While rounding up today’s best April Fools’ stories, many came across SwiftKey Tilt, where users can tilt their device to type out sentences. It was taken as a joke since in their promo video you see a lady on a unicycle typing, a whole office of people doing some type of Harlem Shake, but it appears as if this is no joke. 

Inside SwiftKey, there is indeed the option to turn on the Tilt feature. Surprise! So, go ahead and check out our brief hands-on with it and Kellen trying to use it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: SwiftKey Tilt Isn’t Just an April Fools Joke, It’s Real is a post from: Droid Life

Ahhh yes, today is April Fools’ Day. For the most part, it’s the most obnoxious day of the year for anyone in the media. What’s fake? What’s real? Do we even bother reporting anything at all? No one wants to get duped publicly, so we all submit ourselves to doing what I’m doing here, posting up all the pranks from Google and the rest of the tech community. As always, Google goes overboard, but usually in a good way. This year though, we’re seeing some new players like Twitter, Swiftkey, and even Samsung.

Below, you’ll find a list of many. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Treasure Maps

Be sure to cruise around the actual map to see what kinds of hidden treasures you can find.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Nose

What does “success” smell like? Google Nose.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Apps Levity Algorithm

Making work fun again. Peanut butter and jelly meeting!

Google Wallet ATM

Because who doesn’t want an attachment that can magically produce cash at any moment?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gmail Blue

Maybe I just didn’t get this one. Microsoft dig?

Click here to view the embedded video.

YouTube Shutdown

Yes, YouTube faked a shutdown.

Samsung Eco Tree

Android’s leading smartphone manufacturer announced a new eco-friendly product that still takes advantage of Group Play, Air Fresh, and other Samsung features.

Twttr

Twitter announced a two-tier service. The free model removes vowels from your Tweets. If you want full Tweets, you have to pay $5 a month. Use it here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Swiftkey Tilt

Your body is the new typing tool. Wiggling while on a unicycle works the best.

What others are you finding out there?

Cheers to everyone who sent these in!

It’s April Fools’ Day, so Naturally Google is Going Off – Swiftkey, Twitter, and Others Too is a post from: Droid Life

If you plan to pick up the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S4 when it launches in April, know that you are in good hands when it comes to the keyboard technology. Swiftkey, one of our favorite Android keyboards of all time, is powering this beast, so your predictive nature will be satisfied.

We should point out that the keyboard may not look like the Swiftkey you have come to love, as Samsung has likely skinned it, but all of the brains are there. Your days of saving taps will continue on.

For those not interested in the GS4, don’t worry, Swiftkey has promised to continue to innovate on the consumer side as well. So Swiftkey 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever is next, will only get better as they have done over the last couple of years.

Via:  Swiftkey

Swiftkey Powers the Samsung Galaxy S4 Keyboard is a post from: Droid Life

Last night at midnight, Swiftkey released the newest version of their keyboard to the market, fittingly called Swiftkey 4. As expected, this version of Swiftkey includes Flow, the swipe-style keyboard that allows you to write words and sentences without having to lift up a finger. If you have been in the beta game for some time, then you have been testing Flow for a while now. It’s brilliant, because it predicts just as good as Swiftkey has for years, but it gives you another way to input text. 

In version 4, you’ll also find new personalization that learns from your typing style, better predictions, easier corrections, more languages, and the ability to “Flow Through Space,” which is a fancy way of swiping to the space bar to add a space between words so that you can type out whole sentences in Flow.

Both tablet and phone versions are half off for a short time, so be sure to grab them for $1.99.

Play Links:  Swiftkey Phone | Tablet

To celebrate the launch, Swiftkey is hosting a contest that could land you a Nexus 7, simply by following @Swiftkey and then Tweeting ”I’m tweeting with SwiftKey 4 to win a Nexus 7! Try Android’s smartest keyboard now – http://bit.ly/swiftkey4 #swiftkey”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  Swiftkey

Swiftkey 4 Released to Google Play – Includes Flow, Improved Prediction Engine, and New Language Support is a post from: Droid Life

For those of you still running the SwiftKey Flow beta, there is a new update available to build 4.0.0.99 that introduces a ton of bug fixes, which should make using the keyboard a whole lot smoother. They have done a lot of behind-the-scenes work that should fix a lot of force closes users were reporting, and there is even a new looking installer that matches the colors of Flow a bit better. 

To download and try it out, download the right version for either your phone or tablet and install as you would any other 3rd party application.

Download: Phones | Tablets

As one could see, the changelog is quite extensive!

Changes in this version:

* Fixed crash on changing keyboards
* Fixed force close on clicking update language
* Fixed other crashes
* Resolved majority of non-English punctuation problems
* New look installer to match SwiftKey Flow colors and include an introduction to SwiftKey Flow
* Added Turkish layout
* Chrome Beta should now behave like Chrome
* Snap and tap (correction of words) now compatible with Vietnamese
* Memory usage of settings app reduced
* Improved handling of non-zero length selection in Chrome and Samsung mail client
* Fixed jumping cursor in ExDialler and Samsung calculator
* Microphone key disabled in fields that don’t support voice input
* Fix for keyboard disappearing when phone build installed on tablet sized devices
* Disabled predictions in Kingsoft Office and UC browser to make SK usable in them
* Double space for period turned off by default to prevent accidental period insertion when flowing
* Replaced ‘learnt’ with ‘learned’ in personalization page (US English)
* Turned off slide down from candidate bar to close keyboard when flow is on (to be consistent with the description in the Settings menu)

Known Issues:

* Crashes when looking at the heatmap if you visit immediately after using the alternative symbols layout
* Comma key on Arabic keyboard inserts western comma
* Predictions sometimes blank when switching between languages
* Flowing words sometimes results in surprising capitalizations
* “No SD card” ribbon looks bad on low end devices

Via: SwiftKey

SwiftKey Flow Beta Updated, Brings Load of Bug Fixes and New Looking Installer is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey released a new version of Swiftkey Flow beta this morning as build 4.0.0.76. Be sure to grab this, as it includes a number of changes and even more bug fixes.

In this latest version, predictions and Flow happen in most places outside of email fields, password boxes, or other semi-secure spots. Corrects are made easier with a tap on incorrect words, there are new languages, and the typing style is no inferred.

Jump below to download the new versions. 

Download Links:  Phone Version | Tablet Version [Build 4.0.0.76]

Changes in this version:

• Predictions (and Flow) now on in most places (exceptions: email fields, passwords, anywhere where the app doesn’t behave itself with SK, fields offering their own corrections on Android versions <= 2.2)
• Easier corrections – just tap on the word and SwiftKey will offer you 3 possibilities
• New languages: Thai, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Albanian, Javan, Sundanese (plus those added in 3.1)
• Features from SwiftKey 3.1: Berry theme, split layout in landscape on phones, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Hindi, Hinglish, Irish, Macedonian, Spanish (Latin America) and Tagalog
• New layouts for Hindi and Russian
• Ukrainian landscape layout fixed
• Backspacing on to the final word of a multi word prediction (Flow through space)  will now give better alternatives
• Typing style now inferred rather than a setting
• Long press delete accelerates after the first word

Bugs fixed:

• Flowing off shift no longer triggers a change in shift state
• Flow no longer gets stuck when you flow off the bottom of a page
• Quick period working after single letter words
• Arrow key repeats
• Learning when sending messages or tabbing between fields with the enter key fixed
• Azeri capital i behaviour corrected
• Estonian will now predict words containing ö
• Fixed force close on Beta predictions
• Flow trace no longer left behind after flowing
• Mounting an SD card will turn predictions off only if SwiftKey language packs are stored on that SD card
• Keyclick sounds no longer doubled
• Haptic duration made consistent with flow on and off

Known issues:

• Places you still cannot Flow: email fields, passwords, anywhere where the app doesn’t behave itself with SK, fields offering their own corrections on Android versions <= 2.2
• Selecting and deleting a chunk of text in Samsung email client on SIII and Note 2 deletes text before the cursor as well as after
• Slight jitteriness when toggling between Hindi and Thai primary and secondary layouts
• Turkish i still does not capitalise correctly
• Long pressing SK mic in Google Now causes the keyboard to disappear
• Occasional surprising capitalisations of flowed words
• Flowing through space often fails after relatively unusual words
• If you experience high memory usage after installing, this may be fixed by rebooting your phone

Via:  Swiftkey

New Swiftkey Flow Beta 4.0.0.76 Released – Closer Than Ever to Official Release is a post from: Droid Life

A new Swiftkey Flow beta was just released to the public as version 4.0.0.61. It includes a bunch of performance fixes, allows flowing on tablets in landscape, takes care of memory leaks, improves battery usage, and more. This is the first major update to Flow after its initial launch, so the Swiftkey team was quick to point out that they are still working through a pretty solid bug list.

We’ve included the changelog, a “things to be aware of” section, and the known issues list from Swiftkey.

Hit up the break and download it to your phone or tablet! 

Download version 4.0.0.61:  Smartphones | Tablets

Changelog:

• Flow-through-space autocommit: if you flow-through space but mess up your last word, all the prior words will be inserted (instead of losing all the words)
• Flow in landscape on tablets (only in full layout, not in split layout)
• Battery usage improved (when flowing and when not in use)
• Performance of flowing and tapping improved
• Longpress of bottom-right (smiley/enter) button now works
• Fixed some force close issues
• Fixed some memory leaks
• Predictions not lost when changing keyboard layout (e.g to symbols)
• Fixed DOuble CApitalization issue

Things to be aware of:

• Flowing currently only works in fields where you see the prediction bar: in fields that have their own prediction or completion there is no prediction bar and therefore no Flow (e.g. URL bars, search bars, the “to” field of an email)
• Flow-through-space only works in languages where smart space works – in some languages this is turned off because words are often made by combining other words together,and so smart space would divide up words that you want to keep as one. Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian (Farsi), Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukranian, Urdu may not work with Flow-through-space
• SwiftKey Flow Beta does not currently contain any features that were new in SwiftKey 3.1 (Berry theme, new languages, split layout in landscape for normal-sized devices)
• Slide-left-to-delete a whole word does not work when Flowing is enabled – instead try holding down the backspace key to delete word-by-word

Known issues:

• Flow trail is sometimes left on the screen at the end of a word
• Personalization service continues running when it has finished
• Memory usage is still higher than we would like
• Flow trail is very faint on some CyanogenMod ROMs
• Force closes on Motorola Atrix and LG G2X with custom ROMs >= 4.0
• If a language pack is downloaded while typing the keyboard is not refreshed
• Predictions are too large on LDPI devices
• Predictions occasionally lost when alternately backspacing/spacing at the end of a word
• Ukrainian spit layout is broken
• Estonian words containing ö are not predicted
• Arrow keys do not repeat on longpress

Via:  Swiftkey

New Swiftkey Flow Beta Released as Build 4.0.0.61 is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey Flow beta is now available to everyone! The gesture or Swype-style version of Swiftkey’s keyboard, brings a few new tricks to the table that others have yet to fully or even think about implementing. First, it predicts on the fly, so that you can see for yourself what word you are attempting to type. But beyond that, Flow allows you to write out entire sentences without lifting your finger, simply by dropping down to the spacebar in between words. So far, it seems like a fantastic update, once you get used to it. 

Download:  Flow for Phones | Flow for Tablets

Click here to view the embedded video.

Download: Swiftkey Flow Beta for Android Phones and Tablets is a post from: Droid Life

As the Verizon version of the Galaxy Note 2 started to arrive in customers hands this week, many were quick to point out the fact that “Swiftkey Flow” was listed in the keyboard settings. As we wrote earlier, Flow is the newest keyboard from Swiftkey that will enter beta testing in the very near future. It’s very much like the new Android 4.2 keyboard, which has gesture typing that predicts in real-time. With the 4.2 keyboard, and the beta version of Swiftkey Flow, both change the predicted word as you swipe between letters. It’s very cool.

The version of Flow on the Note 2 is not even close to being the same. Sure, it allows you to swipe between words, just like Swype has done in the past. However, it does not predict in real-time, but instead offers suggestions after you have fully swiped a word. It works, but the new beta version is what you should all be excited about. We have two videos below to show you the difference. 

Version of Swiftkey Flow on the Galaxy Note 2:

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Beta version with real-time prediction (jump to 30 second mark):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Verizon’s Galaxy Note 2 Sort of has Swiftkey Flow, But Not the Cool New Beta Version is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey Flow, a new gesture-inspired typing experience, will go into beta testing very soon. The Swiftkey team sent out reminder emails moments ago, telling you to get ready for the invite to test their “best keyboard yet.” As long as you are a part of their VIP forums and have “feedback@swiftkey.net” in your contacts to prevent it from going into spam, you should have received this email, but should also be in line to receive an invite to the beta as soon as it’s released.

First teased back in October as the newest upgrade to the one of the better Android keyboards on the planet, we couldn’t help but get excited over the thought of Swiftkey getting even better. The technology is already built into the Galaxy Note 2 (well, sort of), something we’ll show you in a moment. Until then, check out the promo video below to get a feel for the new keyboard. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Swiftkey Flow Beta Invites Near, Time to Get Ready is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey, one of the most popular Android keyboards, announced a new keyboard experience today, called Flow. As the name implies, Flow allows you to glide between keys so that you can type words without lifting up a finger. Before you jump in with the “This is like Swype!” comments, I recommend that you watch the video. Swiftkey’s version of swiping between keys comes off as being much more predictive than other options. During the video, Flow shows that it can predict words after you have swiped only a couple of letters. According to Swiftkey, it also stays top notch at normal typing for those rapid tappers out there.

There is going to be a beta release of Flow soon, so be sure to stop by Swiftkey’s site to sign up. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Swiftkey Introduces Swiftkey Flow, a Gliding and Predicting Typing Experience is a post from: Droid Life

A study put out today shows that the discrepancy between iOS and Android users on the topic of spending money on applications has drastically shrank over the past year. The guys over at SwiftKey partnered with a few websites to take a poll to see how users on each OS buy applications. Last year 39% of iOS users owned 20 or more paid apps with 3% having none. Android was the opposite with 12% having none and a measly 10% having over 20.

This year, that large difference has evened out a little bit. Android’s numbers have jumped to 19% of users having over 20 paid apps and no paid apps down to 6%. iOS has dropped dramatically down to 26% with the rate of no apps growing at the same time. Google has certainly been a bit more forceful in how apps should look since ICS was released, but there could be other reasons for this growth as well. The quality of apps on the platform has definitely improved. Plus, many developers are pricing their apps at lower introductory price points to get you into the game, where they then sell you additional features through in-app purchases.

What do you think? Do you pay for a good amount of apps on your phone?

Via: SwiftKey

Android Users Catching Up with iOS in Willingness to Pay for Apps is a post from: Droid Life

The Swiftkey team announced last night that they were releasing updated English language packs for both UK and US keyboards. These new packs were made with the summer Olympics in mind, so that as you send Tweets and texts to your friends over the next month, famous athlete names and key Olympics terms will be extra handy. 

To find the updated pack, follow these instructions:

SwiftKey users can update their language packs now by going to Settings > Languages & layouts and then tapping “Update” when it appears next to their active languages. To refresh the updates available, tap your phone’s menu button and choose “Update languages”.

If you hit up the source link below, you’ll notice that they won’t actually mention the Olympics by name and refer to it as the “One Thing.” Licensing, trademarks, and copyrights surrounding the biggest money maker in the world are likely to blame.

Via:  Swiftkey

Swiftkey Updates UK and US English Languages Packs to Support Summer Olympics is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey 3 received an update today that makes it fully compatible with Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). They also tossed in UI fixes, squashed some bugs, and fixed prediction popup issues. And yeah, that’s pretty much that. This is one of those apps that I actually recommend people buy, for those that haven’t purchased it yet. If you aren’t a swiper, this should be on your phone or tablet.

Play Link

Cheers @wipegently!

Swiftkey 3 Updated With Jelly Bean Compatibility is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey announced late last night that their Beta 3 was moving on up in the world and into official status in various app stores. Many of you have been helping them test the beta, but for those who stuck to releases in places like the Play store and Amazon Appstore, you can now join the party. If you had already purchased Swiftkey X, the upgrade to version 3 is free. If you have yet to fork out cash for any of the Swiftkeys, you can pick up them up for a limited time at half price, or $1.99.

Links:  Phone | Tablet

Cheers everyone!

Swiftkey 3 Graduates Beta and Into the Play Store – Free For X Owners, On Sale For Newbies is a post from: Droid Life