Swiftkey has been one of the best keyboards for Android devices for quite some time. The biggest competition of this smart keyboard is Gboard, one of those that by default are pre-installed in many terminals and take advantage of this advantage to beat the one acquired by Redmond back in 2016.
You can take advantage of the Swiftkey keyboard a lot, for this you have to know it quite thoroughly in order to know many of its internal characteristics. There are a series of tricks for the app that is available in the Play Store and that already has more than 500 million downloads.
Unlock the keyboard to position it elsewhere
The keyboard is usually always positioned at the bottom, one of the options that may be important for many people is to move it to another side. With floating mode we will be able to unlock it and take it anywhere, be it up, to the left or to the right.
To unlock it with one movement, do the following:
- Open any of the applications where the keyboard is shown
- Click on the + icon in Swiftkey and go into Settings, this may change on some phones, it is also possible to find "Floating" click on the three horizontal points, modes and activate the third option which is "Floating"
- Click on the option that says floating
- Now you will be able to move the keyboard anywhere on the screen
Change the size of the Swiftkey keyboard
If you want to enlarge the size of the Swiftkey keyboard, you can do it, especially if you want to type quickly without pressing another key by mistake. It will be able to be adapted to a larger size in order to make the most of all the keys available on the virtual keyboard.
To resize the Swiftkey keyboard do it as follows:
- Access the Settings of your mobile device and enter the System
- In System look for "Language and text input", click on Swiftkey
- Now in Swiftkey click on "Writing" and enter the option "Adjust size", here adjust to the size you prefer, it is best to try several before choosing one
Enable gestures
Every keyboard for Android has support for gestures, Swiftkey could not be less and add really cool options, including Classic and Flow. The first is quite functional to make you easily with this option, while the second will let you write one or more words by sliding your fingers between the letters.
To enable gestures in Swiftkey you have to do the following:
- Access the Settings of your Android device and then "System"
- Click on "Language and text input"
- Click on "Microsoft Swiftkey keyboard", inside click on "Writing" and enter "Writing and auto-correction"
- Now once you see Gesture input choose the one you want to use, the recommended one to start is «Classic», the Flow one is convenient to use as long as you get the classic
Expand languages
If you get to speak in several languages ​​it is best to have multiple different keyboards, be it English, German or French, any one works for you to write in another language. Switkey supports a multitude of languages, therefore it is advisable to have a wide variety at our disposal. Swiftkey can be used as an instant translator, a pretty important feature.
To have several languages ​​on the keyboard you have to do the following:
- Access the Settings of your Android device
- Open System and click on "Language and text input"
- Now enter the "Keyboard" and then access the "Languages" section
- Once inside languages ​​add the ones you want, so you will open a wide range of possibilities
Themes for Swiftkey
If you want to customize the Swiftkey keyboard, it is best to be able to choose one of the available themesTherefore, it is the user's choice to be able to choose one or the other. Swiftkey has several themes available, but it is true that we can download several when configuring it in advance.
To have Swiftkey themes you have to do the following:
- Open your device's Android Settings
- Access now to System
- Now click on Language and text input
- Click on Swiftkey and then on «Themes»
- Find the theme you are going to use, click on it and download the theme, log into your Google account and access the new keyboard theme
Add a good list of numbers
As with any keyboard, it is best to have a row of numbers with which to add, but not all users can afford that. If you are to enter numbers in a text message, it is best to have it at first sight and that is essential on any keyboard.
- Access any application (WhatsApp, web page) and open the keyboard
- You will now have access to the Swiftkey keyboard
- Click on the + icon and then access the gear wheel (access to tools)
- Access the "Row of numbers" and activate the option to have the usual effect
Add the quick access bar
Swiftkey has implemented the quick access bar in previous versions and the best thing is to have availability and that happens in many cases. Access GIFs settings, keyboard customization with themes, clipboard, collection and GPS location in a quick way as follows:
- Swipe the bar to the left to show the rest
- Click on the gear wheel (Options)
- All the icons of each of the shortcuts appear
- Click on one to activate and disable it
- Hold down to drag and organize the quick access bar
Activate incognito mode
The SwiftKey keyboard has incognito mode, functional when browsing privately, it works perfectly with Google Chrome and your browsing anonymously. It will also change automatically when you write private or sensitive text, for example if you use Telegram's secret chat.
To activate Swiftkey's incognito mode you have to do the following:
- Open an application and unfold the keyboard
- Click on the three points horizontally
- Now in "Incognito" click on the option and it will be activated automatically, you will be shown the keyboard and the incognito logo in the background to know that you keep the mode
- If you want to deactivate it, you have to do the same and click on the option
Activate emoji predictions
A very useful thing in Swiftkey is the emoji predictions, you need to activate it because it is deactivated by default and it will always give you recommendations. To use the Microsoft virtual keyboard you have to go to the settings to start it up and be able to use some that it suggests at different times.
To activate the emoji predictions you have to do the following:
- Open the Swiftkey keyboard on your device in any application
- Access the three points horizontally and click Settings
- Enter the "Emojis" option and activate "Emoji predictions"
- Now once you enable it, the relevant emojis will be suggested in the prediction bar
