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

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

Check out the comment about the version of OpenBoard that supports swipe. I'm using it right now, actually. It's not perfect but serves as a solid alternative to Swiftkey.

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

Thanks! Using it now, perfect!

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

OMG I hate the stickers. I used to accidentally send them all the time when trying to hit the comma. I uninstalled all the stickers packs, which means I can't accidentally send them now, but I still accidentally hit the button since you can't remove it for some dumb-ass reason.

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

Openboard with swipe has fixed this for me. Takes a little getting used to but worth it IMO.

[–] SendMePhotos 2 points 1 year ago

There was a cool multiswipe keyboard called KeyMon like ten years ago. It was great to be able to dual swipe to type. It brought back memories of t9 typing. Unfortunately, the app hasn't been updated and has been lost to outdated time.

[–] [email protected] 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.

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

Openboard FTW

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

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

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

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

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

I've tried most of the ones suggested on here, but I don't recall any of them having this feature.

[–] Heavybell 1 points 1 year ago

I really like Keyboard Designer. I have made myself a keyboard in it that resembles Kii Keyboard, which was previously my fav.

That said setting it up might be a bit much for your average user.

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