Google is sending out warnings about SwiftKey's access to Gmail, likely due to new API changes

By Sean Endicott
published

Swifkey carbon theme
Swifkey carbon theme (Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Some users received a warning from Google regarding SwiftKey's access to Gmail.
  • The warning is likely related to upcoming API changes that limit third-party access.
  • The warning mentions a deadline for SwiftKey to comply with data policy requirements.

Some users of SwiftKey, Microsoft's AI keyboard, have received warning emails from Google regarding SwiftKey's access to Gmail. Google is changing its APIs regarding access to user data within Gmail, and there's a good chance that this warning email is related to those changes.

Users have the option to grant Swiftkey access to emails on their Gmail accounts. This allows the keyboard to learn words used within emails and help reduce effort from users to add custom words and tendencies to their keyboard.

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The email states, "if these apps are unable to meet the deadline to comply with our updated data policy requirements, they'll lose access to your account from 15 July 2019." This seems to indicate that Microsoft has time to meet Google's new requirements. The cutoff for access if the new guidelines aren't met is only weeks away so we'll likely have more details soon.

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Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

21 Comments
  • Now that's anti competitive! Microsoft should learn from this and give warning while starting Chrome on windows.
  • SwiftKey is really very intuitive. Microsoft should please comply as soon as possible so that we don't loose access to our default keyboard.
  • You won't lose access to your keyboard. Your data would just not be saved to your account and then synced to other devices.
  • You don't have to use Google to sync your SwiftKey devices. In fact, I use my Microsoft account.
  • @Tarkus13 Yup, sadly though most people don't know that is an option.
  • Meh, Google is Google..
  • Google is playing evil again. And, for sure, the Gboad has access to Gmail, without any problem :) Time to not use Gmail anymore ?
  • This isn't Google being evil. SwiftKey team just has to update API libs to the latest one. They are probably still on V1 😂
  • Just tell the SwiftKey guys and they will fix it in the next update. That same thing happened to Outlook awhile ago
  • Ya, my guess is that it'll be fine.
  • So has anyone actually asked Google (and Microsoft, the owners of Swiftkey) about this? For example, Windows Central? (Isn't that what journalists do?) A retweet from a random Twitter user doesn't tell us much.
  • It's not just SwiftKey. I use a third party email client on Android (Nine) and I got the same notice for that app.
  • They must not be able to collect sufficient amount of your data, or as efficiently, through Swiftkey entries. Outlook on Android works great.
  • This isn't stopping anyone from using both SwiftKey and Gmail. It's simply stopping SwiftKey from being able to read your Gmail.
  • @Tarkus13, I don't think that is correct why SwiftKey or any keyboard software need to read your emails?
    More accurately, Google will be preventing users from using their Gmail to sync Swiftkey across their devices after 15th July.
  • I should also add, that Google is stating that Swiftkey needs to be updated to adhere to the latest requirements otherwise no access after 15th July. Given Google's penchant for making backend changes that impact Microsoft applications, whose to say it wasn't targeted?
  • To learn words, basically. Swiftkey has a dictionary attached to it, it's literally how it works. It reads emails to find new words that it may potentially need to use in the future.
  • From this very article: Users have the option to grant Swiftkey access to emails on their Gmail accounts. This allows the keyboard to learn words used within emails and help reduce effort from users to add custom words and tendencies to their keyboard.
  • Well, I don't use Gmail so they can get bent... 😒
  • I got the email for an app called SMS backup. Great app.
  • I have received a similar mail mentioning an app called sms backup plus which I have used previously..