LocalType
Release notes
Newest first. Current download: 0.5.48.
These notes describe each version when it was released. Some features have since changed or been retired. Optional model features apply only to builds that include them; model-free builds do not include those features.
Jump to a version
0.5.48 Current download
Two quick spaces no longer turn into a period inside password and email fields. Date and time fields get their own number pad, a space typed from the symbols page goes back to a number or phone pad instead of letters, all-capitals fields stay in capitals, and email and web address boxes no longer start with a capital. On the number pad, hold 0 for a minus and the period for a comma in boxes that take decimals.
Original release note
0.5.47
Letters are no longer typed twice in web grids such as crosswords, where each letter moves you on to the next box. New experimental keyboards, off by default under Languages: Arabic, Persian with a half-space key, Galician and Scottish Gaelic, and Navajo as a very early experiment that corrects nothing automatically. No native speaker has reviewed any of them yet.
Original release note
0.5.46
Model sharing and removal now report file errors accurately and keep retry controls available. Interrupted downloads remain available to resume, and the network setting is labeled Unmetered network.
Original release note
0.5.45
Find named symbols, including plain trademark and copyright signs, in Tools → More → Symbols. Text effects previews small caps, superscript, monospace, fullwidth and Cursed text, with Insert and Copy. Blocked words under Your words and data keeps chosen words out of suggestions while still letting you type them. Inactive row gaps is an optional touch setting. Corrections can resume after an editor restart once the next word boundary is safely verified.
Original release note
0.5.44
On Android 14 and earlier, the upper row of a two-row hold (the IPA row on e, with ɛ) can be reached again: slide up to the top edge of the suggestion strip to pick it.
Original release note
0.5.43
Type (c), (tm), -> or 1/2 and the strip offers ©, ™, → or ½; typing the word copyright or trademark offers its sign too. The ?123 page’s comma and period now hold dashes, angle quotes and a bullet instead of symbols already on that page.
Original release note
0.5.41 Model-free release
A separate model-free Android release and its source were published. This build leaves out the optional language models and uses its installing client for updates. It was not a release in the main F-Droid catalog.
Model-free release record
0.5.40
Optional Common symbols on hold puts punctuation on letter holds while keeping accents and IPA available. Currency can be chosen separately from British spelling, long suggestions keep their endings visible, and tapping a suggestion before an existing line break keeps the space before the next word.
Original release note
0.5.39
Phones that theme their app icons now show LocalType’s keys instead of a blank keycap. Clean link no longer offers to clean part of a longer link, and the voice key stops a swipe still being read before it listens.
Original release note
0.5.38
The arrow at the right of the suggestion bar opens a row of tools: clipboard, emoji, voice, undo, contacts, one-handed keys, rewrites and more. Tap Clean link to take the tracking off a link already in a message.
Original release note
0.5.37
Welsh, Irish, Māori and Hawaiian keyboards join Languages as experiments, off by default. Typing a letter without its accent now suggests the accented word in Spanish and Portuguese too.
Original release note
0.5.36
New Touch and timing settings for typing with a tremor or limited reach: ignore repeated touches, hold before a key types, dwell to type, steady keys, and aim from your own touches. British spelling joins English under Languages; all of it is off by default.
Original release note
0.5.35
From your feedback: wider space bar and taller suggestion bar choices under Appearance, learned words keep their capitals (camel case and #tags too), a period typed for the space between two words gets an Apply offer, Hebrew arrives as an early experiment, off by default, and About links to this page and to help.
Original release note
0.5.34
Swipe and slides: a swipe that runs past the letters keeps its word, long swipes keep their whole path, and a new Slide speed setting adjusts the space-bar and delete slides. Key shapes can be turned off, long words in the strip shrink to fit, and the IPA keyboard has a diacritics page.
Original release note
0.5.33
Missed spaces: when a letter beside the space bar lands where the space belongs, as in “ofbthe”, the strip now offers “of the” instead of a one-word guess like “other”. The bottom row now reads ?123, comma, 🌐, space, as on Gboard, so reaching for the comma no longer switches keyboards.
Original release note
0.5.32
One copy of Gemma between LocalType and LocalLauncher: when LocalLauncher has downloaded Gemma and LocalType hasn't, LocalType uses LocalLauncher's copy (with sharing on there) instead of a second 2.4 GB download, and checking for that copy no longer makes LocalLauncher load it. While LocalType is using it, LocalLauncher's Gemma is less likely to be stopped mid-load on a busy phone.
Original release note
0.5.31
Email fields get a .com key beside the space bar, with .org, .net, .edu and .me on its hold, and after the @ the first letter of a common mail provider such as Gmail, iCloud or Outlook brings it up in the strip. Keys you hold now wait for Android’s Touch & hold delay when you’ve set it longer. Share Gemma with LocalLauncher (off unless you turn it on) lets LocalLauncher ask the Gemma already on your phone for one short line, so it needs no network or second model.
Original release note
0.5.30
Settings, reorganized: each section folds to one line with a summary of what's in it, each setting is one row with its full explanation behind ⓘ, and Languages is a quick list where English, Español, Português and the IPA keyboard each switch on or off. Settings, setup and the tour follow your phone's language in Spanish or Portuguese, or the one you pick under Languages; those translations are machine-made and marked experimental. Portuguese (experimental, off by default) joins Spanish, Brazilian spelling first, with its own word lists, corrections and learning, which no native speaker has read yet. With several languages on, the hold-Space chooser now wraps onto a second row instead of squeezing the last name, and F-Droid apps show LocalType's icon.
Original release note
0.5.29
An IPA keyboard joins the hold-Space chooser, for phonetic transcription: turn it on under Languages in Settings, then hold Space to switch to it. A row of the commonest IPA symbols sits above the letters, holding a letter offers the symbols related to it, and nothing is suggested, corrected or learned there. Swipe typing, still experimental and off by default, now puts a space between two swiped words where text follows, as inside brackets or before a full stop; gives a swiped “i” or “i’m” its capital; and in passwords and addresses lets you swipe word after word with no space between. And a small hidden extra: tap the version line in About five times to chat with whichever on-device model is set up.
Original release note
0.5.28
Swipe typing, still experimental and off by default, now works in every text field, passwords, web and email addresses, list filters and terminals included; in passwords and addresses the swiped words run together with no space after, and you can swipe straight after @, a dot, a slash, a dash, an underscore or a colon. The more symbols page now has < and > after ÷ and ×, and ¶ and ∆ moved to a hold on • and π. A new Vibrate on key press switch under Keys and gestures turns the keyboard’s vibration off. Settings now shows a banner at the top when a newer version is out: when you open it, at most every six hours, it reads the version number on the download page, and Check for updates automatically under About turns that off; the keyboard itself never checks. The handy gestures are now a Tips and gestures list near the top of Settings.
Original release note
0.5.27
Spanish, as an early experiment: turn it on under Languages in Settings, then hold Space to switch between English and Español. Spanish has its own ñ key, the accent first when you hold a vowel, ¿ and ¡ on the period key, its own corrections and next-word suggestions, and it learns your Spanish words apart from your English ones. Its word lists come from film subtitles and haven’t been checked by a native speaker, so some suggestions and corrections will be off. It’s off by default, and English is unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.26
The sparkle at the left of the suggestion strip now appears wherever the strip offers words, including browser address bars and web text boxes that turn suggestions off. Tap it there to ask for words; it stays hidden while you type a web address, and holding it proofreads only in ordinary text fields.
Original release note
0.5.25
Two-finger swipes (off by default, under Keys and gestures) now open Saved text when you swipe up, with your saved snippets and recent copies, instead of turning on caps lock. Every direction can still be set to any action, caps lock included, and a direction you already chose keeps your choice.
Original release note
0.5.24
Swipe typing (experimental, off by default) can now follow a tapped “a” or “I”, and it works in private fields and in boxes that ask for no suggestions, learning nothing there; when a swipe can’t start, the strip says why instead of typing a stray letter. Also new and off by default: two-finger swipes under Keys and gestures, to delete a word, undo, turn caps lock on or off, or hide the keyboard.
Original release note
0.5.23
Settings has a new Capitalize automatically switch under Corrections. Turn it off to type in lowercase: Shift no longer turns itself on at the start of a sentence, suggestions there stay lowercase and a lone “i” stays as typed, while Shift and caps lock still work.
Original release note
0.5.22
English swipe typing is available as an experiment, off by default. Turn it on under Typing in Settings, slide through a new word and lift; tap another strip choice to replace it. Delete immediately or tap Undo to remove it. Swipe paths and decoded words are not learned or logged. This build also tidies selected opening-parenthesis, colon/semicolon and !/? spacing and offers Apply for listed a/an phrases. Undo keeps following typing.
Original release note
0.5.21
A freshly typed space before ! or ? is removed, as is a space before ) in a simple parenthesis you just typed. A missing space such as “hello,friend” offers Apply. Delete or Undo restores the original; Undo keeps following text. Hashtags, handles and paths keep their spelling. Settings now explain these small fixes and privacy controls in plainer language.
Original release note
0.5.20
A just-typed space before a comma is removed, with Delete or Undo to restore it. Repeated function words, accidental capitals such as “WOrking” and “your not” offer one-tap Apply; Undo keeps following text.
Original release note
0.5.19
A freshly typed sentence-start “its been” becomes “it’s been” after the second space; less certain phrases offer Apply. Delete immediately or use Undo to restore the original, keeping any following text.
Original release note
0.5.18
Give a saved text a shortcut word, and typing it offers the text above the keys. Sites typed in full twice are offered when started again. Address bars now predict and learn verified prose, while addresses stay literal; pasted context cannot enter new learned pairs or saved model answers. Strip messages read from their first word.
Original release note
0.5.17.1
Clear log and Forget learned words now ask before removing a typing log that holds anything, and the message for a paste a text field did not take now shows above the keys, where Android had been hiding it. New in 0.5.17 itself: a 33 MB download instead of 59, your password manager’s suggestions above the keys (Android 11 and later), and tracking tags removed from links you paste, with delete or Undo to put them back.
Original release note
0.5.17
The download is 33 MB, down from 59. Your password manager’s suggestions now appear above the keys (Android 11 and later), and links you paste from the clipboard button or Saved text lose their tracking tags, with delete or Undo to put them back. A typing log now belongs to one version: export and clear it after updating.
Original release note
0.5.16
Slide along the space bar to move the cursor, and slide left from delete to remove whole words. @handles, #hashtags and words like iPhone or snake_case are no longer “corrected”. A short tour under About shows what the keys do not: the clipboard icon, Saved text, the slides and the microphone.
Original release note
0.5.15
Voice input. A microphone key beside the emoji button takes dictation through Android’s on-device speech recognizer, on phones that have one. Dictated words are never learned or logged. It is new in this build and still being tested.
Original release note
0.5.14
Typos in web text boxes are now corrected as reliably as in ordinary fields, and personal suggestions can learn a word after one use when at least two of your own words come before it. The Chime model is unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.13
Personal suggestions can now remember a word after one deliberate keep or suggestion choice; ordinary known words still need two uses. LocalType uses up to three preceding words you completed here and keeps at most one personal slot in the strip. Forget clears that context, and verified correction Undo removes its contribution. Settings buttons also retain their full touch targets when labels wrap. The Chime model is unchanged; the fresh comparison and everyday typing checks remain open.
Original release note
0.5.12
Typo correction now recovers after you move the cursor: the word you revisit stays protected, while new words you type can be corrected again. Consecutive typos, selected-word repairs and suggestion spacing were checked on both Pixels. This checkpoint keeps the same Chime model; the full keyboard comparison and everyday typing checks are still open.
Original release note
0.5.11
Select a sentence to reveal Proofread selection. Nano or Gemma offers changes for you to review and apply; Chime continues to suggest words. An optional Triple-tap space to proofread setting starts off: two quick taps still insert a period, and the third requests review without another space. Proofreading now verifies the selected range and surrounding text before applying, preserves following text, and supports immediate delete to undo. If a provider is unavailable, the strip offers Settings.
Original release note
0.5.10
selected misspellings such as teh now offer a repair even when a longer completion shares their prefix. Selecting lukes can offer luke’s; the spelling stays unchanged until you tap. After accepting a suggestion, punctuation and a following space leave one separator, and Return removes the automatic space before a newline. Deliberate extra spaces are preserved. Chime’s weights and automatic correction thresholds are unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.9
word selections now offer spelling repairs and reuse one existing space, so the next word does not run into it. Quotes attach to a tapped completion’s automatic space. In Settings → Appearance, Raise the keyboard adds 16, 32 or 48 dp above system navigation. Some missed-space typos can offer a two-word repair: tap Apply to accept it, then Undo to bring the original back. These brief offers leave the text alone until tapped. Automatic correction remains conservative, and the bundled Chime model is unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.8
no lost characters when an app restarts its text box while you type. Keys pressed while the app switches to a new connection are held and typed in order once it is ready, and a character caught in the switch is sent again, never twice. In a stress test on a Pixel 10 with a text box that restarts after every key, 0.5.8 kept every character with taps 120, 60 and 30 ms apart, where 0.5.7 dropped a few at 30 ms. A space or punctuation mark that replaces nothing also skips one read of the text box.
Original release note
0.5.7
fast typing loses far fewer characters. In apps that restart the text box after every key, a stress test on a Pixel 10 kept 118 of 130 characters, where 0.5.6 kept 65. A correction now counts only after the keyboard sees the text change as intended, and Undo then stays in the strip for about five seconds, putting back just that word and keeping what you typed after it. Web text boxes get autocorrection too, with a setting to turn it off. An apostrophe after a picked word joins it, so “friend” then ’s gives “friend’s”. You can add your own words in settings, and a short reviewed list adds current names and terms such as Gmail. Web addresses and email fragments keep their spelling. Pasted text, saved text and emoji are checked after they go in, so nothing is inserted twice, and the emoji and saved-text panels have larger buttons. Settings puts Chime first and groups the optional Gemini Nano and Gemma controls in one section.
Original release note
0.5.6
Chime word predictions are now on by default; a saved off choice stays off. A first-launch walkthrough helps you enable LocalType, select it, try typing and review prediction and privacy controls. Existing users keep their settings screen and can reopen the walkthrough from About. The bundled model is unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.5
Gemma downloads now work through a VPN while keeping the unmetered-only limit. If a download is stuck waiting for a connection after updating, open LocalType Settings once to resume the existing request. Saved download progress is kept.
Original release note
0.5.4
Chime updates word suggestions automatically when enabled. Settings now explain that the sparkle button asks the separate Gemini Nano or Gemma model; a loading, unavailable or unanswered request shows a brief message instead of silently returning. The bundled Chime model is unchanged.
Original release note
0.5.3
Chime-SMS-2M, a new bundled model for Neural predictions (experimental), which remains off by default. The completed ×8 model improves next-word and completion results on the human-written development samples, with a small decline on the mostly synthetic sample. Enable Neural predictions in settings to try it; predictions run locally without downloading a model. Everyday typing acceptance is still pending.
Original release note
0.5.2
44 more everyday words and phrases for emoji predictions and search, bringing the list to 362. Try “rolling my eyes” for 🙄, “happy tears” for 🥹, “dying laughing” for 💀 or “roger that” for 🫡. Holding the emoji suggestion shows related choices; familiar first choices stay first. The full emoji panel, search, recents and skin-tone choices remain available. This update keeps the existing correction behavior and bundled experimental model.
Original release note
0.5.1
more reliable correction during fast typing, with explicit tracking of editor acknowledgements and verified text changes. Ordinary web text boxes allow autocorrection by default; a separate setting turns it off. Space, punctuation and Enter actions share word finalization. Common missing apostrophes receive explicit fixes; an apostrophe joins a tapped completion without leaving its automatic space, and existing possessives stay intact. Settings includes an Added words list for private spellings, with individual removal and autocorrection protection. A reviewed shared vocabulary adds names, technical terms and functional spellings such as Gmail, with preferred capitalization and temporary prediction bonuses for news names. In eligible prose, ai becomes AI with Undo. Domains and email fragments preserve their spelling, and a dot stays literal until Space or Enter confirms a sentence boundary. Clipboard, saved-text and emoji insertions preserve following text, check the editor result and avoid duplicate retries. Emoji search, panel actions and Saved text Undo use larger touch targets; narrow emoji grids use fewer columns to keep their targets at least 48 dp. A brief correction message offers Undo, which remains available for five seconds or 64 further text units and preserves following text. Contextual recent-word fixes are offered for approval; automatic late replacement remains disabled after the development comparison. The experimental bundled next-word model remains unchanged and off by default. Typing logs remain opt-in and distinguish verified, rejected and undone repairs from prediction savings. Everyday typing acceptance is still open.
Original release note
0.5.0
an optional small model for next-word and completion suggestions. Turn on Neural predictions (experimental) in settings to try it; it is off by default. The model is bundled with the keyboard and runs entirely on the phone, without a download or network connection. Suggestions still make room for your learned word pairs, corrections and emoji. The model itself neither saves nor learns from what you type, and it does not run in password, incognito or no-suggestion fields. An optional typing log records which model was enabled; export and clear an existing log before changing that setting if you want to keep collecting. I am still testing how these suggestions compare on everyday typing.
Original release note
0.4.9
the right keys for each box. Number boxes get a number pad and phone boxes a dial pad with * # + ( ); email boxes put @ beside the space bar, with .com, .org and .net on a hold of the period, and web-address boxes get / and .com keys. Name and address boxes still suggest words but never change what you typed when you press space. Missing apostrophes are fixed as you go: “cant” becomes “can't”, and “ill” becomes “I'll” at the start of a sentence, while “I feel ill” stays as typed. The keyboard also learns where your thumb tends to land on each letter and uses that only to choose better corrections, and learned words now save in the background to a small, capped file instead of rewriting everything after each word.
Original release note
0.4.8
suggestions start out knowing which words tend to follow which. A table of word pairs counted from licensed conversation text now ships inside the app and works offline; on held-out test text it raised next-word hits from 8% to 13% on real text messages and from 10% to 23% on written task chats, and what you type still counts for more as the keyboard learns. Tapping a suggestion with the cursor inside a word now replaces the whole word, and ? or ! typed from the symbol keys finishes and fixes a word the way space does.
Original release note
0.4.7
every emoji, in one list. Tap the face at the right of the suggestions for a single scrolling grid of all of them, with no pages: tabs jump to a category, recent emoji come first, hold one for skin tones (your choice is remembered), and anything your phone can’t draw is left out. Tap 🔍 to search by name. Hold the paste button to keep something you copied; it joins Saved text, beside the last few things you copied, which stay in memory for an hour and never include passwords or copies from incognito tabs.
Original release note
0.4.6
the keyboard no longer slips partly under the navigation bar after the phone rotates or the dark theme changes while it’s closed. Fields that turn suggestions off say so instead of showing empty slots, web search boxes get suggestions again, and a word the keyboard doesn’t know shows in quotes, so one tap keeps it. Possessives like “here’s” and “friend’s” are left alone, one delete removes a whole emoji, double-tap shift locks caps, incognito tabs teach it nothing, settings no longer crashes on Android 8, and the bundled word lists contain no slurs.
Original release note
About this history
Preserved release notes begin at 0.4.6. Earlier notes are not available here.
Version 0.5.41 belongs to the separate model-free Android release. Version 0.5.42 was not published and is not listed as a public release.
Historical wording is preserved from the original release notes and download-page summaries.