I’ve been using SwiftKey since before the Microsoft acquisition, but now I want to move on because it’s pushing copilot.
What do you recommend? I’m fine with the play store or F-droid, and I’ll pay for a good one if necessary
HeliBoard has been my chosen SwiftKey replacement: https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard
Features I value:
- Multilingual typing (as someone who writes EN, PT and dabbles on DE and NL daily, having to check which language I’m on and switch keyboards/layouts every time sucks)
- Glide typing (with optional closed source library)
- Clipboard history
- Comprehensive layout customization
- Autocorrect (with customizable level of confidence)
- Emoji selection and history
It does suck to see an app that I loved and paid for (yes, I used it for THAT long) get enshittified and try push AI* down my throat.
Not to mention M$ owning my typing history (which I kinda could live with).
RIP SwiftKey.
The latest release hints towards F-Droid availability: https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard/releases/tag/v1.2
Just updating 1.1 APKs would have created issues with incoming F-Droid build.
It’s available on the IzzyOnDroid repo
Since I run GrapheneOS, I just install any keyboard I like, and deny it network access in the permissions panel to disable any privacy invading features.
I would rather be running a fully open source keyboard, so I’ll be watching this thread for better solutions.
I’m using Florisboard: https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.patrickgold.florisboard/
It can be a bit rough around the edges, but it’s got the features I want.
HeliBoard is the best so far for me
I’m using thumb key. It takes some getting used to, but I like it very much and it is easy to use one-handed especially one large devices.
Does it work like Nokia’s old keyboard where you could press a key once and it would approximate the word you’re typing from the letters contained within each key?
No. You press for the letter that is in the middle of the key and for the other letters you have to swipe. If the letter “p” is in the top right corner of the middle key you have to swipe to the top right corner. It takes some getting used to, but one-handed typing is much faster with this keyboard.
