Microsoft SwiftKey is a virtual keyboard app originally developed by TouchType for Android and iOS devices. It was first released for Android in July 2010, followed by an iOS release in September 2014 after Apple implemented third-party keyboard support. Support for the iOS app was briefly discontinued in October 2022, before being reinstated the following month; however, users are no longer able to login. SwiftKey learns from previous typed text and outputs predictions based on currently inputted text and what it has learned. History The company behind SwiftKey was founded in 2008 by Jon Reynolds, Ben Medlock and Chris Hill-Scott. Its head office is at the Microsoft offices in Paddington, London, and other offices are located in San Francisco, and Seoul. In September 2013, SwiftKey announced a series B finance round totalling $17.5 million and led by Index Ventures, along with Octopus Investments and Accel Partners. In May 2014, SwiftKey hired James Bromley as COO. In February 2016, SwiftKey was purchased by Microsoft, for $250 million. In May 2020, the app was rebranded as Microsoft SwiftKey to reflect its present ownership. In September 2022, Microsoft announced it was terminating support for the iOS version of SwiftKey. The app was removed from the App Store on October 5th. In November 2022, Microsoft announced a reversal of its decision to discontinue SwiftKey for iOS devices. The app was relisted on November 18th, with Microsoft promising future updates for the app. The company cited "customer feedback" as a reason for SwiftKey's return. Overview SwiftKey's Prediction Engine allows the program to learn from usage and improve predictions. The feature allows the tool to improve with usage, learning from SMS, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and an RSS feed. Beta SwiftKey was first released as a beta in the Android Market on 14 July 2010, supporting seven languages. It included a variety of settings to adjust audio feedback volume and length of haptic feedback vibration. It was announced on SwiftKey's official website on 15 May 2014, that a Japanese version was out in beta. People registered on SwiftKey VIP were able to download the beta version. SwiftKey X On 14 July 2011, SwiftKey X was released to the Android Market as an upgrade to SwiftKey. Along with new and updated features, SwiftKey X introduced a dedicated app for tablets, called SwiftKey Tablet X. The updates included: A new artificial intelligence engine, to predict phrases and learn the