Development of a Custom iOS Keyboard for Healthcare Data Collection and Real-Time Mental Health Monitoring

Patients undergoing psychotherapy face challenges in providing real-time, natural language input that can be accurately captured and analyzed to monitor mental health status. Existing solutions lack a native, responsive input method that integrates smoothly with health monitoring algorithms, leading to suboptimal data collection, reduced user engagement, and delayed intervention opportunities.

A mid-sized healthcare technology company specializing in digital mental health solutions, aiming to enhance patient engagement and data collection through innovative mobile tools.

• Design and implement a custom iOS keyboard extension that closely mimics the native keyboard experience for users.
• Enable secure and reliable collection of user-typed text data during daily smartphone usage for mental health assessment.
• Integrate features supporting multiple system themes, emojis, predictive text, autocorrection, text replacements, swipe typing, and voice input to promote usability and engagement.
• Ensure real-time transmission of input data to the core application for immediate analysis and synchronization with mental health monitoring algorithms.
• Achieve a keyboard performance and fluidity comparable to native iOS keyboards to enhance user satisfaction.
• Complete development and deployment within an optimal timeframe to facilitate timely therapeutic interventions.

• Design and replicate native Apple keyboard layout, supporting all keys and letter modifiers.
• Support for system-wide light and dark modes for visual consistency.
• Quick access to all emojis available on iOS devices.
• Advanced predictive text to facilitate faster typing with live suggestions.
• Autocorrection to minimize typing errors and improve data accuracy.
• Ability to support custom text replacements configured in system settings.
• Swipe-to-type functionality for increased input efficiency.
• Voice-to-text input feature for hands-free data entry.
• Secure data passing from the keyboard extension to the main application.

• Main healthcare data analysis platform/API for real-time data processing
• iOS system settings for custom text replacements
• Authentication mechanisms for secure data handling

• Performance comparable to native iOS keyboard, with minimal latency to ensure fluid user experience
• High security standards for data privacy and compliance with healthcare regulations
• Scalability to support increasing user base without degradation of performance
• Compatibility across all supported iOS devices and versions

By deploying a custom iOS keyboard optimized for healthcare data collection, the project aims to facilitate timely and accurate mental health monitoring, leading to improved intervention rates. Expected outcomes include enhanced patient engagement, increased data accuracy and volume, and faster triggering of therapeutic responses, ultimately supporting better mental health outcomes and scalable digital health services.