this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Privacy

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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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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This fork is actively developed, supports gestures amd many other features. Try it!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Thanks for this, btw. The fork that has swiping enabled hasn't been updated for over a year at this point :/

u/sudo22 has mentioned that a library is required to enable swiping, but I don't have a clue on how to download/use it. I'll try figuring it out.

Edit : Figured it out, the app allows you to import the libjni_latinimegoogle.so file if you've downloaded it.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was very pleased with how well swipe input works with this library. After finding this fork, I stopped using GBoard, which I am very happy about :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes! Also the original, actively developed Open Board has a vastly superior auto correct. I've just been using it for a couple hours now but I absolutely love it.

My typing speed was really good in SwiftKey because of it's autocorrect. I felt hindered with the previous fork, but this one is absolutely wonderful. I'm about 90-95% there.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Thank you, @Helium314 ❤️

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I downloaded that, but gesture support is no working. Do we have to do something else. I already turned on the gesture support option in settings, what am I missing?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You should download this file to your phone. Then in additional settings you should choose load gesture typing library and choose this file. That's it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Done it, still not working. Do we have to restart for it to effect??? i even turned on show glide trail, but nothing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It worked for me without restarting. Lemme know if you're still interested in trying it out, maybe it can be troubleshot.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe. It started working for me after this steps so 🤷‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any way, thanks for helping fellow lemmy user.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot! Now I can definitely leave gboard. One step more in my degoogling process.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

yup! same here. this fork have me ability to finally leave GBoard. it is awesome!

[–] sudo22 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure how to enable swipe on this on. I downloaded and loaded the en-us regular and experimental dictionaries, but its still not swyping.

Edit: Oh wait I got it. You need this library: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/blob/master/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libjni_latinimegoogle.so

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yup. Gesture support is really good in my experience. Thank you, Google! I hate you but sometimes......

[–] Downcount 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I tried openboard but am missing swipe.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

(Don't be a goof like me and install the Neo Store/Fdroid version and spend 15 minutes wondering how to enable swiping, btw. The version on Github which has swipe is from September 2022, a month after the Fdroid/Neo Store release: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/releases/tag/v1.4.5-gesture-typing)

[–] Downcount 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But don't forget to go into settings and enable the Holo theme for that pure nostalgia goodness :)

[–] Downcount 1 points 1 year ago

I'm glad this is my first time using openboard so that I don't need this typeof keyboard nostalgia, because, and I don't want to hurt your feelings, BUT, boy, that theme is ugly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Sweet! This is more comfortable to use coming from Gboard to ASK. I got used to the issues with ASK but def prefer AOSP keyboards more.

[–] Downcount 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, thanks! This swipes indeed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yep, this is absolutely fantastic. Thanks a bunch! It's like 85%-90% of my Swiftkey experience, so I'm loving this!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unfortunately doesn't have swipe :/ I was just trying it out for 10 minutes or so. I'll still keep it and try to work around it unless I find something better.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

If you download from the github it has swipe.