SwiftKey, the first artificial intelligence prediction keyboard for smartphones, was the most-purchased Android app in its first week on the market, topping the platforms paid apps chart for seven days straight, its developers revealed today.

“The incredible demand for SwiftKey just keeps shattering all expectations,” says TouchType CMO, Joe Braidwood said. “We saw over a quarter million downloads in our public beta, and now were Androids top paid app. Our users are sending a clear message to the mobile industry: people out there are demanding intelligent text prediction for their phones, and theyre willing to pay for it.”

SwiftKey uses TouchTypes patent-pending Fluency language prediction engine to learn a users writing style and complete words and sentences for them, making touchscreen typing easier and quicker. The technology, based on artificial intelligence breakthroughs from the University of Cambridge, understands the relationship between words and can accurately predict about a third of words before a user taps a key.

TouchType CTO Dr Ben Medlock says the SwiftKey experience will get better and better in the coming months. “Were coming up with some really innovative ideas around making the prediction technology more powerful. Were also going to be implementing some great new features, such as alternative skins, so our users definitely have a lot to look forward to.”

SwiftKey currently offers predictions in US English, UK English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Swedish, with many new languages coming soon. It is the first keyboard app on the market that can make simultaneous text predictions in two languages.

In addition to the engines powerful predictions, SwiftKey supports voice dictation in five languages and multi-touch, to improve speed. TouchType is selling SwiftKey away for just $0.99 until Friday, 1 October, when the price rise to $3.99.
There’s a YouTube video of SwiftKey in action here.