On a physical keyboard (Titan 2 / Q25), the current way to type umlauts is multi-tap into the variation layer (e.g. a → ä, o → ö, u → ü). For most words this works, but it breaks down when a word contains letters in quick succession that sit close to the variation options.
Concretely: multi-tap requires a deliberate rhythm, so when you're speed-typing a normal word with repeated or adjacent letters, the keyboard can misfire — you end up with an umlauted character (or a variation candidate) where you wanted the plain letter. The rhythm-based timing is the root of the problem, and it compounds when several such letters appear near each other in one word.
I've also tried the variation/suggestion bar (the row that appears showing alternate character options). It's better than nothing, but it's not a good fit for fast typing either — it pulls focus to a bar and adds a selection step that a physical keyboard shouldn't need.
Suggested direction (one option, not necessarily the best)
A compose/dead-key style behaviour, e.g. pressing " followed by a letter produces the umlauted vowel:
" + a → ä, " + o → ö, " + u → ü
I've considered this fairly seriously, and I could live with it. But I'm aware it's not the most elegant solution — a dedicated compose sequence is arguably clunky next to how someone naturally types a quote. That's why I'm posting this as an open request rather than a rigid spec.
What I'm really asking for
I'd like an alternative to multi-tap and the variation bar for accented characters on fast physical-keypad typing. The dead-key example above is one way; I'm happy to leave the how open and let you design whatever mechanism best fits the existing model layer, multi-tap engine, and layout system. Ideally it feels natural at rapid typing speed and never makes a plain letter or a real punctuation character misfire purely because of typing rhythm.
On a physical keyboard (Titan 2 / Q25), the current way to type umlauts is multi-tap into the variation layer (e.g.
a → ä,o → ö,u → ü). For most words this works, but it breaks down when a word contains letters in quick succession that sit close to the variation options.Concretely: multi-tap requires a deliberate rhythm, so when you're speed-typing a normal word with repeated or adjacent letters, the keyboard can misfire — you end up with an umlauted character (or a variation candidate) where you wanted the plain letter. The rhythm-based timing is the root of the problem, and it compounds when several such letters appear near each other in one word.
I've also tried the variation/suggestion bar (the row that appears showing alternate character options). It's better than nothing, but it's not a good fit for fast typing either — it pulls focus to a bar and adds a selection step that a physical keyboard shouldn't need.
Suggested direction (one option, not necessarily the best)
A compose/dead-key style behaviour, e.g. pressing
"followed by a letter produces the umlauted vowel:I've considered this fairly seriously, and I could live with it. But I'm aware it's not the most elegant solution — a dedicated compose sequence is arguably clunky next to how someone naturally types a quote. That's why I'm posting this as an open request rather than a rigid spec.
What I'm really asking for
I'd like an alternative to multi-tap and the variation bar for accented characters on fast physical-keypad typing. The dead-key example above is one way; I'm happy to leave the how open and let you design whatever mechanism best fits the existing model layer, multi-tap engine, and layout system. Ideally it feels natural at rapid typing speed and never makes a plain letter or a real punctuation character misfire purely because of typing rhythm.