Microsoft SwiftKey

The company behind SwiftKey was founded in 2008 by Jon Reynolds, Ben Medlock and Chris Hill-Scott. In September 2013, SwiftKey announced a series B finance round totaling $17.5 million led by Index Ventures, along with Octopus Investments and Accel Partners. In February 2016, SwiftKey was purchased by Microsoft for USD$250 million (~USD$ in ). In May 2020, the app was rebranded as Microsoft SwiftKey to reflect its present ownership. In September 2022, Microsoft announced that they were ending support for the iOS version of SwiftKey. The app was ultimately removed from the App Store on 5 October 2022. However, in November 2022, Microsoft announced that they had decided to reverse their decision to discontinue SwiftKey for iOS devices. The app was relisted on 18 November, with Microsoft assuring future updates for the app. The company cited "customer feedback" as a reason for SwiftKey's return. ==Overview==

Microsoft SwiftKey is a virtual keyboard released on the Android and iOS operating systems. The purpose of the app is to increase efficiency while typing on a mobile phone. According to the Microsoft SwiftKey website, SwiftKey allows the user to speed up their typing process by "giving them more accurate autocorrect and predictions by learning their writing style". == Release history ==

Beta SwiftKey was first released as a beta in the Android Market on 14 July 2010, supporting seven languages. It included a variety of settings to adjust audio feedback volume and length of haptic feedback vibration. It was announced on SwiftKey's official website on 15 May 2014 that a Japanese version was available for beta testing. Starting with iOS 8, released in the second half of 2014, the operating system enables and supports the use of third-party keyboards. SwiftKey confirmed that it was working on a keyboard replacement app. Starting with iOS 13, the system keyboard came with a built-in QuickPath mechanism, which works similarly to SwiftKey's swiping feature. SwiftKey for iOS was announced to be deprecated in September 2022. In November 2022, however, Microsoft reverted this decision. SwiftKey for iPhone SwiftKey Keyboard for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch launched in September 2014 to coincide with the launch of Apple's iOS 8 update. It was unveiled at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. Further development On 27 February 2012, the SwiftKey SDK was launched. The app was co-developed with VisitLondon.com to promote more tourism to the metropolitan area of London. SwiftKey integration was included with Windows 10 beginning with the October 2018 Update. However, these features were later removed from Windows 10 beginning with the May 2020 Update. == Controversy ==

In 2015, NowSecure reported a vulnerability present in the version of SwiftKey pre-installed on Samsung devices. This would occur when the keyboard attempted to update its language pack. Samsung has since released security and firmware updates to mitigate the issue. However, TechCrunch published an article on why the issue happened because of how Samsung implemented the keyboard system on its devices. In 2016, SwiftKey users began reporting that the app was displaying personal details as suggested words to other users who did not have previous connections. Other issues included foreign languages and obscene words. SwiftKey responded by disabling cloud sync for word suggestions and releasing an update to mitigate the issue. ==Awards==

SwiftKey has received multiple awards, including: • Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 2014 ranked third place == See also ==