this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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I've been using SwiftKey for over a decade now, and I didn't really realize how potentially horrible it is for privacy. What are some good alternatives you guys can suggest, ideally open source?

My ideal keyboard includes swipe to type and a notepad (to paste certain emoticons like shrug emoji and such).

Thank you!

Edit, for any future lemmings/internet people who want the definitive answer (so far, as of October '23), OpenBoard works great.

Download the latest release apk from here

And if you want swipe typing as well,

Download the "libjni_latinimegoogle.so" file onto your phone from here

Then when you open OpenBoard, go to Advanced and select "Load gesture typing library". When it asks you to select a file, select the "libjni" file and swiping should work just fine.

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[–] akilou@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

I've been using SwiftKey for about as long as you have and for a while, about once or twice a year, I'd do exactly what you're doing- looking around for a better, privacy focused keyboard. I find one or two and try them out for a while but always end up back on SwiftKey because the predictions are unmatched.

[–] Amphobet@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OK, this doesn't have swipe to type or a notepad, but I'm trying out Thumb-Key. It's a very different sort of keyboard, almost akin to the old-fashioned way of texting with just the number keys on a phone, just updated for a smartphone screen. The problem is that it takes practice/memorization to learn, because it's a whole new layout. It's open source and very privacy conscious (there's no predictive text or autocorrect).

[–] Linssiili@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

I started using it about a month ago, and I'm now having a pretty good muscle memory. I like how having larger keys makes it much easier to "touch-type" (even thought I can barely do it, but I see the potential).

The only thing I'm missing is auto-completing my email and home address, but oh well.

[–] Sim@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I use Gboard and have been meaning to find an alternative, so this is a useful thread though it seems the concensus is there aren't really any.

What I'd love to do is completely remove any reference to stickers and gifs from the emojis selection but it's not possible. The emojis button can be removed from the keyboard, maybe it's time to go back to traditional ASCII.

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[–] nottheengineer@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Seconded, I currently use unexpected keyboard but I really want something with swipe typing.

[–] yoz@aussie.zone 1 points 1 year ago

Openboard FTW

[–] AdmiralShat@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any of these allow you to change the size of individual keys like Smasung Keyboard?

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