Tech Article 4/17

A better way to type on your smartphone

Laptop keyboards are more cramped and flatter than desktop keyboards. BlackBerry keyboards force you to type with your thumbs. Smartphone keyboards make you to type on glass. If you're holding a tablet with one hand, it's even harder to type on than a phone. And smartwatches are so tiny that most have given up on keyboards altogether. So there are a couple ways of typing faster: 

• Handwriting- Google this week unveiled a new app, Google Handwriting Input, that replaces your Android keyboard with handwriting. 
• Using your voice- Most smartphones, tablets and smartwatches come equipped with some kind of voice dictation software. The primary tools from Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30) and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) are fairly accurate and zippy.

• Predictive text- Smartphones have gotten pretty good at guessing what you're going to type. Just enter a few letters, and you'll get three options listed above your keyboard that your smartphone thinks you might be trying to say. Over time, as your smartphone gets to know you, it will get even better at predicting.

• Swiping- Over time, as your smartphone gets to know you, it will get even better at predicting. Instead of typing each letter, Swype and other similar smartphone keyboards allow you to drag your finger across the keys to form words. It saves you time from lifting your thumbs.
• Turning your phone sideways- An easy way to make your keyboard larger is to hold your phone in "landscape" mode. Larger keys give your thumbs much more room for error.