Just wondering what some other Swype users think of the new gesture typing in 4.2?
I like that it matches the OS aesthetically, and the smoothness of the animation (as well as how it tapers as it fades)... but it doesn't quite stack up.
- I frequently find myself digging for characters I can long press on Swype.
- The gesture keyboard doesn't seem to recognize any gestures for double characters. My last name is Cooke and I I can't type it without getting Coke.
- Swype seems a lot better at giving me corrections for when its first guess is wrong.
- Swype just overall seems more accurate when I'm quickly moving through words.
What do you think? It's at least nice knowing the option is there should Swype ever end the Beta
duraeas said:
Just wondering what some other Swype users think of the new gesture typing in 4.2?
I like that it matches the OS aesthetically, and the smoothness of the animation (as well as how it tapers as it fades)... but it doesn't quite stack up.
- I frequently find myself digging for characters I can long press on Swype.
- The gesture keyboard doesn't seem to recognize any gestures for double characters. My last name is Cooke and I I can't type it without getting Coke.
- Swype seems a lot better at giving me corrections for when its first guess is wrong.
- Swype just overall seems more accurate when I'm quickly moving through words.
What do you think? It's at least nice knowing the option is there should Swype ever end the Beta
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I find myself missing the long-press characters as well, in particular the numbers. I often type passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, and it's a pain having to switch back and forth.
Double characters work fine for me. My understanding is that every word is a prediction when you use gesture typing, and predictions work off of the dictionary. So if the word you're trying to type isn't in the dictionary, then it won't show up correctly. In your case, maybe Cooke isn't a valid word according to Google.
I tried swype and gave up on it it was so innacurate - suggesting words that didn't even make sense.
The 4.2 keyboard has been excellent.. I'm not convinced it's any faster than just typing though.
Shimakaze said:
I find myself missing the long-press characters as well, in particular the numbers. I often type passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, and it's a pain having to switch back and forth.
Double characters work fine for me. My understanding is that every word is a prediction when you use gesture typing, and predictions work off of the dictionary. So if the word you're trying to type isn't in the dictionary, then it won't show up correctly. In your case, maybe Cooke isn't a valid word according to Google.
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I love it but it takes practice. I like the new jb version better than swipe..
Just a tip - go into your dictionary and shortcuts to the words that get misspelled.
I also love the voice typing.. If you have not tried it trust me, you will love it.
sent via xda premium with nexus 7
I prefer it too Swype, double characters aren't a problem, in fact I prefer Google's system. No doing a swirl on a character, just let it figure it out for you.
Shimakaze said:
I find myself missing the long-press characters as well, in particular the numbers. I often type passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, and it's a pain having to switch back and forth.
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You can long-press the top row of letters to get numbers; no need to switch back and forth for alphanumeric passwords.
Also, 16 of the most common symbols are accessible via a long-press on the "." key. The most common one that's not on the main keyboard, ",", is the one that's accessed by just long-pressing "." and releasing it, which I thought was creative and very handy; the remaining ones are accessed by a long-press and then a slide to the one you want. I actually think it will work better than Swype for less-frequently used symbols once I get used to it, since I don't have to search the keyboard to remind myself which key I need to press for the one I want.
I think the gesture keyboard is just about as accurate as Swype in my usage, but I agree that the suggestions for a missed word aren't as good, and two alternatives is clearly not enough.
I don't think the bubble floating along above my finger as I trace adds any utility (for me, at least); I'm usually tracing fast enough that I can't read what it has recognized so far, and it's faster just to finish the word than to slow down to look and see if it has the correct answer yet. For people who trace slowly, though, I guess it would be helpful.
---------- Post added at 01:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:17 PM ----------
Rusty! said:
I prefer it too Swype, double characters aren't a problem, in fact I prefer Google's system. No doing a swirl on a character, just let it figure it out for you.
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The more recent versions of Swype don't require looping on double characters, either, which was one of the things I really hated about earlier versions. In fact, I used other tracing keyboards (SlideIt, FlexT9) instead of Swype until Swype changed.
For me, typing with Swype y far better than using the 4.2 stock keyboard. The word recognition is much accurate. Using 4.2 Keyboard, I find myself retyping several times until the word that I want is recognized.
Cooke is in my dictionary for sure - the predictive nature of the keyboard does at least suggest it to come up after my first name.
Interesting that most of you prefer the 4.2... I'm curious, are you people who tried Swype and didn't like it, or people who have been using Swype as their default for the last year or so. It just might be differences in technique. I do it quite quickly.
Tony - I swipe as quickly as a fast touchscreen typer with 2 hands in landscape. The difference is that I get to do it one-handed in portrait. That, to me, is where the convenience lies.
One other features that I really miss when using Google's: after swiping in a bunch of words, Swype lets you tap on them in the text box and swap to the different suggestions. Google only seems to maintain the most recent.
Edit: Again, I don't mind doubling up on letters. The option to not do it is nice, for sure, but I prefer the accuracy.
The swiping feature on 4.2 looks pretty but I think it's not really there for the phone but rather for tablets. Pecking out words even in portrait on the N10 is unbearable for me. Swiping is the only way I can half way efficiently type out a sentence or post. Maybe if you have spider hands you can peck it out but I have a really hard time with it. I wish they would have just made the keyboard have the ability to split. I know there's other keyboard software out there that can take care of this, but none of them look like the stock keyboard. A minor point, but the stock keyboard look and layout is home to me. The other ones don't seem to mesh with the look of android as well.
duraeas said:
The difference is that I get to do it one-handed in portrait. That, to me, is where the convenience lies.
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My thumb isn't that coordinated! I trace pretty quickly, but only with the index finger of my right hand while holding the phone with my left. If I tried to do it with my thumb, I'd drop the phone for sure!
duraeas said:
One other features that I really miss when using Google's: after swiping in a bunch of words, Swype lets you tap on them in the text box and swap to the different suggestions. Google only seems to maintain the most recent.
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The gesture keyboard isn't much worse than Swype in that regard: if you double-tap on a word, you get a "replace" button that gives you a list of suggested alternatives, and nearly always what I intended to type is in that list (YMMV). The main thing I miss about Swype is that it remembers your cursor position: if you double-tap and correct an earlier word, when you're done the cursor goes back to where it was before you double-tapped. I'd really love to have that back (although I'm lazy and probably won't bother to install Swype on my N4; the gesture keyboard is good enough, IMHO).
wmm said:
My thumb isn't that coordinated! I trace pretty quickly, but only with the index finger of my right hand while holding the phone with my left. If I tried to do it with my thumb, I'd drop the phone for sure!
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You should have your pinkie under the phone so it can't drop
IMO...
I've been using Swype since February or so. I strongly prefer the old Swype. The newer beta that was merged with FlexT9 no longer lets you swipe symbols, which was a killer feature. For example you could swipe from the key that held : as a long-press, and ) as a long-press, and it would give you a smiley as one of the alternatives. You could do this even with symbols that weren't shown as alternatives on the normal keyboard, as long as you added them to the dictionary, so you could do things like <hugs> if you wanted. Swype has so far not implemented anything remotely similar, and neither has Google. In fact, some of it has become even worse with the Google keyboard. Try typing "^^". I use all these emoticons a lot.
So I guess I'd say that I prefer the old Swype most, then the Google keyboard (which seems nicer than the new Swype beta to me), and then the Swype beta. I could never go back to picking out letters one by one. It's a lot more muscle movement and near-impossible to do while walking down a street or something.
That said, unfortunately my Nexus S old Swype APK is for 800x480, so it looks silly on an N4. I was planning to go find an xhdpi version somewhere, but I've been using the Google keyboard, and I'm fond of it just for typing out text. I'd be mostly happy switching to it if it did punctuation.
4.2 keyboard seems more accurate to me. Swype was more inaccurate for my use. Also I like how I can type normally and then gesture type when I want without switching keyboards. Also this is the first iteration of it and its equal to if not better than swype which has been in beta for like 3 years.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
kayateia said:
I'd be mostly happy switching to it if it did punctuation.
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If you turn off word prediction, the bar at the top displays punctuation.
Assuming that's what you meant, of course.
I love the keyboard. I used Swype for a long time and this feels almost exactly like it except that the keyboard is great for tap typing and swiping. The word prediction has been fine for once I stopped trying to use it like a Swype keyboard and got back into the habit of sweeping again. I still tap a lot when I can use both hands, but for one handed typing its hard to beat swiping.
Sent from my Nexus 4
The only thing i like about swype better is that it would automatically add words to my dictionary. With 4.2 i find the vocabulary a little more limited and and adding words manually is painful. Other than that i find it more accurate and faster, but I'm still on an old galaxy captivate patiently waiting...
TonyHoyle said:
I tried swype and gave up on it it was so innacurate - suggesting words that didn't even make sense.
The 4.2 keyboard has been excellent.. I'm not convinced it's any faster than just typing though.
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I find the exact opposite. I find the stock keyboard to be very inaccurate when using the swype feature. I am using the real swype again now and loving it much more than stock. I guess you get used to one way when you've been using it a long time
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Accuracy is fine - perhaps even better. But "added words" sucks so far. I have to continually add things like "Down8" (my username here & other places), and it never seems to stick.
I'm sure Google's keyboard will improve, but I may end up on Swype until then.
-bZj
down8 said:
Accuracy is fine - perhaps even better. But "added words" sucks so far. I have to continually add things like "Down8" (my username here & other places), and it never seems to stick.
I'm sure Google's keyboard will improve, but I may end up on Swype until then.
-bZj
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You're doing it wrong
i find the typing feature in Swype is better in 4.2, when of course I'm not swyping.
I prefer it over the 4.2 keyboard but maybe cause I've been use to Swype for over a year and a half now.
Basically ever since I got my N5. The bigger screen kinda messes me up when I text or use the keyboard at all. Sometimes I use the swipe method to write on my phone, but other times I just do old fashioned button presses. When I text normally and I go to hit the space bar I will usually hit the period by accident. I'm pretty fast and don't usually look over my texts before I send them so my friends usually get text messages from me that look sometime like this;
"Hey.what are.you.doing today after work? You.wanna.go.grab.lunch at subway.or something?"
I never did it on my slide out phone obviously, or my gnex. This screen is just wide enough to make it happen for me. I'm still not used to having to reach so far right when trying to put in a period. Also I disable double tap space to enter punctuation. I find it annoying.
Not really a complaint or trying to vent at all. Just curious if I was the only one who did this as I have been called out on several occasions by multiple people as to why I replace my spaces with periods.
FYI I put this in general and not Q+A because it's not a serious issue that I need support for and I believe Q+A should be reserved for those kinds of posts.
I'm a big proponent of just using voice recognition for entering texts...sure, you can't always do it for discretionary purposes, not to mention sometimes it makes you look like a weirdo...
But now that the voice recognition is built into the phone it works so well.
Thanks for the reply. I only ever use that driving.
I leave it mounted on Google Now. That way I can say text so and so or navigate to, etc. When I'm not driving I usually just text normally or swipe.
I agree that voice to text works very well on this phone as well. Back on my Droid X it would never pick up my sentences correctly. I guess my bad luck with it previously helps account to why I don't use it much.
I also literally just noticed something about the keyboard I never realized. It's probably been around forever, though. When you want to input a number, you can long press the top row of keys to get that number or you can just press the symbols key and open the keypad with the numbers. That I knew. I just figured out you can press the symbols key and without picking up your finger, swipe somewhere on the keyboard and it switches to the symbols page. Release your finger on the desired key and bam. Number or symbol inputted and your back on the alphabet keys. This method is faster than the other two. Awesome.... And sorry for being so far behind.
I like the voice to text as well it works really good especially if you speak clearly. Sometime though, you don't have that option. That's where a different keyboard comes into play. There are soooo many in the play store. Have you tried one? Some are so customizable it's insane. Some to try out: perfect keyboard, smart keyboard, SwiftKey, swype, touchpal, thumb keyboard, and about 50 more
Nexus5
I.did.this.all.the.time.on.sub.5.inch.devices.
The screen on this device actually makes typing a fabulous experience. I rarely ever hit the "." unintentionally, and I rather enjoy typing again.
My last device had a 4.3 inch screen, and I would make this mistake all the time.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I have to say, it got easier for me. On my n4 I had the exact same problem. But the n5 has the perfect screen size for writing in my opinion.
It only rarely happens that there is a "b" or "n" instead of space.
But I really had to get used to in the beginning.
RoyJ said:
Basically ever since I got my N5. The bigger screen kinda messes me up when I text or use the keyboard at all. Sometimes I use the swipe method to write on my phone, but other times I just do old fashioned button presses. When I text normally and I go to hit the space bar I will usually hit the period by accident. I'm pretty fast and don't usually look over my texts before I send them so my friends usually get text messages from me that look sometime like this;
"Hey.what are.you.doing today after work? You.wanna.go.grab.lunch at subway.or something?"
I never did it on my slide out phone obviously, or my gnex. This screen is just wide enough to make it happen for me. I'm still not used to having to reach so far right when trying to put in a period. Also I disable double tap space to enter punctuation. I find it annoying.
Not really a complaint or trying to vent at all. Just curious if I was the only one who did this as I have been called out on several occasions by multiple people as to why I replace my spaces with periods.
FYI I put this in general and not Q+A because it's not a serious issue that I need support for and I believe Q+A should be reserved for those kinds of posts.
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attached is an image of SwiftKey's 'compact mode'. it can be pushed to either side of the device and makes it easier to type with one hand on the bigger devices
This happens to me as well. It never happened on my nexus 4.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
This is probably not the input you're looking for but it is a good habit to review what you typed before you send it. The recipients, and you, will appreciate it.
You should think about taking off some extra buttons (in Advanced settings) -- if you remove both the Voice Input button and the language toggle, the space bar is much bigger (making it an easier target).
This happens to me all the time on my old S2! However I've taken special care to stretch my thumb further, so I don't get that as much.
I use Smart Keyboard Pro and removed the comma button to lengthen the keyboard.
Maybe a solution for you is to use Smart Keyboard Pro, remove the fullstop button and add in the comma button (it's on the left) so your right thumb will hit the space button for sure. Only issue then is getting used to holding down the comma button for a fullstop
I use Voice to Text a lot because it's just quicker for me.
Lately, like the past few months, I've noticed its getting words VERY wrong.
I'm American and I have no noticeable accent other than your standard live up north accent and like I said, it worked before.
My biggest pet peeves is that when I say "comma" instead of "," it ALWAYS gives me "oh,"... It just seems to randomly add the word "oh" in there now.
I remember something about voice to text learning speech, can you reset that crap?
I have to go back and correct like 3~5 words or punctuation marks in each message I send now depending on length.
Don't know much about that. But have you checked that your microphone is still good? That you use the right variation of English? Whether the offline language file is up to date?
I found those options in Settings->Google. But nothing about total reset.