Swype is a software for touch-screen based mobile devices that claims to offer a faster and easier way to input text. Rather than tapping your finger over the different alphabets to write a word, it allows the same by drawing one continuous line over the different alphabets forming the word. You can check out more about the product here.

I have the particular software on my Nokia C7 as well, and after using it over a period of time, there are certain conclusions I’ve reached at:

Whats Good

- The software has an amazing wow factor attached to it initially. It is nearly magical to see a word appearing on the screen just by running your finger over few alphabet keys. The in-built intelligence into the product is definitely cool.

- It even reads through your contacts. So even if you ‘swype’ the name of someone you know, the software doesn’t disappoint you. In case of regular keypads, it is always a pain to type a person’s name using the auto-dictionary.

- The method isn’t forced. You can choose to swype or tap.

Whats Not-so-Good

- With the basic means of typing being a continuous stroke, it requires operation with a single finger at any point of time; or in other words, it essentially turns the keypad usage to a single-handed affair. It requires the user to hold the phone with one hand and use a finger from the other to write. This restriction seems a let-down when we consider the regular two-hand usage of a standard keypad, especially in the landscape mode (phone placed horizontally). The speed is definitely compromised here, since the keys can definitely be tapped in a quicker manner with a two-hand usage. 

Shown in the two videos below is a comparison between the two methods for typing the same set of words: the one with swype entry is about 16 seconds long while the other runs for about 10 seconds.

But in portrait mode (phone placed vertically), where essentially a single- hand usage is preferred, the disadvantage disappears in a way. Ironically, in the Nokia C7, Swype is available in landscape mode only.

- There are certain inherent usage-related issues as well with the method of input defined by Swype:

# The effort involved in drawing a continuous stroke (without lifting the finger) in case of a long word like ‘characteristics’ is painful enough to give up on this method and follow conventional tapping.

# Being a dictionary-driven method, it emphasizes very strongly on the aspect of spelling of words. While drawing a continuous stroke, you don’t get much time to pause and think of the order of alphabets; this can lead to errors and mistakes and turn the user away. In a way, the factor also mandates a good recollection of the placement of alphabets on the keypad.

# Also, while drawing a stroke, the finger generally hides a few alphabets, forcing you to pause and look out for them. This adds to the irritation.

Personal Opinion

The tool is definitely impressive and offers an advantage in certain scenarios as well; but it still offers a solution that ‘looks’ more useful than it actually is. In my opinion one of the big issues lies right at the strategy of the product, as it sticks to using the auto-dictionary (as compared to free typing), which makes the process restrictive and slow. For ‘quick’ text input, nothing beats the co-ordination and speed offered by two-hand typing, without any dictionary support (allowing people to make mistakes, rather than continuously correcting them). 

Thus I believe there is a need for a closer look at this particular style of typing (two-hand) and its inherent advantages, to create a truly fast and efficient method of input. Just a thought, but maybe the two methods could be merged -the two thumbs could swype separately on the keypad to create a single word?