Comparison
SwiftKey voice typing and OSSFlow
SwiftKey's voice typing is a microphone on the Microsoft SwiftKey keyboard. OSSFlow is not another keyboard. It is a floating bubble for Android that pastes cleaned text with a key you supply. As of October 2026, Microsoft's support page is the source for how SwiftKey's mic behaves.
What Microsoft's SwiftKey page says
Microsoft's SwiftKey support page says multimodal voice typing is the default. You tap the microphone or long-press the comma key, then speak, and you can type at the same time.
Turning multimodal off is under SwiftKey Settings, then Rich input. The page says SwiftKey then uses Google's voice input method, and that the Google app has to be installed. Voice clips may be sent to Microsoft. The page says you can stop contributing under Voice Typing and still use the feature.
In the section headed "How do I use Voice Typing?", that same page says voice to text is English only. The multimodal section above it does not repeat that line. Read both parts of the page rather than treating one sentence as the whole product.
What OSSFlow does instead
You can leave SwiftKey as the keyboard. OSSFlow does not take its place. Focus a field, tap the bubble, speak, and tap again. The text is inserted and copied.
Transcription is Grok by default, or any OpenAI-compatible transcription API over HTTPS. The app is free, bring your own key. There is no OSSFlow account. The default language setting is English. OSSFlow does not translate, and it does not work offline.
Which one to use
- Use SwiftKey's mic if you already type on SwiftKey and you want speech on that keyboard.
- Use OSSFlow if you want a provider you choose, a GPL-3.0 app, and a bubble that works without becoming the keyboard.
- This page does not quote a SwiftKey price. Microsoft's page above does not state one.
Questions
- Is SwiftKey voice typing English only?
- Microsoft's support page says that in the section "How do I use Voice Typing?". The multimodal section of the same page does not repeat it. Check the page for the mode you use. OSSFlow's default setup is also English.
- Does OSSFlow send voice clips to Microsoft?
- No. SwiftKey's own page describes SwiftKey clips. OSSFlow sends audio to the transcription provider you set, and it has no server of its own.
- Can both stay installed?
- Yes. SwiftKey can remain the keyboard. OSSFlow is the bubble. You still add an API key in OSSFlow before dictation works.
- Does OSSFlow work offline?
- No. Microsoft mentions offline recognition for the Google voice-typing fallback, managed in the Google app. OSSFlow has no on-device speech model.