Tools for Learning “The Code”

This weekend, a couple of things came across my feed that were pretty cool when it comes to learning Morse Code. I will readily admit that I’ve been slacking on that because life is busy and I wasn’t able to plug in for 15 minutes a day while my mind was fresh. It’s an excuse, yes, but one that is at least plausible given the number of life forms in my house that require tending. A couple of things popped up this weekend that got me moving again.

GBoard. This is yet another third party keyboard for iOS and Android. I have been using one that is no longer being maintained and I love the swiping around to type functionality so this makes a good drop in replacement. BUT! It also has a Morse Code keyboard complete with predictive text.

Why would I ever use that? Well, Google has a pretty cool page with some very interesting use cases if that’s your thing. And it is MY thing, so there ya go.

Google also created a Morse Code Trainer page that teaches The Code in a very efficient manner. What it does lack is random strings and Ham-specific things like Q codes and call signs for practice. I can easily forgive that because it had my send stats soaring after playing with it for under an hour. And it hooked my daughter. She just wants to play Morse Code all the time now. She thinks it’s a game and I’m not going to try to convince her otherwise.

So there are a couple of things from Google for your smartphone or tablet that can help with learning The Code.