yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] jlk_250:
I used Swype for two years with my old phone and was reading this thread trying to get tips for the new android keyboard. Swype had a learning curve to it but was very effective once I learned how to make it work right. The 4.2 android keyboard is simpler and effective but doesn't do everything I want. This thread helped a bit but not enough. I'll download Swype and use it until something better for me comes along.

edit--on Swype beta. There is a learning curve to it too and maybe some bugs but overallI like it better already.
[Nexus 4 General] Bingley:
Desire user here but also old Swype user- found 1.3 slower but prettier. Back on 3.something I think. One thing I can't get the 4.2 keyboard to swype is things like .com, .co.uk etc; I keep getting "www.gmail McCook"...totally odd why this doesn't work.
[Nexus 4 General] RockHead:
Alright, you got me to switch back to the 4.2 keyboard to give it another try. If Swype had Google voice typing, out would be a no brainer, I've just been using it for too long and it's second nature to me.

I'm struggling with the Google keyboard to type this, but learning about the double tap to edit a previous word was the major breakthrough. I'll give it a couple of days on both my N4 & N7. Still would prefer long presses for most, like Swype...
[Nexus 4 General] Chrono_Tata:
Generally I would much prefer Swype but after using the latest beta for about a week it seems pretty buggy, so I'm back on the 4.2 keyboard for now until they push out an update.
[Nexus 4 General] ntc3freak:
I prefer Swype personally. It is just much much more accurate and precise for me. It is also bloody quick without any hiccups which I used to have sometimes on my S3.

Whichever you choose, the ultra smooth front glass is an absolute pleasure for gliding across the screen. It is absolutely effortless and an absolute joy to use. For this reason I'm gambling on not putting a screen protector on the front glass. I've already put one on the back. The front glass is just so awesome that I do not want to spoil it with a screen protector :)
[Nexus 4 General] RockHead:
Hmmm. N4 has long press for numbers, N7 does not. Adjusting to the stock keyboard after another 24 hours of playing with it on both. Still slower and not as accurate as Swype, but that is probably due to having used Swype for so long. I think the stock keyboards are learning, and I'm getting used to the differences. I do find the long presses for symbols and punctuation in Swype to be faster and easier. Also the ability to Swype up above the keyboard to capitalize in mid sentence.

Going to stick with it for a while. Stock keyboard is easier pecking, which I rarely do.

Voice recognition of Google absolutely kicks Dragon Dictate in the plums...
[Nexus 4 General] JeeperDon:
Don't know if this was mentioned, but apparently the 4.2 kbd suppresses gesture typing while in a password data entry box (no blue trail)? Swype doesn't care where you are, it just swypes. I use this a LOT to do all the logging in for various sites.
[Nexus 4 General] adamhlj:
THe one thing I miss from swype is the ease punctuation. On the 4.2 keyboard, you have to tap the period or long press it to get to the other punctuation marks. With swype, you just go where ever the period is (or a few of the other punctuation marks) and swype to the space bar. VERY convenient.
[Nexus 4 General] kayateia:
I can swipe in password, email, and URL fields, but I find that it annoyingly disables the prediction bar. So you also lose the ability to tap alternatives when it gets it wrong. In practice I often find that I have to type out some URLs and emails because of that.

It'll be nice if/once custom ROMs start dabbling in this. I guess the gesture typing isn't part of AOSP, but maybe the hooks are there and the libraries can be pulled over, so the keyboard itself can be changed.

I'd personally really love (and I don't know why no one has done it yet) if the stock 4.2 keyboard could be changed to allow keycap modifications. Put whatever you want on the top of each "key", and its longpress value. Get rid of that ridiculous smiley tray and replace it with smilies and other macros I do want to use.
[Nexus 4 General] nyvram1:
i "accidently" set my email address to 'm-r' which is fantastic since i rarely use that word in everyday typing..it works more like a shortcut.

aside from adding that to the dictionary, can someone else explain the fastest way using 4.2 keyboard of typing in another email?

i type NAME..then @ then EMAILDOMAIN..then i type a "." and then when i gesture a "COM" it leaves a space between the period and COM so i have to freaking back up and type it manually.

is there a more elegant way of gesture typing URLs or emails that I'm missing?

also, under prefercnes (i'll have to look up where) i'm pretty sure it lets you create a 'macro' or 'shortcut' for any string you want to use..that's how my email got associated with "M R" i think.
[Nexus 4 General] TheFiveDots:
I'm fresh to both the 4.2 keyboard and Swype. After using both for a week or so, Swype takes the cake for me. Feels far more accurate, love that you can go back to a word and select from the original suggestions (Hello, Swiftkey, figure this out already; the alternatives when going back to a word are never useful), and access to punctuation is way better.

Looking forward to Swiftkey Flow though, because I find myself switching back and forth between Swype and Swiftkey quite a bit.
[Nexus 4 General] nyvram1:
i haven't had that issue..its a little more work..click the misspelled word..click the little blue box under it..click replace.. then find the right word..but so far i haven't noticed swype being that much better at showing suggestions of what it thinks you meant to type***

-------------------------------------------

my thoughts/mini review:

i've used SWYPE hardcore for 3+ years on my old windows phone so going to a new slide-y keyboard was going to have to wow me or at least be decent enough i wouldn't go back to swype

so far i give 4.2 keyboard a good B- esp. since its a first-effort from google and has room to grow.

here's a quick list of things i've seen as different (or missing? maybe i just dont know how they work) that coming from swype you will notice:

SWYPE PROS

> looping above the keyboard to captialize first letter of a word any time in the middle of swyping that word

> double-looping to capitalize the entire word anytime you're swyping a word

> punctuationn-slide (by this i mean you can hit the period, !, ?.. and slide over the spacebar to punctuate the current sentence and add a space to get ready for the next one)

> double-tap to activate CAPS LOCK..with 4.2 you have to push and hold (and its hard to see the little blue line light up with your finger over the caps lock key to ensure its activated)

> click any word in SWYPE to instantly see a list of suggestions so editing misspelled words was much easier..it takes like 4 taps to get there with the 4.2 keyboard..this could be a patent violation is why google doesnt have this maybe*** ***NOTE somteimes i click on a word i've already typed..if it has a red line under it..and the suggestions pop right up. other times i guess..when the word it thinks you typed is a real word..you have to go through the whole blue box, replace.. choose from dropdown sequence

> swyping '.com or .anything' after a word already on the screen in swype would glue it to the previous word. in 4.2 you have to type a random letter after the word which leaves a space..then back up the previous word to erase that character and that space and then manually type "." "C" "O" "M" which is super annoying.

4.2 Pros

> its google and has the full support of that gigantic corporation around turning out new versions

> i like 4.2 asking to add words to dictionary instead of doing it automatically. very annoying for swype to remember every fat fingered word i typed in and have to tap select all kinds of garbage words to ask it to remove them later so they dont replace actual words i'm trying to swype

> voice text. /discussion. this alone makes 4.2 a winner over swype

> getting used to the little '...' for things like punctuation but i think the SMILEYs is superflous. i would rather see that be a bunch of ".com", ".org", etc shortcuts you could select as opposed to : - )

WASH

> google autmoatically handling 's and other contractions vs swype allowing you to type " ' " and "s" as you swype the word or even after you've lifted your finger to glue it to the previous word
[Nexus 4 General] thos25:
I have used swype exclusively for the last two years or so. I have been able to get the hang of this new keyboard quickly though and I would say I do prefer it to swype now.

I do agree that the double letter is a tad more difficult than it is on swype though.
[Nexus 4 General] AndyBurns:
On my N7 I miss the long-press for numbers, but on an N4 I looked at in a shop, the long-press for numbers was there.

You could always add an extra "PC Keyboard layout" and switch to it with a long press of the space bar, there's even a Dvorak keyboard if you're a real masochist!
[Nexus 4 General] wmm:
Double-tap for capslock works on the 4.2.1 keyboard, at least (I don't recall whether it did in 4.2 or not). Also, if you have haptic feedback enabled, there's a little buzz you can feel when the long-press activates capslock, so you don't have to look for the little blue line while pressing.

---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:44 PM ----------

Note that, although they're not indicated on the keyboard, long-presses on characters with common accented forms (vowels, c with a cedille) do allow you to select all of those forms without switching to another keyboard. (As you note, the numbers are present as long-presses on the N4, also.) And the most common symbols are accessible with a long-press on the "." key.
[Nexus 4 General] RockHead:
After a week or so of using the 4.2 keyboard, I'm getting used to the differences from Swype and liking it better. I still think Swype does a better job with suggestions while typing. But Google's voice recognition is so far superior, and I use it enough that I'm sticking with 4.2.
[Nexus 4 General] fgoyti:
Is there a gesture to delete a whole word? Like, in swiftkey I can swipe across the keyboard to the left to delete the last word. Doesn't seem to work with the new android 4.2 keyboard though
[Nexus 4 General] barondebxl:
I like the animation better on the 4.2 keyboard but I still think that swype is a little more accurate.
[Nexus 4 General] m0h1t:
Is there a way we can reduce the long-press duration on the android 4.2 keyboard? It's so slow!
[Nexus 4 General] LikwidGaming:
Swift key 3, the best keyboard ever, though it doesnt supports swipe keyboard yet. Swift key 4 will be launched this early 2013 so anu customers using Swiftkey 3 will be getting updated to next version.

try swift key for fone and you will definitely love it.
[Nexus 4 General] otariq:
Swiftkey flow beta was released and it has the swype feature I found the link on Engadget
[Nexus 4 General] [hfm]:
I should probably like this feature for saving me from accidentally dropping F-bombs in work emails, but I don't like how I can't add profanity to the dictionary in the 4.2 keyboard like I could with swype.
[Nexus 4 General] kayateia:
Here's that link for convenience.. (assuming it lets me post it ^^; )

http://www.swiftkey.net/flow/

Its swiping is really nice, but it clearly still has some bugs. Anyone who's a fan of Swiftkey already is going to want to try this, probably. It's really beautiful looking too. The swipe trails are starting to become a point of art pride in these. :)
[Nexus 4 General] DocRobinson:
Has anyone had trouble installing Swype, getting hung up on the "choose which version" screen? I can't get past that step, and I know my wi-fi connection is fine. If you did, how did you get past it/solve it?
[Nexus 4 General] ntc3freak:
Everyone has that problem on 4.2.1 as far as I'm aware. There's a lot of complaints in the official Swype forum. But they have been able to reproduce the issue, so hopefully a fix comes out soon, I miss Swype!
[Nexus 4 General] bjc112:
Is it possible to use gesture typing to unlock my phone swiping the password??

I hate typing the password to unlock my phone!

Thanks!
[Nexus 4 General] Chrono_Tata:
Yes it is possible.
[Nexus 4 General] bjc112:
Would you be kind enough to tell me how to?
[Nexus 4 General] Chrono_Tata:
What do you mean? You just set up your screen to lock with password, and use the Swype keyboard. If your password is not a real word then just add it to your dictionary.

Edit: I just understood that you are probably talking about the stock Android keyboard rather than Swype. In that case I don't think it is possible to gesture type in the password field, sorry. D:
[Nexus 4 General] bjc112:
Yep I was referring to the stock android keyboard.. I did try the Swift Key flow beta and it still cant flow in passwords. I then finally tried Swype and it does it exactly how I was hoping it could be done.

Thanks!
[Nexus 4 General] tvdang7:
I'm not a fan of the 4.2, swipe is more accurate and if you miss spell a word on swipe you can Tap that word and suggestions pop up. The jelly bean keyboard doesn't do that.
[Nexus 4 General] estallings15:
We must be using a different jellybean keyboard.
[Nexus 4 General] Kick-Ass Joe:
You guys should try swift key flow beta, it's awesome. I like it better than swipe.

Sent from my Paranoid Android Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] CandyAndy:
+1

I liked swype and also 4.2 keyboard is not bad at all but swiftkey flow is hands down the best.
[Nexus 4 General] darkamikaze:
I prefer Swype over 4.2 and SwiftKey.

4.2 has terrible adding to dictionary input. It's such an unnecessary lengthy process. Although I do find its predictions better than SwiftKey but not as good as Swype. SwiftKey for some reason it irks me when I type a word sometimes and then start swiping it won't enter a space in between so I have to manually do it. Changing wrong words is much easier in Swype for me as well not to mention the gestures for copy, paste, cut and select all on Swype is just too good to give up.

My 2c.
[Nexus 4 General] rmp5s:
Just my 2 cents:

For a screen under 7", NOTHING is better than Swype. At all. Period. I like some of the other options for certain things (eg hacker's keyboard for passwords) but as a go to, day to day keyboard, there is no better imho.

This is one of the reasons I lose my MIND every time I have to have any interaction with my wife's iPhail 4S.

I was hoping the stock keyboard would be a competitor since I have to PUT Swype on all my phones, but nope. Not yet.

And, at the end if the day, Android is all about options and that's why I love it. Don't like stock, try another. Don't like Swype? No problem, there are others.

Android ftw.
[Nexus 4 General] Matt1408:
I have been a long time user of Swype, even back in the Windows Mobile days and back then it was perfect. The Android versions always seemed a bit weird and had trouble with a few key words. I remember trying to write "work" and it would ALWAYS replace it with "quirk."

Then came the big issue with the updating. I was tired of using the updating app and having my dictionary reset every time. With 4.2 I have finally gave up with Swype.

The only think I miss is curse words and capitalization
[Nexus 4 General] thejaycan:
I admit this might be slightly off topic and I'm sorry for that. I have a question about the 4.2 keyboard and I was hoping someone would know the answer. Are there multiple versions of the 4.2 keyboard floating around in the various ROMs? I'm currently using the 4.2 keyboard that doesn't have the secondary keys above the letters. (Meaning I can't long press a letter to get the symbol that would appear if I hit the "?123" key first). I previously had a 4.2 keyboard that did have the secondary keys above the letters. Am I assuming correctly that there are multiple 4.2 keyboards or is there some toggle somewhere that I'm completely missing? This also happened on my Nexus 7 and is driving me nuts!!

Thanks in advance.
[Nexus 4 General] Rusty!:
There are only two version of the 4.2 keyboard floating about that I know of, the pre-release one and the finished one.

Both had the long press for numbers and certain accents, though and there is no way to disable it.
[Nexus 4 General] vyledust:
Can anyone explain why all of the keyboards besides the 4.2 one have all the permissions? I am not totally unfamiliar with permissions, but I do wonder why 4.2 does not have to read my sms, but every other one does.
[Nexus 4 General] chrisrozon:
How are you going to type that sms without a keyboard?
[Nexus 4 General] vyledust:
I understand that. My question was: Why does the 4.2 keyboard not require that when all the others do.
[Nexus 4 General] Emama:
Yes, thats the major reason I don't use swype (or other that have internet access)
[Nexus 4 General] vyledust:
Ok, so it was not just me being paranoid. I love the symbols and punctuation on long press though. Grr.
[Nexus 4 General] chrisrozon:
Stock keyboard gas
[Nexus 4 General] vyledust:
Would you mind explaining that a bit? Maybe it was a long day, but I do not follow.
[Nexus 4 General] brummiesteven:
Is this definitely only in 4.2? I have it but I'm apparently only on 4.1...

Also, I quite like it, but I've never used swype
[Nexus 4 General] bmwjnky:
I used Swiftkey 3 on my last two phones and it has a much better prediction dictionary and more user settings which I like but I find the 4.2.x keyboard is more accurate than swiftkey 3. I may try it on my N4 but other than not being able to change the long press duration like in SK3 I've been happy with the 4.2.x keyboard. The only swype typing I've done is with the 4.2.x keyboard so I don't have anything else to compare it to but I like that I can swype some words and touch type others without having to make any settings changes.
[Nexus 4 General] neotekz:
swype has more functionality but way too many bugs for me to use daily not to mention the annoying install process. Why do i need to make an account and install a installer to install swype? Im sure in a few updates 4.2 keyboard will be a lot better than swype.
[Nexus 4 General] Emama:
That stupid downloading and installing process stop me from trying the new version
[Nexus 4 General] Chrono_Tata:
I believe the reason Swype ask for the permission is so that it learns your writing style from your SMS so that it can give you better predictions.

You don't need to make an account anymore to get the Swype beta.
[Nexus 4 General] chrisrozon:
Sorry, my fat fingers posted the message before I was done :)

Anyways, I believe that the stock keyboard doesn't ask for permissions at all, does it? It's stock, it comes already installed.
[Nexus 4 General] vyledust:
It does ask for a few. Not some of the warning flag ones though.
[Nexus 4 General] sokrboot:
FYI, you don't need an account anymore to get Swype.
[Nexus 4 General] penzoilguy:
Thanks...very informative....:good:
[Nexus 4 General] KeemGoodFella:
How about swiftkey flow beta I absolutely love it very responsive and fast
[Nexus 4 General] lscotte:
I used to use swype, but no longer, the 4.2 keyboard is nearly perfect.
[Nexus 4 General] neuromix:
Swype!! It doesn't censor words when gesture typing. Can't use 4.2 keyboard.
[Nexus 4 General] redeuxx:
I have used Swype for so long now that I find it really hard to switch to any other swiping system. I've tried SwiftKey Beta, SlideIT, and the 4.2 keyboard and it just feels off.

You can set it not to add automatically.
[Nexus 4 General] Rusty!:
Check me out...
[Nexus 4 General] dataSaMm:
I have used Swype for many years, also after a while I tried the Swift Keyboard. But now I'm using the swipe on the Google Keyboard and it's working very good. I stopped using swype as it's a long thing to go download and not available in the Play Store. But, I think the Swift keyboard has got really good features that I wouldn't mind seeing in the Google Keyboard.

Swift Key predicts the next word really good and remembers how you type.

You can type a word and swipe right from the full stop to instantly get a question mark without waiting.

You can delete a word by swiping quickly from K to D.

To minimise the keyboard, swipe from T to V etc.

These features would definitely boost the Google Keyboard.
[Nexus 4 General] Dovucoe:
Swiftkey is missing one thing to being the best Android keyboard - editing your dictionary.

I used to use Swype, but with the JB keyboard, the whole process of downloading an installer to download Swype no longer makes sense..
[Nexus 4 General] TrIn@dOr:
Well I use Swype with 2 languages... and it's great, I write in English and Spanish and Swype has both languages active at the same time... with other you need to switch... so for me, Swype is great and really accurate.
[Nexus 4 General] vickpick:
I too think the swype keyboard was better. I found it to be more accurate in the long run.
[Nexus 4 General] itayze:
I really enjoy touchpad.

Has good Swype, can remember your own dictionary.
[Nexus 4 General] CheesyNutz:
Swiftkey flow > both
[Nexus 4 General] windrose:
I have extensively used swype since my galaxy s1 i9000 from 2010.

Like many of the other users here, I have gotten used to many of the features that are convenient in swype that aren't found in other gesture keyboards.

For the past 2 weeks I have been thoroughly experimenting with the following popular keyboards:

-4.2 keyboard

-swift key 3 (now 4)

-swift key flow beta (now in swift key 4)

-swype

Here are my two cents:

-you're wasting money if you're not going to tap with swift key. Their predictive typing and corrections for tapping is why you pay the $3.99 for that keyboard (now $1.99). Getting it for gesture typing is not a smart buy imo. Their gesture typing is pretty good and you can chain words together by swiping through the spacebar without letting go of the keyboard which is pretty neat. It's still a waste if you're not going to tap with swift key though as tapping with that keyboard is amazing.

-android 4.2 stock keyboard gesture typing is pretty good. But as many other people have pointed out in this thread, you can't loop double-letters easily so it's hard to get words like "too" instead of "to" without making a correction after gesturing from t to o. Punctuation is not as convenient in both 4.2 and swiftkey flow. in Swype, you could just gesture from any punctuation (represented by a letter) to the spacebar and it'll automatically put in the punctuation for you with a space to start your next word/sentence. Long hold to get punctuation is too slow for me and defeats the purpose of having a gesture keyboard.

-google voice typing is amazing from 4.2 and it's very accurate at recognizing my speech. I almost never use this function though so I feel it is just as useless for me as the dragonfire voice recognition from Swype.

-Currently I am using swift key 4 trial version. Mostly tapping now, occasionally gesturing if i'm holding the phone with my right hand only. With the N4, the screen has gotten big enough that tapping in portrait mode is becoming tolerable but with my older phones that had smaller screens, swype is the way to go.

I still can't decide which keyboard is best yet for me. I'm definitely most used to the Swype gestures and convenient functions that no other keyboard has but this is probably just because I need some time to adapt to a new keyboard.

tl;dr

-all decent keyboards

-swiftkey is best for tapping, not worth it if you only swipe

-swype has most amount of gesture short cuts, no need to long hold for punctuations (long holding defeats the purpose of gesture typing imo)

-4.2 has excellent voice recognition typing but gesturing certain words is not as convenient as swype (ie. words with double letters)
[Nexus 4 General] Chrono_Tata:
Are people really that lazy to list the fact that you have to download the Swype installer as a downside? You download it once, and once you you have it installed Swype beta will make any future updates from inside the app. They don't even ask you to sign up to get the beta anymore.
[Nexus 4 General] slowpork:
I uninstalled Swype after 1 day of usage. Their Thai keyboard is not quite there yet.