SwiftKey remains the keyboard of choice for many Android users, myself included. While the app is undoubtedly bloated, its autocorrect and next-word prediction are tops. Sadly, those strengths have gone to crap lately when using SwiftKey to type in comment forms like Disqus in Chrome. The latest SwiftKey Beta appears to fix the issue.

The bug hampers autocorrection while typing and causes odd things to happen when tapping next-word predictions. For example, sometimes multiple attempts are required to select a prediction; or tapping a word in the prediction bar adds the first letter of that word to the end of the word, yielding a nonword.

The bug has been reported by a number of SwiftKey users on the SwiftKey Android support forum, Disqus bug reports and feedback forum, Google Chrome help forum, Reddit, and elsewhere. Last week, Artem shared a video of the issue on Google+ and Twitter:

SwiftKey responded saying it was on it, and a few days later it confirmed that the latest beta, version 6.7.8, includes a fix. It appears to resolve the problematic typing (expand the Gfycat to get a better look at it):

https://gfycat.com/LavishBlankImago

The issue appears to be Chrome-specific and reproduced in text input fields other than Disqus. A user in the SwiftKey forums speculates that it may be a result of JavaScript changes made to protect against Spectre in Chrome 64. It's worth noting that Gboard can also be a bit fussy when typing comments in these kinds of forms in Chrome, but not as much as SwiftKey has been.

SwiftKey says the fix will be pushed to the stable version of the app once it makes the rounds for beta users. A few users in the SwiftKey support forum confirm that the latest beta addresses the bug.

If you've been annoyed by this issue, try downloading the latest SwiftKey Beta using the widget below or via APKMirror. And if you want to see if it actually restores normal typing in Disqus, why not test it out by commenting below?

Microsoft SwiftKey Beta Developer: SwiftKey
Price: Free
3.9
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Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard Developer: SwiftKey
Price: Free
4.1
Download