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IOS 8 and Swiftkey

tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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in Mobile Phones #1
Just installing Swiftly, but to get all the learning capabilities it wants access to my Gmail. Now, I'm not paranoid about such things, but it says it wants to be able to manage and delete my emails, and send emails on my behalf. Why does a keyboard need this level of access ?

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    andyukguyandyukguy Posts: 169
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    #2
    I'm not sure if this will answer your question, but this is SwiftKey's answer as to why it requires "full access" on iOS 8: http://swiftkey.com/en/blog/swiftkey-require-full-access/
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    JasonJason Posts: 76,557
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    #3
    Having used Swiftkey for many years on Android with full integration, I can certainly assure you that it doesn't suddenly randomly email your friends or remove anything from your inbox :)
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    whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    #4
    My friends have never had emails. From android, it uses your friends names and words you use in emails as words in your dictionary as suggestions.
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    tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    #5
    andyukguy wrote: »
    I'm not sure if this will answer your question, but this is SwiftKey's answer as to why it requires "full access" on iOS 8: http://swiftkey.com/en/blog/swiftkey-require-full-access/

    Thanks, that's helpful. I rather assumed that was the case, and that it's a question of all or nothing as to what the developer enables.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 13,367
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    #6
    tdenson wrote: »
    Thanks, that's helpful. I rather assumed that was the case, and that it's a question of all or nothing as to what the developer enables.

    That still doesn't explain why it would need permission to send and delete emails though. In fact, it doesn't even cover it at all.
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    tdensontdenson Posts: 5,773
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    #7
    IslandNiles wrote: »
    That still doesn't explain why it would need permission to send and delete emails though. In fact, it doesn't even cover it at all.

    I just assume that in the APIs there is no granularity distinction between read only and deleting and sending.
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    Lidtop2013Lidtop2013 Posts: 4,357
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    #8
    Email that's the least of your worries, when I installed it it said the developer could see passwords etc that's been typed on the keyboard, when I read that I uninstalled it straight away
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    whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    #9
    Lidtop2013 wrote: »
    Email that's the least of your worries, when I installed it it said the developer could see passwords etc that's been typed on the keyboard, when I read that I uninstalled it straight away

    Its a keyboard!!!! Of course it can. :confused: It can see everything you type!
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    Lidtop2013Lidtop2013 Posts: 4,357
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    #10
    whoever,hey wrote: »
    Its a keyboard!!!! Of course it can. :confused: It can see everything you type!

    Yes but sending all the info back to the developer? bit sketchy isnt it? :confused:
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    simon69csimon69c Posts: 1,423
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    #11
    Password entry fields are forced back to use the standard apple keyboard anyway. If in doubt you can always switch back to the standard keyboard before entering any sensitive data.
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    whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    #12
    Lidtop2013 wrote: »
    Yes but sending all the info back to the developer? bit sketchy isnt it? :confused:

    Apple wont let them control the granularity of the warning.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 13,367
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    #13
    whoever,hey wrote: »
    Apple wont let them control the granularity of the warning.

    It's not an Apple or iOS warning. It's a warning that appears within SwiftKey's own browser when signing into SwiftKey Cloud.

    I just don't undertand why it would need the following permissions:

    View, manage and permanently delete your mail in Gmail
    Create, update and delete labels
    Compose and send new email

    Is this something to do with the way Google manages permissions?
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    RoushRoush Posts: 4,368
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    #14
    There's a standard system warning given by iOS when you allow a keyboard full access. The warning is as follows:

    Allow Full Access for "SwiftKey" Keyboards?

    Full access allows the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type, including things you have previously typed with this keyboard.

    This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address.

    It isn't saying that developers do actually transmit everything from their keyboards back to their own servers. It's warning users that they are potentially sharing information they might consider to be confidential. Apple mandate that all third party keyboards that request full access contain a privacy policy.

    As already pointed out, third party keyboards are not allowed to input into password fields and iOS will automatically switch back to the standard keyboard when a password field is selected.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 13,367
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    #15
    Roush wrote: »
    Correct, it's a system warning given by iOS when you allow a keyboard full access. The warning is as follows:

    Allow Full Access for "SwiftKey" Keyboards?

    Full access allows the developer of this keyboard to transmit anything you type, including things you have previously typed with this keyboard.

    This could include sensitive information such as your credit card number or street address.

    It isn't saying that developers do actually transmit everything from their keyboards back to their own servers. It's warning users that they are potentially sharing information they might consider to be confidential. Apple mandate that all third party keyboards that request full access contain a privacy policy.

    As already pointed out, third party keyboards are not allowed to input into password fields and iOS will automatically switch back to the standard keyboard when a password field is selected.

    No, the warning about email permissons is nothing to do with iOS or granting full access. It's a warning you get when you allow it to access Gmail through SwiftKey Cloud.

    EDIT: Sorry, I just re-read your post and I think you were making a slightly different point.
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