[GatorD42]

I switched to Dvorak about ten years ago then switched back about five years ago. I switched back because I use swipe text input on phones which works much better (only?) with QWERTY, and swipe text became and still is very important for me.

Although I could type faster and much more comfortable on Dvorak I regret ever making the change, I feel I am still not as fast on QWERTY as I was before I switched to Dvorak. I make a lot of mistakes typing now and can't seem get much faster or more accurate with practice.

It was very difficult for me to do both or switch between the two - I was much better at Dvorak until I gave it up. My QWERTY was prbly 30 wpm max while using Dvorak. It helps to switch context or use different keyboards for switching. I think I got to 90 wpm Dvorak, QWERTY is now around 65-70.

I have problems typing comfortably and motor learning / coordination issues that might make me unusual, but I have read that fluency with both is rare and very difficult.

Oh shortcuts were more annoying in Dvorak, only other issue aside from swipe text.

[pmoriarty]

With the Swiftkey app you can swipe with Colemak or Dvorak, if you want.

[nayuki]

@pmoriarty: Speaking speculatively, swiping on Dvorak might be harder for the machine to recognize because more common English letters are on the home row instead of separated like QWERTY.

@GatorD42: I hear a decent proportion of people who complain or fear that keyboard shortcuts won't work well in Dvorak. But in my own experience, I have no problems whatsoever (even common keys like Ctrl+C/V/X/Z/W/A/S/T). One caveat though, is that many shortcuts are on the right side and prefer using Right Ctrl - but some machines like the entire Microsoft Surface tablet/laptop series omit Right Ctrl which makes keyboard shortcuts absolutely infuriating.