Is there a recommendable alternative keyboard (other than GBoard) that has better everyday user functionality than the standard OS keyboard - such as dictation and better predictive text? GBoard has a tracker and the OS gives the very scary warning "This input method may be able to collect all the text that you yype, including personal data like passwords and credit card numbers."

Thx

    But Android (stock, not even GOS) always gives that warning about all installed keyboards. It's nothing to freak out about; it's just stating the risk you take with any third party IME. Among the third-party keyboards, I do like FlorisBoard the best. It's open source and very flexible.

      Kri if you remove the 'Network' permission you don't need to worry about the "tracker". The warning is covered by PacoBell .

      I also use Florisboard but for your quoted needs GBoard is probably best.

        2 months later

        PacoBell However, after using GBoard for a while, I think it needs Networking enabled to work correctly. And this implies that Google can (edit: Cigurd said "is" instead of "can") collect all the text that you type.

          Cigurd Which features of gboard don't work for you? I've been using it for about a week without network permissions, and auto correct and swipe-typing work. One thing that doesn't work is voice-typing.

            kyuweftea Sorry, but this is not the text I posted. For some reason, the moderators broke my post by combining it with this one without keeping the substance of my question. My original question was:

            After looking at reviews/discussions of several non-Google keyboards that support Japanese, I decided there wasn't a replacement for GBoard that works similarly to GBoard (and iPhone's keyboard) for Japanese. So, I installed GBoard but disabled Networking persmissions. Unfotunately, this seems to have stopped GBoard from working correctly (unless I broke it some other way...).

            Japanese has 3 major "syllabaries": hiragana, katakana, and kanji. The way GBoard (and iPhone) usually work is that you type in hiragana, and it offers you choices in all 3 syllabaries, and you click on the one that you actually intend to use in your writing.

            What I've found is that using GBoard on GrapheneOS, when you type in hiragana, it offers you only choices in hiragana, but not in katakana or kanji.

            I have GrapheneOS's Japanese language turned on. I assume that the issue is that I have networking permissions disabled and that GBoard must be designed to send your hiragana typing to Google, which then sends back its guesses as to the kanji you might be intending to use.

            However, it's also possible (I guess, since I don't know) that GBoard usually works in conjunction with a dictionary or something that usually resides on the phone. In that case, I could get GBoard's normal functionality back by installing something.

            Question:
            Can someone clarify either (a) that GBoard requires networking permissions for Asian language support to work correctly or (b) what else needs to be installed for GBoard's Asian language support? Thanks.

            And if you actually understand this question, you can see that it is different from the generic question of "alternative keyboard other than GBoard"...

            • Hulk replied to this.

              Cigurd
              Just to be clear, I didn't break anything, you are talking about two completely separate threats.

              The only edit that ever happened is the one that was explained in the brackets.
              (replacing "is" with "can")

                Hulk The context of my question about Asian language support was removed, which makes the comment that user kyuweftea replied to unintelligable.

                Also, although I don't care about the edit, I did mean to say that it does collect all the text you write, based on my assumption of how the Asian language supports works, which is based on my experience of how the GBoard is not working on GrapheneOS, which was the context removed my question.

                If GBoard Japanese language support works by collecting the hiragana you type in order to offer you kanji or katakana alternatives, then it is collecting all the text you write. This would imply that it works like Google Translate--the Google Translate AI improves itself by giving you translations and also integrating corrections to its translations that users make. In GBoard, selecting a kanji you want to represent the hiragana you type in the middle of a sentence is essentially the same user process as correcting a translation that Google Translate gives you. In both cases, the system doesn't work unless Google collects what you write and its context.

                  Hulk replacing "is" with "can"

                  I was wondering why they were talking in the third person 🤣

                  Cigurd I am not sure what you mean by removed.

                  From the admin logs I am able to see all deleted posts.
                  There are no deleted posts here.
                  None of your posts have been deleted.

                  While I can neither confirm nor deny your theory on how GBoard works, I would like to ask you not to make big claims until your theory gets confirmed.

                  The forum is not the place to discuss moderation, whenever you feel that something is wrong please message moderators directly over Matrix.

                  May I suggest trying Microsoft Swiftkey disabling the network permission? I find it quite useful IMHO.

                    Cigurd having looked into Japanese keyboards matching your requirements it is indeed highly likely that GBoard is requiring a connection to the cloud to determine your kanji/katakana alternatives.

                    The only thing I can suggest is to try leaving GBoard with network without inputting anything, adding the language packs of your choice and leaving it with internet for 5-10 minutes depending on connection speed. Once done, disable network and try to type as you would and let me know if the kanji/katakana appears as it should.

                    I can also confirm with what @Hulk has reiterated nobody has altered or censored anything you have previously posted, Everything still reads as per your quote.

                      2 years later

                      MetropleX By the way, yes, turning on Network connectivity downloaded the library, and after turning it off again, the Gboard still works as it should. Thanks.

                      with the topic already on gboard and other alternative keyboards, will the swipe typing work on gboard correctly without network permission?

                        0j923jd023j It works fine both in English and in French. But FUTO keyboard, although far from perfect, is also doing a good job en English and a decent job in French.