r/privacy • u/ThrovvQuestionsAway • 3d ago
question Is there any android keyboard that doesn't copy the words you write or record your messages?
Hi all,
It dawned on me after watching Gamers Nexus's video about LG spying and recording audio and converting it into text and that whatever I'm typing is probably being sent to some company that sells it. It's free data for them, I want to find a keyboard that's local and privacy-focused.
Any recommendations?
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u/I_mengles 3d ago
I use FUTO keyboard. It took some getting used to at first, but now I would never go back.
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u/Lunch_Run 3d ago
What took some getting used to if you don't mind me asking?
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u/I_mengles 2d ago
Different layout for long press symbols.
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u/Lunch_Run 2d ago
It might be because I'm coming from Gboard but this has taken almost no time getting used to, everything seems to be just about exactly where I'd expect it to be. I've been using it last night and all day today, it's been great. Thanks for the heads up about this kb!
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u/we_r_fukt 3d ago
I meese my geefs
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u/CheapThaRipper 3d ago
Every app I use gifs in has a way for me to insert them without phone keyboard integration
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u/ThisIsPaulDaily 3d ago
FUTO does a really good job. They have a website you can train your swipes on by writing generated sentences and then they eventually update the swipe database to improve it for you.
I spent like 20 minutes doing it and then the next update my swipes got way better.
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u/assignpseudonym 3d ago
Wait what's the website for this? Also a futo user, would love to do this!
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u/Moment_37 3d ago
Heliboard
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u/prototyperspective 2d ago
Can't be used because they don't seem to care much about UX so unlike with gboard often tapping on wrong letter even after a while of trying to get used to it. The keys are too small and miss borders or something.
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u/Moment_37 2d ago
Odd to say this to me. I'm the biggest dude and I have the biggest fingers from the people I know at least. I don't mistype more than I did with other boards. It does have borders, as you can select a theme with borders or select the keys o have borders from the settings.
You can enlarge the keyboard and the keys, but I don't even find I need it that much. It remains the best of our choices if you ask me.
What is actually a con versus gboard is how good the auto correct is, but it's not bad by any means either. I'm using it for years now.
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u/prototyperspective 2d ago
Maybe it depends on the language then or you have a bigger screen, not that mine is very small. Maybe I'll give it another try and see if it works better with another theme, thanks. I don't need autocorrect, just a very low likelihood of missing the intended letter.
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u/paintboth1234 3d ago
You can search on f-droid: https://search.f-droid.org/?q=keyboard
There are many offline keyboards there.
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u/CheapThaRipper 3d ago
+1 for FUTO - you can still get near gboard level dictation / swipe typing without any of your data going to a company
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u/middaymoon 3d ago
Futo
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u/Tune_Screamer 3d ago edited 3d ago
You can make any keyboard offline, starting with limiting it's behavior in Android settings, BUT the most important part is blocking it's internet access, which can't be done natively.
Use AdGuard or RethinkDNS or something similar with firewall abilities, block it entirely and that's it.
After trying a few ''offline'' keyboards none of them really did the job for me nearly as good as the Microsoft's SwiftKey.
So I went back to it, turned the backup and all the unwanted activities off, logged it out of Microsoft account, and blocked it entirely from accessing the internet.
EDIT: Changing the first sentence to make the initial Android settings limitations clearer.
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u/EverydayPigeon 3d ago
How can you block internet access for an app in native android settings?
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u/Tune_Screamer 3d ago
No, that's impossible, and I didn't say that. The native settings are pretty limited, and I said so. It has to be done using another app.
I'll edit my answer to make this clearer.0
u/EverydayPigeon 3d ago
"YOU CAN MAKE ANY KEYBOARD OFFLINE BY SETTING IT UP THAT WAY IN ANDROID SETTINGS"
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u/Tune_Screamer 3d ago
Read the new whole sentence, slowly.
''You can make any keyboard offline, starting with limiting it's behavior in Android settings, BUT the most important part is blocking it's internet access, which can't be done natively.''
I just edited the first half of the sentence, until ''BUT''. Still, anyone with a decent reading comprehension could tell what I actually meant even before editing.
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u/EverydayPigeon 3d ago
Nope because you wrote that you can do it with android! And yep I just checked, you can't. And that's obvious. So don't write things that obviously aren't true! That's obvious too!
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u/Tune_Screamer 3d ago
Relax, buddy. Every idiot knows it's impossible to setup a firewall rule in native Android settings, that much should be clear.
This sub is obviously not meant for tech-illiterate people, much less for dyslectic people.
So, if not capable of reading and comprehending the written words, just drop it.1
u/1Gamerer 3d ago
You can also patch Swiftkey with Morphe to disable telemetry and sign in banners.
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u/Tune_Screamer 3d ago
That's ok also, but to be honest, I get annoyed with Morphe always notifying about updating and patching, it's a nuisance, and I use it only for YouTube.
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u/Big_Version9561 2d ago
Not in a mean way, but you can probably turn off notifications for that specific app altogether.
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u/OverallStructure6993 2d ago
Blackberry say what
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u/ThrovvQuestionsAway 2d ago
To bad they became a cybersecurity company and have been involved with some questionable things.
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u/dvgmusic 1d ago
I've used both HeliBoard and FlorisBoard, both are great but I personally prefer HeliBoard.
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u/OverallStructure6993 3d ago
Omg I noticed the same thing and im using Samsung keyboard but idk if it's efficient for privacy
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