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Replacement Keyboard for Swype?

Since it has become hard to find a good working version of Swype (Legally of course), I've been looking around at other keyboards that are similar to Swype, or even completely different, but are still better then the default keyboard.
When I did use swype, I actually only used the swyping feature 50% of the time, so that believe it or not is a feature I won't really miss too much. The big deal with Swype, and the reason why I still keep swype on my android is the design of the keyboard. I find it much easier to type on it at a fast pace without actually messing up. I always screw up with the default one.
Anyone have any recommendations for swype replacements?
Edit: I want this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6eKm1gUnTE

If you like the keyboard design, you might want to consider using HTC IME mod, you can customize button size and spacing. All in all, the default keyboard is much better than you think, because of the many options.
I still use swype though, it's just too sexy.

OK, so a small update for people in the same boat as me...
I downloaded and tested several new keyboard.
SlideIT, Better Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, and Ultra Keyboard...
IMO Ultra Keyboard is the winner BY FAR! It's pretty cheap, and IMO i like it alot better then swype. It has some amazing features, like camera mode, where it will show the view from your camera while your walking and texting so you dont run into anything, it also has swyping, which works just as well as swype. Tons of other features too!

DeMiNe0 said:
OK, so a small update for people in the same boat as me...
I downloaded and tested several new keyboard.
SlideIT, Better Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, and Ultra Keyboard...
IMO Ultra Keyboard is the winner BY FAR! It's pretty cheap, and IMO i like it alot better then swype. It has some amazing features, like camera mode, where it will show the view from your camera while your walking and texting so you dont run into anything, it also has swyping, which works just as well as swype. Tons of other features too!
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Interesting. I've never heard of Ultra Keyboard. I'll have to check that out.

Sounds interesting, gonna give it a try
Sent from my Behold II using XDA App

Shapewriter.

I've been using ultra keyboard for a few months now. The customization is really second to none. It's built in vocabulary/dictionary is very in depth as well. You're going to have to spend some time fine tuning sensitivity and such. The built in mic and translator is very useful as well.

I am currently using the Droid multi-touch keyboard and it works good for me
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Ultra Keyboard a monster. I think imma go back and play with it again a little more now that I have my rom and kernel on lock.
That keyboard lets you limit the number of suggestions and you can even move the suggestion bar wherever you want. I even think you can "swype" with it. They did some work with that keyboard. Good buy. That and Smart Keyboard Pro and IME Mod. Those are the keyboards right there.

I'm honestly liking Ultra Keyboard more than Swype right now for a few reasons:
1. Adding and removing words from the dictionary is extremely simple and actually WORKS (I could never remove anything from the Swype dictionary; I swear I told it to delete "wil" 20 times).
2. I don't get a pop-up every 5th word telling me that the word I typed was "hidden" by another word like with the latest Swype beta.
3. Different pop-up menu means I can quickly select the word that I want if it wasn't detected without pressing a button to open the word choices menu.
So far the only thing that Swype has over Ultra is being able to swype from the exclamation point/question mark to the space bar to insert one or the other.

I had the black and red themed swype and it was by far the best keyboard I've ever used. It even seemed to swype better than the beta. I'm currently using swype. A friend logged into his gmail on my phone and got me the latest version. I feel for you though, when I lost my b/r swype I quit typing all together for a week, nothing can compare.
Sent from my Evo using XDA App

willy900wonka said:
Shapewriter.
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I have to second this. I have had swype for a while and gave shape writer a shot since the newer version of swype wasn't as good as the old. I'll tell you what I like far and away more than swype with one exception. I haven't figured out how to type a _ Small price to pay for a much better experience.

mgene63 said:
I have to second this. I have had swype for a while and gave shape writer a shot since the newer version of swype wasn't as good as the old. I'll tell you what I like far and away more than swype with one exception. I haven't figured out how to type a _ Small price to pay for a much better experience.
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I remember that when using Shapewriter! It's like they just totally forgot about the underscore.

mgene63 said:
I have to second this. I have had swype for a while and gave shape writer a shot since the newer version of swype wasn't as good as the old. I'll tell you what I like far and away more than swype with one exception. I haven't figured out how to type a _ Small price to pay for a much better experience.
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Click to collapse
Press the "@" and it is there in the suggestion bar. I had to search for a bit myself. But I agree with oyu. I've used SWYPE and find Shapewriter to be much better.

i liked shapewriter. havn't been able to get it to work right since they sold.
swype is nice, but they seem to be playing some kinda stoopid game. either put the app on the market for us or retract it and sell it to a manufacturer or provider.
thank you for the heads up on UltraKeyboard. i look forward to trying it out. the idea of the camera-view is a nice idea.

DeMiNe0 said:
OK, so a small update for people in the same boat as me...
I downloaded and tested several new keyboard.
SlideIT, Better Keyboard, Smart Keyboard, and Ultra Keyboard...
IMO Ultra Keyboard is the winner BY FAR! It's pretty cheap, and IMO i like it alot better then swype. It has some amazing features, like camera mode, where it will show the view from your camera while your walking and texting so you dont run into anything, it also has swyping, which works just as well as swype. Tons of other features too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, thanks for this. Just downloaded Ultra Keyboard and I love it! I was down in the "Swype-beta-expired blues" and now I'm up and rockin' again .

definitely like ultra keyboard better than swype thus far. any good tips for ultra keyboard?

I have a love-hate relationship with swype. I love to use it, but only when it works. I am in th beta program, but unfortunately the software decides to stop working all the time, and the only remedy is to switch to the stock keyboard (which is a great keyboard... until you try swype, which makes it seem like an archaic means of typing) and switch back to swype. This is extremely annoying, the newest beta is riddled with problems like this (including bugs and issues with dictionary words). I'm going to try ultra keyboard, see how that fares for me. Maybe I'll go back to swype when a new update comes out.

ultrakeyboard is nice. it'd be helpful if they allowed a 3 or 5 days to muss with it. so many options!

Ultra Keyboard for sure! I have also used it for several months. I liked Swype but didn't like that it doens't have a microphone. The microphone for Ultra is soooo good - it gives you severla options for what you said in case it "captured" it wrong (which it rarely does). Plus it is fully customizable.
Ultra + Handcent = daBomb!

[Q] best keyboard???

have nexus s with modaco r2 at the mo but will be switching to cm7 once more stable. but was wondering what is the best non stock keyboard to use? as find that the stock is not as responsive as one on my nexus 1

stevo1006 said:
have nexus s with modaco r2 at the mo but will be switching to cm7 once more stable. but was wondering what is the best non stock keyboard to use? as find that the stock is not as responsive as one on my nexus 1
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you are crazy to think that the stock Gingerbread keyboard isnt as responsive *glare*
the HTC keyboard is pretty good, and if you can get into the beta, the swype keyboard is great too

This. The stock keyboard is amazing.
slowz3r said:
you are crazy to think that the stock Gingerbread keyboard isnt as responsive *glare*
the HTC keyboard is pretty good, and if you can get into the beta, the swype keyboard is great too
Click to expand...
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Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

tominater12 said:
This. The stock keyboard is amazing.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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I'm also very happy with the stock GingerBread keyboard, and ease of language change
it's not as smooth as SWYPE, for fast typing, but i could get used to it
SWYPE is much more natural, but changing language is not so easy as the GB stock keyboard

Im using the Swiftkey one more and more now. Used Swype but it didnt really do it for me. The stock gingerbread keyboard is quite nice but the keys are too tiny ( I dont even have big fingers)

Using Swype here, as I had gotten used to it on the Epic (when I had it), and love it!

KidCold said:
Im using the Swiftkey one more and more now. Used Swype but it didnt really do it for me. The stock gingerbread keyboard is quite nice but the keys are too tiny ( I dont even have big fingers)
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just flip the phone horizontally (that's what i do)
yes i find it tiny as well, that is why it's a bit tricky to type fast
but with SWYPE, i don't need to flip the phone, i was able to type real fast even when the phone is in vertical portrait mode

I have to say, the keyboard and typing is one of the few sore spots I have for the Android experience. While the new stock keyboard is much improved over previous iterations, it can still be a bit slow and unresponsive, often missing certain presses; and its auto-correction just isn't as clever as it should be. Another issue I have, particularly with the Nexus S, is that other times, the screen is too sensitive, it seems. Has anyone tried this yet: you can hover your finger slightly off the screen, and it'll register as a press. This might be contributing to hitting wrong keys and spelling errors when my thumbs glaze over the keyboard while typing fast. It's very frustrating. The biggest culprit of this problem seems to occur when I'm trying to type "I'm"... it almost always results in "km" instead. Other examples are when letters get registered twice, like tthis or like thiss. However, it's prone to missing space bar presses, resulting too often in words likethis.
Unfortunately, Google decided to not provide any customizable dictionary or custom auto-correct features. This is baffling to me and where Google's attempt to copy the Apple keyboard goes too far. Speaking of Apple, I say this without any intention of starting immature flame wars, but the iPhone - and even the iPod touch - keyboards are far more smooth, responsive, and reliable. Anyone who has typed extensively on both platforms will know what I mean. I can type with utmost confidence on an iPhone (that's not to say it's perfect). I cannot say I type confidently with my Nexus. And forget about including sound or haptic feedback; these things seem to slow the typing experience down, where it'll miss even more key presses.
Everyone's typing methods and speeds are different, so everyone will have different typing experiences, but for me, it continues to be a sore spot. Which leads me to my next question: when is Blindtype going to be implemented? Anyone heard any new news on it?
Anyway, to answer the OP's question: I am currently trialing Swiftkey. It can be impressive at times, and it's often very intuitive, but I find it's actually slower than typing out on a regular keyboard because I'm too busy making sure it chooses the right words. Then again, it might still be "learning." We'll see when the 31-day trial is over.
Prior to this, I was using Smart Keyboard Pro, which isn't as responsive and quick as stock Android, but it has tons of customizable features which make up for it (for example, I can custom the auto-correction to always change "km" to "I'm"). This is what I'll go back to if I pass on purchasing Swiftkey.
PS. I have Swype as well, and it's fun, but not practical in my opinion.

The best keyboard for me is NO KEYBOARD. For short stuff, like text or emails or a short forum message, you really should give voice input a go for a few days and see how much easier it is than anything else.
Swiftkey my favorite keyboard at the moment, but another fine one and my primary keyboard before I heard of SwiftKey is Better Keyboard (not sure there's a free trial on it), but there's a free public beta going on right now.

Keyboard Preference

I started a poll on sms preference, but I wanted to start one on keyboard too. I personally use Swift Key x. I've tried the other ones (mainly swype style key boards) and I just realize at the end of the day, I can type faster with two thumbs than dragging one. What keyboard do you guys use and what theme?
EDIT:
I use AOSP when CM7 comes out. At the end that one is my favorite.

I tried a bunch of different keyboards before settling on Smart Keyboard Pro. I just wanted a simple keyboard (no swiping, fancy predictive text that tries to guess what I'm typing, etc.) that could be themed and remove the period. That damn period was bugging me and Smart Keyboard had the option to remove it. I also like the Honeycomb theme I'm using for it.

At the moment i use SwiftKey X and i'm happy with it so far.

I use the stock one and have never tried another one. Now that I wanna try something different, I will wait a little bit to see the result of this poll.

I like the way swift key auto corrects, it does it well. Something about smart keyboard pro annoyed me. I can't remember what. I think it was something about typing smilies

Swift Key X all day in the blue neon look. Excellent sizing to the keys, great look, and great features such as the fact that if you use spacebar to automatically fill out the predicted word and then want to put punctuation, it will automatically put that punctuation up against the last word even though the cursor was spaced out one space past the last word (that was probably confusing lol).

Thumb Keyboard
Thumb Keyboard rocks! I have tried several keyboards and by far this one is the best. Granted, no swipe, but then again I'm not a big fan of the swype (I have put in the effort and am still faster with a standard qwerty). After I loaded the free version of this keyboard and trying it, I was instantly sold. It is SO easy to get used to, and the portrait mode is a one hand wonder!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beansoft.keyboardplus&feature=search_result

I've used SwiftKey X since the first beta... I love it.
Sent from my HTC-Z710a using XDA App

Swift key x for now I liked the stock sense keyboard but my rom erased it

You're right I love smart keyboard pro. It's like soap keyboard but just a Tad more customizeable

phalanx said:
Thumb Keyboard rocks! I have tried several keyboards and by far this one is the best. Granted, no swipe, but then again I'm not a big fan of the swype (I have put in the effort and am still faster with a standard qwerty). After I loaded the free version of this keyboard and trying it, I was instantly sold. It is SO easy to get used to, and the portrait mode is a one hand wonder!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beansoft.keyboardplus&feature=search_result
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Click to collapse
Absolutely thumb keyboard is the best if you have issues with hitting the "." Button when trying to hit the spacebar, on the stock keyboard and basically every other market keyboard the spacebar is way to small, I miss my genuine swype, but nothing else compares to thumb keyboard with the blue nuance theme....
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App

Stock keypad works more than fine for me...

phalanx said:
Thumb Keyboard rocks! I have tried several keyboards and by far this one is the best. Granted, no swipe, but then again I'm not a big fan of the swype (I have put in the effort and am still faster with a standard qwerty). After I loaded the free version of this keyboard and trying it, I was instantly sold. It is SO easy to get used to, and the portrait mode is a one hand wonder!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beansoft.keyboardplus&feature=search_result
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Click to collapse
That actually looks very interesting. I missed this one, gonna give it a shot now.

I used better keyboard since my original mytouch 3g and it worked great for me. But I have to say that since I downloaded the Swype beta keyboard from www.swype.com I have fallen in love with it. This keyboard is not just quick and easy to use but it is also 100% FREE! I honestly feel that if you give this keyboard a try for a week that you will not new disappointed.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G rocking Coredroid v2.1

I'm happy with stock Sense keyboard. I like the auto-complete of things like gmail etc...

I like Hacker's keyboard. I type fast in them and their interface is cool.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

I haven't used the stock since the update, but before the update the stock keyboard was absolute schite.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G rocking Coredroid v2.1

Ive gotten so used to multitouch and the speed of gingerbread keyboard and i cant use any other keyboard without getting frustrated with how slow they are

the_scotsman said:
I'm happy with stock Sense keyboard. I like the auto-complete of things like gmail etc...
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Swype does that as well, Also, why is SWYPE Beta not a choice in the poll? That's what I use and it's RAD

Swype beta I was including as swype.

Gingerbread keyboard vs Go keyboard?

Going to update my O3D tomorrow with GB and was wondering what the stock keyboard was like? I recently started using Go keyboard which is free from the market and seems to work a lot better than the Froyo one. I did have to turn the "swype" function off because even though I was taking my finger off the screen it was typing some right crap. Sometimes it will miss a keypress and for some reason I had to type the word "from" about six times, but other than that it's ace. And you can skin it also.
Sent from my LG-P920 using XDA App

The gingerbread one is smaller then the go keyboard. I prefer the go keyboard, i get less errors with this and it has my native language dictionary plus the editing features like background and everything else. I also like the touchpal keyboard (has some nice features similar to go but no themes and wallpapers) it has "swype" like to but not in my native language and i got more type errors with this one then with go.
So in my opinion stick with go keyboard. I also recommend the go launcher, go weather, and go lock.

Swiftkey X...nothing better guys!

tooglife said:
Swiftkey X...nothing better guys!
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+1 i agree with that, it is worth every very cent

tooglife said:
Swiftkey X...nothing better guys!
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2nd...swiftkey x is the best. It's memorize whatever I had type previously.
Tried others, nothing good just a good look only.

Why Swype is better, way better, than SwiftKey

Since i stepped into Android, by one thing i was amazed and it was/is Swype. Then other keyboards appeared and SwiftKey X was the most popular among them. So i used it for two weeks to see how good and efficient it is then went back to Swype. Why? The video proves why.
I am on 102°F while i was typing (in fact that's the reason why i have done this video as i had nothing to do, lol), so take 30-45 seconds out from both the video.
I would like to find a more simpler article as base, but couldn't find any by simple Googling.
Regards.
PS: If already this has been done by some fellow member please pardon me, i haven't searched

I agree with you totally, imho after swype any other keyboard in android makes me sad panda =(

I actually like SwitKey better... but I use Swype. I like being able to type with one hand.
P.S. not sold on the new Swype beta - I love the prediction, but it seems to be a bit of a hog.

I am a FlexT9 man myself..

No offense, but you seem to be pretty slow at typing and I think that's why you are faster with Swype. I think it really comes down to peoples personal typing styles. I am a fast typer but end up making a decent amount of mistakes especially with the stock HTC keyboard. I recently started using the trace function on the stock keyboard on my Evo 3D (custom ICS rom though) which is basically the same thing as Swype. While I did enjoy it more than normal typing and it made me faster, I ended up correcting a lot of errors and inputting new words. I then bought Swiftkey 3 and after setting it up, fell in love. It's just a lot smarter than Swype. It's like it knows what I want to say before I even start typing. Also I love the new cobalt theme they have.
So it really depends on your personal typing styles.

I use the stock HTC keyboard, which has Swype-like "trace input" (basically a blatant clone of Swype, but IMO a nicer looking keyboard; I did install Swype before I found the option to enable trace input) and I think it is absolutely fantastic. However, on my Blackberry Playbook, the built in (and non-changeable ) keyboard is made by SwiftKey, and is apparently very similar to the Android version, only themed differently. I have to say it is quite excellent, it can often predict the next word I want to use, preventing me even having to type some words at all, and at times only makes me type the first letter or two before it guesses. Main reason I haven't tried it on Android is because it costs, and I am perfectly happy with the HTC keyboard, which is free.
If there was some amalgamation between Swype and SwiftKey, with the swyping of Swype and the prediction of SwiftKey, it would undoubtedly be my keyboard of choice.

Stock ICS keyboard FTW!

I prefer the one handed operation of Swype 3.25. Swiftkey has been ruined. I used to use it and its pumpkin theme because it disabled the keypress pop up. Now it's in every theme. And there is still no dedicated enter key.
The new Swype sucks, after nuance bought them out. I hate the mandatory Swype connect process that runs, the large footprint, etc.. 3.25 is probably the last acceptable version. If anyone has apk's of builds produced after 3.25, please post them as I'd love to try them out.
Also if anyone has a stock ics keyboard apk that was pulled from a ROM, not the market version, post that too please.
Sent from my Galaxy S II via XDA Premium

SifJar said:
I use the stock HTC keyboard, which has Swype-like "trace input" (basically a blatant clone of Swype, but IMO a nicer looking keyboard; I did install Swype before I found the option to enable trace input) and I think it is absolutely fantastic. However, on my Blackberry Playbook, the built in (and non-changeable ) keyboard is made by SwiftKey, and is apparently very similar to the Android version, only themed differently. I have to say it is quite excellent, it can often predict the next word I want to use, preventing me even having to type some words at all, and at times only makes me type the first letter or two before it guesses. Main reason I haven't tried it on Android is because it costs, and I am perfectly happy with the HTC keyboard, which is free.
If there was some amalgamation between Swype and SwiftKey, with the swyping of Swype and the prediction of SwiftKey, it would undoubtedly be my keyboard of choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if it's still on sale, I can't see because I've already bought it, but Swiftkey 3 was on sale for $1.99 for a week. Again, not sure if that week is still going on but I bought it because of the half off sale.

ncfastls1 said:
No offense, but you seem to be pretty slow at typing and I think that's why you are faster with Swype. I think it really comes down to peoples personal typing styles. I am a fast typer but end up making a decent amount of mistakes especially with the stock HTC keyboard. I recently started using the trace function on the stock keyboard on my Evo 3D (custom ICS rom though) which is basically the same thing as Swype. While I did enjoy it more than normal typing and it made me faster, I ended up correcting a lot of errors and inputting new words. I then bought Swiftkey 3 and after setting it up, fell in love. It's just a lot smarter than Swype. It's like it knows what I want to say before I even start typing. Also I love the new cobalt theme they have.
So it really depends on your personal typing styles.
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As I said, I am not that slow, it was my shaky hands due to the fever. But yes I might definitely be slower than you.
But sorry, I can't agree that Swiftkey is smarter than Swype.
Just my op anyway.
Swyping from my i9100 via Tt

ncfastls1 said:
I'm not sure if it's still on sale, I can't see because I've already bought it, but Swiftkey 3 was on sale for $1.99 for a week. Again, not sure if that week is still going on but I bought it because of the half off sale.
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I did notice that and consider it, but to be honest, the screen on my phone is a bit cramped for "proper" typing, so I decided to stick with my HTC trace input. I'd probably only go for SwiftKey if it added a swype/trace like function.

ithehappy said:
As I said, I am not that slow, it was my shaky hands due to the fever. But yes I might definitely be slower than you.
But sorry, I can't agree that Swiftkey is smarter than Swype.
Just my op anyway.
Swyping from my i9100 via Tt
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Click to collapse
All good man, that's the beauty of android. The fact that we even have multiple keyboards to chose from rather than being stuck with whatever comes with the phone.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app

I have used lots of keyboards of every type and I always come back to Swype. I like Swiftkey's prediction but I've had tough life with predictions. And anyway, my main concern is the speed which Swype most definitely provides me. It depends on your typing habits and screen size, of course.
Sent from my GT-S5360 using xda premium

I always liked ai type until I tried the SwiftKey beta. My only wish is that SwiftKey would do voice to text like Ai type does using the ics real time transcription rather than the old one. I never liked swype mainly because I drive for a living so my use case makes it tough to swype and drive. Much easier to peck but even easier still to speak.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I used swype quite a lot but found it would remember everything I'd typed. So it would end up changing the correct word to a captcha I'd typed in months ago. Now I use SwiftKey to get round that problem

I also find Swype beta to be faster than swiftkey.. Nevertheless, both keyboard make people's eyes looks like this O_O
I type faster than my friend's BlackBerry using only my thumb
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

The fact is that, with SwiftKey, you can tipe without watching the screen. If you use Swipe, you must watch it! Or I'm wrong?

Nah, its just getting used to your phone... Somehow I Swype blindly, just a matter of time for everyone.

hricti da
IlleCorvus said:
Nah, its just getting used to your phone... Somehow I Swype blindly, just a matter of time for everyone.
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Ok, then I'll try it again...

Gorjess said:
I also find Swype beta to be faster than swiftkey.. Nevertheless, both keyboard make people's eyes looks like this O_O
I type faster than my friend's BlackBerry using only my thumb
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Swype is fast, but I still have a phone with a hardware keyboard. I've never been able to quite get up to the same speed that I achieve with it using swype.