Designed by @mkkaufmann and
@theol0403. Inspired by urob,
callum,
seniply, and various layouts on
keymapdb.
anachronism (noun.) /əˈnæk·rəˌnɪz·əm/ : a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place; a chronological inconsistency.
Anachron is a keyboard layout designed for 34-key keyboards, implemented with ZMK. It aims to provide a fast, intuitive, and cohesive typing experience. It is similar to trilayer-based layouts such as callum or seniply, but provides a unique layer design and additional features taking advantage of ZMK. The implementation has been heavily inspired by the work of urob.
The alpha layout pictured is graphite, but anachron can be used with any alpha layout.
- ⏩ timer-free layers, accelerated by anachron combos
- ➕ intuitive and logical consistency of the trilayer
- 🖱️ one-handed mods, shortcuts, and navigation, designed for mouse usage
- 🧮 fully-featured number pad with easy math symbols
- ⬆️ sticky shift on thumb, capsword, and numword
The left thumb and hand produce modifiers, while the right thumb and hand yield navigation. Layers are sticky and deactivate after a timeout. Double-tapping num enables numword, and triple-tapping toggles the num layer. A numword combo on the right hand is available for one-handed number entry.
The left thumb's shift is sticky, and capsword activates via double-tapping. Left-hand mods are sticky yet lazy, have a quick timeout, stay active during key pressing, and lose stickiness after being held.
Holding both thumbs activates the trilayer, which intuitively combines the mod and nav layers.
Extra math symbols are available with combos on the num layer. Vertical combos on the base layer are used to allow you to mash Same Finger Bigrams (SFBs) together with one finger and have it resolve to the more common one.
Many of the features documented in urob's layout have been borrowed, including optional timeless homerow mods (not enabled by default), intuitive mod-morphs, swapper, repeat, space+shift, etc. Please study the layout to learn more.
With most callum-style layouts, there are two ways to access a key on a layer: hold a layer key and tap the key, or tap a sticky layer key and tap the key. However, both these methods require two separate actions that must happen sequentially. You may be tempted to mash the layer key together with the key, but this can lead to unintended behavior if the key is pressed slightly before the layer key.
Anachron combos are combos that allow you to press the key slightly before the layer key and still register the correct behavior. This allows you to press any key on a layer with a single chord. To solve edge cases, combo partial-holds must be used.
This has been implemented using C helper macros in ZMK, and consists of almost a hundred combos. Please see the keymap for more details.
Anachron has been designed with a few guiding principles to make typing less frustrating and more efficient:
There are many layouts, the most popular being miryoku, that use hold-taps to access layers and home-row mods. However, after a year of typing on such layouts, I have found that the timers impeded my ability to feel confident in my typing, and introduced issues. For example, you have to articulate your keystrokes to avoid triggering a home-row hold, keypresses are delayed, key-repeat is impeded, shifting entire words is awkward, and you need both hands on the board.
Anachron aims for a regular keyboard feel with no interference between keys, immediate layer activation, fast mods application, zero input lag, and no timing constraints. There should be no speed limit or missteps related to timing or release order.
Each action should generally have only one method, and it should be logical. The same muscle memory should yield the same result when possible, eliminating the need to remember the active layer.
For instance, pressing modifiers or arrows should each have a single motion, and combining them (on separate hands) should yield modded arrows without executing actions separately. Another example is when navigating with sym/nav, like selecting a word with shift+arrows, you can just apply the "copy" muscle memory to copy without needing to remember to first let go of sym/nav.
Sometimes, you don't have both hands on the keyboard. Many actions should be achievable with one hand to accommodate instances when the other is occupied. This includes shortcuts accessible with the left hand while the right is on the mouse, and one-handed navigation/editing.
For example, numword is accessible with a combo on the right hand, and common nav combos are available on the left hand num layer.
Additionally, sticky mods are designed to be used with a mouse: they are active during holding, are only sticky on tap, are lazy on release, and have a quick timeout.
Stealing from leap.nvim:
-
80/20: focus on features that are applicable in all contexts - micro-improvements to the most frequent tasks accumulate more savings than vanity features that turn out to be rarely needed in practice
-
Sharpen the saw: features should feel like a natural extension to the core, conserving conceptual integrity, with an interplay as seamless and intuitive as possible. Hiding features behind unintuitive entry points ensures they will not be effectively used.
-
Design is making decisions: mitigate choice paralysis for the user
In short, features should feel like they belong and not introduce any cognitive load.
Currently, anachron requires ~8 unmerged PRs to ZMK. I am currently using my local zmk fork to locally build the layout, which is based on urob's. Follow the instructions in my fork to enable building with CI.
- add media keys
- document unique sticky mod configuration
- add programming bigram combos