Autocorrect, like many advances in technology, is both a gift and a curse. SwiftKey 3 for Android has been released for Beta testing, and its autocorrect feature is being praised as one of the most advanced programs of its kind. One of the great things about emails, instant messaging, and texting, is how quickly thoughts and messages can be conveyed. With practice, many people can type almost as fast as they can think. This speed-typing, and fast communication does come at a price, however. Often, our lighting-fast fingers miss a key, especially on tiny, smartphone keyboard displays. This is where autocorrect comes in handy.

In the early days of autocorrect, the programing checked what the user was typing against a dictionary and set of grammar rules. When autocorrect found an error, it would underline the mistake with red, indicating a spelling mistake, or green, which would indicate a grammar mistake. Users could teach autocorrect words or slang that they wanted to include going forward. These features have evolved from simply pointing out errors, to actually guessing what the user meant to type and replacing the misspelled word with its best guess of a correctly spelled word the user intended.

In order to prevent inserting the wrong word, these programs will often provide a window of words you might have meant. Unfortunately, because typing happens so fast, a lot of times the user will not even notice when a misspelled word is being corrected. The backlash of autocorrect, especially in the age of texting, is both hilarious and potentially humiliating. There are several websites dedicated to capturing the comedic genius behind autocorrected emails and text messages. Sometimes autocorrected messages are simply absurd, changing the context of the message like a Mad Lib. However, these mistakes can have more serious and embarrassing consequences if sent to your grandmother or boss.

SwiftKey 3 Android keyboard is great for people who are sick of dealing with errors created by autocorrect. The system isn't perfect, by any means, but the technology is a great improvement on past versions. The autocorrect technology is cutting-edge, and includes an enhanced algorithm that can detect multiple words at once. This feature allows the program to consider more of the context of what you're trying to type. One of the most impressive aspects of the latest version of SwiftKey, is that it can detect when the user misses the spacebar. According to testing, the system detected around half of the instances when the typist missed the space bar.

One of the major advantages of using SwiftKey's technology, is that the company is dedicated to improving the autocorrect features. It's very frustrating having to go back over a sentence multiple times in order to get the right word, or worse, to send a text or email with ill-chosen replacement words. One commenter points out that after using SwiftKey's autocorrect technology, going back to any other system feels like a huge step backwards. The only complaint posted about the new version is that it fails to implement voice-to-text technology as well as some would like.