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Swype Beta For Android Is Open, Temporarily
FyreWyr writes "In 2008 we discussed Swype, which allows a mobile (phone, e.g.) user to draw a path over a virtual keyboard to enter words, rather than requiring precise tapping to accomplish the input. Using this software, a Swype intern (Franklin Page) beat the Guinness record by about 6 WPM for the Guinness-standard phrase: The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human. (Unfortunately the video at that link is marked private.) TechCrunch reports that Swype is presently in open beta, and will be available for 'a couple of days,' supporting English, Spanish, and Italian entry. Finally, while the deadline has apparently passed, I was able to retrieve the Android beta for testing a few minutes ago. I'm posting it here for the benefit of Android-enabled Slashdot readers."
First post!
(Unfortunately the video at that link is marked private.)
If no one can see it, it didn't happen, although I smell bear shit...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
It's pre installed on the Samsung Galaxy S, you just have to click and hold on a text input field to get the menu up that lets you enable it.
My girlfriend and I recently got new phones, and I wanted to go Android but got an HTC HD2 (running Windows Mobile) with the intention of returning it within the 14 days allowed, because the phone I wanted was coming out a week later...
Anyways, long story short, I stuck with the HD2 in very large part because I was so enamored with Swype, and was distraught that Swype wasn't available for Android.
It's not perfect, of course, but I enjoy it. In particular, it can be a bit fiddly with smaller words (e.g. me, of, to), but once you get a rhythm going it is, dare I say it, actually fun. It's like every text message is a little game.
It's also very intuitive and you pick it up very quickly. If you've got an Android, definitely give this a look.
:: crickets :: /. today or they're all having trouble 'swyping' on their non-phone keyboards. Either way this wins this week's "Sleepy Sunday Afternoon Story Award".
Either there aren't too many 'Swypers' reading
I think the whole Guinness World Record thing is a bit skewed... The phrase is extremely well made for Swype. I know this wasn't intentional, but Swype excels at typing out extremely long and complicated words—the exact bane of most text inputs, and the reason that they are included in a world record phrase. Where Swype has trouble, however, is short words that are easily misinterpreted.
bah. too small a screen for crapapp
For the moment, I am extremely impressed with Shapewriter. And for a few days more, you can get that for free with no expiration and it is not a beta. So I don't see a need for Swype right now:
http://www.androidcentral.com/shapewriter-being-pulled-market-get-it-while-you-still-can
A "sweeping" mobile input method always reminds me of Dasher. I guess one reason why it doesn't get all the attention is that it must be tuned to a particular corpus of text, so it's not immediately usable like something qwerty-based.
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
They definitely are still letting people download it - I just installed it on my HTC Magic. It works quite well, shocking so actually. In vertical one-handed typing, I'm already much faster and more accurate than I ever was with the regular keyboard. However, the swype idea doesn't make much sense for horizontal typing - there's no real way to use both hands so what's the point? I would prefer to be able to stick with the traditional keyboard for horizontal typing. That said, I'm going to stick with it for a few days and see how it goes under real-world circumstances.
On the Motorola Cliq Xt.
i've been using it for almost two years. can only use in their app, but it's great for lists.
It beats the living snot out of the standard soft keyboard, and may be faster than the slider keyboard on my Moto Droid, except that I can use *two* thumbs on the slider.
I haven't yet gotten used to the right actions to say, "no, it's not one of those eight words" without having to reswype the whole word -- annoying on lengthy words. It's accuracy is pretty darn good anyway, even if I swerve because I'm going the wrong way toward a letter, it often gets the right word.
Only app I haven't gotten it to work on is Twisty, an interactive fiction interpreter -- it would be a big help there.
Design for Use, not Construction!
Presumably this is going to phone home and report usage stats from my usual mix of sexting and work emails? Android has already warned me of this on installation. I'll give it a go, but not for anything I wouldn't want made public.
I really prefer flick input, to be honest - 9-key layout, and a small "drag" in different directions determine which character to enter. You got big, easy to hit keys, and you're not dependent on the predictive input to get words right. I started using it for Japanese, but it's so convenient I now use it for English as well. Now, if I could add the Swedish characters to the Xperia Japanese/English flick keyboard I would never have to switch input method again.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
I don't think it's possible to communicate how slowly this runs on the (original) MyTouch3G. At least in my experience, it took 5-10 seconds for it to recognize that I had even started a word - when it finally did, it took another 5 seconds to trace it out. Something is obviously wrong here, there can't be any way it's supposed to be this slow. As I'm not that enthralled with the idea, I don't have the inclination to figure it out, so whatever. Honestly, I've had problems with apps (and the OS in general) being non-responsive in the past, but this is a whole new level.
Swype's marketing plan is to *only* distribute Swype via phone manufacturers, *not* through channels like Android's Market. Reasons given included being a small company, limited ability to provide end-user support, yada yada yada. This is despite scores of users who willingly want to fling money their way, regardless of support options (or lack thereof). I know when my Swype beta expired, I was heartbroken. You just can't go back to tapping after Swyping. I tried SlideIT and Shapewriter. I really disliked SlideIT, and while Shapewriter was tolerable, it was still no Swype. I admit I may be biased having used Swype first. I was elated to see the day after my beta expired, that they opened up the official program to anyone who wanted to sign up. Perhaps the Swype folks are having at least a small change of heart regarding their marketing stratgey.
I'm curious whether this could eventually become an alternative to keyboards for desktops and laptops. Assuming a person could become quite skilled there is a great deal of potential here.
For instance:
-High-speed typing with one hand while the other hand uses the mouse
-Practiced movements with two or three fingers to input small, common words (the, and, to...)
-An unlimited number of movements/combinations for personalized hotkeys
So, if you get some friends to hold the stylus with you, it's like a digital ouija board?
I've used both, and prefer ShapeWriter
I'm sorry, I shouldn't be on this thread, for some reason I thought Swype == VoIP + BitTorrent.
I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
...specifically because I hate word prediction/correction and always turn it off.
And holy shit! This is awesome!
I've been using Swype for the past couple days and it works pretty well. I turned off the 'vibrate on keypress" and using sounds which get annoying. Its pretty accurate and nice being able to use with one hand. I also recommend not using the "suggesting words" option, I kind of liked the spell check with every word for the Android keyboard but the suggestion box for Swype gets in the way of the screen AND its annoying when typing in numbers.
Since it hasn't been mentioned, I think it's worth highlighting the fact that ShapeWriter is currently free and available on the android market, with features similar to those of Swype. As far as I'm concerned, it has really changed the way I use my android phone's keyboard (HTC Desire).
Is this something that could be useful in place of a hardware keyboard? There are IR projected devices, or some other invention perhaps, I dunno, where a touch input (Star Trek!!!) can be used in place of a key pressing physical device. Or are we not judging like for like? Is there software for use with normal keyboard that predicts what you type allowing you to use tab-completion or something?
Came pre-installed on myTouch 3G, both the wife and I are loving it.