Swype
{{Short description|Virtual keyboard application}}
{{Infobox software
| logo = Swype logo.png
| screenshot =
| caption =
| author =
| developer = Nuance (Microsoft)
| released = {{Start date|2009|12|02}}
| latest release version = {{Latest stable software release/Swype for Android}}
| operating system = Android 2.2 and later, Bada, MeeGo, Symbian, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, iOS 8 and later
| language =
| discontinued = yes
| genre = Virtual keyboard, speech recognition
| license = Proprietary
| website = hide
}}
Swype was a virtual keyboard for touchscreen smartphones and tablets originally developed by Swype Inc.,{{cite web |url=http://www.swypeinc.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910193450/http://www.swypeinc.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-09-10 |title=Swype Home Page |website=SwypeInc.com |access-date=2011-10-27 }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.swypeinc.com/product.html |title=Swype product page |website=SwypeInc.com |accessdate=2011-10-27 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101004212941/http://swypeinc.com/product.html |archive-date=2010-10-04 }} 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,{{cite web |url=http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/first-swype-enabled-smartphone-coming-to-verizon-in-the-omnia-ii-20091124/ |title=First Swype-enabled smartphone coming to Verizon in the Omnia II |website=Geek.com |date=2009-11-24 |accessdate=2012-04-03 |archive-date=2009-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128233743/http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/first-swype-enabled-smartphone-coming-to-verizon-in-the-omnia-ii-20091124/ |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |last=Arrington |first=Michael |url=http://uncrunched.com/2011/10/06/nuance-to-acquire-swype-for-100-million/ |title=Nuance To Acquire Swype For $100+ Million « Uncrunched |website=Uncrunched.com |date=2011-10-06 |accessdate=2011-10-27 |archive-date=2013-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428100623/http://uncrunched.com/2011/10/06/nuance-to-acquire-swype-for-100-million/ |url-status=dead }}
In February 2018, Nuance announced that it had stopped development on the app and that no further updates will be made to it.{{Cite news|url=https://www.gsmarena.com/swype_keyboard_discontinued-news-29694.php|title=Swype Keyboard now discontinued|date=February 20, 2018|work=GSM Arena|access-date=February 20, 2018}} 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.
Software
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.
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.{{cite web |url=http://blip.tv/file/1372350 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022223642/http://blip.tv/file/1372350 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-10-22 |title=Tech Crunch 50 Swype Presentation |website=Blip.tv |access-date=2011-10-27}}Rafe Needleman, [http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10037202-2.html Move over T9, here comes Swype] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510052010/http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10037202-2.html |date=2011-05-10 }}, CNet News, 9 September 2008 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,{{cite press release |url=http://www.samsungusanews.com/2010/03/samsung-mobile-and-swype-set-new-guinness-world-record/ |title=Samsung Mobile And Swype Set New Guinness World Record |publisher=Samsung USA|date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326134157/http://www.samsungusanews.com/2010/03/samsung-mobile-and-swype-set-new-guinness-world-record/ |archive-date=2010-03-26 |url-status=usurped}}{{cite press release |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/03/22/swype-user-sets-guinness-world-record-for-texting-speed/ |title=Swype user sets Guinness World Record for texting speed |publisher=TechCrunch|date=March 22, 2010 |accessdate=November 30, 2012}} and reportedly improved on 22 August of the same year to 25.94 using a Samsung Galaxy S.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8939000/8939790.stm|title=Salford woman makes bid for fastest text title|newspaper=BBC News|date=August 24, 2010|accessdate=June 20, 2011}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/15/tech/mobile/guiness-record-fastest-text/|title=Teen Breaks Record for Fastest Text |publisher=CNN News| date=May 15, 2014 |accessdate= April 26, 2017}}
{{As of|2018|3}}, Swype supports the following languages:{{cite web|title=Swype {{!}} Supported Languages|url=http://www.swype.com/about/supported-languages/|accessdate=24 April 2013|archive-date=19 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519195233/http://www.swype.com/about/supported-languages/|url-status=dead}}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Keyboard | Handwriting | Dragon Dictation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Albanian | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Arabic | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Armenian | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Azerbaijani | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Basque | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Belarusian | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Bosnian | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Bulgarian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Burmese | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Burmese (Zawgyi font) | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Catalan | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Chinese (CN, TW, HK) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Croatian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Czech | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Danish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Dutch (BE) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Dutch | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| English | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| English (US) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Estonian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Farsi | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Finnish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| French (FR, CA, CH) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Galician | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Georgian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| German | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| German (CH) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Greek | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Gujarati | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Hebrew | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Hindi | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{ya}} |
| Hinglish | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{ya}} |
| Hungarian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Icelandic | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Indonesian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Irish | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Italian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Italian (CH) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Japanese | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Javanese | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Kannada | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Kazakh | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Khmer | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Korean | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Latvian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Lithuanian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Macedonian | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Malay | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Malayalam | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Marathi | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Norwegian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Polish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Portuguese (BR, PT) | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Romanian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Russian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Serbian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Sesotho | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Sinhala | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Slovak | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Slovenian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Spanish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Sundanese | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Swahili | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Swedish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Tagalog | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Tamil | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Telugu | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Thai | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Turkish | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Ukrainian | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} |
| Urdu | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{na}} |
| Vietnamese | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{ya}} |
| Xhosa | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
| Zulu | {{ya}} | {{na}} | {{na}} |
Swype was listed among Time magazine's 50 Best Android Applications for 2013.{{cite magazine |url=https://techland.time.com/2013/07/01/50-best-android-apps-for-2013/slide/swype/ | title=50 Best Android Apps for 2013 | author=Jared Newman | magazine=Time | access-date=June 30, 2013 | date=2013-07-01}}
Availability
{{cleanup rewrite|date=April 2013}}
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 need to use a 3rd party service 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
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,098,896.PN.&OS=PN/7,098,896&RS=PN/7,098,896 United States Patent 7,098,896. C. Kushler, R. Marsden, "System and method for continuous stroke word-based text input"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126042445/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,098,896.PN.&OS=PN/7,098,896&RS=PN/7,098,896 |date=2021-01-26 }}
- [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,250,938.PN.&OS=PN/7,250,938&RS=PN/7,250,938 United States Patent 7,250,938. D. Kirkland, D. Kumhyr, E. Ratliff, K. Smith, "System and method for improved user input on personal computing devices"]
Category:Android (operating system) software