Switfkey reached new heights of popularity Friday with its keyboard app, earning the top spot on Apple's App Store charts among iPhone users and becoming the second most popular free app among iPad users.
The app was made available in the App Store on Wednesday and received over 1 million downloads in less than 24 hours, according to CNET. Swiftkey's rankings in the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant's charts only add to its popularity, as the app is already a favorite among those who use Android devices.
"Obviously we're overwhelmed that Swiftkey Keyboard shot to the top of the charts after launching on iOS 8," said SwiftkeyCMO Joe Braidwood. "We've worked really hard on getting something ready to launch and this is the ultimate reward."
Swiftkey is designed to make typing easier by offering words when the user types the first few characters. Users can then tap the word they're looking for without having to type the whole word out. The app is able to learn the user's writing style as he/she continues to use it, which makes it more able to predict what the user is going to type.
The app can also make the keyboard smarter by letting users sign in with their accounts from Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, Inside Mobile Apps reported. This ability gives the app support for key phrases from Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as names of contacts.
Apple fans can set up Swiftkey under iOS 8 by tapping Keyboard in the Settings section and choosing it from the Add New Keyboard option, and then enabling the Allow Full Access option, CNET reported. However, enabling full access gives Swiftkey permission to monitor the user's typing history so it is more able to predict how the user writes. While the option isn't need to use the app, it's the only way the keyboard will have predictive typing.
Apple's new default keyboard for iOS 8 can also predict what the user will type, while also giving users ideas on what to write based on the characters already written down. However, users of the default keyboard won't have certain abilities that they would get with Swiftkey, including the ability to swipe characters across the keyboard to enter them in.
The keyboard comes with a dark and light color for users to choose from. The app also has support for several languages, which include English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian.
