On Tuesday evening SwiftKey took to their blog to formally announce that a new major update had arrived for the beta version of their app.
The biggest change here is that there is a newly redesigned emoji keyboard UI with a backspace bar, swipe gestures to switch tabs, and a few general layout changes as well. Beyond the change to the keyboard, there is also a plethora of bug fixes and other under-the-hood changes that should address keyboard freezing, issues when syncing and more.
Here’s the full change-log of what to expect from the new update:
- Secondary characters on the top letter row modified when number row is enabled
- Redesigned emoji UI including new space and backspace bar, swipe gestures to switch emoji tab and changes to how the layout works under the hood
- Fixed performance issues when switching between tabs
- Emoji now appear larger
- Fixed issue where emoji still predicted even when disabled
- General memory problems fixed
- Fixed issue where Ice theme used extra RAM
- Fixed keyboard freezes
- Fixed issues when syncing
- Fixed problem with Trending Phrases not updating
- Fixed incorrect vibration feedback when scrolling
As you can see, there are quite a few improvements to the latest beta that should make it more stable and enjoyable. For those looking for a more stable experience however, you’re probably better off with the official version, which you can grab through Google Play.
If you’d like to give the Beta a spin or learn more information about the latest changes, you’ll want to head over to Swiftkey’s official blog or click here to download the beta’s APK.