Apple Reportedly Bought Dryft Keyboard App in 2014

Apple reportedly acquired a startup company called Dryft, known for making on-screen keyboard for tablets, sometime last year.

The report claims to confirm the acquisition based on the LinkedIn profile of Randy Marsden, the CEO of Dryft, now listing him as "iOS Keyboard Manager". Notably, Marsden also happens to be the co-founder and former board member of a popular keyboard app, Swype. Marsden, as the profile indicates, was made the iOS Keyboard Manager in September last year.

Apple gave its standard reply to TechCrunch when asked for a confirmation of the acquisition, saying it keeps buying smaller technology firms from time to time, and does not discuss its purpose or plans.

Dryft is best known for its technology that makes the on-screen keyboard appear as soon as users place their fingers on the screen. The keyboard also comes with a finger-tracking system that allows the on-screen keyboard to act like a physical keyboard. It is still uncertain whether the reported Apple acquisition of Dryft will see the Cupertino giant introduce similar features in future iOS on-screen keyboards, or if it just trying to expand the team.

Talking about keyboards, Apple with iOS 8.3 has introduced new racially diverse emojis with over 300 new characters in its iOS keyboard, italics and underline options for iPhone 6 landscape mode, and support for third-party keyboards. The full changelog can be viewed in our detailed coverage of the update.

The Cupertino-based tech firm also acquired another startup named Ottocat in 2013, according to a report from earlier this week. While there has been no announcement on the acquisition till date by either of the two companies, the report points to a patent granted to Apple that was filed by Ottocat's Co-Founder, Edwin Cooper, as an employee of Apple.