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Two Apps. I'd Like To Have

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djlen

Newbie
I'm looking for a defragmentor for my Samsung Android and would like some feedback on first whether they are necessary and second, if so I'd like some recommendations. Hopefully something that will speed up the phone for me when it starts to crawl.:)


The other app. I want is a nice intuitive keyboard for my phone. The one that comes with it seems slow and I'm not the best at using the electronic keyboard so I hear there are better ways to go and there are so many keyboards I'm going to ask the 'experts' here on the forum for some help with possible choices.

Regards,
Len
 
As for defragmenting, that really shouldn't be an issue for flash-based memory (like what's used in your phone). That's much more of an issue with spinning disks. I wouldn't worry about it.

Keyboards, there are a lot of fantastic options out there. My favorites:

- Google Keyboard - others have more features, but I keep coming back to this one. Great balance of features and performance.

- Swiftkey - lots of intelligent word prediction and correction

- Swype - the original swipe-based input (which is also now included with the other two)

These are all great options; it really just comes down to personal preference.
 
Yes, I've heard other folks mention that there really is little use for defragmenting my phone, but thought I'd run it by you guys.

Didn't even know about the Google keyboard. I've looked at both Swiftkey and Swype at playstore. So I'll check them out, as well as Kii suggested by valorian.

If anyone has any other suggestions/feedback it would be appreciated.

Regards,
Len
 
In general you don't want to defragment electronic storage. For SSDs it will actually shorten the life of the drive, and not improve performance one bit.

For the keyboard I use Swiftkey, even though I don't find it that accurate. I like the number keypad layout. I haven't, however, signed in, which might improve the accuracy, because that apparently requires that you have a Google+ account, which I don't want.
 
Thanks. I notice that there are a paid version and a free version of Swiftkey. Can you tell me what the difference is?

There is also another keyboard called "Thumb Keyboard" which looks really nice. I type with my thumbs and things seem to be easy to access on that.

Regards,
Len
 
Yeah, they refer to a 'trial' period in one of the reviews but I wasn't sure if there was a free one in addition. The prices of these apps. are so low it really doesn't matter that much. Trying to understand the 'swype' and how that works...lol...but I'll figure that out over time.
These optional keyboards are interesting because the one that came with the android is really not that intuitive at all. I'd like something that will correct my typing as I go so I at least make some sense. Just terrible with the electronic keyboards.

Regards,
Len
 
Swype you enter the word by moving your finger to different letters, without picking your finger up. Swiftkey will predict the next word based on the prior words, but I don't find that all that useful, because I never think to look before starting on the next word.
 
The nice thing about Swiftkey is it learns your usage as you use it. I'm not using it anymore as I like the Samsung keyboard on the S4. But, when I was using it, over time I was able to type complete sentences just by touching the words it learned so well.
 
I definitely prefer SwiftKey as my keyboard. Have been using it since the HTC Evo3D came out. You do not HAVE to use G+ credentials. Only if you want to use the Cloud based stuff for predictions. If you go to the Cloud settings in Swiftkey, there is another option below that for Personalization, so you can just have it learn from SMS, or Facebook, or whatever other sources. If you DO use the cloud, I would suggest turning OFF the option for Trending Topics. It is annoying to get suggestions of Lady Gaga or some other weird thing that happens to be trending at the time. :)

The personalization really does seem to get quite a bit better the longer you use it. Like Valorian, there are lots of times I can type out whole sentences just by hitting the spacebar over and over to select the predicted words. I also really like the overall layout of the keyboard. Having the directional arrows on the keyboard is also a nice feature, though other keyboards probably have that too.
 
Thumb Keyboard is nice and has many nice features. I use it on my tablet when I don't want to drag out my BT keyboard. I didn't care for it on my phone, but other's mileage may vary. It really depends on what you like. It is definitely worth giving a try, it has a lot of good features.
 
codesplice said:
As for defragmenting, that really shouldn't be an issue for flash-based memory (like what's used in your phone). That's much more of an issue with spinning disks. I wouldn't worry about it..
Click to expand...

but what about "trim" that i've been reading about. i understand in android 4.3 trim is encoded. but prior versions not so. can you clarify please.....
 
Sounds like it's pretty much narrowed down between Swype and SwiftKey. They sound like the most used here.
I might try the Thumb Keyboard on my Kindle HD though.

Regards,
Len
 
Swype and Swiftkey are indeed the two best keyboards I have found. I have also been using Swype since it first appeared on Nokia touch screen phones (first there before Android I think, it was 2007 or 08 I think when I got it on my 5800). I love both keyboards, but I tend to use Swiftkey because the Swype split keyboard layout isn't very appealing on a 7 inch screen on landscape. It looks designed for the 8-10inch screens better as the keys appear too small. I use the same keyboard app for my tablet and my phone for the sync words feature both apps have. Basically, the words your phone learnt from you typing on it is synced to the tablet so it also knows your typing style, and vice versa.
 
Okay, I installed SwiftKey and seems to work very nicely. I have an issue however.
Everytime I open my text messages of receive one and go to reply it opens as the android keyboard and I have to re-set it. How do I make SwiftKey the default on my phone so that it will stay the default.

Regards,
Len
 
Thank you for that. I went there and don't know that I changed anything there but unclicked and re-clicked SwiftKey and then opened text and SwiftKey came up.

Regards,
Len
 
Ok, I've got it installed as the default now.....thanks.

One more question. Is there a tutorial where I can learn some or all of the
shortcuts when using SwiftKey? There are so many options with this app. and
I'm pretty much clueless about them.

Regards,
Len
 
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