If you use the privacy respecting Gboard alternative called FUTO keyboard, you’ve probably noticed that the built in swipe typing is HOT GARBAGE. (Typing this currently with two thumbs for this exact reason.)
Most keyboards improve their swipe algorithms by simply spying on you and logging your typing data. FUTO isn’t about that, so they have built a simple webpage based typing game that you can use to improve their system in an ethical and voluntary manner! Just swipe the website’s keyboard to type a provided sentence.
I love this, they can crowdsource the improvement without invading privacy!
I’m on iOS, but I gave it a few minutes of swiping to help out.
Please everybody do this. This is sure to help other keyboards, too.
Is it? The FTL is restrictive about who is allowed to redistribute and modify anything covered by it. Is this data covered under a different license?
That’s a neat solution
I thought so too! FUTO is a project worth supporting in my opinion.
Isn’t FUTO an organization that named their keyboard application after themselves?
I’m trying really hard to not revert back to Swiftkey (again, as I do every time I run out of patience with a new privacy respecting keyboard), and I don’t even use swipe typing. I’m still hoping that the more I type the better the predictions will get but after using it for a few months I feel like I’m just adapting to bad predictions rather than the predictions getting better.
I’m using this one. https://github.com/Helium314/HeliBoard Once I downloaded dictionary for my native language+ English that came preinstalled, and granted permission to learn from my typing, it’s pretty good.
Not as good as swift key, but enough for my needs. I don’t use swipe typing but someone I know said it is alright.
I was skeptical first but after a day or two or became good and now after a month I can’t explain why I didn’t make the switch earlier it’s perfect for my use and I feel more in line with my values
Does not have swipe except when using a Google library
The Google library is fully offline as far as everyone knows. Sure it’s a binary blob and projects such as this linked here aim to finally break free from that dependency. But for the time being, I’ll be Ok with that offline blob until this futo becomes a viable alternative.
I tried it a while ago but found the predictions were bad. Maybe I’ll give it another shot
Do you have the LLM fine tuning enabled? Mine is pretty good after a few months of training it.
Wait you can train the Futo keyboard? I tried it a while ago and noticed the poor accuracy and decided to shelve it for a while.
Does it eat a lot of battery for you?
Nope
Yeah, it’s been on and to answer questions below, no it doesn’t affect my battery.
I’m having small problems like suggesting capitalized words in the middle of a sentence and suggesting capitalized words as a different word than the non capitalized ones. Like it’ll suggest “That” in the middle of a sentence and also “that” at the same time, so two of the three slots are taken up.
Does that affect your battery much? The warning pushed me away from trying it.
No noticeable difference.
I’ve never used swipe typing, so my data is probably garbage, but its kinda fun.
You can get so fast at it surprisingly quickly. I keep trying to get friends to do it but they’re like “Nah that sucks.”
I swear almost anyone can get good at it inside a week.
Data is data! You’re a use case, regardless of swipe ability.
As are a bunch of other people. It helps.
This is so cool, as someone who uses swipe all the time, I’ll be sure to send as many samples as I can
Just did 1,010 words!
Found out that the skip button skips the word, not the prompt.
Pitched in 100 words! Definitely some open source swiping keyboard gesture databases would be helpful for everyone.
Agreed! I use Heliboard but am glad you pitch in some words.
The one thing I really don’t like about it, that really prevents me from using the keyboard is that when I misspell something, and it autocorrects, and then I want to add something else to it, hitting the backspace key removes the autocorrection, with no way to disable it (at least from what I’ve seen), I cannot stand that, which is why I’ve still been using gboard, but without network permissions because I’m on GrapheneOS.
Try Heliboard! It allows you to customise that
Now at this point I think I’m just being picky, but I don’t want the toolbar either.
Edit: I have still yet to find an open-sourced keyboard app that does exactly what I’m looking for.
qwerty only it seems
They’re probably getting this part of the project started, and might go for more once this works
And I’ve just gotten used to Dvorak…
FUTO was the joke naming we’d use for files in an old job as there was this one guy who’s files were always “FileName-Final” or “FileName-Final2” or “FileName-UseThisOne”. So FUTO (Final Use This One) became the name for the most up to date versions
Are they going to share this data with the open source community or is this just for their proprietary keyboard?
Feel like I’m destroying the dataset with QWERTY so I’ll wait until QWERTZ is available :)
why invade when the gates are flung open willingly?
You can’t possibly have misunderstood the issue so fundamentally, can you?
What?
whats on second. whos on first.
This is amazing. I really want to ditch Gboard. I hope this Futo can replace it completely.
