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For those who find the iPhone’s native keyboard less than satisfying, the quest for the ideal typing experience is never-ending. While Apple’s default keyboard certainly fulfills the basic needs, its somewhat constrained features may leave certain users yearning for greater versatility and choice, whether they wield the expansive iPhone 14 Pro Max or the more diminutive iPhone models like the iPhone 13 Mini or the newly-released iPhone SE 2022. That’s where the “Best Keyboard Apps for iPhone” come into play.
We’ve looked at the vast universe of keyboards now available for the iPhone that offer features such as key size customization, swipe types, themes and simpler emoji, and we’ve made our pick of the best third-party keyboards. Most are available for free, although many keyboards have premium subscriptions.
Best Keyboard Apps for iPhone Comparison Table
| Product | Features | Price | Download Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | Checks grammar, spelling, punctuation, and more; integrates with various apps | Free, premium subscription starting at $11.66/month | Download Now |
| Phraseboard Keyboard | Quick access to frequently used phrases and emojis; customizable phrases and shortcuts | Free, with in-app purchases | Download Now |
| Gboard | Google search, emojis, GIFs, Glide Typing, voice typing, multilingual typing, and more | Free | Download Now |
| Swiftkey | Predictive text, multilingual typing, swipe typing, customizable keyboard, and more | Free | Download Now |
| GIF Keyboard | Search and share GIFs, emojis, stickers, and more | Free, with in-app purchases | Download Now |
| Font App | Customizable keyboard with various fonts, themes, and backgrounds | Free, with in-app purchases | Download Now |
| Facemoji Keyboard | Customizable keyboard with emojis, GIFs, themes, and more; supports multiple languages | Free, with in-app purchases | Download Now |
| Fleksy | Predictive text, customizable keyboard, emojis, GIFs, and more | Free, with in-app purchases | Download Now |
Grammarly
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Advanced Grammar | Provides advanced grammar and punctuation checking |
| Spell Checking | Identifies and corrects spelling errors |
| Plagiarism Checker | Detects and alerts for potential plagiarism in written content |
| Writing Style Guide | Offers suggestions for improving writing style |
| Vocabulary Enhancer | Recommends synonyms and alternative word choices |
The Grammarly iOS keyboard app offers advanced grammar review that goes beyond the usual spell checker to give advice on punctuation, spelling context, and misused words. It also helps you build your vocabulary and offers synonyms, making it an ideal app for students or business people.
Grammarly also has emoji, a smart autocorrect feature, and allows you to build your own dictionary. The latest updates include swipe typing, home screen widgets, and focus filters that dampen vibrations and sound effects.
The Good
- Full checking of grammar and punctuation
- Powerful detection of plagiarism
- Helps improve the way you write and the words you use.
The Bad
- For full functionality, you need the paid version.
- Can use a lot of resources and run slowly on older devices
Phraseboard Keyboard
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Phrase Autocomplete | Offers suggested phrases and text snippets for quick insertion |
| Customizable Phrases | Allows users to create and save personalized phrases for reuse |
| Emoji Keyboard | Includes a wide range of emojis for expressive communication |
| Multiple Languages | Supports typing in multiple languages with language switching |
| Clipboard History | Stores a history of copied text for easy pasting |
Phraseboard aims to take the pain away from the tedious work of typing the same answers and phrases over and over again by allowing you to save them, so you can simply select one of your pre-written answers to quickly answer. You can create your own custom phrases and sort them by category.
You can even quickly access the Phraseboard widget to create new phrases no matter what you’re doing with your iPhone. All your phrases are synced to iCloud. The basic app costs $2, and subscriptions are available for some premium language and functionality features.
The Good
- The phrase autocomplete feature saves time.
- Having the ability to make and use your own phrases
- Multilingual support for diverse communication needs
The Bad
- Few ways to change things
- Some users might find it hard to use.
Gboard
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Google Search | Provides quick access to web search without leaving the keyboard |
| Gesture Typing | Allows typing by sliding finger across letters for faster input |
| Multilingual Support | Supports typing in multiple languages with automatic translation |
| GIFs and Stickers | Offers a wide selection of GIFs and stickers for messaging |
| Voice Input | Enables voice-to-text input for hands-free typing |
Google, which never lets anyone play alone in a sandbox, entered the virtual keyboard space via Gboard (also on Android, of course(Opens in a new window)) and earned our Choice. Really, this is probably the only extra keyboard you actually need, assuming you trust Google.
Gboard offers glide/swipe typing, quick access to Google search (including images and even animated GIFs) and Google Translate, and offers special camera features such as creating a quick boomerang loop image. It has an option for a permanent row of numbers and a one-handed (thumb) typing mode.
The Good
- Google services work well together.
- Fast and accurate typing with hand gestures
- Lots of GIFs and stickers to choose from
The Bad
- The auto-correct feature can sometimes be too harsh.
- There aren’t many ways to change the look and layout.
Swiftkey
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Personalized Predictions | Learns from user’s typing habits to offer accurate predictions |
| Emoji Prediction | Predicts emojis based on the context of the conversation |
| Theme Customization | Allows users to personalize the keyboard with various themes |
| Multilingual Support | Supports typing in multiple languages with automatic translation |
| Clipboard Integration | Seamlessly integrates with the device’s clipboard for easy access |
SwiftKey-now owned by Microsoft-is a swipe-to-type staple with predictive text options and was there at the launch of third-party keyboards on iOS. It offers a host of options in addition to its predictive typing, multiple languages and one-handed swipe.
The app makes it easy to delete your collected data, although SwiftKey says that the more it sees you type, the better it gets at text prediction. It shows you statistics to prove it; I was 12 percent more productive with SwiftKey, allegedly. To make that happen, SwiftKey requires full access for almost everything but basic typing and anonymizes any captured keystroke data it would share.
The Good
- Accurate predictions based on your typing to help you type faster
- Emoji prediction based on context makes expression better.
- There are many ways to change the theme.
The Bad
- Can use a lot of resources and affect how well a device works.
- Some people might find the predictive text too pushy.
GIF Keyboard
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Extensive GIF Library | Offers a vast collection of GIFs for various moods and occasions |
| Trending GIFs | Provides access to popular and trending GIFs |
| Search Functionality | Allows users to search for specific GIFs by keywords |
| Sharing Options | Enables easy sharing of GIFs via messaging and social media |
| Favorites Collection | Allows users to save and organize favorite GIFs |
Do you love GIFs? So do I, which is why this keyboard made it to this list. Tenor’s GIF keyboard is a great way to spice up your conversations. You can discover, edit or create new GIFs from your keyboard before you send them.
What’s the best part, you ask? That’s the fact that you can create a new GIF with your camera, add a personal text or an emoji to it and save it for further distribution. You can create packages of stickers and GIFs and share them with your family and friends.
The Good
- A huge collection of GIFs that can be used to express yourself
- The Trending GIFs section keeps people up to date on what’s popular.
- Save and manage your favorite GIFs
The Bad
- Few ways to change things
- There are sometimes differences in the search results.
Font App
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Font Selection | Offers a wide variety of fonts for customizing text appearance |
| Text Effects | Provides various effects like bold, italic, and underline |
| Custom Text Styling | Allows users to adjust font size, color, and spacing |
| Preview and Apply | Allows previewing and applying fonts before finalizing |
| Compatibility | Works with various text-based applications and messaging platforms |
With over 180 fonts and more than 150 themes, Font App can be the perfect choice if you are bored with the look of your current keyboard and want to completely revamp it.
It has a user-friendly and intuitive interface full of beautiful keyboard themes that you can use for personal customization. You can also share GIFs from their library, which contains huge shareable content. Moreover, you can use the text decoration feature and add unique emojis, fonts and styles to create your custom text.
The Good
- A large number of fonts for creative text formatting
- Easy ways to change the way personalized text looks
- Integration with the most popular text-based apps
The Bad
- Some fonts might not work on all platforms and devices.
- Compared to professional design software, it doesn’t have as many advanced typography features.
Facemoji Keyboard
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Emoji Prediction | Predicts relevant emojis based on the context of the conversation |
| Emoji Combos | Offers pre-designed emoji combinations for quick insertion |
| Stickers and GIFs | Provides a wide range of stickers and GIFs for expressive messaging |
| Theme Customization | Allows users to personalize the keyboard with various themes |
| Gesture Typing | Supports fast typing by sliding finger across letters |
If you like all things kawaii, Facemoji is definitely the best iPhone keyboard app for you. This is where you can get keyboard themes that include anime, chonky animal cartoons, chibi drawings of K-pop stars, and familiar characters like the Avocado.
Facemoji Keyboard not only offers about 50 font styles, but also has one of the largest selections of text art. Like Fonts Art, it also serves as a good kaomoji and GIF keyboard app for your iPhone. On the free version of Facemoji, you can unlock new fonts by performing tasks such as sharing the app with your friends.
The Good
- Accurate predictions of emojis to make communication easier
- Pre-made emoji combinations that are fun and creative
- There are a lot of stickers and GIFs to help you express yourself.
The Bad
- There isn’t much you can change besides the theme.
- The gesture typing feature may not work as well for some users as it does for others.
Fleksy
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Fast Typing | Offers one of the fastest typing experiences with gesture input |
| Extensions | Provides additional functionalities like GIFs, stickers, and more |
| Customization Options | Allows users to customize the keyboard with various themes |
| Multilingual Support | Supports typing in multiple languages with automatic prediction |
| One-Handed Mode | Enables easy typing with one hand using a compact keyboard layout |
Fleksy (free, with in-app purchases) is pretty and private, yes, but its brilliance is how fast you can type with it. Fleksy is the fastest keyboard out there, even holding a Guinness World Record. It stores everything you type locally on your device, not in a cloud, so you can rest assured that your private data (such as username and password) is not vulnerable to hacks.
The keyboard also has built-in mini-apps, so you can search for memes, GIFs, video clips and even recommendations from Yelp without switching apps. There is also a selection of other mini-extensions.
The Good
- Gesture typing is very fast and accurate
- Wide variety of add-ons to improve functionality
- There are many ways to personalize the experience.
The Bad
- Compared to some other keyboard apps, it has a smaller number of themes.
- How well predictive text works can depend on how the user types.
FAQs
There are several keyboard apps for iPhone, and the best one depends on your personal preferences. Some of the most popular options include Gboard by Google, SwiftKey, and Grammarly Keyboard.
Yes, you can customize your keyboard on iPhone by downloading a third-party keyboard app like the ones mentioned above. These apps often allow you to choose different themes, add emojis and stickers, and adjust the size and layout of the keyboard.
To enable a third-party keyboard on your iPhone, go to “Settings” > “General” > “Keyboard” > “Keyboards” > “Add New Keyboard” and select the keyboard app you want to use.
4 comments
Gboard seems really versatile with its Google search and GIF features, but I’m not sure about giving Google full access to my keyboard. Is there a way to use it without that? ????
Having customizable phrases on the Phraseboard Keyboard. It would save me so much time when typing repetitive answers!
Phraseboard Keyboard sounds like a useful app for saving time and avoiding repetitive typing. I wonder if it’s easy to set up and organize my own custom phrases. ????
I love the idea of having different keyboard options for my iPhone! Grammarly seems like a great app for improving my writing skills, but I’m skeptical about the paid version. Are the premium features worth it? ????