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SwiftKey 4 with Flow leaves beta, now available from Google Play

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After months of open beta, what was once known as SwiftKey Flow has launched via Google Play as SwiftyKey 4. Don’t worry, Flow wasn’t scrapped prior to release. The swipe-to-type functionality is the major component of this latest release, but it’s not the only update SwiftKey users can expect.

Flow is SwiftKey’s answer to software keyboard heavyweight Swype, but with a bit of flourish to boot. Aside from “flowing” through words without picking up a finger, Flow Through Space allows the construction of an entire sentence in a single fluid motion. SwiftKey 4 provides support for 60 languages and offers easier, more intuitive corrections while adapting to individual typing style.

For those that have already purchased the app, SwiftKey 4 should be available as a free update. For new users, the app is priced at $1.99 (and well worth every penny).

SwiftKey 4 Best-Selling Android App Revolutionized with Innovative ‘SwiftKey Flow’ Gesture Typing

SAN FRANCISCO — February 20, 2013 — SwiftKey 4 launches today on Google Play with smarter features that make typing on a touchscreen faster, easier and more accurate. Available now at the promo price of $1.99 and as a free upgrade for existing users, the new release features a unique take on gesture typing called SwiftKey Flow.

SwiftKey Flow combines the mind-reading capabilities of SwiftKey’s personalized autocorrect engine with the speed of gliding your fingers across the screen. This revolutionary approach to continuous input begins predicting words from the moment a user touches the screen and goes on to predict their next word when they let go. A unique feature called ‘Flow Through Space’ also makes gesture typing more powerful than ever before by allowing users to enter entire phrases simply by gliding to the space bar between words.

SwiftKey 4 adds to everything that has made the app a bestseller since first launching in 2010. Users can still tap to type, the app constantly learns a user’s style to ease the frustration of entering long words and users can further personalize predictions by granting access to their Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, SMS or blog posts.

“Everyone’s had embarrassing autocorrect moments,” said Ben Medlock, SwiftKey co-founder and CTO. “That’s why we built SwiftKey to understand the context of words, not just their spelling. It works from the word go to adjust to you — from the phrases you write to how you touch the screen. It means you don’t have to worry about typing, it does all the hard work for you.”

The new features in SwiftKey 4 include:

SwiftKey Flow – blending SwiftKey’s mind-reading next-word prediction and autocorrect with the speed of gesture typing
Flow Through Space – lets users write entire sentences in one motion without ever having to lift their finger to add a space
Support for contextual prediction across 60 languages – with new support for Albanian, Bosnian, Javanese, Sundanese, Thai and Vietnamese, all with dynamic auto-correction and next word prediction
Easier corrections – tap on a word and SwiftKey 4 will move the cursor to the end of the word and offer two alternatives
Personalized typing style – whether you write inaccurately with two thumbs or more carefully using a single finger, SwiftKey 4 now automatically adapts to how users type to provide more insightful corrections and prediction
Beta versions of the app have been tested by more than 200,000 SwiftKey fans over the last 11 weeks, with more than 2.4 billion characters flowed. A No.1 best-selling app on Google Play in 38 countries, SwiftKey is available in 60 languages and counting. For more information about SwiftKey, visit www.swiftkey.net.

About SwiftKey
SwiftKey was founded by Cambridge University graduates Jon Reynolds, CEO and Dr Ben Medlock, CTO in August 2008. With a growing team of over 90 people, the company is based in Southwark, London, UK.

The company’s technology makes typing much easier on touchscreen devices, powering the text entry experience with intelligent natural language technology. This is seen in the flagship SwiftKey keyboard app on Android, which launched in September 2010. The app understands how words work together to give much more accurate corrections and predictions than other keyboards. It can even predict a user’s next word as they type and also powerfully learns over time to make typing easier and even more accurate. Users can personalize SwiftKey using Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, SMS or their blog posts.

In the last year, SwiftKey won a People’s Voice Webby Award for Mobile Experimentation and Innovation, Most Innovative App at the GSMA awards at Mobile World Congress and has also been recently named one of the top 10 most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company. Its bespoke product for clinicians using touchscreens, SwiftKey Healthcare, is currently shortlisted for “Best Mobile Health Product or Service” at the 2013 GSMA awards and last year won the Best Enterprise Appster at the Apps World conference.

Kevin Krause
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21 Comments

  1. Got the update, THX!

    FWIW, right or wrong, the GOOGLE PLAY STORE is simply calling the app SWIFTKEY, not SWIFTKEY 4.

  2. Bought it, for $2 it’s worth trying out. Swype has been buggy on 4.1+ and while the new AOSP keyboard is nice it still isn’t as good as Swype was.

  3. YES ! FINALLY !

    1. My thoughts exactly.

  4. is it just me or can this thing really use a prediction box like swype has?

  5. I’ve already paid for SwiftKey (when it was on sale months ago), but without a way to turn off their next word prediction, I can’t stand using it. Flowing still doesn’t work as well as Swype when it comes to knowing which word you “flowed”, and there’s nothing more annoying with a software keyboard than having it show me a list of suggested next words, when it got the current word wrong – which happens too often.

    I also already paid for the “Premium” Kii. Given my experience with both keyboards, there’s no way I would use SwiftKey (even for free, much less $1.99), when I can get Kii for $2.99.

    1. You can turn it off. I did. It annoyed me too, pushing space and getting a word inserted every time and having to delete it. There’s a setting like “space completes current word” or something like that. Its way better that way.

  6. Purchased :-D

  7. I’m giving it another shot but when i was beta testing flow it didn’t seem to read my gestures as well as Swype. If Swype had arrow keys like SwiftKey it would be no contest, but those arrows are easier to use than trying to move the pointer.

  8. Any word on when the update in the Amazon Appstore is coming?

  9. I’ve been testing it since I got the update today, and really like it so far. When the JB keyboard with gesture input came out, I pretty much stopped messing the the Swype Beta and just used it, though I thought that Swype was still better. Now this SwiftKey 4 update gives me another option, and I think it’s somewhat better than the stock keyboard as well, though the jury is still out if it’s better than Swype itself. One thing I like about Swype is that you can capitalize a word by swiping from the first letter up above the keyboard and then continue with the word. I haven’t been able to do that with the stock keyboard or this new SwiftKey. On the other hand, I really like SwiftKey’s continuous word input by swiping down to the space bar. With the built in learning of your writing patters, it should become very good at entering the text you mean, without ever lifting your finger from the keyboard.

    1. I’ve used Swiftkey for some years and even if it’s fairly easy to write on my SG3 the Flow add on just made my day yesterday. Swiftkey know almost all my words and now it’s about as fast as speak… And more precise :-)

      That, and i found any.do for my tasks. My life just got easier :-)

  10. For people how has the android 4.2.2, is this key board better or flow is better?

    1. Definitely Flow.

  11. Do you have to have to flow activated? Is there a setting to turn it off?

    1. You can disable flow but, even with it enabled you can still type like normal, best of both worlds.

  12. I think SwiftKey beta is still better, but just by a touch

  13. Every time they do something new, I re-install SwiftKey and use it for awhile then always end up switching back to whatever I was on before(currently stock JB).
    Meh I’ll give it a go again..

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