Back in the early days of Swype, shoehorning this crazy speedy, tapless-typing keyboard onto your Android handset was a matter of finding a compatible APK. Eventually, Swype started cracking down; they asked anyone hosting the leaked builds to pull them down, and implemented a login system to try and ensure that everyone using the Beta was actually supposed to be doing so. (Protecting their intellectual property? Who do they think they are, Metallica? Pft!)
If you’re already a part of the beta, a fancy new build awaits. If you’re not, it looks like they’ve temporarily opened the Beta registration process back up. Want to know what’s new in this latest beta build? Join us after the jump.
Here’s whats new:
- Support for devices with QVGA, WQVGA, WSVGA and qHD resolution displays (along with the HVGA, WVGA, and FWVGA support it touted before)
- The “Hidden Word Tip Window” (which used to pop up just about every time Swype uses a word that it learned manually instead of using the word it would have otherwise used) will now only pop up once after install.
- Prediction accuracy will no longer drop over time (Hurray!)
- You can now generate a new license during the install process, which should fix the early expiration issues some were having.
Like the builds before it, this one will expire in about 4 months. That shouldn’t be too big of a deal (Swype tends to release beta builds more often than every 4 months) — but be sure to mark it on your calendar so you don’t end up Swypeless. After a few months of Swype, the switch back to a standard keyboard is a tough one to wrap your head around.