This article was published on July 14, 2011

SwiftKey updates its smart Android keyboard, extends it to tablets


SwiftKey updates its smart Android keyboard, extends it to tablets

We’ve been big fans of SwiftKey for some time. As well as being really easy to use, the Android keyboard replacement learns how you use language and offers up suggestions of the word you will want to type next. It’s a intelligent solution and works really well. Now SwiftKey is rolling out its latest update and extending the service to Android tablets too.

The latest version of SwiftKey X, which launched in beta earlier this year, sees a big upgrade to its prediction technology. ‘Fluency 2.0’ uses langauge learned from your Gmail, Twitter and Facebook accounts to predict what you’re likely to want to say.

Additionally, there’s now something that SwiftKey is calling ‘Touch Interaction Modeling’. This allows you to select whether you’re a sloppy typist or an accurate one. From there, SwiftKey has modeled different prediction engines based on the accuracy of your typing. This means accurate typists should get even faster at text entry and inaccurate typists get better suggestions even without hitting the right keys. Other enhancements include support for over 20 languages and new customisation options.

Meanwhile, SwiftKey X now supports Android tablets too. Redesigned to work well with larger screens, the keyboard layout has been modified, as seen in the demo video below.

With iOS 5 set to bring many of the benefits of Android to the iPhone, SwiftKey availability really is one of Android’s remaining key advantages – it really is that good. Now, if only Apple would allow third party keyboard plugins, maybe iOS users could get the benefit too.

SwiftKey X for phones and tablets is available in the Android Market now.

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