Microsoft SwiftKey

Beta

SwiftKey was first released as a beta in the Android Market on 14 July 2010, supporting seven languages. It included a variety of settings to adjust audio feedback volume and length of haptic feedback vibration. It was announced on SwiftKey's official website on 15 May 2014 that a Japanese version was available for beta testing.

SwiftKey X

On 14 July 2011, SwiftKey X was released to the Android Market as an upgrade to SwiftKey. The upgrade brought updated features and SwiftKey X introduced a dedicated app for tablets called SwiftKey Tablet X. New features included:

• A new artificial intelligence engine to predict phrases and learn the user's writing style.
• A cloud-based personalization service which analyses how the user types in Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, and text messages, with the aim to predict phrases in the user's style.
• Technology that continually monitors the user's typing precision and adapts the touch-sensitive area of the touch screen for each key.
• Simultaneous use of multiple languages, allowing users to type in up to three languages at once with language-specific auto-correction.
• Split key layout on SwiftKey Tablet X to improve thumb typing while using a larger touchscreen.
• Additional language support.

SwiftKey 3

The SwiftKey 3 update was released on 21 June 2012, including:

• Smart Space which detects spurious or missing spaces in real time.
• Additional language support.

SwiftKey 4

The SwiftKey 4 update was released on 20 February 2013, including:

• SwiftKey Flow, a gesture input method with real-time predictions.
• Flow Through Space, a gesture to input whole sentences by gliding to the space bar.
• An updated prediction engine.
• Additional language support, raising the total of supported languages to 60.
• SwiftKey 4.2 introduced SwiftKey Cloud, allowing users to backup and sync their language behavior and software settings, plus Trending Phrases – a feature adding the trending phrases taken from Twitter and localized news sites.

SwiftKey 5

The SwiftKey 5 update was released in June 2014, including:

• Freemium transition, taking the app from a paid download to a free download.
• SwiftKey Store, a theme store of free and paid-for color schemes.
• Emoji, adding 800 emoji, plus an Emoji Prediction feature which learns to predict relevant emoji icons.
• Number Row (a row of number keys) option added, in response to customer requests.
• New languages, including Belarusian, Mongolian, Tatar, Uzbek and Welsh.

SwiftKey 6

The SwiftKey 6 update was released in November 2015, including:

• Double-Word Prediction adds a new dimension to the predictions you see, predicting your next two words at once.
• A redesign of the emoji panel.
• A complete overhaul of the settings menu in the style of Material Design to make it easier to fine tune and customize the keyboard
• 5 new languages were added: Yoruba, Igbo, Zulu, Xhosa & Breton

SwiftKey 7.0

The SwiftKey 7.0 update was released in March 2018, including:

• A new toolbar
• The ability for one to use their own stickers directly within the software.
• Support for 28 additional languages.

SwiftKey for iOS

SwiftKey released an iOS application on 30 January 2014, called Swiftkey Note, which incorporates SwiftKey's predictive typing technology as a custom toolbar attached to the top of the regular iOS keyboard.[17]

Starting with iOS 8, released in the second half of 2014, the operating system enables and supports third-party keyboards use. SwiftKey confirmed that it was working on a keyboard replacement app.[18]

Starting with iOS 13, the system keyboard came with a built in QuickPath mechanism, which works similarly to SwiftKey's swiping feature.[19]

SwiftKey for iOS was announced to be deprecated in September 2022.[20] In November 2022, however, Microsoft reverted this decision.[21]

SwiftKey for iPhone

SwiftKey Keyboard for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch launched in September 2014 to coincide with the launch of Apple's iOS 8 update. It was unveiled at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.

The app includes the word prediction and auto-correction features, familiar to the Android product, SwiftKey Cloud backup and sync and personalization, and a choice of color themes.

It reached No. 1 in the free US App Store charts and the company confirmed it had been downloaded more than 1 million times on the first day of launch.[22]

Further development

On 27 February 2012, the SwiftKey SDK was launched. This allows developers on multiple platforms and programming languages to access SwiftKey's core language-engine technology for their own UI or virtual keyboard.

In June 2012, SwiftKey released a specialized version of its keyboard called SwiftKey Healthcare. It is a virtual keyboard for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices that offers next-word predictions based on real-world clinical data. In October 2012, SwiftKey Healthcare won the Appsters Award for Best Enterprise App 2012.

In April 2016, SwiftKey released a keyboard that emulated William Shakespeare's speech called ShakeSpeak in observance of the 400th year of the author's death.[23] The app was co-developed with VisitLondon.com to promote more tourism to the metropolitan area of London.[24]

SwiftKey integration was included with Windows 10 beginning with the October 2018 Update.[25] However, these features were later removed from Windows 10 beginning with the May 2020 Update.[26]