Almost all mobile devices today have an intelligent keyboard that offers words for super-fast typing. Nevertheless, it is not ideal and can sometimes produce not the best combinations of letters. How does this work?
This technology is called a predictive set. What it is? Android users have such intelligent keyboards (post-T9) for several years now. However, even before the official google app added a predictive set, Swype and SwiftKey created a keyboard in which the words used most often participate.
Subtleties of application
Consider some of the nuances, saying that this is a predictive set. iPhone and iPad, for example, with the advent of iOS 8 are also equipped with this functionality. But unlike Android, the predictive set on Apple devices is not so perfect. Initially, the automatic replacement of words can be very unsuccessful, and it takes time to “learn” the device. In addition, you need to develop good typing skills so that smart keyboards work well. If you type words with misspellings or errors, the system may recognize them incorrectly.
How does the predictive set work?
What is it in practice? In its basic form, in the predictive keyboard, the text that you enter regularly is used. All words you type are remembered by the system to create a custom local dictionary from words and phrases that you often repeat. Then the device offers you these words with the likelihood that you will use them or need them again.
For example, if you type a certain word and your keyboard has never seen it before, it will suggest correcting it with another one which, in its opinion, is more likely. You have three options:
- you can accept one of the suggested corrections;
- ignore sentences and leave things as they are;
- add it to your personal dictionary so that the system does not disturb you when you enter it again.
How is the user dictionary filled?
If you use the correction and choose one of the options already proposed, it is obvious that the keyboard will continue to consider the word incorrect and suggest replacing it in the future. If you add it to your dictionary, the keyboard immediately “recognizes” it and prompts you the next time you enter such a combination of letters or use similar words before and after this word, but skip it.
In addition, the keyboard still includes this functionality if you ignore the predictive dialing. What does it mean? The first or second time you miss a correction or retention of a word, it is assumed that this is not a spelling mistake, but not a word that you use often enough to be represented in similar usage patterns. If you ignore it for the third or fourth time (it depends on the specific keyboard), the system will mark it as a future likely option and will still start suggesting it when entering similar words or sentences.
Thus, you do not need to worry how to enable the predictive set - most modern devices contain it by default.
How do intelligent keyboards differ?
Almost every modern keyboard uses the technology mentioned above. However, there are clear differences between the prompts that your phone’s system makes by default and are obtained from virtual keyboards SwiftKey, Fleksy or Swype services.
What do they do differently? The only thing that unites these products is that they are trying to suggest words. This comparison ends. Tips can be simple - for example, as in old keyboards with T9 Nuance. They relate to values based on the keys that were previously used. Such devices, as a rule, use lists or dictionaries of words.
Modern technologies
And what is the predictive set in the iPhone and "Android"? Today, more advanced smart keyboards take a different approach to hints. It is based on natural language processing and machine learning. Language modeling is exactly what the described function gives, that is, it allows you to “recognize” certain words. As a rule, they are combined into a whole in the language used. Thus, the accuracy of such keyboards, as a rule, is much higher than that of the old push-button ones.
How to enable predictive dialing on iphone? As a rule, it is enabled by default, but if this option is inactive, just go to the keyboard settings and select the appropriate menu item. Similarly, you can disable this option, but this is not recommended.
Experts explain that modern, more intelligent keyboards use cloud services and reverse processing to improve your hints, synchronize user dictionaries on different devices and add new words to them without forcing users to download huge updates or re-train their devices.
They also offer cloud services that can perform many functions. Some of the most common include:
- entering the name of the contact from the online services at the prompt;
- analysis of your record in various online services for updating and, thus, personalization of the word store;
- saving and synchronizing your language model.
This allows the functionality to be used on several devices and not to be lost if it is damaged or stolen. There is also a dynamic update of your language model based on other information received from real-time sites, such as Twitter.
So, the Swype Living Language feature allows your dictionary to be updated with popular trends on the Internet and in social networks. SwiftKey offers SwiftKey Cloud, an extra service that can connect to your account Twitter, Google or Facebook to find out what you said on these networks or in your letter.
Google’s predictive keyboard is similar, except that it uses the one you typed in android device, as well as everything that you enter in your Google accounts, web history, Google+, etc. In all cases, these functions are optional, must be selected and can be easily excluded.
How to improve your results?
Now that we understand how the predictive set works (what it is and how to use it), you can perform some simple actions to perfect your keyboard. It is important to remember that good hints take time and preparation, so you cannot go from regular mistakes to high accuracy overnight, but each step will bring you closer to comfort.
Here is what you can do?
Add words to the dictionary. Many users do not do this and rely on the keyboard to simply select the words that already exist in the dictionary. The system can learn on its own, but this process takes much longer, and depending on how often you use specific phrases, they can be ranked below your own keyboard hints. If you use a specific word that your keyboard is trying to correct more than twice, add it.
Learn to edit the dictionary. Just as you add words regularly, you must remove from it those that he proposes to use and which you do not need. If your keyboard simply insists that you type the name or city name instead of the common word, it is best to just delete it from your entire user dictionary, and when you need to type it, enter it manually.
Turn on cloud functions and make sure all your words are on all your devices and you don’t need to repeat the “learning”. Connecting the keyboard to other applications or choosing one of them using the system dictionary, rather than application dictionaries, will make it easier to type. However, in this case, you may encounter a problem how to clear the predictive set if you mistakenly save a lot of incorrectly written words.
Finally, using the keys that always use updated cloud dictionaries (for example, Swype Living Language) means that your keyboard will always have and understand new words if you decide to use them. For example, if you are using Google’s default keyboard on Android, turn on “personalized offers”.
This guide describes the features of iOS 8 for iPhone 4S / 5 / 5c / 5s / 6 and 6 Plus.
Text can be entered using onscreen keyboard.
Tap the text field to bring up the on-screen keyboard, then tap the keys on the keyboard. If the key is pressed incorrectly, you can move your finger to the correct key. The letter is not entered until the finger comes off the key.
Press the Shift key to change the input case, or hold the Shift key and drag your finger to the letter. Touch the Shift key twice to enable the Caps Lock mode. To enter numbers, punctuation marks and special characters touch the number 123 key or the # + = character key. If you didn’t add keyboards, tap to go to the Emoji Keyboard. If you have multiple keyboards, tap to go to the keyboard that you used last. Repeat touch to access other keyboards. You can also tap and hold, and then move your finger to select a different keyboard. Double tapping the space bar inserts a period with a space.
If the word is underlined in a red wavy line, tap it to see the suggestions for correction. If there is no required option, enter the desired word manually.
As you type, QuickType uses a predictive set to predict the next word. To select a suggested word, tap it. The highlighted option can also be accepted by entering a space or punctuation mark. To reject the suggested option, tap the original word (displayed as a QuickType option with quotes),
Hiding options with predictive typing. Drag the QuickType options down. Drag them up again if you decide you want to use them.
Disable predictive dialing. Touch and hold or, then move your finger to “Predictive Dialing”.
iPhone can correct typos and guess the next word entered even with the QuickType feature disabled. To accept the suggested word, enter a space or a punctuation mark, or touch the return key. To reject the offer, touch “x”. If the option has been rejected several times, the iPhone will stop offering it.
Settings for typing or adding keyboards. Choose Settings\u003e General\u003e Keyboard.
The on-screen keyboard on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus contains additional keys that may be useful. These keys are visible when working with the iPhone in a horizontal orientation.
You can also enter text using the Apple Wireless Keyboard. See Use wireless keyboard Apple To use dictation instead of typing from the keyboard, see Dictation.
Text editing
Touch the screen and hold your finger until a magnifying glass appears, then without removing your finger from the screen, move your finger to determine the insertion point.
Click an insertion point to display selection options. You can also highlight a word by double tapping it. Drag the grab points to increase or decrease the size of the selected text. In read-only documents, such as web pages, touch and hold the screen to select a word.
You can cut, copy or replace the selection. In some programs, you can apply formatting to text (bold, italic or underline, touch “B / I / U”), view the definition of a word in a dictionary, or find a synonym. Click to see all available actions.
Undo the last edit operation. Shake your iPhone and tap Cancel.
Using abbreviations, you can enter words and even phrases with just a few characters. For example, the abbreviation "etc." is replaced by the phrase "and so on." This abbrev is already stored in memory, but you can add your own abbreviations.
Create abbreviations Select Settings\u003e General\u003e Keyboard and tap the Abbreviations option.
Do not want to correct your word or phrase? Create an abbreviation, but leave the Abbreviation field empty.
Use iCloud to update your personal dictionary on other devices.Choose Settings\u003e iCloud and turn on iCloud Drive or Documents and Data.
Using the Apple Wireless Keyboard
You can use the Apple Wireless Keyboard (sold separately) to enter text on your iPhone. The wireless keyboard connects to the phone via Bluetooth, so you first need to create a pair between the keyboard and the iPhone.
Note. The Apple Wireless Keyboard does not support the keyboard functions on the device. For example, it does not use a predicative set and does not correct words written with errors.
Creating a pair between wireless apple Keyboard and iphone. Turn on your keyboard, go to Settings\u003e Bluetooth, and turn on Bluetooth connectivity, then select a keyboard in the Devices list.
After creating a pair, the keyboard connects to the iPhone if it is within the communication range (up to 10 meters). If the wireless keyboard is connected, the on-screen keyboard does not appear.
Save battery power. Turn off the Bluetooth function and keyboard when not in use. You can turn off Bluetooth in the control point. To disable the keyboard, press the "On / Off" button. on it and hold it until the green indicator goes out.
Break a pair with a wireless keyboard. Select Settings\u003e Bluetooth, tap next to the name of the keyboard and select Forget This Device. See Bluetooth devices.
Adding or modifying keyboards
You can enable keyboards for typing in different languages, as well as enable or disable various typing features, such as spell checking. You can also change the layout for both the on-screen keyboard and the Apple wireless keyboard.
Select text input options. Choose Settings\u003e General\u003e Keyboard.
Add keyboard language. Choose Settings\u003e General\u003e Keyboard\u003e Keyboards\u003e New Keyboards.
Switch between keyboards. If you didn’t add keyboards, tap to go to the Emoji Keyboard. If you have multiple keyboards, tap to go to the keyboard that you used last. Repeat touch to access other keyboards. You can also tap and hold, and then move your finger to select a different keyboard.
It so happens that he invented something, but you do not know how it should be called. Understanding of the essence seems to be there, but in no way can it be found on the Internet for seemingly sane queries. In this case, I was lucky - I accidentally got a phone that knows exactly what is needed, so I managed to find out what this function is called “predictive number entry”. For those who use the phone for making calls, and not for throwing birds at pigs, this functionality should save a lot of time and nerves.
How do we usually call, for example, Alexey Ivanov? Something like this:
1) Unlock the phone
2) Clicked "Notebook",
3) Clicked "2444433" to see the short list of contacts with the substring "ale" (ie, Alexey and Alexandra mainly),
4) We appreciated that typing his popular name as a whole to go on entering a no less popular surname is a long time (you would have to type the following sequence: “444663344”), so we decide to move the arrows down and up in order to reach the desired contact.
Total, about a half dozen button presses, we made the desired call. This is not too much, and you can suffer if there are no normal alternatives. But it turns out they are! So, how do we perform the same task, having a predictive set of numbers?
1) Unlock the phone
2) We typed a short “243” at once (this is to instantly get into the state after point (3) from the previous approach) - after all, a list of all the lines of the notebook that contain a substring that can be assembled from the letters on the second was formed for us, the fourth and third buttons, respectively.
3) And in this list, you can run up and down to the right Alexey Ivanov with the same buttons, and if the list is still too long, just dial a few more numbers ("463") to exclude Alexandrov from the resulting list.
It seems that we saved only one item (opening a notebook), but in fact we really unloaded our fingers and head: we don’t need to type a long sequence of numbers, we don’t need to remember which letter “l” is in order on the button “4” - everything turns out noticeably faster and easier. By the way, in the case of touch screens this is also sometimes used (the dialer of the smartphone is often more convenient than the honest keyboard of the notebook, since it is easier to get into the big buttons with numbers than the small buttons with letters, see the beginning of the explanatory rapDialer video).
But for some reason, the network about this functionality is almost not written either in Russian or in English. I could not even find an explanatory video about a push-button telephone, but with him this text would have been much clearer. I don’t even know how to find out if this feature is built into the candidate phone (almost all models are written about predictive input, but this usually means T9 support when entering message text), so everything has to be checked in the cabin, which takes time . therefore let's in
