Expressing love for the nation through patriotism
How should an individual commence their knowledge on Baybayin? This is a question that one may ponder upon when they start to learn a script foreign to them or has had little information about. Surely, writing them whole-heartedly could be a step forward to mastery as you can proceed with a piece of paper and a pen but what if you want to write them digitally to show off your skills to a friend or two. You would need a keyboard for it, and this tutorial will teach you how it's done.
Keyboards, a Friend or Foe
There are a few keyboards out there dedicated to Baybayin and other wrting systems but there are a few caviets for each one of them, whether it is security or privacy, you must always choose what is best for you to get the best of both worlds.
To name a few disadvantages of third-party keyboards:
- Most keyboards require internet access, they collect tiny bits of data from you that you, the end user, know nothing about
- Keyboards are filled with layouts you may or may never use and thus leaves you with a bloated app
- Filled with advertisements, nobody wants to use keyboards that display ads on them when you use them.
Features of Talapindutan, Our Keyboard
- Lightweight, less than 2MB
- Private use, there is no internet usage at all!
- No annoying advertisements
- Supports all Philippine writing systems available in the Uncode Consortium
Talapindutan, unlike other Baybayin keyboards, focus on simplicity and features. Gboard supports Baybayin but is limited only to a few features that are limited and bloats your phone because you are using layouts you may never use at all.
Step-by-step Process in Installing a Philippine Writing Systems Keyboard in Android
- Visit https://bit.ly/tinda-app in your favorite browser.
- Once you are in the hompage, there are two download options you can choose, one is the recommended keyboard ( the first button with an Android Logo) and the second is a variant keyboard by Jason Villaruz ( the text with a "Villaruz version" on it ). A prompt may appear when you download a file telling you that it may cause harm, do not worry about it because it is a default action of your browser and it is totally safe to proceed. If you have doubts, please comment in the discussion box below for answers.
- After downloading the app (it ends with .apk), install it.
- Then afterwards open the keyboard.
- During the initial app load, you are to be prompted with a text that instructs you to enable the keyboard in you phone's setting. Please press "Okay".
- Enable to Keyboard by clicking on the encircled portion of your phone's setting.
- A prompt will then appear, it may look intimidating but please be informed that this is the default action when you install a third-party keyboard on your device besides your build-in keyboard. Plus the app contains no special permission to run, like the need to use Internet. Click "OK" to proceed.
- And then, you must make the app your default keyboard by enabling it as shown below.
- Choose the Keyboard named ᜆᜎᜉᜒᜈ᜕ᜇᜓᜆᜈ᜕(if you downloaded the recommended install) or ᜆᜎ X (if you chose Villaruz version) as your default keyboard then click it.
- Go back to the main app settings by clicking the the back button in your navigation bar.
- We will then proceed to languages, by clicking ᜏᜒᜃ English (Philippines) as shown below
- Click the + icon button from the top toolbar
- Click Tagalog and then ᜇᜄ᜕ᜇᜄ᜕ afterwards
- Click the Tagalog option as shown below
- Enable every option available, this step ensures that you have Traditional Baybayin, Proposed Baybayin, Hanunuo, Tagbanwa and Buhid. You can also leave the rest disabled if you just want to have a Baybayin Layout
- And Voila!, you are done. You can now try the keyboard by typing out things!
- You can change the Layouts via the globe icon. Example, you want to type Baybayin but then want to change to an English layout later on.
- After you have successfully set the keyboard, you can also customize the looks and feels of it by clicking on ᜀᜈ᜕ᜌᜓ or ᜉᜈ᜕ᜎᜐ.
Conclusion
Setting it all up was quite a tedious work was it not? But it's all worth it to be able to write and spell out the usage of Phillippine writing systems in your Android phone. If you have questions, do not hesitate to drop us at the discussion box below and we will answer it the soonest we receive them.
