SwiftKey has just announced some performance improvements for its application, as the company claims that the lag has been reduced by over 50-percent, which is quite a statement, and that actually includes “older phones” says the company.
The company went into more detail regarding the changes. SwiftKey says that its app is now loading 20-percent faster, on average, than its closest competitor (we’re presuming Gboard, though SwiftKey did not clarify), and as much as twice as fast on the first load after you restart your smartphone. SwiftKey also says that its app has the smallest install size on a fresh install, and internal testing showed improved frame rendering, and thus reducing lag by over 50-percent, as mentioned in the first paragraph.
SwiftKey also delved into more detail regarding its whole process of releasing new features and upgrading its products. The company says that every code change to its keyboard is individually tested, and performance is always one of the main factors. The company also says that it monitors performance measures after each release, and that especially goes for beta builds, as it wants to ensure great performance across ranges of devices, including older phones. The company also benchmarks its keyboard against its competitors, and it does that on a number of devices, from low-end to high-end ones.
SwiftKey’s Competitors & Past Updates
It’s safe to say that Gboard and SwiftKey are two of the most popular keyboard applications for Android at the moment, but there are other great alternatives to consider. The Cheetah Keyboard has managed to become quite popular in the last year or so, while Fleksy is always a good solution if you’re looking for something a bit different to both Gboard and SwiftKey, as it has great prediction and it relies on gestures a lot. TouchPal is also a solid app worth mentioning, as is Chrooma Keyboard which is based on Gboard, but it comes with a number of added features.
Now, as far as SwiftKey’s more recent updates are concerned, the company did release quite a few of them in 2018, and some of them brought new, interesting features. For examples, the company included new sticker packs in partnerships with Skype and Halo. 24 new language models were added, while the company also integrated Microsoft Translator into the app. Some of you probably already know that SwiftKey is Microsoft’s company at the moment, and that has been the case for quite some time now, so this is kind of a competition between Google and Microsoft (Gboard and SwiftKey), as each company has a truly great keyboard to offer for Android devices.
All of the keyboards that we’ve mentioned have its very own, unique set of features, even though some of them are quite similar. Gboard and SwiftKey are similar in some ways, but after trying out both keyboards you will realize that there are quite a few differences, even though both keyboards are quite compelling, and both of them offer great prediction, and will learn from your writing as time goes by, not to mention that they offer quite a bit of customization as well.