SwiftKey Keyboard for iOS now lets you compose messages, translate text
Microsoft has released a new update for SwiftKey Keyboard for iOS, about a month after adding Bing Chat to it. The app has a built-in translator tool, and a new Compose option to create messages.
Compose a message using SwiftKey
Microsoft wants to provide yet another way for people to use its A.I. The Compose tool that you can access by tapping the Bing button lets you create unique messages. It has a few options to let you tailor the experience.
Choose a topic that the bot should write about. You can set a tone for the message from the following options: Professional, Casual, Enthusiastic, Informational, and Funny. Next, you will need to pick a writing format from these: Paragraph, Email, Blog Post, and Ideas. Pick a length from: Short, Medium or Long, and tap the Generate Draft button.
You can copy the message it generated and paste it in any app. Or, if you're not happy with the result, you could always regenerate a new version. Bing offers some options that might improve the writing style.
Translator in SwiftKey
SwiftKey for iOS now has a built-in translator that can help you translate your messages to a different language. Just tap the translate button on the toolbar to use the feature, it is powered by Microsoft Translator.
A box will appear above the keyboard where you can type or paste the text that you want to translate. You may set the source language manually, or let the app detect it. Pick the language that you need the words translated to, by swiping on the language picker. This is quite difficult to use because of the small size of the selection tool, and the fact you have to keep swiping on it to reach a language that's far down in the alphabetical order.
Nevertheless, it does allow an easy way to translate content, for example, from web pages, without leaving a tab or an app.
Auto Suggest for Web Search
The Auto Suggest feature in SwiftKey Keyboard will offer search suggestions as you type. It works similar to how search results are suggested in web browsers. The feature recognizes search fields such as the URL bar in a browser's new tab page, or on search engines, and automatically provides suggestions that you may want to search for.
New Zero-input options
When you switch to an app that has a text box, like the Messages app or your browser or a chat conversation, you may notice that SwiftKey predicts some words automatically. These are called zero-input options, and the feature now supports text, GIFs and emojis.
Download SwiftKey Keyboard for iOS version 3.0.3 from the App Store. The release notes for the update states that the app's emoji library has been updated.
Currently, there are no options to disable Auto Suggest for Web Search, or to remove the translate button from SwiftKey's UI, or to change the Zero-input behavior. This is quite odd considering that these features connect to different services, and could be considered a privacy issue for users. To be fair, the Translator does warn us about the data being sent to Microsoft Translator's servers, but it would be nice if there were some settings to control or disable the feature. You may toggle the toolbar from the app's settings if you don't want to use translate, but there is nothing you can do about the other two features.
How do you feel about all these new features that Microsoft keeps adding to SwiftKey? Is it getting bloated?
Uhh, this has already been possible – I am not sure how but remember my brother telling me about it. I’m not a whatsapp user so not sure of the specifics, but something about sending the image as a file and somehow bypassing the default compression settings that are applied to inbound photos.
He has also used this to share movies to whatsapp groups, and files 1Gb+.
Like I said, I never used whatsapp, but I know 100% this isn’t a “brand new feature”, my brother literally showed me him doing it, like… 5 months ago?
Martin, what happened to those: 12 Comments (https://www.ghacks.net/chatgpt-gets-schooled-by-princeton-university/#comments). Is there a specific justifiable reason why they were deleted?
Hmm, it looks like the gHacks website database is faulty, and not populating threads with their relevant cosponsoring posts.
The page on ghacks this is on represents the best of why it has become so worthless, fill of click-bait junk that it’s about to be deleted from my ‘daily reads’.
It’s really like “Press Release as re-written by some d*ck for clicks…poorly.” And the subjects are laughable. Can’t wait for “How to search for files on Windows”.
> The page on ghacks this is on represents the best of why it has become so worthless, fill of click-bait junk…
Sadly, I have to agree.
Only Martin and Ashwin are worth subscribing to.
Especially Emre Çitak and Shaun are the worst ones.
If ghacks.net intended “Clickbait”, it would mark the end of Ghacks Technology News.
Ghacks doesn’t need crappy clickbaits. Clearly separate articles from newer authors (perhaps AIs and external sales person or external advertising man) as just “Advertisements”!
We, the subscribers of Ghacks, urge Martin to make a decision.
because nevermore wants to “monetize” on every aspect of human life…
“Threads” is like the Walmart of Social Media.
How hard can it be to clone a twitter version of that as well? They’re slow.
Yes, why not mention how large the HD files can be?
Why, not mention what version of WhatsApp is needed?
These omissions make the article feel so bare. If not complete.
Sorry posted on the wrong page.
such a long article for such a simple matter. Worthless article ! waste of time
I already do this by attaching them via the ‘Document’ option.
I don’t know what’s going on here at Ghacks but it’s obvious that something is broken, comments are being mixed whatever the article, I am unable to find some of my later posts neither. :S
Quoting the article,
“As users gain popularity, the value of their tokens may increase, allowing investors to reap rewards.”
Besides, beyond the thrill and privacy risks or not, the point is to know how you gain popularity, be it on social sites as everywhere in life. Is it by being authentic, by remaining faithful to ourselves or is it to have this particular skill which is to understand what a majority likes, just like politicians, those who’d deny to the maximum extent compatible with their ideological partnership, in order to grab as many of the voters they can?
I see the very concept of this Friend.tech as unhealthy, propagating what is already an increasing flaw : the quest for fame. I won’t be the only one to count himself out, definitely.
@John G. is right : my comment was posted on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/23/what-is-friend-tech/] and it appears there but as well here at [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/07/08/how-to-follow-everyone-on-threads/]
This has been lasting for several days. Fix it or at least provide some explanations if you don’t mind.
> Google Chrome is following in Safari’s footsteps by introducing a new feature that allows users to move the Chrome address bar to the bottom of the screen, enhancing user accessibility and interaction.
Firefox did this long before Safari.
Basically they’ll do anything except fair royalties.