Symbian in Motion

QuickWrite by Mobile Systems

by Zach at 4:24 pm | August 23rd, 2007 | Category: Application Reviews, Messaging, Utilities

Mobile Systems, the company that offers my Office app of choice OfficeSuite 4, is also the developer behind a relatively well known app called QuickWrite. QuickWrite is a utility that I shied away from back in my N80 days in favor of T9 but I had always wished that they would integrate the QuickWrite functionality with T9 rather than TAP because it is a very useful app. If you’re not familiar with it, this app pops up a small box as you type containing suggestions (sorted by frequency or alphabetically) that predict words as you type them. So for example - if “ridiculous” is a word that you type often, with this app you can input that word followed by a space in as little as two key-presses as opposed to 11 key-presses. Pretty cool, huh?

With the release of version 2.50 of this great app, QuickWrite now supports full-keyboard devices including the E90. This is excellent news that I’ve been waiting to hear since I first picked up my E61i several months ago. Since the moment I installed it I have been enjoying it thoroughly and getting accustomed to its functionality. It doesn’t take long to get used to but like any other input method it does take some minor habit adjustments before you start using it as smoothly as possible.

The QuickWrite app itself is very simple - the home screen displays a list of available input methods and as you can see above my device is equipped with the default engine (designated above as AknFEP) and the QuickWrite engine. An asterisk notifies you of which engine is currently active and you can easily switch engines by scrolling and pressing the center key on your directional pad.

Within the Options menu your only real concern is the QuickWrite option entry that will lead you to the app options screen. Here you can make changes to the few settings within the app such as the Dictionary (English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish or Italian) and the sort method. As mentioned above, when QuickWrite pops up the suggestions box you can arrange the suggested words by frequency (the number of times you’ve typed them) or alphabetically.

The remaining settings within the app allow you to determine how many letters you type before QuickWrite begins suggesting words (one, two or three letters), the maximum number of suggestions that each box will contain (two through six words) and the number of rows visible in the pop-up box (two, three, four or six rows). Note that it your number of rows is smaller than your maximum number of suggested words you will have to scroll through the box to see all of the suggestions.

The usability of the app is excellent and unobtrusive. As you type, a small pop-up box appears at the end of the last-entered letter and carries your suggestions within. At any time when the box is present you can press up/down to scroll through the recommendations and press the center d-pad key to select a word. A space will automatically be inserted after each selected word so you can just continue typing. You can also just ignore it and keep typing and QuickWrite will not interfere at all.

QuickWrite isn’t restricted to messaging and email apps by the way. You can take advantage of the simplified QuickWrite input method in many apps.

The last thing to note about QuickWrite is that at any time while typing you can press the character key (Chr, bottom right) to open the QuickWrite menu. Here you will have access to several functions including adding words to the dictionary, switching entry mode, adjusting preferences and of course inputing special characters.

I mentioned earlier that there are a few things that you need to get accustomed to with this app. One example is the function key (blue, bottom left). If you want to enter numbers or a special character such as “!” while the QuickWrite pop-up is present, you must first press the shift key to close the suggestion box. Then you can use the function key regularly until the next time you have an open suggestion box. The second notable item is that the current QuickWrite engine does not automatically capitalize the first letter of a new sentence. This annoyed me at first but I was used to it after an hour or so.

My only real complaint at this point is that QuickWrite isn’t automatically enabled on a reboot. I’m still waiting for a response from Mobile System’s support team as to whether this is functionality is planned in future versions or if it is a problem unique to my device, which is entirely possible. I’ll provide an update in the comments section once I receive word.

There is no question in my mind that this is an excellent app and after only a few short days with it I’m already hooked. I would venture to guess that QuickWrite has already cut about 20% of the time it takes me to type a message and I only expect it to be further reduced as I use it more. Mobile Systems provides a seven day free trial period and I highly suggest you take advantage of it!

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