Shapewriter Keyboard on SGS3?

androidtp · Jul 5, 2012

I have used this keyboard since my HTC Hero. Upgraded to the Epic 4G and it was a delight to use. However, I have installed this on my new SG3 and it's now a pain to operate because the size of the Shapewriter keyboard is much smaller than it normally is.

Anyone know why this is? Any ways of getting it back to it's original size? I can only imagine that it's this small because of the large SG3 screen, but the Shapewriter keyboard handled the size perfectly on my Epic 4G.

Any clues?

P.s.
This keyboard is not available on the market as it can only be downloaded through 3rd party websites. Will post a screenshot if no one knows what I'm talking about whenever I get off work.

gwlaw99 · Jul 5, 2012

Have you tried Swype?

androidtp · Jul 5, 2012

gwlaw99 said:
Have you tried Swype?

Of course! It's just this keyboard is so much more accurate. You should try it. It's definitely one of the best keyboards that doesn't get the recognition it does. This is the only keyboard I prefer, but it's a midget on the SG3.

bvbull200 · Jul 5, 2012

I'll be following this thread in case a solution comes up, but I think we are stuck. Shapewriter is vastly superior to Swype, despite development ending, what, 2 years ago? It's a shame, really.

I think that the reason that it appears smaller has to do with the resolution of the screen. It fit the Evo 4G perfectly. When I upgraded to the Evo 3D, it scaled a touch smaller, but I was able to adapt. On the S3, though, I'm afraid it is a no-go. I sense that the app would have to be updated in some fashion to scale properly on these phones.

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

Your theory appears to be very sound. How likely do you think we can get a petition going for them to update the app? lol..

Do petitions even work??

warwing · Jul 6, 2012

i was told that touch pal keyboard was better.

used it, used slide it.
came back to swipe.

its how we adjust to things.
may try out shapewriter when i get it .
any info on where i can get the most updated version

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

I can assure you that ShapeWriter is the best keyboard you'll ever use. I'm not sure if we're allowed to post apk's on here so I won't try it, but just type in ShapeWriter apk in Google and download it that way. I believe the most recent version is 4.5

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

There may be newer versions out there, but I'm pretty sure that I used 3.0.1. I kept the apk on my SD card and brought it phone to phone.

As for petitioning for an update, that probably won't work with the actual owner of the app (Nuance) as they own Swype, too and have clearly shown that they aren't interested in investing any resources in Shapewriter. You'd probably need to find an independent developer to tear it down, make the necessary changes, then release it in the wild again. I suppose that could happen, but it'd be stepping on the toes of the rightful owner and there would be no way to monetize it, as it'd be "stolen" technology.

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

warwing said:
i was told that touch pal keyboard was better.

used it, used slide it.
came back to swipe.

its how we adjust to things.
may try out shapewriter when i get it .
any info on where i can get the most updated version

If you try it on your S3, you'll probably be a little underwhelmed. The size of the keyboard makes it a little tougher to use and it is hard to get over the fact that it looks so tiny on these phones.

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull200 said:
If you try it on your S3, you'll probably be a little underwhelmed. The size of the keyboard makes it a little tougher to use and it is hard to get over the fact that it looks so tiny on these phones.

I think it's pretty cool that you were able to recognize the smallness this keyboard brings to the SGS3. I really thought I was the only user still using this keyboard. Really wish development wouldn't have ceased. They could have made history

akita · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull200 said:
I'll be following this thread in case a solution comes up, but I think we are stuck. Shapewriter is vastly superior to Swype, despite development ending, what, 2 years ago? It's a shame, really.

I think that the reason that it appears smaller has to do with the resolution of the screen. It fit the Evo 4G perfectly. When I upgraded to the Evo 3D, it scaled a touch smaller, but I was able to adapt. On the S3, though, I'm afraid it is a no-go. I sense that the app would have to be updated in some fashion to scale properly on these phones.

Im going to have to give this a go cause I've used Swype for 2 years now and the novelty wore off a long time ago. The accuracy of Swype is not good at all imo. It's either this or Swiftkey

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

akita said:
Im going to have to give this a go cause I've used Swype for 2 years now and the novelty wore off a long time ago. The accuracy of Swype is not good at all imo. It's either this or Swiftkey

Like bvbull said.. this keyboard is very small on our devices. Do you happen to have another device besides the SGS3? Wouldn't want your first impression of it to be bad

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

androidtp said:
I think it's pretty cool that you were able to recognize the smallness this keyboard brings to the SGS3. I really thought I was the only user still using this keyboard. Really wish development wouldn't have ceased. They could have made history

The first thing I've done with any new phone or after a complete reset is install this keyboard. A number of my friends with Android phones use it as well after I sold them on it.

Start something up on XDA and see if any of those guys/gals have an suggestions. They are all far smarter than I.

akita said:
Im going to have to give this a go cause I've used Swype for 2 years now and the novelty wore off a long time ago. The accuracy of Swype is not good at all imo. It's either this or Swiftkey

Good luck, though I'm not certain you will be easily convinced given the scaling issue that is mentioned here. Shapewriter is good anyways, but much better after about a week of use. From there, it incrementally gets better as your get your dictionary built up.

akita · Jul 6, 2012

androidtp said:
Like bvbull said.. this keyboard is very small on our devices. Do you happen to have another device besides the SGS3? Wouldn't want your first impression of it to be bad

My Droid X and my wife's LG Lucid. No way in hell im settling for either. Full steam ahead for the S3

Thats too bad shapewriter is small. These sausge fingers will have a hard time.

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull200 said:
The first thing I've done with any new phone or after a complete reset is install this keyboard. A number of my friends with Android phones use it as well after I sold them on it.

Start something up on XDA and see if any of those guys/gals have an suggestions. They are all far smarter than I.

Good luck, though I'm not certain you will be easily convinced given the scaling issue that is mentioned here. Shapewriter is good anyways, but much better after about a week of use. From there, it incrementally gets better as your get your dictionary built up.

I'll hit up XDA and see what they can offer me. I'll keep you posted. Hope something can get brewing. Your reply to akita is the exact experience I had when I first started using Shapewriter. Well said.

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

akita said:
My Droid X and my wife's LG Lucid. No way in hell im settling for either. Full steam ahead for the S3
Thats too bad shapewriter is small. These sausge fingers will have a hard time.

Give it a small go ahead on those devices first, before you migrate over to the SGS3. The look and feel of it will be much better on those devices. Once you start getting use to it, the keyboard won't be as bad on the SGS3 as it could've been considering you've gotten somewhat use to it.

For the record: I seriously love this keyboard!

bvbull, I'm actually still using it on my SGS3 despite it's small scale

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

androidtp said:
Give it a small go ahead on those devices first, before you migrate over to the SGS3. The look and feel of it will be much better on those devices. Once you start getting use to it, the keyboard won't be as bad on the SGS3 as it could've been considering you've gotten somewhat use to it.

For the record: I seriously love this keyboard!

bvbull, I'm actually still using it on my SGS3 despite it's small scale

I actually did as well for a day or so, so I can understand completely. The only reason I stopped was because I felt that I would eventually grow sick of it being that small and wanted to get a jump on learning Swype. Still not as good (and I don't anticipate it ever being so), but it is okay.

akita · Jul 6, 2012

androidtp said:
Give it a small go ahead on those devices first, before you migrate over to the SGS3. The look and feel of it will be much better on those devices. Once you start getting use to it, the keyboard won't be as bad on the SGS3 as it could've been considering you've gotten somewhat use to it.

For the record: I seriously love this keyboard!

bvbull, I'm actually still using it on my SGS3 despite it's small scale

Just looked in the store and don't see it available for my Droid X. I am running the first leak of Froyo(never bothered with GB), so maybe that has something to do with it, lol? I'll have my S3 on Monday so only a short time away.

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

akita said:
Just looked in the store and don't see it available for my Droid X. I am running the first leak of Froyo(never bothered with GB), so maybe that has something to do with it, lol? I'll have my S3 on Monday so only a short time away.

Nope. You won't find it in the market (hasn't been there for two years or so). You will need to find the .apk by searching via Google, then downloading it that way.

I can't access many of the sites from my work PC, but start with this link and find a place that allows you to download it.

https://www.google.com/search?sugexp=chrome,mod=6&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=shapewriter+apk

androidtp · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull, I have a question. Whenever you press the numbers button to show the number pad, does a number appear again after you've typed out what you wanted?

Say, I type out July 18th, 2008. If I type the 2008, it'll add another 8 at the end of 2008 once I close out the numeric keypad.

Does this make sense?

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

androidtp said:
bvbull, I have a question. Whenever you press the numbers button to show the number pad, does a number appear again after you've typed out what you wanted?

Say, I type out July 18th, 2008. If I type the 2008, it'll add another 8 at the end of 2008 once I close out the numeric keypad.

Does this make sense?

Well I'll be....it sure does. It actually repeats the last character, not just numbers, but only if they were typed using the numerical keypad. You can switch back and forth over and over and it will type the last character each time. Weird.

I never had that issue with any other devices.

Sounds like you have one more issue to add in your plea for a fix on XDA

.

akita · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull200 said:
Nope. You won't find it in the market (hasn't been there for two years or so). You will need to find the .apk by searching via Google, then downloading it that way.

I can't access many of the sites from my work PC, but start with this link and find a place that allows you to download it.

https://www.google.com/search?sugexp=chrome,mod=6&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=shapewriter+apk

Oh ok. Do i have to root in order for it to work?

bvbull200 · Jul 6, 2012

akita said:
Oh ok. Do i have to root in order for it to work?

Nope. Just download from the web with your phone. Be sure you set your phone to allow installation of apps that aren't from the market, then use something like Astro file viewer to install it.

akita · Jul 6, 2012

bvbull200 said:
Nope. Just download from the web with your phone. Be sure you set your phone to allow installation of apps that aren't from the market, then use something like Astro file viewer to install it.

Done! Im so use to swype that this will take some getting use to. Allready having swype withdrawals.

androidtp · Jul 7, 2012

akita said:
Done! Im so use to swype that this will take some getting use to. Allready having swype withdrawals.

stick with it. you'll be amazed at it's accuracy

bvbull200 said:
Well I'll be....it sure does. It actually repeats the last character, not just numbers, but only if they were typed using the numerical keypad. You can switch back and forth over and over and it will type the last character each time. Weird.

I never had that issue with any other devices.

Sounds like you have one more issue to add in your plea for a fix on XDA .

looks that way haha

Shapewriter Keyboard on SGS3?

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