Microsoft to end support SwiftKey for iOS on October 5th

[harlan4096]

Microsoft has announced that it is ending support for SwiftKey for iOS. The popular keyboard app will be delisted from Apple's App Store on October 5th.



Microsoft to end support SwiftKey for iOS

SwiftKey debuted on iOS in the year 2014. Its success on Android and iOS drew the attention of Microsoft, and the Redmond company acquired it for $250 Million. The acquisition allowed the development of SwiftKey to prosper, and it continued adding new features on both mobile operating systems.

Despite its popularity, Microsoft seemed to abandon support for the keyboard app last year, even stopping the occasional bug fixes. The current version of SwiftKey for iOS is 2.9.2, it was released a year ago, in August 2021.  Yet, it continues to function even on the latest version of the operating system, iOS 16.



SwiftKey's technology is also being put to use in Windows 11, specifically for the Windows Touch Keyboard. It is also capable of syncing the clipboard data between Windows and Android devices.

Chris Wolfe, Director of Product Management at SwiftKey, told The Verge that users who have SwiftKey installed on their iOS device can continue to use it even after it is deslisted. But the keyboard app cannot be downloaded again if it is uninstalled, this also means that users who switch to new devices will be unable to fetch it from the App Store. Wolfe also confirmed that SwiftKey for Android remains unaffected by this announcement, and will continue to be supported. He did not explain why Microsoft is discontinuing SwiftKey on iOS.

When ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley asked Microsoft for more details about the decision to end support for the keyboard app, the company's officials had nothing to say.

The author speculates that Microsoft may have decided to abandon the app due to the limitations imposed by Apple, for third-party keyboards.




Interestingly, we were unable to sign in to our Microsoft account via the SwiftKey app.  When I looked up a fix for it, I came across a post on reddit where users have been facing the same issue since last month. It is also worth mentioning that all articles related to the iOS app on SwiftKey's support portal have been removed. A new page is live on the website, it states that SwiftKey for iOS is being deprecated, and hence will be delisted from the App Store on October 5th. It also asks users to visit https://data.swiftkey.com/ to manage your data. If you want to continue using the app, now is your chance to download it on your iPhone or iPad, before it is delisted permanently next week.

I have been using SwiftKey for around 10 years (initially on Android, and later on iOS), and I can't think of a good alternative keyboard app for iOS. Google's keyboard app, Gboard for iOS, hasn't been updated for a few months now, and it's not as good as SwiftKey in my opinion, the accuracy of the gestures, the word prediction, and automatic punctuation were better in the latter. I suppose this means we are stuck with Apple's stock keyboard now, which is not a very good app.

Did you like SwiftKey for iOS?
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