Database Users

What's the hype with Swype?

With the recent re open of the beta I decided to go ahead and try it out. After a couple of days I am not that impressed. I like SlideIT better. I find SlideIT to be more fluid and intuitive. Swype doesn't seem to know some of the simpliest of words. The word "too" for example. It wants to write "to". It won't even give me an option for "too". Maybe I am doing something wrong.
Going back to my SlideIT

I think it is what you are used to and comfortable with. I have both and like Swype better but if Swype started charging me or broke then I would use SlideIt everyday. SlideIt also complains at the way I type/slide and give false words. I get used to the way each works and either way it is better than the stock keyboard.

When doing words with the same letter twice (ex. too), when you "swype" to the letter "o", you have to do a circular motion on it. This tells Swype that you want that letter (the letter "O" in this case) twice, thus spelling the word "too". It is in the tutorial.

Good point! I agree, I'm definately more comfortable with SlideIT. Maybe I should give it some more time. I don't see much difference in overall functionality between the 2.

[Q] Keyboard Issues

Hey so I don't know if anyone else has been experiencing this but whenever I type on the A7 (using the standard keyboard), I always get random letters that I didn't even touch getting typed in. i.e. If I try to type "right" I would get something like "riyught" or if I type in one letter like "l" I would get "lmj" or something like that. I don't know if that's clear but it's really hard to type anything basically and it's very frustrating. I notice this more when I type fast (which I have come accustomed to do). I can't type a single word without having to backspace the errors (and I can type relatively error free on my evo). Even hitting backspace types in a bunch of random letters!
Any alternative keyboards anyone is using that may work better than the standard keyboard? Don't know if it's a software or calibration issue.

I'm not a huge fan of the built-in keyboard either, but my wife doesn't seem to mind too much and the less change for her, the better for me.
I will say, however, that I absolutely hated the keyboard on my Incredible. I did some testing with various options and ended up going with SwiftKey. I absolutely love it. Testing it on the A7 is on my list of things to do.

I'm a big fan of Graffiti. I'm an old Palm OS user from back in the day, and always found it to be intuitive. Tehre is a learning curve, but its good. The newest version includes annoying adds. See if you can find an older version.

Gingerbread (Android 2.3) Keyboard
1. your issue is probably coming from typing too fast. I've found that if I pause just a bit, the keyboard works great.
2. That said, I love the ports of the Android 2.3 keyboard. There is a new one (just search market for gingerbread keyboard) it's free and works great.

Thanks for the suggestions guys- I've tried swype-like keyboards and with the size of the screen it was a little difficult to slide around to type. palm based keyboards were more my thing when I used a stylus. airball, I just downloaded the ginerbread keyboard and it is MUCH better. I can type my normal fast pace and only have an error or two. thanks!

Keyboard Becoming Ever More Frustrating To Use

Keyboard feedback...
I noticed today that I was going a little crazy with my phone with the gingerbread keyboard and upbruptly the feedback sort of died. It was like that until I restarted the phone. I remember on my vibrant that you could adjust the vibration intensity and I would set it lower but haven't seen such a setting on this phone. Has anyone else experienced their feedback dying on them? I was actually scared that i might have broken it but it came back normal after restarting. A bug maybe?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

[Q] Keyboard Issues
Has anyone been noticing any issues with the keyboard on the Nexus S? At times I cannot type anything onto the screen or a the "Force Close" dialog box will appear.

Yeah.. I had this problem the other day. I posted a thread about it and didn't get any replies.. lol. It happened to me when I tried to use the voice action for the first time on the keyboard.

anyone else have keyboard issues
As im texting or typing into the keyboard on the net etc sometimes its just not responsive. Like some letters just wont click.
Im using stock 2.3.1.

Ditto. This is one of the most disappointing things. It's a shame Google's stock Android keyboard doesn't offer any deep features for custom text and custom auto texts like Smart Keyboard Pro does. They have an opportunity to really deviate and advance from the iPhone's keyboard, but Google seems content in just copying Apple in respect to the keyboard functions and lack thereof of more features, which I don't understand.
Unfortunately, even Smart Keyboard Pro has hiccups and miss-presses (especially with the space bar; you often get words likethis. Very frustrating).
Hopefully the keyboard will get better with future updates. Gingerbread, in general, is chalk full of hiccups. It is not lag free as most reviews claim.

I have the same issue. It doesn't happen all of the time but when it does it is annoying. It's weird because letters around the one I am trying to push work sometimes.
I just have to delete the letter before it and keep trying to enter it again
I didn't have any problems with the Gingerbread keyboard when I installed the APK on my Vibrant. Weird.

never had this problem.

Only problem I have with the Gingerbread keyboard is that I wish the space bar were just a bit longer and taller because I often hit the "B" key rather than space.
But no, none of the issues you've reported on CM7 Alpha2

unremarked said:
Only problem I have with the Gingerbread keyboard is that I wish the space bar were just a bit longer and taller because I often hit the "B" key rather than space.
But no, none of the issues you've reported on CM7 Alpha2
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Click to collapse
I was just thinking that. The length doesn't bother me so much, but I feel like I have to shove my finger into the very bottom of the screen to hit space. I've taken to just using the word suggestion bar to auto-space instead.
But to address the OP, no, haven't noticed any issues with responsiveness yet.

unremarked said:
Only problem I have with the Gingerbread keyboard is that I wish the space bar were just a bit longer and taller because I often hit the "B" key rather than space.
But no, none of the issues you've reported on CM7 Alpha2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is why I don't really like most android keyboards, the space bar is wayy too small. I've been alternative between the "iPhone Keyboard Emulator" and Swype.

I can type on an iphone (or even an ipod) more confidently than I can on any Android device. The Android keyboard on Gingerbread is without question improved over previous iterations, but still a far cry from the accuracy and responsiveness of iphones/ipods. It's also unfortunate Google doesn't take their keyboard past Apple's in terms of customization and ability to add auto correct and other features. For example, I don't understand why we still can't long press to get every alternative symbol.

I like the Gingerbread keyboard fine, space bar aside. I liked Swype better, but unless I'm mistaken, that can't be downloaded from the Market. Not willing to pay to try SlideIT, now that we're down to fifteen-minute trials.

I have been nothing but in love with the stock keyboard

I use Smart Keyboard Pro, best keyboard imo and I've tried them all.

ikon8 said:
I use Smart Keyboard Pro, best keyboard imo and I've tried them all.
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Click to collapse
SKP is amazing. The customization and features are robust and fantastic. However, don't you find it often misses space bar presses on the NS? Very often you'll get words likethis. It's so bad I reverted back to using stock Android keyboard.

When is Google going to implement Blindtype, which they recently bought back in October? I'm excited for the potential of this, because as is, the Android keyboard is poor when typing fast - it's error prone, it misses keys (particularly the space bar), the auto-correct is not as smart as it claims it is, there's virtually no customization (a cue unwisely taken from Apple), it sometimes doubles up on letters like sso, and etc.
I'm not attempting to start any immature wars, as I know this can happen anytime someone mentions the iPhone, but has anyone here actually typed on an iPhone, or even an iPod? If there's one thing that the iPhone commands respect in, its the keyboard. If you get a chance, try it sometime. The responsiveness is perfect. I truly wish I can say the same about Android's keyboard. Those who have tried both will understand the difference.
Has anyone heard any news regarding implementing Blindtype? Improvements are sorely needed. For those who need a refresh of what Blindtype is, check out the video demo: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-acquires-blindtype-to-improve.html

Maybe it's because of how I type, but I don't think my old iPod had much on my new Nexus S in terms of its keyboard. It could just be because Android has had the benefit of a year of improvements since my iPod was functional, though.

Bump.
Anyone notice when trying to type "I'm" (letter i then m) really fast, it often spells out "km" instead? And even when you clearly hit the letter i, as you're moving toward the letter m, it hits the k inadvertently, and results in "km"? Anyone else? It's quite frustrating.

Not sure if this has been mentioned (I didn't read through every response), but the first NS I got seemed to have a grounding issue with its screen, making a portion of the keyboard unusable at times. Holding it differently or using my other hand to press the keys would work.
I was able to confirm that it was an issue with the screen rather than the keyboard by using one of the Multitouch test apps and setting the new Nexus Live Wallpaper as my background to test those portions of the screen when it was acting up.
Best Buy gave me no trouble exchanging it (just a long line).

On my second Nexus S I have noticed what seems to be a similar issue. My troubled area seems to be the L M key region. Ill give it a few more days to make sure it's not just me and if need be I'll exchange it.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Spell checker

Is there a way to replace the current way the shift suggests words and corrects spelling. I type a lot of business emails and I am losing a lot of time on the typing when I get the wrong words suggested or somehow not catching the errors at all.
I recently moved from the touch pro email where I was able to check spelling before hitting send. Is there a way to do that on the evo shift?

Not that I know of. It seems to only spell check the word you're on. There are many different keyboards out there that have their own dictionaries. The one that I'm using right now, and have been for a few weeks, is gingerbread keyboard. There's a free one and one with more stuff for 99 cents. The way I have mine set up for auto correct is in its settings, I have touch to correct unchecked. It's a responsive keyboard that is multitouch and is small in size and you can use the mic with it for speech to text. In landscape, it is very quick and good for my thumb typing. Just for laughs I installed it on the galaxy tab in best buy and the keyboard was very quick.
Other that, I don't know what to tell you. Oh yeah, the height is adjustable in settings for the keys. That's not a unique feature but it certainly helps with bigger fingers.
Oh another thing, once I got used to it I can definitely type much faster and accurately with this keyboard than the hardware one. It seems pretty forgiving with wrong key presses and spell correcting.
The Dr ben0x keyboard is smaller and even faster but it's dictionary is weak to non existent. Too bad cause I can really fly with that board but I have to watch my spelling. This is mostly in landscape with all these keyboards I'm talking about.
There may be lots of other full featured keyboards out there but many are large in file size and some even slow down everything on the phone, even when you're not running it. I'm using mostly small and fast programs or tools lately so I can keep the phone quick and responsive.

[Q] I switched from i"P"hone 3GS to Atrix - but I have some issues with it

Typing responsiveness is a major issue for me.
Most web browsers, and most apps on the phone, even in texting........the responsiveness of typing is extremely poor.
Let's say for instance, I was typing the word: refrigerator
If I typed it very quick, most likely input would be lost by the 2nd or 3rd letter.
I never had this issue on the iphone
No matter what app I typed into on the iphone(when I had it) text input responsiveness was near 95-99% accurate, even when "texting" lightning quick.
The only time.........I ever get near 100% accuracy when putting text input at lightning speeds on the Atrix is when I "show keyboard" when I am making a phone call.
That's the screen where you get a large keypad, and the numbers are large green squares. Something about the memory management on this screen is perfect, but EVERY single other instance on the phone where I do input, text input accuracy is down near 15-20%...
I'm near the point of wanting to return this phone, because of this "aesthetics bull****"
Does anyone know what in the world could be going on?
It's a stock Atrix 4G with 4.1.83, the latest pushout from ATT/Motorola etc.
Android 2.2.2
Any ideas what in the world could be going on?

get the swype keyboard. I have never had this issue and i type pretty fast. I had an iphone and i can say it is just as fast if not faster.
Google "swype beta" and that will help you set everything up. it doesnt miss a letter EVER for me.

If your running a live wallpaper .. switch to a static one.. are you useing motoblur launcher?
Download an app to see how much free memory you have and what processes are running..

blunted09 said:
get the swype keyboard. I have never had this issue and i type pretty fast. I had an iphone and i can say it is just as fast if not faster.
Google "swype beta" and that will help you set everything up. it doesnt miss a letter EVER for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't google it. just go to anything that has a text box, long press the box, select input method, and change to the swype keyboard. it comes on the phone, and if you try and install the beta over it you will screw it up.
there are many many different keyboards for android, start playing with some different ones till you find what you like.

I never noticed that as an issue on mine. Recently I switched from Swype to FlexT9 (speak/trace/write/tap). The speed and accuracy is really good and I like the predictive text. Also its speech to txt engine is scary accurate. Amazon app store (have to have sideloading enabled to be able to access the Amazon store I believe) was giving the Flex away for free the other day (each day Amazon gives away a free app).

I rooted my phone at one point, then went back to stock after I went to 4.1.83, and at&t unrooted my phone etc...........
Since I am now at 4.1.83, do I have to somehow flash to an older version, to get some of these keyboard alternatives?
On a side note, since I went to 4.1.83, is my phone screwed....ie: no future rooting?
I read the may 18th post on the main website, not the forums here, that the atrix full bootloader unlock/(work around/BL bypass) is coming.....
But has no one noticed ANY issue with the stock keyboard, ie: text responsiveness? its really frustrating.
I've tried SWYPE, and i like it......it is accurate, but I'm very used to typing manually very fast, with no memory leaks...
Are any of the alternatives for all keyboard input on the atrix, as responsive as the iphone 3G/S/4 etc?

for the short time i used the stock keyboard i noticed no issues with it. it's a multitouch keyboard, so it should be excellent.
to get other keyboards just search for them in the market and install them.
swype lets you type like a normal keyboard as well as the swyping motion, you can try that.
you can still root, thought you don't need it for keyboards. just find the gingerbreak method.

shuhngs said:
Typing responsiveness is a major issue for me.
Most web browsers, and most apps on the phone, even in texting........the responsiveness of typing is extremely poor.
Let's say for instance, I was typing the word: refrigerator
If I typed it very quick, most likely input would be lost by the 2nd or 3rd letter.
I never had this issue on the iphone
No matter what app I typed into on the iphone(when I had it) text input responsiveness was near 95-99% accurate, even when "texting" lightning quick.
The only time.........I ever get near 100% accuracy when putting text input at lightning speeds on the Atrix is when I "show keyboard" when I am making a phone call.
That's the screen where you get a large keypad, and the numbers are large green squares. Something about the memory management on this screen is perfect, but EVERY single other instance on the phone where I do input, text input accuracy is down near 15-20%...
I'm near the point of wanting to return this phone, because of this "aesthetics bull****"
Does anyone know what in the world could be going on?
It's a stock Atrix 4G with 4.1.83, the latest pushout from ATT/Motorola etc.
Android 2.2.2
Any ideas what in the world could be going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know exactly what you're saying. And the real problem isn't the keyboard but motoblur. The multitouch keyboards on other phones are excellant but on the Atrix its very unresponsive because of the motoblur junk but if you download almost any other keyboard from the market you'll notice that the responsiveness is instant and you can type as fast as you want so hussy give other keyboards a try for the time being.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Swiftkey is another good replacement. I do have the T9 one mentioned earlier but I haven't tried it. As someone else said, go to the development forum and find the easy gingerbreak thread... it really is easy. (Backup your internal SD card first).

The keyboard does seem to be a little bit better on the iphone. I had the Iphone when i decided to find out what all the hype was about. I don't like many things about the Iphone which is why I use an android phone still. My HTC G1 had this terribly but don't notice it on the Atrix, however i used swype pretty much from the time i took it out the box. Just did a quick test to see if i could simulate what you talking about. I seem to mis-type and catch the letter beside the one that i want but haven't missed but a few letters here or there.
However I prefer to swype and my Iphone 4 didn't have that, even third party through cydia. Try using swype or flext9, typing is so old school. I love the flext9 app because I can drive and just talk to my phone and it types my texts for me. I suppose there are many other apps that do this very well also and probably for free. The app also learns to stop suggesting bs words that i don't ever use and inputs the ones i use most often saving me time when replying. I have big fingers and always type the letters beside the ones that i want anyway even on the Iphone, so i don't plan on ever typing anytime soon.

I switched from the 3gs too and had the same issues. Here's what I did to fix them:
1) get rid of motoblur launcher and install launcher pro. After doing that my keyboard got much smoother.
2) Install the gingerbread keyboard from the market. Its free, but the paid one has a nifty feature where you can adjust key size. If you don't want to pay, I suggest rooting and installing gingerblur, which comes with a new keyboard.
Hope these two tips help.
Sent from my Gingerblurred Atrix

The original keyboard is garbage. I switched to 'elite keyboard pro', pro being the pay version. They have an iphone 'theme', that should get you back to a more comfortable place and its very responsive.

I love Swype. I didn't mind the stock keyboard, but i'd say my issue with it was more an apparent lack of auto correct than being unresponsive. I'd notice it i tried to type as fast on the stock keyboard as i did on my iPhone 4, i'd wind up having misspelled words fairly often (probably due to different letter spacing between the iPhone an Atrix). Don't think i've ever noticed an unresponsiveness.

If I am running Android 2.2.2, with 4.1.83(att / motorola patch), which software do I use to root my phone?
There seems to be so many methods out here right now....etc.