fcitx5-android-bibi-keyboard

Project Overview

This project ports Fcitx5, the popular Linux desktop input method framework, fully to Android, as a customized build for the BiBi Keyboard (lexi keyboard) ecosystem.

It inherits everything from fcitx5-android: Chinese Pinyin, Shuangpin, Wubi and Cangjie via fcitx5-chinese-addons, plus Zhuyin, Cantonese Jyutping, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Sinhala and Thai through plugins, with a RIME plugin for importing custom schemas.

Item	Value
Platform	Android
Language	Kotlin + C++ (JNI)
Framework	Fcitx5 input method framework
License	LGPL-2.1

Desktop-grade Fcitx5 typing on Android, tailored for the BiBi Keyboard ecosystem.

Key Features

• Full Chinese support: Pinyin, Shuangpin, Wubi, Cangjie and custom tables built in
• Language plugins: Zhuyin/Chewing, Cantonese Jyutping, Vietnamese Telex/VNI, Japanese Anthy, Korean Hangul and more
• RIME schemas: the generic RIME plugin imports custom input schemas
• English spell check: English input ships with spell checking
• Expandable candidates: an expandable candidate bar keeps long words readable
• Clipboard management: plain-text clipboard history
• Theming: custom colors and backgrounds, dynamic color on Android 12+
• Handy symbols: key-press popup previews and long-press symbol keyboards

Target Audience

• BiBi Keyboard users who need broader input coverage
• Shape-based typists on Wubi or Cangjie
• Users running custom RIME schemas on Android
• Multilingual users needing Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese or Thai

Quick Start

1. Download the arm64-v8a APK from Releases and install
2. Enable the input method in system settings and switch to it
3. Turn on Pinyin, Wubi, RIME or other engines in the settings
4. Import custom tables or RIME schema files
5. Developers can build with Android Studio and the NDK

Core Advantages

• Desktop-grade engine: the mature Fcitx5 framework with years of refined dictionaries and algorithms
• Broad language coverage: from Chinese shape-based input to Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai in one keyboard
• Deeply customizable: themes, schemas and tables all configurable
• BiBi ecosystem fit: co-developed and tailored with the BiBi Keyboard ecosystem

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Android
Architecture	arm64-v8a
Build tools	Android SDK/NDK, JDK, Gradle

Notes

• Custom branch: this is a BiBi Keyboard-tailored development build with a different cadence from upstream
• Signature mismatch: signed differently from the official upstream build, so they cannot overwrite each other; uninstall before switching
• Keyboard layout: virtual keyboard layouts are not customizable yet