Where are pictures of the smart keyboard layouts for foreign languages?

For those unsure whether to install and use foreign keyboards in iPad Keyboard Settings, here are some Pros, Cons, Alternative, and Comment.

PROS

1. Much easier and quicker entry of language specific characters;
2. Auto Correct and Auto Suggestions work.

CONS

1. Apple doesn’t publish the keyboard language layouts (character maps) anywhere in Apple Support that I can find.
2. No Apple documentation on how to use the foreign language keyboard layouts (character maps) to compose foreign language documents.

ALTERNATIVE

Apple documents how to enter special characters on the default installed U.S. English keyboard using awkward multi-key shortcuts.

1. To compose an entire foreign language document with this method could be quite time consuming.
2. There’s no optional Auto-Correct, Auto-Suggestions, and you lose any form of spell checking.

COMMENT:

When word processing first became available in the 1980s, IBM, Wang, Multimate, etc., all published documentation on “How to compose documents in foreign languages” with their hardware and/or software.

Why Apple doesn’t publish this in the 21st century is baffling.

Why make foreign language keyboard layouts available and only document how to install them?

What about documenting how to use them?

If you concur with my observations, please send your Feedback to Apple so we can get much better support for foreign language keyboard layouts. Thank you!

Johne154 wrote:

1. For those unsure whether to install and use foreign keyboards in iPad Keyboard Settings, here are some Pros, Cons, and Alternative, and Comment.

3. CONS

Apple doesn’t publish the keyboard language layouts (character maps) anywhere in Apple Support that I can find.

That's true, perhaps because there are so many, each with 4 levels (normal, shift, option, option shift). In MacOS, there is the Keyboard Viewer app, which lets you see immediately what every key does. iOS should have this too.

. No Apple documentation on how to use the foreign language keyboard layouts (character maps) to compose foreign language documents.

It's not clear to me what you are looking for with that. Most users know the basics of the keyboards for the languages they employ. When sending your feedback to Apple you might want to elaborate about the kinds of how-to info that would be useful.

REPLY:

For example, each key can produce multiple letters or punctuation marks. Color coding the modifier keys and the character keys on the keyboard layouts could instantly identify which key combinations produce each character. One of the links you sent me had the Alt / option key colored magenta and the corresponding character on each key was identified in the same color. On keys that can produce 4 different characters, that cut down my trial and error time.

. ALTERNATIVE

Apple documents how to enter special characters on the default installed U.S. English keyboard using awkward multi-key shortcuts.

To compose an entire foreign language document with this method could be quite time consuming.

6. There’s no optional Auto-Correct, Auto-Suggestions, and you lose any form of spell checking.

Auto Correct and Spell check are governed by the Keyboard setting, but your Smart Keyboard mapping is determined by the independent Hardware Keyboard setting. So you can set the Keyboard to French but the Hardware Keyboard to US and you should get French auto-correct, etc. even when using the keyboard shortcuts of the US layout, if that is what you want.

REPLY:

Yes, I discovered that while learning foreign languages on Duolingo. Their app “discovered” my keyboard layout and suggested I go into Settings, General, Keyboards and add the correct language so that their Auto Correct would work for me.

I really like your suggestion of adding a Keyboard Viewer app to iOS.

Thanks for your help and suggestions, Tom!

Yes, they helped. Thanks!