SwiftKey 3 is now live for Android users, with a series of improvements designed to make typing on a touchscreen device more accurate. The keyboard app has a devoted following among those who swear by its ability to better understand their typing styles. The SwiftKey developers have high ambitions for how their keyboard software can positively affect a number of industries that rely on touch input.
SwiftKey COO Joe Braidwood said the popularity of sites devoted to mistyped words on smartphones shows how frustrating it can be to not be able to quickly communicate a message. He said SwiftKey believes the “open platform” of Android has allowed an opportunity to enhance the stock OS keyboard. Users can specify how much they want the keyboard to focus on correction and are able to customize many of its specific aesthetics.
“We want to create the world’s most agile and intelligent touch screen solution to basically type what you mean,” he said. “Your typing can be really sloppy and still through some kind of miracle of computer science the software can figure out what you mean. That is the core benefit to what we are doing. When you understand language and the way words work together it can be incredibly powerful.”
One way SwiftKey measures your predictions is through monitoring your typing in Gmail and Facebook. If you enable this feature it will analyze your accuracy and typing patterns while you use these applications on your Android device.
SwiftKey is not stopping with developing Android keyboards. The company is moving into healthcare, an industry with a tremendous amount of specific terminology that could create typing on a standard iOS or Android keyboard a nightmare.
SwiftKey Healthcare uses Natural Language Processing to deliver text predictions with custom words used by healthcare professionals. According to the company’s usage statistics, time spent on typing was cut by 49 percent when using the SwiftKey Healthcare keyboard.
Android users can get SwiftKey for their device from Google Play. It is on sale this week for $1.99, which is half off its planned price. It works on Android devices running version 2.1 and above. A separate application must be purchased for those who want SwiftKey on an Android tablet.
