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I keep reading the same discussions, SWYPE vs. Multitouch, Multitouch vs. IME, Shapewriter VS. SWYPE.....
How about this. I prefer to use a regular keyboard (IME, touchpal, multitouch) with two hands (or fingers) when Im in Landscape mode. When I want to send a quick reply or type a quick email (usually when Im driving, i know.. its bad) I hold the phone with one hand in Portrait mode and thats when I really like SWYPE or Shapewriter. So I would surmise that a GREAT app at this point would allow for one keyboard to be default in Portrait and the other to be default in Landscape. I currently switch back and forth and its a pain in the a$$...
Thanks for listening to my rant.
Three months and not even a reply.
infected. XxxVirusxxX makes the roms, we wear them.
Im pretty sure its already been done recently. I think I read about it a week or two ago on this site and then again on reddit.
Any ideas to what its called?
infected. XxxVirusxxX makes the roms, we wear them.
But you can type with two fingers using Swype (or any other gesture-keyboard), so I don't see what the big deal is. No one forces you to swype out words. Ultra Keyboard also has the feature to enable swype gestures in only one mode if you are that obsessed with it.
Slide hit has a slider on the keyboard to allow you to go from swipe to ABC.
it was called keyboard manager but was pretty finicky. i found that ultra keyboard works pretty damn well. swiping is def not as good as swype and multitouch isnt as good as the droid x keyboard, but it is a pretty decent comprimise.
Hence the need for an app that can either do both well or switch between both depending on orientation.
infected. XxxVirusxxX makes the roms, we wear them.
I'd expect you could set up Tasker to do it.
You can do it with ultra keyboard. Just go to settings, then tracing, and set it to portrait only. You could even make tracing switch on and off with a gesture on the spacebar. Ultra keyboard is completely customizable, it's the only keyboard I use anymore.
Sent from my Evo using XDA App
@ OP
i love typing with two hands since im on pc more than evo.
when galaxy s tabby comes ill buy it and it will be my new phone; now you can type with both hands 7", if you dont mind the size(i personally think its awesome since i never put my phone in pocket anyway). i hate samsung so will not sell my evo until i am sure the sg tab surpasses it in most, if not all aspects...
htc/android for the smartphoneWIN
samsung CAN make screens;
too bad they wont give the good stuff to competitors...htc(wink,wink)
I'm testing ultra keyboard now.
infected. XxxVirusxxX makes the roms, we wear them.
Highly customizable. Still going to take some getting used to.
infected. XxxVirusxxX makes the roms, we wear them.
I've been testing ultra keyboard, it's a decent alternative.
Nowadays, it's just so tempting to get one of the latest 'slate' phones and just settle with it. Particularly because keyboard-less phones are a lot thinner than keyboard phones and have a much better selection. Also it seems like no one is considering making a 4"+ phone with a physical keyboard (not with Android, anyway...)
But still it feels like physical keyboards have some features that can't seriously be replicated with software such as
- ability to play emulators and other games. Touch control frankly sucks. By the way, how compatible are Android games with physical keyboards? Are there times when software that should support keyboard input only supports touch screen controls?
- half the screen doesn't get obscured just to input some text.
so the choice is pretty difficult. Can I get some opinions from people who made the switch to slate phones?
Your most certainly right with the drawbacks, but those are the only ones. Now that we can hook up a wireless ps3 controller to our phones I'm not so worried about loosing hard buttons on a KB. Using swype you can actually type much faster on screen then with a phone KB now. Its certainly a different then the old styluses but I like it much more, even WM 6.5 is pretty finger friendly now. I went from a TP2 with the best KB around to an HD2 with no KB. I was worried for about 10 minutes till I tried out the HD2 screen and it being so sensetive I was in hog heaven, no more pushing buttons 3-4 times to get them to click. Just get my finger within .5mm of the screen and it detects my finger and presses the button.
completley agree Pickx.
maxpower097 said:
.... Using swype you can actually type much faster on screen then with a phone KB now. ....
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Many people have claimed this but not once have I seen anyone using it to anything near what I would call "quick" and certainly not as quick as a proper keyboard. I tried Swype for a few weeks but its just not possible in my experience.
I now have a HD2 and frankly, despite all its awesomeness I still desperatley miss a proper keyboard. I use my phone frequently at work to make notes/take minutes in meetings and sadly this is simply not possible to do this accurately and quickly on a touch screen keyboard - even with Swype!
The previous phone I had, an Acer m900 was ok and had a great keyboard but it was no HD2.... if only i could plug its keyboard on to my HD2!
Oh god I suck at phone KB's and have large hands so that may be why I have so much more luck with swype then the normal touch KB or normal KB. For me swype is incedibly accurate. I only get may be 1 word wrong out of 100. In fact I hated it so much with my TP2 I didn't even text message. People would msg me and I would just call them back. Now that I'm on the HD2 I actually TXT back because its actually doable without hitting 100 wrong keys.
I´ve just switched from Rhodium to Leo and my typing speed decreased a lot, several errors touching the screen...
I decided to change because slow Rhodium processor but as soon as a good real hardware keyboard device appear with modern specs I´ll switch back again.
You can never compare typing REAL keys and the speed...
I think its gonna be different for everyone. For instance I'm a mutant and have one thumb 1 inch shorter then the other. So one thumb is long and slender, the other is fat and stubby. No matter what KB I used on a phone I always hit wrong keys with my big fat thumbs, both of em. Granted I'm 6'4 and 235 pounds. But with the touch screen swype I can just use my index finger to slide around which for me personally is much more accurate and easy them my big thumbs. Another issue I would have with real phone KB's is I would hit w button and it would type wwww_.
So now that a(n early) PSX emulator has been released and an N64 emulator is being worked on, a device with a keyboard would be great. Screw Samsung for not releasing the Epic on GSM.
New keyboard at: http://www.the8pen.com/index.html
I'm a keyboard geek, so I'll be trying it for a couple of weeks to see how it feels. If nothing else, looks kind of fun, but I have to say that my original hunch is that the learning curve is just too high for most people. The big question is how speedy an expert can be on the keyboard.
I've also written a couple notes to the team (no reply yet) with some early thoughts.
My biggest problem is the layout. I agree that a strictly alphabetical one wouldn't make most sense, but their layout seems ... well, I sure can't see the logic behind it. I've asked that how hard it would be to program it so we could make our own layouts (and for fun I made one that makes a lot more sense to me).
So anyone giving this a shot? After one day of use, it's slow going, but the delay is figuring out where letters are. If you know where the letters are (like I tried to type "This is a test" a bunch of times in a row) then it seems this can be a very speedy input method. Very much reminds me of shorthand or cursive writing on a keyboard!
Installed and uninstalled, I couldn't get through the tutorial without problems...
but maybe i'm just 'slow'
I wanna try it... but I dont want to spend a dollar on it if I dont like it... The DEV should have put a trial version on the market first...
w00tn3ss said:
I wanna try it... but I dont want to spend a dollar on it if I dont like it... The DEV should have put a trial version on the market first...
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You can uninstall it and get a refund within 24 hours...
I tried it, hated it... uninstalled it
For the haters - I'm curious as to what you didn't like. Was it the learning curve? One look at a screen grab would confirm to me to expect to put in at least 2 weeks or regular use to get a feel for the keyboard.
I'm not sold on it yet, but I feel that 1 day isn't enough to pass or fail it. I'd still really like to see an expert with a couple months practice go at it (ie, if the experienced person isn't very fast then don't bother trying to learn).
App kinda reminds me of MessageEase - might be good but the learning curve is just so bad - you have to tough it out for a while to see if the payoff is worth it.
Oh - if the letters were in a different location would it matter to you?
polstein said:
For the haters - I'm curious as to what you didn't like. Was it the learning curve? One look at a screen grab would confirm to me to expect to put in at least 2 weeks or regular use to get a feel for the keyboard.
I'm not sold on it yet, but I feel that 1 day isn't enough to pass or fail it. I'd still really like to see an expert with a couple months practice go at it (ie, if the experienced person isn't very fast then don't bother trying to learn).
App kinda reminds me of MessageEase - might be good but the learning curve is just so bad - you have to tough it out for a while to see if the payoff is worth it.
Oh - if the letters were in a different location would it matter to you?
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I just couldnt be bothered to learn where the letters were and I felt like the program did not like waiting around for me to locate them... this is just like swype really but with swype you dont have to learn where the letters are...
yeah its pretty weird and difficult prefer swype or shape writer
Interesting, but I note they have no real user typing in the demo....
looks weird hahaha i dont even wanna try it
Its kinda hard because you need to memorize all the letters position. After that it can be really good. You wont need to look at the phone as we now must do.
I didn't try it for very long but the idea seams good. Will be hard to make it work because its so different from keyboard :\
Also, it needs other languages integration or i wont be able to use it as good as it is supposed. Because the letters aren't at the "perfect" position for Portuguese and because it also has a dictionary that is not working since it doesnt have portuguese.
If you can get used to it you probably wont be able to return to a regular keyboard :\
this just my opinion
8Pen usage
So going on about hour 4 of having 8Pen on the fascinate and so far my biggest complaint is my finger sticks on the screen during long words.
All in all the letter layout is growing on me the more I learn it the faster I have been able to go. I did increase the diameter of the center circle\starting point and it actually increased my speed.
I wish I could move the backspace to the right side but overall the button layout works pretty well for me. It definitely has a learning curve, practicing certain words I am as fast as swype. Just like with swype i have found errors with long words or typos. The predictive text is not as as good but that is something I may have to tweak in the settings (of which there are a lot). I am going to continue to use it at least for a few more days.
With my thumb I can actually type (albeit slower) without looking for some letters now which means one handed usage is possible.
cool idea, but i think you need to memorize all the letters in the 4 sectors. that's will take some time for people to get use to
Don't condone warez on xda
It's a dollar. Jeez.
As for the app itself, I could see this being a great boon for people who want to be able to type without staring at the keyboard. It appears intended for no-look typing, since the only actual spatial abilities you need are to hit the center area and move in 45/90/270/360 degree angles.
kr8r said:
So going on about hour 4 of having 8Pen on the fascinate and so far my biggest complaint is my finger sticks on the screen during long words.
All in all the letter layout is growing on me the more I learn it the faster I have been able to go. I did increase the diameter of the center circle\starting point and it actually increased my speed.
I wish I could move the backspace to the right side but overall the button layout works pretty well for me. It definitely has a learning curve, practicing certain words I am as fast as swype. Just like with swype i have found errors with long words or typos. The predictive text is not as as good but that is something I may have to tweak in the settings (of which there are a lot). I am going to continue to use it at least for a few more days.
With my thumb I can actually type (albeit slower) without looking for some letters now which means one handed usage is possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try the larger circle, but I actually practicing making as small of a circle as possible for better speed. Maybe I have it backwards.
I just re-watched their video, and they were saying their layout was based on figure 8 motions (as to why they put certain letters somewhere). I would rather have a longer learning curve IF it meant that I would reap the rewards of a more efficient layout later. Hope they knew what they were doing.
I also did a test where I took short sentences like "This is a test" and just did it over & over till I had it memorized. Then I compared typing it in 8pen vs Swype vs Ultra Keyboard and I have to say... it was pretty darn smooth and natural on the 8pen method. I'm kind of looking forward to getting to a point where I know where all the letters are just so I can really give this keyboard a more realistic test on day to day usage.
Also looking forward to being able to just have the 'dot/circle' and nothing else and confusing people watching me. When I get to that point, I might request a smaller vertical height to have less of the screen covered by the keyboard.
Finally, I have auto-correction & suggestion turned on, but I'm a bit confused on using the suggestions. I see if I type a few letters that my target word turns yellow - and if I lift up on the screen it will auto-complete.
BUT if I want to pick a different word in the suggestions I'm not sure how I'm supposed to go get it. If I lift up, it picks the yellow word. So I'm kind of drawing a straight line up, then lifting my finger then picking the alternate suggested word.
(BTW, with suggested words, they would need to eventually add custom dictionaries, make more common words the default, etc)
Have not tried 1 thumb typing, but will give it a shot. I can say that when I have the phone in my car mount (and I get better), this would be a great keyboard for entering quick things (short sms/map search) since you don't have to worry about hitting specific keys dead on. (no typing while driving, guys!)
Finally, I added a couple gestures for my 2 emails (a ^ and an upside down one) and that works very well. I forgot how useful gestures can be. In the video I saw them do a circle gesture, lines - I'll need to make a list of good gestures & figure out what I use a lot.
its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.
I kinda like it. I'll admit it will probably take a good bit of getting used to, but then so did typing on a regular keyboard.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
trillonometry said:
its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even in swype you need to look to the keyboard. with this app you dont need to look as long you know the combination. i dont think is "an awful idea" as you say :\
warez info removed
and i tried it for a good amount of time how ever it still doesnt compare to Swype or Smart keyboard.
ok i understand theres a learning curve, learning a new keyboard layout sucks when we are used to qwerty's on laptops and phones, but another this is that it will take longer swipes to get to certain characters and i just didnt find the keyboard as a whole convenient enough. but its a good attempt, and i hope to see others
trillonometry said:
its basically an awful idea. To learn a shape just to trace 1 letter... is like writing one letter... except a symbol for a letter.
The gestures are were it can get somewhat useful but I just dont think it adds enough to the keyboard to make it efficient. Even adding gestures is so similar to swype ..
I just cant comprehend how this has any benefits as far as speed goes compared to a swype enabled keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it and actually agree. Based on the original idea of having a "unique gesture for each letter", e.g. down + left + right for the letter 'e' - then might as well scribble the actual letter as it will remove the learning curve.
Which opens the question, is there such an app (similar to the old palm phones)?
I want one for my TouchPad running CM9.
Here's a few things I noticed:
- Most keyboards are phone ports and so the backspace is on the bottom row rather than the top row. Tablets are almost used like real keyboards, so it makes more sense to have the backspace up on the upper right corner. Take note of the iPad keyboard and the TouchPad keyboard. It makes sense for the backspace to be on the lower right only if you're using your thumbs to type. Make note of phone keyboards (iPhone included). Clearly Apple thought this out, but it seems.
- Most Android keyboards suck balls. No offense, they just suck. Bad autocorrection or prediction. The iPad 2 I have has a solid keyboard. While I don't want say an Apple copy, even an iPad keyboard layout would be great. The webOS keyboard is the best keyboard I've used so far because its a 5 row keyboard. The number row really makes sense.
- No I'm not a fan of Swiftkey. Why the hell did they mess up the numbers and put them in a square layout when you want to input numbers? That doesn't even make sense.
- Smart Keyboard Pro was my favorite phone keyboard, but it's not really tablet optimized.
Check out thumb keyboard 4.0. Its about 5$ but its totally worth it.
Sent from my PB99400 using xda premium
I use Thumb Keyboard, you may also like Hacker's Keyboard.
The ICS stock keyboard is pretty nice too.
Can try Touchpal or Go Keyboard. Go keyboard even split up the keys into two halves optimise for both hands typing.
GO keyboard 10/10 free and full of features
You can try A.I type keyboard as well.... It's nice
Give a try to A.I. type keybord : it's very similar to the webOS one, can be divided like thumb keyboard, has the backspace on the top row, a 5th row with numbers, arrows, and it's free
Edit : arf, a little bit too late
Re-edit : just checked, the free version has only one limitation : prediction during the first 15 days only (I don't use it so I don't care)
Call me a Steve Jobs, but I never liked anything from GO because they have no original ideas. Thumb Keyboard is still the way to go because they, as far as I know, started the whole split layout idea and do it best. Thumb Keyboard only costs $2.29.
Another keyboard you could try is Messagease, I'm not sure how it would work on a tablet, but once you're used to it on a phone, its way easier and faster than typing on a qwerty. It also comes with a game that you can use to get faster at typing on it! Messagease is Free!
F*ck all those keyboards. Hackers keyboard wins hands down. Next best to a real keyboard
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
A real keyboard on a tablet does a good one not make. Why not just buy a hardware attachment for the tablet if you wanted a "real" keyboard?
Sent from my PB99400 using xda premium
I'd make this a poll but I probably don't even know of all the available options,
But I have just started using messagease, and though I long for 2i from snapkeys.
I do wonder if I am missing other alternatives...
The reason I am trying to find non qwerty systems is actually because I think the T9 systems used in android pale in comparison to my old K770i. I haven't paid for any keyboards but have tried just about every free one going, Are they all this bad?
If it's not just me thinking this, whats your ideal typing system?
And
Is qwerty going to die?
For me, ideal is 2i, and yes qwerty is dying...I hope anyway...time to move into the next century.
I disagree, QWERTY is NOT dying. Not even close.
MOST computer systems use a QWERTY, and it would make sense for the same keyboard to be on a phone since you're used to where the letters are etc.
So if you think qwerty is dying, then that would ultimately mean that all the keyboard standards would have to be changed as well. Some people prefer non-qwerty, but that population is incredibly small compared to who DO use QWERTY.
Also i think this is in the wrong section, no?
I wasn't thinking this is the wrong section at all, okay perhaps my dislike for qwerty might be, but asking in the general android apps sections about alternatives to keyboard apks, definitely not.
And I wouldn't expect pc's to get rid of qwerty, there have been alternatives for that for a long time now, and none have stuck it out or gained real attention. excluding the graphics designer mouse thing that I can't remember the name off...
But I was referring more to portable devices, tablets, consoles, smartphones, etc, things where real estate is at a real premium, a full keyboard, plus arrows, enter key, space key, it's too much especially when devices are getting smaller, and can now ever be worn around the wrist.
I am half expecting the next i device to be keyboard-less actually...
I didn't know about Snapkeys, I'm going to try it. I've been using MessagEase for a long time and I just love it. I type in Spanish more often than not and it's extremely good for adding accents (´) and other symbols. The best part is that it doesn't rely on word prediction, which I don't like very much.
You should try 8pen, too, it's another alternative, I used it before changing to MessagEase.