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Scribe Logo

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Available on the App Store

🌐 Language

iOS app with keyboards for language learners

Scribe-iOS is a pack of iOS and iPadOS keyboards for language learners. Features include translation (beta), verb conjugation and word annotation that give users the tools needed to communicate with confidence.

Scribe is fully open-source and does not collect usage data or ask for system access. Feature data is sourced from Wikidata and stored in-app, meaning Scribe is a highly responsive experience that does not require an internet connection.

Note

The contributing section has information for those interested, with the articles and presentations in featured by also being good resources for learning more about Scribe.

Also available on Android (WIP), Desktop (planned) and for the data processes see Scribe-Data.

Contents

Preview Videos

The following are the preview videos for the App Store:

iPhone 6.7" version

ScribeiPhone67.mp4

See also

iPad Pro 4th gen version

ScribeiPadPro4th.mp4

Contributing

Public Matrix Chat

Scribe uses Matrix for communications. You're more than welcome to join us in our public chat rooms to share ideas, ask questions or just say hi :)

Please also see the contribution guidelines if you are interested in contributing to Scribe-iOS. Work that is in progress or could be implemented is tracked in the issues and projects.

Note

Just because an issue is assigned on GitHub doesn't mean that the team isn't interested in your contribution! Feel free to write in the issues and we can potentially reassign it to you.

Those interested can further check the -next release- and -priority- labels in the issues for those that are most important, as well as those marked good first issue that are tailored for first time contributors.

After your first few pull requests organization members would be happy to discuss granting you further rights as a contributor, with a maintainer role then being possible after continued interest in the project. Scribe seeks to be an inclusive and supportive organization. We'd love to have you on the team!

Development environment

Scribe-iOS is developed using the Swift coding language. Those new to Swift or wanting to develop their skills are more than welcome to contribute! The first step on your Swift journey would be to read through the Swift documentation. The general steps to setting up a development environment are:

  1. Download Xcode

  2. Fork a copy of the Scribe-iOS repository

    • Alternatively you can clone the repository
  3. Open the Scribe-iOS directory in Xcode

  4. In order to run Scribe on an emulator:

    • Read the documentation from Apple if need be
    • In the top bar select Scribe as the scheme
    • Select a device to run the app on
    • Press the run button marked Start the active scheme

From there code edits that are made will be reflected in the app each time the active scheme is restarted.

Warning

Note on Debugging: Because Scribe is a keyboard extension, the Xcode debugger doesn't work as expected when debugging a regular app. Please see the note on debugging in CONTRIBUTING.md to learn how to get it working properly.

Ways to Help

Road Map

The Scribe road map can be followed in the organization's project board where we list the most important issues along with their priority, status and an indication of which sub projects they're included in (if applicable).

Data Edits

Note

Please see the Wikidata and Scribe Guide for an overview of Wikidata and how Scribe uses it.

Scribe does not accept direct edits to the grammar JSON files as they are sourced from Wikidata. Edits can be discussed and the Scribe-Data queries will be changed and ran before an update. If there is a problem with one of the files, then the fix should be made on Wikidata and not on Scribe. Feel free to let us know that edits have been made by opening a data issue or contacting us in the issues for Scribe-Data and we'll be happy to integrate them!

Designs

Public Figma Designs

The designs for Scribe are made using Figma. The App Store videos, images and text can be found in the AppStore directory. Those with interest in contributing can open a design issue to make suggestions! Design related issues are marked with the design label.

Setup

Users access Scribe language keyboards through the following:

  • Download Scribe - Language Keyboards from the App Store
  • Open Settings, and navigate to General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards
  • Tap add New Keyboard and select Scribe
  • Choose from the available language keyboards
  • When typing press 🌐 to select keyboards

For more information on features and use cases, see Keyboard Features below!

Supported Languages

Scribe's goal is functional, feature-rich keyboards for all languages. Check scribe_data/extract_transform for queries for currently supported languages and those that have substantial data on Wikidata. Also see the new keyboard label in the Issues for keyboards that are currently in progress or being discussed, and suggest a new keyboard if you don't see it being worked on already!

The following table shows the supported languages and the amount of data available for each on Wikidata and via Unicode CLDR for emojis:

Languages Nouns Verbs Translations* Prepositions† Emoji Keywords
French 17,072 6,572 67,652 - 2,488
German 102,833 3,593 67,652 210 2,898
Italian 8,671 73 67,652 - 2,457
Portuguese 5,437 536 67,652 - 2,327
Russian 194,448 12 67,652 15 3,827
Spanish 39,105 4,930 67,652 - 3,134
Swedish 45,259 4,501 67,652 - 2,913

* Given the current beta status where words are machine translated.

Only for languages for which preposition annotation is needed.

Updates to the above data can be done using scribe_data/load/update_data.py.

Keyboard Features

Keyboard features are accessed via the Scribe key at the top left of any Scribe keyboard. Pressing this key gives the user three new selectable options: Translate, Conjugate and Plural in the keyboard's language. These keys allow for words to be queried and inserted into the text field followed by a space.

Current features include:

Translation

The beta Translate feature can translate single words or phrases from English into the language of the current keyboard when the return key is pressed. The goal is that Translate will eventually provide options for entered words where a user can use grammatical categories and synonyms to select the best option (see issue). Then the feature will expand to allow translations from system and chosen languages. More advanced methods will be planned once this feature is out of beta.

As of now translations are not widely available on Wikidata (see issue). The current functionality is thus based on 🤗 Transformers machine translations of words queried from Wikidata. The ultimate goal is for the translations and synonyms to all be directly queried.

Verb Conjugation

With the Conjugate feature, a user is presented with the grammar charts for an entered verb instead of the keyboard. Pressing an example in the charts inserts the chosen conjugation into the text field.

Noun Plurals

The Plural feature allows a user to enter a noun and then insert its plural into the text field when the return key is pressed.

Word Annotation

Scribe further annotates words in the command bar to help users understand the context of what they're typing. Annotations are displayed once a user has typed a given word and pressed space, after commands, by pressing the Scribe key while it is selected as well as under autocompletions and autosuggestions. The hope is that annotation will help a user remember grammar rules even when not using Scribe.

Nouns

Scribe annotates nouns in the command bar according to the following conventions:

  • Feminine: colored red 🟥 and marked with (F)
  • Masculine: colored blue 🟦 and marked with (M)
  • Common: colored purple 🟪 and marked with (C)
  • Neutral: colored green 🟩 and marked with (N)
  • Plural: colored orange 🟧 and marked with (PL)
  • More than one: marked with all their forms

The above form abbreviations are translated into their equivalents in the keyboard's language.

Prepositions

Scribe also annotates the grammatical cases (accusative, dative, etc) of prepositions in the command bar if there is a relation in the given language.

Pronoun Selection

Annotations for preposition cases can also be pressed to provide a conjugation display where the user can select the proper pronoun for the given case. The conjugation view will also provide appropriate interfaces to subset the available pronouns based on the desired subject and object combinations to help the user make the correct choice.

Base Functionality

The goal is for Scribe to have all the functionality of system keyboards. See the issues if interested in helping.

Current base features include:

  • iPhone and iPad support
  • Dynamic layouts for cross-device performance
  • Portrait and landscape modes
  • Dark mode compatibility
  • Autocompletion based on Wikidata sourced words
  • Autosuggestion based on Wikipedia derived relationships
  • Emoji autocompletions and autosuggestions based on Unicode CLDR sourced emojis
  • Autocorrect (WIP - see Autocorrect issue)
  • Auto-capitalization following ., ? and !
  • The double space period shortcut
  • Typing symbols and numbers followed by a space returns keyboard to letters
  • Hold-to-select characters for letters and symbols
  • Key pop up views for letters and symbols

Language Practice

A future feature of Scribe is language practice within the app itself. Scribe presents users with information that is directly relevant to their current struggles with a second language. This information can be saved in-app and used to create personalized lessons such as flashcards to reinforce the information that Scribe has provided.

Featured By

Articles and Presentations on Scribe

2023

2022


Wikimedia Deutschland logo linking to an article on Scribe in the tech news blog.           MediaWiki logo linking to the new developers page.           Google Summer of Code logo linking to its website.          

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Contributors

Many thanks to all the Scribe-iOS contributors! 🚀

Code and Dependencies

The Scribe team would like to thank all the great software that made Scribe-iOS' development possible 💙

Wikimedia Communities


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