It's good practice for any user to look beyond traditional keyboards (whether physical or virtual) and study the offerings of the entire Unicode universe. The number of available symbols is impressive, but the lack of shortcuts keeps them relatively obscure, and the character map included in Windows doesn't fully solve that. Which brings us to Unicodia, an alternative, open source map that simplifies exploring and copying Unicode characters.
Arrows, curves, angles, squares and circles, stars, pentagons... none of this appears on a normal keyboard, or rather, not without executing more advanced combinations. Obviously, we can't have a keyboard with thousands of keys (although that gives me ideas...), so the most effective alternative is the character map.
Microsoft's official solution is adequate, but has plenty of room for improvement. Now, knowing Redmond's priorities (essentially, filling their operating systems with junk), it's most likely we won't see any news on that front. That brings us to Unicodia, a free, open source alternative character map that grants access to the latest version of the Unicode universe (15.1 beta).
How to access thousands of special characters with Unicodia
The app is portable and requires no formal installation. A double click on its executable brings up an interface divided into four tabs: Blocks (where you can explore a list of dozens of categories), Library (which uses a more visual profile to find symbols), Terms and About. Blocks will take up most of your time, and includes a small search engine. When you click on a symbol, Unicodia shows all the information it has about it, from its official introduction in Unicode to the Alt code, and other secondary data (such as Braille).
The rest is about finding the desired symbol and clicking the Copy button to send it to the clipboard. Some applications may not display the characters correctly (especially the newest ones), but the important thing here is that Unicodia fulfills its purpose perfectly. It's a lightweight, efficient program, ideal for keeping open on a secondary screen. Link below!
Official site and download: Click here
