I've recently switched on the reading function which is helping me remember the pinyin for words. While I think the function is ok, I have a few questions:

1. Is it worth doing?
2. Am I slowing down the speed at which I learn other words, e.g. if the function was switched off could I learn to "write" more words quickly?
3. Why isn't it switched on as a default function?

I think I can answer #3. I don't think it's on by default, because in the early days of Skritter it only had writing and tones. Reading and definition came into play later. I assume initially they wanted to give users the option to use the new features or not. It's be quite awhile though, so I can't be 100% sure if that's still the reason anymore.

In my case, yes it's worth doing. I'm not aimed at maximizing the already fast speed at which I'm learning. I also rather like the redundancy. I occasionally will disable the other three modes and just cruise through reading mode for 5-10 minutes. Trying to type them as fast as possible makes me feel like I'm more in command of my words.

I turn reading on and off when I feel like I need a big review session. I have found it is faster when I first learn purely by writing though.

I absolutely think it's worth doing. When I first started training Pinyin, I was surprised how many I got wrong, including characters I knew how to write very well. Using a good mnemonic to write a character will not guarantee that you can reverse engineer the mnemonic when you read the character, and it will not teach you to quickly distinguish between similar-looking characters.

Yes, it is possible that training Pinyin will slow down your progress in learning to write the characters, but in my opinion the trade-off is well worth it. I can guarantee that you will read far more Chinese in your life than you will write, so I think reading is a skill worth putting a good deal of focus on.

It used to be off by default because switching between keyboard and mouse was such a buzzkill (the definition mode was on by default). Then we enabled it by default, but only for new users.

I find it helpful as well, but if I'm studying on the web version, I'll temporarily turn off writing practice in the temporary parts study so that I don't have to do the switching.

Yes, I study all the parts :) But sometimes when I have too many reviews and I feel burned out, I just study 1-2 parts for a while. That knocks the review pile down significantly, and makes me feel happy!

Thanks, have decided to study all parts also, I find it is beneficial. When I used to study via my laptop I never used it dues to having to switch to keyboard, and then accidently turning it on via iPhone found that it wasn't it's not too much bother.

If I have too many reviews I sometimes do one part at a time also, e.g. tones. I feel that it breaks it down.

re: "I can guarantee that you will read far more Chinese in your life than you will write" I am so phenomenally lazy that I actually never pick up reading material, but I do text a fair bit, so I am actually reliant on knowing my pinyin. Of course,then I have the problem of recognizing the characters that I have "written". I hope I have not insulted several generations of anyone's family . . .