Earlier this year, popular Android alternative keyboard maker SwiftKey expanded to iOS with a note-taking app integrating the company's gesture keyboard. And with Apple opening up iOS to systemwide third-party keyboard as part of iOS 8, SwiftKey is ready to expand its presence.
In a blog post and appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt last week, SwiftKey showed off its iOS 8 gesture keyboard and announced that it will launch alongside iOS 8 when the new operating system debuts tomorrow. In addition to allowing users to type by dragging their fingers from key to key and offering predictive suggestions, the keyboard will integrate with SwiftKey Cloud to allow the user's preferences and learned language data to be backed up and synced across devices. And in the biggest news for the release, SwiftKey's keyboard will be available free of charge, allowing anyone to give the keyboard a try.
SwiftKey has also released a short promotional video narrated by Stephen Fry:
We've had some time to try out SwiftKey for iOS 8 and can say that it works very well. Available in dark and light themes, SwiftKey is accessible systemwide as is typical for these new keyboards under iOS 8, and users can easily switch between keyboards by tapping the globe icon on the keyboard.
In our testing, we found Swiftkey's suggestions to be relevant both in relation to words being typed and contextually with preceding words. The optional "SwiftKey Flow" input method of dragging from letter to letter also works well in most situations, accurately interpreting the patterns being traced out as the intended words.
SwiftKey for iOS allows users to type in two languages simultaneously without switching keyboards, and the keyboard will support over a dozen language-country combinations at launch with more to come. The keyboard will be available for all iOS 8 devices, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
This and all extensions about new keyboards for iPhone's... are DISGUSTING!!!
That's what I loved about an iPhone... One UNIVERSAL keyboard for ALL apps and ALL iPhones...
whyyyyyy
Well you are in luck!! You get to keep your keyboard! Now let me ask you, why do you care what keyboard I use?
Note: These keyboards are still universal for ALL apps
I like the idea. However, why do companies continue to believe everyone has or wants to log into FB or Google + all the time when using a third party app?
This and all extensions about new keyboards for iPhone's... are DISGUSTING!!!
That's what I loved about an iPhone... One UNIVERSAL keyboard for ALL apps and ALL iPhones...
Commercials like this are so frustrating. These companies a so focused on making a beautiful commercial that you learn NOTHING about the product.
If you just saw this commercial and never heard of swift key before,what did you learn in this ad? NOTHING!
Here's a great idea. Show us in the commercial how it works and the benefits of your product to make me want it.
This and all extensions about new keyboards for iPhone's... are DISGUSTING!!!
That's what I loved about an iPhone... One UNIVERSAL keyboard for ALL apps and ALL iPhones...
whyyyyyy
You have a point. I really enjoy Apple products because of consistency in design language across hardware and software. However, I also really, really want the swiping functionality of a touchscreen keyboard in iOS. Thus, the perfect keyboard for me would be one that looks stock but has swiping functionality. I can type so much faster and more accurate using the swipe feature.
Friday October 30, 2026 3:20 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
In a memo shared with Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, and later obtained by MacRumors, Apple provided technicians with guidance on how to diagnose and address the iPhone Duo's inner display cracking issue.
If a customer reports the issue, Apple advised technicians to inspect the iPhone Duo and repair or replace it in accordance with their standard procedures....
Thursday October 29, 2026 1:47 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the new iPad mini has an OLED display, the device does not support ProMotion, meaning the display's refresh rate is limited to 60Hz instead of 120Hz.
ProMotion support would have allowed for the iPad mini's refresh rate to automatically adjust from 10Hz to 120Hz depending on the content being displayed, but evidently Apple has kept the feature exclusive to the iPad Pro among iPad...
Thursday October 29, 2026 11:52 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In the U.S. and most other countries, Apple's website shows the new iPad mini being held by pinched fingers, but this is not the case in South Korea.
The new iPad mini shown with pinched fingers on Apple's website in the U.S.
On its South Korean website, Apple simply shows an image of the iPad mini on its own.
The new iPad mini shown without pinched fingers on Apple's website in South Korea ...
Top Rated Comments
Well you are in luck!! You get to keep your keyboard! Now let me ask you, why do you care what keyboard I use?
Note: These keyboards are still universal for ALL apps
No one is forcing you to change your keyboard.
If you just saw this commercial and never heard of swift key before,what did you learn in this ad? NOTHING!
Here's a great idea. Show us in the commercial how it works and the benefits of your product to make me want it.
You have a point. I really enjoy Apple products because of consistency in design language across hardware and software. However, I also really, really want the swiping functionality of a touchscreen keyboard in iOS. Thus, the perfect keyboard for me would be one that looks stock but has swiping functionality. I can type so much faster and more accurate using the swipe feature.