Is Swiping Really Faster Than Typing on a Phone Keyboard?

Most keyboard apps on iPhone and Android phones have two options: tap each letter as you go or slide your finger over full words. These are both tried and true methods, but which one is actually faster?

Personally, I've been using swipe—or "slide"—typing since the beta release of Swype for Android all the way back in 2010. Nowadays, I use Gboard, but I still primarily use swipe typing. I was recently wondering if I've actually been using the superior typing method or just wasting my time. So, let's put it to the test.

Gboard on Android: Swipe vs Type

First, we'll start with my home field advantage: Gboard on Android. I simply typed "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"—a phrase that includes every letter of the alphabet—three times and timed each sentence. Here's how it went for swipe typing.

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As mentioned, this is how I usually type, so I'm pretty comfortable with it. I didn't make a single error. After timing all three sentences, my average came out to 6.95 seconds. Now, here's how the regular typing played out.

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Not too shabby, considering I don't typically type like this. With the help of autocorrect, I nailed all three without errors once again. However, here's where things get interesting. My average time came out to 6.18 seconds—nearly a full second faster than swiping.

iPhone Keyboard: Swipe vs Type

I'm not a frequent iPhone user, but I wanted to see how things would look on Apple's infamous keyboard as well. Again, I started off by testing the swipe typing.

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My error-free streak came to an abrupt end. Apple really struggled to figure out that I was trying to type "fox" and "lazy." Accuracy aside, my average time for the four sentences came out to 8.07 seconds—much slower than my Android swiping time. But what about tap tap tapping?

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Yikes. Can you tell I don't use the iPhone keyboard very often? Apple still really wanted me to say "fix" instead of "fox," so I started tapping the suggestion in the latter sentences to get it right. Still, my average time over five sentences was faster than swiping again: 7.67 seconds.

What Did We Learn?

It turns out that if speed is the ultimate goal, the classic two-thumb typing method might be your best bet. However, I did notice one advantage of swipe typing: it's easier. The number of times you're lifting and tapping your finger with swipe typing is considerably less than regular typing. Plus, swiping only takes one finger, whereas I needed both hands for the classic method. If ease of use is most important, swipe typing is the way to go. The good news is we always have both at our disposal, so use whichever method feels the best.