Top 8 Keyboard Apps for iPhone

If there’s one thing that smartphone users appreciate these days, it’s choice. From themes and wallpapers to the accessories you use, your iPhone is very much an extension of yourself and should really reflect what kind of person you are. And developers seem to have responded to this in kind, creating apps and services that allow for the utmost personal expression and customization. One thing that has become hugely popular to personalize these days is the keyboard you use when typing, which is of course the primary input method these days on your iPhone. Many of these custom keyboard apps are superficial in nature, simply giving you the chance to change the color and style of your keyboard, as well as to add in things like emoticons and the like. There are however quite a few apps that really look to innovate and create a keyboard that is better than the default iOS option. This even includes things like swiping through keys rather than tapping, as promoted by the Swype app. We take a look at this one and more in our list of the Top 8 custom keyboard apps for the iPhone.

8. Clips (Free)

I figured that one app we could start with is Clips, which in actual fact isn’t a keyboard app at all but a clipboard manager. This means you can clip content from other apps or your weeb browser, then manage this content and paste where and when you like. This content can take an infinite amount of different forms including text, images and things like all the details associated with a hyperlink that can then be included when pasted. Of course, we wouldn’t be mentioning Clips here if it wasn’t for its abilities as a keyboard, as well, and these are basic but useful – the app obviously excels in its ability to manage clipped content rather than anything else. – Download from iTunes

7. Themeboard (Free)

If you’re the kind of iPhone users that regularly looks to switch between keyboard apps for their themes rather than things like features or the difference input methods, then Themeboard is the one for you. I’ve heard it described as almost an App Store for third party keyboards, offering designers and developers the chance to create teir own themes and then share them with others, whether for the sheer fun of it as a hobby or in order to make some money. We haven’t yet found a keyboard app for the iPhone with such a huge array of different themes and styles, and I love one or two of the added features such as the emoji bar that makes posting your favorite emojis easier than ever before.   – Download from iTunes

6. Hanx Writer (Free)

This is one of those apps that I thought was a joke when first coming across it, but soon realized tha it isn’t a joke after all! Yes, Hanx Writer is actually an app that started out as a way for actor Tom Hanks to share his love of manual typewriters on the iPad, and is now available on the iPhone with a third party keyboard as well. If you’re the kind of person who loves old typewriters or indeed anything particularly vintage or retro, then this app might be worth checking out. It’s really nothing more than a gimmick app, but fun nonetheless.  – Download from iTunes

5. Fleksy (Free)

Ignoring the presence of Swype and SwiftKey on Android devices, Fleksy was notable as one of the first apps to offer an alternative input experience on the iPhone. As an app, it places an emphasis on such attributes as speed and flexibility, as well as providing a range of gesture based modes of typing that really look to rethink how we typically input words on our iPhone these days. A lot of the updates to Fleksy are also quite superficial, which may be something that turns away some of the more serious users. Things like an emoji or GIF bar might be something that interests you though, in which case we’d suggest checking Fleksy out. The themes are also wide ranging and colorful, too, often based on the latest movie releases and Disney characters and things like that.  – Download from iTunes

4. TouchPal (Free)

While Swype (we’ll get to it soon, promise) was the first to really push the envelope when it came to gesture based typing on the Android, TouchPal lead the line on iOS devices and has continued to develop its wide range of input methods to become one of the most comprehensive keyboard apps out there right now. It currently boasts around 200 million users across the world, which is illustration enough of its powers as a means of finding third party keyboards to suit you. Their own TouchPal Curve technology rivals Swype’s input method to potentially replace tapping altogether, but it can take some getting used to! – Download from iTunes

3. Swype ($0.99)

We’ll get to popular Android keyboard SwiftKey in a moment, but for now let’s talk about another popular custom keyboard app among Android users: Swype is notable mainly for the different input method it offers, which as you can guess involves swiping through the keys rather than tapping. By now, most users will be conditioned to tapping away and nobody likes change, so this might not be the app for everyone but it has been proved to increase efficiency when it comes to typing on your iPhone. But the main reason that Swype has become so popular among Android keyboard apps is down to the support for languages and variety of different keyboard layouts. It’s one of the more customizable keyboard apps right now, and has a bunch of themes to choose from, too.  – Download from iTunes

2. SwiftKey (Free)

It took a while for one of the biggest and most popular keyboards on Android to come to iOS, but SwiftKey finally made it and brings much of the same excellent predictive abilities as well as its extensive list of supported languages. One impressive thing that the developers have done, perhaps with their existing Android userbase in mind, is to offer a cloud sync option that means you can save all of your settings from your Android device and then quickly switch to iOS and maintain your customized settings and saved typing styles. A potentially negative point tha that has been picked up on by one or two websites is the lack of audible feedback; personally I’m not a fan of all those clicks and taps, but if that’s your thing then you might want to look for another keyboard app. – Download from iTunes

1. Minuum ($3.99)

Minuum is a basic but impressive little keyboard app whose selling point seems to be that it is a little keyboard but supports big fingers. The real thing that sets this custom keyboard app apart from others however, and the reason for its crowning as our champion keyboard app for the iPhone, is the wonderful one handed mode that can quickly be picked up by both lefties and righties. This can be particularly useful if you’re doing something with your other hand, and the app also supports swiping gestures and a load more features besides. – Download from iTunes