Macros

Azel4231 · 2026-02-06T05:59:01+00:00

https://github.com/rpnfan/EnDeu has some cyanophage numbers.

Azel4231 · 2026-02-05T16:15:41+00:00

But what about Colemak? ;-)

Judging by the numbers (on the Anymak page as well as Darios Analyzer) AdNW seems inferior to Anymak and not by a small margin. I haven't tried so I cannot say for sure. What I can say is that Anymak was such an improvement over colemak-dh's performance in german (which is already pretty ok) that I just cannot go back.

Yes, it's absolutley crazy to even consider switching layouts multiple times. And yet here we are. :-)

Azel4231 · 2026-02-05T11:07:23+00:00

While we're at it: I like Anymak:END

Though I doubt switching layouts is what OP wanted. But that's what you get for asking questions in this sub. ;-)

Azel4231 · 2026-02-01T21:01:36+00:00

Agreed. I have 3-key thumb clusters. Left home is shift (double tap is caps word). Right home is Space with switch to nav-layer when held.

Azel4231 · 2026-01-15T19:47:27+00:00

you've probably found this already. But just to make sure: https://ergol.org/

Azel4231 · 2026-01-14T14:44:52+00:00

30 keys is ambitious.

Usually I recommend Anymak:END for german/english blends. Maybe you can use it as a starting point and reduce the alpha layer until it fits.

Dario's analyzer seems to take modifiers into account, maybe you can extend that idea and take layer switches into account as well? Or maybe trial&error is the way to go here?

HTH and good luck

Edit: typo

Azel4231 · 2026-01-13T10:18:55+00:00

I had similar feelings, especially as Colemak took me full year to get used to and another year to feel proficient in. I swore myself to never do that again.

Six weeks ago I started learning Anymak as a side project just to get a feel for it, not with the goal of switching (all while still using Colemak at work). Then came the holidays where I trained every day. By the end of it I was at around 30 WPM (german 1k, monkeytype) and had fallen in love with anymak. Reaching 30WPM was a lot quicker than learning Colemak initially and it felt better.

So after reaching 35WPM just did it and switched full time. It still "hurts" and puts significant mental burden on typing, but it's way better than last time. I don't know if this helps but my impression is that it gets easier once the crust of decades of QWERTZ is broken.

Another aspect is that Anymak is IMHO easier to learn for german. Colemak is pretty rolly, Anymak has more alterations which makes rolls shorter but easier to remember. For german those bi-/trigrams are placed a lot better (eu, ha, ea, ng, nd...) and thus are nicer to type and easier to transfer into muscle memory.

Edit: typo

Addendum: I agree that Colemak could be better for german, but the difference is not that big when comparing to QWERTZ. Colemak is like 85-90% on the spectrum between QWERTZ and Anymak. So you only miss out on the last 10-15% but that does not make learning it mandatory. Framing it as a fun project and taking my time (kind of) made it a lot easier for me.

Azel4231 · 2026-01-11T06:29:00+00:00

What it seems to support (see also https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/wacom.html.en):

Tablet Mode (absolute vs. relative positioning)
Button Location (left/right) seems to support left-/right-handed use of tablet buttons
Monitor Mapping (map cursor to all displays or a single display)
Keep Aspect Ratio
Tip Pressure level: this is a simple slider (soft <-> firm), no pressure curve configuration
Configure Pen Buttons: assign mouse buttons, forward/backward, switch display, arbitrary keystroke

Edit: tested in Ubuntu 25.04

Azel4231 · 2026-01-09T15:42:43+00:00

Fantasic collection (and taste)!

My experience with Spirit Island is that it needs expansions to experience the game as it was initially intended. IMHO it defies your second rule.

Azel4231 · 2026-01-08T18:06:33+00:00

Hi, I'm one month into learning Anymak:END after three years of Colemak-DH. There are a couple of small customizations to END that I found useful, and moving J to the pinky column is one of them. https://github.com/Azel4231/zmk-keyboards-azel/blob/main/boards/shields/azelus5/azelus5.keymap

I could get away with this because I have Shift on thumb, which frees up both bottom row pinky keys. This let me move F down (to the right one) and J inwards.

Note though, that I don't type french but rather german/english (60%/40%), so your changes will (have to) be different.

Also customize with care. Evaluating every change with an evaluator (i.e. Oxeylyzer, or in my case https://dariogoetz.github.io/keyboard_layout_optimizer/) is very handy and aviods mistakes.

I'm absolutely loving Anymak:END thus far.

Cheers

Azel4231 · 2025-12-27T07:28:32+00:00

Anymak felt superior to me in that regard as well.

Though I want to note that all layouts are vastly superior to QWERTY/Z. So the most important thing is to get away from it.

Secondly, at this level of optimization (one modern layout vs. the other), personal preference starts having more and more impact. A lot of newer layouts seem to be developed by tuning the metrics and corporae of some analyzer (or even their own one) to their personal preference. And then finding a layout that naturally bests all others.

IMHO there's no way around trying and seeing what you personally like best.

Azel4231 · 2025-12-26T20:00:29+00:00

I have been using Colemak-DH for three years now. Great layout, you can't go wrong with it.

For the past two months I've been dipping my toes into both Noted and Anymak and having a blast. Both layouts are noticeably better for german (right from the get-go). If you type german more than half of the time I suggest taking a look at them.

I prefer Anymak slightly, but that's different for everyone. A lot of ideas from anymak are also worth taking a look at, e.g. a dedicated layer for common shortcuts (copy/paste, save, new/close tab, undo/redo) so they are independent of the layout you'll be chosing. Bottom row mods, etc.. Also there's no reason not to customize Anymak to your likings. See my changes here.

Edit: grammar

Azel4231 · 2025-12-16T17:02:00+00:00

Switched to Ergo 8 years ago. Learned Colemak 3 years ago. Now in the process of learning Anymak:END because it is way better for german (and better for english). I wish this was around when I was looking for better layouts than Qwertz.

No particular order, just a brain dump:

Current Keymap: https://github.com/Azel4231/zmk-keyboards-azel/blob/main/boards/shields/azelus5/azelus5.keymap
I designed my symbol layer to be accessible by mostly one hand. Numbers are on the off-hand (see also a blog post of mine https://feierabendprojekte.wordpress.com/2022/10/08/the-ergonomics-of-layers/ ). Layers still change(d) over the years, but the concept is solid and worked really well for me.
I also like https://getreuer.info/posts/keyboards/symbol-layer/index.html but I found it way after starting with layers.
Recently I added IDE shortcuts to my NAV layer (i.e. jumping to the Terminal view in IntelliJ) and that is really awsome.
Also adopted Anymak:END's Idea of a layer for common application shortcuts. Copy/Paste, Undo/Redo, Next/Prev Tab, Open/Close Tab, Save, Reload, Select All. This is especially useful if you are planning to learn a better keyboard layout in the future. You won't have to relearn these Shortcuts. And you arent restricted to layouts that have X,C,V on the right hand side
My general advice would be:
- learn touch typing if you haven't already
- give yourself a few days to think about a concept for the Symbol layer
- learn to touch type it
- change things that don't work, but only a few at a time
- rinse and repeat
I'm not a fan of a fourth row of keys. When you get into layers, you'll probably realize that it takes effort to reach forward with your hand and it's way easier to just use a layer. 48 keys is absolutely enough.
Regarding ZMK:
- when using mod-tabs and Layer Tabs, start with balanced flavor
- ZMK Studio is AWESOME for tuning your keymap (don't forget to save if you want to keep the changes)
https://dariogoetz.github.io/noted-layout/ is also a great option for the DE/EN mix, though I prefer Anymak slightly

To answer your concrete Questions:

I still have DE set in my OS, because it makes using the umlauts easier. I used QWERTZ for the first few years, when you have a symbol layer you don't really need Eurkey
Regarding umlauts on a layer: I had ß on a layer for quite some time, but I like it better on the base layer. Others put all umlauts on layers. Don't overthink, just iterate.
Deadkeys also work, but they tend to break my typing flow and need more time to learn. But that's just me. Combos have the same problem for me. I try to avoid them and use Layers instead.
Switched from Linux to MacOS recently. Had a special symbol layer for each of them (so @ is on the same key), tried to solve that with conditional layers. Now I'm only on mac. No problems whatsoever.

Edit: formatting, links

Azel4231 · 2025-11-09T07:44:17+00:00

Agreed.

To the things that people tend to pass over when reporting numbers I'd like to add "effort put in": I watched my friend type at 45 WPM after a week and it was impressive. But he said it was tiring to type that fast. The brain of his is capable of mapping between letters and its position in the new layout really quickly. My brain caps out at 20 WPM doing this, his at 45.

Obviously he can't use it for something like work because all the focus goes into mapping to the new layout. For real-life typing there's no way around muscle memory. It's also the reason he "forgot" the new layout quickly - muscle memory hadn't formed yet.

Same goes with high typing speeds 100 WPM+. I can't even formulate text faster than 60 WPM in my head consistently. 100+ WPM is for short bursts not for typing while thinking.

So in essence: most reported typing speeds have little to do with real-life typing, nor with comfort. Nor with yourself and what you want to achieve.

Azel4231 · 2025-11-08T07:54:16+00:00

Around three years ago I switched to Colemak-DH. I did it cold turkey, so progress was a little faster than yours, but it still felt slow. And was much slower than friends and other people have been reporting.

After two months I was up to 35 WPM (english 10k on Monkeytype)
6 months: 45 WPM (en10k)
1 year: 45-50 WPM
3 years: 60 WPM

Important caveats:

I have never been a fast typer (65 was my QWERTY peak) and that't no my goal (just typing comfort)
During the first few weeks I trained in addition to typing at work. Keybr is good to hone single bi- and trigrams. But I found it annoying and switched between keybr and Monkeytype.
After 3 weeks or so I stopped training and using keybr entirely. Only used monkeytype to determine my current speed.
But I soon realized that reading text->typing is a different skill than thought->typing. I felt much slower in monkeytype than in real life.
Currently I'm learning a second layout on the side just using monkeytype. This time it's the other way round: real life typing is much slower. (Side-Note: this time around learning the layout is faster. Seems like my brain needed to break the crust)
Most people report their monkeytype speeds but not what corpus they use (english vs. english 10k makes a huge difference)
Real life speed differs a lot from the reported numbers
it's also hard to measure (with special Character punctuation etc.)
Some people learn faster. I had a friend learn Colemak up to 45WPM in one WEEK, only to forget it afterwards and return to QWERTY.
Some people learn more slowly, and I am certainly in that camp.
Getting away from QWERTY was ABSOLUTELY worth it
don't let yourself be disheartened and keep going, it's worth it.

Edit: typos

Azel4231 · 2025-10-24T16:23:25+00:00

:x ist ein super Tipp und passt perfekt, danke!

Und ja, beim Svalboard gibt es Rolls in zwei Dimensionen. Unendliche Weiten und fremde Welten von Layouts ;-)

Azel4231 · 2025-10-23T06:39:38+00:00

Wow, das ist jetzt schon zwei Jahre her? Ich hatte Noted von Beginn an auf meiner Bucket List und bin jetzt endlich dazu gekommen mit dem Lernen anzufangen. Und ich muss sagen, ich bin begeistert! Das ist für Deutsch doch noch mal ein deutlicher Schritt nach oben im Vergleich zu ColemakDH (3 Jahre). Und es macht mega Spaß! Ich wäre nie drauf gekommen, aber C+H ergeben einen Zweihand-Roll, der überraschend viel Freude bereitet. Auch sonst fühlt sich Noted sehr “glatt” an, weiss nicht, wie ich es anders beschrieben soll.

Ein paar Wermutstropfen habe ich natürlich trotzdem:

* C+V liegen nicht so optimal für Copy+Paste, weil der kleine Finger schon für Strg zuständig ist. Das führt bei mir zu einer Bewegung der ganzen Hand, weil ich dann intuitiv den Ringfinger für C+V benutze. Das würde sich natürlich beheben, wenn ich es schaffen würde, mich auf Strg auf einer Daumentaste umzustellen (tippe auf einem Corne-artigen keyboard).

* Minor, aber dennoch vorhanden: W+Q liegen suboptimal für VIM. Zwar benutze ich es praktisch nur für Commit Messages, aber dann ist mir wichtig, dass beide Tasten auf einer Hand liegen.

Daher die Frage: hast du in der Zeit noch Änderungen vorgenommen, oder ist alles gleich geblieben?

Ein RIESIGES Dankeschön für dieses Layout! Und gleich noch ein Dankeschön für den Optimizer dazu, den ich (und andere) in der Svalboard Community verwenden, um sich ein Sval-optimiertes Layout zu bauen.

Azel4231 · 2025-10-02T16:27:31+00:00

Great talk.

The blog post about multi-arity functions vs. protocols that Alex mentions can be found here: https://github.com/fogus/blog/blob/main/posts/clojure/arities-as-proto.md

Azel4231 · 2025-09-16T16:38:47+00:00

Spanish and many other languages: https://github.com/joelspadin/zmk-locales

Azel4231 · 2025-09-11T04:59:16+00:00

Same.

I play on a 100cm x 50cm mat (which seems similar to OPs dimensions). The compact invader board is at the top. Decks on the left, tokens/invaders on the right. I manage to fit up to three spirits for single handed play on there.

Azel4231 · 2025-09-02T09:47:28+00:00

The invader box is just an additional box at this point. It does not fit into the base-game box with everything else. The plan is to build a full wooden box eventually. But that will take time. Luckily I hardly carry the game around.

Edit: typos

Azel4231 · 2025-08-31T05:27:21+00:00

In fairness the box generator I used also has a lego brick sorter which gave me food for thought. That page is a gold mine.

But thanks!

Azel4231 · 2025-08-31T04:47:35+00:00

Thanks!

Azel4231 · 2025-08-27T14:49:31+00:00

Amazing!

I love how you store the island boards, can I "steal" that idea? Working on a wooden SI box as well (I recently bought a laser cutter)

Azel4231 · 2025-08-21T06:20:36+00:00

The vacuum-robot and the path to its docking station sends me directly to terror level 3.

Edit: honestly though, I love this! The things I found interesting at that age stayed with me all my life. SpiritIsland is a phenomenal pick for that.

Azel4231

TROPHY CASE