There have been occasions when I have cursed Swype–many of them. It usually happens when I have to send out a correction for a bizarre message I sent by accident. My husband often responds to unintelligible messages with a weary request that I please proofread my texts before I send them. So yes, I’ve caused and had my own fair share of frustration. I use the keyboard on my phone and tablet so often that the efficiency and accuracy–or lack thereof–of mobile data entry is directly correlated with my happiness level.
So why do I continue to use Swype? Two reasons: As I become more familiar with the shortcuts and as I improve my swyping technique, I have less and less frustrations with it. More importantly, it’s loads better than the alternative–heaven forbid I actually have to type out each character on a virtual keyboard. No thanks.
So here are some things that have helped me warm up to Swype:
1: When I started Swyping I had kind of a swoopy scalloped style that was sabotaging my efforts. It confused Swype. I find that it’s sooooo much more accurate when you just make a straight line from point A to point B.
2: Personal dictionary is a beautiful thing–especially for names you use often. Many times in the beginning I would swype a word, but it would auto correct to something else, every time, thus all those bizarre and sometimes inappropriate messages I sent out. When you type in an uncommon word, look at the word choice list for what you spelled out and tap the correct one. If this is a new word for the dictionary it will remember it, and it will also remember that this is your preferred word when you swype that particular pattern, instead of defaulting to generally more common words in the dictionary.
3: READ your message before you send it. I’m still working on this one. Strange unwanted words will still make appearances in your texts even after you’ve mastered your swyping technique and personal dictionary. Just give the thing a brief read before hitting send, or post, or whatever you’re doing. It’s worth the extra three seconds.
There are a lot more tips for Swype here on the Swype website. They’re definitely worth a look-see if you use Swype with any regularity.
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