FUTO: Keyboards Shouldn't Connect to the Internet | Hacker News Reader

FUTO: Keyboards Shouldn't Connect to the Internet

keyboard.futo.org

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Oh the OSK, not the clicky clacky version.

I've switched to FUTO keyboard away from Microsoft's SwiftKey recently rebranded as an "AI Keyboard". So far, so good. It does what it says on the tin. The swipe-to-type isn't as good as SwiftKey or Swype (RIP) but it's good enough for daily use.

I'm on HeliBoard, which can use the Swype library and has instructions for obtaining it. It's not prefect, but it's the most accurate for glide typing I've seen. It's the same library that powers Gboard glide typing, so it's pretty good.

I might try that, but at at a glance it seems...suboptimal.

> Glide typing (only with closed source library )

> library not included in the app, as there is no compatible open source library available

> can be extracted from GApps packages ("swypelibs"), or downloaded here (click on the file and then "raw" or the tiny download button)

The setup admittedly sucks, but the swypelibs make up for it.

Hope this becomes available on iOS.

161Mb?! Thanks, but no.

I'd assume a lot of the size is the auto correct data

Reminder that FUTO is a dishonest, fascist-linked organization: https://drewdevault.com/2025/10/22/2025-10-22-Whats-up-with-...

Relative to Google or Microsoft?

You can find non-Google, non-Microsoft, open source, spyware-free keyboards that don't come from fascist-adjacent organizations.

I think maybe it's time to integrate the Olivia Hill rule into the fabric of our community, at least informally.

Might be more important for the United States government to adopt that rule.

If you know of one for iOS I’d love to hear about it.

There are actual free&open source software keyboards. Not futo's "source available"-bs

Because those are the only alternatives?

I think they kind of are if you want swipe features? Are there any FLOSS apps besides FUTO that have that?

For what it's worth, I don't require that the friends of the author of my keyboard software share my political values. We live in a morally compromised world and I use software every day written by organizations doing evil.

First, FUTO doesn't produce FLOSS. The key difference though, is that Google and Microsoft are doing evil for the end goal of more money whereas FUTO appears to be using all money and influence specifically in service of fascism. Can I pick a phone made with 100% ethical hardware and software? No, probably not. Can I avoid a brand actively trying to make everything for its own sake? Absolutely.

> whereas FUTO appears to be using all money and influence specifically in service of fascism

This seems like a wild mischaracterization of donating money to free software projects? https://futo.org/grants/ but maybe I don't have the same ideological commitments that you do.

This response is not indicative of thorough reading of what was shared thus far. I really do not think you could have read the article listed above and think the "grants" are new information.

Aside from the numerous unsourced claims and hand wringing over people with garden variety center-right takes, this blog post also falsely claims Curtis Yarvin has himself claimed to be a fascist, which appears to be an outright fabrication.

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