By SwiftKey’s transition from beta to full version in the Android Market slipped by us last week, but the predictive text keyboard is just a little too good to go unrecognized. It did, after all, garner over 250,000 downloads in beta form to give it the crown of most-downloaded third party keyboard. The full version has been tweaked and polished and is now ready for purchase. Yes, it will cost you, but if you have used it the $3.99 asking price is the least you could do to pay back the TouchType team for all their hard work. But you won’t even have to do that, as the stand-up folk behind SwiftKey are offering the keyboard for $0.99 until September 30th for all.
The out-of-beta version carries a few big improvements, including simultaneous bilingual text prediction, voice-to-text support, multi-touch, and a slightly altered keyboard layout. SwiftKey’s text prediction also now works in the browser, search, and other native text fields. If you can’t commit to paying for SwiftKey, don’t worry. The beta is still available for the time being if you want to give the app a quick once over free of charge.
I paid full price, but it’s worth every cent.
I a Swype man myself, but I am dying to try Blind Type…
Bought it.
Lack of a voice recognition key is the only reason why I switched back to Better Keyboard. I preferred swift key’s prediction algorithm.
My keyboard of choice. Bought the paid app CHEA!!
It’s OK, but not great. I would prefer some more options in terms of automatic spaces, and long press timer. Although I do like its large layout, it can be really troublesome to compose messages in the browser. I was going to reply to this from my Evo using SwiftKey, but it was too laggy, and I could hardly see what I was typing. For 99 cents, I’ll hang onto it with hopes that future versions will improve.
Until then, I’ll continue using the modded HTC keyboard.
I really don’t like it at all.
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The predictions are fine, but I just cannot get into the habit of using them.
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I do not the numeric keypad. I think they need to stick with something reasonably close to the default keyboard to reduce the learning curve. Also, I hate that the spacebar keeps getting smaller to accommodate function keys. At least give me an option; maybe the choice of whether to have it on the right or left, since I tend to be a right thumb spacer.
Can’t find it on my Android market place,Samsung Moment, running Android 2.1…
never mind, found it.
seems better than stock but not near as good as swype in my opinion. Does it eventually learn to insert apostrophes the way swype does or do you always have the do it yourself.
bought this the day it left beta. i told myself i’d never pay for a keyboard but this was worth it at only 94 cents at the time i bought it. they fixed every issue i had with the beta so i thought i should support them too
Really like it over, it doesn’t behave well Google Maps app though. It kept trying to autocorrect saved search names
I agree with Sardo…
I hardly ever used the predictions so I quit using it. I use Vlingo’s keyboard now but I really really want to try out Swype
I’m with savagejeep, I love swype but anxious for blindtype.
I did try the beta for swift key but want impressed at all. I’m probably too entrenched in swype to learn something new. :)
Got it for $0.99… can’t pass beat it for that price.
Tried the beta and bought the full app. The product is ok, i wouldn’t call it great, but its not awful either. I have tried teaching it some of the words i use alot and it doesnt seem to remember them. As for the predictive, sometimes it gets them right sometimes its not even close.
Needs more refinement.
vlingo i think is nice.
Nicest keyboard out there. Ive tried them all and bought many, but this is the best I’ve had. I have been using it faithfully since day one of beta, and it has used my shortcuts and style to benefit me. My typing is so efficient now and I feel like it was made just for me…9 out of 10.
@gotandroid? I find it offers versions of the word you’re typing with apostrophes included in the predictions, and it gets the case right unlike the stock HTC keyboard (which always offers “It’s” for me no matter what case I’m writing in).
I love Swype, but three things trouble me about it and me :
1. My fingers are too big to use it efficiently on the Desire
2. It doesn’t have a UK English dictionary
3. It doesn’t appear that Swype plan to sell it in the marketplace, preferring it to be an OEM product.
I’ve been using Swype relatively painlessly for a few months, and I love the technology. However, I just uninstalled it as I’m loving SwiftKey. The predictions work really well for me – sometimes predicting whole sentences after the first one or two words. The ability to use your SMS library to fill up the custom dictionary and predictions is brilliant as well. Seriously impressed with this.
The “Avant Garde” font on the keyboard isn’t my favourite, but that’s a tiny niggle.
.i’m with a few people on here–when i say i don’t like it.
its predictions get annoying,
i could type faster without having to have the keyboard ‘learn’ what i’m typing.
i wish i’d have been lucky enough to get swype.
I have saved almost 16000 keystrokes and become 15% more efficient. Fantastic keyboard. Some of the predictions need work but it’s pretty damn good.
The idea of this keyboard is intriguing but when I watch these videos I have to wonder, who really types that slow on the standard Android (or HTC or whatever) keyboard? I’m sure the Swiftkey is fast once you get used to using it, but please compare it apples to apples. Show someone who is fast at typing on a keyboard and see if Swiftkey is faster.
I wonder about having to constantly change my view from the keyboard, up to the predictive area and going out of my way to reach up with my thumb to pick a word. I bet it’s faster for many people to just type the word.
Just tried it. pretty useless.
Those who haven’t try. Go try Swype. It beats anything and it is so fast to learn and get use to. If you don’t know how to get swype on your phone, go get SlideIT.
22. To be honest it is for those who kind of suck at typing, and I’m fully in that category.
I always have, from physical to virtual (no matter the size). When I got this keyboard my word accuracy has gone from 35-40% to probably 85-90%. It’s a lot less traumatic to send messages, because I actually make sense, and have less typos now. It would be very interesting if this technique could be brought to the PC.