BlackBerry’s biggest fan started an iPhone keyboard company called Clicks

Keyboards are back, thanks to the OG Crackberry fan

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Do you missBlackBerry phones? Do you wish youriPhone 15had a real keyboard, with actual buttons you can press with your thumbs? Nobody misses having a phone keyboard like old (very old) school BlackBerry fans, and one of the biggest BlackBerry fans of all has started an iPhone accessory company to pass the torch of the phone keyboard to a new generation of fans.

In a bold move, two tech journalists,Kevin Michaluk of Crackberry.comandMichael Fisher of Mr. Mobile YouTubefame, have partnered to found a hardware company called Clicks. The two have also enlisted team members from companies including BlackBerry (of course),Apple, andGoogle, though to be fair I tell people I worked at Apple when I really worked at an Apple Store in theChestnut Hill Mallnear Boston.

I’ll admit I know both Kevin and Michael, and I’ve seen Michael recently, but I had no idea that he was working on an iPhone keyboard on the sly. Some of my TechRadar colleagues noted the similarity between this accessory and that one timeRyan Seacrest tried to take the iPhone world by stormwith his own Typo keyboard for the iPhone. Also that other time Ryan Seacrest tried again with Typo2. Seacrest was sued out of existence by BlackBerry, which somehow had enough life left in 2015 to win a lawsuit.

Of course, the Seacrest Typo design was a direct knock-off of the slanted BlackBerry keyboard, while the Click keyboard looks more like an array of black pearls in straight lines, without a slant. You’d think that Michaluk would know enough to avoid the pitfalls of Seacrest’s failure, since he covered theTypo story for Crackberry.comback in the day.

Will they bring back the thumbwheel next?

Clicks is clearly hoping today’s users will skip the onscreen keyboard, which takes up space, and instead attach its new USB-C or Lightning keyboard. The Click keyboard works with aniPhone 14(Lightning) oriPhone 15andiPhone 15 Pro Max(USB-C). No word on why Clicks has chosen to skip the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro, but support for those devices is not mentioned.

Clicks isn’t just a simple keyboard, there are some fancy features on board. There is a pass-through USB-C port so you can charge your phone even when the keyboard is connected. The keys are also backlit, which is pretty snazzy, and should help with typing at night. There is an app to download to make sure the keyboard works, and then you get some keyboard shortcuts like CMD-H to return to the Home screen.

The Clicks keyboard is up for pre-order now atClicks.tech, and the company expects to start shipping as early as February 1. The first batch will be available in two colors, a yellow called Bumblebee (paging Hasbro?) and a cloudy blue called London Sky. It will retail for $139, which is $50 less than the Ryan Seacrest Typo device cost.

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Phil Berne is a preeminent voice in consumer electronics reviews, starting more than 20 years ago at eTown.com. Phil has written for Engadget, The Verge, PC Mag, Digital Trends, Slashgear, TechRadar, AndroidCentral, and was Editor-in-Chief of the sadly-defunct infoSync. Phil holds an entirely useful M.A. in Cultural Theory from Carnegie Mellon University. He sang in numerous college a cappella groups.

Phil did a stint at Samsung Mobile, leading reviews for the PR team and writing crisis communications until he left in 2017. He worked at an Apple Store near Boston, MA, at the height of iPod popularity. Phil is certified in Google AI Essentials. He has a High School English teaching license (and years of teaching experience) and is a Red Cross certified Lifeguard. His passion is the democratizing power of mobile technology. Before AI came along he was totally sure the next big thing would be something we wear on our faces.

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