Microsoft has returned its popular virtual keyboard, SwiftKey, to iOS just weeks after removing the app from the App Store.
Following an official statement in September, Microsoft officially discontinued support for SwiftKey on iOS and iPadOS. A few weeks later, the tech giant removed the virtual keyboard from the App Store to several users’ disappointment.
SwiftKey had been on the App Store since 2014, and iOS users didn’t understand why the tech giant was pulling its virtual keyboard. Well, there’s good news for SwiftKey fans on iOS.
The virtual keyboard has unexpectedly returned to the App Store. In other words, you can once again download SwiftKey on your iPhones and iPads.
So why did Microsoft change its mind?
Reports suggest that the tech giant returned SwiftKey to the App Store in response to users’ dismay at its initial removal. The virtual keyboard has been on the App Store for almost eight years and has become a favorite among iOS users.
“Based on customer feedback, SwiftKey iOS has been relisted on the Apple App Store,” a Microsoft spokesperson, Caitlin Roulston, told The Verge. “Please visit Support.SwiftKey.com for more information.”
There’s more.
Microsoft to Release New SwiftKey Features on iOS?
Although SwiftKey has returned to iOS, the app’s most recent update is still over a year old — August 11, 2021.
Besides leaving user complaints unresolved, Microsoft hasn’t introduced new features to the SwiftKey app on iOS in a long time. For example, other operating systems recently got a handy functionality that enables clipboard syncing across Android and Windows devices.
While it’s unclear when Microsoft will update the virtual keyboard, the Verge speculates that some changes may be on the horizon.
According to the publication, Microsoft’s VP and GM of OneNote and the Office product group, Vishnu Nath, encouraged fans to stay tuned to what the team has in store.
Similarly, another Microsoft executive, Pedram Rezaei, confirmed that the company is bringing back SwiftKey for iOS due to popular demand. Rezaei further noted that the company would invest heavily in the keyboard in the future.
