Swype for iOS 8 Boosts Languages, Emoji

Apple iOS 8 users can now type faster in more languages: Nuance today announced its Swype keyboard now comes with support for more than 20 languages.

In addition to English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish, Swype now supports British English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hinglish, Hungarian, Irish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, and Turkish. Just long-press the space bar and select your desired language.

The update also includes new intuitive emoji support, which will suggest the right emoji for the moment, based on the words you enter. Feeling happy, confused, tenacious, or satisfied? Swype will try to provide the right symbol for you.

"People love the speed and ease of quickly Swyping from one letter to the next," Aaron Sheedy, vice president of mobile solutions at Nuance, said in a statement. "And it's incredibly cool to see the words and phrases you are about to Swype automatically appear as you go—almost at the same time you're thinking them."

Users will also find additional keyboard layouts: QWERTY, QWERTZ, and AZERTY for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Nuance released a new design specifically for the iPad, making it easier to Swype in landscape and portrait modes. As an added bonus, tablet owners can download all five of Swype's themes for free.

Newcomers can install the keyboard app from the iTunes App Store for a special price of 99 cents. Once downloaded, visit your phone's general settings to add the Swype keyboard for everyday use.

Swype is also available for Android, Windows 7, Windows Phone, Symbian, and Meego.

Check out Swype for iPhone and iPad in action in the video below.

For more, see PCMag's review of Swype Keyboard (for iPhone) and some other iOS 8 keyboard options in the slideshow above.