Write like Shakespeare with Microsoft’s Swiftkey ShakeSpeak app

3 min. read

Published onApril 7, 2016

published onApril 7, 2016

Share this article

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Microsoft’slatest acquisition SwiftKeyintroduced a new keyboard today calledShakeSpeakas part of their SwiftKey Greenhouse program for testing new and experimental ideas. This newest keyboard is meant to honor the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death by enabling you to text like the Bard himself.

The ShakeSpeak keyboard for Android works like SwiftKey’s other keyboards, using machine learning to predict what you are going to type next. However, in the case of ShakeSpeak, SwiftKey generates its predictions from the complete works of Shakespeare. The result is ShakeSpeak suggests words or phrases from an Elizabethan era lexicon. And similar to the normal SwiftKey app, ShakeSpeak will learn from you as you type, making future suggestions based off of which words and phrases you use the most.

To create ShakeSpeak, SwiftKey’s language experts analyzed the entire Shakespeare canon. And in their announcement of ShakeSpeak they listed a few key findings from their research to help you write like the Bard even without the app. SwiftKey’s researchers found:

ShakeSpeak also decorates your keyboard with an old faded parchment look and a watermark of Shakespeare’s portrait. However, while SwiftKey is available on both iOS and Android, ShakeSpeak is Android only. You can download ShakeSpeak from the Google Play Store link below.

Once you download ShakeSpeak, SwiftKey is also asking users to join in celebrating the Bard by tweeting whatever you scribe with ShakeSpeak to @SwiftKey with the hashtag #ShakeSpeak.

Similar to the puprose of other Microsoft Research projects like how-old.net or TwinsorNot.net, this app showcases how advance and effective machine learning can be in a fun and engaging way. So download the app and get to scribing like you are from 16th Century England in no time.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

User forum

0 messages

Sort by:LatestOldestMost Votes

Comment*

Name*

Email*

Commenting as.Not you?

Save information for future comments

Comment

Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Write like Shakespeare with Microsoft’s Swiftkey ShakeSpeak app#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Write like Shakespeare with Microsoft’s Swiftkey ShakeSpeak app