Microsoft has announced that the SwiftKey predictive keyboard will be removed from the App Store on Oct. 5, leaving iOS users to look for an alternative.
As ZDNet reports, Chris Wolfe, Director Product Management at SwiftKey confirmed the delisting, stating:
"As of October 5, support for SwiftKey iOS will end and it will be delisted from the Apple App Store. Microsoft will continue support for SwiftKey Android as well as the underlying technology that powers the Windows touch keyboard. For those customers who have SwiftKey installed on iOS, it will continue to work until it is manually uninstalled or a user gets a new device. Please visit Support.SwiftKey.com for more information."
No clear reason has been given as to why the iOS version of the keyboard is being removed. iOS users were already suspicious because SwiftKey hadn't received an update in over a year, and now those suspicions have been confirmed. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley suspects "Apple's policies around safeguarding its walled garden" simply made SwiftKey impossible to integrate properly with iOS going forward.
A new entry on the Microsoft SwiftKey Support page also confirms the end of support and delisting, "We are ending support for Microsoft SwiftKey iOS. Thank you for being a user of our product. Please visit data.swiftkey.com for details on how to manage your data. The app will be delisted from the App Store on October 5th, 2022."