keyboard comparison: swype vs SwiftKey vs thumb

[ravizzle]

I finally got my xoom yesterday so I decided to do a comparison of these three alternative keyboards for the xoom.

Swype: works nicely in portrait but in landscape the input field takes over whole screen. Don't need to lift finger and in portrait there is not a long distance to swype so its very usable. The landscape mode requires too much fingers dragging though.

Swiftkey: nice tron esque theme. However in splitmode the keys are too small and leads to lots of error. The full keyboard mode is nice for when the zoom is laying on a flat surface. A bit laggy though, hopefully future update fixes that.

Thumb keyboard: my personal favorite. Can easily type with thumbs, key sizing on 7 inch tablet mode is very nice. Very fast and responsive.

Overall: swype is the best for portrait mode, and thumbkeyboard is the best for landscape use.

Feel free to add your own comments on which keyboard you prefer.

 

[Suntan]

Overall: swype is the best for portrait mode, and thumbkeyboard is the best for landscape use.

Feel free to add your own comments on which keyboard you prefer.

So I don't suppose you can set it up to automatically use swype when it portrait mode and thumb when in landscape can you?

-Suntan

 

[roadrat]

how did you get swype to work? The latest beta says its incompatible with my device (xoom)

 

[NewAge]

Nothing compares to thumb keyboard. It needs multitouch.

Swiftkey beta is bomb, just needs to give options, like keyboard size

 

[Kansas]

I've wondered how Swype would work on such a large screen. I love it on my DroidX but I don't like using it in landscape because it's so far to go to each letter.

I'm hoping that at some point they allow Swype to come up in the lower right corner (or left depending on your preference) at the same size that it would be on a phone. That way you wouldn't have to give up half the screen to a keyboard and you could use one hand to type. Maybe it wouldn't work too well but I would like to see them try.

 

[anon(49433)]

I guess I'm the only one who prefers tablet keyboard to thumbs keyboard?

 

[EvoXOhio]

Apparently I am the only one who likes the stock keyboard? I type very well on it in landscape mode with both hands. I like the one on my I pad too, but I think the xoom one is better.

 

[siscim23]

Yeah the stock keyboard is nice if the Xoom is laying down and you're using it like a regular keyboard. If you're holding it up, it's not so easy.

I just downloaded the free Tablet Keyboard, definitely going to take some getting used to.

I also have the free SlideIT. Not very efficient on a tablet. It's decent in portrait mode, but in landscape you have to swipe so far. Swype may be better if it were the same size as it is on a phone, placed in a corner.

 

[ravizzle]

So I don't suppose you can set it up to automatically use swype when it portrait mode and thumb when in landscape can you?

-Suntan

Idk how,maybe there's an app that can do that though. Luckily its super easy to switch keyboards in honeycomb, just two clicks, but I guess it would still be a hassle to switch manually every time.

 

[wotenk]

Swype says it's not supported on the Xoom resolution??

 

[ravizzle]

Swype installed for me no problem. The key resolution isn't great though, but still very usable

 

[jpprice]

I'm a big fan of Thumb Keyboard as I do my of my typing while holding it in my hands. I actually like the stock keyboard if my Xoom is laying flat.

 

[JetJock#AC]

Slide-It

Am I the only one that is using Slide-It on my Xoom? It is freakin' awsome! The latest update allows you to adjust the height of the keyboard (little tiny up/down arrows in top left of keyboard). Portrait and landscape can be adjusted independently. Also, in landscape, I keep the gestures (G) pad open on the left which shrinks the keyboard horizontally to the perfect size.

Yes, the keyboard is not really optimized for this size screen but it is still MUCH better than Swype and any of the other keyboards.

Along with great accuracy, I love adding my own "shortcuts" so can slide my name (long) or any of my email address for a quick fill function.

100% usable for me.

 

[Bossxii]

Apparently I am the only one who likes the stock keyboard? I type very well on it in landscape mode with both hands. I like the one on my I pad too, but I think the xoom one is better.

Count me in here. I use the stock keyboard and love it. Granted I also love google voice? Voice command? Whatever it's called to let it do the speech to text that way don't have to type it all!

 

[ravizzle]

Am I the only one that is using Slide-It on my Xoom? It is freakin' awsome! The latest update allows you to adjust the height of the keyboard (little tiny up/down arrows in top left of keyboard). Portrait and landscape can be adjusted independently. Also, in landscape, I keep the gestures (G) pad open on the left which shrinks the keyboard horizontally to the perfect size.

Yes, the keyboard is not really optimized for this size screen but it is still MUCH better than Swype and any of the other keyboards.

Along with great accuracy, I love adding my own "shortcuts" so can slide my name (long) or any of my email address for a quick fill function.

100% usable for me.

I just tried slide it. Its nice, however even with g pad the landscape mode is too much dragging. Also its not as accurate as swype. It does fix the landscape covering the whole screen problem though.

 

[Vudumedic]

Nothing compares to thumb keyboard. It needs multitouch.

Swiftkey beta is bomb, just needs to give options, like keyboard size

I believe that multitouch and a few other improvements are in the way for thumb keyboard in the future.

 

[timmyboy188]

Thumb keyboard for the mother fu?#*?g win!