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TouchPal Demos Gesture Keyboard with Sliding Input for iOS 8

I just tried this little experiment out: Typed the same message in the video on my current device. I was quicker by quite a bit... Don't show us a cool new quicker keyboard that is supposedly quicker when it's not.

Considering they're trying to sell us this product I would expect to be blown away in their first video released to the world.

Still excited about the new keyboard features, but you gotta market!
 
Just like Deja Vu All Over Again

MacRumors said:
One of the major iOS 8 announcements at last week's Worldwide Developers Conference was support for TouchPal.
Click to expand...

Cool! Everything five years old is new again.
Way to Swype that idea.
 
KazKam said:
That's all fine, but I just want a touch keyboard that has cursor keys. Just in a thin row along the top or bottom... as an option.

I find the touch-hold-wait-drag method of selecting text and moving the cursor very... inaccurate and kludgy.
Click to expand...

I find it to be wayyy better than Android or WP's and for me, it actually works pretty well

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macslayer118 said:
I just tried this little experiment out: Typed the same message in the video on my current device. I was quicker by quite a bit... Don't show us a cool new quicker keyboard that is supposedly quicker when it's not.

Considering they're trying to sell us this product I would expect to be blown away in their first video released to the world.

Still excited about the new keyboard features, but you gotta market!
Click to expand...

Same here it took the guy 40 seconds and I did it in 30, and this was with my Autcorrect not sorting out iOS for some reason, and obviously not getting 'TouchPal' as a correctly formatted word
 
I'm happy for third party keyboards, but I hate Swype type keyboards.

My fingers are too big and I'm always looking under my finger for the next letter.
 
KazKam said:
That's all fine, but I just want a touch keyboard that has cursor keys. Just in a thin row along the top or bottom... as an option.

I find the touch-hold-wait-drag method of selecting text and moving the cursor very... inaccurate and kludgy.
Click to expand...

This is the only reason that I would download a third party keyboard, unfortunatly it won't be possible in iOS 8, as third party keyboards cannot control cursor position, or so I've read. :(
 
macslayer118 said:
I just tried this little experiment out: Typed the same message in the video on my current device. I was quicker by quite a bit... Don't show us a cool new quicker keyboard that is supposedly quicker when it's not.

Considering they're trying to sell us this product I would expect to be blown away in their first video released to the world.

Still excited about the new keyboard features, but you gotta market!
Click to expand...

I've found a lot of the "swipe" style keyboards to be faster than someone who is average to poor at keyboard (or at least iOS keyboard) tap typing, which is probably most people. They aren't faster if you can already fly though. Then again the swiping still might be faster for one handed typing.
 
Is this introduction of third party keyboard support another piece of evidence for a larger iPhone? Swype and the like would really make it easier to type one handed on a larger device.
 
Anyone jailbroken and using the keyboard from Hipjot? I wonder if he's planning on bringing that most highly awesome keyboard to iOS 8. Anyone heard anything about that?
 
No, for a few reasons... 1: CydiaSubstrate is broken. 2: Hipjot integrates very tightly with the iOS 7.0 calls, and doesn't work on 7.1 at the moment. 3: The custom keyboard support on a jailbroken device is very kludgy compared to the official APIs in iOS 8. Considering that there is an AppStore version of Hipjot available, assuming that Jormy didn't do something particularly weird on his implementation, then it would make more sense to just port over to the iOS8 APIs and then distribute a new beta through TestFlight rather than fighting with getting everything to work in a new jailbreak environment on a beta os that is certainly going to change between now and release.
 
derek4484 said:
I'm happy for third party keyboards, but I hate Swype type keyboards.

My fingers are too big and I'm always looking under my finger for the next letter.
Click to expand...

I understand where you are coming from. However for advanced touch typists like myself, and as someone who has been swiping for five years, I don't have to look at the keyboard at all because it recognizers my GESTURES - it matters not at all that I hit the right letters. I do 125 wpm (2 errors avg) on a high quality clicky keyboard. I do 60 wpm on Swype. 25 WPM with iOS. Swype is a keyboard for touch typists that have the QWERTY keyboard embedded in our brains.
 
kavika said:
I didn't realize third-party keyboards was something people have been asking for.
Click to expand...

Really?

It's something I've wanted from the 1st day I ever owned an iOS device many many years ago.

Having used a Palm PDA years earlier, that allowed you to use your own 3rd party keyboard. I have hated Apple's keyboard every single day I have to suffer using it.
 
macslayer118 said:
I just tried this little experiment out: Typed the same message in the video on my current device. I was quicker by quite a bit... Don't show us a cool new quicker keyboard that is supposedly quicker when it's not.

Considering they're trying to sell us this product I would expect to be blown away in their first video released to the world.

Still excited about the new keyboard features, but you gotta market!
Click to expand...

So based on your simple "experiment" you refute the need for something an entire userbase of people is requesting? This video is obviously a demonstration. Why don't you try typing faster than this guy.

"Product doesn't work for me, therefore the product must be obsolete."
Must be one of the most overused logical fallacies out there.
 
I had a SGS3, i did like trying new keyboards, and i did have a go with the swipe style modes. I guess it needs some practice, but what i felt was if you paused mid swipe to gather your thoughts, or where to move next on the keyboard it came up with some weird predictive words, so i found it a bit annoying. Having said that the 3rd party k/boards are one big thing I'm waiting for, if not just for the predictive text, either from the new apple k/board or a 3rd party one.
 
I'm just excited to finally have the ability to install a persian keyboard (rather than being stuck to using the arabic one!)
 
iOS8 keyboard is improved... but honestly, prefer the Swiftkey version that allows some underline/bold/italics option.
 
Serelus said:
So based on your simple "experiment" you refute the need for something an entire userbase of people is requesting? This video is obviously a demonstration. Why don't you try typing faster than this guy.

"Product doesn't work for me, therefore the product must be obsolete."
Must be one of the most overused logical fallacies out there.
Click to expand...

That's not what I was trying to say... but show us something QUICK if you're going to market it as quick.

I know a TON of people who swear by the swipe keyboard, and this will be for them. Maybe with practice, I could use it too, but based on this, the only video this particular company released, it's slower than my typing and I would not purchase this product. I didn't say it would be obsolete, please don't put words in my text.
 
Reason077 said:
So I guess there's a rush on amongst app vendors to try and be the biggest name in keyboards come iOS 8.

But is this really something that most people want or care about? I think with the improvements in iOS 8's keyboard, 99% of users won't care enough to ever install an alternative - especially one they have to pay for.
Click to expand...

I would agree, except that with the stock iOS 7 keyboard, I can never tell whether I'm about to type a capital or lowercase letter. I'll switch to any keyboard that provides that visual feedback in a way that my brain can process.
 
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