SanskritTypist
Devanagari — देवनागरी
For reading, recitation and writing in the Indic script Sanskrit is traditionally set in.
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
| raama | राम |
| siitaa | सीता |
| hanumaan | हनुमान |
How to Type Sanskrit on iPhone and iPad
SanskritTypist turns the QWERTY keyboard you already know into a Sanskrit keyboard. You type the sounds in Roman letters, and it writes Devanagari or IAST for you, live, in any app. This guide covers the typing scheme, how vowels behave, and exactly what long-press reaches on both keyboards.
In short
How do you type Sanskrit on an iPhone?
Install the SanskritTypist app, enable its Devanagari and/or IAST keyboard in iOS Settings,
then switch to it with the globe key in any text field. From there you type phonetically —
spell the sounds of the word and the keyboard converts them as you go. Typing
raama produces राम on the Devanagari keyboard or
rāma on the IAST keyboard. No new key layout, no character picker.
Pick a script
Devanagari or IAST — which keyboard do you need?
SanskritTypist installs two separate keyboards. Add one or both — the globe key moves between them mid-sentence, which is useful when an English paragraph quotes a Sanskrit line.
IAST — roman with diacritics
The standard in academic publishing, critical editions and Western Sanskrit textbooks.
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
| raama | rāma |
| siitaa | sītā |
| hanumaan | hanumān |
The core scheme
How Roman letters become Sanskrit — double a vowel to lengthen it
One habit covers the most common case. Double a vowel to lengthen it —
ii gives ī / ई, the same way
aa gives ā / आ and
uu gives ū / ऊ. It's a plain
keystroke shortcut — no gesture required.
| You type | Devanagari | IAST |
|---|---|---|
| i / ii | इ / ई | i / ī |
| a / aa | अ / आ | a / ā |
| u / uu | उ / ऊ | u / ū |
That covers the three long vowels. Everything else Sanskrit needs beyond plain QWERTY — retroflex letters (ṭ ḍ ṇ ṣ), ś, conjuncts like क्ष, anusvāra, visarga and ॐ — has no typed shortcut. It comes from long-press, covered in full below.
Devanagari only
Why the same vowel looks different at the start of a word
Devanagari writes a vowel one way when it opens a word (an independent letter) and a different way when it follows a consonant (a mātrā, attached to the consonant). SanskritTypist decides which form to use automatically, based on what you've already typed — you never choose between them yourself.
| You type | Position | You get |
|---|---|---|
| i | Start of word | इ |
| k + i | After a consonant | कि |
| k + i + i | After a consonant, lengthened | की |
Long-press is context-aware in exactly the same way. Hold i at the start of a word
and the callout shows the independent forms इ · ई · ऐ; hold it right
after a consonant and it switches to the mātrā forms ि · ी · ै instead.
This applies to every vowel key on the Devanagari keyboard.
The other way in
How long-press (hard press) works
Every key has a second layer. Press and hold any letter, and a callout of related characters pops up above the key — slide your finger to the one you want and lift to select it. It's the same gesture iOS uses for accented Latin letters on the system keyboard, aimed at Sanskrit instead. Beyond the three long vowels above, long-press is the way in — retroflex letters, ś/ṣ, conjuncts, anusvāra, visarga and ॐ all live here, on both keyboards.
Devanagari — word start or after a consonant/vowel
A vowel key shows a different callout depending on where you are in the word — independent letters at the start, mātrā forms right after a consonant. Both are listed where they differ.
| Long-press | At word start | After a consonant |
|---|---|---|
| a | अ · आ · ऐ · औ | ा · ै · ौ |
| i | इ · ई · ऐ | ि · ी · ै |
| u | उ · ऊ · औ | ु · ू · ौ |
| e | ए · ऐ | े · ै |
| o | ओ · औ · ॐ | ो · ौ · ॐ |
| r | र् · ऋ · ॠ | र् · ृ · ॄ |
| l | ल् · ऌ · ॡ · ळ् | ल् · ॢ · ॣ · ळ् |
| k | क् · ख् · क्ष् | |
| g | ग् · घ् | |
| c | च् · छ् | |
| j | ज् · झ् · ज्ञ् | |
| t | त् · थ् · ट् · ठ् · त्र् | |
| d | द् · ध् · ड् · ढ् | |
| n | न् · ण् · ङ् · ञ् | |
| p | प् · फ् | |
| b | ब् · भ् | |
| m | म् · ं · ॐ · ँ | |
| s | स् · श् · ष् · श्र् · श्री · ऽ | |
| h | ह् · ः | |
| f | फ् · ऋ · ॠ | फ् · ृ · ॄ · ङ् |
| q | द् · ध् · ऋ · ॠ | द् · ध् · ृ · ॄ |
| w | व् · त् · ठ् · प् · फ् | |
| z | ष् · ज् · झ् · ज्ञ् | |
IAST
One callout per key. The capital versions (A I U R L M H N T D S) show the same
options capitalised, for when you're mid-capitalised-word — except capital M, whose
callout doesn't include ॐ.
| Long-press | You reach |
|---|---|
| a | ā |
| i | ī |
| u | ū |
| r | ṛ · ṝ |
| l | ḷ · ḹ · ḻ |
| n | ṅ · ñ · ṇ |
| t | ṭ |
| d | ḍ |
| s | ś · ṣ |
| h | ḥ |
| m | ṁ · ṃ · m̐ · ॐ |
Put to use: ण comes from long-pressing n,
श and ष from long-pressing s, and
ā from long-pressing a. Chain those across a word and you
get गणेश / Gaṇeśa,
शिव / Śiva, and
लक्ष्मी / Lakṣmī.
Two minutes
Setting up the keyboard
-
1
Install and open the app
Get SanskritTypist from the App Store and launch it once — this registers the keyboard extensions with iOS.
-
2
Add the keyboards
Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard, then pick Devanagari, IAST, or both.
-
3
Tap the globe and type
In any app, tap 🌐 to switch to it, then type phonetically. Long-press 🌐 to jump straight to a specific keyboard.
Typing questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I type long vowels like ā and ī on iPhone?
Two ways, same result: double the vowel (ii → ī / ई) or long-press it (holding i reaches the same character in one gesture). Use whichever is faster for your hands.
How do I type retroflex letters like ṭ, ḍ, ṇ and ṣ?
Long-press the dental consonant it's related to — there's no capital-letter shortcut for these. Holding t reaches ṭ / ट, d reaches ḍ / ड, n reaches ṇ / ण (alongside ṅ and ñ), and s reaches ṣ / ष (alongside ś).
How do I type the ॐ symbol on iPhone?
Long-press m — ॐ is one of its callout options on both the Devanagari and IAST keyboards. On the Devanagari keyboard it's also reachable by long-pressing o.
How do I type a conjunct like क्ष or a halant?
Consonants that meet in a word form the correct conjunct as you type. A few common conjuncts are also one long-press away — holding k offers क्ष् alongside क् and ख्, and holding j offers ज्ञ्.
Do I have to learn a new keyboard layout to type Sanskrit?
No. SanskritTypist uses the standard QWERTY layout. You spell the sounds you hear and the keyboard converts them — there's no Devanagari key map to memorise, unlike Apple's built-in Devanagari keyboard.
Does typing Sanskrit work the same way on iPad as on iPhone?
Yes. SanskritTypist is a universal iOS/iPadOS keyboard extension — the same phonetic typing, context-aware vowels and long-press callouts work identically on iPhone and iPad, in any app with a text field.
Try it in your own words
One download, two keyboards, and every text field on your iPhone or iPad becomes Sanskrit-ready.