Since this page gets more hits than all the other pages on my blog combined, I’ve added a forward to make this post a little more straightforward:

1. Enable non-market apps - Settings → Security → Unknown sources → Put a check in the box. 2. Download the .apk file from Swype - open and install the .apk

Swype Beta

3. Log in to the Swype installer and download Swype - it will provide you with instructions to begin the Swype download - follow the instructions and install Swype 4. Make the Swype keyboard default - Settings → Language and Input → Default → Choose Swype Beta - make sure Swype Beta also has a check in it 5. (optional) You can uninstall the Swype installer now if you wish - Settings → Application Manager → Swype Installer → Uninstall - make sure you uninstall the installer and not Swype itself!

The rest of this post is what I had previously written.

Yesterday I was blessed to obtain a Samsung Galaxy S3 since my contract was due for an upgrade. It is blazingly fast. I was literally blown away by the smoothness of the UI and speed of the internet. YouTube videos come in quickly and with beautiful definition. The screen is big enough that reading e-books is actually feasible. I’m looking into the possibility of putting my textbooks on it. I have loved everything about it so far, except for one little thing - the keyboard. Samsung includes a built in Swype-like keyboard on the phone. It works well enough I guess and is supposedly lighter weight than Swype, but my efficiency with typing dropped drastically. I’m already used to using the Swype beta keyboard on my Captivate, so I was disappointed that many of the features it had were missing.

Fortunately, I found out that the GS3 has a beautiful option. You can install non-market apps without doing any rooting or hacking. Excellent! I may eventually root this phone, but for now I’d like to keep it in pristine condition and keep the warranty in tact. But with this option, you can install .apk packages, like Swype beta. To enable this option, go to Settings → Security → Unknown sources and put a check in the box. Done!

You can grab it by making an account on their site and downloading the installer. The installer will just ask you to log in and then download the Swype.apk onto your device. Follow the steps and then go to Settings → Language and input → Default → and choose Swype Beta. Make sure Swype Beta also has a check next to it on the Language and input screen. Then you’re set!

As an addendum, I found out that you can change the shortcuts on the lock screen by going to Security → Lock screen options → Shortcuts and actually tapping on the word Shortcuts instead of the on/off button (unintuitive). From there you can put any app you want on the lock screen! Loving this phone.