I’ve been using SwiftKey for over a decade now, and I didn’t really realize how potentially horrible it is for privacy. What are some good alternatives you guys can suggest, ideally open source?
My ideal keyboard includes swipe to type and a notepad (to paste certain emoticons like shrug emoji and such).
Thank you!
Edit, for any future lemmings/internet people who want the definitive answer (so far, as of October '23), OpenBoard works great.
Download the latest release apk from here
And if you want swipe typing as well,
Download the “libjni_latinimegoogle.so” file onto your phone from here
Then when you open OpenBoard, go to Advanced and select “Load gesture typing library”. When it asks you to select a file, select the “libjni” file and swiping should work just fine.
Unfortunately Gboard is still the best around. Block it’s internet access.
I think that Gboard would still find a way to connect to the mothership.
Yes probably. It’s a compromise and not ideal. I revoke internet access and on Graphene OS not tied to a Google account. We all find our own peace with this kind of thing. Florisboard looked very promising but the swipe text wasn’t implemented last I checked.
Florisboard appears to have been abandoned
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I’d love to love Florisboard, but it doesn’t make it easy. Swiping feels great, but it’s dearly missing autocorrect/suggestions and the word recognition is so bad that typing is faster at least 80% of the time, which defeats the purpose.
I hope it gets better in the future.Sadly, seems so. They have swipe now but they don’t have an autocorrect.
So one of the suggestions was to use Invizible Pro to block it’s access. Do you use the same method?
Wanted to add my perspective. Decided to splurge and get the z fold 5 after rocking the OnePlus 7 pro for 4+ years now. Wouldn’t have upgraded except I cracked the shit out of my OnePlus recently and repairing/replacing just wasn’t worth it.
After using this phone for a couple days, I have having serious thoughts about returning it. Spent so much time customizing the keyboard for the main screen, but just couldn’t find a comfortable typing experience. Then I realized I hadn’t installed GBoard yet. As soon as it was loaded, I was off to the races. No customization required. Very comfortable typing experience now with the default settings.
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It’s no better than SwiftKey for privacy though, is it?
Can you still use GIFs and stuff like that if you block its access? Seems like it would be better if we had an equivalent of a hosts file on Android to block or redirect certain addresses.
can’t access the GIFs panel without internet access…just standard emoji…I don’t use those anyway so can deal with that.
Openboard
This fork is actively developed, supports gestures amd many other features. Try it!
I downloaded that, but gesture support is no working. Do we have to do something else. I already turned on the gesture support option in settings, what am I missing?
You should download this file to your phone. Then in additional settings you should choose load gesture typing library and choose this file. That’s it.
Done it, still not working. Do we have to restart for it to effect??? i even turned on show glide trail, but nothing
It worked for me without restarting. Lemme know if you’re still interested in trying it out, maybe it can be troubleshot.
Maybe. It started working for me after this steps so 🤷♂️
Any way, thanks for helping fellow lemmy user.
❤️🙂
Thanks for this, btw. The fork that has swiping enabled hasn’t been updated for over a year at this point :/
u/sudo22 has mentioned that a library is required to enable swiping, but I don’t have a clue on how to download/use it. I’ll try figuring it out.
Edit : Figured it out, the app allows you to import the libjni_latinimegoogle.so file if you’ve downloaded it.
I was very pleased with how well swipe input works with this library. After finding this fork, I stopped using GBoard, which I am very happy about :)
Yes! Also the original, actively developed Open Board has a vastly superior auto correct. I’ve just been using it for a couple hours now but I absolutely love it.
My typing speed was really good in SwiftKey because of it’s autocorrect. I felt hindered with the previous fork, but this one is absolutely wonderful. I’m about 90-95% there.
Thank you, @Helium314 ❤️
I’m not sure how to enable swipe on this on. I downloaded and loaded the en-us regular and experimental dictionaries, but its still not swyping.
Edit: Oh wait I got it. You need this library: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/blob/master/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libjni_latinimegoogle.so
Yup. Gesture support is really good in my experience. Thank you, Google! I hate you but sometimes…
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot! Now I can definitely leave gboard. One step more in my degoogling process.
yup! same here. this fork have me ability to finally leave GBoard. it is awesome!
I tried openboard but am missing swipe.
https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard
That’s the fork with swiping.
(Don’t be a goof like me and install the Neo Store/Fdroid version and spend 15 minutes wondering how to enable swiping, btw. The version on Github which has swipe is from September 2022, a month after the Fdroid/Neo Store release: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/releases/tag/v1.4.5-gesture-typing)
Too late, I guess ;)
But don’t forget to go into settings and enable the Holo theme for that pure nostalgia goodness :)
I’m glad this is my first time using openboard so that I don’t need this typeof keyboard nostalgia, because, and I don’t want to hurt your feelings, BUT, boy, that theme is ugly.
Sweet! This is more comfortable to use coming from Gboard to ASK. I got used to the issues with ASK but def prefer AOSP keyboards more.
Yep, this is absolutely fantastic. Thanks a bunch! It’s like 85%-90% of my Swiftkey experience, so I’m loving this!
Yeah, thanks! This swipes indeed.
Unfortunately doesn’t have swipe :/ I was just trying it out for 10 minutes or so. I’ll still keep it and try to work around it unless I find something better.
If you download from the github it has swipe.
AnySoftKeyboard is great.
Ive been using this keyboard for around a year now, and compared to Swiftkey and gboard, I absolutely hate anysoftkeyboard with a passion. However, its the best FOSS alternative I’ve come across.
Also, my dogs name is Bowie, so whenever I type his name, the keyboard just starts spitting out David Bowie lyrics across the bottom of the keyboard, so thats kinda cool I guess.
I forgot to mention, ASK also has a very wide selection of languages.
I tried ASK and wasn’t a fan. Unless I’m missing customization options, it lacked the ability to change long press times, there’s an obnoxious empty space above the keyboard, and it was quite poor at auto correcting words that were supposed to have apostrophes. You’ll have to change your bottom row to get the space bar a similar size to Swiftkey (I missed it a fair bit before doing this), and it doesn’t have the hold space bar to move cursor either.
I get that using a different keyboard is going to be an adjustment, being a convert to Colemak, but this one seems just a bit too rough around the edges for me.
E: found the long press adjustment, but now can’t find how to add long press symbols to the keys…maybe I’m just too dumb for this keyboard
E2: Actually, after more messing with it, I’m going to give it another go. Still missing the long press symbols, autocorrect apostrophes, and auto space placement after adding commas and periods though. We’ll see how long I can put up with that.
I’m trying to find the long press adjuster myself, where is it?
UI>Tweaks and more>Tweaks>under behavior tweaks.
I’m not sure ifn you’ve seen the rest of the thread, but there’s a version of OpenBoard that has swipe as well. It’s almost exactly the experience I’ve been looking for. You might like it as well.
Swipe is actually a bit difficult to use with the Colemak layout. With the most common letters all on the home row, much of the swiping just turns into going back and forth on the home row, so you need to be pretty accurate.
I’ll take a look at it though, thanks for the suggestion.
OK. Yep open board seems to address all the issues I had with ASK. I’ll definitely give this one a good attempt. Really all my gripes are taken care of, and all in easy to navigate settings. Thanks OP!
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I was going to recommend AnySoftKeyboard but someone recommended OpenBoard fork with swipe type and that’s by far the best open source keyboard app I’ve used now… Especially coming from gboard
For anyone who wants it: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard
Agreed, it’s a fantastic alternative.
Thanks, trying it now and it’s great so far. Also trying to get away from Swiftkey.
I’m in kind of the same boat as you op, I’ve been using Swiftkey for 5+ years but have been wanting an altnernative that isn’t associated with the big tech companies for a while. After seeing this post earlier today I decided to give AnySoftKeyboard a shot.
I got it all configured the way I wanted but now I’m actually using it I don’t think it’s gonna work for me tbh. I’ll give it a few days before making a decision though. I wish there more options out there.
On the plus side, I came across this and it made my day:
Hahah, that’s hilarious! I tried ASK as well but gave up after 10-15 minutes of using it.
One of the comments has a link to a fork of OpenBoard that includes swipe (version 1.4.5 or something), and it works really well. The auto correct isn’t as great as Swiftkey (I’m hoping it gets better with time), but the swiping is absolutely solid.
Been using this for about a day now and I don’t see myself going back to Swiftkey. Typed this comment with it, hahah.
i like florisboard: language switching, clipvoard actions, undo/redo, customization, …
FlorisBoard is feature rich.
Florisboard
I’ll check this out, but on their Git they haven’t updated since September 2022 :/
Doesn’t really matter. There will be another update. It’s still actively developed.
So I do appreciate that they have swipe to type, but it doesn’t have a word suggestion feature / autocorrect.
That’s what’s being worked on. Kind of complicated
Floriaboard deserves a shoutout. As a multilingual, I value the mixing languages without switching them. Takes some time to adjusr and no autocorrect for now, but it’s getting there.
Dude, thanks to recommend this, as a multilingual I’m tired of the default keyboard of E/os that doesn’t have this feature.
I’ve used MessagEase for many years now and I absolutely love it. It’s a very different kind of keyboard and so takes a while to get used to but once you’ve learned to use it properly you can type a lot faster with it on a touch screen with limited real estate.
Ok, I am typing this with that keyboard now, and can see how this could be rather neat once one learns all thkey locations.
It looks really neat, but is it still maintained?
I think so. The last update was in december -21, which doesn’t seem that far back for a keyboard app. I’ve not contacted the developer by their support channel email so I don’t know if they respond that way. I’ve personally had very few problems with it over many years’ use.
I cannot seem to find either the game app or the dictionaries on the play store.
They are still on the app store, but unlike the keyboard app itself don’t seem to be updated for modern Android devices. For example:
I’ve sent Exideas a support email asking why this is the case, so I guess when and whether they respond will be something of a litmus test of how active their support is these days. In the meantime, it seems the language modules/dictionaries can be downloaded as APKs directly from their website. They should not at all be necessary to use the keyboard, in any case.
I’ve sent them a main as well this morning. The dictionaries apk are also only available using http.
I just noticed I received a reply, two days ago:
Google had added some new contraints and we just updated the several of our language modules. We updated English, French and German, the most popular ones, for now. English and French are available now and German is in review.
Please, if you can, give it a try and see if the problem is rectified.
So apparently the support is still active.
And I got a reply: “we are working on it”. This is great news, let’s see what hapens!
Does it collect/transmit the keystrokes to their server?
I can’t claim to be a 100% sure to be honest, but if the information on their privacy info page is accurate, it shouldn’t ask for any android system permissions at all, including internet access:
In particular, MessagEase does not seek Internet access permission.
I installed it. Definitely very different! I’ll give it a fair shot though - looks like there’s been plenty of thought behind its design.
Nice! I hope you will like it.
I’m already liking it - I’ve switced to it as my main keyboard. I’m actually typing this on my phone (miserably slowly 😂 - it definitely needs practice getting used to.) I think it’s a good practice for the memory muscles & the brain! Thanks.
Glad to hear it and I hope Exideas’ admittedly questionable support won’t be a big issue going forward for you. It hasn’t really been for me - the app is pretty solid. It saddens me that novel designs like this never seem to catch on, between public inertia and established corporate actors actively trying to suppress anything new.
I’m also using it in blind mode save for the symbols. I really like it so far.
Different apporach: use the keyboard you like and block its internet access using invizible pro/netguard/afwall.
I had the same problem, after using openboard for a long time, and now I’m doing this, using gboard and blocking it with invizible pro.
I’ll look into this, thanks for the suggestion!
Florisboard
Poorly the dev is not active anymore. And the beta sucks, the new buttons are pretty weird.
For people needing autocompletion its poorly not an option, but I love it.
Easy clipboard functions, cursor, internal clipboard with history. Its also so good for security as no app can view your clipboard
Check out the comment which includes the fork of OpenBoard with swipe. I’m using it right now and it’s fantastic!
Look at the AnySoft keyboard, available from F-Droid.
It has emojis like the one you mentioned inbuilt.
Not a huge fan last time I used it
Check out one of the comments which has a fork of OpenBoard with swipe. I’m using it right now and it’s quite a solid alternative!
OK, this doesn’t have swipe to type or a notepad, but I’m trying out Thumb-Key. It’s a very different sort of keyboard, almost akin to the old-fashioned way of texting with just the number keys on a phone, just updated for a smartphone screen. The problem is that it takes practice/memorization to learn, because it’s a whole new layout. It’s open source and very privacy conscious (there’s no predictive text or autocorrect).
I started using it about a month ago, and I’m now having a pretty good muscle memory. I like how having larger keys makes it much easier to “touch-type” (even thought I can barely do it, but I see the potential).
The only thing I’m missing is auto-completing my email and home address, but oh well.
There was a cool multiswipe keyboard called KeyMon like ten years ago. It was great to be able to dual swipe to type. It brought back memories of t9 typing. Unfortunately, the app hasn’t been updated and has been lost to outdated time.
