It requires some adjusting, yes. My experience is actually that I don't have any problem whatsoever using qwerty on my phone (virtual and hardware keyboard), since I'm typing with my thumbs only, so that's what I'm using on my phone.

I'm with Ghen on that one. I'm using a MessagEase layout based on Colemak, which makes it easy to remember for me.

Wouldn't Dvorak be an improvement over QWERTY on mobile devices? If the logic of hand alternation applies to thumb alternation, then theoretically it'd be faster and more comfortable, since the other thumb has time to get ready while the other is pressing a letter.

Then again, you guys are talking about Swype and MessagEase, so I'm assuming you're all talking about one handed use. In that case, just ignore this post please ;).

Well, I used one finger with Swype as you mentioned; it is designed for that, after all.  Take that away and it's just another QWERTY on-screen keyboard (and it does allow you to type that way if you want; I actually used it this way when I didn't trust its auto-guessing feature and on known problem words).  However, as you mentioned, Dvorak did seem to flow nicely during my short use of it in AnySoftKeyboard; the left/right hand/thumb alternation worked quite well for using the keyboard while holding the phone sideways in both hands.  That aspect of the Dvorak keyboard did feel quite comfortable and seemed to work as originally intended.  Unfortunately, it's probably the only aspect of an actual physical keyboard that translates well onto a virtual touchscreen keyboard.

I did end up ditching Dvorak and the AnySoftKeyboard on my phone after a very short amount of time; the tiny keys and lack of any kind of intelligence to "correct" my far-from-accurate onscreen "key" presses was just too irritating, slow, and not very usable.  Especially for the thumb, which is not exactly the smallest finger, and my own are certainly not small.  I don't know how younger generations of people put up with it... I guess when you're brought up in a world of convenience over comfort and practicality, you don't have very high standards for things even as critical and basic as data entry.  It probably helps if you still have baby thumbs when you learn to type on the tiny things.

I have made the switch to MessagEase myself, although I haven't had to type on my phone in a while and as a result I haven't practiced it much.  I type with it by holding my phone normally (not sideways) with my left hand and just using my right pointer finger (yes, I'm right-handed... the accuracy of my left hand is horrible for a lot of things and it just feel awkward).  I think my speed was only in the teens, but the accuracy is worth it... my only problem is that I refuse to use my phone for any kind of text input when there is even the slightest chance of using a real keyboard and monitor, so I won't be getting good or fast at it any time soon.  Nothing beats a real keyboard... nothing.