Good news! You can finally use SwiftKey‘s excellent keyboard to enter text on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Bad news! There’s a catch.
Apple still doesn’t actually allow third-party keyboards to replace the stock keyboard. But you can add keyboard functionality to an individual app.
So SwiftKey created a standalone note-taking app called SwiftKey Note which syncs with online notes service Evernote. You can use the app to create notes without firing up Apple’s keyboard, and your notes will be accessible on pretty much any device with a web browser (or Evernote app).
SwiftKey’s biggest advantage over the stock iOS keyboard is its strong predictive text algorithm. As you type, SwiftKey can automatically correct words, and since it learns from your behavior it’s likely to do a better job than Apple’s keyboard of actually correcting words you typically use (or misspell).
It also saves you time by showing words you might be typing as soon as you start to write — and even looks ahead for the next word. That means as soon as you finish a word you might not need to enter another letter. Just tap the suggested word that pops up if it’s the word you were looking for.
The keyboard looks a lot like Apple’s, which should make it easy for iOS users to start using SwiftKey without learning a whole new layout.
Android users still have a few features that aren’t available for iOS, including the ability to use SwiftKey with any app that requires textbook and support for SwiftKey Flow. That’s a feature that lets you enter text by sliding your finger from one letter to the next without lifting it from the screen.
SwiftKey Note is available as a free download from the App Store.
via The Verge