This morning we awoke to the pleasant surprise of seeing the Swype keyboard gracing Google Play. For those who have been around here for a while, you will know Swype as the original swipe-based keyboard that allows you to drag your finger from key to key, to create words and turn anyone into a speed texting machine. 

While it seems every keyboard company has now implemented a swiping feature, I will hold fast in believing Swype should be known as the “OG” in this department.

There is a paid version of the keyboard available for a limited time at just $0.99, while a free version is available for a trial period. The keyboard seems to perform quite well, not showing any lag or performance hiccups. And in terms of looks, it gives off a stock Android feel with some orange flare, which you won’t see my complaining about.

Check it out for old time’s sake.

Play Link:  Free| Pro ($0.99)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Swype Leaves Beta After All These Years, Lands on Google Play for $0.99 is a post from: Droid Life

When your keyboard pops up on your device as you tap inside of a text box, do you ever get frustrated over the fact that it covers up precious real estate or hides objects that you would rather see? You are not alone. A new keyboard, which is hoping to see funds through an IndieGogo campaign, is attempting to fix this problem. It’s called Minuum. 

Minuum wants to promote “delightfully fast sloppy typing” through its shrunken QWERTY keyboard. You see that image above? That’s it. It takes up all of one row (or “single dimension”), but is able to pack in the power of an entire full-blown keyboard. Thanks to a “specialized auto-correction algorithm that allows highly imprecise typing,” you can tap as fast as your fingers allow and still produce correct messages.

The keyboard is resizable, can be moved around your screen to any position (think tablets), and can be taken outside of touchscreens to gaming controllers, motion typing, etc.

Here are some of the keyboard’s benefits:

• Recovering more than half of the usable touchscreen space you lose when you type on traditional virtual keyboards
• Allowing you fast text entry when your typing is sloppy
• Providing you with letter magnification for precise typing—especially useful if you have large fingers
• Giving you the benefit of smart auto-correction
• Respecting your familiarity with the QWERTY keyboard so you don’t have to re-learn the keyboard layout
• Providing convenient access to everything you’d expect in a keyboard (such as, punctuation, space, backspace, and enter) without stealing your screen space
• Letting you type anywhere—with a keyboard you can move around your touchscreen

If all of that wasn’t making Minuum clear enough, watch the video below to see it in action, then think about backing it for $5. The project currently sits at just over half of its funding goal of $10,000.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  IndieGogo

Cheers Adam!

Minuum is a Bold Attempt at a Minimal Keyboard in a “Single Dimension” is a post from: Droid Life

This morning, there is a new beta version available for Swype users. In this version, there have been a number of improvements to the Smart Editor, improved keyboard launch times, and fixes related to S-Note users. 

As a note, current beta users should receive the update via OTA over the next 3 days. Here’s the full changelog.

Swype Beta v1.4.5.12537:

• Implemented a number of Smart Editor improvements and resolved some compatibility issues
• Improved keyboard launch responsiveness in web browsers
• Advanced Language Models improved for English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Korean
• Improved logic surrounding Language Downloads
• S-Note: Resolved some instances where text would be duplicated
• Plus many more bug fixes and overall enhancements!

Known issues:

• S-Note: Edit gestures and edit buttons may not work correctly in this app with certain tablets
• French: Delete key is inconsistent for words that begin with contractions
• Polaris Office: Sometimes after swyping, the word choice list displays incorrectly.

To get this latest version of Swype, head over to http://beta.swype.com.

Via: Swype

Swype Beta Receives Minor Update to v1.4.5.12537, More Smart Editor Improvements is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey released a new version of Swiftkey Flow beta this morning as build 4.0.0.76. Be sure to grab this, as it includes a number of changes and even more bug fixes.

In this latest version, predictions and Flow happen in most places outside of email fields, password boxes, or other semi-secure spots. Corrects are made easier with a tap on incorrect words, there are new languages, and the typing style is no inferred.

Jump below to download the new versions. 

Download Links:  Phone Version | Tablet Version [Build 4.0.0.76]

Changes in this version:

• Predictions (and Flow) now on in most places (exceptions: email fields, passwords, anywhere where the app doesn’t behave itself with SK, fields offering their own corrections on Android versions <= 2.2)
• Easier corrections – just tap on the word and SwiftKey will offer you 3 possibilities
• New languages: Thai, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Albanian, Javan, Sundanese (plus those added in 3.1)
• Features from SwiftKey 3.1: Berry theme, split layout in landscape on phones, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Hindi, Hinglish, Irish, Macedonian, Spanish (Latin America) and Tagalog
• New layouts for Hindi and Russian
• Ukrainian landscape layout fixed
• Backspacing on to the final word of a multi word prediction (Flow through space)  will now give better alternatives
• Typing style now inferred rather than a setting
• Long press delete accelerates after the first word

Bugs fixed:

• Flowing off shift no longer triggers a change in shift state
• Flow no longer gets stuck when you flow off the bottom of a page
• Quick period working after single letter words
• Arrow key repeats
• Learning when sending messages or tabbing between fields with the enter key fixed
• Azeri capital i behaviour corrected
• Estonian will now predict words containing ö
• Fixed force close on Beta predictions
• Flow trace no longer left behind after flowing
• Mounting an SD card will turn predictions off only if SwiftKey language packs are stored on that SD card
• Keyclick sounds no longer doubled
• Haptic duration made consistent with flow on and off

Known issues:

• Places you still cannot Flow: email fields, passwords, anywhere where the app doesn’t behave itself with SK, fields offering their own corrections on Android versions <= 2.2
• Selecting and deleting a chunk of text in Samsung email client on SIII and Note 2 deletes text before the cursor as well as after
• Slight jitteriness when toggling between Hindi and Thai primary and secondary layouts
• Turkish i still does not capitalise correctly
• Long pressing SK mic in Google Now causes the keyboard to disappear
• Occasional surprising capitalisations of flowed words
• Flowing through space often fails after relatively unusual words
• If you experience high memory usage after installing, this may be fixed by rebooting your phone

Via:  Swiftkey

New Swiftkey Flow Beta 4.0.0.76 Released – Closer Than Ever to Official Release is a post from: Droid Life

Clearly, we are always on the lookout for a great keyboard to sport on our Android devices. And with so many to choose from, it’s easy for some to fall through the cracks. During CES, we were introduced to Adaptxt, a keyboard that isn’t new by any means, but offers some great features that are lacking in many of the bigger names in the game. 

For example, themes are something that need to be implemented and focused on. Sure, you can swipe and all of that fancy stuff, but if the keyboard is ugly, I’ll pass. Adaptxt features a real-time customization tool, allowing users to make their keyboard look however you choose, as well as pre-defined themes.

On top of that, the quick word prediction is spot on for speed texters like myself. And for our international crowd, it supports a total of 103 languages, which is quite the impressive number compared to competitors. I do enjoy swiping, but if I have to correct the keyboard every other word, it begins to be more of a hassle than a convenience.

What’s the one thing that keeps you with your keyboard of choice? Accuracy? Looks?

Play Link

Click here to view the embedded video.

Adaptxt Keyboard Offers Accurate Predictive Text and Great Customization Settings is a post from: Droid Life

This morning, Nuance announced a new feature for its Swype Beta keyboard on Android called Living Language. If users choose to opt-in, this new technology, Swype’s dictionary will learn in real-time, by enabling crowd-sourced up-to-date words and phrases to appear as options while typing. You’ll begin to see trending words and phrases that other Swypers have been using regularly.

Along with Living Language, Swype also includes a feature called Smart Editor, which analyzes entire sentences, flagging potential errors that you may not have noticed.

To get this latest version of Swype, head over to http://beta.swype.com. 

Nuance Innovates Crowd Sourcing for the Keyboard; Swype Living Language Learns from Users around the Globe

2013 International CES

Swype Beta Now Updates in Real-time With Living Language Crowd-sourcing Tech is a post from: Droid Life

A new Swiftkey Flow beta was just released to the public as version 4.0.0.61. It includes a bunch of performance fixes, allows flowing on tablets in landscape, takes care of memory leaks, improves battery usage, and more. This is the first major update to Flow after its initial launch, so the Swiftkey team was quick to point out that they are still working through a pretty solid bug list.

We’ve included the changelog, a “things to be aware of” section, and the known issues list from Swiftkey.

Hit up the break and download it to your phone or tablet! 

Download version 4.0.0.61:  Smartphones | Tablets

Changelog:

• Flow-through-space autocommit: if you flow-through space but mess up your last word, all the prior words will be inserted (instead of losing all the words)
• Flow in landscape on tablets (only in full layout, not in split layout)
• Battery usage improved (when flowing and when not in use)
• Performance of flowing and tapping improved
• Longpress of bottom-right (smiley/enter) button now works
• Fixed some force close issues
• Fixed some memory leaks
• Predictions not lost when changing keyboard layout (e.g to symbols)
• Fixed DOuble CApitalization issue

Things to be aware of:

• Flowing currently only works in fields where you see the prediction bar: in fields that have their own prediction or completion there is no prediction bar and therefore no Flow (e.g. URL bars, search bars, the “to” field of an email)
• Flow-through-space only works in languages where smart space works – in some languages this is turned off because words are often made by combining other words together,and so smart space would divide up words that you want to keep as one. Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian (Farsi), Romanian, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukranian, Urdu may not work with Flow-through-space
• SwiftKey Flow Beta does not currently contain any features that were new in SwiftKey 3.1 (Berry theme, new languages, split layout in landscape for normal-sized devices)
• Slide-left-to-delete a whole word does not work when Flowing is enabled – instead try holding down the backspace key to delete word-by-word

Known issues:

• Flow trail is sometimes left on the screen at the end of a word
• Personalization service continues running when it has finished
• Memory usage is still higher than we would like
• Flow trail is very faint on some CyanogenMod ROMs
• Force closes on Motorola Atrix and LG G2X with custom ROMs >= 4.0
• If a language pack is downloaded while typing the keyboard is not refreshed
• Predictions are too large on LDPI devices
• Predictions occasionally lost when alternately backspacing/spacing at the end of a word
• Ukrainian spit layout is broken
• Estonian words containing ö are not predicted
• Arrow keys do not repeat on longpress

Via:  Swiftkey

New Swiftkey Flow Beta Released as Build 4.0.0.61 is a post from: Droid Life

One of the features that we tend to overlook is the ability to install custom 3rd party keyboards on our Android phones. They allow for different methods of inputting text such as swiping, pecking, speed pecking, or simply speaking into our device. The means of installing the keyboards are somewhat questionable at times so allow us to quickly walk you through it. 

Installing a 3rd party keyboard:

The best place to score a new keyboard is from Google Play. There’s many to choose from, but for this guide we’ll use one of the more popular ones called SwiftKey 3.

1.  Open Google Play.
2.  Search “SwiftKey.”
3.  Once you’ve located the app, install it onto your device.

SwiftKey offers a great interface for enabling the keyboard from inside the application. The above image shows these steps.

4.  Once you’ve followed their setup guide, you’ll now be running a 3rd party keyboard.

We used SwiftKey due to the fact that everyone tends to really enjoy it. It has a great look and its auto-correct is unbeatable. Now onto changing between keyboards.

Enabling a 3rd party keyboard:

Sometimes, the keyboards you install won’t have a built-in enabling feature. For this, we’ll walk you through how to enable a 3rd party keyboard from the Settings menu.

1.  From a homescreen, open up the main Settings menu.
2.  Under Personal, select “Language and input.”
3.  Under this menu, you will find every keyboard application you have installed.
4.  Check the box for which keyboard you would like to enable.

A box will appear warning you that installing a 3rd party keyboard could be potentially risky.

5.  Select “OK.”

You’ve now enabled the keyboard. Depending on the device, you’ll see a button for “Default.” This button determines which keyboard your phone uses. Hit it and select the keyboard you wish to use. Now you’re up and running with your new keyboard.

Changing between keyboards:

Once you have multiple keyboards installed, you’ll want to easily be able to switch between them as you so choose. Either follow the directions above by going through the main Settings menu or follow this method below to enable different keyboards from inside your messaging applications.

1.  While inside an app that allows for text input, pull down on your notification bar.
2.  Select “Select input method.”
3.  Choose which keyboard/input method you would like to choose.

That’s the easiest way to go through them.

*The rest of the Android Beginners’ Guide is a one-stop shop for all of those new to Android.

How to: Setting Up a Third Party Keyboard on Android [Beginners' Guide] is a post from: Droid Life

Does everyone remember A.I. Type keyboard? The keyboard that functions a lot like Swiftkey, with its predicting, learning, and correcting, is now 60% off ($1.99) thanks to its install total eclipsing the 1 million mark. There was once a time when A.I Type was all the rage, especially because of its theme capabilities, but that damn Swiftkey is just too good to not use on a daily basis. 

With that said, the makers of it are doing their best to innovate and improve. Along with this price reduction, they plan to release a new version that contains a handful of goodies that may actually interest you. The list looks like this:

• A 5th row of keys, numeric by default, which can be switched with a single click to arrow keys and undo and redo buttons, or symbol keys. It can be toggled on\off easily by sliding up on the keyboard.
• Introducing the highly anticipated ICS voice to text functionality which can be used directly from within the keyboard.
• Launching the new EZReader Theme Pack. It’s specially designed for visually impaired or low vision people. It includes big buttons with a very large, clear, easily readable font, high contrast, comfortable color scheme, clean look, and it reads the words aloud as you type. And it’s now available for free.
• Other improvements – auto-corrected words are now previewed on the space-bar, shift+delete which deletes characters after the cursor, support for new languages including Korean, improvement of the one-click resize functionality, a fast delete function that speeds up as you delete, and major improvements in performance and memory usage to make it run faster and smoother.

If that sounds like gravy, think about jumping on it before the price pops back up. There is also a free version that you can try as well, to decide if A.I. Type is for you.

Play Link ($1.99)

A.I. Type Keyboard Celebrates 1 Million Installs With 60% Deal and New Version is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey announced late last night that their Beta 3 was moving on up in the world and into official status in various app stores. Many of you have been helping them test the beta, but for those who stuck to releases in places like the Play store and Amazon Appstore, you can now join the party. If you had already purchased Swiftkey X, the upgrade to version 3 is free. If you have yet to fork out cash for any of the Swiftkeys, you can pick up them up for a limited time at half price, or $1.99.

Links:  Phone | Tablet

Cheers everyone!

Swiftkey 3 Graduates Beta and Into the Play Store – Free For X Owners, On Sale For Newbies is a post from: Droid Life

Swiftkey Beta 3 received an update today for the world to test. Included in this latest build that was just posted to Twitter, users will notice improved predictions, better punctuation behavior, a refined Google Chrome experience (whatever that means), and more. At this point in the game, I’m finding it to be more and more difficult to even consider switching to another keyboard. Is anyone not using Swiftkey? 

Download:  Swiftkey3_Beta.apk

Install right over the top of your previous beta.

Changes:

• Improved prediction algorithms
• Better, more consistent punctuation key behavior
• Smarter Smart Space functionality (which will make it easier to enter email addresses etc)
• A refined experience in Google Chrome Beta
• Fixed missing predictions on the longpress of @ and .com
• Improved gestures
• Eliminated lag on letter pop-ups
• Various other minor bug fixes and usability improvements

Via:  Swiftkey [2]

New Swiftkey Beta 3 Released with “Refined” Chrome Beta Experience, Improved Predictions and Gestures [Download] is a post from: Droid Life

We have had the pleasure of experiencing some pretty funky keyboards. Whether they use interesting features to help you type better or just look down right ridiculous, you can always bet that there will be that one diamond in the rough. LogiType may be that gem. At first glance, I was a little worried. With the bubble keys and how it seems that they’re strewn across the display with no sense of order, it is not a minimalist’s best friend. But, this thing actually works and works quite well. 

For a speed pecker like myself, I actually find myself missing fewer strokes and not hitting wrong keys. But if I did miss a key, the built-in auto-correct was good enough to fix all of that. It also has a pretty nifty swipe feature for you to access special characters and a number pad, which gives it the closest feel of a full keyboard I have experienced on a 10.1″ screen.

The keyboard is free on the Play Store, so it’s worth a shot (even if you think it looks dumb) and let me know what you think.

Play Link

LogiType Tablet Keyboard, A Funky But Awesome Mobile Board is a post from: Droid Life

It has long been documented that Swiftkey is the top keyboard amongst users here at Droid Life. When it comes to predictive texting, nothing comes even close to it. Today, Swiftkey released beta 3 of their increasingly popular keyboard, taking their lead in the non-swiping space and extending it. In this latest update, you will find what they are calling “Smart Space,” which is sort of like the ICS keyboard’s Blindtype. You can type and type and type and it will figure out the sentence you were attempting even if you failed to put spaces in between words. They also tossed in two new gorgeous themes, quicker symbol selecting, backups of dictionaries, and more. 

• Smart Space – We’ve revolutionized SwiftKey’s language engine to cope with missed or mistyped spaces across long strings of sloppy text. So, even if you make lots of typos and miss multiple spaces, it’ll still make sense. For example, “Lleasexqllme” becomes “Please call me” or “Swidykeuvroxla” becomes “SwiftKey rocks”!
• Two stunning new themes – our ‘Cobalt’ default theme, and the ICS-inspired theme you voted for, called ‘Holo’.

• A larger spacebar – We joked about it, but here it actually is. One of the largest spacebars you’ll find on a touchscreen keyboard.
• Smart Symbol – No long-press required, just slide left off the period to quickly access common punctuation.
• Back-up – Worried about losing your learned words? SwiftKey 3 now supports the Android Backup Service*, meaning your learned language data is saved by Google into the cloud if you opt in. Never lose your personal dictionary again! (*if this service is enabled on your device)
• Smarter punctuation – Smart, language-specific punctuation (for example: Bonjour !).

New Features:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Swiftkey 3 vs. ICS Keyboard:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Download today from the Swiftkey VIP forums.

Swiftkey Beta 3 Released – Introduces Blindtype-esque Engine, New Themes, Smarter Everything is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are more keyboards available for Android devices than we could even possibly count. So, it’s not a rarity that you find one with a rather unique look once in a while. The newest one we have come across is BeeRaider Keyboard. Given it’s black and yellow color scheme, we can see why they might have chosen Bee for the title, but we’re still trying to figure out where Raider comes into play.

With an extremely unique design (not as unique as …), it may take some getting used to as a daily board. Check the video out and let us know what you think. Does it have potential?

Play Link

Could the BeeRaider Keyboard’s Unique Design Improve Your Texting Efficiency? is a post from: Droid Life

You can never have too many options and choices when it comes to Android. For keyboard fanatics, there’s another name to be made aware of and it’s Perfect Keyboard. It’s a multi-touch keyboard that allows for a bunch of different themes, customizations, and has wonderful auto-correction which is a huge plus for most people. The keyboard is usually priced at $2.99, but for a limited time can be swooped up for 50% off. Not too bad if you enjoy the pecking instead of swiping from key to key. 

Has anyone used Perfect Keyboard before? Thoughts? Likes and dislikes?

Market Link ($1.50)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Perfect Keyboard Goes For Half-Off In Android Market, Down To Just $1.50 is a post from: Droid Life