Typewise (https://typewise.app/), a privacy-focused smartphone keyboard app created in Switzerland has seen remarkable organic growth in Malaysia, despite no promotion or advertising in the country. With over 1.5 million downloads globally, Typewise has also seen significant uptake in Malaysia, growing by 1317% since January 2021.

Typewise have re-designed the 150-year-old QWERTY keyboard and optimised it for the way people type on the much smaller smartphone screen. This allows users to type faster and more accurately, with 4x fewer typos compared to default smartphone keyboards like Gboard, SwiftKey and Apple Keyboard.

Typewise uses a novel hexagonal layout with intuitive gestures, powerful autocorrect AI which can learn each user’s slang, language auto-detection to switch between dictionaries, and has 100% privacy built in.

The growth in Malaysia has surprised the Zurich-based deep-tech start-up as they have not actively promoted their keyboard app in the country, but Typewise Co-founder David Eberle believes that the hexagonal keyboard design, the privacy offering, and the superior autocorrect AI are the main reasons why the uptake in Malaysia has grown so quickly.

“Many Malaysians seem very open to trying new tech, compared to some European countries which can be more old-fashioned. The QWERTY layout that most smartphone keyboards still use, was designed for mechanical typewriters almost 150 years ago, but Typewise is optimised for the small screens of smartphones. So Typewise allows users to type faster and more accurately. We also know that privacy is a big concern for many people now, which seems to be important to our Malaysian audience.”

Typewise is free to download for iPhone and Android devices, with a PRO (paid) version that offers additional functionally also available.

The number of Typewise app downloads in Malaysia grew by 1317% during the period from January 2021 to September 2021.