ATTN: Swype lovers

[messenger13]

I was so delighted that my new Bionic came with Swype pre-installed. But I soon realized that I didn't like the light-colored theme of the version, and it also didn't a built-in personal dictionary like the latest release of Swype. So I uninstalled this version, then installed the latest release. Works great, looks great, and has the built-in dictionary that I like.

The only bad news is: your Bionic needs to be rooted in order to uninstalled the pre-installed version, as it resides in the /system partition.

Mods: I didn't want to put this post in the 'Bionic - All Things Root' sub-forum because I thought it would get more exposure in here. If it needs moved, so be it.

 

[johnlgalt]

No worries - and I just responded to your other post, so now I know. off to root so I can remove and then install - yippee!!!

Thanks, man!

 

[messenger13]

No problem Mr. Galt.

 

[Groid]

Just for clarification, how did you do the uninstall? I suspect you switched to the built-in keyboard, then deleted the swype.apk and then used the swype installer to get the new version. Is that about right? Did you have to re-download the installer?

 

[Frisco]

The only bad news is: your Bionic needs to be rooted in order to uninstalled the pre-installed version, as it resides in the /system partition.

Mods: I didn't want to put this post in the 'Bionic - All Things Root' sub-forum because I thought it would get more exposure in here. If it needs moved, so be it.

Well, it's about having to remove something stock to get to a needed item if rooted, so it does technically belong in ATR.

But let's leave it here at your request and it'll be linked to. Sometimes we don't need to get all that "technically correct" here (almost as bad as having to be politically correct all the time ).

 

[PhilD]

the instructions below from the Swype forums worked on my Droid X, haven't had time to try it on my Bionic yet, but i assume it will work. root is required, and guys, there is no recovery yet so PLEASE do not delete the original files, just rename them so you can restore the original version back at a later date if needed:


1. Change your default input method to anything other than Swype.
2. Mount file system as R/W
3. Delete (or move/rename) \system\app\swype.apk
4. Delete (or move/rename) \data\dalvik-cache\system@app@Swype.apk@classes.dex
5. Delete (or move/rename) \system\lib\libSwypeCore.so
6. Reboot
7. Download and Run the latest Swype Beta installer

 

[johnlgalt]

the instructions below from the Swype forums worked on my Droid X, haven't had time to try it on my Bionic yet, but i assume it will work. root is required, and guys, there is no recovery yet so PLEASE do not delete the original files, just rename them so you can restore the original version back at a later date if needed:


1. Change your default input method to anything other than Swype.
2. Mount file system as R/W
3. Delete (or move/rename) \system\app\swype.apk
4. Delete (or move/rename) \data\dalvik-cache\system@app@Swype.apk@classes.dex
5. Delete (or move/rename) \system\lib\libSwypeCore.so
6. Reboot
7. Download and Run the latest Swype Beta installer

Be sure to pick the blue method when performing the steps above so that you can revert if need be to be able to get updates later on if we're still stuck with a locked bootloader.

 

[messenger13]

Yikes! I just changed my input method to the Android keyboard, then I used Titanium Backup Pro to uninstall the pre-installed version. Then I downloaded the Swype Installer from Swype and etc. and so on...

 

[Jerm13]

I keep getting a message that my Swype installer is out of date and it won't continue when I try to install the new version...

Had the included version backed up then uninstalled with Titanium. Anyone else?

 

[PhilD]

I keep getting a message that my Swype installer is out of date and it won't continue when I try to install the new version...

Had the included version backed up then uninstalled with Titanium. Anyone else?

did you download the latest installer from Swype's web site? they updated it recently...

 

[johnlgalt]

Yikes! I just changed my input method to the Android keyboard, then I used Titanium Backup Pro to uninstall the pre-installed version. Then I downloaded the Swype Installer from Swype and etc. and so on...

Yeah, but freezing / renaming it will be better just in case we get an update (like for the camera) that won't apply unless the ROM is intact.

I keep getting a message that my Swype installer is out of date and it won't continue when I try to install the new version...

Had the included version backed up then uninstalled with Titanium. Anyone else?

See below

did you download the latest installer from Swype's web site? they updated it recently...

Yeah, you have to download a new installer.

 

[krouget]

the instructions below from the Swype forums worked on my Droid X, haven't had time to try it on my Bionic yet, but i assume it will work. root is required, and guys, there is no recovery yet so PLEASE do not delete the original files, just rename them so you can restore the original version back at a later date if needed:


1. Change your default input method to anything other than Swype.
2. Mount file system as R/W
3. Delete (or move/rename) \system\app\swype.apk
4. Delete (or move/rename) \data\dalvik-cache\system@app@Swype.apk@classes.dex
5. Delete (or move/rename) \system\lib\libSwypeCore.so
6. Reboot
7. Download and Run the latest Swype Beta installer

Interesting, when I do these exact steps, I get a constant force close issue with the latest version of Swype. The installer won't install the actual app.

Thankfully I did just rename, so going back to stock is easy.

 

[PhilD]

Interesting, when I do these exact steps, I get a constant force close issue with the latest version of Swype. The installer won't install the actual app.

Thankfully I did just rename, so going back to stock is easy.

yes, very glad you wisely renamed the files instead of deleting!

you installed version 3.25? it's still working awesome on my Droid X, did you try rebooting the phone after installing the new version?

for anyone interested, here is the original link to the post on Swype's forums, forgot to add it to my original post.

and for probably the third of fourth time in this thread, PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THE FILES ON YOUR PHONE, be wise like krouget and just rename them so you can return to stock when necessary.

 

[hunterwrot]

i got the installer and installed the latest version but i cant figure out how to get it to work. I long pressed on keyboard and input type only had multi touch keyboard. What am i doing wrong?

 

[krouget]

yes, very glad you wisely renamed the files instead of deleting!

you installed version 3.25? it's still working awesome on my Droid X, did you try rebooting the phone after installing the new version?

Yep, attempted to install 3.25 and I did reboot a number of times. The installer installs just fine, but the actual Swype app won't for some odd reason.

I'll probably try again when I can dedicate some attention to it, but there is no real rush. I'll take a read of the forums over there and see what I can find.

and for probably the third of fourth time in this thread, PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THE FILES ON YOUR PHONE, be wise like krouget and just rename them so you can return to stock when necessary.

Emphasis on this. You lose nothing by doing so.

 

[hustler616]

Thanks so much for this.. so happy to have the beta swype back

 

[PhilD]

i got the installer and installed the latest version but i cant figure out how to get it to work. I long pressed on keyboard and input type only had multi touch keyboard. What am i doing wrong?

you have to enable it before you can use it:
1. hit the menu button and select "settings" and then "language and keyboard"
2. check the box next to Swype
3. go into any text box in any app (browser, text messaging, etc.), and long press the text entry field and choose "input method"

 

[northwst]

I cant get it to work just keeps force closing.... I may troubleshoot later.

 

[PhilD]

ok kids, so i just followed the directions i copied from the Swype forums in post #6 just up a ways. i did get several FCs while following the prompts Swype displays to enable the keyboard after installation. i then opened a text editor but Swype would not open (it was enabled and selected). i rebooted the phone, went back into settings > keyboard and set a few preferences in Swype settings, and i had one more FC. after that, everything is perfect. i can use Swype normally (i love the Swype skin and the new swipe gestures in 3.25 are nice). i can also go back into Swype settings and play around with no additional FCs. happy.

if you are having problems, i recommend you uninstall Swype, uninstall the Swype installer, reboot, and then try again.

 

[thatguy188]

Does anybody else encounter that it seems to get stuck on "Licensing Swype. Please Wait' screen? I've been waiting for 5 15 minutes now

Swype 3.25 English Spanish

I realized I didn't have it removed completely before installing the beta.its fixed now and working

By the way I downloaded it from here: swypemedia.swype.com/beta/installer/Swype-Installer.apk

 

[PhilD]

one thing i've noticed about the 3.25 Beta is that the keys are pretty small on the screen in portrait mode, they fill the screen width horizontally but they are not as tall as other keyboards. i suspect the beta doesn't account for the Bionic's screen resolution. anyone else notice this?

i can't compare the portrait keyboard height to the stock version (3.21.x) pre-installed on the phone as long as i have beta 3.25 installed, but i compared it to the stock multi-touch keyboard by swapping between the two and measuring the distance.

the beta 3.25 keyboard is 5/8 inches shorter than the stock multi-touch keyboard in portrait mode (compared at the top of the letter p for both keyboards). will someone please compare the difference in height of the stock version of swype to the multi-touch keyboard?

thanks

 

[johnlgalt]

Stock Swype is the exact same amount shorter than the multi-touch KB.

Screenshots to prove it: (I'm using the SSI gTassk app to show the difference, but it also exhibits in GMail, etc.)

 

[johnlgalt]

This thread keeps getting lost on the second page, so for now, I'm stickifying it.

 

[PhilD]

Stock Swype is the exact same amount shorter than the multi-touch KB.

Screenshots to prove it: (I'm using the SSI gTassk app to show the difference, but it also exhibits in GMail, etc.)

dude, you're awesome!

thanks very much for checking that, appreciate it

 

[SNeitzel]

Darn it, I wish this was working for me.
Not matter what combo I try Swype will FC.

The closest I got was to use TI Backup to recover my old backup from my OG DrOID.
But that left me with a OG DrOID sized sywpe KB on my new wider Bionic.

Reverted back to stock without any issues.

Any other ideas???

EDIT:
I got it to work by doing the following:
Switch to the stock KB.
I first made a backup of the stock SWype with TI Backup.
I then used TI Backup to convert SWype to a user app.
Went into manage apps and uninstalled Swype.
Ran the SWype installer, it asked for my email and pw and then let me DL the latest version.
From there everything went like normal.