Logging into SwiftKey will require a Microsoft account this spring

Logging into popular third-party smartphone keyboard app SwiftKey will soon require a Microsoft account. The Microsoft-owned software keyboard is ditching non-Microsoft logins this spring, and the software giant is moving user data to its own OneDrive cloud storage.

As reported by Windows Central, Microsoft has been alerting SwiftKey users that the platform will transition to a Microsoft account-based model in May. After that date, you’ll only be able to log in using a Microsoft account. The keyboard currently lets users log in with a SwiftKey account, Microsoft account, a Google account, or an Apple account.

Logging into SwiftKey allows users to maintain typing data across devices, including personalized autocorrect suggestions and dictionaries. Starting on May 31, that typing data will be moved to the OneDrive storage associated with the Microsoft account you use to log in (or create to use with SwiftKey).

According to Windows Central, SwiftKey’s email alerting users to this change also highlights “enhanced privacy protections” and the opportunity to collect Microsoft Rewards points that can be spent on things like charitable donations or discounts on Xbox games.

You probably won’t have to log into a Microsoft account to use SwiftKey; you’re currently able to use the keyboard without logging in at all. But going that route does prevent you from porting any of the personalization we’ve come to expect in modern keyboard apps from one device to another, essentially making you retrain the keyboard on each new device you set up.

SwiftKey’s been around since 2010 and was an early innovator in the gesture-based touchscreen typing space. Microsoft acquired the keyboard in 2016. You’ll be able to log in using non-Microsoft accounts until May 31.