Microsoft's one-handed texting app now available on iOS

Texting with one hand, especially on phablets like the iPhone 6 Plus or the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, can be slow and clumsy at best. At worst, it's an easy way to introduce your screen to the sidewalk concrete.

Enter Microsoft's Word Flow Keyboard, launched today on the App Store to the relief of those without the Hulk-sized thumbs needed for monodextrous texting on Plus-size iPhones.

Originally developed for Windows 10 and Windows Phone by Microsoft Garage, Redmond's experimental application division, the adaptive keyboard was reported as coming to iOS back in January, right around when the company purchased predictive keyboard startup SwiftKey.

Word Flow carries over several of SwiftKey's 'key' features, such as a thorough auto-complete system, customizable keyboards, and the ability to swipe across the screen to type out entire words in a single stroke.

Frenemies

Microsoft Garage is behind several other niche apps, such as Fetch!, a facial-recognition technology solely designed for guessing dog breeds.

Interestingly, several of Garage's creations include mobile applications hosted on Windows Phone competitors, such as its Hub productivity keyboard for iOS and Android, and Sprightly, an e-card creator exclusively for Android.

Word Flow is currently US-only for App Store users, with reports emerging that the app may potentially branch out to Google's Android mobile OS in the future.

• Almost half of all smartphones sold last year were phablets