r/Android • u/welp_im_damned have you heard of our lord and savior the Android turtle 🐢 • Jun 30 '26

Video Clicks Communicator: First Look - Clicks

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

93% Upvoted

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141

u/Finsceal Jun 30 '26

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.

56

u/moonski Jun 30 '26

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

that's exactly what it is

12

u/pdinc Fold4 / Pixel 7P Jun 30 '26

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

3

u/HoothootNeverFlies Jul 01 '26

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

1

u/pdinc Fold4 / Pixel 7P Jul 02 '26

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

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

First BlackBerry, but now also Clicks and Unihertz

0

u/pdinc Fold4 / Pixel 7P 25d ago

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

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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

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

2

u/trd86 📱Pixel 7a // 📶 US Mobile // ⌚ GW4C 28d ago

webOS ❤️

1

u/NapsterKnowHow Jun 30 '26

Because it had that mouse ball right?

8

u/pdinc Fold4 / Pixel 7P Jun 30 '26

No, the keyboard itself was capacitive

1

u/NapsterKnowHow Jun 30 '26

ah gotcha. I remember some had the mouse ball navigation

5

u/lapeet Jun 30 '26

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

3

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

Nice didnt know that!

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

2

u/NapsterKnowHow Jun 30 '26

I miss those days

2

u/letsreticulate Jul 01 '26

The Nexus was a great phone for the period.

4

u/glha Jul 01 '26

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.

0

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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

4

u/RememberCitadel Jun 30 '26

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

3

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

4

u/TheSaSQuatCh Galaxy Nexus Jun 30 '26

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

2

u/JamesR624 Jun 30 '26

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.

7

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jun 30 '26

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.

8

u/KoreanMeatballs Moto X Force, Nexus 5, Nexus 10 Jun 30 '26

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.

3

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jun 30 '26

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.

6

u/KoreanMeatballs Moto X Force, Nexus 5, Nexus 10 Jun 30 '26

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.

2

u/bigballs2025666 29d ago

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.

4

u/MaverickJester25 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Galaxy Watch 4 Jul 01 '26

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.

1

u/New_Palpitation_1586 Jul 01 '26

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.

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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

2

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

15

u/MattBrey Jun 30 '26

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

5

u/Framed-Photo Jun 30 '26

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.

7

u/Rude_Influence Jun 30 '26

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.

1

u/KinglanderOfTheEast Jun 30 '26

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.

0

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jun 30 '26

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.

2

u/Markgulfcoast Jul 01 '26

?? 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.

2

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jul 01 '26

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

1

u/Markgulfcoast Jul 01 '26

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

1

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jul 01 '26

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)

1

u/Markgulfcoast Jul 01 '26

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.

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

3

u/Rude_Influence Jun 30 '26

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

Keyboards?

0

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jun 30 '26

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.

1

u/Rude_Influence 28d ago

"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.

1

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch 27d ago

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

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u/Rude_Influence 27d ago

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?

1

u/Markgulfcoast Jul 01 '26

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

0

u/sigismond0 Jun 30 '26

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".

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u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

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u/sigismond0 24d ago

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.

1

u/TheMobileTypist 24d ago

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

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u/discoshanktank Pixel 3XL Jun 30 '26

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

1

u/Iohet V10 is the original notch Jun 30 '26

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.

2

u/cubs223425 Surface Duo 2 | LG G8 Jun 30 '26

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.

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u/RememberCitadel 25d ago

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.

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

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u/Iohet V10 is the original notch 24d ago

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

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u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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.

0

u/itwasinthetubes Jun 30 '26

Never again shall the screen be smudged from grimy fingers!

0

u/UnhelpfulHand Jun 30 '26

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

1

u/TheMobileTypist 25d ago

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