Although originally coined for CJK (Chinese, Japanese and Korean) computing, the term is now sometimes used generically to refer to a program to support the input of any language. To illustrate, in the X Window System, the facility to allow the input of Latin characters with diacritics is also called an input method.
On Windows XP or later Windows, Input method, or IME, are also called Text Input Processor, which are implemented by the Text Services Framework API.
While the term input method editor was originally used for Microsoft Windows, its use has now gained acceptance in other operating systems, especially when it is important to distinguish between the computer interface and implementation of input methods, or among the input methods themselves, the editing functionality of the program or operating system component providing the input method, and the general support of input methods in an operating system. This term has, for example, gained general acceptance on the Linux operating system and Android;1 it is also used on macOS.2
Main article: Virtual keyboard
"Create an input method | Views". Android Developers. Retrieved 2025-03-09. https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/touch-and-input/creating-input-method ↩
"InputMethodKit". Apple Developer Documentation. Retrieved 2025-03-09. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/inputmethodkit ↩
Meddaugh, Jason (2013-02-01), 2012: A Technology Year in Review, US: American Foundation for the Blind, archived from the original on 2021-02-11, retrieved 2013-02-25, Our top story of 2012 involves a formerly little-known app called Fleksy and its rise toward prominence and mainstream acceptance. https://web.archive.org/web/20210211165921/https://afb.org/aw/14/2/15840 ↩
Fiedlerová, Klára (2012-05-10), Possibilities of Text Input for Handicapped People (PDF), Prague: Czech Technical University in Prague, p. 15, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-14, retrieved 2012-08-01, Word prediction is used to speed up the text entry. The prediction system uses the context of the sentence to predict three words that could be used next. https://web.archive.org/web/20171014075957/https://dip.felk.cvut.cz/browse/pdfcache/fiedlkla_2012dipl.pdf ↩
"For phones - SwiftKey". SwiftKey. TouchType. Retrieved 2016-10-21. http://www.swiftkey.com ↩