iTextSpeed

Nowadays kids can text so fast that smoke billows from their keypad as they type.  Meanwhile you take 5 minutes to respond with 10 misspelled words.  Get with it and start texting like a pro.  iTextSpeed, created by Zachary Poley, is a game that’s all about increasing the number of words you can text.  You can choose to type in 15, 30, 60, and 120 second intervals.  Each time you play it provides you with a list of random words to type, and as you type it automatically keeps track of the number completed and which one’s were spelled correctly and incorrectly.  When time runs out it tallies up your results, saves them, and provides you with a graph so you can see how you progressed during that game.  If you crank out a score that’s worth bragging about you can easily post it to Facebook, Twitter, or FriendFeed directly from the app.  Let’s put it this way, if you don’t start texting faster after using this app then you’ve got problems!

iTextSpeed appeals to anyone’s typing style because you can use it in both portrait and landscape modes.  For me personally I seem to type slightly quicker in landscape mode mainly because I find that I can see the words and letters a little easier.  Part of the trick to typing fast is to be able to read a few words ahead as you type.  Well, not making typos helps too.  Prior to using this app I thought that I texted pretty fast.  However after seeing some of the scores posted on the News page inside the app (iText Speed Twitter feed), I realize I aint got #$%@!

Ok, so I’m sure you’re wondering how I did.  Well, my first run through I typed with zero mistakes (yey) but at a disappointing 24 words per minute.  After about 10 minutes with the app I was cranking out 36 words per minute with 0-1 mistakes (not bad).  I did notice on the News page that someone is cranking out 87 words per minute.  That’s insane!

Overall iTextSpeed is a pretty decent app.  If you’re interested in being able to text like a pro this is a good app to have.  I experienced a few crashes while playing, and noticed a few other users complaining of the same thing.  I noticed that it’s still version 1.0, so it probably could use some bug fixes.  In my opinion, in it’s current state, iTextSpeed is more of a productivity app than it is a game app.  It’s not very game-like aside from the natural desire to beat your previously best score.  A few things that’re missing from a game perspective are game-like sounds, effects, and look and feel.  Also, it’d be better if it had a global leaderboard.  You can always check the latest high scores on the iTextSpeed Twitter page or the in-app News page which is a direct feed of the Twitter page, but having a leaderboard in the app would definitely be better.  All in all, priced at only $0.99 it’s definitely a cheap way to improve on your texting skills.  I plan to put in some more practice.  My goal is 60 words per minute!  Let’s see what happens.

Version Reviewed: 1.0

Requirements: iPhone or iPod Touch; iPhone OS 3.0 or later

Posted by Ryan Johnson
on 03 17, 2010
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