A new app is live on the App Store: una mano
una mano is now live on the App Store. It is an iPhone keyboard that moves left, centre, or right, so the keys sit closer to the thumb you have free.
I made it because I recently became a dad. When I was feeding my child, one hand was usually busy and the other was holding my phone. On a larger iPhone, that turned a quick reply into a small coordination exercise: stretch for a key, shift my grip, try not to drop the phone.
Apple's keyboard has a one-handed option, but getting there takes a few steps. In the moments I needed it, that was already too much friction. I wanted the keyboard to move with the situation, not make me pause the conversation to rearrange it.
# A keyboard that follows your thumb
The idea is deliberately simple: keep the familiar keyboard layout, but make its position flexible.
Choose left, centre, or right with the position button. With una mano Plus, swipe across the keyboard to move it while you type. The keys move; your muscle memory does not. Essential controls such as emoji, numbers, and the globe key follow the side you choose too.
The app is designed for the ordinary moments when one hand is occupied: feeding a child, carrying a bag, standing on a train, or holding a coffee. No new keyboard language to learn—just a more reachable version of the one you already know.
# The 70 / 20 / 10 reality of building it
I got the first rough version to about 70% in a day. That was the exciting part: a keyboard that could move, a companion app, and the first proof that the idea worked.
The next 20% took a week. That was where the product began to feel real: refining the interactions, making the layout feel familiar, and turning a prototype into something I could use without thinking about it.
The final 10% took more than a month.
That last stretch contained the parts people rarely see: onboarding, keyboard setup, edge cases, App Store requirements, subscriptions, accessibility, localisation, privacy, and the dozens of tiny details that decide whether an app feels dependable. The feature was simple. Making it ready for other people was not.
# Building alongside a full-time job and fatherhood
Developing an app on your own while working full-time and being a full-time dad is possible—but it asks for a different pace. I built in the smaller pockets of time I had, and tried to keep each session focused on one meaningful improvement.
Codex was a big part of that process. It helped me turn an idea into working software much faster than I could have on my own, especially when I needed to move from a product decision to a concrete implementation. But it did not remove the need for judgment. I still had to decide what to build, test it in the situations it was meant for, understand the trade-offs, and keep asking whether every detail made one-handed typing easier.
For me, that is the encouraging part: a personal frustration, a clear product decision, and a useful AI collaborator can get a real product remarkably far. The hard work is still there. It is just possible to start with less ceremony.
# Free to download, with more flexibility in Plus
una mano is free to download and use. The free version lets you choose a typing layout and move the keyboard with the position button. Everyone can try every Plus feature free for 14 days; no plan starts automatically when that preview ends.
Plus is for people who want to move the keyboard with a swipe, keep multiple typing layouts active, use Motion Switch, or choose a different app icon. Monthly, yearly, and lifetime options are available in the app.
I made una mano for the hand you have free. I hope it makes the little one-handed moments in your day feel a little less awkward.