What's on my Android: Swype

Before I got my current phone I was looking for a slidekeyboard phone, unfortunately my provider didn't have any Android phones with that feature at the time. So I got my next option: a Samsung Captivate (from the Galaxy S series). My phone came with Swype and it has truly changed how I write my messages.

For those of you who don't know about it, Swype is an input method for touchscreens developed by Swype Inc. The application allows you to enter a word by sliding your finger from letter to letter and lifting to add a blank space and start a new word and includes an algorithm that autocompletes the word. It also includes dynamic learning, which means it learns which words you type the most and puts them at the top of the list. One of the best things is that because of its AI you don't have to be that accurate while sliding between letters.

Here is a LINK  to a video I found on YouTube. Thanks to mobileburn for uploading the video.

Swype doesn't come with all the phones, but there is a beta version that you can register for and download in your Android phone. Simply go to http://beta.swype.com/.

But of course, there are other options for Swype [Disclaimer: I have not tested any of this it personally].

• SlideIt Keyboard by Dasur Ltd. $6.18 dlls in the Android Market. 

• UltraKeyboard by Binary Bulge. $2.79 dlls in the Android Market. [This one has many options and sliding is one of them]

I have also hear great things about SwiftKey [On sale for $1.99 at the Android Market] which is an AI program that predicts the next word based on what you have already written, just like Swype it has a dynamic learning mechanism which makes it better every time you use it.

There are many other apps that try to do word autocompletion and prediction, and there are also other apps that attempt to make typing easier for example bigger keys. Two of the most interesting ones out there are:

• KeyPurr by KeyPurr technologies. $4.07 dlls in the Android Market. This keyboard reduces the keys to 17 bigger keys and also does text prediction and autocorrection (that is how it gets away with reducing the number of keys).

• 8pen by Michael@3QUBITS. Free in the Android Market. This app deserves a mention in this article because it is really different to all the other apps. It lays down the keyboard in a circle divided in 4 sections and by rolling your finger around it you can choose letters, I have not tried and I also read that it has quite a steep learning curve but supposedly it is worth it.

If you have any questions, or any comments about this article feel free to chime in the comment section. We'll be back soon with more tutorials.