Swype Keyboard for Android now available on Google Play Store

Swype, the third-party keyboard that started the whole phenomenon of swiping through letters to type on Android, has finally arrived on the Google Play Store, after more than two years of being exclusively available only on the Swype Beta website.

Seasoned Swype users no doubt already know everything about the intuitive keyboard, but for those that don’t, Swype allows you type by dragging your fingers across the letters that make up a word, a feature that has been adapted by many other keyboards like SwiftKey, SlideIT, and even Google’s default keyboard for Android 4.2.

Furthermore, Swype includes a number of features that are missing on other keyboards, ones that I personally find extremely useful – gestures like swiping from the Swype key to a, x or c to perform functions like select all, copy and paste, ability to swipe through not so standard words like “third-party” or “good-looking,” or even swiping from a needed symbol like . or, to the space key to add that symbol, making typing a faster and more intuitive experience.

Other features include themes support (though you can’t install them yourself), a prediction engine to predict your next word, Smart Editor that finds errors in a sentence and lets you correct them, real-time addition of the latest trending words through the “living language” feature, dictionary backup and sync across multiple devices, inbuilt voice dictation via Dragon Mobile Assistant, and of course the ability to download multiple languages.

Swype is currently on sale for an introductory price of $0.99, which is a great price for one of the best third-party keyboards for Android, a keyboard that started a phenomenon. There’s a trial available as well, so you can try the keyboard out before buying it. As for the beta program, it will be returning to “its roots,” so you’ll have to request to join the beta testing program if you want to remain a beta tester.

Hit the links below to download Swype on your Android phone/tablet from the Play Store.

Download: Swype Trial | Swype ($0.99)