Just got a Sofle (first time trying ergo split), and I was reading this interesting post by getreuer about designing a symbol layer. I noticed the author uses homerow mods to activate their layers and modifiers, and after trying it out it certainly feels more comfortable than what I’m used to. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to adapt my typing or configuration for using HRM while typing at high WPM.

On a Macbook Qwerty keyboard I type around 120-140 wpm, maybe 20 wpm slower while programming. But when using homerow mods on the Sofle, I find it difficult to type interleaving sequences of letters and symbols without intentionally introducing micro delays transitioning between the two, which interrupts the flow and feels way too limiting. Because of this, my typing speed while programming is 30-50% slower, albeit quite a bit more conformable.

I’ve tried a few different configurations based on urob’s recommended setup, adjusting timings and alternating between “balanced” and “hold-preferred” flavors. In either case, typing at fast speeds with key rolls is marred by too many false positives (with “hold-preferred”), or too many false negatives (with “balanced”). The only way to get around this is by slowing down when necessary to force a certain interaction or not rolling keys at all, which forces more finger movement.

Any thoughts on this? I can definitely try a few more configurations, but I feel like there will always be edge cases. As far as I can tell, the only way to workaround is to completely adapt how I type or rely solely on the thumb cluster to type symbols.

My current layers, with the symbol layer based on the getreuer’s post