SwiftKey: Keyboard completely gone after update! To all SwiftKey users who stumble accross this post: Do not update your SwirftKey app at the moment!

Hello everyone

Today I updated several apps on my Android 9 Huawei Mate 20 Pro (non-rooted), among them also the SwiftKey application. After this update my keyboard was gone, completely. Unfortunately I had the great idea that this could be solved by restarting my phone. But after the restart, when asked for the password (the entering of the pin worked fine; there was a numpad) there was and is no keyboard to enter anyting. i.e. the password.

This issue renders my whole device useless. In addition I have no clue on how to solve this and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to access my phone in any way (I think? Because even a connection to a computer would be denied without allowing USB debugging... Am I right?) - e.g. update SwiftKey again. SwiftKey is the stock keyboard of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro...

I wrote something very similar on the SwiftKey "Support" Page (here) - which is a community-help-itself-site, i think. (It's incredible that there is absolutly no possibility to contact SwiftKey directly, or am I mistaken?) But I thought the kind people here might be (way) more competent, especially if will I have to access my phone through a USB connection without the possibility to enter my password...

Any help is greatly appreciated. :) Many thanks.



Solution:

Use OTG adapter with an external keyboard. For details see accepted answer and this Reddit thread.
There must be some other issue that caused your SwiftKey app keyboard to be disabled or uninstalled. I just updated mine (deliberately)  to version 7.2.4.22 to test this and the app is working fine. I also restarted the phone and it still works. 

Here are some solutions I can think of:


If you had an another keyboard installed, such as Google Keyboard (usually comes with most Android devices that ship Google apps), and provided you didn't disable the keyboard under Available Keyboard settings, you should be able to boot into safe mode and use the device. The stock keyboard app would kick-in automatically. Search internet for safe booting in your device.
Alternatively, since your device supports OTG host you should be able to use an OTG cable with any standard wired keyboard to enter your password/PIN. For a pattern, use a wired mouse.