Where did it start: Swype/Gesture/Trace keyboards

[pc747]

It is now second nature for people to use some form of a swiping gesture on their keyboard. But before it was standard it started as a feature on the Samsung Omnia II.

Swype, developed by Swype Inc in 2002, is a keyboard that allows you to type on a virtual keyboard using a swiping gestures vs taps on the keys. The software was actually introduced to the public on a Windows mobile phone as a key feature before eventually making its way to Android.

In June of 2010 Swype was made available as a beta for Android and would eventually come pre-installed on a number of devices made by Samsung, Motorola, and HTC. By 2012 trace/gesture keyboards became standard for many android devices and is quickly becoming the standard preference for typing. Especially as the prediction get better and better.

So do you use Swype or some form of gesture/trace typing?


Source: Swype - Wikipedia

 

[Mustang02]

Nope. Too many errors.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[juggjiggler69]

Never use it first thing i turn off on a new phone

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[TisMyDroid]

Love using swipe/trace. Fast and too easy!

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I was on the Skype beta, but never got into the gesture typing.

I eventually switched to SwiftKey, which didn't have such a feature at the time. They eventually added the ability & I gave it a try. I got into it & have continued to use it it since I've switched over to google keyboard.

I do a combination of gesture typing & tapping though. Not strictly one or the other.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[mountainbikermark]

I've been using Swype since it was invite only on Windows Mobile in 08. I've tried pretty much every gesture keyboard available on both WM and Android and always go back to Swype. Heck I was so active, as a tester, on their forum for a while they sent me a t-shirt and decals as a thank you.
Some talk about errors with gesture typing. When you've got thumb prints the size of quarters and pointer finger prints the size of nickels , tapping with a finger/thumb is incredulity inaccurate at best. Swype waa a God send to me followed secondly by non rubber tipped stylus pens on capacitive screens. With actual handwriting on keyboards still lagging way behind sliding, at recognition of words, swiping with a stylus pen is about as close to pencil/pen and paper as it gets for us from the dinosaur generation prior to keyboards and mice.
For a while Ultra Keyboard was my favorite because it was so customizable but an update a few years back threw its recognition accuracy off a cliff it never recovered from. Swype itself went through a stage where it would wreak havoc on Samsung devices and it took well over a year to finally fix but in that time I used an older "Swype for Oppo" apk I'd found in the wild until Nuance finally got the bugs out.
I'd use my desktop more often if it had a way to gesture type instead of hunting and pecking.

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[johnomaz]

I've been using Swype since my DroidX. It came as a keyboard on that phone and when I got a new phone I felt so alone without it. It was in beta. I now use the Google Keyboard because it has swype functionality. If I had to tap to type it would be a miserable experience for me.

 

[cr6]

I've tried them all and I always return to Swype. Nobody does it better. That said, used to be, you could be sloppy as all get out with your swiping and it would still input the correct word. Over the years and numerous updates later, Swype has made it so you have to be much more precise with your finger placement otherwise you're going to spend a lot more time going back and correcting yourself. Because of this I recently went back to SwiftKey and that was a frustrating experience. Google keyboard has improved a lot with their swiping feature, but it's still not as good as Swype IMO.

S5 tap'n

 

[liftedplane]

I use swiftkey, I hate swiftkey... swype doesn't seem to do much better for me... it's really really frustrating.

still better than hunt and peck touch screen typing.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I use swiftkey, I hate swiftkey... swype doesn't seem to do much better for me... it's really really frustrating.

still better than hunt and peck touch screen typing.

Back when Swype didn't do "next word prediction" it was scary accurate. It was almost like it read the mind because no matter how sloppy and inaccurate it would get it right or even the correct spelling. I remember trying to write out nefarious once and spelled it nepherious. Alternate choice was the correct spelling of it.

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[wtabke]

​

Swype, developed by Swype Inc in 2002, is a keyboard that allows you to type on a virtual keyboard using a swiping gestures vs taps on the keys. The software was actually introduced to the public on a Windows mobile phone as a key feature before eventually making its way to Android.

Source: Swype - Wikipedia

Sorry, not developed in 2002.

 

[mountainbikermark]

Sorry, not developed in 2002.

Cliff Kushler - Wikipedia

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[bkdodger]

Swype and then Swiftkey are ones I've used with success ...it really comes in handy when typing one handed ...Google has the keyboard for iOS now and it flows nicely ...a little time you can really get some fast typing done ...


iPhone Seven Plus

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Swiftkey was amazing for me until they added the feature of trending words. Idk if that was the actual reason, but it started doing a poor job of predicting and correcting for me after that, even when I turned it on.

That's been a few years ago now, but I haven't looked back. I tried they're neural keyboard for a little while, but Google keyboard has been treating me right since I made the switch.

 

[Mustang02]

I noticed google keyboard is better. I may try it.