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I had been switching between the stock virtual keyboard and swype depending on the length and nature of what I was writing. Bt last night I downloaded shapewriter which does both just as easily as the 2 seperate apps (I found tap typing annoying on swype) shapewriter doesn't pick up words as easily as swype @ first bt after messing around with it for a couple of hours it became a lot easier. Point of this thread? Shapewriter is worth checking out, let me know what you think! Also, if you know of any other free keyboards worth checking out let me know.
You hit the nail on the head when you spent a few hours playing with ShapeWriter. Too many people (I have been guilty myself) of writing off an application after just trying it for a few minutes. I do prefer Swype but had to force myself to invest the time and get over the learning curve really required of any similar application. Initially I hated it. My effort has paid off 10 fold in how quickly I can now send emails, comment in the marketplace, and twitter to my heart's content. I am still discovering new tricks (as I am with many of my other android apps). This old dog is learning new tricks.
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Neil
Currently hooked on GB (rooted, overclocked and deoxed). Tomorrow, who knows
I got to say I use shapewriter , I genuinely underestimated how fast I could type with it. It's simply the best keyboard out their in my humble opinion
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Don't worry I have not abandoned you AF, I've just been VERY BUSY
Could you give a brief comparison between Swype and ShapeWriter? I haven't used Swype (the company says that the current Android version was leaked illegally and against their wishes, so I haven't installed it my phone). I do use ShapeWriter, though, and like it very well so far. The two look superficially identical, but I'd like to know if there is a reason to consider changing once a legal version of Swype becomes available. Thanks!
I used Swype for a couple weeks since it came out and just finally gave up the other day. I used it exclusively and after giving it a fair chance just decided I liked the stock keyboard better. Seems swype isn't as fast as you would think since you have to hit every letter in a word and then wait to see if it gets thw word right or pops up a list of possible words. With the stock keyboard it shows a list of popular words after only a couple letters. I can then select that word and move on knowing it's the correct word. The longer the word the more time you save with the stock keyboard. It was fun to try but for me it's just not any better.
Maybe it's just my old brain refusing to adapt to new ways of doing things, and I haven't actually benchmarked my performance using word prediction versus full-word typing like ShapeWriter or (my previous favorite on Windows Mobile) Speedwriter, but I feel like it slows me down a lot to interrupt my typing of a word, look to see if the word I want is in the suggestions list, go back and type another couple of letters, scan the list again, and hit the button for the correct word. I'm more comfortable with just putting in the entire word in a continuous uninterrupted action, as I do on a normal keyboard, as long as the characters-per-second rate is reasonable.
What I really like about ShapeWriter is that it almost never makes a mistake with a word that's more than four characters long. I have to be careful and precise with my finger placement for short words, which slows things down just a bit, but for long words I can just be approximate and very fast and ShapeWriter nearly always picks the right word anyway. That speeds things up a lot.
I think Swype is more accurate but Shapewriter is much easier to use out of the box. Easy to add custom words, easier to peck type if you need like for a password.
Swpye has a lot of tricks that take time to learn before you can type really well. Like to capitalize you need to swipe the first letter then up to the screen then back down and do the rest of the word. For apostrophes you need to include the apostrophe in for some words or it wont recognize it (swype has a problem with the word dont)
I love the fact that Shapewirter always has the word suggestion no matter what, much easier than swype because it only sometimes suggests words.
I say use both, but use it for about a week to really get the full feel. I also suggest looking at the help for both apps
I used Swype for a couple weeks since it came out and just finally gave up the other day... It was fun to try but for me it's just not any better.
It's interesting how we do or don't adapt. I've found Swype to be super -- I can type so much faster with it and, even better, so much more accurately. Yes, it's awkward when you're typing in a new word that's not yet in the dictionary, but once you do, the speedbump is smoothed out forever.
Also, and I can't account for this -- it's purely subjective -- I enjoy the feeling of swiping around a keyboard. After years and years of typing, it feels fun.
I'm sure you can't, Renko. You've been advertising SlideIT on this forum at every available opportunity. Are you connected with the company? What's your affiliation?
I'm sure people here would like to know a release date. THAT would be useful.
I'm sure you can't, Renko. You've been advertising SlideIT on this forum at every available opportunity. Are you connected with the company? What's your affiliation?
I'm sure people here would like to know a release date. THAT would be useful.
LOL, I agree, if you're gonna spam the forum renko, 6 posts and all about slideit, at least give useful info like beta testing opportunities, potential release dates, and pricing info
I think Swype is more accurate but Shapewriter is much easier to use out of the box.
i can definitely understand this...
but overall, i still prefer SWYPE.
i used swype for a few months(before my current hero) with my old winmo phone, and it was very easy for me to adapt to using shape writer.
shape writer +
-don't have to worry about double letters (ie. good)
-big selection of words after drawing
-easy to switch to symbols keyboard
-gestures! (ie. 'cut', 'paste')
swype +
-you can draw in double letters (ie. good)
-draw in capital letters (ie. 'John') -predictive accuracy is much better than shape writer
and wmm, you just have to get out of the mind set of looking at each word as you type. just keep 'drawing' until your finished and spellcheck after by double tapping on the words you want to fix.
with shapewriter, i think my accuracy is closer to 60% before edit (ie. selecting possible words from list), while with the more accurate swype, i am was closer to 90-95% (and my drawings are way more erratic and faster).
LOL, I agree, if you're gonna spam the forum renko, 6 posts and all about slideit, at least give useful info like beta testing opportunities, potential release dates, and pricing info
Not just on this forum either. This clown has posted to every Android forum he can find about the same crap. I have officially boycotted this due to your tactics and will tell everyone I know to do the same. I don't appreciate being spammed especially when the person doing it is stupid enough to think the 'This looks SO cool and I have NO affiliation' approach will work and am offended that he thinks we're in the same boat sailing to idiotville.
wmm, you just have to get out of the mind set of looking at each word as you type. just keep 'drawing' until your finished and spellcheck after by double tapping on the words you want to fix.
I tried that approach early on and I may go back to it, but it makes me nervous about not catching something when I'm proofreading: a couple of the mistakes it made would have been really embarrassing if I had overlooked them and they had made it through to the recipient of the email I was composing! (I don't remember the details, just that I was very happy that I saw them in time!) Reminds me of one of the comments on the Shapewriter company support forum, where a guy reported that his friends accused him of TWD (Texting While Drunk)!
Really, though, it's not too bad. There are just a couple of things I need to watch out for (e.g., I need to stop the stroke for "to" a couple of mm sooner than I sometimes do, as I frequently get "top" instead).
Thanks for the comparison of the two, though; I'll probably take a look at Swype when it's available.
a couple of the mistakes it made would have been really embarrassing if I had overlooked them and they had made it through to the recipient of the email I was composing!
i always have to be careful when i'm writing the word 'duck'... as i have added an inappriopriate word to my dictionary =)
does shapewriter create a space after the word for you? i have to press the dam space key each time i finish a word.. very annoying. its the only gripe i have so far. wait one other thing the landscape mode sucks, its actually better the regular way
does shapewriter create a space after the word for you?
Yes, and it does automatic capitalization at the beginning of sentences, too. I very seldom have to change the spacing or capitalization in text I write with ShapeWriter; they did a very good job on that part.
it doesnt for me i have to press the spcae bar after every word.. wtf? do i have to reinstall?
That's a sticky setting that's changed by the "gestures". It's called "literal mode", and you toggle it by tracing cmd-LITERAL (or just cmd-LI), where "cmd" is the ShapeWriter key to the left of the space bar.
I think there's a bug in the display of the status of literal mode when you toggle it -- it flashes "literal mode on" or "literal mode off" in the "alternatives" line, but whether it says "on" or "off" doesn't actually seem to reflect the current status. It should actually toggle back and forth correctly, though, regardless of the display.
(You can get a list of all the commands by just hitting the ShapeWriter button and then choosing the "Command List" tab.)
That's a sticky setting that's changed by the "gestures". It's called "literal mode", and you toggle it by tracing cmd-LITERAL (or just cmd-LI), where "cmd" is the ShapeWriter key to the left of the space bar.
I think there's a bug in the display of the status of literal mode when you toggle it -- it flashes "literal mode on" or "literal mode off" in the "alternatives" line, but whether it says "on" or "off" doesn't actually seem to reflect the current status. It should actually toggle back and forth correctly, though, regardless of the display.
(You can get a list of all the commands by just hitting the ShapeWriter button and then choosing the "Command List" tab.)
i appreciate the attempt to help me, but i need it in easy terms.. i cant figure it out..lol.. all i want is a space to happen automatically after i complate a word
Last edited by BiGMERF; January 19th, 2010 at 02:58 PM.
i appreciate the attempt to help me, but i need it in easy terms.. i cant figure it out..lol.. all i want is a space to happen automatically after i type a word
This was also the final straw for Swype for me. I hated having to space and capitalize after each punctuation mark when the native keyboard handles that just fine. Swype was fun at first but in the end I came back to what works.
This was also the final straw for Swype for me. I hated having to space and capitalize after each punctuation mark when the native keyboard handles that just fine. Swype was fun at first but in the end I came back to what works.
so swype doesnt have it.. but what about shapewriter?
it doesnt for me i have to press the spcae bar after every word.. wtf? do i have to reinstall?
you must have changed a setting (like wmm suggested). Shapewriter, by default, will auto-insert a space each time you start a new word. So all you have to do is swipe a word, lift your finger, and swipe another word. The space should be automatically added.
If that still doesn't work, then it might be easier for you to uninstall/reinstall to go back to the default settings.
i appreciate the attempt to help me, but i need it in easy terms.. i cant figure it out..lol.. all i want is a space to happen automatically after i complate a word
Okay, here's the "cookbook" version:
1. Find the "command" key. It's just to the left of the space bar and has the ShapeWriter trademark squiggle on it.
2. Just like you were typing a word, touch the "command" key and, without lifting your finger, trace to the "L" key, then to the "I" key, and lift your finger. You should see, for about a half second, a message flash into the space that normally contains the suggested alternatives after you trace a word. If it says "Literal mode on" or "Literal mode off," you've done it correctly. If it says something else or nothing, do it again -- ShapeWriter didn't recognize your command correctly.
"Literal mode" is used for doing things like typing email addresses and URLs, where you don't want extra spaces and capitals inserted. By default, ShapeWriter is not in literal mode, so it does do automatic capitals and spaces; however, I'm guessing that at some point in the past you made a "typo" and toggled literal mode on without realizing it. It is a "sticky" setting, so it will stay however you set it (intentionally or unintentionally).
Oh, and as jasnmb said, the space isn't inserted until you add another word -- that way, a period or comma go right after a word instead of separated by a space. Don't expect to see a space there right after you finish a word.
How do you type out more complicated letter sequences like email ids/urls etc in Shapewriter. Somehow if its not an English word, it does not seem to work very well.
For eg.....to type Big255@yahoo.com I cannot add "Big255" as a word in the dictionary whereas Swype will allow me to.
Also....since you cannot swipe through the period....it turns out as @ yahoo. Com which is really annoying when you are trying to input an email address or url.
Also.......I use a password with multiple Uppercase letters and I've never managed to enter a password successfully with Shapewriter.
But I really like the auto caps etc and want to use it...but Swype definitely has WAAAY better documentation
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Never mind I found out how to set it as the default keyboard. It does not allow you to type in spanish unless you save the words with the Add button. I've added the words I use the most and it works flawlessly even in spanish.
Also....since you cannot swipe through the period....it turns out as @ yahoo. Com which is really annoying when you are trying to input an email address or url.
Also.......I use a password with multiple Uppercase letters and I've never managed to enter a password successfully with Shapewriter.
you can always type normal with it as well to counter act that issue
Now any way to type something like this out? "mYhoUSe" I don't think even tap typing will help as it only cycles through cases.
ShapeWriter clearly is not intended for typing camel-case things like that. It is possible but inconvenient: type it all in lower case (using literal mode to avoid an initial capital, if it's in a context where one would be added), then move the cursor back following each character you want in upper case and hit the "toggle case" key. If the cursor is anywhere except at the end of a word, only the single character immediately preceding the cursor is affected by the "toggle case" key. At the end of a word, it cycles the word through lower case, initial capital, and all-caps, as you said.
Swype vs ShapeWriter vs android keyboards
