Microsoft changes its decision about the SwiftKey for iPhone and iPad. A few weeks after confirming the removal of the keyboard app from the iOS App Store, the company said it is coming back due to customer feedback.
iPhone and iPad users who prefer the third-party keyboard from Microsoft will no longer have to use a different app, as the company confirmed that SwiftKey would remain on the App Store. “Based on customer feedback, SwiftKey iOS has been relisted on the Apple App Store,” Microsoft’s Caitlin Roulston told The Verge.
Microsoft did not provide more details on SwiftKey’s comeback on iOS, and Roulston directed users to the app’s support page. Aside from instructional posts and FAQs, though, the page does not have a specific entry about the keyboard app’s return to the App Store.
SwiftKey users started noticing a few months ago that the keyboard app has not received an update in a year. It led to questions on whether or not Microsoft has ended support for its iOS version.
The company later confirmed to ZDNet that it was going to stop supporting the app and that it was going to be removed from the App Store by Oct. 5. “Microsoft will continue support for SwiftKey Android as well as the underlying technology that powers the Windows touch keyboard,” the company said in September. At the time, Microsoft said SwiftKey would continue working on iOS devices unless users uninstalled it from their iPhones or iPads.
There was no specific reason provided to the public why SwiftKey was supposed to be removed from iOS. And it remains a mystery now that the app has returned to the App Store. As of this writing, its App Store version history still shows that the latest update it received was from a year ago (version 2.9.2) that added emoji search in the SwiftKey Toolbar.
However, Microsoft VP and GM of OneNote and the Office product group Vishnu Nath hinted at having updates in the works. Nath announced the app’s return to iOS and said, “Stay tuned to what the team has in store for it!”