Unfortunately Gboard is still the best around. Block it's internet access.
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023
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Privacy
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I think that Gboard would still find a way to connect to the mothership.
Yes probably. It's a compromise and not ideal. I revoke internet access and on Graphene OS not tied to a Google account. We all find our own peace with this kind of thing. Florisboard looked very promising but the swipe text wasn't implemented last I checked.
Florisboard appears to have been abandoned
I'd love to love Florisboard, but it doesn't make it easy. Swiping feels great, but it's dearly missing autocorrect/suggestions and the word recognition is so bad that typing is faster at least 80% of the time, which defeats the purpose.
I hope it gets better in the future.
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So one of the suggestions was to use Invizible Pro to block it's access. Do you use the same method?
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Openboard
This fork is actively developed, supports gestures amd many other features. Try it!
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I tried openboard but am missing swipe.
https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard
That's the fork with swiping.
(Don't be a goof like me and install the Neo Store/Fdroid version and spend 15 minutes wondering how to enable swiping, btw. The version on Github which has swipe is from September 2022, a month after the Fdroid/Neo Store release: https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/releases/tag/v1.4.5-gesture-typing)
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Sweet! This is more comfortable to use coming from Gboard to ASK. I got used to the issues with ASK but def prefer AOSP keyboards more.
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AnySoftKeyboard is great.
Ive been using this keyboard for around a year now, and compared to Swiftkey and gboard, I absolutely hate anysoftkeyboard with a passion. However, its the best FOSS alternative I've come across.
Also, my dogs name is Bowie, so whenever I type his name, the keyboard just starts spitting out David Bowie lyrics across the bottom of the keyboard, so thats kinda cool I guess.
I tried ASK and wasn't a fan. Unless I'm missing customization options, it lacked the ability to change long press times, there's an obnoxious empty space above the keyboard, and it was quite poor at auto correcting words that were supposed to have apostrophes. You'll have to change your bottom row to get the space bar a similar size to Swiftkey (I missed it a fair bit before doing this), and it doesn't have the hold space bar to move cursor either.
I get that using a different keyboard is going to be an adjustment, being a convert to Colemak, but this one seems just a bit too rough around the edges for me.
E: found the long press adjustment, but now can't find how to add long press symbols to the keys...maybe I'm just too dumb for this keyboard
E2: Actually, after more messing with it, I'm going to give it another go. Still missing the long press symbols, autocorrect apostrophes, and auto space placement after adding commas and periods though. We'll see how long I can put up with that.
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I was going to recommend AnySoftKeyboard but someone recommended OpenBoard fork with swipe type and that's by far the best open source keyboard app I've used now... Especially coming from gboard
Agreed, it's a fantastic alternative.
Thanks, trying it now and it's great so far. Also trying to get away from Swiftkey.
i like florisboard: language switching, clipvoard actions, undo/redo, customization, ...
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I'm in kind of the same boat as you op, I've been using Swiftkey for 5+ years but have been wanting an altnernative that isn't associated with the big tech companies for a while. After seeing this post earlier today I decided to give AnySoftKeyboard a shot.
I got it all configured the way I wanted but now I'm actually using it I don't think it's gonna work for me tbh. I'll give it a few days before making a decision though. I wish there more options out there.
On the plus side, I came across this and it made my day:
Hahah, that's hilarious! I tried ASK as well but gave up after 10-15 minutes of using it.
One of the comments has a link to a fork of OpenBoard that includes swipe (version 1.4.5 or something), and it works really well. The auto correct isn't as great as Swiftkey (I'm hoping it gets better with time), but the swiping is absolutely solid.
Been using this for about a day now and I don't see myself going back to Swiftkey. Typed this comment with it, hahah.
Florisboard
I'll check this out, but on their Git they haven't updated since September 2022 :/
Doesn't really matter. There will be another update. It's still actively developed.
So I do appreciate that they have swipe to type, but it doesn't have a word suggestion feature / autocorrect.
That's what's being worked on. Kind of complicated
Floriaboard deserves a shoutout. As a multilingual, I value the mixing languages without switching them. Takes some time to adjusr and no autocorrect for now, but it's getting there.
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I've used MessagEase for many years now and I absolutely love it. It's a very different kind of keyboard and so takes a while to get used to but once you've learned to use it properly you can type a lot faster with it on a touch screen with limited real estate.
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GBoard is the one Google app I put in my owner profile. I've tried every recommendation I've seen and nothing else comes close to how good Gboard is.
Look at the AnySoft keyboard, available from F-Droid.
It has emojis like the one you mentioned inbuilt.
Different apporach: use the keyboard you like and block its internet access using invizible pro/netguard/afwall.
I had the same problem, after using openboard for a long time, and now I'm doing this, using gboard and blocking it with invizible pro.
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OK, this doesn't have swipe to type or a notepad, but I'm trying out Thumb-Key. It's a very different sort of keyboard, almost akin to the old-fashioned way of texting with just the number keys on a phone, just updated for a smartphone screen. The problem is that it takes practice/memorization to learn, because it's a whole new layout. It's open source and very privacy conscious (there's no predictive text or autocorrect).
I started using it about a month ago, and I'm now having a pretty good muscle memory. I like how having larger keys makes it much easier to "touch-type" (even thought I can barely do it, but I see the potential).
The only thing I'm missing is auto-completing my email and home address, but oh well.
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