Bures Fast Tap Layout for ASK

YOU MUST FIRST INSTALL AnySoftKeyboard TO BE ABLE TO INSTALL THIS LAYOUT.
THIS LAYOUT IS OPTIMIZED FOR PORTRAIT MODE.

QWERTY key boards were originally designed to slow typists down, and are meant to be used with
two hands.
Designed by Rick Bures, this layout is optimized for SPEED. Once familiar with it, you should see an
increase in your tapping speed. Here's how:

1. By increasing the number of rows and decreasing the number of columns over a QWERTY
keyboard, the keys can be made larger, allowing for greater finger movement without
sacrificing accuracy.
2. Speed increases when the next key you tap is near the one you just tapped. Written English has
been analyzed to determine the most common letters, the most common digraphs (two-letter
combinations), and the most common trigraphs (three-letter combinations). By grouping the
most commonly used letters near the center, and positioning them relative to one-another so that
adjacent letters complete the most common digraphs and trigraphs, the frequency that the next
key you want to tap is near the one you just tapped is greatly increased.

This layout has the letters of each digraph adjacent to each other (horizontally, vertically, or
diagonally) in 26 of the 32 most common digraphs in written English, and in all but one of the
remaining 6 there is only one key interposed between the the letters of the digraph. Though
harder to achieve with trigraphs, this layout still manages to have all the letters adjacent in 10 of
the 16 most common trigraphs, and in half of the remaining 6 one of the letters is only distant
by one interposing key.

3. The space bar is double-sized, since it is tapped so often. Within the constraints of the layout of
the letters, it is placed where familiarity with a QWERTY keyboard would lead you to find it.
The shift key is similarly placed.

In addition to being faster than QWERTY (once you're used to it), this layout retains many of the best
features of ASK:
• Accepts themes
• Dictionary
• Word suggestions
• Keyboard settings, Override default dictionary, and Change input method on long press of the
return key.
• Many, many, alternate characters and punctuation selectable via the pop-up when you long-
press many of the keys.
• Voice input
• Swipe to access additional keyboards
• etc.

Things to make note of:
• Try long-pressing the period key. You'll find the question mark and many of the punctuation
symbols originally found with both the period and the question mark.
• “Center” on this keyboard is the letter E-- it is found center column, but in a low row.
Everything else spreads from that point. Consider E your home base. This arrangement with E
in a low row maintains contiguity for a greater number of digraphs and trigraphs.
• You can quickly get numbers by long pressing any of the keys on the top row, just like with the
QWERTY layout-- except that because there are now only seven columns, some of the numbers
have been moved to the second row. Alternatively, you can enable a complete number row on
top, which has small keys to fit.
• Having something great for portrait meant compromising on landscape-- the key size change
makes this layout not as well suited for landscape mode.

Is this layout for everyone? Nope. But for those of you who are looking to increase your speed and
accuracy when using a portrait mode keyboard, and don't mind a little time to get used to it, you may
like it as much as I do. If you don't, I don't mind.


Keywords:
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swipe, swype, tap, fast, fast tap, quick, quick tap, layout, keyboard layout, layouts, QWERTY, square,
square keys, button, buttons, big buttons, software keyboard, keyboard replacement, keyboard
replacements, input, input method, Rick Bures.