Typing Hero Review - Do You Remember Autotext?

Anda berbicara Bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini!

I have a question. Have you guys ever used BlackBerry before? Yes, that archaic (now extinct) business-oriented mobile device. Anyway, in BlackBerry, they used to have this neat feature called Autotext. It basically replaced certain phrases to anything you want. So, for example, you want to replace omw to on my way. Just type 'omw' and it will automatically replace the former with the latter. We used to use this for those complex emojis comprised of multiple characters. It was a thing, back then.

Fast forward to 2019, mobile OSes have become much smarter, much more modern, and much more feature-rich. But, I haven't seen similar features like Blackberry's Autotext. A few while ago, however, a friend told me about his app, which provides the same functionality as the said feature.

Enter Typing Hero. With the motto of type less, write more, let's see how it lives up to its motto, shall we?

Simple and Minimalistic UI

Typing Hero is a rather simple app. The main screen is just a list of phrases (dubbed keywords) and their respective replacements (dubbed texts). There's a plus button on the bottom right of the screen to add new phrases (or snippets).

Typing Hero snippet list

Adding new snippets is also simple. Just type the keyword and its replacement, then you can check the boxes below the text fields depending on your needs. To save, just click the floppy disk button on the top right side of the screen. If you want to create another snippet after saving that one, click the +1 button next to it.

It's easy to add new snippets.

Keyboard-Independent

I'm gonna be honest with you. At first, I thought that this was another keyboard app, since its functions are all about text input. However, I was wrong. It turns out that it uses Android's accessibility service. Yes, you have to turn it on manually in order for this app to work, but you only need to do that once.

Using Android's accessibility means Typing Hero will work regardless of what keyboard you use.

Once it's turned on, no matter what keyboard you use, you'll still be able to use the app's features. I've used the app with both Gboard (formerly Google Keyboard) and Samsung Keyboard. Typing Hero works just fine on both keyboards.

It Works on Most Text Fields

I've tried Typing Hero on many types of text fields, from small ones like Instagram's comment box to large ones like iAWriter for Android, my go-to app for writing articles you read on this website. They mostly work, although they don't work in some apps which have "large" text inputs, such as Microsoft's OneNote, Word, and GMail's email composer. Typing Hero also doesn't work in password fields, though I think this is more of a security issue rather than a bug. Unfortunately, I can't list all apps here, you'll have to try it yourself.

The developer is already aware of this issue, and promises to provide an alternative solution in the future. You can read more about Typing Hero's limitations here.

Issue Tracking

Let's face it. No application is perfect. As a developer myself, I know that there will always be bugs, it's just a matter of time. That's why the developer of Typing Hero has set up a Github page for tracking issues and upcoming features. In addition, there's also a Telegram channel for discussing the app. Not only that, the developer is also active in responding to the reviews in the Play Store.

I'll leave the links to those information in the end of the article.

Conclusion

Typing Hero is available for free, but according to the developer, the premium version is in the works.

For writers like me, there are certain phrases or sentences that I repeatedly write, such as the placeholder for translation link in the beginning of my articles. I can also use it for non-critical information that I keep forgetting, such as ID number for a loyalty card, my email, etc. With Typing Hero, I can just write a short phrase, and be done with it.

And yes, there are still limitations. But during my testing, I found that this app works most of the time, and it actually saves me time. I certainly hope the developer can keep updating the apps to iron out the limitations.

Currently, Typing Hero is available for free, but the developer told me that he's planning to launch a premium version in the future. The features are still currently in consideration, but one includes the recently-popular dark theme. You can read more in the issue tracker page in the end of this article.

You can download Typing Hero for free here

You can read more about Typing Hero here

You can join Typing Hero Telegram channel here

You can view Typing Hero's issue tracker here

Well, I guess that's all for now, Folks. Hopefully you'll find Typing Hero useful, and as usual, thanks for reading and see you in the next article! :D