What’s All the Fuss About?
More and more people are turning from typers to swipers
Swiftkey
What is it?
A phone app that makes typing much easier on the small keyboards found on phones and tablets. Rather than tapping each letter, you can ‘swipe’ your finger across the keyboard to write words.
Swipe? How does that work?
Think of it as typing, but without lifting your finger off the screen. Let’s say that, for whatever reason, you need to type ‘winklepicker’. Start at ‘w’, then move your finger to each letter in turn. Your finger will leave a trail as it moves (see screenshot right), and Swiftkey will try to guess what you’re typing. When it shows the correct word, tap it and it’ll be added to your sentence. The more you use it, the better it’ll get at suggesting words you want to type.
How clever. Is it a new app?
No, it was launched in 2010, and bought by Microsoft in 2016 (for $250m). It made the headlines late last year by becoming the latest app to be downloaded 500 million times from the Google Play Store. The true number of users is probably much higher because it’s pre-installed on many Android devices.
So it’s popular then?
Massively so. Visit its page on the Play Store ( www.snipca.com/33650) and you’ll see 3.3 million people have reviewed the app, giving it an average rating of 4.4 stars out of 5. The rating for the IOS version ( www.snipca.com/33667) is even better – 4.6 stars.
And that’s good, is it?
Better than good – it’s outstanding. Many Swiftkey users feared the worst when Microsoft bought the app, expecting the company to ruin it with pointless features and clunky updates. But it’s added some great new tools, including the option to share content from the web by opening the toolbar, tapping ‘+’ at the top-left, selecting Search, then typing what you’re looking for (as explained at www.snipca. com/33651).
Is it the best swiping keyboard?
Ah, now that’s a debate. Its big rival is Google’s own Gboard, which is built into most Android devices (but can also be installed from www.snipca.com/33652). It has a slightly better rating (4.5 from over four million reviews) and is simpler, making it more suitable for swiping beginners – though it calls the technology ‘Glide Typing’ instead (see screenshot left). But the more you use Gboard, the more you’ll notice its limitations.
Such as?
Well, when you want to add symbols such as pound signs, the @ in email addresses, and exclamation and question marks, you have to long-press them then drag them into your sentence. It’s much easier in Swiftkey, where you can add them just by swiping the full-stop key. There’s a long way to go, but Swiftkey may eventually hit one billion downloads on the Play Store.
Have any apps reached that figure already?
Some have reached five billion, including Youtube, Facebook and Gmail (see Wikipedia’s list at www.snipca. com/33666). No Microsoft apps are quite that popular, but Onedrive, Word and Skype have all passed 1 billion, while Excel and Powerpoint are heading in that direction. Such success is significant.
Why?
Because it shows Microsoft’s commitment to making its apps work on systems run by two of its fiercest rivals: Apple and Google. Not that it had much choice, given the wretched failure of its own mobile operating system – which is the closest you’ll get to a swipe at Microsoft in this article.
Swiftkey made headlines as the latest app to be downloaded 500 million times