[inthewoods]

I guess this is part of the continued move away from paid apps - but as a user, I found this confusing.

Swiftkey states that their goal is to get as many people using the app as possible, so they're making it free - but nowhere do they define for their users how they are planning on making money.

That leaves me thinking the one of the following: you'll be selling my data, you'll be doing in-app purchasing, you've found some other magical revenue source, or you'll be going out of business. I don't want to spread FUD here - my point is that as a paying customer this is not a good way to communicate. I have no idea what the strategy is - but if you want me to remain a customer, I personally would like to understand what is going on.

[Karunamon]

you'll be selling my data

Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD.

you'll be doing in-app purchasing

Err.. did you miss the announcement of the IAP theme store? Because that's exactly what they're doing.

my point is that as a paying customer this is not a good way to communicate. I have no idea what the strategy is

Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model.

[inthewoods]

"Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the EULA. FUD."

Given that they have no last update date for their Privacy, Terms, et al on their website, I have no idea if these are current.

"Sounds like give away the base app and sell value adds. A perfectly legitimate business model."

As a user of the application, I don't know what they are doing - they did not communicate it. That's my point.

"Err.. did you miss the announcement of the IAP theme store? Because that's exactly what they're doing."

No, I saw that part of the announcement - that doesn't clear it up for me. It indicates that they'll be charging for add-on themes -- nothing else. It doesn't assure me that they'll NOT be selling my data (as an example).

[Karunamon]

I'd imagine the cross section of their user base which devotes this level of thought to their business model is quite small.

[inthewoods]

Probably right!

[swiftkey]

Hi, thanks for the feedback. Protecting your data and maintaining your trust is core to our mission at SwiftKey, and the procedures we have in place are under constant review. You can read an explanation from the founders about why SwiftKey Keyboard is now free here: http://swiftkey.com/en/blog/why-we-set-swiftkey-free/ If you want to find out more about how we keep your data safe, please read our Data Security statement here: http://swiftkey.com/en/data-security/

[Gormo]

It's beginning to seem like the best approach to selecting software is akin to the best approach to shopping in a supermarket - stick to the edges and avoid the middle. In this case, the two opposite ends of the spectrum might be viable from a security and privacy standpoint - fully-paid commercial software and completely open FOSS are both acceptable, but the middle ground of commercial freeware is best avoided.