Changelog

Version 1.4.0

Urdu & Arabic

• اردو and العربية are now interface languages. Pick either in Settings or when creating a profile and the whole app follows: menus, buttons, achievements and hints are translated, the layout mirrors right-to-left, and the lessons and game words are written in that language rather than falling back to English.
• Urdu Phonetic (CRULP) keyboard layout — type Urdu by sound, the way most of it is actually written in Pakistan: a gives ا, b gives ب, s gives س, and Shift gives the related letter (t/T → ت/ٹ, d/D → د/ڈ). This is the layout Urdu selects by default; the Windows positional layout is one switch away.
• Urdu (Windows) and Arabic (101) layouts — Urdu at its real Windows key positions, Arabic on the standard Arabic 101, so what you practise is what those keyboards actually produce. They appear on the on-screen keyboard, in the finger guide, in the generated beginner drills and on the stats heatmap like every other layout.
• You can type them without installing a Windows keyboard first. Picking one of these layouts translates your keystrokes as you type, so an Urdu lesson works on a plain English keyboard — no trip to system settings before your first lesson. If you do have the matching Windows keyboard installed and active, what it produces is passed straight through, so nothing is translated twice.
• Choosing Urdu or Arabic brings its keyboard layout with it — nobody picks Urdu meaning to keep typing Latin letters, and the layout is the only way to produce the script. The Latin languages are untouched, since plenty of French or Spanish speakers type on QWERTY US.
• The full alphabet, via the Shift layer. These scripts have no capitals, so Shift carries a second letter — and a good part of the alphabet lives there. The on-screen keyboard prints the shifted letter above the base one, the way a real keycap is, and next-key guidance points at the right cap for either. Urdu reaches all 40 letters; Arabic reaches all 28.
• Arabic can now write ذ, أ, إ, آ and Arabic punctuation. The layout tables were checked against the Windows keyboard drivers themselves rather than transcribed from a chart, which showed ذ sits on the backtick key and revealed the real Shift positions for the hamza forms and for ، ؛ ؟. Arabic lessons are now spelt and punctuated normally.
• Lesson content for both: key drills, a Shift-layer lesson for Urdu, short words, sentences, a paragraph, and a numbers drill using local conventions — day/month dates, rupees for Urdu, riyals for Arabic. Plus a word bank each for the games.
• Passages are shown in bundled Urdu Nastaliq and Arabic Naskh fonts, so they look right whether or not your Windows install has an Arabic-script font.

Lessons

• Real words from the very first lesson, on every layout. New word lessons sit between the key drills: as soon as the home row alone can spell something, you type actual words rather than letter patterns — dad sad flask on QWERTY, دل کل جال on Urdu Phonetic, کام نام کون on Urdu (Windows), بيت بنت كتاب on Arabic.
• Each word lesson uses only letters the drills before it have taught, and more words unlock as each row is added. Which words a lesson can use is worked out from the keys of your own layout, so Urdu Phonetic and Urdu (Windows) get correct but completely different progressions — their home rows barely overlap.

Fixed

• English lessons could not be typed on an Urdu or Arabic layout. Keystrokes were translated based on the layout alone, so English paragraphs and code lessons turned into Urdu letters as you typed. Translation now also depends on what language the passage is actually in.
• A lesson’s “best” label was always English — it read “not attempted” and “best 42 wpm” whatever language the rest of the app was in.
• Sharper text throughout the typing screen: the passage is drawn a word at a time rather than a character at a time, which is also what lets cursive Urdu and Arabic letters join up correctly.

Version 1.3.0

Added

• Lessons are now written in your language. Choosing Français, Deutsch or Español gives you lesson titles and practice passages actually written in that language. Number drills are localised rather than merely translated: each language uses its own date order, decimal separator, currency and tax rate.
• The whole interface is translated now, not just parts of it — the five games, the typing screen, the profile picker, the finger guide, the stats page and the About box, including dropdowns, achievement names and screen-reader announcements.
• Per-language word banks for the games. Word Blaster and Survival spawn words in your language instead of always English.
• Spanish keyboard layout (QWERTY ES), including ñ on the home row, so Spanish learners actually practise it.
• Accented keys on the French and German layouts — AZERTY gains ù; QWERTZ gains ü and ä, shown on the on-screen keyboard, in the finger guide and in the generated beginner drills.

Fixed

• The new-profile screen showed language codes instead of language names.
• Dictation now speaks the language of your profile — a French profile no longer hears an English voice, and the “no voice installed” prompt names the language.
• Stars and unlocked tiers are shared across languages, so switching language never re-locks a tier you have already earned.

Version 1.2.0

Added

• Dictation practice mode: the passage is read aloud while its letters stay hidden. Word boundaries are shown, each sentence plays as you reach it, and F5 replays the current sentence. Scoring is lenient — capitalisation and punctuation are ignored, so you type just the words. Works on prose lessons and your own custom text.
• Dictation sidebar entry — jumps straight to the Custom tab with Dictation mode preselected.
• Playback speed control (0.5×–2×), adjustable live during a session and as a per-profile default under Settings → Dictation.
• Uses the voices built into Windows. If no voice is installed for the language of a lesson, an in-app prompt links to Windows Settings; the User Guide explains where to add higher-quality “Natural” voices.

Fixed

• Only one copy of TypingDesk can run at a time; launching again focuses the existing window instead of opening a second instance.

Version 1.1.0

Added

• Keyboard layouts: Colemak and Workman.
• Sound themes: Soft, Mechanical, Typewriter and Marimba, selectable in Settings with a live preview.
• Configurable daily goal (5–60 min), per profile, shown on the home screen.
• Data export & import — save your full session history to a CSV file from Settings, and import it back (duplicate rows are skipped).
• Load custom text from a file (.txt / .md) on the Lessons screen.
• Animated achievement toasts that appear when a badge unlocks.
• Accessibility pass: screen-reader names, labels and live regions across every screen; decorative art is hidden from the accessibility tree.

Fixed

• Fixed a caret-animation view leak on the typing screen.
• Very large pasted or loaded custom text is now capped to keep the interface responsive.
• Games honour the mute and volume settings of the profile even when opened before a lesson, and audio recovers if an output device reappears after an earlier failure.
• Games persist the run on any exit, including sidebar navigation, so an in-progress high score is not lost.

Version 1.0.0

Core typing

• Unicode/grapheme-aware typing engine (accent-ready, no IME) with live WPM and accuracy.
• Character-by-character highlighting, a smooth sliding + blinking caret, and backspace correction.
• Practice modes: Timed, Quota, Zen, and Repeat-until-perfect (loops until the accuracy target is met).

Lessons

• Tiered, layout-aware lessons: Beginner (home row → all letters), a Capitals & punctuation bridge, Intermediate, Advanced, Code, and Custom (paste-your-own).
• Code lessons are filterable by programming language.
• Per-profile star ratings (1–3), best-WPM tracking, tier unlocks, and lesson search.
• Finger-placement guide — a colour-coded, layout-aware keyboard showing which finger presses each key, the home row, and the F/J bumps.

Profiles (local, password-less)

• Multiple local profiles, each with isolated stats, progress, achievements, and settings.
• Illustrated start screen to pick, create, manage, or delete a profile.

Stats

• WPM trend line graph, layout-aware key-error heatmap, day streak, and a personal-bests board.

Games

• Letter Rain, Word Blaster, Survival, Speed Sprint (race a ghost of your best run), and Typing Duel (race a CPU at Easy/Medium/Hard).
• Illustrated start screens, high-score tracking, and an Escape pause menu with Quit & save.

Gamification

• Nine achievement badges (speed, accuracy, streak, sessions, and game milestones), shown on Stats and announced at the end of a session/game.

Internationalisation & themes

• UI localised in English, French, German, and Spanish.
• Keyboard layouts: QWERTY (US/UK), AZERTY, QWERTZ, Dvorak.
• Professional Light (default) and Dark themes via a shared design-token system.

Settings

• Theme, interface language, practised keyboard layout, keystroke/error sounds (with volume), and passage font size — all persisted per profile.

Sound

• Low-latency, asset-free synthesised keystroke and error sounds. Degrades silently with no audio device.

App shell & branding

• Sidebar navigation, app icon, Microsoft Store assets (incl. a 300×300 Store icon), a startup splash screen, and an About window with a clickable backendside.com link.

Notes

• Typing Duel is player-vs-CPU; true same-keyboard two-player isn't supported.