This 8pen Keyboard They just released... [eh]

[Corey]

I've been sticking with the keyboard and it's starting to pay off. I've got a good idea of where the letters are without too much looking around. Certain words are really starting to flow quickly, and I can bang out a quick text. I've been messing around with the different pressure sensitivity settings and found the medium setting to work alright. I can get a capital letter intentionally about 80% of the time. The light setting is way too sensitive.

I really like the keyboard a lot. The more I'm using it, the more intuitive it becomes. Am I as fast with 8pen as I would be on a good day of Swype? No. Not hardly. I'm a little faster than a bad day of Swype, where the words I swype in are not what seems to pop up on screen.

I'm sticking with it. I honestly think that I'll eventually be good day Swype fast, and that it'll be more consistent for me than Swype, or any other keyboard.

 

[nocturnal9#AC]

I liked it a lot but chose to return it because I kept having to peek under my finger to type while-still-holding-my-finger-in-place so I didn't lose the word. If it's updated and has some sort of optional indication, a repeat of the keyboard above the swiping space so i can cheat and see where the keys are, I'd buy it again. Shame the return period isn't 5 days or so.

 

[jnadelman]

Any word on a trial or demo for this? I really want to try it, but not willing to shell out the cash. I know it is only $1.59 but still, I don't want to waste it if I won't like the keyboard. And the 24 hour return policy isn't quite good enough considering the steep learning curve.

 

[Brett]

I've been sticking with the keyboard and it's starting to pay off. I've got a good idea of where the letters are without too much looking around. Certain words are really starting to flow quickly, and I can bang out a quick text. I've been messing around with the different pressure sensitivity settings and found the medium setting to work alright. I can get a capital letter intentionally about 80% of the time. The light setting is way too sensitive.

I really like the keyboard a lot. The more I'm using it, the more intuitive it becomes. Am I as fast with 8pen as I would be on a good day of Swype? No. Not hardly. I'm a little faster than a bad day of Swype, where the words I swype in are not what seems to pop up on screen.

I'm sticking with it. I honestly think that I'll eventually be good day Swype fast, and that it'll be more consistent for me than Swype, or any other keyboard.

i guess practice makes perfect. it is nice to see people sticking with something like this in order to give it a fair chance. it is a shame when people try something out for like a day and then pass judgement without giving something a solid chance.

personally from what i have seen from this keyboard, not my cup of tea. it is intuitive but a little too intuitive for me. busy busy busy haha. i would need a good amount of downtime during the week to get used to it and text/type/email without feeling rushed.

good luck man. keep us updated on your experiences

 

[ram21]

Updated and Free 1.1

Checked it out in the market today. They just updated it. Also they are offering it for free right now!

 

[jnadelman]

I'm trying it, and will continue to do so for at least a week. Right now I really like the custom gestures. There are names and places and things that I type all the time, so I have programmed all of them for quick and easy use.
The rest of the keyboard is clearly going to take some time to get used to. I am having a hard time finding the letters. Those few (like 4 of them) that I have memorized already are flowing pretty quick. Only 22 more to go.

 

[GenericMessage]

I guess I am mental or something because I just don't get it.

It took me like 10 tries to get to type the letter A.


Seems like a cool idea, but I guess it isn't for me

 

[Corey]

Quick update, since using the update hit.

I really like the new preview window that pops up helps quite a bit with the lower letters that get blocked by my finger. They added a setting that lets you turn off the auto space on finger lift. I kinda dig the auto space though.

I've reached a level of comfort with it that I've been able to think of some things to send that may help improve the keyboard further.

 

[Johnly]

I might try it for fun...I am so comfy with swype though

 

[NEST600]

I'm still much slower with it than Swype but I am slowed with Swype that with Shapewriter too. Shapewriter would probably win me back permanently on re-release. I'm impressed with the new release of 8pen though. Two things makes me set at default over Swype right now.. 1) I can blind type with it better now that I'm pretty wsure which quadrant characters are in. And 2) using gestures of things is better for me than white Swype has done to me with that poorly managed user dictionary. -Pk

 

[cckgz4]

Love it and it's free also.

 

[Addie_Goodvibes]

I downloaded it, its free..

have been practicing and it seems to be smooth and quick. Not very intuitive..
I prefer Swype

 

[Corey]

Another update. Why not?

I took a break last week from the 8pen keyboard and ended up bouncing around between stock, Swype, Vlingo, and SwiftKey. Prior to using 8pen, I was pretty dedicated to Swype. Now, though, the problems I had with Swype before seem to be far worse. I can't get it to do a full sentence without screwing up basic words. Between or, our, and out, I can't get Swype to give me the one that I want when I want it. There are some other words along those lines where there's a letter or two difference between three or four common words that will always trip me up. It's that kinda stuff that continually frustrated me with Swype. This past week with other keyboards really didn't do much for me. Of them all, the Vlingo one was pretty good, but not all that much better than stock or just pounding on letters with Swype. SwiftKey ended up annoying me more often than not. The word prediction was wrong more often than not, and for some reason it felt the need to suggest Champagne as the first word for every frigging sentence I tried to type.

So now I'm back to 8pen. The break from using it actually seems to have made me a little quicker with it. I know where the letters are about 90% of the time and am pretty quick with common words. It is now as fast for me as using the stock keyboard in most cases. Swype is still faster, but only when it gets the words right. Since my Swype-ing skills seem to have gone down the krapper, it's no longer an advantage. That's more an issue with me than with the program itself, so take with a grain of salt.

 

[beez1717]

I like the update. Makes typing a breeze. Although I'm slow, I'm learning fast. I know that with time I will be just as fast as with the slideIT keyboard. I like the pop-up. No more looking under my finger It's a keeper in my book.

P.s. I wrote this entire post with this keyboard. Wasn't too hard to do.

Sent from my Droid

 

[Hurleygm]

I'm pretty sure you can do this with an app called tasker.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[jedimstr397]

My biggest gripe with this is that it can't handle mid-word capitalization in any easy way in a capacitive screen. There's no pressure sensor, so that option is completely useless for 90+% of Android phones. I know this is a small issue, but it also feels like a pretty big one since this input method focuses around continuous gesturing to form a word. If I were to type McDonald, I would have to hit shift, gesture Mc, stop, hit the backspace key to remove the extra space, hit shift again, and then continue.

Doing a full circle in addition to the previous letter capitalizes them all... then just choose your letter.

Does anyone ever read the tips and tricks?