Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,194
30,136



With yesterday's launch of iOS 8, devices running the new operating system are now able to install third-party keyboards that work on a systemwide basis. Most of the major keyboard makers were ready for the launch, introducing iOS 8 versions of their keyboards into the iOS App Store. One day after launch, three of these keyboards, including Fleksy, SwiftKey and Swype, are now at the top of the top iOS paid and free charts in the U.S. and other countries.

Within 24 hours of their debut, paid keyboards Swype and Fleksy climbed to the top two spots in the U.S. paid iOS app chart, displacing popular games such as Minecraft Pocket Edition and Five Nights at Freddy's. On the free app chart, Swiftkey jumped to the number one spot, beating out the now freemium and very popular 1Password password manager and the newly launched Amazing Thief game. Perhaps most impressively, SwiftKey has even displaced longtime number one Facebook Messenger from its spot atop the rankings.

paid-free-apps-keyboards.jpg
The new keyboards are of course benefiting from launch-day momentum of the iOS 8 debut, and it remains to be seen where they will settle in the charts following the initial surge of interest. Still, it is clear that many users are interested in at least trying out alternatives to Apple's default keyboard, even with its new QuickType suggestions implemented in iOS 8.

These three keyboards and more are available to all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners running iOS 8. SwiftKey [Direct Link] is available for free from the iOS App Store, while Fleksy [Direct Link] costs $1.99 and Swype [Direct Link] is 99 cents.

Article Link: iOS 8 Keyboards Climb to Top of App Store Charts
 

reden

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2006
715
821
Such a great feature, something I missed from Android. Too bad it logs all your keystrokes and even credit card numbers. That's the only thing that concerns me.
 

redman042

macrumors 68040
Jun 13, 2008
3,051
1,629
So are any of these proving to be better/faster to use than the new stock keyboard?
 

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,001
I gotta say, I'm not really impressed with the ones I've tried. I still prefer the stock keyboard. But I suppose the more options the better.

Perhaps you haven't found the right one yet. I'd suggest the DadaistBoard:

cGIble6.gif
 

gmanist1000

macrumors 68030
Sep 22, 2009
2,832
824
Such a great feature, something I missed from Android. Too bad it logs all your keystrokes and even credit card numbers. That's the only thing that concerns me.

Do you know if it's encrypted or not?
 

JaySoul

macrumors 68030
Jan 30, 2008
2,629
2,865
Once you get used to the Swype-style keyboard, it's hard to go back to anything that doesn't do that.

Much faster than stock iOS keyboard.
 

MikeyMike01

macrumors 6502
Apr 4, 2010
395
107
Such a great feature, something I missed from Android. Too bad it logs all your keystrokes and even credit card numbers. That's the only thing that concerns me.

Do you think Android keyboards couldn't? The only difference is Apple's warning you that it's possible.
 

ironman159

macrumors regular
Aug 30, 2008
193
0
Costa Rica
I'm 24 hours in my SwiftKey test drive and I can say I'm not impressed. I live in Costa Rica and I usually text in both English and Spanish at the same time. SwiftKey tries to manage this the best way possible but it usually mixes stuff. The things I'm most definitely bugged about is the lack of accents for the Spanish language using the Flow mechanism. And this is something the Apple default keyboard has perfected over the years knowing when the accents go according to the sentence organization. I hope this stuff gets ironed out in future updates.
 

barondebxl

macrumors 6502a
Sep 21, 2013
728
493
swype is the best keyboard ever alongside switkey. Dont know why apple held these beautiful things back from their users for years.
 

mrbyu

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2011
324
62
Guys, are any of these 3rd party keyboards of some use for non-English text input? Because as far as I understand they are all about some kind of predictive input, which is unlikely to work in my language (namely Hungarian).
 

commander.data

macrumors 65816
Nov 10, 2006
1,056
183
So how is SwiftKey able to offer their keyboard for free with no IAP? Are doing this out of kindness or monetizing it in other ways?
 

Sonmi451

Suspended
Aug 28, 2014
792
385
Tesla
I'm having problems with these keyboards not loading at all, or suddenly disappearing. Not sure what the problem is, but it's annoying.
 

6836838

Suspended
Jul 18, 2011
1,536
1,325
swype is the best keyboard ever alongside switkey. Dont know why apple held these beautiful things back from their users for years.

If you don't mind giving someone every keystroke, maybe! You ever wonder why it's free?
 

Cloudsurfer

macrumors 65816
Apr 12, 2007
1,318
373
Netherlands
Guys, are any of these 3rd party keyboards of some use for non-English text input? Because as far as I understand they are all about some kind of predictive input, which is unlikely to work in my language (namely Hungarian).

I'm using Fleksy and it supports a ton of languages. I have Dutch and English set up as my default languages and its very easy to switch between them
 

H3LL5P4WN

macrumors 68040
Jun 19, 2010
3,381
3,951
Pittsburgh PA
Fleksy is my go-to, and I've been a Swiftkey user for years.

Interestingly enough, I got Fleksy for free when it launched on iOS. Not sure how, but I'm not going to argue.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.