In this article, we will explore everything related to Maliit. From its historical origin to its impact on current society, passing through its main characteristics and relevant applications today. Maliit has been the subject of great interest and debate in recent years, which has motivated researchers, experts and enthusiasts to further study it. Through this article, we hope to shed light on the most relevant aspects of Maliit, providing our readers with a complete and up-to-date view of this intriguing and important topic.
Original author(s) | Nokia |
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Developer(s) | Jan Arne Petersen and contributors |
Initial release | June 30, 2010 |
Stable release | 2.3.0
/ July 6, 2022 |
Written in | C++ |
Operating system | Unix-like, Windows |
Platform | Qt |
Available in | Multilingual |
Type | Input method |
License |
|
Website | maliit |
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.
Originating as part of MeeGo, Maliit is free software licensed under LGPL. Maliit ships as a standard component of LG webOS, Plasma Mobile, SailfishOS, LuneOS, and Ubuntu Touch.
Maliit was originally developed as part of MeeGo by Nokia who eventually shipped it as part of MeeGo Handset “Day 1” software platform.
In the early 2010s, Maliit was deployed as a standard component of Nokia N9, KDE Plasma Active, OLPC devices, and Ubuntu Touch phones.
After the MeeGo project ended, Maliit was transferred into an independent project by free software consulting firm Openismus. The first formally independent release was 0.80.0 on June 20, 2011.
Maliit 0.99, released on March 27, 2013, switched from Qt 4 to Qt 5.
In May 2016, a KDE developer announced that instead of Maliit, QtVirtualKeyboard had been integrated into KDE Plasma 5.7. In September 2020, Maliit was made the default keyboard in Plasma Mobile.
On April 2, 2021 Maliit 2.0 has been released.
Among Maliit's features are a plugin-based architecture, word correction and prediction, multitouch, and context sensitive layouts.
When running on Linux kernel, handling of the input hardware relies on evdev. Maliit supports X11 as well as Wayland.
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.