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Tom Hanks develops typewriter app for the Apple iPad

By Alan Friedman

Updated: Aug 14, 2014, 2:50 AM

Tom Hanks develops typewriter app for the Apple iPad

What is it about celebrities and QWERTY keyboards? Ryan Seacrest has his Typo 2 snap-on physical QWERTY keyboard for the Apple iPhone. And now, Tom Hanks has an app for the Apple iPad that brings back the old clickity-clack of a manual typewriter. The app, called Hanx Writer, allows you to type with the look and sound of a classic typewriter, including that bell sound you hear at the end of each line.

Hanx Writer is a free app, found in the Apple App Store. For $2.99 each, you can purchase additional fonts and sounds. If anyone knows about typewriters, it's Hanks. The actor once had a collection of typewriters that numbered 200. We wonder if he wrote "That Thing You Do" on one of those old models.

Even though Hanx Writer is supposed to replicate the sound, look and feel of using a typewriter, we are talking about modern technology after all. That means that the typewriter QWERTY on the app includes a delete key, and features auto-correct.

Tom Hanks' Hanx Writer recreates the feel, sound and look of a typewriter for the Apple iPad

source: HanxWriter via USAToday

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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