4 ms·

As a dvorak user: in a way that's kinda great that dvorak didn't make it. It's terrible for mobile.

grog454 3y ago
I use Dvorak for keyboards and qwerty for thumbs. Keeps them both in muscle memory to some extent, so it's not too painful when I'm using someone else's keyboard.
- xhevahir 3y ago
  Me, too. I tried using Dvorak on the phone once I saw it was available but soon realized that my Dvorak skill was entirely muscle memory and that I had no visual sense of the layout. QWERTY (plus "glide" or "swipe" typing) works fine for that purpose, for me.
  - throwawaymaths 3y ago
    The vowel collisions is what makes dvorak nearly unusable
- codemac 3y ago
  Ditto! It's actually good for thumbs because your thumbs can't get all crumbled on top of eachother. Same for swipe typing - the further distances makes it easier to pick up on different words.
ascagnel_ 3y ago
I can kind of see that: by moving all the frequently-used letters to the edges and mostly away from each other (and keeping frequent letter pairs further apart), it probably makes interpreting taps between letters and things like swipe keyboards easier to execute.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  Specifically the vowels. Lots of words have levenstein distance one vowel in many langs (yes I'm aware many langs don't use qwerty but most are ~)
SkyPuncher 3y ago
I still use Qwerty on mobile. Thumbs are completely different muscle memory. No reason to force an alternative layout everywhere.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  Of course not, but in an alternate universe where we had switched over to dvorak, mobile would have been terrible
lelag 3y ago
So true. Dvorak user for 20+ years but I find QWERTY to be much better for one handed typing on a touch screen. I think it's the design goal of having a high chance of switching keyboard side each stroke that makes it so horrible. Still I would never go back to using QWERTY on a real keyboard, using Dvorak is so much more comfortable.
Aachen 3y ago
Obligatory https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9355276 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9355276 > Finding an Optimal Keyboard Layout for Swype (sangaline.com) Can't believe that got only a hundred points and was posted only once in 2015. In my head this is an inspiring if not influential article. Glad it's still online at least. Conclusion hint: it's not any of the established layouts that would be best for mobile!

I use Dvorak for keyboards and qwerty for thumbs. Keeps them both in muscle memory to some extent, so it's not too painful when I'm using someone else's keyboard.

xhevahir 3y ago
Me, too. I tried using Dvorak on the phone once I saw it was available but soon realized that my Dvorak skill was entirely muscle memory and that I had no visual sense of the layout. QWERTY (plus "glide" or "swipe" typing) works fine for that purpose, for me.
- throwawaymaths 3y ago
  The vowel collisions is what makes dvorak nearly unusable
codemac 3y ago
Ditto! It's actually good for thumbs because your thumbs can't get all crumbled on top of eachother. Same for swipe typing - the further distances makes it easier to pick up on different words.

ascagnel_ 3y ago

I can kind of see that: by moving all the frequently-used letters to the edges and mostly away from each other (and keeping frequent letter pairs further apart), it probably makes interpreting taps between letters and things like swipe keyboards easier to execute.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
Specifically the vowels. Lots of words have levenstein distance one vowel in many langs (yes I'm aware many langs don't use qwerty but most are ~)

SkyPuncher 3y ago

I still use Qwerty on mobile. Thumbs are completely different muscle memory. No reason to force an alternative layout everywhere.

throwawaymaths 3y ago
Of course not, but in an alternate universe where we had switched over to dvorak, mobile would have been terrible

lelag 3y ago

So true. Dvorak user for 20+ years but I find QWERTY to be much better for one handed typing on a touch screen. I think it's the design goal of having a high chance of switching keyboard side each stroke that makes it so horrible. Still I would never go back to using QWERTY on a real keyboard, using Dvorak is so much more comfortable.

Aachen 3y ago

Obligatory https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9355276 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9355276 > Finding an Optimal Keyboard Layout for Swype (sangaline.com) Can't believe that got only a hundred points and was posted only once in 2015. In my head this is an inspiring if not influential article. Glad it's still online at least. Conclusion hint: it's not any of the established layouts that would be best for mobile!