-
After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
Tried all the keyboards for dinc- I choose to use:
- Thread starter Jeffruby
- Start date
-
- Tags
- htc droid incredible
I've tried almost all of the keyboards except for some of the paid ones with no free version and I highly prefer swiftkey above all of them, including swype and other swype-like keyboards. The reason is not only because it feels to more accurately register my letter taps, but its ability to look at ur typing history and determine what you're gonna type next is really time saving. Sometimes I will only have to fully type half the words in a sentence and all the other words will have come up on the prediction boxes and i can just click once for the whole word.
My next favorite would be swype. The reason i had to stop using it tho is because even tho its really fast when it works, when u mess up, it takes forever to correct. I know the beta for the dinc doesn't have the double-tap to correct as the final version will but still it's very annoying. Also, I hate how it sometimes will detect wrong words such as 'our' when i'm trying to type 'or'. i know that the way to correct this is that you're technically supposed to draw arches so that it can detect each letter ur trying to type instead of letters between the two, but so many arches just slows things down more. Lastly, my problem with swype is my use of slang. I could just not use slang, but one of the main reasons i do this is to shorten my long texts so they will fit into one text and not have to be sent in two parts. This is especially annoying when i'm not used to texting anything that ends with -ing with the 'g'. for example i always type goin, tryin, etc. etc.. also there are a lot of other slang words i use and getting them all will take forever and only more will be added. Then there are names of places, people's names, etc that aren't going to be in the dictionary, and i don't want to have to constantly have to switch from swyping to typing durting a text.
The only area swype might dominate in is portrait mode, and even then, swiftkey might be as fast. but when u add in the proper nouns, any mistakes made, and swiftkey's smart word prediction feature, i still prefer swiftkey
I just typed 'this is a test of how fast i can type on this keyboard' with both swiftkey and swype. Time on swype was 13sec and the time on swiftkey was 20sec. For the record i used swype in portrait and swiftkey in landscape.
I then typed 'which are you going to use swype or swiftkey', hoping that 'or' and 'swiftkey would trip up swype. The time for both swype and swiftkey were the same 18sec. Swype got or this time instead of our. But even with having to erase 'swiftly' and typing swiftkey in manually, swype was still as fast.
maybe i'll be switching back to swype....
My next favorite would be swype. The reason i had to stop using it tho is because even tho its really fast when it works, when u mess up, it takes forever to correct. I know the beta for the dinc doesn't have the double-tap to correct as the final version will but still it's very annoying. Also, I hate how it sometimes will detect wrong words such as 'our' when i'm trying to type 'or'. i know that the way to correct this is that you're technically supposed to draw arches so that it can detect each letter ur trying to type instead of letters between the two, but so many arches just slows things down more. Lastly, my problem with swype is my use of slang. I could just not use slang, but one of the main reasons i do this is to shorten my long texts so they will fit into one text and not have to be sent in two parts. This is especially annoying when i'm not used to texting anything that ends with -ing with the 'g'. for example i always type goin, tryin, etc. etc.. also there are a lot of other slang words i use and getting them all will take forever and only more will be added. Then there are names of places, people's names, etc that aren't going to be in the dictionary, and i don't want to have to constantly have to switch from swyping to typing durting a text.
The only area swype might dominate in is portrait mode, and even then, swiftkey might be as fast. but when u add in the proper nouns, any mistakes made, and swiftkey's smart word prediction feature, i still prefer swiftkey
I just typed 'this is a test of how fast i can type on this keyboard' with both swiftkey and swype. Time on swype was 13sec and the time on swiftkey was 20sec. For the record i used swype in portrait and swiftkey in landscape.
I then typed 'which are you going to use swype or swiftkey', hoping that 'or' and 'swiftkey would trip up swype. The time for both swype and swiftkey were the same 18sec. Swype got or this time instead of our. But even with having to erase 'swiftly' and typing swiftkey in manually, swype was still as fast.
maybe i'll be switching back to swype....
I don't quite get swype. I couldn't see where my finger was going so I'd miss the right keys and could never type a thing on it. I gave it 5 minutes to impress me and it or myself failed. It shouldn't take longer than that based on those fake youtube vids of 'total strangers' using it.
You're not supposed to jiggle, you're supposed to circle the letter you want to double.
I thought the same exact thing when I tried Swype. So then I tried 2 others. I still wasn't typing as fast as i did on my curve. So, after reading more swype testimonies on message boards, I tried it again.
Swype started messing up recently and I couldnt fix it. I WAS LOST. Typing regular was dead to me. I uninstalled and reinstalled and I can type again.
Swype is for me. If there is something better, I dont NEED it.
Yeah I know it'll technically work, but I think the instructions actually say to circle it.
"swype double letters by squiggling or looping around the letter"
I just re-read the instructions since I was having some trouble with that in the past. I find that most situations make better use of the loop as opposed to the squiggle.
I was a big fan of TouchPal when I was on a windows mobile phone and I'm using it now on my Dinc. It has a keyboard that is sort of like a T9 keyboard but with only 2 letters per key. That way the keys are big and fat in portrait mode and makes it easy to type one handed with your thumb. You can tap directly on a key and it will figure out which letter you're trying to input based on word prediction or you can slide left or right on key to input a specific letter. The android version is missing a few features from the windows mobile version and is a bit laggy at time, but not to the point that I won't use it.
There needs to be, if there isn't already, a keyboard identical to the Iphone's. I didn't realize how nice it was till I didn't have it. The keys are spaced much more than Android's and also the spacebar is a LOT wider. I am constantly hitting the "." button while typing quickly and I have to go back and erase it. If you don't believe me go type up a text on an Iphone and see what I mean. It's actually a pretty significant difference. So yeah, does anybody know of one?
burningembers
Android Enthusiast
The only issue here is that Droid Inc's screen is ever-so-slightly less wide than the iPhone, but enough to where spacing the keys similarly is impossible
Another difference is that due to hardware or software, android keyboards hit a wall with two-touch typing versus the iPhone with a true multi-touch typing experience.
The only issue here is that Droid Inc's screen is ever-so-slightly less wide than the iPhone, but enough to where spacing the keys similarly is impossible
Make the keys slightly smaller?
How exactly do you define "true multi-touch typing experience"? It's never one's goal to hit two keys at the same time while texting...
jdsingle
Android Expert
Lots of interesting info in this thread. Been looking around and maybe I am just dumb but besides Better Keyboard, I haven't found a keyboard that has T9 on portrait. Right now I have SlideIT demo (which for some reason is still working after a couple of weeks...not sure if the pro gives you something the demo doesn't).
As great as the swiping technology is, I need to be able to text like I did on my old LG. T9 I can text without looking and my texts come out just like I want them. That's my ultimate portrait keyboard. I am on the list for the Swype app, joined right after they closed beta (unfortunately) I am sure a quick google search would reveal someone who has it on the net.
As great as the swiping technology is, I need to be able to text like I did on my old LG. T9 I can text without looking and my texts come out just like I want them. That's my ultimate portrait keyboard. I am on the list for the Swype app, joined right after they closed beta (unfortunately) I am sure a quick google search would reveal someone who has it on the net.
burningembers
Android Enthusiast
For many that type pretty fast, Android-based phones currently mess up terribly every third or so letter.
A quote from an earlier post explains it pretty simply:
ttamnedlog said:I hope the multitouch keyboards can become true multitouch in the future. Right now I find the multitouch aspect of them to be rather pointless.
For example:
Try typing hey quickly using the following method.
- Hit the h and hold.
- Hit the e then remove your finger from the h.
- Finally, hit the y then remove your finger from the e.
You'll get hee.
I have been able to mock four touches for typing on iOs and have it properly register all four separate keys. Not so for Android.
I *know* some Android-based phones have the hardware support for more than 2 touches. However, for whatever reason, either the Android OS or the Keyboard implementations themselves currently don't allow for recognition of more than 2 so you will always have this problem when typing quickly.
It isn't that you're actually pressing more than 3 distinct points simultaneously, but it is, for one reason or another, merging 3+ taps in quick succession as simultaneous.
UAConspiracy
Lurker
I use ShapeWriter and would have to say it amazing. Very unobtrusive with the text prediction (Doesn't pop up, nor blocks the screen). Also, the not needing to loop for double letters (like Swype requires) really improves the speed of swiping. Swiping with one hand is very easy too. However, one thing I would like would be to be able to edit the dictionary and remove some words (I misspell "to" a lot and it predicts "Rio").