For as long as I’ve had my Galaxy Nexus the unique keyboard Swype has been in a Beta phase, in all honesty I expected it to stay that way forever. It seems that GMail is the only software program that had a Beta open longer. For those that already use Swype, don’t get excited; there isn’t anything especially different with the new one. Effectively it’s still the same product as the final Beta, except now you won’t receive any new updates unless you purchase the full version.
Available from the Play Store for $0.99 or a 30-day free trial.
Why Do We Need a New Way to Type?
Most phones nowadays come with a fairly standard keyboard, a basic QWERTY electronically ported from a standard computer. At the time that made perfect sense, given you’re still trying to type the same things there should be no reason to change anything. However, things are different when typing on an electronic screen, something that’s becoming most apparent with newer, larger phones.
Phone screens are at a stage where they are too large to operate with one hand and far too small to touch type like a full keyboard, to increase the efficiency of texting and other related tasks the team behind Swype have reinvented the wheel.
What is Swype?
Swype is a new way of typing, instead of tapping each letter you drag your finger along the screen and the program deciphers what word you put in. Best of all, you don’t need to put in a space after each ‘swipe’ as it does that automatically.
Over time the program learns more and more about your writing style, making itself more and more accurate. Don’t think this is an inaccurate program to begin with, even several years ago in the Beta stage Swype could accurately guess some of my friends more obscure last names.
Should You Buy It?
Naturally this depends on a person-to-person basis. If you love to feel the words as you type, or likes to text one handedly on a massive phone you probably should. If you have your doubts, at least try the 30 day trial (it’s risk free!).
Swype is continuously updating itself. Originally it was only available in two languages, English and Japanese. But now it caters for 20 dialects and even has the colloquialisms of individual countries, such as ‘brekky’ for breakfast in Australia.
For those that already use Swype in the Beta stage, it’s still worth having a good look at this new version. With additional support, you get better stability, accuracy and new skins (bringing the total to 13) and perhaps most importantly continuous updates to improve it!
However I wouldn’t dawdle too long before buying it, Nuance announced that the $0,99 price is a temporary only price. They didn’t specify when it would change, or how much it would be after the sale was over.
[Source: Android Spin]