Swype is cool, but is it really faster?

[Droids]

...its great for texting while driving...

(lol) Oh, I shouldn't laugh but I did. Come on, you were joking right?

 

[Vulcan1600]

Those who can type on a computer keyboard without looking at their fingers will no doubt find swype to be the fastest.

I was going to read all 5 pages before replying, but you posted what I was going to say. I'm almost 50 yrs. old and I can type about 90 wpm with no mistakes. Knowing the keyboard as intimately as I do makes it a lot easier because I know where the keys are by heart and I really am faster with Swype than I am with the onboard keyboard. And, since Swype is a leak and not something the developers will be updating for us, it's a shame it doesn't have the features like on the BB...like two spaces puts in a period, or long pressing a key gives you a capital letter. Overall, I can't imagine not having Swype on a phone with a keyboard this size (landscape or portrait).

 

[londonmitch]

Is anyone having any problems with swype? I have been sending messages and they look fine but the the person that receives them tells me they are a combination of symbols and capital letters.

It happened more than once so I switched back to the standard keyboard. I would like to go back to it but don't am worried about the weird messages.

It only happens when in use with Handcent.

 

[Gunghoray]

I've had no problems from folks on the receiving end of my SWYPE composed messages. They get exactly what SWYPE composes.

Since I'm an old fart very unorthodox business professor, here comes the teachable moment lecture.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TEXT WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN IN CARS RIGHT NEXT TO, IN FRONT OF, OR BEHIND YOU AND YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO PUT THEIR LIVES AT RISK.

OK, I feel better now.

Please put your droid in the cradle, listen to a book, music, or talk hands-free if you must. But please don't text while driving.

 

[Vulcan1600]

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TEXT WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN IN CARS RIGHT NEXT TO, IN FRONT OF, OR BEHIND YOU AND YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO PUT THEIR LIVES AT RISK.

OK, I feel better now.

Please put your droid in the cradle, listen to a book, music, or talk hands-free if you must. But please don't text while driving.

Amen. A friend who also rides motorcycles was riding down a street doing 25 mph and a car drifted and t-boned the motorcycle and killed his wife who was riding on the back of the motorcycle.....the car was being driven by a 19 yr. old girl who was text messaging and went through a stop sign because she was concentrating on her text messaging. Now her life is ruined and she is facing manslaughter charges. How's that for a burden to carry for the rest of your life.

 

[jt2006]

I guess the only way to tell if you type faster with Swype is to type out a paragraph both ways and see which is faster. I just personally like swype better.

So I took this persons advice and typed up a paragrah and did a typing test with Better Keyboard qwerty, physical keyboard, android keyboard, and swype here are my results using this random worded paragraph

first traffic light
past guard house
white building nissan training center
lame to the max
generations of incredible people come to see how i do what i do

better keyboard qwerty 1:47 2 mistakes from auto correct
physical keyboard 1:30 no mistakes
android qwerty keyboard 1:24 1 mistake (user error)
swype keyboard 0:59 no mistakes

as i did this i realized:
I hate this physical keyboard it is a let down as a selling point
I hate better keyboard's auto correct process and library
The android keyboard auto correct system is AMAZING
Swype is by far faster and is very accurate (for me)

 

[thesandman51]

I'm definitely faster on the physical keyboard.

I can see how some people are faster on Swype, though, it is a pretty sweet input method. I don't know if it's adapting to my style though. I still get a lot of words I don't use as often as my first choice, which slows me down, and it still doesn't handle contractions very well, which I use often.

 

[Gunghoray]

And there are hundreds of stories just like that where people have been killed by inattentive texters while driving.

Sadly, most are teenagers. The record text numbers from my college students is 26,000 in one month. The whole class chuckled and was not impressed. And he was a relatively nice looking articulate young man.

The consequences we pay as kids when we screw up are "kid" consequences. As adults, we pay "adult" consequences that impact our life and the lives of others forever.

Hey folks, SWYPE is good stuff.

Text responsibly.

I'm done now. No more rants on this thread. I promise. Thanks for reading.

 

[hookbill]

I think that there is a certain skill level on Swype. I did the tutorials and it didn't help me at all. I think highly of the app and glad so many love it but for me it just didn't work.

I wonder how many people that use Swype actually type. I mean know how to type without looking, know where the home keys, perhaps learned it in school are and can type with a certain amount of speed with a regular keyboard. I type 55 wpm on a regular keyboard. My texting is much slower but still my mind set is that I know where my letters are while using two hands. With one hand I'm a total mess.

Great app, just didn't work for me.

 

[Gunghoray]

Great analysis Hook

I think that there is a certain skill level on Swype. I did the tutorials and it didn't help me at all. I think highly of the app and glad so many love it but for me it just didn't work.

I wonder how many people that use Swype actually type. I mean know how to type without looking, know where the home keys, perhaps learned it in school are and can type with a certain amount of speed with a regular keyboard. I type 55 wpm on a regular keyboard. My texting is much slower but still my mind set is that I know where my letters are while using two hands. With one hand I'm a total mess.

Great app, just didn't work for me.

That's an excellent assessment, Hook. For SWYPE to work, you've GOT to be a good typist to start. if you're a Hunt and Peck guy, forget SWYPE.

I never considered that if you're a TWO HANDED TEXTER that you'd have issues going to an index finger SWYPE. I type about like you (Hook), but have no problem with SWYPE and prefer it over any other text entry method on the Droid.

Food for thought....

 

[mrtrumpet]

Swype Speed

I love Swype! As a member of the Fat Fingers community all other keyboards I have used are much slower do to retyping, etc. Swype is amazingly accurate and much easier to use IMHO. I'm also a member of the non-texting generation (50+) so don't have the dexterity of those users.

I also think the Swype on screen keyboard is better than the Droid on screen version. I have an easier time hunting and pecking with it than the others.

I hardly ever use the sliding keyboard.

I TOO HOPE THE EARLIER POSTER DOESN'T TEXT WHILE DRIVING!

 

[greyghost04]

Now that I'm getting good with Swype I'm wishing I had waited for Droid 2. I'm carrying a physical keyboard around with the extra weight for no good reason. I guess it's the price us early adapters pay.

 

[hookbill]

Now that I'm getting good with Swype I'm wishing I had waited for Droid 2. I'm carrying a physical keyboard around with the extra weight for no good reason. I guess it's the price us early adapters pay.

i never use the physical keyboard and I rarely even think about it. For many here that physical keyboard is the big plus on this phone, matter of fact I saw a recent poll here in this forum that showed most people preferred it to the virtual keyboard.

It may not go away even with a Droid 2 and who knows when that will really come out?

 

[Donkey Hodie]

I wonder how many people that use Swype actually type. I mean know how to type without looking, know where the home keys, perhaps learned it in school are and can type with a certain amount of speed with a regular keyboard. I type 55 wpm on a regular keyboard. My texting is much slower but still my mind set is that I know where my letters are while using two hands. With one hand I'm a total mess.

Great app, just didn't work for me.

I type at 120+ WPM (did 126 in a timed test) and had a job when I was younger typing vehicle registrations (a long time ago when they were done on typewriters rather than computers) so I spent hours typing letters, numbers, symbols, etc and am very conversant with the layout of the keyboard. I say all this not to brag but rather as background.

I find that I type a lot faster using Swype than either the physical or standard virtual keyboard. I agree with what others have said that knowing the layout of the keyboard helps considerably. If you had to "pause" while Swypeing or wandered all over the keyboard because you didn't know where a key was it would slow you down and affect your accuracy quite a bit.

 

[10ACTony]

THANK YOU to Guchi for posting that link!! I just downloaded it and tried it and WOW! I love it! I was a police officer for over 16 years, very use to texting and driving for 12 hours a day! I couldnt text for crap one handed with my thumb (while driving) with this thing (my Droid). I was getting frustrated, coming from a Palm Treo 700wx that I loved. NOW I AM COMPLETE!! WOO HOO!!

A police officer texting and driving. Hmmmmm?????????