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SwiftKey gets a theme store on iPhone, complete with animated keyboards

SwiftKey today released a major update to its iOS 8 third-party keyboard, bundling in a new theme store and critical performance improvements. SwiftKey is one of the more popular third-party iOS keyboards, and was launched last year with impressive word prediction technology that is similar to Apple’s QuickType keyboard…

 

Shooting Stars theme GIF

The SwiftKey theme store first appeared on Android last year, and the iOS version brings along with it 12 new themes. As part of these new themes comes a new animated “shooting stars” theme that moves based on the iOS Parallax/Motion feature. The themes currently range in price from $0.99 to $1.99, with the animated themes coming in at the higher price. You can also live preview themes before purchasing and installing them, unlike with the Android version.

As for the fixes, SwiftKey says that today’s update is “designed to increase SwiftKey’s stability, and reduce the instances when SwiftKey is unintentionally replaced by the iOS default keyboard.” SwiftKey is free to download on the App Store. SwiftKey is available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch on devices running iOS 8 or later. (An update for issues purchasing themes earlier this morning is available as well; reselecting purchased themes will restore them without going through the purchase process.)

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Comments

  1. Jared (@GunningGunny) - 9 years ago

    I just updated to the new version and purchased the Minimal Iceberg theme. I went to select to use as my new theme and instead of updating it to the new design it defaulted to Nickel Dark. I can’t use the purchased theme even after I bought it. I am running the latest iOS 8.3 and have allowed full access. This kinda sucks. Any workarounds?

  2. Juan C. A. Ferreira - 9 years ago

    The same thing happens to me. I bought new themes and can´t use no one of then.

    • Jared (@GunningGunny) - 9 years ago

      Ya, I tried uninstalling the app and reinstalling, and then restored purchases but still no luck.

      • Juan C. A. Ferreira - 9 years ago

        I do the same thing, and nothing.

      • Jared (@GunningGunny) - 9 years ago

        This sucks. That was one of the biggest issues I had with SwiftKey was there lack of themes or designs. These minimal ones look awesome but what’s the point if you can’t use them lol

  3. Stephen Penny - 9 years ago

    And immediately has issues with iOS purchases so that you can’t even use what you’ve paid for – as just happened to me!

  4. Jim Hassinger - 9 years ago

    Could never use the thing. Once in every sentence, I’d tap the wrong key and find myself back in the default. Took it off.

  5. Gazoo Bee - 9 years ago

    I guess I’m the only one that finds the Android style “lower case” keyboards hard to see and use?

    Kudos to those who like it, but keyboards like Swift’s actually slow me down. Word prediction is for slow, one-finger typists only IMO.

  6. Jared (@GunningGunny) - 9 years ago

    UPDATE:

    I just got an update to the app and it fixed the issue.

    • Zadkiel Yeo - 9 years ago

      YUP! Likewise! The same app update appeared in the app store again.
      Update.Fixed!
      check your app store to see if there’s an update available!

      • jg41 - 9 years ago

        Yes that update should solve it!

  7. ikir - 9 years ago

    Best keyboard i’ve ever tried

  8. Michael Nordmeyer - 9 years ago

    I’m pretty sure I don’t want to have a parallax/motion feature in the background of my keyboard. *That* is distracting.

  9. jg41 - 9 years ago

    Hi folks, I work on the SwiftKey Community Team and can speak more about the app. Early technical issues with theme store purchase validation have now been fixed. If you experienced these problems, please update your SwiftKey app to 1.3.2 in the App Store, then reselect the theme you purchased under “design” within the app. You will not need to go through the purchase process again. If you have further questions please reach out to our Community Support Team at https://support.swiftkey.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=24611 and we can follow up directly.