Bad predictions

[cyril]

Hi all
I am quite upset with all these comments on the market and forums saying that the "prediction algorithm" is awful, "worse than the default keyboard", and so on.
These comments don't help at all, and I will say it again, but:

- I use the same (english) word list as the stock keyboard
- I use the same suggestion algorithm as the stock keyboard. It's the same code.

So for people saying that the stock keyboard is "way better", please explain with precise examples why you think so. If there are really differences, it could be linked to the different layout which causes a different proximity detection, or to the user dictionnary, or something else... But without real examples, it will never improve

Thanks for your help

[andyk]

I don't know what people have been saying on the ratings, but usually they are not very informed remarks. and i agree, usually not helpful.

with regard to the prediction algorithm, for some reason it does seem different to me. and it does not have to do with the proximity or layout, as careful key presses still return the same results.

it may have to do with the stock keyboard handling short word suggestions differently.

for instance, typing "id" on the stock keyboard will suggest "I'd"... on SKP it will give you "is".
typing "te" (because the crappy droid screen often misses adjacent keys ("the")) "te" provides no suggestions on the stock, just "te", on SKP it suggests "tea".
typing "dwon" (in an attempt to type "down") on stock returns "Deon" on SKP returns "dwindle"

there are little differences like this all over the place.


motorola droid 2.0.1

[cyril]

Thanks a lot !
I will study these differences and check where they come from

[cyril]

That's very interesting... Can someone tell me what happens on a Nexus 1 ?
I cannot reproduce what you describe with "my" "stock" keyboard. I have the same results with Android keyboard, SKP, BK, and even HTC IME, so it's not related to the word list itself, and maybe there is an improved autotext in the Moto Droid.
Indeed for instance "id" should not suggest "I'd" instead of "is", as "is" has a much higher word frequency than "I'd", so this must come from somewhere else...

[andyk]

another inconsistency:

some users have noted that sometimes you have to type the whole word to get it to work. i have noticed this too with random words. here is one example:

typing the word "screen"

stock keyboard: sc-SC, scr-screen, scre-screen, scree-scree, screen-screen
SKP: sc-Scot, scr-scree, scre-acre, scree-scree, screen-screen

motorola droid 2.0.1

[cyril]

Well... then it seems "your" stock keyboard is not the same as mine, or that the moto droid has a custom word list and autotext, because I don't have the same results.
For my information, do you have other keyboards, and what do they suggest in that case with your phone ?

Thanks

[andyk]

hey cyril,

unfortunately i only have two keyboards, yours and the stock.

i did however try to see if i had added words to the user dictionary to see if that was influencing the results... but from what i can tell that is not an issue.

[cyril]

Well..... I just realized there is something in the code leading to bad predictions compared to stock
Will fix it in the next release, it will hopefully bring improvements !

[tibere86]

Great news!

[andyk]

just updated to 1.9.0, moto droid 2.0.1

with regard to the specific examples i listed in this thread (th-tea, dwon-dwindle) the 1.9.0 update did not change anything. still behaves the same as before. im not saying that either prediction engine is better than the other. but it doesn't appear that the 1.9.0 update changed the way it was already behaving.