If, like me, you are a long-time T9 user, then the chances are you have given the Samsung Keypad a try. In 3x4 mode, with XT9 switched on, it is really quite a powerful and handy T9 keypad.
However, the settings are woefully explained in the manual, and don't have a lot of info elsewhere. So here I will attempt to clarify a few that I have figured out (and question some others!).
"Keypad Sweeping" - this is not an XT9 setting, but is a Samsung Keypad setting which I know is mystifying plenty of people. It has nothing to do with Swype. "Keypad Sweeping" is way to change between letters, numbers & symbols, without having to hit the Abc/123/?#+ key ... instead you "sweep" the keypad aside, a bit like you do to scroll through your home panels. It's a bit odd - give it a try and you will see.
Now for the XT9 advanced settings! Ones I am sure about:
"Word Completion" is as you would might expect - you type in "Aweso"... and it will complete this to "Awesome". When you hit space, you accept the auto-completed word. I find this pretty handy.
"Spell Correction" - with this turned on, XT9 will attempt to remove any typos from your input. In T9 a single miskey can leave you 'missing' your word completely... spell correction will put you back on track. Works well.
"Next Word Prediction" - tries to guess what you are going to type next, based on your typing history. So if you suggest going to the beer garden a lot, it might suggest "garden" after you enter and accept "beer". You can steamroller right over the auto-suggestion with your next input, or hit space again to accept it. I don't use this, but see how you could.
"Auto-substitute" - there is a list of mappings (XT9 auto-substitution, at the bottom of the settings) which gets activated by this switch. When on, XT9 will look for words matching the left-side of the mapping, and dish up the right-side of the mapping as a suggestion. This is very useful for things like automatically capitalising the word "I", and for converting "cant" to "can't" (especially as you cannot reach the apostrophe through the 1-key!!). I also use this for converting "s" to "'s" for possessives... this might be a mis-hack, let me know if you know a better way. Anyway, useful.
"Recapture" - another wonderfully unexplained feature. This lets you go back into T9 mode when you are *deleting* a word. For example, if you accepted "cool", but you wanted "book", now you can backspace into "cool" and reselect "book" (or delete even further and get a new word). Priceless, classic Nokia-style stuff, I was pleased to find this!
"XT9 my Words" - this is your custom dictionary - fill it with cromulent cruft!
And now, the settings I am not so sure about!
"Word Completion Point" - this is presumably supposed to control how many letters get entered before a word completion is attempted. However, I find that this setting seems to make very little difference - can anyone give an example where it behaves differently between 2 and 5?
"Auto-append" - this is a mystery to me too. I originally supposed it must have something to do with next word predict, which I do not use.. but even with that switched on I cannot see a change in behaviour. I have no idea, so I switch it off.
"Regional Correction" - I don't use this, but it presumably does something locale related. I tried British and American spellings with this switched on and off, and both worked fine all the time. Once again, let me know if you have seen different!
All these are for Eclair, by the way - YMMV.
Anyhow, hope this has helped you - I suspect that recapture & keypad sweeping are the main mysteries sorted
Software for Android & more:
http://www.greateastlondon.com
However, the settings are woefully explained in the manual, and don't have a lot of info elsewhere. So here I will attempt to clarify a few that I have figured out (and question some others!).
"Keypad Sweeping" - this is not an XT9 setting, but is a Samsung Keypad setting which I know is mystifying plenty of people. It has nothing to do with Swype. "Keypad Sweeping" is way to change between letters, numbers & symbols, without having to hit the Abc/123/?#+ key ... instead you "sweep" the keypad aside, a bit like you do to scroll through your home panels. It's a bit odd - give it a try and you will see.
Now for the XT9 advanced settings! Ones I am sure about:
"Word Completion" is as you would might expect - you type in "Aweso"... and it will complete this to "Awesome". When you hit space, you accept the auto-completed word. I find this pretty handy.
"Spell Correction" - with this turned on, XT9 will attempt to remove any typos from your input. In T9 a single miskey can leave you 'missing' your word completely... spell correction will put you back on track. Works well.
"Next Word Prediction" - tries to guess what you are going to type next, based on your typing history. So if you suggest going to the beer garden a lot, it might suggest "garden" after you enter and accept "beer". You can steamroller right over the auto-suggestion with your next input, or hit space again to accept it. I don't use this, but see how you could.
"Auto-substitute" - there is a list of mappings (XT9 auto-substitution, at the bottom of the settings) which gets activated by this switch. When on, XT9 will look for words matching the left-side of the mapping, and dish up the right-side of the mapping as a suggestion. This is very useful for things like automatically capitalising the word "I", and for converting "cant" to "can't" (especially as you cannot reach the apostrophe through the 1-key!!). I also use this for converting "s" to "'s" for possessives... this might be a mis-hack, let me know if you know a better way. Anyway, useful.
"Recapture" - another wonderfully unexplained feature. This lets you go back into T9 mode when you are *deleting* a word. For example, if you accepted "cool", but you wanted "book", now you can backspace into "cool" and reselect "book" (or delete even further and get a new word). Priceless, classic Nokia-style stuff, I was pleased to find this!
"XT9 my Words" - this is your custom dictionary - fill it with cromulent cruft!
And now, the settings I am not so sure about!
"Word Completion Point" - this is presumably supposed to control how many letters get entered before a word completion is attempted. However, I find that this setting seems to make very little difference - can anyone give an example where it behaves differently between 2 and 5?
"Auto-append" - this is a mystery to me too. I originally supposed it must have something to do with next word predict, which I do not use.. but even with that switched on I cannot see a change in behaviour. I have no idea, so I switch it off.
"Regional Correction" - I don't use this, but it presumably does something locale related. I tried British and American spellings with this switched on and off, and both worked fine all the time. Once again, let me know if you have seen different!
All these are for Eclair, by the way - YMMV.
Anyhow, hope this has helped you - I suspect that recapture & keypad sweeping are the main mysteries sorted
Software for Android & more:
http://www.greateastlondon.com
