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Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

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Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#51

Post by rayiner »

hahainternet wrote: post #43
rayiner wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do users really don't care and blindly ignore all security warnings? Whenever I install an app on my Nexus 5, I click through the "this app wants XYZ permissions" dialog without reading it. Not only do I not read it, I get a little angry each time because I can't do anything with the information and it's just in my way.

> I get a little angry each time because I can't do anything with the information and it's just in my way. I don't install apps that require permissions I'm not happy with. Don't be so callous with your own security.

My phone is already sending everything to Google, so what do I care?

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#52

Post by michaelmior »

drdaeman wrote: post #40
cwyers wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SMS permission is so that it can read your SMS messages to use as training data for their word-completion prediction features. As to why SwiftKey doesn't strip out most of the features that makes it better than the official keyboard and sell it to a small market of people who don't want the features that are the app's actual selling point... well, that's why, those are the features that differentiate them, withou…

As for features... I thought their primary selling point is being smart - their pattern recognition logic, that translates swipes to words and sentences. A good dictionary, a good language model and so on. I really doubt the thing that differentiates them from other keyboards is that they learn from message history and sync that over the network.

I can't be sure, but from trying different keyboards, I found SwiftKey seems to be faster to adapt to my particular patterns of language usage. I assume this is because it has access to a reasonable amount of text written by me. In any case, I have found the prediction to be superior to other keyboards I've tried. (Although I haven't tried Fleksy yet. Looks quite promising.)

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#53

Post by danielweber »

rayiner wrote: post #51
hahainternet wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I get a little angry each time because I can't do anything with the information and it's just in my way. I don't install apps that require permissions I'm not happy with. Don't be so callous with your own security.

My phone is already sending everything to Google, so what do I care?

Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.

If you've taken the decision that none of these three is worth the hassle, that can be a fine decision.

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#54

Post by inthewoods »

Karunamon wrote: post #50
inthewoods wrote: post #44

I guess this is part of the continued move away from paid apps - but as a user, I found this confusing. Swiftkey states that their goal is to get as many people using the app as possible, so they're making it free - but nowhere do they define for their users how they are planning on making money. That leaves me thinking the one of the following: you'll be selling my data, you'll be doing in-app purchasing, you've fou…

you'll be selling my data Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD. you'll be doing in-app purchasing Err.. did you miss the announcement of the IAP theme store? Because that's exactly what they're doing. my point is that as a paying customer this is not a good way to communicate. I have no idea what the strategy is Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model…

"Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD."

Given that they have no last update date for their Privacy, Terms, et al on their website, I have no idea if these are current.

"Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model."

As a user of the application, I don't know what they are doing - they did not communicate it. That's my point.

"Err.. did you miss the announcement of the IAP theme store? Because that's exactly what they're doing."

No, I saw that part of the announcement - that doesn't clear it up for me. It indicates that they'll be charging for add-on themes -- nothing else. It doesn't assure me that they'll NOT be selling my data (as an example).

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#55

Post by Karunamon »

inthewoods wrote: post #54
Karunamon wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you'll be selling my data Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD. you'll be doing in-app purchasing Err.. did you miss the announcement of the IAP theme store? Because that's exactly what they're doing. my point is that as a paying customer this is not a good way to communicate. I have no idea what the strategy is Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model…

"Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD." Given that they have no last update date for their Privacy, Terms, et al on their website, I have no idea if these are current. "Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model." As a user of the application, I don't know what they are doing - they did not communicate it. That's my point. "Err.. did you miss the announc…

I'd imagine the cross section of their user base which devotes this level of thought to their business model is quite small.

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#56

Post by inthewoods »

Karunamon wrote: post #55
inthewoods wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD." Given that they have no last update date for their Privacy, Terms, et al on their website, I have no idea if these are current. "Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model." As a user of the application, I don't know what they are doing - they did not communicate it. That's my point. "Err.. did you miss the announc…

I'd imagine the cross section of their user base which devotes this level of thought to their business model is quite small.

Probably right!

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#57

Post by scott_karana »

rayiner wrote: post #51
hahainternet wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I get a little angry each time because I can't do anything with the information and it's just in my way. I don't install apps that require permissions I'm not happy with. Don't be so callous with your own security.

My phone is already sending everything to Google, so what do I care?

You're disclaiming liability by agreeing.

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#58

Post by drdaeman »

annnnd wrote: post #35
drdaeman wrote: post #27

Another keyboard that requires network connectivity, profile/contact data, call state, access to photos/recordings (eh?) and even wants to send SMS[1]. Do users really don't care and blindly ignore all security warnings? Just wondering why keyboard makers don't provide "restricted" builds of their software, that intentionally lack some features, but still serve their purpose by providing an efficient method to type a…

I'm also wondering why Google doesn't provide a way to limit app permissions and feed them dummy data. (they did for a while)

Swype had cried a river when CM tried to do so. Guess, data mining companies who're interesting in obtaining customer data have their ties with Google.

Oh, well, Google is one to begin with.

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#59

Post by dmix »

drdaeman wrote: post #49
dmix wrote: post #47

They are essentially a keylogger when the 'cloud' service is turned on. It uploads everything you type but tries to detect password fields and avoid them. They insist their security and cryptography is quality, but we've heard that a lot recently. Their lack of an obvious business model is a bit worrying.

They do send raw unprocessed texts? Thanks for warning. From my understanding, unless some really tricky and CPU-savvy math's in works, it probably would be more efficient to update language model on-device then push the change. Not only it would somehow avoid (not really, but at least obscure a bit) revealing the exact typed texts, but also lower the necessary server-side processing.

The text prediction still works fine locally without the cloud feature. The data gathering is probably to refine their algorithms. Which I'd expect would include raw text input. Which in a surveillance sense is a bit scary, someone seeing your unfinished thoughts or pre-self-censorship messages.

Re: Swiftkey Keyboard Android is now free

#60

Post by nobodyshere »

ToastyMallows wrote: post #20
nobodyshere wrote: post #6

I just wish I could remove their branded button from keyboard.

I kind of like it because I hide the app from my app drawer and it's an easy way to get to the settings. To each their own though.

I'm not against it for everyone, I just want to have a choice there. This button usually stands out from the rest and is quite useless when you are actually typing.
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