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My thoughts after trying Swype and Swiftkey

T

truth1ness

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 8, 2011
109
4
Both seem to have loyal users but here are the actual UI differences I noticed when using the two. In terms of concrete UI Swype just seems way better thought out. The lack of the first two items listed under Swype in particular made Swiftkey need a lot of extra keystrokes and much slower.

Swype:
++Delete whole word after swiping
++Auto space after punctuation like commas
+Auto capitalize/new sentence after periods
+Dedicated comma button
+Provides close alternate word matches after you swipe instead of autosuggesting the next word until you press space
+Doesn't require you to give it Full Access
+You can manually add words, useful for things like e-mail addresses/etc
-Annoying swype button to access the globe icon

Swiftkey:
+Animation and dark colors looks nicer/smoother
+Learns words automatically
 
The problem with iOS SwiftKey is that it's a hollow shell of what it is on Android. Where did all the press-and-hold shortcuts go to? So much handier than the Apple Way of switching keyboards for different symbols.
 
Swiftkey crashes all the time on my 6plus. The keyboard won't come up and I can't reply to a text. I have to delete the keyboard to get the stock one up. Happens every day. Is anyone else having this problem?
 
truth1ness said:
Both seem to have loyal users but here are the actual UI differences I noticed when using the two. In terms of concrete UI Swype just seems way better thought out. The lack of the first two items listed under Swype in particular made Swiftkey need a lot of extra keystrokes and much slower.

Swype:
++Delete whole word after swiping
++Auto space after punctuation like commas
+Auto capitalize/new sentence after periods
+Dedicated comma button
+Provides close alternate word matches after you swipe instead of autosuggesting the next word until you press space
+Doesn't require you to give it Full Access
+You can manually add words, useful for things like e-mail addresses/etc
-Annoying swype button to access the globe icon

Swiftkey:
+Animation and dark colors looks nicer/smoother
+Learns words automatically
Click to expand...
I spent some time with both and you hit the nail on the head. I preferred Swype over Swiftkey Flow myself.

However, once I upgraded to the iPhone 6, I found swiping kind of awkward--screen was too big to swipe with your thumb. You can use your index finger, but that means you're using two hands. And if you're using two hands, then using your two thumbs to do regular typing is plenty quick enough. Also, the bugginess of the third-party keyboard experience, plus the fact you can't use them for replying to texts from the lock screen, plus the improvements to the iOS 8 keyboard... meant I stopped using Swype and am just using the stock keyboard.

Regarding Rootus's comment, Swype has press-and-hold shortcuts to numerals and symbols. You have to turn on the right keyboard theme in Swype to enable them (it's the dark one).
 
I prefer swype over swiftkey and unless swiftkey takes away the need for full access I'll likely never use it again
 
Huliodude said:
Swiftkey crashes all the time on my 6plus. The keyboard won't come up and I can't reply to a text. I have to delete the keyboard to get the stock one up. Happens every day. Is anyone else having this problem?
Click to expand...

EVERYTIMe. On my 6. Sometimes I get frustrated when I accidentally hit that globe button because you know that keyboard ain't gonna show up and you're gonna have to delete the message app and start it up again. Going to try swype hopefully IT runs much smoother.
 
Hey guys.

I am in the favor of Swiftkey, I think they are more professional and they deliver a better UI than swype.

Did anyone try the "Ginger keyboard" ?
 
Last edited:
Huliodude said:
Swiftkey crashes all the time on my 6plus. The keyboard won't come up and I can't reply to a text. I have to delete the keyboard to get the stock one up. Happens every day. Is anyone else having this problem?
Click to expand...


I have this problem all the time. It was so annoying that I just stopped using it.
 
I agree with your thoughts.
But I also tried Fleksy which I liked the most but I stopped using it because it was draining my battery and it was on the top of my list in terms of usage.
 
Huliodude said:
Swiftkey crashes all the time on my 6plus. The keyboard won't come up and I can't reply to a text. I have to delete the keyboard to get the stock one up. Happens every day. Is anyone else having this problem?
Click to expand...
It's not a specific keyboard problem, it's an iOS 8.x problem with the API. It happens on all 3rd party keyboards. Until they fix that issue I will be sticking to the default keyboard; quick reply is just too useful.
 
truth1ness said:
What does this mean? Do you have any actual specifics?
Click to expand...


SwiftKey is more accurate it runs a spell checker for the swipe which makes the grammar more accurate and I think it offers a decent advantage in speed and word prediction. Ginger keyboard is also nice offers additional writing tools and I feels kinds more attached to that keyboard now.
 
Huliodude said:
Swiftkey crashes all the time on my 6plus. The keyboard won't come up and I can't reply to a text. I have to delete the keyboard to get the stock one up. Happens every day. Is anyone else having this problem?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have the same issues. It's a shame because it's great when it works, but it's just too dang unstable.
 
Can't comment on Swype, as I've never used it on either platform.
Swiftkey, though, is (IMO) just superb on Android, but not so much on iOS.
I just stick to stock keyboard on my iPhone, but Swiftkey on my Nexus 7.
 
Femme said:
EVERYTIMe. On my 6. Sometimes I get frustrated when I accidentally hit that globe button because you know that keyboard ain't gonna show up and you're gonna have to delete the message app and start it up again. Going to try swype hopefully IT runs much smoother.
Click to expand...

Swype used to do the same thing to me all the time, but now works well just about all of the time. It became better immediately upon updating to 8.1.1
 
Yeah, I also noticed Swype is better than SwiftKey on iOS, but both still suck until they give me a keyboard with a number row. There are 5-row keyboards in the app store, but they do not offer word suggestions or auto-correction, so that's a big no.

On Android it's the other way around. IMO, the stock Samsung keyboard on my Note 2 was the best out of all of them. 5-row keyboard with long-press shortcuts AND swipe input.
 
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