Swype sucks.

[MisterMixelpix]

If that's the case, no offense, your problem with swype is most likely user error. I don't understand how someone can type "absurdly fast" but have a problem finding words when typing with one finger *in your words* When single finger hunting, I don't instinctively know what direction to go.

Motor training. I'm a lot slower on these kinds of keyboards than a regular one. My hands just aren't at all acclimated to that kind of motion.

Again, it's like a Dvorak keyboard. Maybe it's a little faster, but I doubt I'd see enough of a speed boost to warrant the awkward adjustment phase.

 

[tonyb81]

Motor training. I'm a lot slower on these kinds of keyboards than a regular one. My hands just aren't at all acclimated to that kind of motion.

Again, it's like a Dvorak keyboard. Maybe it's a little faster, but I doubt I'd see enough of a speed boost to warrant the awkward adjustment phase.

I was just trying to point out that it really isn't cool to knock something because of a preexisting deficiency.

 

[pwabbit]

I used Swipe for a fairly long time. I finally switched to Smart Keyboard Pro. It is not as fast as Swipe but is far more accurate for me. I get really irritated when mistakes happen with Swipe. I would rather enter data slower than see the mistakes in what I have written (yes, I know the keyboard well).

 

[MisterMixelpix]

I was just trying to point out that it really isn't cool to knock something because of a preexisting deficiency.

You're ASSUMING there's a pre-existing deficiency. What I'm saying is there's no reason to think that someone who knows the keyboard intimately should be able to "swype" it easily. Completely different way of typing even if the layout's the same.

The Swype beta died on me so I'm trying out Shapewriter for a little while. We'll see if I can make the final adjustment. I'm gonna give it a fair shake. Not one of those "tried for five minutes and gave up" things. If it's good, I'll eat crow. If not, no harm done.

 

[kayst]

who'd have thought that millions of people would ever be able to master the usual mobile phone system, ie for a, b or c press 2, for d, e or f press 3...You'd have been laughed out of the boardroom for suggesting that once upon a time.

Well, I wouldn't call what I did "mastery". Took me forever to type anything out.

 

[takeshi]

I don't really know how people use it. I watched all the youtube vids of people who are supposedly completely noobs to the IDEA of swiping, and how they pick it up and type fast, and it's so far from reality it's not even funny.

Any input method is going to work for some but not everyone, Swype included. If you don't get it and have given it a fair shot then by all means move on.

It sort of turns typing into a minigame and it's creative, but it's likely not the fastest (guiness != fact, it's entertainment guys).

If it works for you, it can be extremely fast. If, however, your experience is what you posted then, of course it isn't fast.

I mean, if someone hunts and pecks on a "real" keyboard does that mean that typing on such a keyboard is slow for everyone?

What I really want is new keyboard layouts that optimize rather than slow me down.

Corrected for you. Again, it's highly subjective.

I'm a touch typer (about 115wpm at a clip
when I get going), and I don't like Swype in the slightest. So knowing the keyboard really isn't a factor.

Well, knowing the keyboard is a factor. It is not, however, the only factor. People tend to oversimplify things and assume that there's only one variable involved in many situations where that's not the case.

 

[Deleted User]

I can see it not being for everyone. I've been using it for a couple weeks and find it pretty efficient and like using it.

 

[nomarsgirl]

I love Swype and I didn't think I would. I type about 120 WPM on a full-sized keyboard, but never got the hang of typing with my thumbs. I think I just didn't trust the word prediction enough to do it efficiently on the normal keyboard.

Some things I just have to tap out even using swype, but for the most part, I find it very efficient.

It's nice that we have these choices. We can all use what works for us.

 

[jae_63]

I was eating lunch yesterday with one hand and needed to type something up on my laptop with the other... All I kept visualizing was the Swype keyboard on my laptop and was bummed I had to (slowly) type things out the old school way.

Right ... which is why it would be great if there was a bluetooth application which would let you type (swype) on your Android phone and enter the text into your computer. I'm especially interested in this because I have a colleague at work who's losing the use of his left hand, and I think that this would be a great solution for him.

Please write back here if you're a developer with good knowledge of Bluetooth, and whether the Bluetooth implementation is adequate in Android 2.1 (I'm an Eris user currently running 1.5, but could switch to 2.1 as needed for development and/or testing).

A Wifi-only solution such as VNC is not useful here due to firewall restrictions, although if there was a really good Wifi solution to this problem then maybe we could justify adding an unofficial wireless router to our network to help this disabled gent.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[shawn1224]

Only thing I've found better than swype is dragon-dictation or the genius button on the MyTouch Slide.

NO need to type at all ... just speak what you want typed and it's really accurate.

 

[emdmao]

Why don't you try going into the keyboard setting for Swype and put the scroll bar further towards "accurate" rather than speed. Might help you out, it's 50/50 by default.

 

[|mpulse]

I'm especially interested in this because I have a colleague at work who's losing the use of his left hand, and I think that this would be a great solution for him.

That's really too bad to hear, good suggestion on your end though.

You may want to post something up over on the XDA forums or maybe even email Swype development directly and see what thoughts they may have on this.

Best of luck to you and your buddy

 

[Crashumbc]

For those who don't like swype, you might try "swiftkey", it a "tap" keyboard. I was trying it for a few days before I put swype on. It's REALLY good at predictive typing. I found it a pretty good step up from the default keyboard.

You'll have to google for it. It's in beta also and not on the market.

 

[Crashumbc]

You're ASSUMING there's a pre-existing deficiency. What I'm saying is there's no reason to think that someone who knows the keyboard intimately should be able to "swype" it easily. Completely different way of typing even if the layout's the same.

The Swype beta died on me so I'm trying out Shapewriter for a little while. We'll see if I can make the final adjustment. I'm gonna give it a fair shake. Not one of those "tried for five minutes and gave up" things. If it's good, I'll eat crow. If not, no harm done.

I had a fair amount of issues with "shapewriter" FYI, it was pretty buggy in certain screen I had to go back to the default keyboard.

 

[spiz]

I'm sorry, but Swype will always be better than tap-n-pray on phones without physical keyboards. It really doesn't take long to learn.

 

[MisterMixelpix]

I don't get how you can claim one is more accurate than the other. Both require you to put your fingers in the same locations, it's just a matter of which has the better predictive software and feels better. If you find it too hard to tap a key, you're not going to be swiping any more accurately at it.

 

[dmodert66]

Mark me down for another that can type fast on a PC keyboard (and pretty good at the normal onscreen keyboard) that was uncomfortable using swype. I wouldn't say it sucks, but it's just not for me. I guess I'm just old...lol

 

[tonyb81]

I don't get how you can claim one is more accurate than the other. Both require you to put your fingers in the same locations, it's just a matter of which has the better predictive software and feels better. If you find it too hard to tap a key, you're not going to be swiping any more accurately at it.

You can be really sloppy with swype and still type what you want.

 

[MisterMixelpix]

You can be really sloppy with swype and still type what you want.

Then that's a failure of the autocorrect software, not an inherently better design of the swipe method versus tapping. No matter which way you do it, your finger is creating points of input be they when you change directions or when you hit down. The reason Swype is good is its predictive capabilities, I'd bet dollars to donuts if you removed ANY auto-correct your swype typing would be ridiculously less accurate than tapping.

Incidentally, I think I like Shapewriter. I'd try Swype again but I can't find a working link.

 

[MisterMixelpix]

Addendum: Shapewriter crushes Swype's beta. For the following reasons.

1) After I type a period, Swype didn't figure out to capitalize and put a space for the next word on its own, you have to hit the space manually and THEN it capitalizes. Shapewriter got that on its own.

2) I could NOT get words with repeating letters to work on Swype. It kept telling me "ned" and "se".

3) If I missed a guess, SW's backspace erases the whole word, Swype goes letter by letter.

I'm sticking with Shapewriter for a little while; insofar as this style of input goes, I like it a lot better. Not sure I'll keep it, but at the very least it's making it a lot easier to hold the device in portrait mode to type.

 

[Thefoodman52]

For double letters in Swype, just squiggle your finger on the letters that would be doubled; 'fall' f-a-l-*squigle on L again*

Also, for putting a space and auto capitalization:

Auto capitalization after a period works peachy keen on my Hero. As for the space part, instead of just tapping the period, touch down on the period and swipe across the to the space bar and stop. It'll put a period and a space, and then automatically put caps lock on for the first letter of the next word.

The backspace thing, if you DO mess up, just tap in the middle of the word (this is in portrait, double tapping to correct only works in landscape), then hit the Swype key (the one at the bottom left hand corner). It'll pull up the word guesses.

Any more questions?

 

[xmr405o]

I have both Swype and HTC IME installed on my Droid. Both work well but swype takes a week of active usage to get the hang of it if you don't know the keyboard that well. Someone had mentioned to stop trying to be accurate, that is a great tip when using swype. However, I am partial to HTC IME Compact qwerty for single hand typing.

 

[Ngo93]

Addendum: Shapewriter crushes Swype's beta. For the following reasons.

1) After I type a period, Swype didn't figure out to capitalize and put a space for the next word on its own, you have to hit the space manually and THEN it capitalizes. Shapewriter got that on its own.

2) I could NOT get words with repeating letters to work on Swype. It kept telling me "ned" and "se".

3) If I missed a guess, SW's backspace erases the whole word, Swype goes letter by letter.

I'm sticking with Shapewriter for a little while; insofar as this style of input goes, I like it a lot better. Not sure I'll keep it, but at the very least it's making it a lot easier to hold the device in portrait mode to type.

1. put your finger on the letter and swype above the keyboard and come back normally
2. scribble on the letter you want to double
3. hold down the delete button and it'll do word by word

Seems like you need to educate yourself a little bit more on Swype. And you saying that it fails because you can be a little bit sloppy? What the heck.. It's actually a good thing that you don't have to be 100% accurate.

 

[spiz]

Addendum: Shapewriter crushes Swype's beta. For the following reasons.

1) After I type a period, Swype didn't figure out to capitalize and put a space for the next word on its own, you have to hit the space manually and THEN it capitalizes. Shapewriter got that on its own.

2) I could NOT get words with repeating letters to work on Swype. It kept telling me "ned" and "se".

3) If I missed a guess, SW's backspace erases the whole word, Swype goes letter by letter.

I'm sticking with Shapewriter for a little while; insofar as this style of input goes, I like it a lot better. Not sure I'll keep it, but at the very least it's making it a lot easier to hold the device in portrait mode to type.

This might be the worst review/evaluation in history. You clearly decided to skip the tutorial, otherwise you would have learned how to do everything you mentioned. Sad.

 

[avacomputers]

Swype is an amazingly accurate and fast way to type. It is painfully slow on the hero, but that has nothing to do with the keyboard but rather the processor of the hero.