Microsoft is bringing back SwiftKey, its smart keyboard for iPhone and iPad with gesture typing, emoji prediction, themes and more.
- What is happening? Microsoft removed SwiftKey from the Apple App Store in September 2022 without providing a reason for the end of support. But now the Windows maker seems to have reversed course and restored SwiftKey to the store, although no updates have been forthcoming yet.
- Why care? SwiftKey has probably been the best third-party keyboard for iPhone and iPad, so this is great news for people who prefer SwiftKey over Apple’s own QuickType keyboard.
- What to do? Try SwiftKey [ App Store link ], see if you like it.
The Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard for iPhone has been restored
We may not know why Microsoft removed SwiftKey from the App Store in early 2022, delisting it on October 5, 2022. really like SwiftKey.
“Based on customer feedback, SwiftKey iOS has been re-listed on the Apple App Store,”Microsoft’s Caitlin Roulston said in a statement to The Verge.
While the version currently restored to the store doesn’t have new features, Vishnu Nath, Microsoft VP and general manager of OneNote and the Office product group, teased people on Twitter to “keep an eye on what the team has in store”.
Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard is back on iOS! 🎉🎊🍾🥳
Stay tuned what the team has prepared for this!
Link ➡️ https://t.co/X6eIq0VJgP pic.twitter.com/23OA67UynZ
— Vishnu.one (@VishnuNath) November 18, 2022
Pedram Rezai, another Microsoft executive, added that the Windows maker will be “significantly investing in the keyboard.”
Those who had the app installed before it was removed experienced no crashes. Removing an app from the App Store does not automatically remove it from the devices of all the people who installed it.
But if you manually deleted SwiftKey or restored an iPhone from a backup after the app was delisted, you couldn’t use the app again – that is, until today. Read: New to iPhone? How to master the on-screen keyboard
For more information visit support.SwiftKey.com.
A Brief History of SwiftKey
SwiftKey debuted in 2014 when Apple released iOS 8, which was the first version of iOS to relax Apple’s sandbox rules and allow apps like third-party keyboards, iMessage apps, Maps extensions, and so on.
Microsoft acquired SwiftKey in 2016 for $250 million.
The deal was for artificial intelligence (AI) expertise, as SwiftKey was one of the first mobile apps to use AI in any way. The app uses artificial intelligence to predict the next word the user might type based on their writing style and other cues.
SwiftKey is also available on the Google Android operating system. Microsoft even uses SwiftKey technology to power the system touch keyboard in Windows. The reason why third-party keyboards haven’t been able to achieve much success? Restrictions.
Some third-party keyboards require a network connection to run AI predictions in the cloud, which is a serious privacy issue. And when you enter sensitive data like passwords, Apple’s own QuickType keyboard is used instead of a third-party one.