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I’m not sure if this post is appropriate for this group, so please delete it if it isn’t.
Hello everyone, I am currently taking a class on phonology that requires me to write in IPA fairly often. I spend a lot of time copying and pasting the symbols and words. I have used typeit.org but I am looking for a way to write in IPA (whether it be on google docs, word, PowerPoint etc) without having to go to a third party website. Are there any packages or software that can do this? (Preferably free or low cost)
Thank you!
The SIL keyboards that you linked to are indeed the best of breed. Like any input method for typing outside of ASCII, it takes an investment of time to learn the keystroke sequences, but in my opinion it is far more efficient than websites with soft keyboards when you need to enter a lot of IPA. I have used them on both Linux and Windows. To the operating system, it looks like any other IME for entering Chinese characters, Devanagari script, etc., so you access it through the "language bar" on Windows and corresponding language-switcher-type interfaces on other platforms. On Linux at least, there are a few applications where the keyboard doesn't work (e.g., Atom text editor; I think the problem is with Atom and not the IPA keyboard but I haven't tried to debug the issue).
If you just want a better web-based soft keyboard, I think Richard Ishida's is amazing, others I work with prefer Weston Ruter's because it resembles the official IPA chart. There is also an Android app though it is described as a "proof of concept" and I haven't personally tested it very thoroughly.
When you think about it, easily typing the entirety of IPA is a tall order. Just look for example at the IPA vowel diagram, and try to write down yourself which sequences of keys should give which output, or do the same for all of the diacritics. On the other hand, I'd think that most people need most of IPA very rarely, but use a subset of it constantly. For example if you are writing a paper on English phonology, you'll need <ɪ> to be easily typable, but you can just copy-paste <ɤ> if you need it. (Of course, if your paper is on, say, Estonian, you'll want exactly the opposite.)
A working solution for this kind of problem is to create your own custom keyboard layout via the Microsoft's free keyboard layout creator. The program is quite powerful, and very easy to use, and making something appropriate in it won't take long, depending on how much of IPA you want available on key press. Of course, "do it yourself" is not the easiest solution, but the plus is that it will be tailored exactly to your needs, and you can change it whenever you want. And as I said, considering how different the needs of different IPA users are, a single solution won't be able to satisfy everyone's needs. Another advantage of a custom keyboard layout is that you can use it in any text editor: it doesn't require using a special program or a specific webpage, and you can easily switch between different keyboard layouts by hotkeys.