Swype has been one of the top keyboard apps for Android and iPhone , with between 1 and 5 million downloads on Google's mobile operating system alone.
However, despite the app's popularity, parent company Nuance Communications decided to retire the app and no longer release updates, for some unknown reason.
The company's support services were the first to confirm that Swype is being discontinued.
“Nuance will no longer update the Swype + Dragon keyboard for Android. We regret to be abandoning the consumer keyboard app, but this change is necessary so that we can focus on developing AI solutions for businesses. We hope you enjoy using Swype, as we did,” the company said in a statement.
Even though the company is abandoning the app, that doesn't necessarily mean Swype will be gone anytime soon — although it's worth noting that without updates and fixes, future Android releases likely won't support it. The last Swype update for Android was released on January 18th and only included minor fixes.
Users looking for an alternative to Swype have plenty of keyboard apps to choose from, including the default ones that get better with each new release. On Android, Samsung's keyboard has been evolving a lot recently, as has Gboard. For anyone who just wants a third-party app, Microsoft's SwiftKey is a good choice, which now comes with free themes and receives regular updates on both Android and iOS.
