Inlay — a keyboard for gamepads on Android handhelds

⚡ The gist in 5 seconds - Inlay is a keyboard for Android handhelds that's controlled with a gamepad, no screen touching required. - The project is open on GitHub: you can download a ready-made APK, build it from source, or modify it. - Limitation: the author has only tested it on the AYN Odin 2 Portal running Android 13, so surprises on other devices are possible. ### 🔍 What was found The dakingeman/inlay repository hosts Inlay, a keyboard for Android devices with a gamepad. Instead of touch input, it uses a controller: the D-pad or left stick moves the highlight, A types, X deletes (holding it speeds up and then erases whole words), Y is space, Start is Enter. LB/RB move the cursor, and in combination with RT they jump word by word. RT alone works as Shift, double-pressing it toggles Caps Lock, LT switches to symbols, Select selects text, and pressing it again selects everything. The stated requirements: Android 10 or newer, plus a built-in or connected gamepad. The project's author, Emre, says he doesn't write code — every line of the app was created by Claude, an AI from Anthropic. Emre was responsible for the idea, the look and feel, and testing on his AYN Odin 2 Portal (Android 13), where everything works. He honestly warns that he hasn't reviewed the code and the app was only tested on one device, so he asks users to report problems in Issues. ### 💡 Why it matters Inlay solves a real pain point for owners of Android handhelds like the AYN Odin and Retroid Pocket: when using a gamepad, you have to reach for the screen to type text. This keyboard lets you type without letting go of the controller, meaning you don't get distracted from your game or launcher. Moreover, it embeds directly into the app — no fullscreen window, taking up no more than 60% of the screen, and it automatically scales for widescreen, portrait, 4:3, and split screens. There's a clipboard history (passwords are not saved), four sound packs, customizable vibration, 16 highlight colors, custom colors and styles, three key shapes, three sizes, two layouts, and Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch controller icons. All of it is free, with no ads, tracking, or internet permissions. ### 🧩 Context The project was created as a "gift to the community": author Emre can't program and honestly says Claude, Anthropic's AI, is responsible for every line of code. His contribution is the idea, design, sound, and repeated testing on the AYN Odin 2 Portal. The sounds were also generated by a neural network from scratch based on button samples chosen by the author. The project is distributed under an open license (the LICENSE file in the repository) and uses the Atkinson Hyperlegible Next and Inter fonts under the SIL Open Font Licence. To install it, download the APK from Releases, enable unknown sources, activate Inlay in the system settings, and make it the default keyboard. Updates can be tracked via Obtainium, and building from source is done in Android Studio with no additional libraries.

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