The developer behind 8Pen keyboard appears to get it. After being released onto the Android market for just over $1.50 last week, slow sales and many frustrations from early adopters were enough to get a major update and price drop. You can now grab this interesting take on a keyboard for free, plus it’s actually usable now. Most of the annoyances I saw when first testing this keyboard seem to be fixed. As you can see from our screenshot above, when you type a word, a preview of the keyboard is displayed so that you no longer have to sneak a peek around your finger to find out which key you are selecting.
Definitely worth another look.
Cheers Mark!
Just downloaded 8pen this morning. Gonna take a bit of practice to get used to it. I think it can be faster than typical keyboards once you have the keys memorized.
How long did it take you to memorize the keys on a keyboard . . . ?
im running bbv0.5 stock on my droid1 and i cant seem to type w/ 8pen the words dont show up any ideas?
I personally wouldn't choose this over swype or shapewriter, but I do honestly believe that if somebody was able to get over the ridiculous learning curve and start memorizing where the letters are at, it could be a wicked fast keyboard.
This app still not working on my DInc, even after update
Too radical for me. Luckily, I didn't purchase several days ago when I first checked it out. Once it went free, I gave it a try. Played with it for an hour or two, but much slower for me than either Swype or multi-touch. Too steep of a learning curve.
tried playing with it on the x for a full half hour, pretty sure it is bugged for DX but who knows, they need a video
They have a video. It was posted here with the original article about this keyboard. It is also on their own site.
I… I don't get it.
Watch the video.
I actually bought this the day it became available! But it was worth supporting the developer.. I love the update though. I'll be using this keyboard a lot more now, before I hated not being able to see the letters when typing because of my thumb being in the way, but this update fixes everything
This seems like what would have a been a Swype predecessor. Think…
T9 : QWERTY as 8Pen : Swype
I completely disagree. Swype has never seemed to like me much, and this works fine. It is fast enough to take over my portrait keyboard, but I still use software/hardware Qwerty when in landscape.
I gave it a try, but still think Swype is quicker and easier to use, since it follows a Qwerty keyboard layout, which makes it easy for people that can touch type.
it's different. I like it for a few reasons. It can never be as fast as a normal keyboard/swype but it's great for one handing/not looking at it after you've remembered where all the letters are. You just gotta fight through it for a day or two until then
So being cheap does pay off! 🙂
Now I can try it without the risk of not liking it and wasting a buck.
If you buy the app with Google Checkout, you can get a refund if you decide you don't like the app (unless it's your second time buying, in which case you can't get a refund).
Trying it out, but feel I'm far less efficient on 8pen than on Swype. Too much time to locate the letter, then think “Okay, (counter-)clockwise X spaces”. I'll give it a few days, but not impressed so far.
Is it Free Trial or FREE? – 8pen Comic http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/11/09/the-real-reason-to-use-the-8pen-keyboard-comic/
I lol'd when I saw that.
I know right it was sooo funny.
I laughed so hard at that
8pen keyboard reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA
I love the preview addition. That was my biggest issue with it before. I didn't know what letter I was on.
Not working on my Droid Inc. I was looking forward to try.
I am surprised to hear any of you actually purchased this. I gave it a try but it seems extremely difficult. It seems so difficult that it be easier to use anything else but this.
And now for the flood of comments from pissed off users that are sh!tty because we can get it free now and they already paid for it… oh well, such is life :p
Tried it for a few minutes…this thing is brutal! Glad I didn't purchase it. I have never requested a refund especially when we are only taking about a couple bucks…but I think I would have in this case. I'm enjoying swype in portrait and multi touch in landscape thanks to keyboard manager!
The on-screen tutorial wasn't awesome, but I can see how someone could get good at it. I'll give it a month.
Tried it for a few minutes. Already I wish it would just put the letter in when you lift your finger, instead of having to drag back to center.
How did they expect anyone to pay for this outright? I cant figure out how to do anything on this!
kudos to the dev
still not gonna use it
I feel like a f-ing dope , i bought this thing …
I love this now that there is a pop up so your not looking around your fingers for the letter. It makes it alot easier but I paid for it so that is BS I should at least get a happy ending 🙂
I'm still confused as to why this is useful. I tried it when it was first released and was baffled at how much movement it takes to create each letter. I used the word “test” as my…uh…test. It took as much movement of my finger to type the letter “T” as it did to type out the entire word on Swype. Can someone please explain to me what the benefit is to using this keyboard?
Tried it, hated it! Maybe I'll give it another try soon but I'm sure glad I didn't pay for it.
In theory, it's a good try. What sinks it is that, unlike Swype, it doesn't come with a tutorial program, nor is it particularly intuitive. I had to go to YouTube after downloading it to see how it worked and even then I had some issues.
As it is now, I probably wouldn't pick it up, but if they changed it to make it easier to use, I might consider putting it back on the phone.
8pen installs a tutorial in the app drawer
I will definitely try this now.
Wow, kinda sucks for those of us that bought it. I mean, I don't mind supporting devs and don't really care for a refund. Maybe a premium version with more options /settings?
Yeah, they kind of boned the people who first supported them. At least give us something special, like skins or something.
Seriously. I just bought the damn thing last week.
not bad, but i think i will choose the path of least resistance (swype) . We are creatures of habit after all!
I will play with it, just to workout my brain a little. But i think it will still be slower than swype considering the amount of motion required per letter.
Great, but still fucked up on the milestone.
Don't listen to me, seriously :> (apparently works)
I can't find it in Market search and the barcode won't find it either. Wtf?
i have this problem too and i don't know what's going on.
Also, the download link isn’t working.
Money BACK >:(
I'll try it now. Maybe.
So glad I got my refund last week! Now this is worth playing around with
sweet!
i already bought it do i get a refund
And the people who paid for this?
Win the moron of the Week award!
And for the people who paid for this…………I've got some meat in my trunk you can buy as well
droooiid