Several years ago, when I bought my first generation iPod Touch, I found what could have been the greatest app in the iTunes App store, ShapeWriter.  Simply put, this was the best solution I had ever found for the onscreen soft input panel.  The reason I could not recommend it back then was the fact that Apple would not allow it to be used as a universal input method.  In other words, it could only be used on ShapeWriter’s notes app.  It all seemed like a waste of a great idea to me.

Fast forward to this past week when I started using the Android platform.  Rummaging through the App Market, I suddenly remembered that the developers of ShapeWriter had not limited themselves to a single platform.  Although at the time, I was disappointed not to find a Windows Mobile version (they have since developed one), they did make sure to tell me that they were developing an Android version.  A quick search of the App Marketplace revealed what I had hoped to find…ShapeWriter for Android.  And it was still free.

So, what is so great about ShapeWriter?  Well, before we can answer that question, we need to start with why there was a need for something like this at all.  Basically, there are two methods for inputting data in a mobile device: a hard keyboard and a soft input panel on the screen.  Soft input panels come in all shapes and sizes, and we have tested just about all of them here at JAMM: handwriting recognition, speech to text, on-screen keyboards, fancy shorthand keyboards.  Frankly, I have found them all to be terrible alternatives to a keyboard.  The buttons are often cramped or unintuitive, speech or handwriting recognition never seems to work well for me (though I will admit that I have not tested out the new Dragon software which is now available for iPhone), and they are simply an exercise in tedium trying to enter more than a few words of text.

Shapewriter changed all of that for me.  When activated, Shapewriter will replace the default device onscreen keyboard, and can be used with any program in which you enter text (for purposes of this review, I tested it with the default email client).  At first glance, it looks a lot like just an alternative to the default keyboard.  Once you start using it though, you will find so much more.  Sure, you can use it like a keyboard, hunting and pecking your way around the keys, but that is really missing the point.

The real beauty of ShapeWriter is the ability to simply draw a line connecting the letters in your word.  Using a powerful algorithm, which I will not pretend to understand, it translates this line into a word.  What impressed me most was the level of accuracy I was able to achieve from this one.  Sure, sometimes it makes a mistake and suggests the wrong word, but it always offers alternatives, one of which is generally the correct word. 

If you do come up with a word that ShapeWriter does not know (which is common with proper nouns), you will be given the immediate option to add it to ShapeWriter’s dictionary.  This is one of those apps which works better the more you use it.  The more it learns how you draw your lines, and which words you use through its dictionary, the better it will become at predicting the words you are trying to type.

On the bottom, there is a handy emoticon button which allows you to automatically add a variety of common emoticons to your text. 

The most important button, however, is the ShapeWriter action button next to it.  This button enables you to take actions using a command stroke.  These can include things like cut, copy, and paste, select text, and plenty more.  A complete list of the command strokes can be found by pushing the action button. 

To take any of these actions just start with the action button and then draw your line, connecting the letters of the command (so, action-C-U-T would send the Cut command.  If you need a little extra practice with all of this, then go ahead and use the GAME command to start an included practice game.

Is it perfect?  No.  It still misses the occasional word for me.  And I did have a few problems with the keyboard layout, such as the enter key which is awkwardly placed and too small, and some special characters were not exactly easy to locate, but those are pretty minor complaints.  Overall, this is the best and fastest method of text entry I have ever used on a mobile device.  I was thrilled to find it in the App Market on my HTC Hero, and even more excited to find it did not come with the senseless restrictions which made it virtually useless on the iPhone/iPod Touch.  This is the first absolutely must-have app I have found in the Android App Market!

ShapeWriter was developed by www.shapewriter.com, and is available as a free download from the App Marketplace.

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