If you are looking for ways to type in Hindi on your Android phone, here’s another keyboard app. Yojan Tech has launched Hindi-Bindi, a keyboard and handwriting recognition app.
The paid app, has a 40,000 word Hindi dictionary and supports Hinglish typing. For instance, if you need to type out ????*, you can type Sita in English and it will suggest the correct word as you type. The typing experience is quite smooth.
Unlike some of the keyboard replacement apps, it doesn’t completely take away the English keyboard so its easy to switch between the two languages while you are typing. This comes handy when you are looking to fill in the contact box while sending a text message.
It also has a handwriting recognition feature. 
The Handwriting recognition module is in limited beta version. Its supposed to recognize the words that you scroll on the screen and type it out for you. But it needs to improve before it can be put to use.
It works well when you are sending messages from one Android phone to another Android phone or a Google service, but like most other keyboard replacement apps, is not functional across platforms.
One of the developers behind the app is Dr C K Raut, a PhD Scholar from Cambridge University.
Even for very long words like ??????????????????* (atayavashyakttapoorvak), the user barely needs to type more than a couple of letters because it relies on the strong dictionary, says Raut.
We’d written about how local languages find it difficult to survive on the web and digital sphere because of lack of input methods, ergo, good content. However, with time, soft keyboards such as this will change the game.
This app is quite nice for starters but it will be going up against keyboard apps like SwiftKey and Swype, which are much ahead in their product life cycle. Last month, Swiftkey, which has a free (1 month trial) and paid app for Android, announced Hindi and Hinglish support and supports over 50 languages. In July last year, Swype also announced Hindi support.
The app costs Rs 89 and can be downloaded here.
* May not render in certain devices
