Keyman Roadmap – November 2019

Introduction to the Roadmap

Update: see the latest version of the roadmap

This blog post contains the November 2019 update to our roadmap for Keyman. This roadmap depends very much on the resources available to our team, and it will change over time. It is not a promise to deliver by a date, but rather our best estimate as to where we want to take the project.

Older versions of the roadmap:

• May 2018
• October 2018
• February 2019

If you compare this roadmap with the previous one, you will see that the dates when we aim to release functionality have changed considerably. This makes us a little sad but reflects the current reality of resources available for the Keyman project. We welcome comments and suggestions on our plans. Many of the dot points here deserve more detail, and as we start work on these, we’ll aim to make the working documents available for design feedback as well.

We’ll aim to update this roadmap periodically – as we adapt to the ever changing software environment and priorities shift accordingly.

Get Involved

As Keyman is open source, we also encourage you to consider becoming involved. There are many ways you can be involved:

• Software developers: jump into our source repository
• Keyboard developers: learn about creating keyboard layouts and submitting your own keyboard layouts to share with the Keyman community
• Testers and users: download the latest pre-release versions at https://keyman.com/alpha and send feedback through our community forums
• Donate!

The Roadmap

13.0 – Oct 2019 – Jan 2020

Consolidation

• Bug fixes and minor features only
• Cleanup of code
• Lots of small feature requests
• Testing of Lexical Models
• Dark Mode in iOS
• Notifications of updates in Android
• Improvements to compatibility on all platforms

14.0 – Feb 2020 – Oct 2020

• A Better Keyboard Download Picker
  • Consistent experience across all platforms
  • Search across languages, keyboards, scripts, etc.
  • Remove deprecated keyboards from search
  • Sort results in more useful ways
  • Depends on: Chromium on Keyman Desktop

• Product i18n
  • Existing products have mixed i18n. Consolidate using Crowdin.

• Consolidate error reporting for all platforms
  • Currently, error reporting is variable; we want to use a single tool and have more proactive response

• Predictive Text
  • Learning models
  • Model development tools

• Keyman for iOS and Android
  • Download .kmp from cloud rather than js model (splits KeymanWeb and iOS/Android keyboard deployment)
  • Bundled keyboard + app for Android?

• Keyman Desktop
  • Use Chromium embedded web engine instead of IE
    • Replace web host form
    • Use internal web server instead of XSL
  • Keyman Core integration

• KeymanWeb
  • Rework UI integrations – Toolbar, Floating, Button, Toggle
  • Refresh keymanweb.com

15.0 – Nov 2020 – Apr 2021

• KeymanWeb
  • Headless (DOM-free) engine
    • Runs in Node.js for keyboard + engine unit tests
    • Streamlined embedded mode
  • npm distribution
  • Improve Promise integration + timeout management

• Keyman for Linux
  • Address serialised input limitation
  • Wayland compatibility
  • Compatibility with Terminal
  • Fcitx support (alternative to ibus in CJK environments)

• Keyman for Mac
  • Address serialised input limitation
  • Per-language keyboard registration
  • Keyman Core integration

• Keyman Developer
  • Use Keyman Core in Debugger / Command Line Tests
  • Online Stage 2 (keyboard development tools, kmcomp backend)

• Keyman Core
  • LDML engine

16.0 – May 2021 – Dec 2021

• KeymanWeb
  • Touch on desktop
  • Support for web intents – numpad mode, email mode (#1221)
  • Implement Keyman CoreJS API

• Touch gestures and actions
  • Double-tap shift for Caps Lock (#246)
  • Slide down for Shift
    • Select popup key with gesture below the displayed key (#1025)
  • Longpress consistency or customisation (#1113)
    • Longpress display delay timer customization (#877)

• Mobile apps
  • Background updates and downloads (#1316, #1317)
  • Automated integration testing (#749)
  • Implement Keyman CoreJS

• Keyman Developer Online Stage 3
  • Interactive keyboard development tutorial
  • Web-based compiler
  • LDML editor

• Keyman Desktop (Windows)
  • Touch on Windows Desktop
  • Longpress support

• Keyman for Mac
  • Longpress support

• Keyman for Chromebook

• Keyman for Linux
  • Alternative (custom) on-screen keyboard
  • Longpress support