It may be time to find a new go-to keyboard if you’re still using Swype after all these years. Swype parent company Nuance told XDA Developers that the development of Swype with Dragon Dictation for Android has been discontinued. No more future updates, no more new features — the keyboard is apparently dead. Further, the publication also found a post on Nuance’s ZenDesk from early February, announcing that the company is also killing Swype for iOS and that it’ll no longer be available on the App Store for download.
Nuance’s ZenDesk announcement matches what the company told a Redditor who complained about their keyboard crashing on Pixel 2 after a reboot. The user posted the company’s response on Reddit, which reads:
“However, we are sad to announce that Swype+Dragon for Android has faced end of development. Here is a statement from Swype Product Team:
Nuance will no longer be updating the Swype+Dragon keyboard for Android. We’re sorry to leave the direct-to-consumer keyboard business, but this change is necessary to allow us to concentrate on developing our AI solutions for sale directly to businesses.
We hope you enjoyed using Swype, we sure enjoyed working with the Swype community.”
It looks like Nuance is leaving the consumer keyboard business altogether and concentrating all its efforts on its AI technologies for businesses. Nuance already offers Dragon voice solutions for medical professionals with sufficient medical vocabulary to allow them to take accurate notes. It’s also looking to convince automakers to use Dragon as a voice assistant in vehicles. We’ve reached out to Nuance for confirmation and more details, and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
Source: XDA Developers, Android (Reddit), Nuance
