Matnsaz متن‌ساز — a shape-based Urdu Keyboard

[Behnam Esfahbod]

A while back, Khawar Latif Khan introduced some of us to Matnsaz متن‌ساز, a shape-based on-screen keyboard designed for Urdu language, with an app for iOS. Its creator is Zeerak Ahmed, who started working on the project as part of the MDE program at Harvard.

Highlights from matnsaz.net and matnsaz.net/en/keyboard:

A rethought keyboard layout uses the layers of the Arabic script itself, to compress a large alphabet into an easy-to-use modern keyboard. This is powered by a state of the art auto-correct system, built on the language of Urdu scholars.

 

Pick the shape of the letter, dots are added automatically

Grouping letters by shape, we reduced the keyboard from 39 to just 21 keys. These are larger and easier to hit.

Ordered alphabetically, letters are easy to find. Hold to insert specific letters whenever you need.

Keys that change shape, just like the letters

In the Arabic script, letters change shape depending on where they are in a word. See how letters will appear in the word before you type. This makes it easy to pick the right letter, and spot mistakes before they happen.

With complex scripts like Nastaliq, letter shapes can vary even more. Matnsaz presents a completely new experience of Nastaliq.

This optional feature is perfect for learning Urdu.

A few photos are attached from their app store page. And see it in action on their video channel.

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Behnam Esfahbod | بهنام اسفهبد | Q4880939 Q2064908 | behnam.es