Guide #6: How to get SwiftKey-like personalization on your stock Android keyboard?

What makes SwiftKey one of the best keyboards is the personalization features such as learning your writing style and history from reading other apps on your phone such as GMail, SMS, etc. If for whatever reason, you want to use another keyboard such as the stock Android keyboard, you can still enjoy SwiftKey-like personalizations. The first thing you need to do is grab User Dictionary Plus from the Play Store. It will read many apps on your device to learn more about your typing habits and add words to your Android user dictionary. So far it will read Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp (paid version), Gmail, SMS, and a backup text file. Google Plus is coming soon. You can even backup your new dictionary to a text file to transfer to another device. Head on past the break for instructions.

Just install the app (links below) and open it. You will be brought to the main screen that gives you the following options:

Now it’s time to choose the apps you want User Dictionary Plus to read. If you choose SMS, if will then read all your messages:

After the “learning” is completed, you will have the chance to select the words you want to import to your user dictionary. If you want to import all of them, just hit the three dot menu and tap “select all”.

You can now do the same for other apps, but you will have to enter your account information and grant User Dictionary Plus access.

You will also notice the first option to import from a backup. This can be any text file as long as it is called Dictionary.txt and located in the sdcard/ directory. You can also scroll all the way down and choose “Backup on file”, which will create a backup of your complete user dictionary. It will also be called “Dictionary.txt”.

User Dictionary Plus will work with the stock Android keyboard and some manufacturer and third party keyboards. Unfortunately you won’t find too many third party keyboards that support the Android user dictionary. As to manufacturer keyboards, it will work with HTC, but for some reason the words won’t show up in the user dictionary. Unfortunately, the Samsung stock keyboard doesn’t support the Android user dictionary. If you want to use another third party keyboard, you need to make sure it is compatible with the Android user dictionary.

You will find both paid and free versions of User Dictionary Plus in the Play Store. The free version limits how far back it will read your apps and doesn’t include WhatsApp. The paid version is $1.03, which is pretty cheap when you consider the functionality it will give you.