Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard

SwiftKey is a keyboard Microsoft acquired in 2016. Its distinguishing feature has always been prediction quality, particularly when typing in more than one language at once.

Where it beats the default

Gboard is the keyboard most Android phones ship with, and it is good. SwiftKey’s advantages are narrow but real:

• Multilingual prediction across up to five languages simultaneously, without switching layouts. If you code-switch mid-sentence this is the main reason to install it.
• Prediction that adapts to how you write rather than to general usage, which becomes noticeable after a few weeks.
• A layout that can be resized and repositioned, including a one-handed mode that is easier to configure than most.

The trade-off to understand

A keyboard sees everything you type, including passwords typed into fields. SwiftKey syncs a language model to your Microsoft account to carry personalisation across devices, and that sync is what makes prediction improve. You can use it without an account, which disables sync and keeps the model local.

Which of those you want depends on whether you value the cross-device continuity more than keeping the model on the device. It is a genuine choice rather than a hidden setting.

Note for low-end devices

SwiftKey is heavier than Gboard and noticeably so on phones with limited memory. On a budget device the stock keyboard will feel faster.