Choosing a hobbyist steno writer
For most users, any of the commercially available hobbyist writers are perfectly adequate—choose a writer that's in stock, and within your budget. However, you may want to take more care in choosing a writer if any of the following apply to you:
- You cannot run Plover on your device
- Incompatible devices (Android and iOS devices)
- Insufficient permissions on your computer (work/school computer)
- You intend to steno in a language that's not English
- You will exclusively use your steno writer in your computer usage
Javelin support
Non-English language support
The layout used for the vast majority of English steno theories, known as the Ward Stone Ireland layout (WSI), may not be sufficient for other languages. The layout for Korean CAS , for example, uses 6 thumb keys and has an entire dedicated row for numbers. If you are intending to use Plover for other languages, have a look at the languages page for more details on the layouts supported by Plover.
If you decide to learn steno in a language requiring a larger layout, we recommend the following options:
- Nolltronics Multisteno
- StenoKeyboards Polyglot