Graffiti for Android: Reminds me what I loved about my first Palm Pilot

[dschwa]

Graffiti! Awesome, it works as claimed. Write rather than type. The Palm Pilots had a tutorial but I still remember the figures like riding a bike.

For any long term Palm users from the pre-keyboard days, this is like stepping back into the wormhole. I'm not sure if I'll use it all the time to replace my keyboard but if I can figure out how to limit it to only certain text fields then I will.

Download and be sure to read the help. You must activate the service via settings/language keyboard, then by long pressing on a text field, choose Graffiti as input method. I would love it more as an optional input method, much like voice search. I'm sure if enough of us show serious want, then Access will improve it.

This was originally written for use with a stylus but I see no problem using my finger to write. Many times I used my finger rather than the stylus on my Palm units.

Palm still has a tutorial in their knowledgebase

 

[Podivin]

I remember Graffiti on the old PP's, but not necessarily with any fondness...

 

[Bitbang3r]

You can't judge it based on PocketPC block input. Block input was the best thing available after Palm dropped Graffiti from the Treo (and the point when I officially abandoned Palm), but it sucked miserably compared to real Graffiti-1 on the Palm III & V families.

That said, official Access Graffiti-1 running on an overclocked (710MHz) Hero is the best Graffiti-1 I've had in nearly a decade. I'm definitely looking forward to the larger screen and faster CPU of my upcoming Epic4G

For me, writing with my finger feels natural, because I've ALWAYS used my finger as a stylus, going all the way back to my first Palm III. I just used a nail file to shape my index fingernail into a very, very blunted point (nothing obvious, but enough to do the job efficiently without needing a stylus). The main difference is that NOW I have to use a nail file to shave the nail down really far so the capacitive screen will detect my fingertip

I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for this. For the first time in literally years, I feel like I can comfortably and efficiently interact with my pocket computer again. I even resurrected my old Infocom adventure games... something I haven't done in years (partly because most of them were just a little too big to run properly on a Palm III, and were too painful to play thanks to bad Graffiti implementations on my PocketPCs. The thought of trying to play them with a soft keyboard is convulsion-inducing...).

 

[Bob Denny]

I am also so grateful! Graffiti is just wonderful. I learned it in a flash years ago, and never forgot it. This IME is just beautifully implemented!

 

[SMThe]

Having owned a Palm device for years, I prefer Graffiti over the virtual keyboard any time, and this particular app is GOOD !

 

[sparkdroid]

WARNING !!!!!!!

There was a recent upgrade (2.0.5) which added really annoying ads to the gesture area. Can someone link to the old version. I didn't back it up unfortunately.

Please post Graffiti 2.0.4. Thanks (others will thank you too).

The link at the top points to the market which is 2.0.5.

 

[reinbeau]

Yup, according to the comments on the app, no one is happy with this 'update'. I'd avoid downloading again until they've got that mess fixed.

 

[pWndYke]

Very nice review 5/5.

 

[JKib]

Somehow I missed this when it first came out. I'm interested in the app, but not the adds. Did anyone have 2.0.4?

Edit: Got it!

 

[DemDog]

Just installed 2.0.5. Like it very much. I had several Palm devices and then a couple Win Pocket PC devices that used this type of input method. Just loved it and found it works much better with my chubby fingers than the on screen keyboard and the Swype.

It is much faster for me to enter stuff using this method than the on screen keyboard or even Swype. I know the gestures from prior experience and just feel more comfortable with it.

I say this from the non-power user view point. Don't know if it would be better for someone who does a lot of texting and email and stuff but for me this is a great tool. Even with the ads. But would definitely pay a small price to have it without the ads.

 

[NTP]

Graffiti is much easier for me than typing on that tiny keyboard. Thanks for bringing it to Android!

 

[RJB]

I sooo miss a good Palm Pilot. My Palm was finally nearing death last summer, and I was tired of replacing with refurbs from eBay...

A Palm and a phone separate - totally the way to play it. Particularly when you're ON the phone and you need to look up and key in something like a prescription number!

rjb