Settings & Customization

Fidel Swift Amharic Keyboard is designed to be simple yet flexible. Through its settings panel, users can customize behavior, control startup, and tweak typing preferences—all without touching complex system settings or modifying the Windows keyboard layout. This section will walk you through every available customization feature and how to use it.

Accessing the Settings Panel

To access the settings:

  1. Right-click the Fidel Swift tray icon (in the system tray, near your clock).
  2. Click on “Open Settings” from the menu.

A settings window will appear with toggle switches, file information, and version information.

Fidel swift system tray icon

Available Settings & Their Functions

Each option in the settings panel can be toggled in real-time. Changes take effect immediately—no need to restart the app.

Setting Description
Amharic Mode Turns phonetic typing on/off. When disabled, Fidel Swift behaves like a regular keyboard.
Windows Startup Automatically launches Fidel Swift every time Windows boots.
Hide From Taskbar Hides the app window from appearing in the taskbar when minimized.
Current Mapping File Displays the path or name of the encrypted phonetic config file in use.

Amharic Mode Toggle

  • What it does: Enables or disables phonetic typing system-wide.
  • Use case: Quickly switch to English mode without closing the app.
  • How to toggle:
    • From settings panel
    • Using the default hotkey: Alt + A
    💡 Note: When disabled, the app still runs in the background but stops converting text.
    Run at Windows Startup
  • What it does: Ensures Fidel Swift launches automatically when your system starts.
  • Why it's useful:: You won’t have to remember to launch it manually.
  • How to enable:
    • Toggle “Windows Startup” from the settings panel.
    • A shortcut is created in your Windows startup folder.
    💡 Tip: You can confirm startup status in Task Manager → Startup tab.
    Hide from Taskbar
  • What it does: Removes the app from the Windows taskbar while keeping it running in the tray.
  • Use case: Maintain a clean workspace or reduce distractions.
  • How to enable:
    • Enable the “Hide from Taskbar” toggle in Settings.
    Default Mapping Behavior

    By default, Fidel Swift uses a highly-optimized phonetic mapping system for Amharic.

    Here's an example:

    ሳድስ ግዕዝ ካብዕ ሣልስ ራብዕ ኃምስ ሳብዕ ዘመደ ራብዕ
    u i a y e o ]
    h ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ
    l ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ ሏ
    H ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ ሗ
    m መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ ሟ
    r ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ ሯ
    s ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ ሷ
    S ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ ሷ
    💡 Note: Most mappings are case-insensitive, and syllables are formed dynamically based on consonant-vowel pairing logic.
    Real-Time Changes

    All setting toggles are applied immediately—you do not need to restart Fidel Swift.

    If you edit the encrypted mapping config file and replace it while the app is running:

    • The app will automatically reload the file
    • No restart is necessary

    This makes tweaking and testing mappings easy and efficient.

    Hotkey Customization (Future Feature)

    Fidel Swift currently uses a default toggle shortcut: Alt + A → Toggle Amharic Mode

    Planned support:

  • User-defined hotkeys for:
    • Mode switching
    • Restarting the typing engine
    • Reloading custom mappings
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