Long before swipe typing felt standard, iPhone owners who typed in Russian had to tap every letter individually. That changed with the iOS 16.4 beta, which quietly added glide typing for the Russian keyboard. The beta itself is ancient history now — Apple shipped the final 16.4 in March 2023 and has since retired beta profiles entirely — but the feature it introduced is still with us. Here’s the story of how it arrived, how to get it today, and how swipe typing actually works.
First: back up your iPhone
Beta software can misbehave, corrupt data, or drain your battery while Apple collects diagnostics. Before installing any pre-release iOS — then or now — back up. Go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup and tap Back Up Now, or plug into a Mac or PC and make a local backup. If you ever need to escape a beta, that backup is your ticket home.
How the iOS 16.4 beta was installed
- Enroll in the beta program. Back in the 16.4 era, you signed up with your Apple ID at Apple’s Beta Software Program site (or used the Apple Developer app for the developer beta) and installed a beta profile. Apple has since retired profiles — on modern iOS you enroll right inside Settings → General → Software Update → Beta Updates.
- Restart when prompted so the device picks up the beta enrollment.
- Download the beta. Go to Settings → General → Software Update, tap Download and Install on the iOS 16.4 beta, and wait through the (lengthy) install.
Macworld’s iOS 16 coverage tracked each beta’s changes as they landed, and Apple’s own iOS 16.4 release notes document what the update contained.
Add the Russian keyboard
- Go to Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.
- Tap Add New Keyboard and choose Russian from the list.
Turn on swipe typing
- Go to Settings → General → Keyboard.
- Switch on Slide to Type. This one toggle enables glide typing for every keyboard that supports it — Russian included from iOS 16.4 onward.
How to swipe type in Russian
Open any text field, switch to the Russian keyboard with the globe key, and drag your finger from letter to letter without lifting — the word assembles itself as you glide. Lift to insert it. It takes a day or two for your muscle memory to trust the predictions, but most people end up faster than tapping. If you like keyboard tricks, iPhone text replacement for rare symbols and emoji pairs nicely with glide typing.
Leaving the beta
Done testing? Remove the beta profile (or switch Beta Updates off in Software Update on current iOS) and install the next public release — or restore the backup you made at the start. On the flip side, if you’d rather never see beta or update prompts at all, see how to completely block iOS updates on iPhone.
If it still doesn’t work
- Confirm you’re on iOS 16.4 or later — Slide to Type for Russian doesn’t exist on older releases.
- Make sure the Russian keyboard is actually added, not just the Russian dictionary.
- Toggle Slide to Type off and back on; occasionally the setting needs a nudge after an update.
- Restart the iPhone if glide input stops registering mid-word.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still install the iOS 16.4 beta today?
No — that beta window closed when Apple released the final iOS 16.4 in March 2023, and Apple later retired beta profiles altogether. The good news: you don’t need it. Russian swipe typing shipped in the final release, so any iPhone on iOS 16.4 or newer already has it; just enable Slide to Type.
Does swipe typing work in other languages too?
Yes. Slide to Type supports many languages — English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and more — with Russian joining the list in iOS 16.4. The single toggle covers all of them at once.
Conclusion
The iOS 16.4 beta is long gone, but its most practical gift — Russian glide typing — is baked into every modern iPhone. Enable Slide to Type once, and every supported keyboard becomes a swipe keyboard.
