I experimented with the other tracing keyboards. I tested various sentences at both slow and and fast speeds. I quickly narrowed it down to SlideIT. SlideIT wasn't that great in the previous versions, because it wasn't terribly accurate at a higher tracing speed. Also, the dictionary was quite small, so a lot of words were not recognized. Well, version 3.2 has recently been released, and I got to say, I'm highly impressed. They have a new sexy website with tutorials, and a new keyboard layout and design. Version 3.2 came out a few days after I was experimenting with other tracer keyboards.
After narrowing down my choice to SlideIT, and becoming used to it's functions and calibration, I quickly adapted to it and I was soon not even thinking about Swype anymore. With the new Swype beta release, however, I wondered what was improved? So out of curiosity, I loaded the new Swype beta onto the device. I quickly felt right at home, comfortable and delighted being back with the long lost Swype app (After coming from an Samsung Captivate.)
It wasn't but a few minutes later after using it did I realize the differences between the two. So below are just some of the things that I've noticed which separate both.
SlideIT and Swype: Both tracer keyboards that function exactly alike in terms of tracing with your finger from letter to letter.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have very large dictionaries and pick up most, if not all spelling errors and does a great job interpreting what you were trying to type (trace) even if you missed a letter or two in the process.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have a great keyboard layout, however, with SlideIT you can now adjust the keyboard size (larger or smaller keys) on the fly <--Big deal for some, and not for others. Both have a basic keyboard layout that is simple looking, easy to type on and trace with.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have an on the fly spelling correction, however, they do it in different ways. On both, if you miss a couple letters while tracing, the program will try its best to figure out what you were trying to say, and both do a good job predicting that word. If both can't correct the word, they both offer a window with suggestions. If you skip the suggestions and trace on, and later go back to correct, they both do "spell checking" in different ways. SlideIT has a full-time window that shows suggestions/predictions (like the stock default HTC keyboard), also when you later go back to correct the word you simply click on the word and suggestions appear in the window below the type field. Swype essentially does the same thing, however there is no full-time suggestions window (which some may or may not prefer) instead you double tap the word (which sometimes brings up the default Android copy/paste/cut window OVER the Swype corrections window) and select the correct spelling/word. That was the downfall when going back and trying to correct your spelling mistakes with Swype - the double window overlap. SlideIT is super quick when correcting words, in that particular regard.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have great accuracy, and are always updating their dictionaries. One major difference here that I absolutely love about SlideIT is the fact that you can enter in words to the pre-installed dictionary! Genius (Swype, if you're reading this, allow people to enter in words to the dictionary to prevent from future mistakes). As you can imagine, this saves a great deal of time when entering in even your screen names, email addresses, etc., as you can can add anything to the dictionary (even if the word is not a real word) I have noticed, however, that SlideIT doesn't recognize simple words like "Hi" when you are tracing very fast. Like, when you trace "Hi" and your finger sort of hits the "J" key instead of the "H" key and then to the "I", it doesn't always interpret that mistake. Swype is a little more error tolerant when it comes to very fast tracing, and not always hitting the exact keys on simple words. But again, with the full-time correction window on SlideIT, you can quickly correct it and move on.
SlideIT and Swype: Tracing - both do a great job, and of course you can adjust the length of the line tracer on both. Another key difference between the two are the double letters while tracing. On Swpe, you do a squigly line around the letter, such as "t" in the previous word.... In Slideit, you just keep going. So for the letter "keep" you just need to trace "kep" and it will automatically insert the double letter. And if speed is your thing, then this makes a difference.
Both have pro's and con's. Ultimately it depends on the aesthetic appeal of the keyboard layout/design, and how you like to view the apps auto-correction window. Both are accurate, both correct spelling errors, both predict words, but again you can continue adding words on the fly and at anytime with SlideIT. For me, I missed the prediction window on SlideIT, and realized the advantages of SlideIT over Swype. Ultimately I went back to using SlideIT, and look forward to the keyboard skins they are going to be releasing soon! Because, damn....Swype sure looks sexy as hell. I hope my review on both help other trying to find a Swype replacement, or just another option.
After narrowing down my choice to SlideIT, and becoming used to it's functions and calibration, I quickly adapted to it and I was soon not even thinking about Swype anymore. With the new Swype beta release, however, I wondered what was improved? So out of curiosity, I loaded the new Swype beta onto the device. I quickly felt right at home, comfortable and delighted being back with the long lost Swype app (After coming from an Samsung Captivate.)
It wasn't but a few minutes later after using it did I realize the differences between the two. So below are just some of the things that I've noticed which separate both.
SlideIT and Swype: Both tracer keyboards that function exactly alike in terms of tracing with your finger from letter to letter.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have very large dictionaries and pick up most, if not all spelling errors and does a great job interpreting what you were trying to type (trace) even if you missed a letter or two in the process.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have a great keyboard layout, however, with SlideIT you can now adjust the keyboard size (larger or smaller keys) on the fly <--Big deal for some, and not for others. Both have a basic keyboard layout that is simple looking, easy to type on and trace with.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have an on the fly spelling correction, however, they do it in different ways. On both, if you miss a couple letters while tracing, the program will try its best to figure out what you were trying to say, and both do a good job predicting that word. If both can't correct the word, they both offer a window with suggestions. If you skip the suggestions and trace on, and later go back to correct, they both do "spell checking" in different ways. SlideIT has a full-time window that shows suggestions/predictions (like the stock default HTC keyboard), also when you later go back to correct the word you simply click on the word and suggestions appear in the window below the type field. Swype essentially does the same thing, however there is no full-time suggestions window (which some may or may not prefer) instead you double tap the word (which sometimes brings up the default Android copy/paste/cut window OVER the Swype corrections window) and select the correct spelling/word. That was the downfall when going back and trying to correct your spelling mistakes with Swype - the double window overlap. SlideIT is super quick when correcting words, in that particular regard.
SlideIT and Swype: Both have great accuracy, and are always updating their dictionaries. One major difference here that I absolutely love about SlideIT is the fact that you can enter in words to the pre-installed dictionary! Genius (Swype, if you're reading this, allow people to enter in words to the dictionary to prevent from future mistakes). As you can imagine, this saves a great deal of time when entering in even your screen names, email addresses, etc., as you can can add anything to the dictionary (even if the word is not a real word) I have noticed, however, that SlideIT doesn't recognize simple words like "Hi" when you are tracing very fast. Like, when you trace "Hi" and your finger sort of hits the "J" key instead of the "H" key and then to the "I", it doesn't always interpret that mistake. Swype is a little more error tolerant when it comes to very fast tracing, and not always hitting the exact keys on simple words. But again, with the full-time correction window on SlideIT, you can quickly correct it and move on.
SlideIT and Swype: Tracing - both do a great job, and of course you can adjust the length of the line tracer on both. Another key difference between the two are the double letters while tracing. On Swpe, you do a squigly line around the letter, such as "t" in the previous word.... In Slideit, you just keep going. So for the letter "keep" you just need to trace "kep" and it will automatically insert the double letter. And if speed is your thing, then this makes a difference.
Both have pro's and con's. Ultimately it depends on the aesthetic appeal of the keyboard layout/design, and how you like to view the apps auto-correction window. Both are accurate, both correct spelling errors, both predict words, but again you can continue adding words on the fly and at anytime with SlideIT. For me, I missed the prediction window on SlideIT, and realized the advantages of SlideIT over Swype. Ultimately I went back to using SlideIT, and look forward to the keyboard skins they are going to be releasing soon! Because, damn....Swype sure looks sexy as hell. I hope my review on both help other trying to find a Swype replacement, or just another option.
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