No software Dvorak Layout!?!?

If anyone else is interested:

Dvorak keyboards available in the APP store for iPhone & iPad.. updated 13th July 2010.. But one has to copy and paste the text into mail, pages etc.

One of the first apps I downloaded on iPad1.

I'm also a bit dismayed that there is no Dvorak layout for the soft keyboard. Like point618, it's a matter of knowing where letters are and you still benefit from the improved efficiency be reducing overall motion. At least with my Macbook Pro, the keys are all flat and I could pretty easily physically change around the key caps. :-) I can't imagine it would be that much more trouble since they do have 3 variants for the soft keyboard already...

Yes, I'm waiting too. This is a really interesting thread to read. I used to use QWERTY, switched to Dvorak about 15 years ago. As a Mac user, I've always been convinced that the system I use has been the best platform for my needs/expectations, likewise with Dvorak. I don't expect anyone to adopt Dvorak just because I think it's better, just as I never expected DOS/Windows users to even try a Mac, let alone switch. By Philly Phan's logic, we probably should have stopped using Macs in the mid-1990s because Windows was the standard. The only reason so many people still use QWERTY has nothing to do with its merits, and everything to do with its momentum.

You are not buying an iPad, and you felt the overwhelming need to tell the world about?

Get over yourself.

LenKuffert wrote:

The only reason so many people still use QWERTY has nothing to do with its merits, and everything to do with its momentum.

Absolutely, and the momentum cannot be stopped.

I too wish Apple would just get the DVORAK keyboard layout put in there so people who want to use it can use it. They have a bunch of other layouts available, so there's obviously no technical reason for not offering DVORAK. They even offer, under English keyboards, AZERTY and QWERTZ. Talk about catering to miniscule market segments! And they offer DVORAK as a choice for a hardware keyboard layout, so the system is obviously capable of handling it.

So why do I want it? I type most of the time using the common QWERTY layout. I don't expect (nor do I want) to switch to DVORAK for regular typing, which I do almost exclusively on a regular keyboard on my iMac, as I'm doing now. But when I'm using my iPad, I find I don't type the usual way anyway. I type mostly two-finger two-handed, in a hunt-and-peck fashion. And DVORAK, once you're used to it, makes that much faster and easier.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Rob Stevenson wrote:

They even offer, under English keyboards, AZERTY and QWERTZ. Talk about catering to miniscule market segments!

😁

Hi,

I use Dvorak too. I started out with QWERTY, and I switched. I would never go back to QWERTY. The fastest typist in the world uses DVORAK. I've used both and IT IS SUPERIOR! Apple should support it. After all if you follow your logic we should all be using PCs. THINK DIFFERENTLY.

It flopped because companies didn't want to spend the money to replace their typewriters. Dvorak introduced his typewriter in 1930 during The Great Depression.

"Some of the world's fastest typists use Dvorak. A woman named Barbara Blackburn failed her high school typing course, which, of course, taught QWERTY. Then she found out about the Dvorak keyboard. Now, Blackburn can type at a rate of 170 WPM (words per minute) and once peaked at 212 WPM! Here's more information about the world's fastest typist and why she uses only Dvorak. Indeed, most typists who switch from QWERTY to Dvorak easily match their old speed, and usually surpass it. Some have seen a 200-300% increase in their speed. Your speed may not increase that much, but you will notice a striking difference in accuracy and comfort."

Interestingly there are now retrofitted IBM Selectrics for Dvorak.

Yes, I want Dvorak natively on my iPad.

I was just looking at an iPad today - it would have been my first Apple product - but I didn't buy it because of the Dvorak issue! While there is now a Dvorak app, it appears to only offer the standard Dvorak keyboard. BUT I use the right-handed Dvorak keyboard layout as my left side is paralyzed. Only Dvorak keyboards offer a one-handed option. While, indeed, that makes for a small market of users, it's still an important feature to offer for accessibility. I was very surprised and disappointed with Apple that it was not an option. I could also not find a way to convert sound cues to visual ones - another important accessibilty option for me. All that says to me that Apple is not interested in me as a customer - I'm very disappointed in the company, especially given its reputation!

woodyoak wrote:

All that says to me that Apple is not interested in me as a customer - I'm very disappointed in the company, especially given its reputation!

Clearly, they can't be all things to all people. However, they're darned close!

My earlier comments were critical of Apple for not providing a Dvorak option on the iPad. I am a dedicated Dvorak user, but after using my iPad for 4-5 months, I no longer have a problem, for two reasons:

1) Since you get no tactile response on the iPad keyboard, you can't (or at least I can't) really touch type on it. Since I'm not touch typing, it is no more trouble to use the (wretched, by comparison) Qwerty keyboard than to use the Dvorak keyboard. So all is fine for short bursts of typing, which is to say, for nearly all my iPad use.

2) If I want to do serious typing on the iPad, then I just connect it to the wireless keyboard from my iMac. (If you don't have a wireless keyboard, I recommend it.) The Apple wireless keyboard, which is great, does Dvorak. So there's no problem!

Happy solutions to what turns out not to be much of a problem, though I'd like for Dvorak users to be more explicitly addressed.

Because I bought my iPad for its portability, I'm not going to lug a Bluetooth keyboard around. I have no problem with not having a tactile feel—I can type without that feedback. Also, as mentioned by others, they have included more obscure keyboard layouts. Add DVORAK. It's a no brainier.

There is no Dvorak keyboard for the iPad. It's a no-brainer.

Of course they should have it. But they don't, so in the meantime, for more than brief typing, this is a workable compromise. The Apple wireless keyboard is small and light, no lugging required, and it's much better for typing than the iPad keyboard, which helps make up for the modest inconvenience of carrying it around. Maybe it won't work for you, but it has worked for me, so I just mean to share it as something that might work for others until Apple adds a full-scale Dvorak option.