Whether you are using an Android or an iOS device, the features of the Keyboard on our phones play a big role in our communication speed.
Google Keyboard (also known as Gboard) and SwiftKey have ruled the mobile keyboard space for a long time, although they both have definite weaknesses and strengths that we are going to look into.
Also, before we start looking into the differences between the two keyboards, let’s know that there is no absolute, better-for-everyone, hands-down winner here.
Keyboards are a highly subjective application category, so we might have different choices after looking at the keyboard features.
Let’s take a look at the two apps.
About Gboard Vs Swiftkey
Gboard
Google’s Keyboard (also known as Gboard) is a virtual keyboard developed for iOS and Android devices.
Gboard was first released on iOS in May 2016 and then released on Android in December 2016.
Millions of users use Gboard on iOS and Android. The developers made sure the app that new functionalities were being added to the app over time.
The update to the virtual Keyboard has enabled additional functionality, including support for voice dictation, GIF suggestions, hand-drawn emoji recognition, options for a dark color theme or adding a custom image as the keyboard background, and next-phrase prediction.
In August 2018, Google’s Keyboard (Gboard) passed 1 billion installs on the Google Play Store, making it one of the most popular applications on Android.
The Google Play Store measures the app’s popularity and includes pre-installed instances of the app and downloads by users.
Microsoft SwiftKey
Microsoft SwiftKey (commonly known as SwiftKey) is a virtual keyboard application developed by TouchType for iOS and Android devices.
SwiftKey was first released for Android in July 2015, then released on iOS in September 2014 (after Apple allowed third-party keyboard support).
The virtual Keyboard has a lot of cool features. Learning from previously typed text gives you more accurate predictions and auto-correction.
It outputs predictions based on what it has learned – including the emoji, words, and phrases that matter to you.
The Keyboard’s approach to punctuation and customizable instruction bar make it easy for advanced editors to get what they want to be typed quickly.
Gboard Vs Swiftkey: Which Keyboard is Better?
Google’s Keyboard is a popular app on iOS and Android devices. It is usually preloaded on most Android phones, so it is commonly used among newer users who might still be getting used to using an on-screen keyboard.
Gboard and SwiftKey have some common features like an in-keyboard search engine, GIF searching, floating keyboard support, and emoji predictions.
Let’s look at some reasons why we would prefer one of the keyboards to the other.
1. Clipboard Access
Sometimes we might need to do some insane amount of copying and pasting. However, the two apps give easy access to the clipboard.
Still, SwiftKey’s feature bar allows users to easily paste multiple items without long-pressing and finding the clipboard option every time.
Especially when the user is working on themes with hex color codes that must be copied to multiple places in a different order.
This makes SwiftKey a lifesaver for live-tweeting with multiple hashtags and for confirmations.
Also, Google’s keyboard clipboard skills have improved lately, but they are not better than SwiftKey’s.
2. Symbol Swiping
Microsoft SwiftKey allows you to swipe right and left on the period button to quickly add and ! to sentences.
On the other hand, Gboard allows you to long-press and drag the and! symbol to your sentences.
For someone who is naturally curious and excitable, these symbols will be very important to him or her, and he or she wouldn’t want to switch pages or long-press to use them every time.
Gboard doesn’t support the feature of swiping to use symbols on both iOS and Android, but this feature is enabled on SwiftKey (both iOS and Android).
Symbol swiping helps the users to add brackets or other formatting symbols to their sentences quickly.
3. Prediction Layout
Predictions on Google’s Keyboard and SwiftKey are nice, but their prediction layout differs.
Google’s Keyboard is popularly known for this feature; years and years of using the Keyboard will result in showing relevant and useful predictions that have been used over time.
Google’s Keyboard shows three possible suggestions in the prediction bar while the intended word is in your document or text box (seen left).
This means that you see more predictions, and there’s no repetition.
These look okay, but the layout can seem confusing to the person typing because he or she might end up tapping the center prediction.
Usually, the center prediction might not be the word the person wanted to use. Unlike SwiftKey, where the intended or typed word is seen in the center, while predictions are on either side.
4. Sticker Pack Support
One major advantage of Google’s Keyboard over the SwiftKey is the ability to import and support stickers from other sources. Stickers are now popularly used on social media platforms.
They are similar in appearance to emojis but have distinct characteristics. They often contain diverse gestures, animation, objects, and multiple characters.
This is an area where Google’s Keyboard has an upper hand on SwiftKey.
You can download and use some sticker packs from Google Play to make your conversation more fun on the phone when using Gboard.
Swiftkey doesn’t support external sticker packs( that is, packs from other sources); it is designed to use internal packs only.
Conclusion
From what we have looked into above, we can see Google’s Keyboard features, including its prediction prowess and continued inclusion of superb features like GIF searching, floating Keyboard, custom emojis, and external sticker pack support.
Google’s Keyboard supports a wider range of dialects/character styles and languages than SwiftKey.
Gboard also has the upper hand in sticker pack selection, in-keyboard web search, and GIF searching.
Media and word prediction on Gboard is a bit faster and better than SwiftKey, due to Google’s machine learning leverage to learn your habits and vocabulary more quickly.
