Maliit is an input method framework for computers with particular focus on implementing virtual keyboards. Designed mostly for touchscreen devices, Maliit allows the inputting of text without the presence of a physical keyboard. More advanced features such as word correction and prediction are also available.

Maliit
Original author(s)Nokia
Developer(s)Jan Arne Petersen and contributors[1]
Initial releaseJune 30, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-06-30)[2]
Stable release
2.1.0 / September 21, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-09-21)[3]
Written inC++
Operating systemUnix-like, Windows[4]
PlatformQt
Available inMultilingual
TypeInput method
License
Websitemaliit.github.io

Originating as part of MeeGo,[7] Maliit is free software licensed under LGPL. Maliit ships as a standard component of LG webOS,[8] Plasma Mobile,[9] SailfishOS,[10] LuneOS,[11][12] and Ubuntu Touch.[13]

History edit

Maliit was originally developed as part of MeeGo by Nokia who eventually shipped it as part of MeeGo Handset “Day 1” software platform.[2]

In the early 2010s, Maliit was deployed as a standard component of Nokia N9,[10] KDE Plasma Active,[14] OLPC devices,[10] and Ubuntu Touch phones.[10][15][16]

After the MeeGo project ended, Maliit was transferred into an independent project by free software consulting firm Openismus.[17] The first formally independent release was 0.80.0 on June 20, 2011.[18]

Maliit 0.99, released on March 27, 2013, switched from Qt 4 to Qt 5.[10]

In May 2016, a KDE developer announced that instead of Maliit, QtVirtualKeyboard had been integrated into KDE Plasma 5.7.[19][20] In September 2020, Maliit was made the default keyboard in Plasma Mobile.[21][9]

On April 2, 2021 Maliit 2.0 has been released.[22]

Features edit

Among Maliit's features are a plugin-based architecture, word correction and prediction, multitouch, and context sensitive layouts.[23]

When running on Linux kernel, handling of the input hardware relies on evdev. Maliit supports X11 as well as Wayland.[10]

See also edit

External links edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Contributors to maliit/framework". GitHub.
  2. ^ a b "Handset Project Day 1 is Here". MeeGo. 2010-06-30. Archived from the original on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  3. ^ "Maliit 2.1.0 Release". Maliit. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ Jon Nordby (March 24, 2012). "Maliit on Windows: Basic build working". Jonnor.com. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  5. ^ "Maliit Keyboard 'Read Me'". GitHub.
  6. ^ "[MeeGo-dev] ANNOUNCEMENT: MeeGo Keyboard license is now changed to BSD". Lists.meego.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  7. ^ Jan Arne Petersen (2012-01-25). "Compositing in Maliit". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  8. ^ "webOS OSE 1.4.1". www.webosose.org.
  9. ^ a b "Plasma Mobile". www.plasma-mobile.org.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Michael Hasselmann (April 2, 2013). "Maliit Status Update". Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  11. ^ "LuneOS tries to keep webOS alive [LWN.net]". lwn.net.
  12. ^ "webOS-ports/webos-keyboard". GitHub.
  13. ^ "ubports/keyboard-component". July 8, 2020 – via GitHub.
  14. ^ Carl Symons (October 15, 2012). "Plasma Active 3 Improves Performance, Brings New Apps". KDE.News. Retrieved 2013-04-03. Thanks to a new virtual keyboard based on Maliit—the input method used on devices such as Nokia's N9 smartphone—Plasma Active Three makes text input easier.
  15. ^ Murray Cumming. "Maliit Keyboard Improvements". Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  16. ^ "ubuntu-keyboard in Launchpad". launchpad.net.
  17. ^ "[Maliit-announce] Welcome!". Lists.maliit.org. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  18. ^ "[MeeGo-dev] Maliit "Brave New World" 0.80.0 released". Lists.meego.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  19. ^ "Virtual Keyboard Support For KWin / KDE Wayland 5.7 - Phoronix". www.phoronix.com.
  20. ^ Flöser, Martin (May 25, 2016). "Virtual keyboard support in KWin/Wayland 5.7".
  21. ^ "KDE Plasma Mobile Has Been Making Great Progress". Phoronix.
  22. ^ "Maliit 2.0.0 Release". 2021-04-02. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  23. ^ "Features – Maliit wiki". Maliit.org. 2012-03-28. Archived from the original on 2011-10-01. Retrieved 2013-03-04.