Japanese IME
Text shortcuts that work while Japanese input is on.
With a Japanese IME active, typing an ASCII trigger starts romaji conversion instead of matching a shortcut, so most expanders need you to switch to direct input first. Typlet's AutoText watches the physical keys, so a saved trigger fires while Hiragana input stays on.
Try it with Hiragana input active
- 01
;replyThe trigger is typed - 02The trigger is removed
- 03The saved phrase is inserted
Typed in Hiragana mode, the keys ; r e p l y show as ；れply for a moment, then Typlet replaces them with the saved Japanese reply.
The usual problem
In Hiragana mode the keys for ;hl never put ;hl on screen at all. The semicolon arrives as the full-width ；, and hl is not a kana sequence, so it sits there unconfirmed rather than becoming anything. An expander that reads the finished characters never sees the trigger. So you tap the input toggle, type the trigger, and toggle back, every single time.
What Typlet matches instead
Typlet stores the trigger as a label for standard physical key positions and matches the keys as they arrive, before the IME finishes composing. ; r e p l y are the same keys in Hiragana mode and in direct input, so the trigger matches in both, and the IME mode you were in stays as it was.
What happens to the kana on screen
Whatever the IME composed from the trigger keys is removed together with the trigger, and the saved phrase is inserted in its place. Recovery keystrokes are replayed as marked physical keys, so a conversion that was already underway before the trigger is preserved rather than broken.
A tested Japanese example
Save the reply below with the trigger ;reply. In a mail client with Hiragana input active, type the keys ; r e p l y. The screen shows ；れply — a full-width semicolon, one kana, and the letters the IME has not converted — and then the whole Japanese reply appears. The same trigger works in direct input, so one trigger serves both.
Limits worth knowing
Typlet matches standard printable QWERTY positions, so a trigger must be plain ASCII; a trigger written in kana or kanji is not converted. Secure input fields, Windows applications running as administrator, and applications you exclude are left alone. Rich text, variables, and cursor placeholders are outside the 1.0 scope, and Typlet makes no claim about every IME or layout.
Getting set up
Install Typlet, add a snippet, and give it a trigger with a ; : or / prefix. Turn AutoText on in Settings; on macOS this asks for Accessibility permission once. The 14-day Pro trial starts at that moment. Keep Hiragana input on and type the trigger where the text should go.