SwiftKey vs Gboard: This is the best Android keyboard in my view

Last year, I wrote an article about the Android apps I recommend to non-techies. In that piece, my keyboard pick was Gboard, thanks to its ease of use. However, not every reader agreed with me, and some mentioned a name I hadn’t heard (or used) in years: SwiftKey.

I was once an avid SwiftKey user, opting for the innovative keyboard early in my Android journey over Google’s simpler default option. The allure of the more efficient and sensibly designed Google alternative eventually drew me away as I upgraded to more polished devices. But, given that we’ve just started a new year, could the reverse be true? Could SwiftKey challenge Gboard on my devices going forward?

Well, all the signs were there. I haven’t reviewed my keyboard choice in quite a while, aside from a brief flirtation with the open-source alternative HeliBoard. I also have an affinity for Microsoft’s Android apps, including the brilliant Launcher and Phone Link.

I’m always up for new experiences, so I installed SwiftKey, relegated Gboard to the bench, and started typing. Now that I’m about a week into my journey, I have a few pressing items to discuss.

There’s perhaps a good reason why I’ve stuck with Gboard for so long. If you own an old but still functional pair of running shoes that you find infinitely comfortable and that helped you hit personal targets, you likely wouldn’t want to switch to something new, right? That’s where I found myself with Google’s keyboard. I’ve grown used to its responses to taps and swipes, the overall layout, the placement of its buttons, the size of the keyboard on my screen, and its appearance. Using it is a matter of muscle memory, so switching to something new and giving it a fair shot would take time and relearning.

Naturally, when I changed my default to SwiftKey just after the new year, it was a jarring experience. Nearly two weeks later, I’m still getting used to its idiosyncrasies, but the app’s broad settings array definitely helped ease me into it.

Gboard is prescriptive, imposing much of its functionality and design on users. SwiftKey is far more accommodating. As far as aesthetics go, it includes a broader array of themes and theming options. I much prefer its Fluent Dynamic theme, which matches my phone’s overall color profile, over Gboard’s Material-adjacent alternative. While I don’t particularly like masking my keyboard with patterns and transparency, this option is available to SwiftKey users.

Then there are the key options; SwiftKey absolutely trounces Gboard in this regard. While Google’s keyboard includes an entire Edit screen that gives me quick access to the arrow keys, SwiftKey lets me place these keys below the keyboard itself. When the cursor struggles to land exactly where I want it to in a sentence when I tap the screen, I rely on these buttons to easily and quickly jump to the letter or word I want to edit. It has become a core part of my daily typing routine. Although this inclusion means SwiftKey occupies more of my screen than I would like, it’s a small price to pay for the benefits.

Customizations are one thing, but do they actually mean improved typing performance over Gboard? Well, not initially. I couldn’t quite stand SwiftKey in the first few days of using it, and had to force myself to keep using it. But, eventually, after experimenting with the button placements and keyboard size, I’ve grown far more comfortable with accurately landing taps on Microsoft’s keyboard.

That said, SwiftKey’s predictive smarts and swipe-typing performance trail Gboard by a considerable margin.

To be fair, SwiftKey does offer some nifty recommendation features. It suggests multiple words in a single box, which is particularly useful when formulating shorter sentences. As a real-world example, I often tell my better half that I’m leaving our apartment when she’s at work. So when I type “Leaving,” SwiftKey suggests “Leaving the.” It’s a minor example, but given how often it offers these two-word suggestions, the overall time savings become significant in the long run.

Additionally, I understand that SwiftKey allows users to swipe multiple words in a single gesture, but this has never worked reliably for me. Generally, I tend to type every word rather than swipe them, so this didn’t affect me that much.

A feature I’ve learned to value significantly is SwiftKey’s clipboard management. I can easily save entire strings here for quick insertion in a message later. I’ve not quite pushed this particular feature to its limits yet, but I do plan to hone it further as my typing journey continues.

Finally, I want to touch on one major shortcoming that users of big tech keyboards have mentioned: privacy.

One of the many issues with Gboard is the obvious Google connection. Those who value their privacy may not want to use a keyboard made by a company that has a taste for user data. Well, SwiftKey isn’t exactly exempt from this either. It’s a Microsoft property, so you can expect plenty of Copilot-led AI features baked into it. For what it’s worth, I didn’t find any of these truly useful. The only time I ever refine my writing is when drafting emails. I don’t need Copilot to lend a hand here, nor do I want it to issue my text as queries. I’d much sooner use a standalone AI chatbot app for this. Thankfully, Microsoft does make it more apparent that you can shut off these features if you so desire.

If you don’t want to log in to the keyboard with your Microsoft account, you don’t have to. Don’t want to use the Rewards feature? Don’t bother. For another layer of protection, you can even remove all permissions, and SwiftKey will largely work without much fuss.

Of course, if you’re taking de-Googling more seriously, you should consider an open-source keyboard. As I mentioned in the intro, Heliboard is well worth considering.

While I regularly jump between various Android apps in multiple genres, I rarely switch up my keyboard. As a result, I’ve been tied to Gboard for the majority of the past decade. But, after using SwiftKey for the past two weeks, I can easily see myself adopting it for the rest of the month, if not the year.

SwiftKey offers plenty of customization options, including small yet significant features that improve my typing experience. Despite Microsoft’s best efforts to ruin it with needless AI injections, you can deactivate these with relative ease.

Is SwiftKey better than Gboard? That really depends. If you’re reliant on a keyboard that integrates Google’s various products, offers accurate predictive smarts, and provides that familiar feeling, Gboard is the ticket. But I do believe SwiftKey has a much higher ceiling once you get used to its quirks.