Type Vietnamese, German and English. Without switching keyboards.
MiKey is a Vietnamese Telex input method for people living in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. It notices English and German words by itself, and the ä ö ü keys just work.
| Keys | Plain Telex | MiKey |
|---|---|---|
| text | text | |
| wir | wir | |
| der | der | |
| über | über | |
| osx | osx |
Sound familiar?
You text friends in Vietnamese, then email a colleague in German, then type a command in the Terminal. Telex doesn't know what you're writing: s f r x j w can always be tone marks. So "text" becomes "tẽt" and "wir" becomes "ửi". On a Swiss keyboard it's worse: ü sits exactly where Telex uses [ to type ơ.
| You type | Plain Telex | MiKey |
|---|---|---|
| text | text | |
| server | server | |
| wir | wir | |
| der | der | |
| nur | nur | |
| dass | dass | |
| wissen | wissen | |
| über | über | |
| Café | Café | |
| osx | osx |
What MiKey does differently
ä ö ü just work
On ä ö ü ß é or a dead key, MiKey leaves the whole word alone: über, Grüße, Café, Zürich.
Knows German
About 30,000 German words: wir, der, nur, dass, wissen stay as typed. Can be turned off.
Knows English
About 40,000 English words and tech terms: text, server, deploy, osx, macos stay as typed.
Vietnamese stays Vietnamese
Common Vietnamese words are never switched: gì, ít, có, tô.
One key to switch
⌥Z on the Mac, Alt+Z on Windows: Vietnamese ↔ English/German, with a VI/EN label at the cursor.
Wrong guess? Backspace
Right after a correction, Backspace brings back exactly what you typed.
How MiKey decides
You type a word
Telex works as usual while you type.
You finish the word
On a space, punctuation or Enter, MiKey looks at the word: a Vietnamese syllable, or a real English or German word?
MiKey keeps the right one
For English or German your exact keys come back and MiKey switches to English/German. When a clearly Vietnamese word comes, it switches back by itself.
Installed in 3 steps
- Download MiKey for your computer.
- Open the installer. The first time, macOS or Windows asks again because it isn't signed: see the detailed steps.
- Pick MiKey in the input menu (Mac) or find it in the system tray (Windows). Start typing.
What you type stays on your computer
MiKey sends nothing anywhere: no account, no ads, no analytics. On the Mac it is an input source like ABC, so it needs no Accessibility permission. The code is open for anyone to check.
FAQ
Is MiKey free?
Yes. MiKey is free and open source under the GPL-3.0.
Does it need the Accessibility permission on the Mac?
No. MiKey is a macOS input source, like "ABC" or "Swiss German".
Why does macOS/Windows warn me when installing?
Because the installer isn't (yet) signed with a paid Apple or Microsoft certificate. The source is on GitHub, and the download page lists SHA-256 checksums.
Does it work with a Swiss or German (QWERTZ) keyboard?
Yes, that's what it's made for. It reads the characters of your layout, so z/y and ä ö ü are right.
What if a word is guessed wrong?
Press Backspace right after it to get back what you typed. If a Vietnamese word is often taken for German, turn off "Nhận biết tiếng Đức" in the input menu and report it on GitHub.
Is there a version for Linux, iPhone, Android?
Not yet. Linux (IBus) is in progress. Vikey, the original, is available for iPhone and Android.
How is it different from Vikey?
MiKey is a fork of Vikey (Tony Dinh) with what Vietnamese people in German-speaking countries need: umlaut keys, German words, tech words, and a real Mac input source.
Try MiKey now
Free, installed in a minute, removed just as fast.