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The best keyboard apps for iPhone in 2022

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The iPhone’s built-in keyboard may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Sure, it delivers the utilitarian basics, but overall, its limited features may compel some users to crave more variety and flexibility for larger phones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max or smaller iPhone models like the iPhone 13 Mini or iPhone SE 2022. We’ve checked out the vast universe of keyboards now available for the iPhone that provide features like adjusting the key size, swipe typing, themes, and easier emoji, and we’ve put together our picks for the best third-party keyboards. Most are available for free, though many offer premium subscription options.

While you’re at it, have a look at our lists of the best Android and iOS emoji keyboards.

Note: In past listings, we’ve included the popular and highly regarded Microsoft SwiftKey. As of October 2022, Microsoft discontinued the iOS version of the app and removed it from the App Store. Customers who already own it can continue using the app until they remove it or buy a new iPhone.

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Typewise Keyboard

Typewise Custom Keyboard for iOS with three different ad layouts.

Typewise has a unique take on key shapes. The app keeps the QWERTY design but switches the traditional rectangle-shaped keys for hexagonal ones — which Typewise says creates more surface area so you can type more accurately. While there is a slight learning curve, Typewise includes a built-in game to practice typing. With swipe gestures, dark mode support, and autocorrect modification, this is a great alternative for those who are tired of the conventional iOS keyboard. Newer versions include automatic language detection, which switches the app between selected languages, an undo button, and text replacement for often-used phrases.

Apple App Store

Grammarly

Grammarly App for iOS three screenshots.

The Grammarly iOS keyboard app offers sophisticated grammar review that goes beyond the usual spell check to provide advice on punctuation, spelling context, and misused words. It also helps you build your vocabulary and offers synonyms, which makes 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 newest updates include swipe typing, home screen widgets, and focus filters that mute vibrations and sound effects.

Apple App Store

Phraseboard Keyboard

Phraseboard Keyboard tripartite marketing screens.

Phraseboard aims to take the pain out of the tedious job of typing the same responses and phrases over and over by allowing you to save them, so you can just select one of your prewritten answers to reply rapidly. You can create your own customized 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 sync with iCloud. The basic app costs $2, and subscriptions are available for some premium language and functionality features.

Apple App Store

Gboard

GBoard Google keyboard screens.

Gboard is a keyboard from Google and includes everything you’d ever want within a single app. Whether you’re sending GIFs or emoji, searching Google for information, sending directions, or anything else, Gboard has you covered. With Gboard, you can search and send anything from Google, including information on nearby restaurants, videos, images, weather forecasts, news, sports scores — you name it. The app also offers Glide Typing, which allows you to type messages faster and more accurately.

Apple App Store

Fleksy

Fleksy web page searches.

Fleksy offers users a fun and interactive way to type in your own style. You can customize your Fleksy keyboard with powerful extensions and more than 50 colorful themes. Some of the themes cost $1, but many are free. More than 800 emoji come with the app, and it also has its own built-in GIF search engine. The keyboard supports dozens of languages, including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Hebrew, and Dutch. It learns your typing habits as you go, enabling it to give you accurate predictions, which helps cut down on typos.

Apple App Store

Color Keyboard

Color Keyboard for iOS themes and fonts.

The king of keyboard customization is Color Keyboard. Sure, it gives you emoji and autocorrection and even allows you to tap and hold the space bar to move the cursor, but what really sets this keyboard apart is the option to change anything you want about the look of the keyboard. You can change the background using solid colors, gradients, textures, and even your own pictures. You can also customize the buttons by changing the colors and borders, adding shadows, customizing the fonts, and changing the sounds. If your aim is customization, Color Keyboard takes things to the next level, but you have to subscribe to access everything, starting at $3 per week and rising for longer intervals and premium features.

Apple App Store

Bitmoji

Bitmoji your personal emoji illustrations.

Bitmoji, a popular keyboard app, is ideal if you want to send an emoji that resembles you rather than using standard emoji or text. Bitmoji allows you to customize and send a personalized emoji, all from your keyboard. Use Bitmoji with any of your favorite chat apps, like iMessage or Snapchat. It’s never been easier to make a dynamic avatar and adapt it with an ever-changing collection of stickers and moods. You’ll need your Facebook login information to sign into Bitmoji and initiate the avatar creation process.

Apple App Store

GIF Keyboard

GIF keyboard for finding perfect GIFs.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a GIF can truly help get your point across. Get access to the massive library of animated and musical GIFs for free. From there, you can search for specific GIFs or use keywords to find animations that suit your mood. The GIF keyboard app is compatible with WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Messenger, iMessage, and just about any other messaging app or social media site. To send a GIF, press your finger on your chosen GIF and hold it down to browse options. Once you’ve found one, share its link, the GIF itself, or a video, or save the media to your photo library. You can also customize the tool to match your specifications and save your favorite GIFs using the keyboard.

Apple App Store

All Symbol Keyboard

All Symbol Keyboard typing app.

For the visual among us, the All Symbol Keyboard is an exciting alternative to humdrum alphanumerics with all the custom fonts, symbols, fancy letters, special characters, and emoticons you could ever want — compatible with any app on your iPhone. It works with Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and many others. Whether you’re looking for high-impact symbols to enhance your keyboard, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts, or even your username, just launch the app and start typing. Premium versions provide unlimited access to features like the All Symbol Keyboard (every single symbol) and Facemoji library, but there’s tons of free stuff to get you started.

Apple App Store

Editors' Recommendations

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Simon Hill
Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor

Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile Editor at Digital Trends. He has spent more than a decade writing about smartphones, wearables, tablets, software, computing, videogames, and robots all over the internet for Tech Radar, Android Authority, USA Today, VentureBeat, Deal News, and many other places. His work has also appeared on Yahoo! Tech, CNN, Fox News, Lifehacker, and Christian Science Monitor. He also spent several years working in the games industry as a game designer and producer. He lives in Scotland with his wife and two kids.

Jackie Dove
Jackie Dove
Contributor

Jackie is an obsessive, insomniac tech writer and editor in northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, and photo app fanatic, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems. Formerly senior editor at Macworld and creativity editor at The Next Web, Jackie now writes for a variety of consumer tech publications.

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