I spend a lot of time taking notes. When on my PC, I can simply type on my Logi MX Mini, and it works the same everywhere. On my phone, however, which I use half the time to collect notes and pitch ideas, having a keyboard that’s built to be as helpful as possible is important.

For the most part, Gboard has served me well on my phone, but it always felt a little limited. With time, the itch to try a different keyboard grew stronger. So, I finally made the switch and installed SwiftKey, Microsoft’s AI keyboard. After almost four weeks, I think I have found my new favorite keyboard for Android and for all the right reasons.

Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard

OS Android, iOS

SwiftKey Keyboard is a powerful mobile keyboard app that uses AI to provide fast, accurate text prediction, personalized autocorrect, and multilingual support. It learns your typing style for smarter suggestions and offers swipe typing, emoji prediction, and customization options.

SwiftKey is more customizable

Resizable keyboards and themes

Gboard gives you some customization options. You can choose from built-in themes, adjust keyboard height, and that’s about where it stops. SwiftKey offers more customizations, with the keyboard size adjustment being the most useful feature.

The keyboard can be resized freely, not just in height but also in width. You can drag it to any size that feels comfortable, make it narrower for one-handed typing, or extend it way past the halfway mark if you have larger fingers. This flexibility made typing on my Note 20 Ultra and Z Flip 6 so much more comfortable.

SwiftKey also offers different layout options that Gboard doesn’t match. The thumb layout is brilliant for large phones, splitting the keyboard into two sections that your thumbs can easily reach.

Microsoft’s keyboard also has an extensive theme gallery. While Gboard has themes, SwiftKey’s collection includes designs that actually change the key shapes and borders, not just colors. Some themes make keys more distinct, which may not improve usability, but they’re useful to match the overall theme of your phone.

Typing is noticeably better than Gboard

Smooth touch typing and excellent predictions

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Gboard offers solid typing, and it’s hard to argue against it. The touch typing works well, predictions are decent, and it also supports handwriting. But it has two quirks that always bothered me.

First, it doesn’t support glide-to-space typing. Second, once you start mixing languages (I somehow speak over seven and use four when texting), the limited predictions combined with intrusive autocorrect become a real pain.

SwiftKey supports something called Flow Through Space. It allows you to slide your finger from the last letter of a word to the spacebar without lifting it, then continue to the next word. This lets you type multiple words in one continuous motion. Once you get used to it, regular typing feels slow.

Credit: Tashreef Shareef / MakeUseOf

The predictions are where SwiftKey really shines. It learns from your typing habits incredibly fast and starts showing recommendations before you even start typing, based on what you usually write at certain times or in specific apps.

Autocorrect is also more forgiving. When you type uncommon words or switch between languages mid-sentence, SwiftKey doesn’t aggressively change them like Gboard does. It seems to understand context better, especially when you’re switching between languages or names it hasn’t seen before.

Copilot integration is on point

AI-assisted rewrites and tone adjustment

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Microsoft is pushing Copilot into everything these days, but on SwiftKey, it at least makes sense. The integrated Copilot button on the top gives you two main options: Editor and Tone.

Editor mode analyzes what you’ve written and can automatically fix spelling mistakes and grammatical issues. It can also suggest alternative phrasing that often makes your sentences clearer without changing your meaning.

Tone adjustment is useful for work emails and even casual texting. Write a frustrated message about a delayed project, then tap Professional tone, and it rewrites your rant into something you can actually send to your boss. The Casual, Polite, and Funny options work well, too, though Funny can be hit or miss.

A more capable clipboard

Cross-device copy-paste is brilliant

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Both Gboard and SwiftKey’s clipboards automatically clear your copied items after an hour. To save a copied item, you can pin important snippets, such as addresses, phone numbers, and email templates, and they stay there until you unpin them.

However, SwiftKey’s cross-device clipboard sync is the highlight. When you sign in with your Microsoft account, anything you copy on your Windows PC instantly appears in SwiftKey’s clipboard on your phone. This also works across Android devices as long as you’re signed in with your Microsoft account on both devices.

While Windows Phone Link offers similar clipboard syncing for any Android keyboard, SwiftKey doesn’t require Phone Link to be running. The sync happens through your Microsoft account, so it works even if you’re using multiple phones or switching devices frequently.

SwiftKey has all the bells and whistles

Emojis, GIFs, stickers, and more

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I don’t spend much time sending emojis or GIFs—maybe a few minutes daily for personal messages. However, when I need them, SwiftKey has everything organized more effectively than Gboard. The emoji search works just as well on Gboard and the Samsung keyboard. Type “tired” and it shows sleepy faces, yawning emojis, and even the bed emoji.

The GIF integration pulls from multiple sources, providing more variety and often allowing you to find exactly what you’re looking for faster. Stickers are also available, although I rarely use them.

SwiftKey includes a built-in translator that works offline for major languages. Voice typing deserves a mention, too. While both keyboards utilize their parent company’s voice recognition, SwiftKey’s integration with Microsoft’s services enables it to handle technical terms and mixed languages slightly better, in my experience.

SwiftKey is brilliant for my use case

Gboard is a decent keyboard, but SwiftKey fits my use case better, and I think it’s an excellent keyboard for productivity-focused typing. Above all, it handles all the quirks I found annoying in Gboard in a much better way.

The integrated Copilot features and cross-device clipboard sync are a nice touch, too. After four weeks of daily use, switching back to Gboard feels limiting, and that’s saying something given how long I stuck with Google’s keyboard.