The SwiftKey keyboard is back on iOS after a few weeks of “hiatus”

SwiftKey, the keyboard that Microsoft removed from the AppStore, has unexpectedly returned to Apple devices. Apparently the response from existing users has been strong enough that the company has decided to reverse its original decision. Basically, SwiftKey was unavailable for just a few weeks for iPhone and iPad users.

Microsoft has reversed its decision to remove SwiftKey from iOS

Microsoft representatives say they’ve brought the keyboard back based on user feedback and will have news about its future on Apple platforms in the near future.

One of the problems SwiftKey had on iOS was that Microsoft wasn’t updating the keyboard as frequently as it did on Android. For example, even though the app is back on the AppStore, it lists the most recent update as August 11, 2021.

And keyboard users have been reporting functionality issues with SwiftKey all along, which have apparently been ignored by the company.

Those who didn’t uninstall SwiftKey were able to keep it and use it on their devices that still had it stored locally. However, Microsoft had disabled the ability to download the keyboard from the AppStore, and moving it to another device would have made it impossible to download.

Now, however, not only can the app be downloaded again by those who already had it on their account, but it can once again be obtained for free from the AppStore even by those who hadn’t been using it since before it temporarily “disappeared”.

SwiftKey was one of the first keyboards in the AppStore, launching on the platform just after Apple released the iOS 8 update in 2014, which allowed third-party-developed keyboards to be installed to replace Apple’s standard keyboard, pre-installed on all iOS devices.