Microsoft to Kill Off SwiftKey for iOS and Delist From App Store on October 5

Microsoft is ending support for its SwiftKey predictive keyboard for iPhone and the app will be delisted from the App Store next week, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

swiftkeyios
Responding to a request from ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley for more information after a lack of updates to the app for over a year, director of product management at SwiftKey, Chris Wolfe, gave the following statement:

"As of October 5, support for SwiftKey iOS will end and it will be delisted from the Apple App Store. Microsoft will continue support for SwiftKey Android as well as the underlying technology that powers the Windows touch keyboard. For those customers who have SwiftKey installed on iOS, it will continue to work until it is manually uninstalled or a user gets a new device. Please visit Support.SwiftKey.com for more information."

Microsoft did not give a reason for its decision to kill off the app, but Foley speculates that it may be related to Apple's policies about granting developers access to certain parts of its software, since if it chooses not to, "there's no easy or good way to make a product which needs integration to work."

Microsoft acquired SwiftKey in 2016. At the time, Microsoft said the keyboard was used on more than 300 million Android and iOS devices. The app uses a natural language processing algorithm that helps users type faster by predicting what they will type next. Microsoft plans to continue to support SwiftKey on Android for the foreseeable future.

Popular Stories

apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...
top stories 2025 07 12

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, iOS 26 Beta 3, and More

Saturday July 12, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
The iOS 26 public beta release is quickly approaching, while developers have recently gotten their hands on a third round of betas that has seen Apple continue to tweak features, design, and functionality. We're also continuing to hear rumors about the iPhone 17 lineup that is now just about right around the corner, while Apple's latest big-budget film appears to be taking off, so read on...

Top Rated Comments

malko Avatar
37 months ago
For me this is a BIG dealbreaker. I just got myself an iPhone 14 Pro Max but it is likely to be my last iPhone after this announcement.

I'm typing in three languages and SwiftKey was the only "OK" keyboard for iPhone – not really "good" since it could only handle two languages on iOS due to artificial memory limitations imposed by Apple. But still good enough since it at least allows me to type in my main two languages effortlessly.

But without SwiftKey there is not even a "good enough" keyboard for me on iPhone. Sure, it will remain on my iPhone even though it doesn't get updates, but no chance I will buy a new iPhone in a year or two if there is no new keyboard in App Store to fill the empty space after SwiftKey...

PS. To anyone suggesting to use Apples built-in keyboard with multiple languages set up: No, that is not an option. Apples keyboard only supports English + 9 additional languages – none of which I use.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
prwnr Avatar
37 months ago

Also: This functionality is built into iOS now
maybe works for countries that Apple care about, but for my language (polish) with additional english enabled it doesnt really work well. when Im writing english words it wants to autocorrect them to polish words.

not to mention total lack of suggestions like english language has, for the polish language.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
solq Avatar
37 months ago
Oh no, that's what I use. This is terrible news, I loathe the default iOS keyboard.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maryland Avatar
37 months ago

iOS Keyboard got updated long time ago with automatic language understanding! Just add all the languages you speak on the keyboard and it understands right away the language of suggestions.
This only works with a small number of languages. Apple calls it Multilingual Typing and the supported languages are listed here:

https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/#quicktype-keyboard-multilingual-typing
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3401122 Avatar
37 months ago

this is bad news.
especially for folks that are using more than one language, because Apple keyboard requires you to switch between them, not to use two at the same time :confused:
and this is bad for languages that dont have good suggestion support in Apple keyboard.

The only alternative now is gboard, which I always wanted to avoid, because I dont trust google at all.
iOS Keyboard got updated long time ago with automatic language understanding! Just add all the languages you speak on the keyboard and it understands right away the language of suggestions.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3530025 Avatar
37 months ago

iOS Keyboard got updated long time ago with automatic language understanding! Just add all the languages you speak on the keyboard and it understands right away the language of suggestions.
iOS keyboard still does not understand (does not have prediction for) many languages. Swift on the other hand does.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)