Right, I get that a lot hasn't been done. But, features are still beeing added (even if they are few).
On 8/21/12, Dónal Fitzpatrick <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Esther, > > Absolutely everything you say is spot on and I guess I didn't make my > meaning clear. I wasn't having a pop at Fleksy; far from it. Rather I was > bemoaning the stagnation and lack of enhancements in Apple's own work over > the past number of years. In a properly architected system fleksy could be > incorporated as an add-on. > > I also think you're right in terms of the algorithm. It seems to draw > vectors from point-to-point thus giving the word selection. Nothing > remotely rocket-science in it, but very nice all the same. Still not buying > it though! *smile* > On 21 Aug 2012, at 02:04, Esther <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Dónal and Others, >> >> First off, there are a number of predictive typing apps available for >> people who want to take advantage of this on the virtual keyboard of iOS >> devices. There are also applications like TextExpander, which make input >> of text on computers and iOS devices more efficient by custom snippet >> definitions, whether using the virtual keyboard or a hardware keyboard, >> and go way beyond simple text substitution. These are not blindness >> specific. >> >> I think that the predictive algorithm that Fleksy uses is more >> sophisticated than the explanation you gave Travis, but I don't know this >> for a fact. I'd guess that it uses relative position changes -- so if you >> weren't certain of the absolute position of letters on the screen, but >> still knew that "e" and "r" are in the same row, but that "n" is way below >> and to the right, you'd still get a match. So, if you placed the phone on >> a flat table and tried to type -- not that I ever use the iPhone this way >> -- and if you got the approximate spatial relationships between keys >> correct, but not the absolute position of the bottom row of keys, you >> would still get good matches to the word predictions. >> >> There are many cases where even people with good spatial awareness might >> have difficulty typing on the virtual keyboard. For example, one of the >> arguments for the TypeInBraille app was that there were situations like >> trying to enter text on a moving bus where it can be difficult to type >> letters with precision. Also, depending on how steady your touch is >> (e.g., tremors due to various conditions, especially ones that might be >> age-related, such as Parkinson's disease), you might benefit from such an >> application. >> >> Fleksy is an app where increased use is likely to provide increased gains >> in the efficiency advantage. I find that I still spend a bit too much >> energy in the swipes to enter words. Also, the basic dictionary may not >> be matched to what you need to write, so the ability to import/export >> words that was added is a help. My first experience trying to speed type >> "famous documents and quotations" from memory hit an immediate vocabulary >> related snag when the fairly common words were just not common enough to >> be recognized by the algorithm until I entered them exactly and added them >> to the dictionary. >> >> Fleksy could take the route that TextExpander did, and make its API freely >> available to all developers to include. TextExpander gained enormous >> popularity that way, and even though we have alternative ways to input >> text now, and dictation works even for languages where typing accented >> characters used to be extra work, I still find that any really good text >> editing app will have support for TextExpander (and Dropbox) built in. >> >> HTH. Just my thoughts. YMMV. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Esther >> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> >> >> To reply to this post, please address your message to >> [email protected] >> >> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum >> at either the list's own dedicated web archive: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> >> or at the public Mail Archive: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. >> Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: >> <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> >> >> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus >> and worm-free! >> >> Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting >> the list website at: >> <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> > > Dónal Fitzpatrick > [email protected] > > > > <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> > > To reply to this post, please address your message to > [email protected] > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at > either the list's own dedicated web archive: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> > or at the public Mail Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. > Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free! > > Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting > the list website at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> > -- Ways to Connect with me: facebook.com/evercuriousmasteryodo twitter.com/joshg93 Skype: joshgregory93 FaceTime, iMessage and iChat: [email protected] <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. 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