One of the Galaxy Note 2’s best features may be one of its most hidden
A funny thing about SwiftKey. We’ve questioned, in the past, its strategy of forgoing deals with manufacturers to be preloaded onto devices (like Swype chose to do) and instead relying on Google Play downloads. It seems it’s survived that strategy just fine, consistently remaining in the top 5 paid Android applications as well as spending its share of time in the top spot.
But we’ve also seen it branch out a little bit. SwiftKey’s prediction engine has appeared on BlackBerry, of all places. And now, we’ve learned, it’s on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. And that phone should sell a few more units than BlackBerry, no?
Samsung didn’t respond to a request for comment. SwiftKey had no comment. (That’s in line with the BlackBerry implementation of SwiftKey. Neither the keyboard company nor the struggling RIM would ‘fess up, either.)
More: Read our Galaxy Note 2 review
Sure enough, in the keyboard settings on the Note 2, you can find options for “Predictive text.” There’s an overall on/off switch for personalization. And under that you see the familiar “Learn from …” options. Sign in to Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, and SwiftKey (erm, the Galaxy Note 2) can learn from what you type.
There’s also a conspicuous link to the privacy policy — which is really good to see, given that this is snooping on your messages. But we’ve also been using SwiftKey with its personalization for more than a year, and we’ve really got no worry here.
The short version is that this is a good thing for Samsung. And it’s a good thing for SwiftKey. And, untimately, it’s a good thing for you.