Android offers users a choice of keyboards to enhance their typing experience. The default Google keyboard, Gboard, competes against the popular third-party keyboard SwiftKey. This comprehensive comparison of SwiftKey vs. Gboard looks at the key factors of typing accuracy, speed, features, and customization to help you choose the best Android keyboard.
One of the main purposes of an onscreen keyboard is to accurately determine what you want to type. Both SwiftKey and Gboard use predictive technology to suggest complete words and phrases as you type.
SwiftKey uses artificial intelligence to analyze your writing style over time. It learns the way you write to improve prediction accuracy. Many users report that SwiftKey becomes extremely accurate at predicting their intended text.
SwiftKey also offers autocorrect and spell check to fix typos and recognize misspelled words. Overall, its prediction engine is excellent at understanding what you mean by typing.
Gboard has Google's powerful language processing technology behind it. It quickly learns from your typing style to predict words and phrases you commonly use.
Gboard's autocorrect and spell-check abilities are also impressive. It corrects typos quickly and seems to always understand the context of what you are typing.
For most users, there is little difference between the word prediction accuracy of SwiftKey vs. Gboard. Both keyboards leverage AI to suggest text, making them smarter and more accurate over time.
In addition to accuracy, a useful keyboard also needs to enable fast and fluid typing. Both SwiftKey and Gboard include features to enhance typing speed.
One of SwiftKey's standout features is its excellent swipe typing, known as SwiftKey Flow. You can type by sliding your finger between letters rather than tapping each key.
Many users achieve very fast typing speeds using SwiftKey Flow. It is highly accurate at determining your swiped words. The prediction engine even accounts for sloppy swiping between letters.
Gboard has its own version of swipe typing called Glide Typing. Similar to SwiftKey Flow, you trace your finger between letters to form words.
Gboard's Glide Typing has proven very accurate and quick for most users. It offers a smooth way to get words onto the screen.
Both keyboards enable fast swipe typing. For speed and convenience, having this feature is a must.
Beyond just fast and accurate text input, the look and feel of a keyboard are also important. Both Gboard and SwiftKey allow extensive customization and theming.
One area where SwiftKey shines is its array of keyboard themes. There are over 100 colorful themes to completely change the look of the keyboard.
The themes range from simple one-color backgrounds to beautifully designed landscapes. There are options for every style.
Along with themes, you can customize the keyboard layout, font size, key height, and other elements. SwiftKey offers immense visual personalization.
Gboard has its own set of keyboard themes to choose from. There are a couple dozen options with solid colors and a few abstract background patterns.
In addition to themes, Gboard enables customizing the key border, font size, emoji style, and more. You can also add custom photos as your keyboard background image.
While Gboard's theming capabilities may not be as robust as SwiftKey's, there are enough options to modify the visual style significantly.
Both Gboard and SwiftKey allow adjusting the layout and size of the keyboard for easier typing. Here is how the two keyboards compare for keyboard size and layout options:
SwiftKey
Gboard
SwiftKey offers more ways to customize the keyboard size and layout for your precise preferences. Gboard provides some useful options but has less overall flexibility.
In addition to the core typing features, Gboard and SwiftKey each have unique special abilities. Here are some of the standout extra features of each keyboard.
One of SwiftKey's strengths is its bilingual language support. You can simultaneously type in two languages with easy switching between them.
The keyboard learns words and predictions for both languages to make dual-language typing seamless. For bilingual users, having this built-in bilingual ability is a huge benefit.
One special feature of Gboard is its tight integration with other Google services. With one tap, you can perform a Google search to look up facts, find nearby businesses, translate text, and more.
Gboard also enables searching for GIFs and emoji without leaving the keyboard. Its integration with Google search and services makes accessing information quick.
In addition to special features, it is important to consider how well each keyboard integrates with the mobile operating system:
SwiftKey
Gboard
Gboard has an advantage when it comes to native integration with Android. As Google's own keyboard, it is highly optimized for the operating system.
With any software keyboard, privacy considerations matter. Both SwiftKey and Gboard collect some amount of typing data to power their prediction engines.
SwiftKey allows you to control what data is shared with their cloud services. By default, it continually collects typed data, but this can be limited or turned off completely.
SwiftKey also states they anonymize data and do not share personal information with third parties. Overall, SwiftKey provides reasonable privacy options.
As a Google product, Gboard is deeply integrated with Google's services. The tradeoff for its predictive abilities is sharing your typed data with Google to improve its language processing technologies.
Some users may be uncomfortable sending all of their typed text to Google. However, Gboard does enable limiting data sharing, albeit with reduced prediction quality.
For those concerned about privacy, SwiftKey likely provides better control and transparency over data collection. Gboard's tighter integration with Google services requires sharing more data by default.
A: SwiftKey and Gboard have very comparable prediction and autocorrect capabilities powered by AI. Both keyboards become more accurate at predicting words and phrases with more use.
A: Both keyboards enable fast typing through swipe/glide typing. SwiftKey and Gboard allow smooth, quick tracing between letters to type quickly.
A: SwiftKey offers significantly more customization options, especially for theming. It has hundreds of colorful themes compared to Gboard's couple dozen options.
A: SwiftKey provides more transparency and control over data collection. Gboard's integration with Google's services involves sharing more typed data by default for predictions.
A: SwiftKey has built-in support for typing in two languages simultaneously. Its prediction engine learns both languages.
For most users, SwiftKey or Gboard offers excellent typing experiences. They have comparable accuracy and speed thanks to predictive technologies. Both provide useful customization options for the look and feel of the keyboard.
SwiftKey shines when it comes to theming and layout flexibility. Its swipe typing mode is also extremely fluid. SwiftKey may be a better choice for users prioritizing extensive customization.
Gboard excels at integration with Google products and services. Its unified experience across Android makes it ideal for those deeply embedded in Google's ecosystem. Gboard is a natural choice for Google power users.
Overall, it is hard to go wrong with either SwiftKey or Gboard. Downloading both to compare is recommended. Most users can achieve similarly high levels of typing productivity on mobile with either keyboard.
