If you text Brazilian teenager Marcel Fernandes on a daily basis, you might be used to his lightning-fast responses. For the rest of us, we’re just finding out about his typing prowess. Fleksy has told us that Fernandes used its keyboard to break the Guinness World Record for Fastest Texting.
Fernandes broke the record with a time of 18.19 seconds, which made Fleksy the fastest smartphone keyboard in the world, something that Fleksy founder and COO Loannis Verdelis is very happy about.
“We’ve been passionate about building the most comfortable, beautiful, and fastest smartphone keyboard ever since we started,” said Verdelis. “The Guinness World Record is a great testament to our progress, and we are pleased that our latest improvements make Fleksy the world’s fastest keyboard for smartphones.” The previous record holder was Microsoft, which nabbed the record with the Windows Phone 8.1 keyboard in a head-to-head battle with the Galaxy S4.
Fleksy issued updates for its keyboard for iOS and Android. While the iOS version now features six new languages, the Android version includes a World Record Challenge. Through it, users can try to beat the new world record and win badges and prizes in the process of doing so.
Meanwhile, Fernandes, the kid behind the record, has an interesting story as to how he started using smartphone keyboards. In 2009, when he was 13, the monitor for his Dell desktop began to flicker and turn off by itself. Eventually, Fernandes took a hammer and broke his monitor, having to resort to using his iPhone 3GS since he had no money to buy a new one. While he would occasionally use his mom’s laptop for homework, he used his iPhone for just about everything else.
As for whether he had ever seen himself as a Guinness World Record holder, Fernandes never imagined himself being one. “Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by Guinness World Records,” said Fernandes in a short interview. “I would read the books and search the Internet for interesting records. I never imagined I would someday be a Guinness World Record holder.”
