I've been a Smart Keyboard Pro user since my OG Droid, and then to my Evo. Over the years I've fine tuned my settings and custom auto text to a point where I barely make any mistakes while typing. I can pound out entire paragraphs quickly, and accurately. It really is a great keyboard once you really get under the hood and get your hands dirty.
However, it simply doesn't seem to work as well on the Epic 4G Touch. I'm a quick typer, and when I get cruising on the E4GT, it seems like it's unable to properly register all keystrokes. It'll keep up just fine for a bit, but then it'll throw in a double keystroke, or completely miss one altogether. Has anybody else noticed this? I emailed the developers to let them know, so hopefully they'll take a look.
Since I'm a heavy texter/emailer, quick and accurate text entry is a must for me. I hate SWYPE, so, over the last week or so, I've been shopping around for different keyboards. I type in landscape about 95% of the time, so my feelings and opinions are based on landscape orientation.
Gingerbread Keyboard:
It's good, but not great. Lacks a lot of customization that I've really grown accustomed to. The layout leaves a bit to be desired, and I've never found it to be the most accurate keyboard on the market.
Swiftkey X
I've never liked this keyboard much either, but I bought it last year when it was on sale for a buck. I don't care for its word prediction, so I always turn that off. My biggest problem with it is the spacebar. I get annoyed when keyboards have so much stuff right on the main layout, it leaves a spacebar that's about this big: [ ].
GO Keyboard
I was actually really impressed with GO Keyboard at first. I did a lot of fast typing tests, and it performed very well. However, after using it for a day or so, I got annoyed by little nuances here and there. I didn't like the layout of the punctuation suggestions. Plus it had some quirky behavior in other areas as well.
A.I. Keyboard
A.I. Keyboard was awesome. It was responsive, accurate, and had some nice looking skins. But it didn't suggestion punctuation after a space, and this is absolutely crucial to me. I use the punctuation suggestions all the time. I looked through the preferences a good 3 or 4 times looking for it, so unless I missed it, it's not in there -- which is kind of surprised, because it's a great feature. I purchased the full version to test out the customizations, but ended up refunding, because I knew I couldn't do without the punctuation bar. After I refunded, I emailed the developers to let them know I would buy it for sure if it had the punctuation bar.
Thumb Keyboard
I'd heard about Thumb Keyboard when I still had my Evo, but, I didn't have any need at the time for a new keyboard. I saw the screen shots of its "ergo" style layout, and thought it was really awkward looking. I tested it out anyway, and wow, I'm surprised. The split keyboard layout is surprisingly really great.The Epic 4G Touch has a pretty large screen, and I found myself having to stretch my thumbs quite a bit (not an annoyance, just worth nothing. So I was pleasantly surprised by how nice Thumb Keyboard feels to type on. The space bar is split in two, and it covers a good portion of the bottom row, really easy to find. Another awesome thing about Thumb Keyboard is its multi touch functionality. The shift key works like a real shift key. Hold shift down, and then you can type in capitals with your other thumb. When you're finished, release the shift key, and it's back to normal. Same thing with numbers/alt characters. Hold down the number/alt key with one thumb, and type numbers and special characters with the other thumb. Then just release the key when you're finished. Feels really intuitive, like a real keyboard.
Of all the keyboards I've tested so far on the E4GT, I recommend Thumb Keyboard. I haven't found anything to complain about just yet. Of all the keyboards I've tried so far, none of them have the custom auto text like Smart Keyboard Pro has. During the year(s) I've been using SKP, I've built up quite an awesome dictionary of custom auto text, and I would love to see that on more keyboards.
However, it simply doesn't seem to work as well on the Epic 4G Touch. I'm a quick typer, and when I get cruising on the E4GT, it seems like it's unable to properly register all keystrokes. It'll keep up just fine for a bit, but then it'll throw in a double keystroke, or completely miss one altogether. Has anybody else noticed this? I emailed the developers to let them know, so hopefully they'll take a look.
Since I'm a heavy texter/emailer, quick and accurate text entry is a must for me. I hate SWYPE, so, over the last week or so, I've been shopping around for different keyboards. I type in landscape about 95% of the time, so my feelings and opinions are based on landscape orientation.
Gingerbread Keyboard:
It's good, but not great. Lacks a lot of customization that I've really grown accustomed to. The layout leaves a bit to be desired, and I've never found it to be the most accurate keyboard on the market.
Swiftkey X
I've never liked this keyboard much either, but I bought it last year when it was on sale for a buck. I don't care for its word prediction, so I always turn that off. My biggest problem with it is the spacebar. I get annoyed when keyboards have so much stuff right on the main layout, it leaves a spacebar that's about this big: [ ].
GO Keyboard
I was actually really impressed with GO Keyboard at first. I did a lot of fast typing tests, and it performed very well. However, after using it for a day or so, I got annoyed by little nuances here and there. I didn't like the layout of the punctuation suggestions. Plus it had some quirky behavior in other areas as well.
A.I. Keyboard
A.I. Keyboard was awesome. It was responsive, accurate, and had some nice looking skins. But it didn't suggestion punctuation after a space, and this is absolutely crucial to me. I use the punctuation suggestions all the time. I looked through the preferences a good 3 or 4 times looking for it, so unless I missed it, it's not in there -- which is kind of surprised, because it's a great feature. I purchased the full version to test out the customizations, but ended up refunding, because I knew I couldn't do without the punctuation bar. After I refunded, I emailed the developers to let them know I would buy it for sure if it had the punctuation bar.
Thumb Keyboard
I'd heard about Thumb Keyboard when I still had my Evo, but, I didn't have any need at the time for a new keyboard. I saw the screen shots of its "ergo" style layout, and thought it was really awkward looking. I tested it out anyway, and wow, I'm surprised. The split keyboard layout is surprisingly really great.The Epic 4G Touch has a pretty large screen, and I found myself having to stretch my thumbs quite a bit (not an annoyance, just worth nothing. So I was pleasantly surprised by how nice Thumb Keyboard feels to type on. The space bar is split in two, and it covers a good portion of the bottom row, really easy to find. Another awesome thing about Thumb Keyboard is its multi touch functionality. The shift key works like a real shift key. Hold shift down, and then you can type in capitals with your other thumb. When you're finished, release the shift key, and it's back to normal. Same thing with numbers/alt characters. Hold down the number/alt key with one thumb, and type numbers and special characters with the other thumb. Then just release the key when you're finished. Feels really intuitive, like a real keyboard.
Of all the keyboards I've tested so far on the E4GT, I recommend Thumb Keyboard. I haven't found anything to complain about just yet. Of all the keyboards I've tried so far, none of them have the custom auto text like Smart Keyboard Pro has. During the year(s) I've been using SKP, I've built up quite an awesome dictionary of custom auto text, and I would love to see that on more keyboards.
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