For those of us that enjoy the experience of SwiftKey, they have a new treat for us today with their SwiftKey 4.3 beta version. SwiftKey has always been one of the most popular third-party keyboards available, partially due to their commitment of listening to the users and continually updating and improving their application. Version 4.3 beta is just another step in the right direction, now giving us a seamless experience across all device sizes, so with that in mind, SwiftKey is offering just one APK that can be used on your smartphone or tablet and you can grab it HERE.
With SwiftKey 4.3 beta you can now “undock” the keyboard from the base of the display, and resize it, and present it in a compact split-thumb-typing method or the regular way – SwiftKey calls this their “Layouts for Living.” Their studies have shown that people like to type a certain way and this flexibility in screen size and placement will help accommodate those users. The decision on how the keyboard looks and where you place it on the display is now entirely up to you. Co-founder and CTO Ben Medlock said:
Allowing people to manipulate the location, size and layout of the keyboard not only makes it easier to type – it gives our users a more personalized way to interact with their technology and each other. We are committed to creating world-class user experiences that marry our powerful language technology with interfaces that learn and adapt to each user’s needs.
The trend toward larger phones brought about many of these changes for resizing and placement of your keyboard on your display. This new feature will allow true one-handed operation and even allows you to use gesture typing if you desire. On wider phones or those users that like typing in landscape on a tablet, SwiftKey allows you to split the keyboard and have part on the left side and the other part on the right hand side. Of course, you can still use the more traditional full-width keyboard if you desire.
If you own SwiftKey the beta version should arrive in an email with a link to download and install the new 4.3 beta software – mine came today. Let us know in the comments or on Google+ how you like the newest version of SwiftKey 4.3 beta.