A keyboard app is one of the things that pretty much everyone uses on their smartphone. Whether it's the default app installed with your phone or a third-party app like Gboard, we all have our preferences. However, SwiftKey and TouchPal are two popular keyboard apps that frequently appear in recommendations.
TouchPal is popular among fans for its fonts, themes, and emojis. It allows you to customize your user interface and experience it in a variety of ways. Recently, the TouchPal developers released a keyboard assistant called Talia.
SwiftKey, now owned by Microsoft, comes with language translation and calendar integration to help you get more out of your typing experience.
Let's find out what's under the hood and how they fight against each other.
1. Communication and writing
When you create a SwiftKey account, you'll be asked to provide access to your Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. SwiftKey does this by creating a dictionary of personalized words and learning from your typing habits to make better predictions. The interface is clean and functional, with all options easily accessible by tapping the "+" icon.
TouchPal also has a decent interface, where tapping the logo in the top left gives you access to more options and settings. TouchPal will only pull words from Twitter, and the setting for this is available under Prediction in the app's settings. You can also import contact names to help you type long names with ease.
The typing experience on both apps was similar. However, SwiftKey performed better predictions than TouchPal. Also, TouchPal did a poor job of predicting names (not even my name), despite allowing contact syncing.
2. Types of keyboards
In SwiftKey, there's the usual predictive keyboard you're used to. When you start typing, the app will start suggesting words based on what it's learned from previously typed texts.
SwiftKey also offers a gliding typing feature called Flow. To use it, you'll need to move your fingers across the keyboard, moving from letter to letter, allowing SwiftKey to predict possible outcomes.
TouchPal offers glide typing in addition to its predictive text feature, but there's also a third method called Wave. With Wave, TouchPal will attempt to predict entire sentences rather than just words and phrases. It works well and should improve the more you use it.
Wave word prediction is random. For example, tapping "G" won't automatically enter. It will just change the predicted word from "robot" to "go." I'm not sure why TouchPal thinks I'm a robot. Even Rick Deckard didn't know he was an android in the original Blade Runner.
3. Emojis, Stickers, and GIFs
People love using emojis and stickers to express their feelings. In SwiftKey, you can access emojis from the dedicated button next to the spacebar, while tapping the "+" icon reveals GIFs and sticker options.
There's no direct search for GIFs, so you have to type in words and hit Enter to wait for results. I've said this before when comparing other keyboard apps, but stickers and GIFs are a matter of personal preference, and emojis are pretty similar across the web. You can also create custom stickers if that's your thing.
In addition to GIFs, stickers, and emojis, TouchPal also lets you create your own AvatarMoji. Tap a character, and it will animate so you can add text. Similarly, you can also create animated GIFs with funny animal faces that mimic your movements. It can be a lot of fun.
4. Meet TALIA, the smart panel app
Talia is a game-changer that could take TouchPal to new heights in the future. TouchPal has launched a new app called TouchPal Pro, which comes with a smart assistant named Talia. What can Talia do? Type in a city name and Talia will provide you with the weather. It can also suggest automatic replies to messages.
While searching for Thai food in New York City, Talia offered me some suggestions. I believe the recommendations and suggestions will improve over time. The app incorporates live currency conversion and a built-in calculator for quick calculations on the fly.
SwiftKey lacks a smart mechanism, but I hope the company implements that in the future.
5. Translation
Translation is an exciting feature for everyone, including those who travel a lot. I downloaded the Dutch language pack in TouchPal and typed "Let's go to a movie." The result was something different than what was displayed in the Google Translate app. So I'm not holding my breath on that.
SwiftKey can translate text correctly. Instead of suggesting words as you type, SwiftKey will prompt you to type in the selected field. Once you're done, it will translate the text and paste it into the app you're using.
6. Other features
SwiftKey has a few tricks up its sleeve. After you share your live location within any app, the Location feature will automatically type your address.
There is a clipboard feature so you can copy multiple text strings and paste them elsewhere.
- Note: If you do not install the copied text, it will expire within one hour.
SwiftKey will also pull data from your calendar app so you can view (not create) what's on your calendar, and even share it with others while planning meetings. I'm surprised Gboard doesn't have this feature.
TouchPal also has a clipboard feature without any calendar integration. This feature may appear in the future, along with support for live location sharing.
Talia Artificial Intelligence
SwiftKey offers a more polished experience where you can be more productive thanks to the calendar and language translation integration that works. TouchPal is trying to recapture its lost glory with Talia, a smart AI that works as advertised and could be a game-changer in the coming months. Sadly, translation and name prediction don't work, but that can always be changed with an update.
