#AnySoftKeyboard, installed from #FDroid, asks for access to Contacts. Was it compromised? (EDIT: Unlikely)

I don't remember it asking me for Contacts before (but @lnxw37a2 does). [EDIT: I was] worried it may have been subject to a supply chain attack, and to be on the safe side, I uninstalled it.

It seems to be a mostly unmaintained app that I never use, but hadn't uninstalled. This is the first new version since 2025/07/25, and before that, 2022/01/14 (the first version shipped by @fdroid).

I’ve started experimenting with AnySoftKeyboard as an alternative to Gboard.
So far, the experience is solid: Catalan support was a priority for me, and it integrates well with my phone’s physical keyboard.
My main motivation is privacy, specifically reducing dependence on Google’s ecosystem.
For those with experience:
• Any privacy pitfalls I should be aware of?
• Best configuration practices?
• Is it worth restricting network access entirely?

I’m aiming for a practical balance between usability and minimizing data exposure.

Thanks in advance!!!

#Privacy #gboard #OpenSource #Android #DataProtection #AnySoftKeyboard #fdroid #fdroidapp

@lexinova

Fair point.

I would say creating a privacy respecting keyboard app would be better then?

On Android, use #FlorisBoard, #HeliBoard, #AnysoftKeyboard or #FutoKeyboard

Thats like using a #VPN only in the browser, or adding #FreeSoftware apps on a system full of #spyware... doesnt make much sense and you leak more data than you think.

@hoergen

#Fedilab hat für die jeweilige Sprache die entsprechende Textkorrektur.

Ich verwende Fedilab mit #AnySoftKeyboard Canary.

#Firefox #SpellCheck #Autocorrect

My hesitation to try new keyboards got solved quickly: #AnySoftKeyboard, update or not, seems to have forgotten how to do other languages from English.

On The Unexpected keyboard now.

I imagine that some of you might, like me, use a fairly popular FOSS keyboard app for android called Anysoft. A week or so ago, I installed an update for it and discovered it somehow broke compatibility with another app I use daily (termux). No big deal — I checked their bug tracker and found another user had already reported the issue, along with a simple workaround for it.

However, in the course of troubleshooting, that user incidentally triggered an apparently seldom-used component of the app’s autocomplete UI, and found that evidently an “AI”-based translation bot had “helpfully” submitted an automated pull request back in March that replaced part of said UI component with an incoherent text string containing a xenophobic slur. The maintainer who reviewed the PR overlooked this, and it ended up in the latest stable release.

The offensive text has reportedly been removed from the current beta, but the latest version available through F-Droid is still affected at this point.

https://github.com/AnySoftKeyboard/AnySoftKeyboard/issues/4298

#AnySoftKeyboard #FDroid #LLM #AI