SwiftKey is still a mess on iOS 8 a year after launching. It randomly decides not to show up or crash regularly in various apps. Has the 3rd party keyboard support gotten better on iOS 9? Anybody try them yet?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How are 3rd party keyboards working on iOS 9?
- Thread starter saintforlife
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I don't use any 3rd party keyboards, but I would imagine there is no real way to tell how well they will work until iOS 9 is officially released and then the apps update with full iOS 9 support. (Apps updated for iOS 9 can't be put in the app store until then)
Since we're in beta, and developers aren't seeding updates for iOS 9, you really can't judge the performance of the 3rd party keyboards.
If you're interested in using the beta along with a 3rd party keyboard, I can tell you that almost all of mine crashes periodically.
If you're interested in using the beta along with a 3rd party keyboard, I can tell you that almost all of mine crashes periodically.
Swiftkey definitely has issues but then again it always has. The app definitely has gone down hill
I don't use "autocorrect" but I like the little red line under the word when it's incorrect, after a year Swype and Swiftkey don't have this option, this is a killer for me, I download their apps every two months just to see if this has been implemented with no luck.
Until then, I'm using the stock keyboard.
Until then, I'm using the stock keyboard.
I'm testing it and it seems to remember and load the keyboard faster. So far it hasn't hiccuped yet.
Fleksy is an epic keyboard once you take advantage of its autocorrect.
It's never slow to open but still has that iOS bug that makes it disappear from the search screen(very rare). But the widgets are great and I think they made it free. Swiftkey is a mess on any platform.
That being said I love the stock iOS 9 keyboard on iPad.
It's never slow to open but still has that iOS bug that makes it disappear from the search screen(very rare). But the widgets are great and I think they made it free. Swiftkey is a mess on any platform.
That being said I love the stock iOS 9 keyboard on iPad.
Day 2 using Swype. It shows up every time and as quickly as the stock keyboard. I do believe they've fixed it!
I have tried many keyboards (within iOS8 only 8.1 > 8.4) and decided to stick with Swype. It's good to note that i have autocorrect turned off completely in all my keyboards. I have also Swiftkey installed but it has a lot of incorrect words when i swipe on the screen. Swype doesn't have that. I do like the Swiftkey keyboard layout and the 2 language option a lot better.
I also like using Path Input (iPad version) on my iPad mini2 for swiping but it does make more mistakes when typing instead of swiping.
For a few others you can also check the general keyboard topic in the iOS8 section. The topic start has a huge list.
For what i've read Nintype is also amazing, however it seems to have a huge learning curve.
Last edited:
Swiftkey works great for me with swipe-Modus
Using it since iOS 8.2; now on iOS 9 pb 2
Swype I have on iPhone 6 but don't like cause of the "special" Swype-icon bottom-left
Using it since iOS 8.2; now on iOS 9 pb 2
Swype I have on iPhone 6 but don't like cause of the "special" Swype-icon bottom-left
I have also tried Swiftkey but the predictions were so wrong every time when i swiped the words. Swype did that great right from the start. I do like the Swiftkey layout of the keyboard a lot better then the Swype keyboard and also hate te Swype key and all it's features behind that one orange button (emoji, other keyboards). It also 'feels' better to use Swype because of the whole 'allow full access' thing that e.g. Swiftkey needs in order to swipe.
Unfortunately much of the problem lies with iOS. You'll notice with pretty much any third party keyboard that it's often slow to load & inconsistent in its appearance (this is worse in the iOS 9 beta atm, sometimes it won't appear at all and I'll have to go find another textField to activate the system keyboard) and I honestly wish Apple would use the same APIs for their own keyboard management. If they did I think they would take it more seriously.
I'm a member of the SwiftKey-beta testers.
As far as I can tell you the compatibility (e.g. delay to show the keyboard, responsibility of the keyboard) in iOS 9 is getting better but there are still problems. I can't tell if it's the issue of iOS, SwiftKey or a combination of both.
For now I guess we can still hope it'll be integrated flawlessly until the final release - fingers crossed!
As far as I can tell you the compatibility (e.g. delay to show the keyboard, responsibility of the keyboard) in iOS 9 is getting better but there are still problems. I can't tell if it's the issue of iOS, SwiftKey or a combination of both.
For now I guess we can still hope it'll be integrated flawlessly until the final release - fingers crossed!
I don't understand. My fleksy is always slow to open. There's always a 1-2 second delay when going to type something while waiting for the keyboard to pop up. Is it just me??
Just to let you know - within iOS 9 PB 3 (and Dev Beta 5 I guess), there is absolutely NO MORE LAGGING while using the newest beta of SwiftKey - neither in Spotlight, nor inside of apps. Applause Apple, finally!
Let's keep our fingers crossed that this is for all users of 3rd party keyboards and that it will end up in the final release of iOS9. I'm not in the beta program. I'm still running 8.4 on iPhone 5s and iPad mini2 and both work pretty ok with e.g. Swype and Path Input iPad keyboard. However there is also a discussion topic here which discusses the resprings which could have to do with a glitch in the OS as far as 3rd party keyboards are concerned. Let's hope that resprings also won't occur any longer. I have it a lot since 8.3/8.4 especially on my iPad mini2. This was not the case with previous OS versions e.g. 8.1.
Another question for the Swiftkey users... What about Quick Reply?
Currently in iOS 8.4, quick reply gives me the iOS default keyboard with no autocorrect. It's extremely painful...
Currently in iOS 8.4, quick reply gives me the iOS default keyboard with no autocorrect. It's extremely painful...
So, I just updated to DP 5 after running 8.4, and I thought I would give my keyboard insights. In short, improvements are few and far between.
Good
- keyboards will slide in smoothly, but only if you stay in a single app and have already activated the keyboard at least once. Seemingly they are caching the keyboard more aggressively or something. Switching away from an app and then back to it will force the keyboard to do the same slow, jerky loading process we're so used to in iOS 8.
- Using an app that blocks third-party keyboards (1Password or some banking apps) no longer causes the system to remain on the built in keyboard when you switch over to other apps that do allow third-party keyboards.
Bad
- Initial loading of third-party keyboards is just as slow and jerky as it had always been on iOS 8. This means the first load after switching to an app.
- the keyboard is still prone to not appear in apps occasionally, or refuse to show up for spotlight. This seems to be no better or worse since iOS 8.
- Messages is still a mess. You are apt to end up with some threads defaulting to one keyboard and others defaulting to another. Also, If you lock your phone while Messages is loaded and has the keyboard displayed and then unlock it again, it will revert to the default keyboard every single time. Basically the same behavior as iOS 8.
- dictation still not supported.
- Still no third-party keyboard support when using quick reply while the phone is locked. I suspect this is an intentional security choice on Apple's part.
Obviously a lot could happen between now and the public release, but given that almost all of these issues date from iOS 8, I have a sneaking suspicion that iOS 9 is not going to give us the bug-free third-party keyboard nirvana we're hoping for.
Good
- keyboards will slide in smoothly, but only if you stay in a single app and have already activated the keyboard at least once. Seemingly they are caching the keyboard more aggressively or something. Switching away from an app and then back to it will force the keyboard to do the same slow, jerky loading process we're so used to in iOS 8.
- Using an app that blocks third-party keyboards (1Password or some banking apps) no longer causes the system to remain on the built in keyboard when you switch over to other apps that do allow third-party keyboards.
Bad
- Initial loading of third-party keyboards is just as slow and jerky as it had always been on iOS 8. This means the first load after switching to an app.
- the keyboard is still prone to not appear in apps occasionally, or refuse to show up for spotlight. This seems to be no better or worse since iOS 8.
- Messages is still a mess. You are apt to end up with some threads defaulting to one keyboard and others defaulting to another. Also, If you lock your phone while Messages is loaded and has the keyboard displayed and then unlock it again, it will revert to the default keyboard every single time. Basically the same behavior as iOS 8.
- dictation still not supported.
- Still no third-party keyboard support when using quick reply while the phone is locked. I suspect this is an intentional security choice on Apple's part.
Obviously a lot could happen between now and the public release, but given that almost all of these issues date from iOS 8, I have a sneaking suspicion that iOS 9 is not going to give us the bug-free third-party keyboard nirvana we're hoping for.
Does it gracefully fall back to the Apple keyboard that has suggestions? Or are we still stuck w/ a keyboard that doesn't have any autocorrect?