because so far all feature phones I have tried did have some predictive text, but so poorly executed that the experience was closer to torture than to productivity. Switching between Multi-tap and predictive input has also been hell on some of these devices.
I found this website explaining the difference between T9 (which Nokia’s used to have) and iTap by Motorola. My take on this is: T9 is an essential upgrade of multi-tap. With it I can use my phone with my eyes closed and know that I have sent a text message without any auto-correction mixing up what I wrote. iTap’s context-dependent word completions would be nice to have, but only if it can be disabled. And I wouldn’t miss it.
Currently I am using [Type Nine] typenineapp.com (only available for iOS) on my iPhone SE and I love it, but I don’t use it’s swipe feature because with 4 languages enabled at the same time it has too many possibilities to consider and it uses more CPU resources. Maybe Rasmus Porsager would even be interested in sharing his dictionaries with you.
Anyway, I am not pre-ordering this phone right now as I want to be 100% sure that predictive text support is rock solid and predictable. If it is, I’d be willing to pay more than $400, if not it’s not even worth $10 for me.
Sorry for inlining so many links, as a new user I am not allowed to include more than 2 links.
Is it possible to see a demo of the “T9” similar typing solution when you guys have it working? I currently use the Nokia 3310 3G and have grown accustomed to the T9/predictive text, I’m really curious to see what you guys have come up with!
Bringing this topic back from the dead. I’m curious to know what Mudita’s solution is to this too, before I spend money. I’ve been left sorely disappointed by the “fake Nokia” KaiOS devices and other keypad phones with their half-baked (lazy?) implementations of text input. It’s too bad, because I’d like to give Mudita the benefit of the doubt on this point and invest in a great product.
To illustrate the impact proper predictive text has had on me, I still have muscle memory from using my Nokia N95 over ten years ago (I picked one up recently and tried, it left me surprised, my thumb just clicked all the right buttons). The dictionary was easy to train, smart, and simply just worked to the point where I could text without looking at the screen at an extremely fast, error-free rate. Can’t quantify it for you in WPM, it was too long ago, but any multitap input method or dumb dictionary like on KaiOS just makes writing any text tediously painful.
Of course these days I don’t text like a sugar fiend, as I did back in the 00’s, but even having to send a few texts a day without proper predictive text input is like drinking a cauldron of sea water. I know there’s a lot of work to develop a multifaceted product like this, but I just wanted to add my voice here. I think once other people remember how horrific multitap is, there will be more complaints. The Nokia KaiOS interface really left a sour taste in my mouth and I would not use a phone with multitap input (or KaiOS) ever again, unless I had to dial emergency dispatch (or maybe Chinese food delivery). Too bad for fake Nokia, but it leaves a wide open market for Mudita to improve on their shortcomings.
I’d just like to add, that if the OS is open source, or if another way can be found to allow community contributions, I’d be willing to chip in my time and energy to make T9 a reality on this phone in my spare time.
I am very interested in this similar solution that is mentioned. Like @daniel mentioned, the KaiOS typing experience was LOUSY. Using multiple languages on it was garbage, but just general typing and punctuation was such work that I gave up on my device after only 3 weeks. It was like those nightmares where you cannot run, except you had to type a message and it just…would…not…work. Anyways, we need a demo or a video or some more detail on this please.
So I’ll be honest here, I wouldn’t buy the product from Mudita without a good implimentation of predictive text. I think the phone is too expensive to not utilize it. I’m also sad about the lack of an SD card slot, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me. I have both a DAP(Digital Audio Player) and a Sony Walkman that get plenty of use. Like the others I would love to see a demo of the texting in action.
So I’ve got some sad news for everyone. I had posted a comment recently on Mudita’s YouTube channel regarding if they would have predictive text for the Pure. The answer I got was “No, we prefer triple clicks, over imperfect predictions. Knowing the limitations of typing on a physical keyboard, we will also have a desktop app that allows you to type on your computer if you need to send a longer message. ”
While I understand the pushing of the app, I’m sure most of us work 8 hours(or more) a day where we don’t have access to a personal computer. The phone is portable, a laptop less so. We can’t use 3rd party apps on a work computer either. So we are stuck with the slowest form of text input to reply to messages that need replying too. This response(if true) has killed all interest in this phone, for me. I had even hyped it on my website and now feel ashamed to have done so. I was looking forward to having this phone replace my smartphone as I loved everything that the Pure offered. I know Mudita is working on a smartphone in the future, but that doesn’t interest me in the slightest. I’d rather have a Librem 5 or a Pinephone than a smart Mudita phone. I was drawn in to this phone as being the Nokia phone of 2020. I was looking forward to reviewing it and selling people on its strengths. I text all the time and I cannot tolerate tap t9. I have issues with carpal tunnel and tendinitis as it is from working a desk job(where I can’t have my laptop out), running a blog, and playing guitar and playing video games. I also don’t understands the companys decision on this in that, they try to sell you on the idea of getting away from the internet and its distractions, as well as avoiding radiation. Yet if you want to send a decent message, you need to hop on to a laptop that has the internet and emits radiation. Wouldn’t it be safer to have predictive text to where you don’t need to do that? This honestly feels lazy if this is the route they choose to go with. At least to me it does. I hope this isn’t your official stance on the matter Mudita. I know a lot of people would not be happy with tap T9. Every other part of this phone feels modern. Please be modern in this regards too.
Perhaps you said that in jest, but I wouldn’t feel ashamed of promoting it. The Mudita phone is still a great product (at least in concept, as I’m saying that without having experienced it first hand) and has innovative features (e.g. red LED flashlight, low SAR) with purpose built, non-commodity hardware. Few other manufacturers can claim this. So, it’s still a great concept in my opinion, and while I agree with you that not having T9 predictive style input is strongly disappointing, not having something like this on the market for 10+ years would still lead me to argue it’s a noteworthy development. However, I hope this will lead to something better, as not have T9 is also a deal breaker for me, as for others.
Having a desktop app that connects with the phone is “nice”, but the point of having a mobile device is so you can pocket it and forget it, and not to have to use it with a laptop to get basic functionality that it should have OOB. T9 input is not something that needs new circuits tested and approved by standards commissions, say for adding NFC or BT. The promise of a future firmware update would also not suffice, as too many companies roll out beta software and then break promises these days. Feed those developers some more kielbasa and pierogis, zap them with some ommm, and get that brain trust working! They will magically radiate all the code out from their third eye like Goku. You can thank me later.
I didn’t say it in jest, but, I did go ahead and preorder the phone. I actually plan on talking about the phone in my next blog post and why I think my followers should buy it too. It just has too many features I love.
Wow, I felt like the new nokia/KaiOS T9 wasn’t the real deal… good to know it wasn’t just my imagination…
Just want to bump this thread as well. Predictive text is super important to making a usable phone that lives up to Mudita’s philosophies. In my experience with the new Nokia I felt like I actually ended up spending more time on the device than my smartphone, just fussing with the keyboard to send texts.
Texting operation and lack of larger/expandable memory are currently the factors withholding my preorder. It is hard to argue with Apple’s ‘swipe text’ for one-handed use.
If texting could also be done from a computer keyboard via the ‘Mudita Center’ link, that would be a redeeming feature.
Just for the record: “Apple’s” recently introduced swipe typing has been around on Android for at least 10 years as swype. I prefer T9 over swipe though, because it’s more deterministic and allows me to type with eyes closed and in the rain.
Thanks for the information: I wasn’t aware that Android had done it first!
For physical keys, I agree that T9 (or similar) would seem to be a sensible solution.
O wow! Thank you so much! I love your keyboard for iOS and it’s such a pleasure to use. This stands in total contrast to the T9 implementation on KaiOS, which is the stuff that nightmares are made of. I can vouch for the quality of the English, German and Dutch dictionaries, which are all outstanding, having used them extensively for more than three years.
than to productivity. Switching between Multi-tap and predictive input has also been hell on some of these devices.
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You can thank me later.