Microsoft is indeed buying SwiftKey, but it will also continue developing the popular Android and iOS apps.
Shortly after news broke out that Microsoft acquired SwiftKey, the company made an official announcement and outlined its plans for the future.
SwiftKey is the developer behind wildly popular keyboard apps for Android and iOS, and news of Microsoft's acquisition stirred some concerns that the SwiftKey Keyboard app for iOS and Android would soon see its demise.
Microsoft already has its own Word Flow software keyboard, which is making its way to iOS, and news of the SwiftKey acquisition indicated that it plans to use SwiftKey to improve the AI of its own Word Flow.
That part is true, as Microsoft does plan to integrate the SwiftKey software with its own, but the company underlines that it has no plans of leaving Android and iOS SwiftKey users out in the cold. Microsoft will keep developing the Android and iOS versions of the app while boosting its own software with SwiftKey.
"This acquisition is a great example of Microsoft's commitment to bringing its software and services to all platforms," Microsoft says in a new company blog post. "We'll continue to develop SwiftKey's market-leading keyboard apps for Android and iOS as well as explore scenarios for the integration of the core technology across the breadth of our product and services portfolio."
"In the coming months, we'll have more to share about how we'll integrate SwiftKey technology with our Guinness World Record Word Flow technology for Windows," adds Harry Shum, Microsoft's executive vice president of Technology and Research. "In the interim, I'm extremely excited about the technology, talent and market position SwiftKey brings to us with this acquisition, and about how this further demonstrates Microsoft's desire to bring key apps and technologies to platforms from Windows to Android to iOS."
The popular SwiftKey Keyboard app relies on an algorithm designed to analyze vast amounts of text to learn the user's typing behavior and predict what they would type next. It's incredibly intuitive and useful, enabling users to save time and text faster.
Using SwiftKey is easy and natural. The software keyboard can accurately predict what you're about to type next based on what you've typed in the past. SwiftKey takes note of all words you commonly type and offer them as suggestions in the right context, at the right time. It doesn't just remember the words, but the context, sequence, phrasing and so on.
SwiftKey's predictive technology helped users save nearly 10 trillion keystrokes across 100 languages, according to its own estimates. Those keystrokes would have amounted to 100,000 years in combined total typing time, were it not for SwiftKey.
More than 300 million iOS and Android devices feature the SwiftKey Keyboard and SDK services. The SwiftKey app long topped the best-selling app list on Google Play before becoming available for free.
While the SwiftKey Keyboard is incredibly useful, things go beyond just the keyboard itself. Microsoft doesn't want SwiftKey just for its keyboard app, but for its artificial intelligence and natural language processing that holds immense potential.
That said, Microsoft doesn't plan to ditch the Android and iOS SwiftKey apps, as the technology SwiftKey englobes is of far greater use than cowardly eliminating competition.
"Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our mission is to enhance interaction between people and technology. We think these are a perfect match, and we believe joining Microsoft is the right next stage in our journey," SwiftKey notes in its press release.
SwiftKey itself also confirms that its Android and iOS apps will continue to be available despite the new deal with Microsoft.
