OnePlus and CyanogenMod are a little odd, they seem to be in the process of breaking up, but there’s still updates coming. The latest update to the software has been announced overnight, and depending on your point of view, it’s either a disturbing introduction of unwanted bloatware or an update with a handy feature. CyanogenMod 11S for the OnePlus One will now include Swiftkey by default right in the software.
Swiftkey is acknowledged as a leader in mobile keyboards, the software behind it is intuitive, with excellent word prediction and fairly accurate auto-correct and with support for a wide variety of languages, it suits the global aspirations of OnePlus. The global lanugage support lets you choose up to three languages and the keyboard will respond with auto-correct, prediction all without having to define which language you’re using as you type. There’s also some decent theming options available in the Swiftkey theme store.
Head of Product, Mobile at OnePlus, Helen Li, said of the inclusion “We always look to improve user experience by working with partners who share our vision of great products and sensible innovation. SwiftKey improves the keyboard experience for our global user base with support for 81 languages”.
But Swiftkey isn’t for everyone, some people have a preference for other keyboards and it’s these users who will be a little bothered by the inclusion of the keyboard, unasked. Still, it’s a fairly minor amount of space it’s taking up, and if you don’t like it, don’t switch it on.
If you do like Swift Key you can activate it once you install the February OTA by selecting Swiftkey from the Language and Input menu in settings.
Do you use the OnePlus One? Is including Swiftkey as part of the OS good, bad or not really something you care about?
I’m quite happy with the swyping experience provided by the standard Google Keyboard but will happily give SwiftKey a try.
I am, however, a little confused by the idea of an 11S update in February, I thought the OnePlus One was getting a 12S OTA update in the next week or so?
It’s great to see this. Too many manufacturers try and make their own and end up with a crappy bloated unusable mess.
If I was a OnePlus user, I’d prefer no additional keyboards added at all. I use Swype so unless I want another option that I’d never use coming up in my keyboard switcher, I’d have to uninstall Swiftkey. But then in future OTAs, it could keep coming back.
having it there and not using it doesn’t hurt you though. If you have used Lollipop you will see that keyboards are handled differently now. It will not get in the way if you do not use it. you have to activate it in the settings for it to show up and even then it is hidden. IMO it is the best keyboard around so is definitely a positive for OnePlus users. Other manufacturers such as Huawei should do the same- their proprietary keyboards suck.