'SwiftKey Note' Brings Contextual Word Suggestions and Autocorrect to iOS with Evernote Integration

Ok, I'm one of those guys in the Android phone, but Apple iPad camp. I use Swype and love it on the Android, and can't stand the Apple keyboard. It's not just the gesture typing that I miss on iOS -- and I do miss it -- it's also the ability to quickly enter numbers and symbols.

Am I using the iOS keyboard wrong? On my Android keyboard every key has an alternative character thats activated by a brief hold instead of a tap. This is incredibly convenient for one-handed typing when you occasionally need a number or symbol. It drives me absolutely nuts on iOS to have to activate the numeric keyboard and then deactivate it every time I want to switch between them.

Given my experience, I've never understood why this isn't a bigger issue to iOS users. Do people who use iOS exclusively actually find that keyboard easy to type on?

atsang said:

It's not really different than the standard iOS keyboard from a UX perspective, you're just getting some smart word suggestion/spelling corrections above the keyboard.

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This is not accurate at all. I can literally have swift key write a paragraph without me even touching the keyboard...iOS doesn't auto guess words before you start typing.

I agree with the fact that it needs to learn. It's pretty useful after using it for about 1 week. I find it vastly superior to iOS autocorrect, it's not even a comparison. But now that I'm back on iOS this is probably the biggest thing I miss from android.

atsang said:

It's not really different than the standard iOS keyboard from a UX perspective, you're just getting some smart word suggestion/spelling corrections above the keyboard. The difference here is that the auto correct and word suggestions are learned (from Evernote in this case) and not only from a static dictionary, and they've made it one click. You'll need to be a heavy Evernote user in order to maximize the Swiftkey word database as it has no other sources to draw from.

However, the best parts about Swiftkey from Android are still missing here: gesture based typing, and ability to learn from a multitude of sources (your SMS app, Facebook, etc).

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For me, one of the best features is its automatic language switch, I can speak in Spanish, Catalan or English without having to change any flag, and it can mix languages on the fly.

So they basically "brought" two things that I could already do since iOS1? Amazing....

Sorry but there's nothing wrong with the default keyboard. I don't see why we need anything different....

roadbloc said:

How can you steal an idea that has been around for ages? The whole point of 'stealing' an idea is to use it before anybody else realises its potential. If Apple were to use a SwiftKey-esske keyboard for iOS, it would most certainly be copying.

Which would make them a good artist.

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So basically what your telling me is it has reached its full potential and can not be made any better?

wgr73 said:

This is not accurate at all. I can literally have swift key write a paragraph without me even touching the keyboard...iOS doesn't auto guess words before you start typing.

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^This!

I had a galaxy S4 before returning to the iPhone and this is the one thing I truly miss. I could write a text or email so fast, it was scary how accurately swiftkey predicts what you are thinking.....it must be by the NSA and they are spying on us!

Z8beema said:

So basically what your telling me is it has reached its full potential and can not be made any better?

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That isn't what I said at all. Read it again. Regardless of whether Apple improve the concept and how it works, people will always know the feature originated elsewhere and that the idea was copied by Apple.

Now if the feature had been a little known jailbreak or something that Apple quietly acquired, that would be stealing.

Todd B. said:

Sorry but there's nothing wrong with the default keyboard. I don't see why we need anything different....

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Have you ever used any of the alternative keyboards on Android for an extensive period of time? I just can't fathom that people would prefer the iOS default keyboard. I use both on a daily basis and I can type at least twice as fast on the Android keyboard and it just annoys me less, too. Much better prediction, faster with the swype-style gestures, and no need to switch keyboard layouts for common punctuation and numbers.

keyboard

One of the main reasons I stay on Android. SwiftKey is just amazing.

atsang said:

It's not really different than the standard iOS keyboard from a UX perspective, you're just getting some smart word suggestion/spelling corrections above the keyboard. The difference here is that the auto correct and word suggestions are learned (from Evernote in this case) and not only from a static dictionary, and they've made it one click. You'll need to be a heavy Evernote user in order to maximize the Swiftkey word database as it has no other sources to draw from.

However, the best parts about Swiftkey from Android are still missing here: gesture based typing, and ability to learn from a multitude of sources (your SMS app, Facebook, etc).

Click to expand...

atsang said:

Or build it themselves. Is it THAT hard to go to from a manual static dictionary to an auto-updated dynamic dictionary? Apple wouldn't even have to work with other companies. Even just using the Mail app and the SMS app should be good enough sources to update the word prediction model. The user experience would tangibly be so much better every single day we use the device, and I can't imagine this being rocket science for their developers to implement.

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Maybe I'm dreaming, but my iPhone dictionary is not static and app dependent. For example, I use our kids initials instead of their names when texting my wife. Not only does the phone remember to use the initials and capitalise them, it changes it regardless of where I input the info; text, shopping list, note app, Pages, etc.

roadbloc said:

That isn't what I said at all. Read it again. Regardless of whether Apple improve the concept and how it works, people will always know the feature originated elsewhere and that the idea was copied by Apple.

Now if the feature had been a little known jailbreak or something that Apple quietly acquired, that would be stealing.

Click to expand...

So tell me, if apple takes the main idea behind this keyboard and transforms it into something even more productive and useful then the original creator, they would only be copying it? Could you not "steal" and idea and make it better in order to reach a far greater potential? If you enhance an idea than your not copying it, your stealing the essentials and making it better

Patriks7 said:

I've used these kinds of keyboards a couple of times before, but never seemed to get the hang of it. Is it really that much better?

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YES! so convenient.. i can one hand type real fast with Swype or Swiftkey. comes in handy a lot of times. the size and layouts are adjustable to your preference also. and it also 'learns' your slangs and other words, so the predictions get better the more you use it.

Z8beema said:

So tell me, if apple takes the main idea behind this keyboard and transforms it into something even more productive and useful then the original creator, they would only be copying it? Could you not "steal" and idea and make it better in order to reach a far greater potential? If you enhance an idea than your not copying it, your stealing the essentials and making it better

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With that philosophy, Apple has no right to be suing Samsung for copying.

DrKoch said:

This is the only thing which I really misses from my android experience. After months of use swiftkey learned my typing style in several languages and was absolutely amazing.
Apple should just buy the company and implement it

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This. Once you've used it for a while and it "knows you" it's excellent. I'm in two minds whether to download it as for a note taking app I don't do a great deal. Most of my typing on my phone is in messages, which is where I found it used to come into it's own.

Personally think this would be easier than if they opened up for TextExpander as I just have never remembered any shortcuts I've set up. Choice for key entry for those who prefer TE, and for me for SwiftKey, happy days!

Todd B. said:

So they basically "brought" two things that I could already do since iOS1? Amazing....

Sorry but there's nothing wrong with the default keyboard. I don't see why we need anything different....

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Unless the idea comes from Apple, Todd B. ain't buyin' it!

roadbloc said:

With that philosophy, Apple has no right to be suing Samsung for copying.

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If there is a patent for the idea (which Apple does in respect to the case against samsung) than yes you have every right suing

wgr73 said:

This is not accurate at all. I can literally have swift key write a paragraph without me even touching the keyboard...iOS doesn't auto guess words before you start typing.

I agree with the fact that it needs to learn. It's pretty useful after using it for about 1 week. I find it vastly superior to iOS autocorrect, it's not even a comparison. But now that I'm back on iOS this is probably the biggest thing I miss from android.

Click to expand...

If you spend any time at all using SwiftKey it will transform your expectations of what a keyboard should do. It literally can reduce the number of keystrokes by up to half and dramatically speed your writing. It's the only thing I miss from my pre-iOS days and if you try it for a while you will be begging Apple to allow this system wide.

I'd really just love the option to use swipe typing, like on the Android phones. When I play with my friend's Android I'm able to type so much faster using that feature. I don't see myself ever leaving the iPhone ecosystem but why's Apple so stingy on the keyboard features and options?

Swiftkey is my favorite keyboard on the Android side.

Apple REALLY needs to open up the system to third party keyboard.

Once you get used to something like Swiftkey, the stock iOS keyboard feels like Stone Age....

Rootus said:

Given equal familiarity, yes. As an investor, I think Apple ought to buy SwiftKey already and be done with it. But that would mean the end of the Android version, which would suck.

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You could licence it or come to some sort of arrangement..However, i think apple just needs to re-do the keyboard in IOS8 (leave the classic as an option for those who want it) and its not something that is too hard for them to do it on their own. A bigger phone (even a phablet) could have a more optimized keyboard..

Having different keyboards for different applications is a very ugly hack. This should not be happening on a decent OS except for very extreme cases (for example application uses a different alphabet).

PredictiveKeyboard (Cydia KB Tweak) is the closest experience you can get on iOS that /partially/ simulates Swiftkey on Android. It's available as a 3 days trial incase you decide it's not good enough.

I think Swiftkey devs have bigger ambitions than releasing a Cydia tweak that'll eventually be cracked and even if it goes on sale without being cracked it's not worth the hassle given the audience count compared to Android is vast. They seem hopeful that one day Apple will open up iOS enough that their keyboard becomes a reality on iOS but that's unlikely to ever going to happen

ahlsn said:

Apple needs to get their **** together and let us use this system wide.

The principle of "we know best, you don't need to change anything" doesn't really work when their solutions are dated and and kind of crappy.

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I cannot understand Apple's position on this. They could easily wipe out most of Android's competitive advantages while hyping the "we don't spy on you all the time" angle. Let us use alternative keyboards. Who cares? Let us have Firefox for iOS. Let us use other tools that won't compromise the performance or security of the OS as a whole. I don't want the mess that is Android - not to mention making myself a ward of the creepy Google observation machine - but would it kill Apple to let me choose a different keyboard?

CChrisG said:

This girl in the video is really beautiful!

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I'm sure you got a shot!!!

Oh, and as a longtime Evernote user (until Google buys them out and chases me away (stupid Waze, I'm looking at you)), why didn't they just incorporate this into the Evernote app itself?