Acti, a new startup, is making a bold bet: the smartphone keyboard is the ideal interface for AI agents. The company has launched a keyboard app for both iOS and Android that embeds AI assistants directly into the typing experience, system-wide.
How It Works
Instead of switching between apps or triggering a separate AI assistant, Acti lets users invoke AI functionality from wherever they're already typing. The keyboard works across apps — whether you're in email, messaging, or a notes app.
Users can create custom AI-powered shortcuts using natural language, essentially programming the keyboard to perform specific tasks on command. Think automated replies, text transformations, content generation, or contextual lookups — all without leaving the current app.
Why the Keyboard?
The keyboard layer is one of the few surfaces on a smartphone that spans the entire OS. By embedding agents there, Acti sidesteps the fragmentation problem that plagues other AI assistant approaches, which often require dedicated apps or platform-level permissions.
- Works system-wide across iOS and Android
- Supports natural language shortcut creation
- No need to switch apps to invoke AI
- Custom agent behavior per user or use case
The approach is a notable departure from voice-first or chat-first AI interfaces, positioning text input itself as the primary AI interaction model on mobile.
