Earlier today, we highlighted how a number of new third-party systemwide keyboard for iOS 8 are topping the App Store charts, with SwiftKey Keyboard [Direct Link] displacing Facebook Messenger from the top spot on the free iPhone app chart in the United States.
Moving beyond the charts to look at raw download numbers, the success of these new keyboards is even more clear, with SwiftKey telling MacRumors that its iOS 8 keyboard has just passed one million downloads in less than 24 hours.
SwiftKey saw a brief launch delay yesterday due to App Store processing, and thus it did not go live until around noon Pacific Time, meaning that it has reached the milestone in roughly 22 hours.
SwiftKey is certainly benefiting from its positioning as a free app compared to competitors such as Swype and Fleksy, but it offers users a good opportunity to try out an alternative to Apple's default keyboard. SwiftKey will continue to upgrade its keyboard over time, no doubt at some point adding in premium features to generate income for the company.
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern.
As usual, the event is expected to take place in the first half of September.
Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to the...
Friday August 14, 2026 12:15 pm PDT by Juli Clover
For the first time since Apple started selling standard and "Pro" iPhones, we're not going to get an entry-level iPhone model this fall. Apple doesn't plan to release an iPhone 18 in September, and will only launch the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra. The lower-cost iPhone 18 won't come out until spring 2027.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Thursday August 13, 2026 4:20 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple will introduce at least five new devices at its iPhone-centric event next month, and it's also possible we'll get devices waiting on Siri AI like the Apple TV.
iPhone 18 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro is going to look like the iPhone 17 Pro, but with a smaller Dynamic Island. It's getting some internal updates, including a new Wide camera with a variable aperture for more control over lighting ...
Worst part about this keyboard, is that it requires full access for word prediction... which means the keyboard is no longer sandboxed.
This keyboard is also completely free, which begs the question how are they making money. They are probably data-minning the words we type. Like Apple said we are its product.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.