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How I Made Hindi On-Screen Keyboard for macOS

When you learn a foreign language, no doubt at a certain point you will require an option to type in it. Yes, you can install an additional keyboard layout, but itā€™s not always convenient to switch between two or more languages. In my case, I am to switch between the three layouts, and my laptop keyboard has no Hindi symbols after all. Surprisingly, there is no affordable and elegant virtual Hindi keyboard for macOS. Either it costs too much for, or it looks like a piece of software from the nineties. But mostly both. Hindi On-screen Keyboard for Mac 2.3 by Vlad Bugaev (pptxman).

Utilising macOS Accessibility Keyboard

Apple did a great job within macOS Accessibility Keyboard, allowing us to create virtually every possible keyboard or launchpad or whatever thing with buttons. To do this, simply select Show Keyboard Viewer under the language selection icon in the menu bar and add a custom panel to your current on-screen keyboard. In our case, such a panel will be the Hindi keyboard. But first, letā€™s see how the Accessibility Keyboard works in general. To add a custom panel click the three dots icon in an upper right corner and select Customizeā€¦ Now you can create any on-screen keyboard you need. The process is dramatically basic yet gives you a wide range of possibilities. A button can launch an app, run a shortcut or AppleScript, or even start a system event.  I used iOS Hindi keyboard as a base with small additions like buttons for ą¤” and ą¤Øą¤¹ą„€ą¤‚, or present forms of the verb ą¤¹ą„‹ą¤Øą¤¾. As I learn, I add and remove buttons based on my needs. The layout is the same as in iOS.

How to Install Hindi On-Screen Keyboard

  1. Go to my Gumroad and buy Hindi On-Screen Keyboard for free.
  2. Run Accessibility Keyboard by clicking on Show Keyboard Viewer menu item of the macOS language switch icon on the menu bar.
  3. Click the three dot icon in the upper right corner of the Accessibility Keyboard, then select Customizeā€¦ menu item.
  4. Double click downloaded ā€œHindi Keyboard.ascconfigā€ file. Or Accessibility Keyboard Panel Editor opens. Now go to File ā†’ Import Panelsā€¦ or press āŒ„āŒ˜O, and select downloaded ā€œHindi Keyboard.ascconfigā€ file.
  5. Press āŒ˜S to save updated Accessibility Keyboard Layout. Now you can find Hindi Keyboard in the custom panels list of the Accessibility Keyboard.

How to Set Hindi On-Screen Keyboard as Home Panel

By default, custom panels are hidden in submenu, so you must click few times to get it. If you want it to be open immediately, select to show As Home Panel in Accessibility Keyboard Panel Editor. To apply changes, press āŒ˜S. You can also bring up the keyboard by triple-tapping the fingerprint scanner, if your MacBook has one.

How to Assign a Hotkey to Toggle Hindi On-Screen Keyboard

Go to Accessibility menu in macOS Settings, and uncheck everything but Accessibility Keyboard in the Shortcut menu. Now when you press āŒ„āŒ˜F5 only keyboard appears. Assign a hotkey to Show Accessibility Controls in Keyboard and Shortcutsā€¦ menu of the Keyboard menu in macOS Settings. I prefer āŒ˜F5.

Summary

ā€“ Simple installation; ā€“ No third-party software needed; ā€“ No need to add as a keyboard layout; ā€“ Based on iOS keyboard layout; ā€“ Fully customisable. ļ½ž #medium #2k23