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7 Keyboard App Alternatives For Android
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There are a host of keyboard app alternatives for Android. Find out which one is the most apt for you...
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Monday, January 30, 2012:
After using a physical keyboard for years, it is obviously difficult to get accustomed to typing on a touchscreen. This is a major issue faced by new Android smartphone users. Even worse is that many Android-powered smartphones do not have a good touch-typing software pre-installed. But you don't need to worry about this, as there are a host of keyboard app alternatives. Find out which one is the most apt for you from the list below.
SWYPE
In most of the cases, Android phones come pre-installed with two virtual keyboards - the normal Qwerty keyboard and the SWYPE. You just need to activate SWYPE and you can access one of the finest keyboards on your Android smartphone. SWYPE is very different from the traditional software as it lets users type the text just by gliding along the alphabets of a particular word, even without lift their finger.
For example, if you have to write the word ANDROID, place your finger on A. Then all you need to do is to glide over the subsequent alphabets N-D-R-O-I-D. Of course one cannot ignore the fact that gliding on the touchscreen keyboard may make you touch some unwanted alphabets, but the in-built algorithm of the keyboard is intuitive and discards the letters you don't wish to type.
You also have an option to add any new word to your dictionary list so that the word readily appears when you type it the next time. In case your phone does not offer SWYPE, you can download it for free from swype.com.
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TouchPal
This Android keyboard app is pretty similar to SWYPE but offers some unique attributes of its own. You can blind type on your touchscreen after you are used to the keypad layout. The keyboard has the tendency of learning input patterns of the users. It can predict the words you want to type, based on the curves when you glide along the keypad. These features are to be seen to be believed. This keyboard app also supports some unique gestures including swiping up to input a number and swiping down for a special character.
The keyboard also allows the users to cut, copy and paste. TouchPal is currently a part of public beta and can be downloaded from www.cootek.com.
ICS Keyboard
It's not long when BlindType demonstrated some great piece of text-prediction software for Android devices. But before it could be made available for public use, Google snapped it. A portion of that technology has been used by Google in the latest version of Android - IceCream Sandwich.
Some hackers took this keyboard out from ICS and made it available for people using older versions of Android through Android market. The keyboard offers multi-touch, built-in dictionary, configurable auto correction, speech to text (select languages only), custom vibration intensity (haptic feedback), long press 'Enter' key to bring up smiley alternatives and even long press on the '/' key in URL mode to bring up domains, said a TOI report.
SwiftKeyX
SwiftKeyX is good at adapting your style of typing. The keyboard is fabulous with accurate word predictions. A review of the keyboard calls it 'the virtual keyboard Google would be crazy not to acquire'. The only bad part of the keyboard is that it is free to use only for a month. Users need to shell out Rs 205 to use it further.
Go Keyboard
Go Keyboard is free and is one of the best-looking keyboards for Android. Users can choose from a variety of themes available for the keyboard. It brings along features like auto-correct while typing, multi-point touch keyboard and support for slide input. If you are fond of personalising your apps, Go Keyboard can be your perfect choice.
Better Keyboard
This keyboard app is for the people who like simple things in life. It has large buttons, which makes it easier to type as compared to many other keyboards. Gestures are implemented to make operation easy on Better keyboard.
SlideIT
SlideIT is pretty similar to SWYPE in the way the words are entered and also its swiping motion. It brings support for multiple languages, and can also download packs from the Android Market. The app is able to determine the desired word, even if the users do not hit the correct letters while typing. This keyboard is a good alternative to the Swype keyboard, and is readily available in the Android Market. Users can download the demo version for free while a paid version is available for £5.99.
Diksha P Gupta, EFYTIMES News Network
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