Microsoft will remove SwiftKey from the Apple App Store on October 5th. Here’s how to continue using the keyboard app on your iPhone and iPad after the due date.
- What is happening? Microsoft has confirmed that it is closing its SwiftKey Keyboard for iPhone. The app will be removed from the App Store on October 5th.
- Why care? SwiftKey is one of the best smart keyboards with customizable themes, emoji search, the ability to view/send GIFs, and more.
- What to do? Download SwiftKey [ App Store link ] by October 5th if you want to continue using it after being delisted from the App Store. The app will work on the device until you delete it or switch to another iPhone set up as new.
SwiftKey for iPhone is ending October 5th
Chris Wolfe, director of product management for SwiftKey, confirmed to ZDNet that Microsoft is ending support for SwiftKey for iOS. The app will be removed from the App Store on October 5, 2022 after over a year without updates.
SwiftKey iOS will no longer be supported on October 5th and will be removed from the Apple App Store. Microsoft will continue to support Android’s SwiftKey, as well as the underlying technology behind the Windows touch keyboard. For those customers who have SwiftKey installed on iOS, it will continue to work until manually removed or the user gets a new device.
Microsoft instructs users to visit data.swiftkey.com for details on how to manage their personal data and SwiftKey account settings. The decision to retire the iOS version will not affect SwiftKey for Android and Windows.
SwiftKey is one of the best keyboards for iPhone
SwiftKey is one of the best third-party keyboard apps for iOS.
The app supports gesture typing (Apple’s keyboard implemented this feature a few years later) and AI-based suggestions. It also provides emoji search and includes handy GIF integration. SwiftKey uses machine learning to adapt and match your unique way of typing, including your slang, nicknames, and emoji.
Microsoft bought British startup SwiftKey in 2016 for $250 million.
Do you use a third party keyboard on your iPhone?
In 2014, Apple began opening additional parts of iOS to developers.
For the first time, developers could write keyboard apps that users could download and install to replace the standard Apple keyboard. But while third-party keyboards have been all the rage on Android, they’ve never been a big hit on iOS.
People who use the iOS platform are simply not interested in customizing their keyboards as most of them are happy with the factory keyboard. This is partly due to the way software keyboards are implemented on iOS compared to Android.
Due to Apple’s restrictive rules, a software keyboard cannot send any data to servers for processing unless the user has manually allowed full access in Settings → General → Keyboard and then select the selected keyboard.
This is probably the biggest barrier to using a software keyboard on iOS. People expect any downloaded keyboards to “just work,”but only a subset of users realize the need to enable full access.
Do you use a third party keyboard on your iPhone?
Let us know in the comments below!