In Summary
- Choosing an Android keyboard app can be confusing given the variety of keyboards that we have on the Google Play Store.
- Many times, the default keyboard app lacks basic features such as haptic feedback.
- We tested multiple apps ranging between top-rated and even underdogs to find the best Android keyboard apps.
- Here’s a list of the best keyboard apps for Android that can enhance your typing on your mobile device.
A good keyboard can completely change your typing experience and make it more enjoyable. This sounds very similar to switching to a mechanical keyboard on your desktop, but we have the same freedom to switch keyboards on our smartphones! After a deep look into the Google Play Store, these are the best keyboard apps for Android that will surely make you enjoy typing on your Android smartphone.
We have put together a selection of free keyboard apps for your Android device. With these apps, you can choose from a variety of customization options in terms of aesthetics, and you can also do tasks that you never thought were possible only with your keyboard.
Table of Contents
What to Look For in a Keyboard App For Android?
- Keyboards are an essential part of your smartphone because everything you do on your phone involves using the keyboard in some way. And that includes personal stuff like credit card and bank account details. Therefore, the most important factor when choosing a keyboard app for your phone should be the app’s source of origin and reputation. The keyboard should not have a shady background and should ideally come from a reputable developer house. This will ensure that your keyboard does not record your sensitive data like passwords, card details, or even everyday conversations.
- Once you have ensured the keyboard app is secure, a good keyboard should especially support multiple input languages.
- It should also support emojis, stickers, etc., which can help you express yourself better in a conversation.
Best Keyboard Apps For Android
Now that we know what to look for in a keyboard app, here’s a list of the best keyboard apps for Android, which you can download for free from the Google Play Store.
- Google Gboard
- Microsoft Swiftkey
- Grammarly Keyboard
- Chrooma Keyboard
- Real Madrid Keyboard
- Bobble Indic Keyboard
- Memechat Keyboard
- Simple Keyboard
1. Google Gboard – Best Android Keyboard App Overall
Gboard is one of the top-rated keyboard apps in the Google Play Store, and it certainly deserves that. In the era when keyboard customization was just about changing themes and fonts, Google revolutionized the Android keyboard market with a mini search bar, embedded translation through Google Translate, GIF search, and much more. At its launch, Gboard had set completely new standards for keyboard apps, and it took the competition a while to come to terms with it.
Currently, Gboard can be described as a feature-rich keyboard app with its support for a large number of global and regional languages, cross-language typing, quick translation, GIF search, sticker pack support, and much more.
Additional features like glide typing, personal dictionary, clipboard, voice typing, and almost everything you could want from a keyboard app are available here. You can also change the theme and adjust the intensity of the haptic feedback. The latter is very useful if your phone manufacturer does not offer haptic feedback in the stock keyboard.
2. Microsoft Swiftkey Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for Big Fingers
Swiftkey is another popular keyboard on the market that Microsoft backs. Swiftkey comes from the house of the world’s leading developers and will not disappoint you in any way. Not only does Swiftkey offer everything that a standard keyboard app can have, but it also has a few unique features up its sleeve that is unique to Swiftkey. Swiftkey can easily sync the clipboard between your desktop and your smartphone if you have a Windows computer.
You can also sync your to-do lists with your Microsoft account and access them directly from the keyboard. Besides that, Swiftkey is a promising keyboard app with its colorful designs, multilingual typing, smart autocorrect, swipe while typing, and much more. It also has other cool features like stickers, custom emojis, built-in GIF search, and more.
Whether Swiftkey is better than Gboard or not, it definitely fits into the rivalry of the biggest IT horses – Microsoft and Google.
3. Grammarly Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for Grammar and Spelling
The Grammarly Keyboard app certainly has a love-hate relationship with literature teachers. On the one hand, it helps you use perfect grammar when typing and avoid all kinds of spelling mistakes. On the other hand, it also serves as a shortcut to quickly correct mistakes without proofreading your content multiple times. Basically, Grammarly Keyboard analyzes the text you type, along with its tone, and offers you some suggestions to improve your writing.
It certainly serves as a good companion to take care of your silly spelling mistakes on your back. The Grammarly Keyboard app is free to download, but in-app purchases help you with premium features like advanced suggestions, in-depth grammar improvements, and more. However, in our experience, the premium version is only for literature fanatics, while the free version is more than enough for most users to optimize their texts.
Related Read: Best Grammarly Alternatives
4. Chrooma Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for RGB themes
If you are someone who likes to play with colors and customize things down to the smallest detail, then you’ll love Chrooma. This keyboard app allows you to have colorwise adaptive themes based on the application you are using. One of our favorite themes in Chrooma is the RGB theme, which, as the name suggests, gives your keyboard the perfect RGB finish. And the best part is that the RGB colors are not static but change colors in a typical rainbow format, just like an RGB desktop keyboard.
In addition, Chrooma supports a variety of gesture controls that let you quickly delete sentences, use a trail of suggested words, add notes, and take words from your typing habits. Plus, you can enter text in any language on your Android phone, so you are never limited to a specific language to choose from. Chrooma’s text correction can be a bit overwhelming at times, but you can adjust the tone of the correction between three modes.
Although the Chrooma Keyboard app is free, there are some premium themes that you can purchase via in-app purchases. However, in our experience, the free themes are good enough to give your keyboard a unique look.
5. Real Madrid Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for Football Lovers
This one is for all the Madridistas – Hala Madrid! While this may not be the most polished keyboard app you can use, it is unique and should be mentioned, in our opinion. It is officially developed by Real Madrid themselves and allows you to access all the information about the soccer club. From team news and player announcements to match results, this keyboard app lets you share official articles about your team with a single tap.
The keyboard app also displays videos from official Real Madrid sources, allowing you to share them directly in your chats. It even has custom Real Madrid stickers that you can use in all social messaging apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, etc. Apart from these football-specific features, the app also lets you adjust the height of the keyboard, the intensity of the haptic feedback, and perform basic text correction. The number of input languages supported here is very limited. But if you are a soccer fan of any club, you should try this keyboard app.
6. Bobble Indic Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for Social Media & Chatting
The Bobble Keyboard app has a lot of party tricks to make your conversations more eye-catching. If you do a lot of instant messaging and use emojis and stickers frequently, Bobble is the keyboard you should definitely try. The app can instantly convert your typed phrases into a sticker and allows you to insert that sticker into the chat with a single tap. You can also do this with emojis by long-pressing on them, after which Bobble will insert a larger and animated format of that emoji into your chat.
Bobble’s search feature also lets you quickly jump to a specific application. Just type the application’s name in the keyboard’s search bar, and your keyboard will open the application for you. Apart from these exclusive features, Bobble offers all the benefits of a keyboard with its multilingual support, glide typing, voice input, haptic feedback, and other basic features.
Download Bobble Indic Keyboard
7. Memechat Keyboard – Best Keyboard for Memes
As the name suggests, Memechat is a great keyboard app that lets you quickly share memes in your chat. You can search for any meme by tapping the meme search icon and adding it to your chat. The best thing about these memes is that the meme library is not limited to the memes created by Memechat. Instead, the app has its own community where users can create and upload memes that other Memechat keyboard users can then insert into their chats. This way, you always have access to the trending memes.
Unfortunately, that is the only thing the Memechat keyboard has. It has many limitations, such as the lack of text correction and the lack of swipe typing, and the biggest flaw is that it only supports the English language. There is no way to change the language in Memechat.
These drawbacks mean that Memechat is not a keyboard that is suitable as the main keyboard, but it can certainly be used as a fun accessory for inserting memes. You can quickly switch to Memechat, insert your meme, and return to your default keyboard by using the keyboard quick switch (input methods) available on most Android devices.
8. Simple Keyboard – Best Android Keyboard for Privacy
After testing everything from futuristic, feature-rich to weird and funny keyboards, we set out to find a simple, uncluttered, and traditional keyboard. The Simple Keyboard app is the definition of a basic, bare-bones keyboard in that it gets all the basic things right. It’s an open-source keyboard app with all the necessary features on board.
Simple Keyboard supports a variety of regional languages. You can adjust the height of the keyboard, change the theme based on the color of the status bar, set the haptic feedback, and more. However, the app does not support text correction. This is a plus, as the keyboard does not interfere with typing and keeps things simple. Conversely, the lack of text correction can be a major drawback for some users.
Apart from that, we really liked Simple Keyboard’s minimalist approach as they perfectly provide the service that matches their name. And considering it works even without connecting to Internet, it’s quite private too.
What is the Best Android Keyboard App?
In our opinion, Gboard is the best keyboard app for Android due to its features, reliability, and integration with the Google ecosystem. Gboard supports almost all regional languages and offers additional features like stickers, GIF search, translation, and more.
Its closest competitor, Swiftkey, is not far behind, but in some cases, such as accuracy and quality of contextual prediction, Google’s Gboard definitely has an advantage over Swiftkey. Gboard is still the undisputed champion among Android keyboards.
Are Third Party Keyboards Safe To Use?
Third-party keyboards are safe to use as long as you know that the keyboard app is from a reputable developer. From our list of the best keyboards for Android, Gboard and Swiftkey can be considered the safest keyboards for Android, as both are supported by tech giants Google and Microsoft, respectively.
That does not mean that third-party keyboard apps can harm you by compromising your personal data. Sure, some quality software companies care as much about security as Google and Microsoft. But if you are paranoid and worried about your keyboard stealing your data, it’s always a good idea to use the tried-and-true options – in this case, Gboard and Swiftkey. Otherwise, if you trust the developer enough, third-party keyboards are just as safe to use.
FAQs on Best Keyboard Apps for Android
Which is the most secure keyboard for Android?
Gboard and Swiftkey are the most secure keyboards for Android because they are developed by the leading software companies Google and Microsoft, respectively.
How can I improve my Android keyboard?
You can improve your Android keyboard by adjusting the keyboard height in the settings to your liking. Alternatively, you can also increase or decrease the intensity of the haptic feedback to get a better typing experience.
Which is better SwiftKey or Gboard?
In terms of features, Swiftkey and Google are equally good, but Gboard has a slight advantage over Swiftkey because it relies on Google's services for translation and GIF search. However, if you are deeply rooted in the Microsoft ecosystem and use the to-do lists and tasks, then Swiftkey is the better choice. The battle between the two is a matter of personal preference.
What is the easiest keyboard for Android?
Gboard is the easiest keyboard as it comes pre-loaded with most latest Android devices. It does not require any additional setup and can restore your settings from the cloud when you switch devices. This makes Gboard the easiest keyboard for Android.
How do I change the keyboard layout on android?
You can change the keyboard layout by pressing directly on the settings menu available on your keyboard. Under "Settings" you can access all the layouts supported by your keyboard.
In case your keyboard does not have a quick settings shortcut, then you can access the keyboard settings in this manner - Open your phone's Settings > Search for Keyboard and Input > Select the Keyboard. This will open all the available settings of your selected keyboard.
Alternately, if the keyboard app on your phone has an icon in your phone's app drawer, then you can directly access keyboard settings from the app drawer to change the keyboard layout.
How do I customize my Android keyboard?
You can customize your Android keyboard by tapping on the keyboard app's Settings icon > Themes. Here, you will be able to change the theme of your keyboard, use images from your phone's gallery as your keyboard background, or choose between the available templates.
Which is the lightest keyboard for Android?
Simple Keyboard app is the lightest keyboard for Android as the app size is less than 1MB. It's an open-source Android keyboard that can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. And it's also one of the most secure and private Android keyboards.
How do I make my Android keyboard larger?
You can make your Android keyboard larger by tapping on the settings icon on your keyboard. Then tap on Preferences and then look for Keyboard height. Most new-age keyboard apps have this setting to increase or decrease keyboard height.
Can you customize Samsung keyboard?
Yes, you can customize your Samsung keyboard by using the built-in keyboard themes provided by Samsung. You can also add a number row and adjust the keyboard height of your Samsung keyboard from the settings menu.
Best keyboard app for Android TV?
Gboard is the best app for Android TV as it comes with all the necessary features that you expect from a keyboard. The landscape layout of Gboard scales very well with Android TV making it an excellent choice.
Most accurate Android keyboard?
Gboard and Swiftkey are the most accurate Android keyboards. The accuracy in glide typing and voice recognition is equally good in both Google Gboard and Microsoft Swiftkey.