Swype vs SlideIT vs Shapewriter? All look great (and similar)!

[rayvincent]

Settings
Language & Keyboard
You will see SlideIt Keyboard listed there, check it to activate.

 

[donerico]

I think it really must depend on the peculiarities of how each person types/swype. I have tried all three and, for me, swype works much better than the others in terms of recognizing what I am trying to type, I don't even need to swype exactly over the keys I want. The new beta is even better because of the enhanced editing.

 

[wernst]

I know to install the Swype beta, you had to download the swype installer, then run the swype installer, then it downloaded and installed Swype itself. In other words, it was pretty unusual.

So, how do you uninstall Swype should you want to? I guess Swype itself first and then the Swype installer? Would one be able to reinstall again?

-Warr

 

[dfmember]

rayvincent, thanks! What a great forum this is. Don't go away, I'll prolly have another question in a few minutes. Thanks again!

 

[dfmember]

This thing is awesome. But....because your finger covers the lower keys how long does it take to know where they are? Is that just a part of learning this too?

 

[pwjone1]

Just a quick update on SlideIT. I've been using the paid version for a while now, works very nicely. Registration of where I am seems for some reason a lot better than the stock Droid screen keyboard. Took a bit of getting used to, but other than that, seems to work quite well. As I use it more, my accuracy and more importantly speed seem to be steadily getting better.

I do have a suggestion or two, for the perspective customer. First, check out the base web site:

Dasur SlideIT - Mobile Text Input for Touchscreen devices

The videos are pretty instructive, lets you get the general idea, and then I'd suggest going through the PDF:

SlideIT Manual- easy and friendly application

which is only 10 pages, and has a quite useful set of abbreviations on page 7 on (although it has the weirdest column/page thing going on; WTH)

Here's a youtube demo, someone posted, demo on Android:

[video=youtube;229U0ZYPum8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=229U0ZYPum8]YouTube - SlideIT for Android[/video]

I do think that Swype is a little more visually attractive, the darker keys are a bit more in keeping with the Droid layouts and scheme, but SlideIT works, and is maybe just a tad higher contrast. I liked this video on Swype:

[video=youtube;mRUoWUhcRlE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUoWUhcRlE]YouTube - Swype for Android demo[/video]

Pretty easy to compare the two to see the differences in appearance. I think Swype's capitalization thing is better, but I do like the way that SlideIT has the suggestions across the top (it's easier to see when the right one comes up, and then just go pick it). I like the way that SlideIT handles the extra characters (the 12@, scroll up and down) screen, I do occasional interactions with foreign symbols, that's nice to be so easily reached. And SlideITs bulk load of the dictionary is a handy feature, lets you download and use the dictionary extensions of one of your PC word processors. I also like the way SlideIT vibrates, not quite key feedback, and a bit funky, but it seems to help me type better. And I will say this for SlideIT, no FCs, seems extremely stable.

The Swype viral marketing campaign, intentional or not, was virtually genius. By "leaking", they got tons of attention. I still think the Swype folks should get their App out on the Android Market, hard to know if Verizon or Motorola will ever cut them a deal on the Droid, and if Swype wouldn't do it directly, let someone else put it there and do the support. But the products are very similar, SlideIT definitely has some things it does better, and these programs are very similar when you get down to it.

 

[pwjone1]

Thumbs

One thing I should note about the demos, with thumbs, is that I have to admire the folks that can do this. I've tried, and granted, I have a very slight impairment due to an old football injury, but thumbs I find very difficult. Index finger works best.

 

[billyk]

As a SlideIt owner, I still prefer Swype and that's what I use full-time.

But it sure is nice to know that if Swype doesn't pan out (beta times out, PIA quirks like the restart issue continues, indecision on release to Market, etc) I can just jump right back. It's a great alternative to Swype, IMO.

 

[Droman]

SlideIT full and Lite versions

Excuse me guys, what is the difference between the free and the paid SlideIT versions ? I hope it's something like a nicer keyboard, because it really looks ugly, but I like the way it recognizes words better than shapewritter (and swype isn't available for french language right now...)

The free version have some limitations:
You can add only 10 words and delete 10 words.
Bulk update and Save dictionary are disabled.
Limited for 30 days or sum of actions.

 

[ripstar]

how do you do double letters on SlideIT?

 

[billyk]

SlideIT will guess at what word you are entering, without you entering double letters. It gets it right most of the time too!

 

[jutang]

I've been using SlideIT for 1 month now and have to say that I'm impressed by it. Much faster texting messages this way. Overall very accurate... ~92-93% of the time. Visuals are lacking a bit... but frankly functionality is the top priority.

 

[jsh1120]

SlideIT will guess at what word you are entering, without you entering double letters. It gets it right most of the time too!

I used SlideIt for several weeks before the beta version of Swype was released and liked it. However, I never got used to typing "god" when I meant "good." I found the deliberate misspelling of words I know how to spell to be distracting. Overall, I prefer the little "looping" motion of Swype. YMMV.

 

[Cyberdemon]

Not sure if this has been said yet but swype works fine on 2.1. Nor will it be going anywhere. So no worries on swype!

 

[MiXoLoGiSt]

Im using SlideIT right now and seems decent. I was hoping to see Swype in the market but thats doubtful.

I will probably be buying the Paid version of SlideIT considering Swype is probably not going to be releasing the app to the market.