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ShapeWriter 2.0 Pro a text input tool by ShapeWriter, is available for US$9.99 at the App Store.
There's something that irritates me about software that I've barely met acting like it knows me, knows what I'm thinking, knows what I'm about to do.
That's why the first thing I do on any new phone is shut off T9 predictive text, that thing that tries to guess what I'm trying to type based on somebody's idea of commonly used words. Almost as bad is the iPhone's autocorrect feature (yeah, I typed "mome" and I meant "mome," not "mime," is that OK with you?). But with my fat fingers, I've been learning to live with it.
On the other hand, I'm willing to believe that some sort of software out there may let me type faster and easier on my iPhone. So I thought I'd give ShapeWriter a spin.
Scribbling Notes
ShapeWriter lets you write text in a note or an e-mail in a unique way. Instead of poking at the screen to input each individual letter, you trace your finger over the letters of the word you want to write. If you want to write "dog," for instance, you start at the D, slide your finger over to the O, and turn right back around to go to the G, without lifting your finger off the screen. The word appears in your message, perfectly spelled ... if you're lucky.
ShapeWriter calls it a "fun" way to input text, but starting out, it was like having the typographical equivalence of a persistent stutter. It took me a half-day of playing around to get the hang of it, but once I did I at least felt like I was typing sort of fast. A few scribbles on the screen would produce an actual word -- hooray.
So I tested myself by writing the same paragraph in both ShapeWriter and the standard iPhone interface. ShapeWriter took me 1 minute and 45 seconds; standard UI took 1 minute and 15 seconds. Perhaps with a little more practice, one could get good at this.
Once you're done typing your message, you can port it over to the iPhone's Mail app, attach a name and a subject, and send it off. Frequently used messages and works in progress can be saved for later.
Control Issues
The trouble I still have with ShapeWriter is its insistence on doing certain things for me. It gets on the nerves of my inner control freak the same way predictive text does. Sliding your fingers over a keyboard to write a word requires ShapeWriter to guess pretty much every word you write. Most of the time it's correct, and it does offer likely alternatives, but sometimes it's just so off that you need to start over. It's just another way of using predictive text, though I understand there's probably no other way to handle it. At least you have the option to plunk out letters one by one if you have an odd word you need to use.
But its control of how you punctuate can be maddening. Here's an example: Let's say you want to type a URL into your e-mail -- perhaps the address shapewriter.com. If you glide your finger over the keypad to spell ShapeWriter, the program will oblige. Then you type a period, followed by "com," and the program will automatically insert a space before the "com," resulting in "shapewriter. com" (note the space). Even using the delete key, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. Try clicking on a link with a space in it like that and your browser won't get it. And if the recipient is reading it on an iPhone, he or she can't cut-and-paste that link into the browser to fix it.
Speaking of ShapeWriter's Web site, the app -- even the paid version -- insists on inserting the note "Composed with ShapeWriter -- www.shapewriter.com" at the bottom of every single missive you type out. That would be understandable if it was limited to the free version. But if I've given them my 10 bucks, couldn't they manage to spare me the obligation of having to act as their shill with every message I send?
Added Features
The way ShapeWriter has you inputting text may actually be appealing to some users -- last I checked it averaged four and a half stars from people who've reviewed it at the App Store. Before you lay down for the paid version, get the free version. If you love using it -- I did not -- then the paid version has a few added features you may find appealing.
One is landscape mode, which gives you a bigger keyboard to work with if you tilt it on its side. You'll also see no supported ads.
Another feature on the paid version is internal cut and paste. Highlighting the text is easy enough, but it requires several keystrokes to execute the actual functions of cutting, copying or pasting. It seems as though that could have been made smoother, but it sure is ahead of the iPhone's native cut-and-paste feature, which does not at this time exist.
Bottom Line
Do not pay for this app until you've taken the free version on a nice, long test drive. It's apparent that some people out there like this sort of highly automated, intuitive text input. Others, like me, do not.
It was a smart move on ShapeWriter's part to offer up a no-cost version; that way nobody needs to feel ripped off. Take a look at it before going all-in.
