14 DAY TRIAL // Not taking the time to learn how to properly type usually reflects in one’s productivity level. Type Fu is a small application that provides a large number of exercises that will help you both master basic techniques and improve your typing abilities.
Noteworthy is that Type Fu is ultimately a collection of exercises and does not include “theoretical” notions, such as how you must place your hands on the keyboard to stay “grounded,” the fact that you can use the indentations on the F and J keys as spatial landmarks, or the ergonomically correct position you should adopt.
Type Fu is available only via the Mac App Store, so the installation process is handled automatically. At the same time, the app uses very few resources: around 40MB of RAM and up to 16% CPU on a 2GHz Intel Core i7 Mac Mini running Mac OS X Mavericks.
Right off the bat, in the Type Fu main window you will notice a new exercise and a virtual keyboard where the app highlights the next key that has to be pressed together with the finger that should be used for a certain group. The visual aids are great for practicing, but if you want to learn more about the methodology, you have to go online on your own.
In fact, Type Fu does not include any documentation whatsoever, so it’s a good thing that the interface is very intuitive. The design resembles the iTunes app: its main window includes buttons to start / pause / resume the current exercise and a status bar to monitor your progress, just like a media player.
Type Fu is following all the steps of a classic typing course: you start with two letters and then you work your way up to numbers, words, proverbs, and quotes. The first three categories have a levels system that increases the difficulty gradually, while the proverbs (300 entries) and the quotes (325 entries) will be shown randomly.
Type Fu can automatically switch to an upper level if the conditions set in the Preferences window are met: by default, that means 30WPM (words per minute) speed and 95% accuracy in the last 5 completed exercises, but those goals seem appropriate if you just started the lessons. Users who want to improve their performance might need to set the goals higher.
The application records your progress and automatically generates speed, accuracy, most typed, and most mistyped charts (overall and current session only), which can help you monitor your progress. However, when it comes to accuracy, there is a glitch: Type Fu allows you to go back and rectify your mistakes while you take the exercise, so you might have a perfect score even though you corrected several typos.
Unfortunately, things become quite dull after a while when you work with quotes or proverbs, and take a turn for the worse when you discover that Type Fu does not allow you to practice by using your own texts.
Another annoyance is the constraint to work on a single machine: you can export your stats but you can’t import them back, so you are not able to practice on two or more Macs and keep your records straight.
Type Fu probably works best once you have memorized the keys’ layout and you start training in full screen mode without the keyboard or the hands helping tools to distract you; since there is an unlimited number of exercises, you can stick to it for as long as it takes to increase your speed.
The Good
The good news is that Type Fu generates a new exercise every time (at least when dealing with the basics) in order to offer you the opportunity to practice for as long as you need to get things right. At the same time, the exercises also help improve your speed if you are already familiar with the techniques.
The Bad
The fact that you cannot transfer your statistics from one computer to another is quite annoying, since most of us use multiple devices throughout the day. Of course, an automatic syncing method would be the best solution, but at this stage you can’t even import the stats files generated by the app.
Ultimately, as you become more proficient, the challenge level will probably drop since you do not have the possibility to practice using your own text.
