toPhonetics IPA Keyboard2.1 - App Store

IPA keyboard extension with a twist. Actually, with two!

- Custom keyboard can be used with any app or text input;
- Full character set of International Phonetic Alphabet, including diacritics support.
- On the fly automatic transcription of English text as you type or on word selection, using the same transcription engine as in toPhonetics Converter app.
- A unique, albeit experimental, IPA-to-Speech feature in the companion app that lets you convert your own API input into actual speech audio and export it as a file.

Apart from providing full support for editing texts using International Phonetic Alphabet, toPhonetics IPA Keyboard allows you to type in common English and will convert it into phonemic transcription on the fly. Select one of the offered transcriptions or just keep typing and the first suggestion will be selected automatically. You can also select an English word in your text and transcribe it by tapping on one of the suggestions. For auto-transcription you can switch between British and American dialect.

Two other layouts allow you to type detailed narrow phonetic transcriptions for any language or dialect. Certain keys offer quick access to alternative characters via long press or double tap.

This keyboard relies on the same engine and dictionary as toPhonetics Converter. The workflow is different though. Specifically, using the keyboard:

- Auto-transcription for English language offered word by word, not for the entire text, therefore all possible pronunciation of the word are shown as suggestions at once.
- You can tap on original word in the suggestion list if you don't want to auto-transcribe it, but the keyboard does not offer output with the original line-by-line (which is a feature of toPhonetics Convertor app).
- You can refine your transcriptions by creating both broad and narrow phonetic transcriptions.
- You can create transcriptions for any language.

Control your cursor position with gestures:

1. Pan horizontally with a finger anywhere on the keyboard to change your cursor position quickly and precisely;
2. Swipe left or right with one finger across the spacebar to move your cursor one character left or right.

Version History This update introduces redesigned cursor gesture control:
- You can pan across the keyboard with just one finger now. Or two, if that's your preference.
- The cursor response to the pan gesture is more intuitive and precise.

You can still swipe left or right with a finger across the spacebar to move your cursor one character left or right. 2.1 07/09/2024 This is a major update.

- New feature in the companion app: IPA to Speech (experimental).
- Control iOS TTS engine using your own IPA input.
- You can playback the utterance using voices installed on your device or export it to file, etc.
- English words with hyphens and apostrophes are now handled by the auto-transcription engine. Both characters are now accessible from the main layout via long-press on the comma key in the bottom row.
- New configuration option for using over-ties instead of consonant ligatures in auto-transcription mode.
- Redesigned Help screen.
- Updated dictionary.
- Minor bugfixes. 2.0 06/08/2024 Minor improvements:
- improved double-tap behaviour: keys lose double-tap state on cursor move;
- reduced two-finger scroll sensitivity;
- fixed resetting auto-transcription on overwriting selected text. 1.8 05/23/2024 - Improved morphology handling;
- Dictionary updates. 1.7 03/27/2024 - Various improvements to transcription engine;
- Dictionary updates. 1.6 11/06/2023 - New setting to remember the last used layout of the keyboard.
- Dictionary update. 1.5 09/05/2023 Two new cursor control gestures!
1. Pan horizontally with two fingers anywhere on the keyboard to change your cursor position quickly and precisely;
2. Swipe left or right with one finger across the spacebar to move your cursor one character left or right.

Don't forget that even after moving the cursor you still can double-tap on any English word you might have typed already to see transcription suggestions for it.

Other improvements:
- increased sensitivity for extended characters popup;
- dictionary update. 1.4 06/14/2023 - added new auto-transcription option for American dialect to indicate vowel length and rhotacized diphthongs;
- massive dictionary update; 1.3 01/15/2023 - Added help screen;
- Added feedback options;
- Internal improvements;
- Dictionary updates. 1.2 10/25/2022 - minor improvements;
- dictionary update. 1.1 09/12/2022 1.0 02/05/2022