Few days ago we talked about the SwiftKey Note app for iOS, which was leaked on Twitter. Now the app has been officially unveiled and is available for download for free on the iPhone and iPad.
SwiftKey Note is a simple note-taking app for your iOS device. But
where it differs from other note-taking app is that it has its own
custom keyboard, that uses the same algorithm as the SwiftKey keyboard
on Android. This means you will get the same telepathic level of
prediction and almost always accurate auto-correct system at your
fingertips.
The keyboard mimics the design of the iOS 7 keyboard so iOS users
will feel right at home. But once you start typing you’ll see that it
provides suggestions to what you’re typing above the keyboard. You can
tap on them to complete the word or type something that doesn’t exist in
the dictionary and then tap on the word above to save it. There doesn’t
seem to be a way to sync your saved words, though, as there is on
Android.
SwiftKey has also integrated basic editing features into the
keyboard, that can be accessed by swiping sideways on the prediction
row. You can make the text bold, italic or underlined, set alignment and
also add bullet points.
One of the key features of SwiftKey Note app is that it integrates
with Evernote, which means your notes are synced to the cloud and can be
accessed again from another device running SwiftKey Note after logging
in. SwiftKey could also add more services in the future.
Other than basic note taking abilities, SwiftKey Note is a very
simple app, much like the default Notes app or Simplenote. You can’t,
for example, add images or videos into your notes. If that’s your thing
that you should consider using Evernote instead. The main catch of this
app is the keyboard, which you won’t get elsewhere due to Apple not
allowing universal third party keyboards in iOS.
As for the keyboard itself, I found the typing experience excellent. I
was typing as fast and as carelessly as I can and the keyboard managed
to get it right nearly 100 percent of the time unless I hit an odd key,
such as the comma or the period. Compared to the stock iOS keyboard, I
found the experience only slightly better, but that’s because the stock
iOS 7 keyboard itself is fantastic. I did appreciate the presence of a
suggestion row though, which is sorely missed on iOS.
SwiftKey eschews some of the Android keyboard’s habits, such as
pressing the period key to insert a period and space and instead relies
on double tap on Space key to stay consistent with the iOS experience.
The keyboard can also be split in two the same way the stock iOS
keyboard can. Oddly, though, there is no Flow mode on this keyboard for
swiping text on the screen, which would have been a welcome addition.
The SwiftKey Note is an interesting idea albeit not a compelling one.
The app itself is very basic to make you not want to consider using it
over your current favorite note taking app. The keyboard is terrific but
as I mentioned before it is only slightly better than the already
excellent iOS 7 keyboard and the lack of Flow doesn’t do it any favors.
In the end, I don’t see a lot of reasons why you should have this
installed on your iPhone or iPad right now. Maybe with time when it gets
more features it would be worthwhile.
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