Microsoft brings SwiftKey back to the iOS App Store citing “customer feedback”, after delisting the keyboard app on October 5, 2022
Jay Peters / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had said it would end iOS support and remove SwiftKey in October while retaining Android support; the return reverses that recent iOS withdrawal. It also restores the cross-platform commitment Microsoft made when it acquired SwiftKey for Android and iOS.
SwiftKey had already become Microsoft's remaining iPhone keyboard after it shut down Word Flow and directed users to SwiftKey. Customer feedback has therefore preserved the company’s principal third-party keyboard presence on iOS.
First-order effects
- iOS users can again obtain SwiftKey from the App Store, and Microsoft resumes supporting a product it had just planned to retire on that platform.
- Microsoft keeps SwiftKey available on both iOS and Android rather than limiting ongoing support to Android.
Second-order effects
- The reversal avoids forcing former SwiftKey iOS users to migrate to competing keyboards after Microsoft had removed its own Word Flow alternative.
- Microsoft’s iOS keyboard effort again has a user base through which its earlier SwiftKey features can remain relevant, rather than becoming Android-only.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft continues responding to user pushback on acquired cross-platform apps, product-retirement decisions become less final and more contingent on demonstrated customer demand.
- The episode reinforces the value of maintaining software footholds on rival mobile platforms when an acquired product has become the company’s surviving category presence there.
The trend: Microsoft is balancing portfolio simplification against the customer value of maintaining acquired apps across competing mobile ecosystems.