June 16, 2022Samsung India KeyboardThe new default keyboard for 29 Indian Languages
This is the key visual image Samsung India Keyboard contents.
India is witnessing an exponential rise in vernacular users across tiers. As the majority of more than 1.3 billion people in India which is the world’s 2nd largest smartphone market, rely heavily on local language and
scripts, it becomes essential to innovate and improve the typing experience to support emerging vernacular needs.
With an aim to make the text input experience, intuitive and inclusive for the growing number of vernacular users in India, we are proud to introduce the ‘New Samsung India Keyboard’ which makes typing in over 29 Indian
regional languages faster, easier and seamless.
Type it as you'd write it!
This is a gif that shows keyboard typing.
Designed based on the phonetic principles of the Devanagri script the keyboard is structured to mirror the writing method of Indian languages, making the typing experience as easy as writing.
With faster typing speed and reduced chances of errors, the new keyboard empowers both advanced and beginners in regional language typing.
This is an image of the Devanagari character.
The Devanagari Script
The Devanagari script was developed in India in 4th century CE. The letters are ordered based on the phonetic principles that consider both manner and place of articulation of the consonants and vowels they represent. The
arrangement is called ‘Varnamala’, means the garland of the letters.
The Phonetic Principles
The consonants are grouped based on the way they are being spoken, the phonetic principles example: the letters which are spoken by touching the tongue to front teeth (ta tha da dha na) are called Dental and so on. There are 7
groups of consonants as depicted below.
This is an image of the Phonetic Principles
The Letter Matrix and Orientation
The arrangement of letters is a perfect matrix, which has a leading consonant and then a set of four following consonants. The group of five have a primary sound and then the following similar sounds.
This is an image of the order and direction of the characters.
Representation of matrix layout with one leading letter and 4 following letters.
This is an image of the order and direction of the characters.
The changed orientation retains the phonetic principles and the association of leading and following letters.
The Arrangement of Letters in The New Samsung India
The new layout as per the vertical alignment of the Devanagari script makes it effortless to find the letters and upfront combinations makes it really fast to type.
This image shows the new Samsung India keyboard layout.
Ambidextrous
The clear segregation of vowels and consonants provides balanced typing load on both the hands. As consonants are selected by one hand and vowels are selected by another, the typing experience remains same for both left and
right hand users.
It is a keyboard gif that is optimized for Ambidextrous
Choosing rather than creating
On selection of a consonant, all the possible combinations with the vowels along with the special characters appear at one place in the vowel toggle. No need to create the combinations, just pick the required combination from
the toggle.
This is a gif that shows how to combine characters easily.
Multilingual
The keyboard layout is designed in a way that it can support 29 different Indian languages in the same grid.
This is a gif that shows that various languages are supported.
This is the outro image of Samsung India Keyboard contents.
Designed by the designers in Samsung Design Delhi, the New Samsung India Keyboard is available on all Galaxy models with One UI 4.
Designed by
Vikas Chopra (UX designer)
Rishabh Johri (UX designer)
Supriya Manna (UX designer)
Vanshika Saigal (Researcher)
From left to rightVikas ChopraRishabh JohriSupriya MannaVanshika Saigal
