Generative AI continues taking over Microsoft’s platforms as the tech giant has recently added the ChatGPT-powered Bing to its SwiftKey beta app for Android.
For those unaware, SwiftKey (opens in new tab) is a virtual keyboard for mobile devices that can learn your writing style to provide more accurate autocorrect and text predictions. This new integration adds direct access to the Bing chatbot with the ability to choose a “conversation style” (opens in new tab), exactly like the browser version. There is, however, an exclusive Tone feature that will analyze what you just entered and then rewrite your text to match a certain voice.
You can try out Bing on SwiftKey by downloading the beta app (opens in new tab) from the Google Play Store. However, there’s a chance it may not be available to you. Pedram Rezaei (opens in new tab), who is Microsoft’s CTO for its Mobile and Commerce Division, said on Twitter the update is “slowly rolling out” to users. If the update isn’t on your version of the SwiftKey Beta, check back at a later time.
Fortunately, we were able to get our hands on SwiftKey’s Bing feature so we decided to take it for a test drive.
Setting the right tone
Upon installing the app, you will have to follow the on-screen prompts to enable SwiftKey. Access to Bing sits right above the keyboard where it can do one of three things. In addition to the chatbot, there is a built-in Search function where you can look up a search term either by web post or image.
But the main attraction is the aforementioned Tone which, admittedly, is pretty interesting. When you run some text through Tone, it’ll provide four different rewrites based on certain voices: Professional, Casual, Polite, and Social Post. Both Professional and Polite are pretty similar as they take emotionally charged texts and tone them down. Casual, as the name suggests, gives text a more easy-going attitude plus it often starts messages by calling the other person “Dude”🤦♂️. With Social Post, messages basically become Tweets complete with hashtags and emojis at the bottom.
Tone does have a small restriction as text must be “between three and 200 characters” before SwiftKey will rewrite anything. Also, it refuses to work with swear words, so keep it clean.
At the time of this writing, it’s unknown whether or not there will be an iOS version. SwiftKey has had a tumultuous history on iOS as it was discontinued on Apple devices back in October 2022 only for Microsoft to restore support a month later (opens in new tab). We asked the company if there are plans for SwiftKey on iOS to get Bing AI support. This story will be updated if we hear back.
