April 28th in iPad News by

Not to Keen on the iPad Keyboard

To begin, something that has nothing to do with this article but is big news never the less.  Apple iPad 3G pre-order customers have begun receiving confirmation that their iPad 3G is shipping, to arrive this Friday.  In the alternative, if you did not pre-order and if you enjoy mob scenes and/or chaos, the 3G will be available in-store after 5pm the same day.

Now to the actual topic of this post, the touchscreen iPad keyboard.  The QWERTY design of the keyboard on the iPad is difficult to use in landscape mode and even more difficult to use in portrait mode (the assumption here of course is that you have not connected your iPad to Apple’s keyboard dock or a Bluetooth enabled keyboard).  The problem resides in the fact that typing with two hands is difficult at best given that the majority of the time you are holding the iPad with one hand and using the other to type.

Unlike a traditional keyboard, which is not designed to be looked at while typing, the iPad’s on-screen keyboard forces one to stare it.  The solution to the iPad’s keyboard issue must make typing on the device both easy and fast, in addition to being intuitive.  What then are the alternatives to the iPad’s keyboard conundrum?

The first alternative to the current keyboard setup on the iPad would seem to be something akin to Swype.  Used on certain Nokia and Samsung models, T-mobile has recently launched its first Swype supported device, and an Android developer’s kit was released in February.  According to their site, “Swype provides a faster and easier way to input text on any screen. With one continuous finger or stylus motion across the screen keyboard, the patented technology enables users to input words faster and easier than other data input methods—at over 50 words per minute.”

Given the speed and ease with which one can compose with Swype, I would welcome the ability to input text on my iPad using Swype.

The second alternative is ThickButtons.  An Android only app at this point, ThickButtons uses a predictive algorithm and a dictionary, similar to Swype. It differs however, in that it enlarges certain buttons as you go.  Not nearly as visually appealing as Swype, it is Android exclusive at this point and error correction can be time consuming, ThickButtons is an alternative to the iPad’s current text input system, but only that we are unlikely to see added.

Have you experienced difficulty typing with the touchscreen iPad keyboard?  Which text input/keyboard alternative, be it one listed above or other, would you like to see on the iPad?


The author of this post is

Creator of Digital Deconstruction, write for The Next Web, iPadFan, and more. Animal, music, literature, history lover, law school graduate. http://about.me/jffcrmr

Visit Jeff Cormier's website

 

  • Aajaxx

    Actually, ShapeWriter, using the same principle, was better than Swype.

  • Eternalist

    Swype please…lol I actually keep trying to swype on my iPad after playing with my phone all the time

  • Cmjpreba1

    I LOVE Swype.  I’m not switching to an iphone until a program similar to swype is available on the iphone.

  • Plasell

    The “alternative” you’re actually suggesting is Android. Worst article ever!

  • Apryl@yahoo.com

    I’d like for Apple to enable Swype on the Ipad’s. Adding Sywpe might be the only reason I would upgrade to a newer IPad.

  • Ne555

    Shouldn’t it be “Not TOO Keen…?” They must be hard to type with. Or maybe your quirky headline just went over my head.

  • Ray

    Hi Ron

    Thanks for your patience.  We are VERY close to launching our first App now.  We expect to have it on Google Market within the next few weeks.  We will also be launching our brand new website which will provide a lot more detail on our 21st century Keyboard design.

    Unfortunately, we won’t be launching the same App for the iPhone, because of Apple’s non-open policy regarding its operating system.  We do however have plans to bring a physical version of our keyboard to market at some stage in the future, depending on demand.  We’ll have a 3D animation of what it might look like on our website.

    Thanks for your interest in BeeRaider.

    Ray.

  • K8bushfan

    MessagEase would be nice  – never got the hang of Swype myself.

  • Ron Warrick

    Waiting.

  • Fhcsmusicteacher

    I LOVE Swype!

  • http://twitter.com/baligeko Paul Kindervater

    ios 5 apparently just got notifications like android,
    so hopefully Swype will come on board next.
    Now that flash is dead, more sites will support HTML 5 as well.

  • Schwul

    Try as I might, I cannot figure out how to use an iPad for work. No animated power points, no word ompatible editing, no presentation designer, etc. sure there re apps but they work like Microsoft office did in 1992

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002181230591 Sardonick Doubleohseven

    Love Swype (and a couple of other swipe boards) on my droids, but on my iPad and touch I couldn’t care less because that platform works very well without it. I would not mind some choice in the matter, but in the end, I like the setup well enough not to miss the fragmentation that follows choice. 

  • Kevin Gilmartin

    Heartily agree that Swype would a welcome alternative – I love it on my Android phone and find the iPad navite keyboard a little uncomfortable.

  • http://www.facebook.com/andischatz Andi Schatz

    Having used SlideIT (an Android App similar to Swype) on my HTC Desire for months, and absolutely loving it, I find typing on the iPad really cumbersome now and I wish there was an alternative available. From their respective website it seems that the makers of both Swype and SlideIT have iPhone/iPad Apps ready to go, surely it can’t be that difficult for Apple to allow them onto their devices? 

  • Anonymous

    The iPad Keyboard looks nice ,I want to buy one.

  • http://twitter.com/jonathannorman1 Jonathan Norman

    I’m not a fan of Swype, but the new iPad keyboard that separates looks nice, and will drastically improve my keying in portrait.

  • Ron Warrick

    Personally, I never keen on my keyboard, unless I have a handkerchief handy.

  • Ron Warrick

    If you type “thats”, you get “that’s”, so in that case it is easier than a PC or Mac.

  • Emiliya

    Without a doubt, I’m praying that iPad gets Swype!!

  • Whitewater

    I actually like the iPad typing experience and find I’m faster and it is ergonomically comfortable. That was last year though, having used Swype on my droid the last few months there is no comparison. Qwerty typing is a thing of the past. It is clear swype is the future and using a tablet/touchscreen interface without this technology is simply cumbersome. Apple needs this technology. I’m already researching iPad alternatives for my company just because of the Swype technology. Swype is a game changing breakthrough in technology. Now if some can just figure out how to do tablets as well as Apple. Hopefully Apple will step up…

  • Kathryn1216

    swpye — i want it on my ipad

  • Ron

    You can stop waiting. According to Leo Laporte, Apple will not allow any keyboard app to integrate with iPad entry system. So, the best you can do is to write in Shapewriter then cut and paste where you need the text. Not convenientfor quick jobs, but goodfor long notes.

  • Claudio Dipolitto

    Premisse: I don’t want to carry my iPad and keep carrying the notebook.

    Fact 1: The 3G iPad can do well most tasks we used a notebook to do.

    Fact 2: If you write in a non-english language like Portuguese, French
    or Spanish that have signs (e.g. like in words coração, vélo or niño),
    you lose a lot of time pressing the letter to chose the letter
    variation. Try it to see what I mean.

    Fact 3: Some “PC-style” special keys are useful if we want to write
    and correct long texts productively. I mean “CTRL Left/Right Arrow” to
    skip words, “CTRL Home/End” to jump to the end of a page, “CTRL X /
    CTRL V” to cut/paste … etc.

    I think the usability principles that worked well for the small iPhone
    keyboard need to be rethinked to design a keyboard for the iPad wider
    screen, effectively commited on making the write-edit tasks more
    friendly and productive.

    Just, compair the time spent to the following trivial editing task in
    the IPad versus a PC or MAC: “select some words or lines in a text,
    copy or cut them, select a target point, past it” … That’s all.
    (Indeed, even in English, we have to switch from alphabethic to
    numeric mode to pick the apostrophe in THAT’S ALL expression)

  • Fsdfsdkjh

    great spelling in the title, genius

  • Fsdfsdkjh

    great spelling in the title, genius

  • M-R-H

    Problem is that not all the characters are available at once. Punctuation is accessed through shift? Give me a break.

  • Southmikey

    swipe on the ipad would be big plus

  • Clarissa_limbaga

    will you please cite more alternatives please…

  • Ray

    There is a new keyboard alternative to QWERTY and Swype on the iPad (and elsewhere) and it will be a compelling alternative to those who want a more logical and efficient method of data entry. Check out the following links:
    http://www.beeraider.com.
    http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/D602937.html

    Watch out for this design launch in 2011.

    BeeRaider.

  • Peter

    I have always thought the QWERTY keyboard was a stupid hang over from mechanical typewriters and at least the Dvorak keyboard attempted to address this issue. To use the QWERTY keyboard on a small hand held device that is principally a telephone, whatever else it may try to be, is just outright ridiculous IMHO. The telephone keypad with its logical ABC progression was designed for one finger use and simply works. To say you need a keyboard the same as your computer is like saying your car should have bicycle controls (or vice versa).

    It seems the iPhone is all the mode at the moment and it is possible that my teenage daughter will get one for her birthday. She has, however, a problem with dyslexia and I suspect changing from a conventional phone pad to a QWERTY may cause her problems. As far as I can see no one has thought to write a keyboard app for iPhone that gives you the possibility to message etc. using the conventional phone pad. Nokia touch screen phones (at least my wife’s) give this option.

    I have a Blackberry that uses the QWERTY keyboard and I really hate it. I will never again buy a phone for my own use that does not have the option of the standard phone pad.

    If anyone knows of an app that gives the standard phone pad as an alternative for the iPhone I would really like to hear about it.

  • http://twitter.com/briansage briansage

    Went from Palm/Grafiti, to Win Mobile, to iPhone (3 years), to Androiod/Swype, and as I type this on a iPad, I can say the clear hands-down winner is Swype, without question.

    The multi touch ipad keyboard is pretty cool once you get going, but it's not convenient unles you're in full-recline position or have something to prop up the screen. With at least 30% of my time spent on one-hand entry, and since Swype allows hunt and peck entry, too, there's no trade off. I'd love it, if it were an option.

  • Nuder

    How about a new keyboard layout in landscape made that would be focused on thumb typing. You can have to 2 landscape keyboards. A thumb keyboard layout for when your holding it. and the standard for when you have it propped up on something like a desk.

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  • Alexis

    It did not take long for me to reach near laptop key board speeds. The convenience of such a streamline product outweighs the troubles, typing wise. This is not lap top (dispite the fact i have barely touched my macbook since receiving my 3G in the mail). The typing will not be the same. It's different, but not inferior once you get used to it.

    [/fangirl]

  • jeffcormier

    Thanks for the insight Adam. As one who transitioned from a Blackberry to iPhone a couple of years ago, my typing troubles were profound, but now I am a fairly good at typing on the iPhone. I am sure I will get used to it, but Swype would be neat, it just isn't likely to happen. Practice makes perfect, and I will continue to practice using TapTyping and eventually should get the hang of it.

  • http://notrails.net/ Adam Wolf

    iPad typing is actually pretty awesome. I'm typing at speeds above 65 WPM. It didn't take me very long to get up around my computer typing speed. A week or two. That's it.

    I'm not sure why this article glosses over the most obvious solution: just learn how to type on your iPad!

    It is absolutely not true that you must stare at the keyboard. I find myself rarely looking at the keys (and no… I'm not some sort of pro typist). It just takes practice.

    Typing is one of the best parts of the iPad. I suggest people stop complaining and start enjoying it.

  • jeffcormier

    For U.S. customers, the iPad 3G is available in store starting at 5PM this Friday and will be delivered for those that pre-ordered the same day. Where are you located? Thanks for reading and commenting!

  • Thomas Persson

    At Apples website, it says 7th of May, which isn't this Friday, but the next.

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