Pocketables

Microsoft on Android Update 2 – I HATE SWIFTKEY!!!

swiftkey - for some reason we don't have an alt tag here

I really thought going back to SwiftKey from the Gboard keyboard would be simple. But it hasn’t been. Either I’ve gotten so used to the way Google’s keyboard works or SwiftKey is just flat out rubbish. Right now I’m voting for the latter. Why is it such garbage? Let me tell you.

  • The keyboard doesn’t maintain sizes through different modes. I see six total rows on the standard keyboard. That’s fine. The problem is, when you switch to the number view, there are only five rows. And the problem with this is that it can cause your apps to bounce around. Messaging and other text entry apps sometimes freak out when being resized over an over. The experience is not pleasant.
  • When opening the browser the first thing I do the majority of the time is go straight to the address bar and start typing. With SwiftKey, you can do that but you have to expect the “cursor” to jump back to the beginning of the line halfway through whatever you are typing. So you end up with something like this: “ood replacement for SwiftKeywhat is a g” It’s crap.
  • The swipe engine gets everything wrong. I don’t know why but it is really, really off.
  • When SwiftKey inserts the wrong word (see the previous complaint) quickly tapping the backspace button DOESN’T DELETE THE WHOLE WORD. It only deletes the last character of the word. So when I try to swipe out solitaire but SwiftKey thinks I mean Sprague (???) hitting the backspace button gives you Spragu. Sure, you can long press the backspace button to delete an entire word. But that’s slow and you run the risk of holding it down too long and deleting more than intended.
  • The stupid space bar has the stupid SwiftKey logo on it. Seriously? That’s bush league. If there’s a way to get rid of it I haven’t found it.

That pretty much sums up my SwiftKey experience thus far. Could it grow on me and become natural to use? Maybe. But I seriously doubt it.

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Robert Daniels

I'm a long-time tech and gadget enthusiast that currently uses Android, Windows 10 Mobile, and iOS devices. I'm always interested in ways to improve my family's life with new devices and services, though my beautiful wife might just say I'm addicted to playing with gadgets.

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