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
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.
I personally use an expected keyboard. Really nice, especially if you use termux. FCITX5 for Android is another good keyboard if you like the more AOSP style keyboard that supports other characters
https://github.com/fcitx5-android/fcitx5-android?tab=readme-ov-file#supported-languages
Yay for Unexpected! I was really surprised when I found out just how many keyboard shortcuts it supports. I find myself using the keyboard-based text selection/copy/cut/paste/cursor-movement/etc more often than the “normal” way. It’s also a great help when using Termux or generally writing code.
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.
It’s available on the IzzyOnDroid repo
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.
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 used to use Swiftkey for a long while and switched to AnySoftKeyboard 2 years ago and for single language Swype capable keyboard it’s the best replacement I’ve found.
It’s what I use too, best open-source option I’ve found, but I’ve had Android complain about it using CPU in the background sporadically.
I also wish that it had support for arbitrary Unicode input and the ability to modify the keyboard on-the-fly in the UI, add keys and pop-up menus linked to user-specified characters and sequences of text.
