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Any way to QUICKLY toggle from keyboard to Google Handwriting?

R

RazzMaTazz

Android Expert
Android 5.0, Galaxy S5...

Mostly I dictate (voice-to-text) rather than typing but sometimes you can't do that because you're in quiet place (like a classroom) or you need to enter a password or something.

I installed Google Handwriting and I LOVE its ability to convert handwriting to text. Absolutely amazing. I can hand-write on the phone with my index finger MUCH faster than I can type (or Swype) if I can either set the phone down and hand-write or if I can hold it in my left hand while handwriting with my right hand. However, for single-handed text entry, thumb-based handwriting is slower.

The Google Handwriting "keyboard" has a microphone button and a button that lets you switch to another keyboard (like Swype). Great. But the Swype and Samsung keyboards don't have a key that lets you switch to another keyboard.

Is there anything that would let me QUICKLY switch between "keyboards" without having to go into the main settings menu?

(FYI: Currently I set "Google Handwriting" as one of my (overlaying) "Toolbox" apps, but it's still a 5-click process to revert from Swype to Google Handwriting.)
 
When I use a keyboard (the keyboard is up on my screen) , I can pull down the notification drawer and there's an option to "change keyboard" that takes me straight to the choose keyboard option. I think that's pretty much stock android. See if you have it :thumbsupdroid:
 
Funklogik: Thank you! I just noticed that keyboard option in the notification area this morning and came on here to say, "Nevermind", but you had already kindly answered.

Clementine_3: Thank you! That is EXACTLY the type of solution that I wanted. For my needs, the Google Keyboard is as good as Swype, et al (once I figured out that holding down the period key pops up a punctuation keyboard). And if you install Google Keyboard and Google Handwriting, then clicking on the globe icon (in either) automatically toggles between Google Handwriting and Google Keyboard. One-click only! PERFECT!... especially for my senior-citizen parents. I love it! (Throw in Funklogic's solution and I'm in heaven.)

Just in case it helps anyone who reads this thread...

FYI: Before Clementine_3 made this suggestion, I had looked at installing Google Keyboard in hopes that it would have a "globe" icon for switching keyboards, but the outdated screenshots in the Play Store didn't show the globe icon, so I didn't bother installing it. But the globe icon is there.

FYI2: If you only have one of the two aforementioned Google "keyboards" installed then hitting the "globe" icon brings up a menu of keyboards to choose from (rather than toggling to the other Google "keyboard".
 
that is good info...good to know what options are out there.

fwiw (warning...unsolicited opinion), I have a hard time understanding how drawing individual letters can be faster than swiping entire words (after you practice swiping a little to get the hang of it)
 
electricpete said:
that is good info...good to know what options are out there.

fwiw (warning...unsolicited opinion), I have a hard time understanding how drawing individual letters can be faster than swiping entire words (after you practice swiping a little to get the hang of it)
Click to expand...
Yeah I've tried it and I'm far faster typing (I don't even swipe).
Handwriting was never my strong point lol
 
The one advantage I can see of handwriting is that it doesn't require you to locate positions on the screen as precisely as swiping does. So handwriting doesn't need as much visual attention to your screen while you're doing it (in either case you've got to scan your results when you're done).

That could be an advantage when you want to focus your visual attention outward while taking notes. For example taking notes from a teacher who is writing on the board, or taking notes from a video presentation.. Also could be an advantage to help keep reasonable eye contact with other people when taking notes during meetings/conversations. You could do a better impression of Columbo scribbling on his notepad

But if I'm alone and the thoughts are spilling out of my head with no reason to look at anything other than my screen (and assuming I'm not writing in japanese or chinese!) then I'd have to think swiping wins hands down (or fingers down as the case may be).
 
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I use SwiftKey for swiping and it's obviously faster.

Have you tried it with an ink pen stylus?

That's faster still.

I use one of these -

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electricpete said:
that is good info...good to know what options are out there.

fwiw (warning...unsolicited opinion), I have a hard time understanding how drawing individual letters can be faster than swiping entire words (after you practice swiping a little to get the hang of it)
Click to expand...

Swyping or thumb typing is faster for me. Handwriting is more accurate. I find the increased accuracy is not worth the slower speed.
 
I've been "swyping" for 4 years but I've been handwriting for decades. Being an engineering geek, I ran a test where I timed writing the following on my Galaxy S5: "Is it faster to dictate, handwrite, or type?" (Exactly, with spelling & punctuation.) Give it a try!
  • Dictation-to-text: 9 seconds.
  • Typing on my PC's keyboard: 11 seconds. (Just for grins.)
  • Stylus handwriting (landscape): 23 seconds.
  • Stylus handwriting (portrait): 24 seconds.
  • Index finger handwriting, landscape: 25 seconds.
  • Swyping with index finger, portrait: 25 seconds.
  • Swyping with thumb, portrait: 27 seconds.
  • Index finger handwriting portrait: 27 seconds.
  • Single-handed thumb handwriting portrait: 47 seconds.
I think that if I did longer tests, handwriting (especially with a stylus) would beat swyping by an even wider margin because it's so much easier to fix mistakes.
  • Dictation environment: I'll dictate with handwriting for touch-up/editing.
  • No-dictation environment, one-handed: I'll swype/type.
  • No-dictation environment, two-handed: I'll handwrite (stylus or not).
But I'm especially interested in the handwriting option for my octogenarian father, to whom I just gave his first smartphone (a Galaxy S5). My octogenarian mother mastered typing & swyping a couple years ago. (Atta girl, grandma!)
 
RazzMaTazz said:
I've been "swyping" for 4 years but I've been handwriting for decades. Being an engineering geek, I ran a test where I timed writing the following on my Galaxy S5: "Is it faster to dictate, handwrite, or type?" (Exactly, with spelling & punctuation.) Give it a try!
Click to expand...

I recommend trying this with a typing test app. I did it a couple of years ago. Here are the results that I can remember:

PC keyboard: 66 words per minute.
SwiftKey landscape split layout: 33 wpm.
Swype portrait gesture typing: 22 wpm.

I currently use the Swype landscape split layout now. My typing speed I estimate is about 30 wpm. I got tired of switching keyboards every time I switched orientation, so I stuck with just Swype. SwiftKey Flow just isn't as accurate as Swype when gesture typing in portrait.

I haven't tried to time my typing with the handwriting keyboard. I didn't bother because I know it is significantly slower than all other input methods.
 
Stuntman said:
I recommend trying this with a typing test app.
Click to expand...
I just wanted to know which input method is faster, not how many WPMs for each.

Stuntman said:
I haven't tried to time my typing with the handwriting keyboard. I didn't bother because I know it is significantly slower than all other input methods.
Click to expand...
It's impossible to "know" without testing. For me, with my phone, handwriting is faster. I imagine that for me (with my skill level) handwriting would be even faster for a bigger screen device or maybe slower for a smaller screen device.
 
RazzMaTazz said:
I just wanted to know which input method is faster, not how many WPMs for each.
Click to expand...

WPM is an indication of how fast you are typing. A higher WPM means it is faster.

It's impossible to "know" without testing. For me, with my phone, handwriting is faster. I imagine that for me (with my skill level) handwriting would be even faster for a bigger screen device or maybe slower for a smaller screen device.
Click to expand...

I decided to test my typing again using a typing test. Here are my results:

Google Handwriting Keyboard: 14 words per minute, 73 characters per minute.
Swype portrait swyping: 19 wpm, 99 cpm.
Swype landscape split layout thumb typing: 25 wpm, 125 cpm.
SwiftKey landscape split layout thumb typing: 30 wpm, 153 cpm.

The SwiftKey landscape split layout is a bit better than Swype's. The SwiftKey layout has larger keys and makes it easier to type. The speed difference is not very noticeable.

The handwriting keyboard is just really slow compared to the other input methods for me. It's taking twice as long as the other keyboards. It is more accurate. I didn't make any mistakes. With the other keyboards, I did make 1 or 2 mistakes during the test.
 
Stuntman: Interesting. When you say that "the handwriting keyboard is just really slow... for me" do you mean that the phone has processing lag that slows the process or that you just can't write legibly enough on a pad that quickly? What kind of phone? Did you use a stylus or try in landscape mode?

On my GS5 (5.1 inch LCD), there is basically no phone lag so the speed (or lack thereof) is all on me (and my writing is negatively impacted by the limited screen size).

I find it surprising that somebody can type faster than handwrite. (But I'm old and it's a new world. I have to test my kids.) Would the same be true of writing on a sheet of paper?
 
I can without a doubt type on a phone keyboard faster than I can write but then i was a landscape gardener for most of my life so never really had any use for a pen and paper.
I can't even remember how to write in joined up writing lol I have to write in block capitals on the rare occasion I actually write :thumbsupdroid:
 
Yeah, a decent typist can blow away any cursive handwriting (I'm about 90 wpm at a pc on a straightaway).

And swiping, once you get used to it, is definitely fast.

The original keyboard layout is confusing because it was designed to slow down the early typists so that the primitive machines could keep up.

But - if you don't learn the layout, then the Google Voice or Handwriting keyboard could be faster choices.
 
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