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tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,467
5,097
The biggest advantage I find with gesture based typing is for one-handed use. I normally touch type in landscape when I can use the device with two hands. On occasion, it is not convenient or not possible for me to use a device two-handed or in landscape orientation. In these situations, gesture typing in portrait is what I do. For gesture typing, I find that Swype is the best, Google keyboard is a close second and Kii to be third best. SwiftKey Flow is a distant 4th.

Yeah, at Couch's recommendation, I'm giving Swype a try. The gesture based typing on Swype is pretty great, best I've used so far. Touchkey typing, ehh...not so great. I'll keep at it for a while longer to give it a chance though.
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,314
2,391
Oregon
I'm very happy with the Google keyboard. I tried Swiftkey and its pretty nice too, but the slight delay between tapping a text field and when the keyboard actually pops up annoyed me.
 

Cnasty

macrumors 68040
Jul 2, 2008
3,336
2,106
Swiftkey cant be beat for me in typing as its predictive sense is pretty amazing.

I really hope they come out with an update for the S Pen but wont hold my breath.

Tired of switching to the Samsung keyboard when I want to use the S Pen:mad:
 

matttye

macrumors 601
Mar 25, 2009
4,957
32
Lincoln, England
SwiftKey.

That keyboard is so far ahead of its' time I could confidently say that in 5 years time :p

No matter how inaccurate you are it seems to know what you're trying to type.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
Currently testing out the public beta for SwiftKey. Some nice improvements.

Resizing keys doesn't need to be complicated. The gesture typing with Flow seems to be a lot better too.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
There's still one major hiccup with Swiftkey Flow... and that is, it doesn't let you type "too" whenever you want.

It only gives you "too" contextually. Like if you Flow "Me too" it'll get it. But if you Flow, say, "Predictions have gotten better too" you'll end up with "Predictions have gotten better to."

Swiftkey needs to let us type double-letter words by command, and not be prediction context. Pretty dumb not to, if you ask me.

Otherwise, Swiftkey is better than ever. Still king of thumb typing, auto correction, and predictions. Flow is improved, but still has room. Swype remains king when it comes to swiping.

I'll stick with Swiftkey Beta for a bit, but I find Kii the best overall keyboard. Swiftkey's features are skimpy compared to Kii's.
 

Stuntman06

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
961
5
Metro Vancouver, B.C, Canada
There's still one major hiccup with Swiftkey Flow... and that is, it doesn't let you type "too" whenever you want.

It only gives you "too" contextually. Like if you Flow "Me too" it'll get it. But if you Flow, say, "Predictions have gotten better too" you'll end up with "Predictions have gotten better to."

Swiftkey needs to let us type double-letter words by command, and not be prediction context. Pretty dumb not to, if you ask me.

The general convention when typing double letters with gesture typing is to do a little circle within the letter. Try to gesture type "too" by dragging your finger from the "T" to the "O" and then do a little circle within the "O".

The reason I don't like SwiftKey for gesture typing is that once you finish typing a word, SwiftKey offers in its prediction line what it thinks your next word might be. Other keyboards that supports gesture typing will offer alternative words in the prediction field after you typed a word. Often, if you mean to type "too" on most other keyboards, it will offer alternative words and "to" would be in that list. That way, you can simply tap the alternative word it offers to change it. With SwiftKey, I end up having to try gesture typing it again or just tap the individual keys to type the word.

Otherwise, Swiftkey is better than ever. Still king of thumb typing, auto correction, and predictions. Flow is improved, but still has room. Swype remains king when it comes to swiping.

I'll stick with Swiftkey Beta for a bit, but I find Kii the best overall keyboard. Swiftkey's features are skimpy compared to Kii's.

I just tried the SwiftKey beta. I was hoping it would offer a better keyboard layout that I would like. It didn't. For that reason, I'm sticking with Kii for thumb typing in landscape.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
The general convention when typing double letters with gesture typing is to do a little circle within the letter. Try to gesture type "too" by dragging your finger from the "T" to the "O" and then do a little circle within the "O".

Yup just like how swype works. Too bad swiftkey doesn't let you do this too. Patent maybe?
 

Stuntman06

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
961
5
Metro Vancouver, B.C, Canada
Yup just like how swype works. Too bad swiftkey doesn't let you do this too. Patent maybe?

I tried this on a number of keyboards that support gesture typing. It works on Swype and the Samsung keyboard. It doesn't work on SwiftKey, Kii or Google keyboards. Kii and Google does allow you to select "too" in the prediction line. SwiftKey gives you what it thinks your next word would be instead.

With Google, it did predict "too" about half the time. I played around to see if I can consistently gesture type "to" and "too". I was unable to figure out what to do to make it recognise one or the other consistently.

The first time I tried gesture typing was on my Nokia N97 using Swype. The tutorial said to do a little circle to double a letter. That was over 3 years ago. At the time, I don't know of any other gesture typing keyboard. I didn't use it much as I preferred the physical keyboard on that phone.
 

onthecouchagain

macrumors 604
Mar 29, 2011
7,382
2
I tried this on a number of keyboards that support gesture typing. It works on Swype and the Samsung keyboard. It doesn't work on SwiftKey, Kii or Google keyboards. Kii and Google does allow you to select "too" in the prediction line. SwiftKey gives you what it thinks your next word would be instead.

Yup, which is why I find Kii the best overall keyboard. I can pick "too" right out of the suggestion bar if it doesn't get it contextually. With Swiftkey, you have to backspace once to change it (in the suggestion bar). Shame Swiftkey doesn't fix this. I've visited their message boards; it's definitely been brought up by many people.

It's really a shame because Swiftkey is, otherwise, superb everywhere else.

I may go back to tried and true Kii myself. I want to give Swiftkey Beta a bit more time.
 

F123D

macrumors 68040
Sep 16, 2008
3,776
16
Del Mar, CA
My go to keyboard is Kii but I've been using the stock keyboard on the Note 3 and it's been pretty amazing so far. Very accurate and smooth. Nothing like on the Note 2.
 

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
SwiftKey can also have glitches like the words disappearing when you are typing something else below it under a Notes app. And the trail of letters I mentioned earlier.

If the glitches become too much for me to bear, I have this Jelly Bean keyboard from a 3rd party or Kii as backups. That is why I love Android. The ability to CHOOSE. But I really do love SwiftKey's predictive system. SwiftKey isnt perfect, but it has saved me so much on keystrokes. I just like it learns how you type and calculates the most commonly spelled or used words after certain words.
 

Stuntman06

macrumors 6502a
Sep 19, 2011
961
5
Metro Vancouver, B.C, Canada
There is new SwiftKey beta that came out. I gave it a try, because it had a new split keyboard layout for tablets and phablets. I still did not like it due to the fact that I have an SGS3 which doesn't have a large enough screen for the split keyboard to work well for me. The handles that allow you to adjust the location of the keyboard takes up room and pushes the keyboard higher up the screen. This causes even more of the screen to be obscured.
 
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