Matnsaz Launches on Android, Bringing a Modern Urdu Typing Experience to Millions More Users

Matnsaz, the innovative Urdu keyboard, is now officially available on Android, bringing its modern Urdu typing experience to the world's largest mobile platform.

Originally launched on iOS following years of research and development, Matnsaz was created to rethink how Urdu is typed on digital devices. By redesigning the keyboard around the structure of the Urdu script itself, Matnsaz makes typing faster, more intuitive and better suited to modern mobile devices.

"Urdu software today is deeply unsatisfactory, it relies on English paradigms and is not designed for users that have never used computers in English" said Zeerak Ahmed. "More Urdu speakers are now using phones and the internet than ever before. Relying on Western paradigms for how we design software in our own language is not enough. We need to rethink everything natively. With our Android release, we are proud to bring this work to so many more Urdu speakers."

Matnsaz utilizes a simple, shape-based keyboard. An advanced autocorrect system helps users by filling in dots and diacritics, reducing the need for almost half the buttons on the keyboard. At the heart of this system is Makhzan, a custom Urdu language dataset that powers the keyboard's predictive text and autocorrect capabilities. Matnsaz’s founder Zeerak Ahmed built Makhzan with contributions from renowned Urdu language publications, such as LUMS’ Bunyad Journal, Al-Mawrid’s Ishraq, and IBC Urdu. Then, a team of volunteers across the world in tandem with LUMS’ Technology for People Initiative transformed this dataset into usable material for researchers and developers. Makhzan is free to use for all.

Since the iOS release, alot of improvements have been made to Makhzan, resulting in an autocorrect system that corrects a wider range of typing errors, is more accurate, and performs faster across both iOS and Android. Today, Makhzan is also being used by large language models (LLMs) around the world to train their Urdu language models.

The Android app has been developed in partnership with Lahore-based software company Tintash, reflecting Matnsaz's commitment to building and investing in Urdu language technology within Pakistan. It was a deliberate decision to collaborate with local expertise, driven by the belief that Urdu language technology could not be developed better anywhere else in the world. Like the iOS version before it, the Android release has undergone extensive testing prior to launch, with the team continuously engaging with active Matnsaz users and people who regularly use Urdu digitally to refine the experience.

Beyond the keyboard itself, Matnsaz continues to invest in expanding its open-source infrastructure, supporting developers and researchers working on Urdu software and contributing to the broader Urdu technology ecosystem.

Since its launch, Matnsaz has received recognition both nationally and internationally. The project has been featured in publications including TIME Magazine, Rest of World, and Translator Magazine, while talks on Matnsaz have been hosted by Harvard University, Stanford University, New York University (NYU), the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, the University of Reading, the Lahore Biennale, and several other academic and cultural institutions.

Matnsaz is now available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

For more information visit: https://matnsaz.net/. For further press and publicity queries please contact the Matnsaz team, part of Shanasai LLC..