Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#221

Post by Karawebnetwork » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:14 PM UTC

unpopularopp wrote: post #10

> This one hurts, it really hurts. I think this hurts worse than Musk buying/poisoning/killing Twitter. I've mentioned this before but a keyboard feels like an extension of your body People need to take a break. Being terminally online and complaining about everything is not a healthy way of life.

Using Swiftkey since it's first release, it's more than being angry at online changes.

The keyboard works in such a way that it learns your typing style and then understands what you type without the requirement for actually hitting the right keys.

I can type "ky nt gromf koe stw uoi" and it will become "hi my friend how are you".

This makes typing on a phone extremely fast.

The problem is that other keyboards that claim to have similar features are not able to understand my typing gibberish.

In essence, I and many other Swiftkey users have trained ourselves to no longer be able to use any other keyboard.

Is this worth being mad over? In my opinion yes, a product loved by many being purchased by a big company who then close down support avenues is always a good reason to be mad.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#222

Post by vrglvrglvrgl » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:20 PM UTC

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Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#223

Post by dmix » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:26 PM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #219

elashri wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and then when they finally release an update it's because of a fucking Bing button To be honest and as a heavy user of SwiftKey on iOS, they updated the app and released a fix before all the AI hype in the last couple of months. They might have this in mind as part of their vision from that point, but it is not to say that

Wait, you were still using it? I used it for years and years but then they announced they killed it[1] last Fall and I switched to something I like a lot less. Is SwiftKey back? Can I start using it again? Will they just yank it again in three months when people get bored of the AI gimmick? I'm confused. [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/microsoft-will-end-s... Can we please, as an industry, stop selling go…

It never really left. It got removed from the app store briefly but they reversed that decesion pretty quickly afterwards. I've also never had any issues with it on iOS so I'm curious why OP thinks it's a broken mess.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#224

Post by dmix » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:29 PM UTC

tomaskafka wrote: post #181

My $10 says the cause for the decision to renew work on iOS SwiftKey wasn't "customer feedback", but Bing/LLM part of Microsoft realizing that their bean counters have just shut down the only system-wide text-based touchpoint Microsoft ever had on iOS, just as they want to start integrating Bing/LLM everywhere.

That should be pretty obvious. ChatGPT is Microsoft's new golden child. Any potential interface for it will be getting plenty of attention and SwiftKey will suddenly be included in tons of management spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

The Bing->Chat buttons just open the Bing app currently. I'm curious if they will directly integrate it.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#225

Post by coldpie » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:31 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #223

coldpie wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you were still using it? I used it for years and years but then they announced they killed it[1] last Fall and I switched to something I like a lot less. Is SwiftKey back? Can I start using it again? Will they just yank it again in three months when people get bored of the AI gimmick? I'm confused. [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/microsoft-will-end-s... Can we please, as an industry, stop selling go…

It never really left. It got removed from the app store briefly but they reversed that decesion pretty quickly afterwards. I've also never had any issues with it on iOS so I'm curious why OP thinks it's a broken mess.

OK, well, I guess I'll try it. I'm not looking forward to 6 months from now when they do an internal product review and decide to kill it, again.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#226

Post by causi » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:34 PM UTC

I've been fighting for probably a full decade at this point to get Swiftkey to stop turning "ok" into "OK" and making me look like either a geriatric or a lunatic. It doesn't matter how many times I tell it to stop predicting it it keeps happening.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#227

Post by stronglikedan » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:40 PM UTC

merijnv wrote: post #104

Daneel_ wrote: post #29

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does swiftkey offer over the usual keyboard? A quick google seems to bring up "better predictive text" and "better multi-language support" - is that it?

I mean, you say "is this it?", but the multi-language support of literally all other Android keyboards I've used are basically unusable. Take Google's default keyboard, it requires you manually switch languages for swiping and predictive text to work. But that's completely unworkable for the way multi-lingual people end up actually typing texting. I swap back and forth across languages, even if just for 1 or 2 words…

I use GBoard with both English and Spanish installed, and I don't have to manually switch anything to swipe in both languages, or get predictive text in both languages.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#228

Post by hersko » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:41 PM UTC

Daneel_ wrote: post #29

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does swiftkey offer over the usual keyboard? A quick google seems to bring up "better predictive text" and "better multi-language support" - is that it?

It has a cool bing button. :-)

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#229

Post by michaelcampbell » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:42 PM UTC

Daneel_ wrote: post #29

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does swiftkey offer over the usual keyboard? A quick google seems to bring up "better predictive text" and "better multi-language support" - is that it?

I use it because it has shifted characters over regular keys, so I can get to the most used ones with a touch-hold-slide action vs. finding the "other" keyboard overlay, then hunt for it.

And, it does the slidy input if I want that.

Re: Microsoft deleted the public support forums for SwiftKey

#230

Post by that_guy_iain » Mon, Apr 17, 2023, 1:45 PM UTC

egeozcan wrote: post #27

unpopularopp wrote: post #10

> This one hurts, it really hurts. I think this hurts worse than Musk buying/poisoning/killing Twitter. I've mentioned this before but a keyboard feels like an extension of your body People need to take a break. Being terminally online and complaining about everything is not a healthy way of life.

If a keyboard app feels like an extension of your body, it means you write a lot. It doesn't mean that you are "terminally online", and even if you were online all the time, that's a personal choice and not being online all the time doesn't even solve the problem shared here. I'd even say, perhaps it's best not to tell people that their problems aren't problems to begin with. I'm not saying one should care, it'd be e…

I would say comparing it to Musk buying Twitter is about being terminally online. Like someone bought Twitter and basically made improvements. There are a whole bunch of things he did which don't really affect how many people use or interact with the app which people hate but it's really just internet drama.