Via vs qmk

VIA is not just a UI for QMK. VIA consists of two parts:

  • desktop app (UI)
  • firmware

Desktop app is UI for VIA firmware. Appears to Electron-based but I don’t think its source is public AFAIK.

VIA firmware is based on QMK, adding protocol to update keyboard map at runtime. Not all QMK-ready keyboard supports VIA . VIA-ready means, after VIA firmware is installed, the keyboard will be recognized by and configured using VIA desktop app.

Note that VIA firmware is keyboard-specific. This means, unless your keyboard comes with VIA firmware pre-installed, you’ll need to:

  1. check list of supported keyboards
  2. download VIA firmware for your keyboard
  3. reset and flash your keyboard

I’ve installed VIA on most of my keyboards except for weird DZ60RGB variant. I also failed to get VIA working on my Planck.

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