Last month we told you about an upcoming new feature for Microsoft’s SwiftKey that would make it equal or maybe even better than Gboard. The virtual keyboard was finally getting cursor control which some say was the only thing lacking from an otherwise excellent app to have on your phone. Well finally the day has arrived that all users of SwiftKey will be able to experience this feature in the stable version. The update also has some other minor improvements but obviously, this is the most important.
Android Police was the first to discover the feature when it was still in beta. Cursor control was a distinct advantage that Google’s GBoard had over Microsoft’s SwiftKey. The latter was superior in other aspects like fast and accurate typing experience, multiple language support, and the very, very important emoji prediction for those who can express themselves better in emojis than in words.
Now this feature is rolling out in the stable version of the app. There doesn’t seem to be any major difference in how to use it from the beta version to now. To activate the cursor control, you tap and hold the space bar and wait until the keys are grayed out. You’ll see a text that says “drag finger move cursor” the first time you use it. You can then drag anywhere in the keyboard so you can use the cursor. It can even work with the language selector.
SwitfKey’s cursor control is actually better than Gboard’s in a sense that the latter can only swipe horizontally to move the cursor left or right. The former lets you move more freely as you’re not locked in the area around the spacebar. You can accidentally exit the cursor menu at times with the limited area for movement. The changelog also mentions the addition of the Saint Lucian Creole language pack.
Version 7.6.3.4 of Microsoft Swiftkey is now available for download with the latest update bringing cursor control to users. If you’re looking for a new (or first) virtual keyboard, you most likely can’t go wrong with this one.
