Microsoft brings Toolbar, Stickers to SwiftKey 7.0

Microsoft's intelligent keyboard, SwiftKey, announced a product update, whereby the existing Hub will be replaced with Toolbar, an expandable menu that gives fast and easy access to a host of new and existing frequently used features, on both Android and iOS.

The new feature, available on SwiftKey 7.0, can be found under the new + sign on the left of the prediction bar.

Also included in the update is Stickers, providing SwiftKey users with a way to add extra personality to a message. Some sticker packs can be edited before being inserted, with exclusive Microsoft packs also coming soon. Edited Stickers can be saved and accessed later in Collections, which can be accessed via the pin icon on the Toolbar. Collections provides a place to store personalised and favorite stickers, media and edited photos that can be used at any time and within most apps.

SwiftKey also announced more features due to be released soon, including location sharing (available in US and India), to allow users to quickly insert the address of their current location, and Calendar sharing for users to insert a calendar appointment in a couple of taps.

"People are using more and more GIFs, stickers and emoji. Our research shows that 77 percent of Indian smartphone users insert stickers at least several times a week. The objective of SwiftKey 7.0 is to make these faster and easier than ever before. Toolbar makes that possible, as well as offering more personalised content that SwiftKey users can store in Collections," said SwiftKey's Principal Product Manager, Chris Wolfe.

SwiftKey is also introducing eight new 'Lish' languages: Assamese (English), Bengali (English), , Kannada (English), Malayalam (English), Marathi (English), Nepali (English), Odia (English), and Telugu (English). A 'Lish' language is a hybrid language that lets people shift seamlessly between languages, in this case English and Indic languages. In total, SwiftKey now offers compatibility for over 40 Indian languages as well as transliteration and layout options.

SwiftKey's new features cater to the increased popularity of rich media messaging. Users now send over two billion emojis per week, around 1/3 use emojis on any given day and the use of emojis continues to rise with 20 percent more being used now than 12 months ago. Also, the number of GIFs being sent on SwiftKey has seen a 10 percent increase over the past six months.

All new and existing non-core typing features will sit in Toolbar, providing the same fast and easy access to GIFs and Stickers, as Settings, Themes and Clipboard.