Microsoft forgets about SwiftKey’s support site

Another Microsoft certificate has expired, leaving SwiftKey users that are seeking support faced with an alarming certificate error.

SwiftKey is a predictive keyboard for Android, iPhone, and iPad. It learns a user’s writing style to make autocorrect more accurate and provide useful predictions.

It’s a useful tool with loyal users even though improvements made by Apple and Google to their respective keyboards over the years have tarnished its luster a little.

One such user contacted The Register after heading into the app’s settings to find the support page. However, rather than be presented with Microsoft’s support page for the product, our reader received a stern browser warning. The TLS certificate had expired.

As of June 10, the TLS certificate for support.swiftkey.com has expired. Heading to www.swiftkey.com redirects to Microsoft’s site, but clicking Help also throws up a warning.

Microsoft bought SwiftKey in 2016 for $250 million. In 2022, the Windows-maker attempted to kill off the iOS version but backtracked after user outcry. In February, Microsoft rebranded it with the perky message: “Introducing SwiftKey Copilot Keyboard! Leverage the power of AI to boost productivity, unlock creativity, and help you understand information better.”

Adding the Copilot branding onto SwiftKey makes some sense, considering the tool’s probabilistic model for predicting what the user will type next.

However, predicting when a certificate is about to expire appears to be beyond Microsoft, as demonstrated by the company’s recent Microsoft 365 woes, and now SwiftKey’s support site succumbing to a lack of attention on the part of Redmond.

The Register contacted Microsoft to learn more about the fate of SwiftKey and why the company has allowed the TLS certificate for support.swiftkey.com to expire. According to the iOS version, the most recent version of the app was published on June 14. The release notes read: “General improvements to ensure your Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard runs smoothly.”

Sadly, those “general improvements” did not include ensuring the support site’s certificate was current. ®

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