A Foss Keyboard That Allow Typing by Gesture

objective

I love how Gboard lets me type by sliding one finger across the keys — glide typing — but I keep my phone clear of proprietary software. Gboard sets the bar; the FOSS options either wrap Google’s own engine or roll their own.

Question : is there a FOSS Android keyboard with glide typing that does not put proprietary code back on the phone — and if a trade-off is unavoidable, what is it?

[constraint]: I want glide typing (slide one finger across the keys to type a
    word) on a keyboard that keeps the phone free of proprietary software.

HeliBoard — the best glide, at the cost of a proprietary blob

The first path keeps Gboard’s quality by accepting Gboard’s engine. HeliBoard — the maintained AOSP/OpenBoard fork — is itself open source, but glide typing stays off until you load a closed gesture library, as no compatible open-source library is available. With the library loaded it can replace Gboard for daily use — and the proprietary blob you wanted gone is back on the phone.

FlorisBoard — a native open glide engine, still incomplete

The second path keeps the phone fully free and pays in glide quality. FlorisBoard implements glide typing natively, in-app, with its own classifier and no proprietary library. The catch: word suggestions and spell-checking are not in current releases — so the glide is 100% FOSS but still incomplete.

AnySoftKeyboard — built-in open gesture typing, casual-grade

A third fully-free option. AnySoftKeyboard is open source and ships gesture typing built in — no separate library to load. In hands-on use it is usable but less smooth than Gboard.

conclusion

Answer : no fully-FOSS keyboard matches Gboard’s glide today, and reaching that quality means loading Google’s proprietary library. So the choice is an honest trade-off:

• Best glide, one proprietary blob accepted → HeliBoard + a closed gesture library. Best feel; violates strict FOSS purity.
• 100% FOSS, rougher glide → FlorisBoard (native engine, no word suggestions yet) or AnySoftKeyboard (built-in gesture typing, casual-grade).

For a phone kept clear of proprietary software, the constraint points at FlorisBoard or AnySoftKeyboard; HeliBoard is the fallback if the rougher glide proves unusable and one blob is an acceptable exception. See the overall map.

map

The whole argument: each candidate sits at one point of the quality-vs-purity trade-off. Nodes are pulled from the chapters via :argdown-include.

[trade-off]: No FOSS keyboard matches Gboard's glide without reintroducing
    Google's proprietary library; the choice is glide quality vs a fully-free
    phone.

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