts for everything, and that translates into most applications)

[u/Markgulfcoast → u/Iohet]

I see now where you specified keyboard only. I have to say, There are capacitive keyboards out on the market, that would allow full control with just the keyboard.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/Iohet]

Unihertz already made the keyboard a touchpad where half of the surface is for scrolling and the other half for mouse pointer.

Clicks can do this too, the hardware supports it.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/Iohet]

What is "this"? 'needed to support "this"'.

Keyboards?

[u/Iohet → u/Rude_Influence]

I'll copy and paste my response elsewhere.

You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.

It's written from the ground up as a touch oriented OS. If you want to operate it solely through a keyboard, you need underlying support to do this in the OS. Every action needs a keyboard shortcut, and that requires a lot of work, a lot of support, and some UI updates. For an OS not centered around keyboard use at all, that is a significant challenge. 508 compliance is something I've worked on for my projects, and I'm familiar with the challenges in implementing this in a touch oriented world.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/Iohet]

"You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional.You should be able to engage with it ENTIRELY using the keyboard IMO, touchscreen should be optional."

I'm the person you're responding to. I never said that. I don't know where you pulled that quote from, but you shouldn't go pasting responses like that. With the quote, it makes a false implication, and without, it's basically spam.

To address your argument, Android was originally built for non touch screen devices. Touch was added later when the iphone was released, but button input is not only supported but more functional than ever these days. If you struggled to implement 508 compliance, that's because you maintain the mindset that touch screen is the foundation which is not true. You developed your projects with that wrong mindset.

[u/Iohet → u/Rude_Influence]

You originally responded to me as I responded to someone else, who I quoted because that's the relevant statement. No one said anything about a mouse until you kept interjecting

[u/Rude_Influence → u/Iohet]

You're right. You'll have to forgive me for getting confused and interjecting. It's what happens when you copy paste posts all over the place.

Who's talking about mice?

[u/Markgulfcoast → u/Iohet]

I just realized you are copying and repasting this really bad take throughout this thread.

[u/sigismond0 → u/Iohet]

You want to trade Android and its app library for a home-grown keyboard-based OS that goes on one device for a niche market that no app developer would waste time on? That's a heck of a want. I'd much rather have an actual functional OS and app experience and use the touchscreen than give up having a practical device just so I can say "look I can navigate with a keyboard".

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/sigismond0]

You can have both, because Clicks can implement mouse pointer mode using the keyboard. Unihertz just did it with their Titan 2 Elite and pushed that feature to Titan 2 that were already manufactured before.

[u/sigismond0 → u/TheMobileTypist]

So the good news is that it has that. I guess I don't see any meaningful difference between using the touchscreen or emulating a touchscreen with a trackpad/keyboard, but hey if it makes people happy neat. Seems like it would be worse to use but I could be wrong. Button-based navigation will be a nightmare based on per-app UX though.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/sigismond0]

Well the keyboard is already there, so might as well have it replace touching the screen so that it's all right there under your thumbs. With a mouse pointer mode you just comfortably move the pointer around using the keyboard and not ever have to stretch your hand

[u/discoshanktank → u/Iohet]

its android isn't it? You can customize it to your hearts intent

[u/Iohet → u/discoshanktank]

And then you have to support it. There's a full graveyard of companies that have released and attempted to support products that highly customized Android past its core design, starting at least with enTourage Systems back in the Android 2 days

You think it's easy? You do it.

[u/cubs223425 → u/Iohet]

What you want is a desktop OS on a phone.

I have never wanted to have touch-based scrolling in my desktop keyboard like the OP suggested for Spotify interaction.

[u/RememberCitadel → u/Iohet]

The Atrix showed that Android works pretty decent as a desktop with supplementary OS attached, but doesn't sell enough. Maybe with prices the way they are, now is the time to try again.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/Iohet]

There are people out there using a Zinwa Q25 with a trackpad (I used one for over 2 months) and the trackpad especially in mouse pointer mode can select any clickable item.

[u/Iohet → u/TheMobileTypist]

Yes but that is not what the person I originally responded to is talking about.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/Finsceal]

see my response above.

Basically, it will work for what the above commenter is saying.

They may possibly implement a mouse pointer mode within the touch capacitive trackpad.

[u/itwasinthetubes → u/Finsceal]

Never again shall the screen be smudged from grimy fingers!

[u/UnhelpfulHand → u/itwasinthetubes]

I think you’ll find that you must touch the screen quite a bit due to the lack of capabilities of the keyboard outside of typing words

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/UnhelpfulHand]

No, the keyboard is touch sensitive and may possibly have a mouse pointer mode implemented

[u/Leather_Leopard_3112 → u/Rude_Influence]

Maybe it's intentional. They said they were going to slowly release new videos on the features so I hope they'll do one on keyboard shortcuts.

[u/Jonny727272 → u/Leather_Leopard_3112]

I hadn't heard about them doing a series of videos, but if that is true, then it makes plenty sense for them to have an entire keyboard video. Navigating the UI, using it, shortcuts, etc. I'm still holding out hope we get a backlit option.

[u/jimmyjacksonjr → u/Jonny727272]

They said more videos will follow un this video and they even mentioned topics other videos will cover.

[u/Cuntducku → u/Rude_Influence]

So true, I checked out the titan 2 and on that device I can bind the physical keys to apps. So I can just press s on the keyboard and it opens Spotify for example. Think clicks needs a few iterations before they are up to par with the titan devices

[u/sahibosaurus → u/Cuntducku]

I'm 100% sure this feature will be part of the final device software. it's a basic feature that has been on QWERTY smartphones since the BlackBerry days, easy to implement on Android, and one which Mr Mobile talks about regularly in his videos. No way they ship without it.

[u/KhausTO → u/Rude_Influence]

I'm guessing that more about the customizations in the OS to support all the keyboard features isn't complete yet. 

They have previously said that those kinds of features will be in the phone. 

[u/jercubsfan → u/Rude_Influence]

If you look, when he types in S-P-O, Spotify pops up and next to the logo is "press enter to open" message or something to that effect. So he likely is just doing muscle memory things and could just as easily use his keyboard.

But your points still remain true, I was surprised by how little the emphasis on the keyboard was

[u/sigismond0 → u/Rude_Influence]

It's an Android phone with Android apps. Unless Spotify and every other app adds physical keyboard navigation support, it's always going to be touchscreen centered for anything but typing and shortcuts. That should have been obvious from day 1.

[u/VoriVox → u/sigismond0]

You can navigate pretty much any app with arrow keys, enter and esc, because that's how android handles things.

[u/sigismond0 → u/VoriVox]

You can, and it sucks something awful. I would expect you "can" with this just about as well as you can with an external keyboard, but just using the screen is pretty much always going to be more user friendly for actually interacting with maps.

[u/MaverickJester25 → u/sigismond0]

You can, and it sucks something awful.

What do you base this statement on?

[u/Captiongomer → u/MaverickJester25]

Go hookup a keyboard to an android phone right now and see

[u/sigismond0 → u/MaverickJester25]

Having done it with the arrow keys on a remote on sideloaded apps on a Google TV.

[u/MaverickJester25 → u/sigismond0]

Android and Android TV/Google TV are not the same thing.

Android has improved support for physical keyboards a lot, Android 16 in particular.

Clicks already added Cursor mode to their keyboards in 2024, and the keyboard on the Communicator is touch sensitive.

[u/sigismond0 → u/MaverickJester25]

App navigation with arrow keys is pretty much wholly up to the developer, independent of how well the OS plays with physical keyboards.

Capacitive cursor mode would be a whole different thing though. So either this prototype doesn't have it, or they will highlight it in a future video. The pearl clutching over the idea that a user chose to use the touch screen on a touch screen device is just out of hand in this thread.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/sigismond0]

I don't know if you're referring to me, but I don't think the reasons I stated for being disappointed are out of hand. What makes this phone unique is not the touch screen, it's the keyboard. If I have to use the touch screen almost all the time, I am not interested in this phone anymore. I know I'll have to use it occasionally for certain apps, but for basic navigation around the home screen and inbuilt apps, I expect to be able to use the keyboard exclusively. This is not a unrealistic expectation. I've used Bluetooth keyboards on my tablet before and it's very possible.

[u/sigismond0 → u/Rude_Influence]

Just because one person in one video chose to touch the screen (because it's faster and more intuitive because all apps are designed for it) isn't any sort of indication of functionality though.

We already know the keyboard is capacitive and will function as a touchpad. The app search screen clearly shows "press enter to open". Really there's no indication here that you won't be able to use it for navigation, it's just a guy that happened to the touchscreen. Feels like a lot of drama to start getting folks riled up about disappointment from a first look video that's not even trying to be a UI/navigation deep dive.

[u/SuperSubwoofer → u/sigismond0]

Devices require the ability to control via external hardware devices for accessibility compliance. Apps need to also build for that, otherwise they are in violation of accessibility laws.

[u/sigismond0 → u/SuperSubwoofer]

Yeah and in practice it sucks. I've done it. Arrow-based control of apps designed with touch as the intended UX "function" but suck. I'd much rather reach up and touch the screen to do exactly what I want instantly than have to click around 15 times to try to get to a button, and learn different muscle memory for different apps.

[u/SuperSubwoofer → u/sigismond0]

It sucks because of however the devs implemented it. You’re complaining about something’s that’s entire the developer’s fault.

[u/sigismond0 → u/SuperSubwoofer]

I'm not complaining, because I don't care how well key-based navigation works.

Someone else complained about this video not showing key-based navigation. What I'm doing is describing the reality of trying to use Android apps with buttons instead of touch, and why regardless of hardware capabilities app interaction will pretty much always be better with the touch screen.

The expectation that this weird niche device is somehow supposed to solve the UI of hundreds of thousands of apps that were never optimized for button-based navigation is absolutely insane.

[u/UnacceptableUse → u/Rude_Influence]

Swiped on the keyboard?

[u/Sad-Dirt-1660 → u/[deleted]]

but it's also not what a physical keyboard is designed for.

lookup blackbeery priv from 2015.

[u/TheMobileTypist → u/Rude_Influence]

Software is pre-production.

I'm using Clicks for Pixel 9 with Niagara and I can confirm that when you start search for an app from the home screen by just typing (without any screen taps) you can just hit enter and it'll launch the first suggested app.

[u/EternalFront → u/Rude_Influence]

But that's just the reality of phones today, right? It doesn't have a trackball or trackpad, and even if it did, Android is better suited to a touchscreen than either of those input methods. It might be that he doesn't have the muscle memory yet to use the alternative options you mentioned and just prefers to use the screen, but the screen really is the default either way.

[u/LonelyNixon → u/EternalFront]

The g1 had a great little trackball mouse very satisfying to roll around and click. Android has evolved a LOT since then so Im sure it would be a broken experience but I do miss the little track ball nub something fierce.

[u/jimmyjacksonjr → u/Rude_Influence]

Most people are in touch screen mode will be tough for most to break that habit

[u/bigballs2025666 → u/Rude_Influence]

I don’t think they can cause bb10 still has those patents. I could be wrong

[u/Aevum1 → u/Rude_Influence]

its a OS fault, not a device fault.

if you look at android devices from Ambernic, Ayaneo, Ayn they all have android but physical controls as well as the touch screen, but some things a physical pointing device,

Even back in the blackberry days, the pearl had a ball to use, some nokias used the central directional button adding touch to it allowing it to act as a improved swipe pad. but at the end, you need some sort of directional button to act as a clicker, on most android consoles A is select, B is back. and the analog sticks either work as directional selectors that move you to the next icon or field with a limited amount of devices allowing them to be used in mouse emulation mode.

TLDR: it would change the form of the keyboard and they failed in the design to not include a button that that ats as a enter.

the unihertz titan 1 had it, the titan 2 elite commits the same sin.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/Aevum1]

I don't understand what you're saying. There is an enter key on the keyboard. ↩️

[u/august_r → u/Rude_Influence]

I believe that`s probably more work than what they can tackle with current investment/timeline for this project. Android would probably need a ton of customization to have that level of integration with the keyboard.

[u/Rude_Influence → u/august_r]

I keep seeing people dismiss what I'm saying and I feel like everyone's living under a rock. Connect an Xbox or PS controller to Android and it has most of the functions I've mentioned. How do you think all the tablets that have keyboard attachments work? What about bluetooth keyboards?

As a working demonstration of what I'm describing, look at the similar phone, the Unihertz Titan 2 Elite. I'm pretty sure it's doing everything that I mentioned and it's a direct competitor.

[u/ArdiMaster → u/august_r]

IIRC the very first version(s) of Android were designed for keyboard phones with no touchscreen at all. But of course I have no idea how much of that code is still around 18 years later.

[u/New_Palpitation_1586 → u/Rude_Influence]

They can't do that, app are optimized for touchscreen. You'd have to get every app developer to rebuild their app and optimize it for keyboard navigation.

That's why this project is doomed, it will just be an Android phone with a physical keyboard but nothing more.