If you use the privacy respecting Gboard alternative called FUTO keyboard, you’ve probably noticed that the built in swipe typing is HOT GARBAGE. (Typing this currently with two thumbs for this exact reason.)
Most keyboards improve their swipe algorithms by simply spying on you and logging your typing data. FUTO isn’t about that, so they have built a simple webpage based typing game that you can use to improve their system in an ethical and voluntary manner! Just swipe the website’s keyboard to type a provided sentence.
I love this, they can crowdsource the improvement without invading privacy!
Share with any relevant communities you’re a part of. The more data, the better this gets.
That’s a neat solution
I thought so too! FUTO is a project worth supporting in my opinion.
Isn’t FUTO an organization that named their keyboard application after themselves?
Pitched in 100 words! Definitely some open source swiping keyboard gesture databases would be helpful for everyone.
Agreed! I use Heliboard but am glad you pitch in some words.
I just gave them 500 new data samples. :) My thumb is sore.
I’m trying really hard to not revert back to Swiftkey (again, as I do every time I run out of patience with a new privacy respecting keyboard), and I don’t even use swipe typing. I’m still hoping that the more I type the better the predictions will get but after using it for a few months I feel like I’m just adapting to bad predictions rather than the predictions getting better.
I’m using this one. https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard Once I downloaded dictionary for my native language+ English that came preinstalled, and granted permission to learn from my typing, it’s pretty good.
Not as good as swift key, but enough for my needs. I don’t use swipe typing but someone I know said it is alright.
I tried it a while ago but found the predictions were bad. Maybe I’ll give it another shot
I was skeptical first but after a day or two or became good and now after a month I can’t explain why I didn’t make the switch earlier it’s perfect for my use and I feel more in line with my values
Does not have swipe except when using a Google library
The Google library is fully offline as far as everyone knows. Sure it’s a binary blob and projects such as this linked here aim to finally break free from that dependency. But for the time being, I’ll be Ok with that offline blob until this futo becomes a viable alternative.
Do you have the LLM fine tuning enabled? Mine is pretty good after a few months of training it.
Wait you can train the Futo keyboard? I tried it a while ago and noticed the poor accuracy and decided to shelve it for a while.
Yeah, it’s been on and to answer questions below, no it doesn’t affect my battery.
I’m having small problems like suggesting capitalized words in the middle of a sentence and suggesting capitalized words as a different word than the non capitalized ones. Like it’ll suggest “That” in the middle of a sentence and also “that” at the same time, so two of the three slots are taken up.
Does that affect your battery much? The warning pushed me away from trying it.
No noticeable difference.
Does it eat a lot of battery for you?
Nope
Please everybody do this. This is sure to help other keyboards, too.
Is it? The FTL is restrictive about who is allowed to redistribute and modify anything covered by it. Is this data covered under a different license?
What a cool idea!
As an avid swipe user, I’ll try to send as many samples as I can!FUTO was the joke naming we’d use for files in an old job as there was this one guy who’s files were always “FileName-Final” or “FileName-Final2” or “FileName-UseThisOne”. So FUTO (Final Use This One) became the name for the most up to date versions
Are they going to share this data with the open source community or is this just for their proprietary keyboard?
I’ve never used swipe typing, so my data is probably garbage, but its kinda fun.
Data is data! You’re a use case, regardless of swipe ability.
As are a bunch of other people. It helps.
You can get so fast at it surprisingly quickly. I keep trying to get friends to do it but they’re like “Nah that sucks.”
I swear almost anyone can get good at it inside a week.
This is amazing. I really want to ditch Gboard. I hope this Futo can replace it completely.
Feel like I’m destroying the dataset with QWERTY so I’ll wait until QWERTZ is available :)
Would love to help, but they need a way more optimized site or a faster server, whichever is causing the slowness. Waited a full minute and barely got the keyboard to load.
Pretty sure I hugged it to death with the post. Was working fine for the last couple of days.
Worked fine for me. Might just have been the first rush.
I’m on iOS, but I gave it a few minutes of swiping to help out.
Yeah I love swiping to type so I use Gboard but I gave them 101 words to help. I’d gladly switch if they can make it this good.
They should simply allow collecting this data via opt-in. I’d gladly provide it, but I don’t want it to be opt-out, because then this feels sneaky.
That would require a lot of data privacy concerns to be addressed. Even if it’s an explicit opt-in. The current method uses sample text which can’t include PII. Using user supplied text would almost guarantee they’d get names and other PII in their data set.
I also imagine it’s harder to train the model when you don’t know exactly what the user was trying to type. I.e. Was the swipe detection wrong, or did the user delete the word because they changed their mind on what to write?
I don’t think the keyboard does that, it’s a dedicated webpage you visit to help improve it
Yes, that’s the point of my reply. I’m saying it should be built into the keyboard and not just a website, if that wasn’t clear.
The entire point of the keyboard is that it’s not built in. The philosophy behind the organization making it says that it shouldn’t be built in.
Nowhere in their site does it say such a thing, and I think you’re interpreting it the way you want to believe it.
They simply say that people should have control over their information.
I agree. That’s why it should be built into the keyboard, and ONLY activated if the user opts-in. If they don’t, then they will be cutting off their nose, in order to spite their face.
Users will gladly contribute, so long as the path to contribution is the least painful it can be. Opting in via the keyboard app is the only reasonable route to do this; not via some website.
You’re welcome to read their beliefs here: https://futo.org/about/what-does-futo-believe/
We expect FUTO companies to have an honest relationship with their customers. Ideally revenue comes from customers paying directly for the services provided by the company. “The users are our product” revenue models such as those employed by Facebook and Google are prohibited.
If the data needed to help improve swipe accuracy goes to helping improve the product, and is not sold and used as a business model - then that is perfectly within reasonable use of the data as explained by their beliefs page.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.futo.inputmethod.latin.playstore
Your keyboard shouldn’t connect to the internet.
We believe that if your computer keyboard doesn’t ask for internet access, neither should your mobile keyboard. FUTO Keyboard is a modern keyboard app with voice input that is completely offline and never connects to the internet, in order to ensure your privacy and security.
You’re missing the whole anonymization layer they’ve implemented here. If actual typing data is used, the app can’t guarantee user control of the data after opt-in. The data they’re using here is not private user typing data to begin with.
I’d recommend listening to Louis Rossman’s talks on the subject.
I’m not missing anything, I’m one of Louis Rossman’s Patreon members. I work in the same field as he does (or, well, used to, technically).
The only data they’re collecting is what swipe pattern coincides with which word. You swipe, it mispredicts, you choose the word that it should have been, and poof - a library of swiped shapes -> word gets created.
It doesn’t violate privacy, it’s anonymized, and it helps improve the system for others.
There’s no reason to go to the extent you claim they must.
Ok cool, but I’ll still support this initiative, because as FUTO states, a keyboard should not connect to the internet.
The one thing I really don’t like about it, that really prevents me from using the keyboard is that when I misspell something, and it autocorrects, and then I want to add something else to it, hitting the backspace key removes the autocorrection, with no way to disable it (at least from what I’ve seen), I cannot stand that, which is why I’ve still been using gboard, but without network permissions because I’m on GrapheneOS.
Try Heliboard! It allows you to customise that
Now at this point I think I’m just being picky, but I don’t want the toolbar either.
Edit: I have still yet to find an open-sourced keyboard app that does exactly what I’m looking for.
