Swype

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swype
Developer(s)Nuance (Microsoft)
Initial releaseDecember 2, 2009 (2009-12-02)
Final release
Android
1.6.20 (November 19, 2014; 9 years ago (2014-11-19)[1]) [±]
Operating systemAndroid 2.2 and later, Bada, MeeGo, Symbian, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, iOS 8 and later
TypeVirtual keyboard, speech recognition
LicenseProprietary

Swype was a virtual keyboard for touchscreen smartphones and tablets originally developed by Swype Inc.,[2] founded in 2002, where the user enters words by sliding a finger or stylus from the first letter of a word to its last letter, lifting only between words.[3] It uses error-correction algorithms and a language model to guess the intended word. It also includes a predictive text system, handwriting and speech recognition support. Swype was first commercially available on the Samsung Omnia II running Windows Mobile,[4] and was originally pre-loaded on specific devices.

In October 2011, Swype Inc. was acquired by Nuance Communications where the company continued its development and implemented its speech recognition algorithm, Dragon Dictation.[5]

In February 2018, Nuance announced that it had stopped development on the app and that no further updates will be made to it.[6] The Android app was pulled from the Play Store. The iOS app was also pulled from the App Store. The trial version of Swype is not visible anymore for users in Play Store except users who have installed the app by accessing it in the installed apps part of the Play Store. Cloud features of the paid version such as "Backup&Sync" no longer function, and Nuance Communications has refused to issue refunds to customers who have purchased the app and can no longer reinstall it.

Users have to use Aptoide to download the full version of Swype.

Software[edit]

Swype consists of three major components that contribute to its accuracy and speed: an input path analyzer, word search engine with corresponding database, and a manufacturer customizable interface.[3]

The creators of Swype predict that users will achieve over 50 words per minute, with the chief technical officer (CTO) and founder Cliff Kushler claiming to have reached 55 words per minute.[7][8] On 22 March 2010, a Swype employee by the name of Franklin Page achieved a new Guinness World Record of 35.54 seconds for the fastest text message on a touchscreen mobile phone using Swype on the Samsung i8000,[9][10] and reportedly improved on 22 August of the same year to 25.94 using a Samsung Galaxy S.[11] The Guinness world record text message consists of 160 characters in 25 words and was at that time typed in 25.94 seconds, which corresponds to a speed of nearly 58 words per minute, or 370 characters per minute. However, it has since been bettered by the Fleksy app on an Android phone to 18.19 seconds in 2014.[12]

As of March 2018, Swype supports the following languages:[13]

Keyboard Handwriting Dragon Dictation
Afrikaans Yes Yes No
Albanian Yes No No
Arabic Yes Yes Yes
Armenian Yes No No
Azerbaijani Yes No No
Basque Yes Yes No
Belarusian Yes No No
Bosnian Yes No No
Bulgarian Yes Yes No
Burmese Yes No No
Burmese (Zawgyi font) Yes No No
Catalan Yes Yes Yes
Chinese (CN, TW, HK) Yes Yes Yes
Croatian Yes Yes Yes
Czech Yes Yes Yes
Danish Yes Yes Yes
Dutch (BE) Yes Yes Yes
Dutch Yes Yes Yes
English Yes Yes Yes
English (US) Yes Yes Yes
Estonian Yes Yes No
Farsi Yes Yes No
Finnish Yes Yes Yes
French (FR, CA, CH) Yes Yes Yes
Galician Yes Yes No
Georgian Yes Yes No
German Yes Yes Yes
German (CH) Yes Yes No
Greek Yes Yes Yes
Gujarati Yes No No
Hebrew Yes Yes Yes
Hindi Yes No Yes
Hinglish Yes No Yes
Hungarian Yes Yes Yes
Icelandic Yes Yes No
Indonesian Yes Yes Yes
Irish Yes No No
Italian Yes Yes Yes
Italian (CH) Yes Yes No
Japanese Yes Yes Yes
Javanese Yes No No
Kannada Yes No No
Kazakh Yes No No
Khmer Yes No No
Korean Yes Yes Yes
Latvian Yes Yes No
Lithuanian Yes Yes No
Macedonian Yes No No
Malay Yes Yes Yes
Malayalam Yes No No
Marathi Yes No No
Norwegian Yes Yes Yes
Polish Yes Yes Yes
Portuguese (BR, PT) Yes Yes Yes
Romanian Yes Yes Yes
Russian Yes Yes Yes
Serbian Yes Yes No
Sesotho Yes No No
Sinhala Yes No No
Slovak Yes Yes Yes
Slovenian Yes Yes No
Spanish Yes Yes Yes
Sundanese Yes No No
Swahili Yes Yes No
Swedish Yes Yes Yes
Tagalog Yes Yes No
Tamil Yes No No
Telugu Yes No No
Thai Yes Yes Yes
Turkish Yes Yes Yes
Ukrainian Yes Yes Yes
Urdu Yes Yes No
Vietnamese Yes No Yes
Xhosa Yes No No
Zulu Yes No No

Swype was listed among Time magazine's 50 Best Android Applications for 2013.[14]

Availability[edit]

In February 2018, the Android app was pulled from the Play Store. The iOS app was also pulled from the App Store.

Starting from 2018, users have to use Aptoide to download the full version of Swype.

In late February 2018, the full version of Swype was discontinued. The trial version of Swype is hidden from the Play Store and App Store. The Swype website was also discontinued and has become a redirect page to XT9 Smart Input.

In a statement emailed to The Verge, Nuance Communications said it would discontinue support of the Swype keyboard app and instead focus on other products. "The core technology behind Swype will continue to be utilized and improved upon across other Nuance offerings—and integrated into our broader AI-powered solutions—most notably in Android-based keyboard solutions for our automotive customers," the company said.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Swype - Android Apps on Google Play". Retrieved 23 Jan 2014.
  2. ^ "Swype Home Page". SwypeInc.com. Archived from the original on 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  3. ^ a b "Swype product page". SwypeInc.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  4. ^ "First Swype-enabled smartphone coming to Verizon in the Omnia II". Geek.com. 2009-11-24. Archived from the original on 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  5. ^ Arrington, Michael (2011-10-06). "Nuance To Acquire Swype For $100+ Million « Uncrunched". Uncrunched.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  6. ^ "Swype Keyboard now discontinued". GSM Arena. February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  7. ^ "Tech Crunch 50 Swype Presentation". Blip.tv. Archived from the original on 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  8. ^ Rafe Needleman, Move over T9, here comes Swype Archived 2011-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, CNet News, 9 September 2008
  9. ^ "Samsung Mobile And Swype Set New Guinness World Record" (Press release). Samsung USA. March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-26. Retrieved July 14, 2010.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ "Swype user sets Guinness World Record for texting speed" (Press release). TechCrunch. March 22, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  11. ^ "Salford woman makes bid for fastest text title". BBC News. August 24, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  12. ^ "Teen Breaks Record for Fastest Text". CNN News. May 15, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  13. ^ "Swype | Supported Languages". Archived from the original on 19 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  14. ^ Jared Newman (2013-07-01). "50 Best Android Apps for 2013". Time. Retrieved June 30, 2013.

External links[edit]