I’ve been pretty pumped about Swype’s ultra-speedy alternative typing solution for touchscreen devices ever since it first debuted at TechCrunch50 2008. My excitement only grew when it finally made its way to a handset, the Omnia II, just last month – but as I’m not the biggest fan of the OS that powers that device, my thumbs were left twiddling until an Android port was released.
Earlier this morning, I got my hands-on a pre-release copy of just that: Swype for Android. So how is it? In a word: Great.
If you’re unfamiliar with Swype, here’s how it works: rather than typing words by tapping letter-by-letter, you swipe (swipe, Swype – Get it?) your finger (or a stylus) through the letters of each word. If you wanted to spell “DOG”, for example, you’d put your thumb down on D, slide it over to O, down to G, and then release. You don’t have to be perfectly accurate – in fact, you can be pretty sloppy and Swype will still figure out what you mean. If it’s not positive which word you meant, it’ll present a list of possible options. After a very very slight learning curve, Swype promises to be considerably faster than the standard hunt-and-peck keyboard input method.
Notes & Impressions:
- I tested Swype on the Verizon Droid Eris. As far as I can tell, Swype is working properly on any Android-device with a WVGA (800×480 or 854×480), HVGA (480×320), or QVGA (320×480) resolution. This pretty much covers the gamut of Android smart phones.
- After just a few minutes of get accustomed to Swype, I’m already typing a bit faster than I am on the standard Android keyboard. With a bit of practice, I could probably double my speed.
- I’m surprised how sloppy I can be with my tracing before Swype starts tripping up. Once you start blasting away at it, it’s almost magical.
- Works in both portrait and landscape mode
- Currently appears to support US English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish
- Under options, you can pick your language, toggle Auto-spacing (inserts spaces after each word), Word prediction, Tip indicator (Flashes a tip indicator on the keyboard when it has hints for you), Disable sounds, set how long the Swype path is shown, tweak the Speed vs Accuracy settings (defaults work for me), and run through the Swype tutorial
- It doesn’t know curse words out of the box. Duck you! However..
- Adding words is simple: You just type them manually, letter by letter. I taught it every curse word I know in a minute or two.
- Switching back and forth between Swype and the standard keyboard is a matter of holding your thumb on any text input box, hitting “Select Input Method”, and picking whichever keyboard you prefer.
- Swype appears to work just fine in every Android app I’ve got on this device. One feature, however, requires apps to be modified for compatibility: double-tap correction. In any Swype-tailored app, you can double tap any word you’ve typed to be presented with a list of alternatives. All apps, Swype-enabled or not, will present a list of alternatives immediately after a questionable word is typed – you just can’t double tap them after the fact.
Overall, Swype for Android seems like an absolutely rock solid alternative to the standard Android keyboard. For devices without physical keyboards (like the HTC Magic, Droid Eris, Samsung Behold, etc.), this really ought to be something that’s included out-of-the-box.
Now this is sweet I’m waiting on the new google nexus to come out but may have to get a touchscreen sooner.
“a minute or two”? i think you should learn more curse words.
I’m surprised if you were that excited, you haven’t tried ShapeWriter.
+1 been out on the iPhone for ages, if it’s the app I’m thinking of.
It is. It’s been on Android for a while now too.
SlideIT is a similar keyboard too.
It is ready for DOWNLOAD for all Windows Mobile and Symbian versions.
http://mobiletextinput.com
I’ve been a little puzzled about the Swype fever, too, given that there are several apps on various platforms that do this already, and they’re all based on an IBM invention, anyway: SHARK.
Swype is actually a little different than things like ShapeWriter and SlideIt. It is based on a different algorithm and more precise!!
There were no examples in the video: How do you handle words with duplicate letters, e.g. ‘food’?
It’s really easy, all you have to do is squiggle over the letter you want to double! You can see tutorials with tips and tricks like this on the Swype website. Check out Swypeinc.com
Swype is an ultra-speedy alternative typing solution for touchscreen keyboards. This might be the killer app needed by the Nexus One…
Greg Kumparak’s description:
If you’re unfamiliar with Swype, here’s how it works: rather than typing words by tapping letter-by-letter, you swipe (swipe, Swype – Get it?) your finger (or a stylus) through the letters of each word. If you wanted to spell “DOG”, for example, you’d put your thumb down on D, slide it over to O, down to G, and then release. You don’t have to be perfectly accurate – in fact, you can be pretty sloppy and Swype will still figure out what you mean. If it’s not positive which word you meant, it’ll present a list of possible options. After a very very slight learning curve, Swype promises to be considerably faster than the standard hunt-and-peck keyboard input method …
didn’t Gizmodo already do this here http://gizmodo.com/5411779/swype-vs-qwerty-fight
Two points:
Check and Mate.
I might just be missing it but is this going to be free on Android and if not do you have any idea what they plan on charging?
Not sure yet how they plan on distributing it. I think their main business plan right now is getting it onto handsets via manufacturer partnerships.
This was the case with the Omnia II, which had Swype exclusively for all of a few days before folks had managed to rip the CAB files for use on other WinMo devices.
I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t sell this in the market place; charge licensing and per-unit royalties for any manufacturer who wants it on their kits out of the box, or charge the end-users who want to add it themselves.
Yeeees.. but notice they are using a TechCrunch Video to go along with it :-)
It looks very cool. I know some people will argue that they can already text faster than this demonstration. However, there are a couple of factors to point out, first is that he’s using is thumb which is probably half as effective as an index finger. Secondly the speed at which people swipe will depend on their trust in it’s ability to accurately predict the correct words. Inevitably in the beginning people will swipe slower with some hesitation because they are unsure of it’s capabilities. I remember taking my time texting on the iphone in the beginning to ensure accuracy but now I’ve gained some trust in its ability to accurately make the right word predictions. I think this will be the same case with the swiping.
Noi tieng anh gio qua !!!
This technology is problematic. Why?
1. i would bet that applying the constant pressure on the screen will make your fingers tired pretty soon.
2. this is good for only touch screens. and since no replacement has been found for keyboard+mouse on our PCs – no way that the mainstream will make a known decision of using two different input methods on different devices.
3. i think theres no way that you can type faster on this than on a qwerty. but that’s just me.
Please tell me this is a troll
How would this work with an IVR where you type your responses?
Swype was originally designed for the standard phone / 0-9#* keypad and it was awesome in demo. Seeing it on a qwerty keyboard is less impressive. It would be cool if you could still use the phone keypad to reduce the distance of swiping.
Will the Google phone have this?
weld dat is g0od because I can’tt type wel with pihone
I SEES WUT U DID THURR! >;]
HURR DURR??
ShapeWriter was available for iPhone for quite a while now. It is similar to swype.
I may have missed something — how are double letters handled, such as the two “e”‘s in “week,: if letters are entered via sliding a finger or thumb? You can tap?
You can tap out letters as you would a normal keyboard – but with words like “Week”, you just slide across W-E-K. Just tried it, it got it right.
And the word querty? A straight line? How does it know what words to pick and not to? I assume it normally checks whenever the user makes a turn it chooses that letter, but the query “swype” don’t have any such except the start and the end.
Anyone care to try?
You can find research on this topic out there, but it uses the path to create a system of weights on the letters, and some hueristics to determine which word is the most likely one the user is going for. It doesn’t have anything to do with corners on the path, and it works just as well* with swooping paths as it does with jagged ones.
*obviously if you more precisely input the word you want, it will work better, but the point is that it is able to handle it regardless of your style.
Doesn’t look as fast as typing on the iPhone… cool concept though.
lol. did you not listen to greg as he said, “this demo isn’t demontrating typing speed”…like fml. there’s some trolls on this website. read and watch the videos before you comment. he obviously isn’t fast on it or used to it because it’s not his usual way of communicating on mobile.
You realize it’s available for the iPhone, right? And you can type faster on that phone using it, too? And somebody linked a video demoing exactly that, right up there?
Hopefully they will release this application on the Android Market. I would pay for it!
You can already pay $6.99 for it. It’s called ShapeWriter. There’s a thirty-day demo in the Market, too.
Just tried ShapeWriter and it doesn’t seem to be as error-tolerant as this is. Capitalization and double letters aren’t as slick either. Very, very cool though, thanks for the tip!
I’m going to try to use it for a few days and see if I notice a speed improvement over the stock keyboard on the Hero.
I’d still be interested in trying Swype just to see which implementation is better. The two companies should compete on performance, not with patents.
They aren’t competing with patents. However, Swype, along with the other companies selling this invention are claiming it as their own, and…it ain’t. Kushler certainly didn’t invent it, as has been claimed constantly, here and elsewhere, since Swype announced at TC50 last year.
That’s pretty nice. Hopefully, they’ve well-patented that technology so it doesn’t get ripped off by one of the device manufacturers or the OS.
I can’t wait to get an Android device…hopefully the Nexus One if it gets ported to Sprint.
“Hopefully, they’ve well-patented that technology so it doesn’t get ripped off by one of the device manufacturers or the OS.”
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/u/zhai/topics/virtualkeyboard.htm
Not their invention. Not new, either.
@Robert N. Lee: (I’m one of the co-founders of Swype). To set the record straight, we filed a patent in Canada more than 17 months before Zhai filed his US patent. Two smart people coming up with similar ideas, but at different times. Shapewriter has been available to the public longer, but that doesn’t mean it came first. The underlying algorithms are completely different, and that makes all the difference in accuracy.
pwnt.
COOL. LOVE IT FOR THOSE TIMES YOU WANNA USE ONE HAND. Which actually happens a lot when traveling/on the go
Android 2.1 and it’s predictive text make this irrelevant.
Looks like after a while it will start become frustrating to use.
It’s a novelty item for now.
No doubt this is the next generation keyboard, have a look also to this product
http://mobiletextinput.com/Product/SlideIT/Graffiti.php
I’ve been using ShapeWriter for about 2 weeks (it has a 30-day trial on Android) and I was initially very enthusiastic. Not so much now. Why?
First, I get a LOT of basic errors. If you miss a core key on the first letter you’re often screwed with the suggestions not even getting close to the word you had in mind.
Second, OFTEN you’ll manage to just lift your finger enough to cause it to create two words both of which then need to be removed.
Third, I’m not sure about everyone else but I’m a touch-typist on a real keyboard (about 110 WPM) and yet I still find myself not sure where keys are that are out of my view as I’m sliding. Thus I end up missing the right button entirely. I’m sure that would get better but 2 weeks in and it’s still an issue for me.
Lastly, there are some words it’s just not very good with. Of course I can’t recall one right now but there are some basic high-use words that are never the first choice and continually require your attention.
I will try Swype when it appears as maybe it is more tolerant but after my time with ShapeWriter I’m less enthusiastic.
How about you post up the apk for us ;-)
Anyone know how to delete this once installed?
Go to your settings (Menu->Settings from the standard Home app), click on “Applications”, then click on “Manage applications”, then scroll down to the “Swype” row, click on it, and select “Uninstall.”
I really do like Swype, and it impresses other Smart Phone users around me. However, I do notice that my fingers get a little tired after long messages. I also find that Swype (on Android, at least) sometimes doesn’t let me go back to correct previous words, and so I end up deleting a whole sentence.
I’ve also noticed (on DROID) that Swype uses up a noticeable proportion of my battery. That might just be because I type a lot, but I don’t think other keyboards needed so much power. I’ve just now turned the “Swype length” down to see if that helps (it makes the response time better, for sure). Hopefully problems like these will be smoothed out in the future.