It has never been easy for apple to share their iOS with developers who designed third party keyboards, however after the September 2014 release of iOS, the gates were finally opened as a user could download and use any keyboard with the apps of Apple. This included even the core apps of iOS such as Contacts, Phone, Messages and Mail. The fans of Swiftkey and Swype and other such keyboard apps rejoiced.

Even Microsoft went ahead and released the iOS version of Word Flow while the Gboard was released by Google which included the feature of the inbuilt search option. There are various features that come along with the keyboard apps that attract a lot of users. While for some it could be the fact that there was the voice recognition feature, another was the translation facility and for some it was the fact that it does take time for the dictation may not be perfect however over time it does get better.

So what is it that stops Apple from sharing with third party keyboards, well the answer given by Apple is Privacy. We all know that Apple takes a lot of care when it comes to their product. They also believe in ensuring that the customer’s data is private and protected. This is one of the main reasons why the company was hesitating to share the iOS. As per the policy of the company, it does not allow the access of microphones for extensions as there is no way to ensure that the phone was actually listening, this is how the iOS was designed initially. The company thought that by allowing the keyboard access, it would nefarious the apps and without the user’s knowledge it would listen on. This can also create various other problems not just for the user but also in the device itself.