Definition: Swype

A touchscreen keyboarding technique from Swype Inc. that lets users enter text by using a continuous finger swiping motion. With typing speeds exceeding 40 words per minute, users trace a path starting from the first letter of the word through all the other letters in the word, finally releasing the finger after the last letter key is reached.

Introduced in late 2008 and first available on the Samsung Omnia II smartphone in late 2009, one of the Swype developers created the T9 system commonly used on cellphone keypads (see T9).

Swype Is Quick

Fingers stay on the keyboard from the beginning of the word until the end. This example shows entering the word "quick" by starting with "q" and "swyping" to "u" and "i," down to "c," up to "k" and then letting go. (Image courtesy of Swype Inc.)