I’ve been playing with both the Thumb and the Unexpected keyboards. I like 'em both but, man, I have to admit I’d like them more if they had that top bar that predicts what you might be. Is that just a no-go from a privacy perspective? Can that functionality be local?
(I also wouldn’t mind a good voice typing feature)
This functionality can be local. I use the Google keyboard with internet access blocked and it works. The only thing missing is the ability to search for emojis typing a word (they are still in the list) and some features that I never used and never understood why they are in a keyboard since it’s not related to typing text, like the gifs.
The only reason I see for a keyboard to need internet connection is to update the dictionary when it’s modified, but it shouldn’t prevent to work with an outdated dictionary.
When I searched for alternatives a few months ago, I couldn’t find anything satisfying.