I think most of us would agree that the iPhone keyboard is one of the best soft touch keyboards around. The keys are very responsive and touches are accurate. I also think Apple could stand to modernize a bit. Though their standard keyboard is great, they are falling behind the times when it comes to alternative text input.
While many of Google’s Android handsets come with options like Swype preinstalled, Apple customers are left sitting on the bank throwing rocks. Those who have played with Swype know what I’m talking about, the concept is amazing. You just draw a line with your finger from letter to letter of the word you want to type on the virtual keyboard…
The technology behind Swype is really what I’m after, Apple can call it whatever they want. Not only does it allow you to scribe words by drawing lines to letters, it learns your style of writing throughout the whole process. This unique style of typing has proven itself over and over again to be the future of text input. So why hasn’t Apple jumped on board?
Maybe they think customers are content with the current keyboard offering, and they’re probably right for the most part. There’s also the slight chance that they could be working on their own input technology for iOS 5.
I’m not much for predictions, but I do wonder what’s been stopping Swype from coming to the iOS platform. I’m also curious as to what happened to ShapeWriter in the App Store, and why 8Pen never made it to iOS.
We’re not dying without an alternative texting option, but it sure would be nice to have a choice. I guess we’ll just have to add it to our long wish-list of features to see added in future iOS releases.
Would you like to see a Swype-style keyboard in iOS? Know of any jailbreak options other than MobType?