Windows Phone Thoughts: TextPlus 1.1: Intelligent Text Prediction

Figure 3: TextPlus displays several likely candidates for the word that is being typed.

Saving Time by Saving Taps
I tried to measure how many taps TextPlus saved compared to typing with no predictive text input, and using the one that's built into the OS. I chose a 50-character sentence, with common words, and did it all three ways. Of course, it took 50 taps, plus spaces to do it with no help. With the built-in predictive text, it took 45 taps, and with TextPlus it took 38 taps. The secret to getting the best use out of the program lies in its ability to “learn” words that each user commonly uses, and suggest that word. However, the real strength of the program comes from suggesting a list of words, not just one word as the built-in program does. Depending upon the first couple of letters of the word in question, TextPlus will suggest as many as ten words that match the first two or three letters. Therefore, the odds of it suggesting the word that is being typed is 10 times greater than the built-in predictive text feature.


Figure 4: Desktop software allows the user to add, import, or convert language-specific databases.

Conclusions
SmartCell Technology has a tried and true program in TextPlus 1.1. The program is very competitive in price compared to similar products. With additional dictionaries to support foreign languages and specialty fields, along with customizable standard dictionaries, the program provides the flexibility and features that most users will find beneficial. It’s still no fun to tap out messages on my Pocket PC’s virtual keyboard, but I must say that TextPlus 1.1 does help to ease the aggravation of creating and modifying messages. Handango and Pocket Gear offer free trial downloads, and I recommend giving it a try.

Steven Sharp is a senior systems analyst by day and a freelance writer by night. He is a 39-year-old native and lifelong resident of Huntsville, Alabama. He has been freelancing for 16 years and his first book, The Art of Managing Everyday Conflict was released by Greenwood Publishing Group in May of 2004.