Aptmak Blue

Aptmak is a highly effective keyboard layout, designed by Eve (also known as Apsu) in 2022. It evolved from her previous layout, Apt, integrating features from Colemak and optimized for a split ortholinear keyboard. While Aptmak excels for English, the Aptmak Blue modification takes it a step further with enhancements tailored for multilingual users. Commonly known as Aptmak Blue, this variant was developed by Moosy in early 2024.

Aptmak Blue features a mirrored layout with optimized adjustments to enable the use of additional alpha keys, greatly enhancing typing across standard Latin alphabet languages. The name 'Blue' is derived from the Japanese word 'aoi,' which represents the pronunciation of the first three letters of the modified left home row (ah-oh-ee).   ⭐ Apsu's response to Mod-Blue & Latest Apsu's 30 key variant

Mod-Blue Improvements

Mirrored Layout

• • Benefits: Aptmak was designed for English, which means less-used letters are placed on harder-to-reach keys. However, in other languages, those "less-used" letters might actually be quite common. By flipping the keyboard layout, more frequently used letters can be assigned to the stronger and more flexible right hand, while still maintaining an overall balanced workload on both hands. Discomfort often arises from the lower-left row of the keyboard, which is typically less comfortable than the right (source). By placing the 'E' key on the left, this layout aligns with Lillian Malt's Maltron design, further enhancing ergonomics and efficiency. 

Design Optimizations

• • Refined Left Home-Row: Optimized for better bigram and trigram handling, like 'ij', 'ou', and 'jul'.

  • Easy on the Pinkies:

    • Left Pinky:  Remains unchanged for QWERTY users without any additional strain.

    • Right Pinky: The X key is repositioned to reduce strain on the right pinky, especially beneficial for Dutch due to the common VR combination. 

  • Revised Punctuation Layout: The dot and comma keys are swapped and shifted left to the less comfortable lower row.

  • Smoother QWERTY Transition: Maintaining greater familiarity makes the shift easier compared to the regular Aptmak.

Improved Statistics

• Increased alternation compared to Aptmak improves load distribution over both hands.  See details below.
  
  
  

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