Customizability has been and will be the biggest reason I prefer Android over iOS. There is nothing worse than sticking onto the default apps that the device manufacturer stuff in, right? And, probably the first thing that I change when shifting to a new smartphone is the keyboard app. Fortunately, hundreds of keyboard apps are available for Android which not only bring extra features but are also easy to use and look better. So, if you also want to customize your Android keyboard, here are the 12 best Keyboard apps for Android that you should use in 2019.
Best Keyboard apps for Android in 2019
Before we discuss our list of the best keyboard apps for Android, let us first take a look at a few reasons that make us look for third-party keyboard apps.
The Need for Third-Party Keyboard Apps
As we said, almost every Android manufacturer ships its devices with a custom-made keyboard app. It’s one in Samsung and something entirely different on HTC phones. The only exception is when you have a Pixel or a device running on stock Android. In most cases, these default keyboard apps are horrendous. They don’t prioritize usability and often lack the basic features you need. And, if you are expecting things like GIF support and emoji collection, you might be disappointed.
So, the best idea is to choose the right keyboard app from the available options. In this article, we have made the ultimate list of 15 best keyboard apps for Android. We have categorized these apps according to things that you look for in a keyboard. So you can skip around if you are looking for a specific type of keyboard.
Best Overall Keyboard Apps for Android
These keyboard apps are made for everyone! You can find a healthy mix of usability and features to start.
1. Gboard (the Google Keyboard)
Gboard is the official keyboard app for Android from Google. It packs almost every feature you need in one keyboard app, starting with an amazing UI. You can also customize the User Interface according your taste and requirements. For instance, you can separate the keys with a border or bring a dark theme to the board. There is even a Floating Mode that you’d love.
The best part is that Gboard is so integrated with Google services. For instance, you can search Google for a GIF or image while you are typing something. Gboard also gives you access to the Google Translate service if you are interested. In addition to these, you get support for Glide Typing, Handwriting, Voice Typing and Gesture Control.
Considering all these, Gboard is a complete keyboard package. It packs so many features despite having an incredibly small footprint. We would recommend this to anyone who needs a neat keyboard experience on the go.
Install: Free
2. SwiftKey Keyboard
SwiftKey Keyboard is indeed the most popular third-party keyboard app for Android. It is also one of the oldest third-party keyboard app for Android. Currently owned by Microsoft, SwiftKey Keyboard brings one of the fastest typing experience on Android. It learns your typing patterns, frequently-used words and then alters the User Interface. It can even suggest you the best emoji for the situation.
In the first look, SwiftKey Keyboard is a simple keyboard but you can unlock the upper pane for more features like GIF and Sticker support. There are also keyboard resizing options you can consider — such as the Float Mode and One-Handed mode. You can also decide to integrate Bing or Google to the keyboard for quick search results while typing.
If you need a quicker typing experience, SwiftKey Keyboard is the best shot out there. All its features aim at improving your typing speed and usability. The customizability of the app is equally impressive, making it an awesome choice in the market.
Install: Free
3. Fleksy
Fleksy is another fast Android keyboard that comes with a minimal design. When compared to Gboard and SwiftKey, there aren’t many features. Nevertheless, you can have a smoother typing experience on any day. The UI is pretty simple and you can start typing right away. Fleksy can also make smart suggestions based on what you are typing — not just text but also emojis.
Fleksy checks the boxes when it comes to standard features, though. For instance, you can get GIFs as well as emojis from the dedicated sections. The glide typing and gesture navigation options are smoother when compared to other apps we’ve listed. You can also integrate some mini-apps into Fleksy. That is, you can get videos, photos and other content from the keyboard itself. Flesky is also pretty fast thanks to its simple UI and the way how its features are arranged. We would recommend Fleksy if you’re looking for an all-in-all keyboard that is fast.
Install: Free
Best Keyboard Apps for Swipe Typing
While the above mentioned apps are also good at swipe typing, the apps mentioned below bring unique and fast swipe typing experience.
4. Chrooma Keyboard
Chrooma Keyboard is one of the best overall keyboards too, but the swipe typing is pretty great. One of the reasons is that Chrooma Keyboard comes with a number of powerful gestures. You can combine all these gestures with contextual prediction to get the best results. Compared to other keyboard apps, we found that Chrooma Keyboard finds the right words while swiping.
Customization is also a strong point of the Chrooma Keyboard. You can bring in themes and features to the keyboard in no time. In case you have an AMOLED screen device, there is a battery-saving theme as well. It even has a built-in proofreading service that checks your text for spelling, grammar and syntax. Together, the typing experience via Chrooma Keyboard is awesome.
Chrooma Keyboard is our top recommendation when you want one of the fastest swipe typing experiences ever. In spite of having a powerful swipe typing engine, you can use the app for standard typing needs as well. The keyboard checks all the basic boxes too.
Install: Free
5. Multiling O Keyboard
You’d think that a feature-rich keyboard app will take up too much space on your device. Well, Multiling O Keyboard is a real exception here. First of all, Multiling O Keyboard offers one of the best swipe experiences we’ve found on Android. Everything is super-smooth and the UI is kept as minimal as possible. Unlike many of the other keyboards, Multiling O Keyboard can gesture-type special characters as well.
As the name says, this keyboard is made for multilingual typing. You can use the same keyboard for typing in more than 200 languages, which is great. Customization options also allow you to choose the appropriate keyboard layout and other options. You can also enable different types of prediction options depending on your needs. Altogether, you are getting your hands on an ultra-simple keyboard app that does not weigh much.
Install: Free
Best Grammar Keyboards
Do you care about typing without grammatical and spelling errors? Check these keyboards out which bring a built-in grammar checker which can help you type error free messages and email.
6. Grammarly Keyboard
Grammarly Keyboard is the most popular grammar-oriented keyboard for Android. The reason is simple: it’s powered by the Grammarly engine itself. The autocorrect system in Grammarly is a bit different from normal keyboard apps out there. While it takes care of grammatical errors as you write, you can’t hit nearby letters and expect the actual word.
As a grammar keyboard, however, Grammarly Keyboard is unparalleled. It takes care of spelling, grammar as well as deeper punctuation rules. According to the developers, the text is tested for 400 potential errors. Obviously, the only deal-breaker is that you need internet connection for the grammar correction to work. Also, you cannot expect additional features like GIF or sticker support.
Grammarly Keyboard is not a keyboard for everyone. It has been designed to help you in writing grammar-error-free content. While the integration, UI and smoothness of usage are appreciable, we would have loved to see some extra features like GIF and gesture support.
Install: Free
7. Ginger Keyboard
In case you did not know, Ginger is another grammar-checking service online. Compared to Grammarly, the Ginger Keyboard packs so many features you would actually love. Apart from super-fast grammar correction and contextual prediction, Ginger Keyboard allows you to insert GIFs and emojis as well. You can even find some ways to find news and play games within the keyboard UI.
We found that the UI is not really seamless. There are frequent notifications asking you to upgrade to Paid versions which is a big bummer. Despite that, we love the fact that a keyboard like Ginger Keyboard offers useful features like GIF and emoji support. In addition to this, you can change the theme and even use the same keyboard for translating things online.
Once again, Ginger Keyboard won’t work without an internet connection, and that’s common. If you need a grammar-correcting keyboard with basic features to live with, you should go for Ginger Keyboard. You can keep living with the free version too.
Install: Free, in-app purchases
Best Custom-Purpose Keyboards for Android
The following keyboard apps have their own focus. You can choose accordingly.
8. GO Keyboard
Are you looking for the best emoji keyboard for your Android? Well, GO Keyboard deserves the first position in the list. It’s a wonderful emoji keyboard that brings you a wide collection of emojis and stickers. On top of this, you can also access GIFs and other images from the web. Last but not least, you get normal typing input and gesture-typing features.
If you are willing to pay, GO Keyboard can offer you advanced features like emoji avatars and other graphic inputs. There is also some restricted content within stickers and emoticons. Something we loved about GO Keyboard is that you can use it as a standard keyboard. Once you have chosen a clean theme, the keyboard is a straight road to speed typing.
If you really want access to thousands of stickers and emojis, GO Keyboard is the best shot. While some of its features are paid, you can have a quick typing experience with the basic features too. Its collections are just great on any day, though.
Install: Free, in-app purchases
9. Indic Keyboard
If you are someone who converses in Indic (Indian) languages, Indic Keyboard is a great keyboard app for Android. It is basically a keyboard that is based on the Google keyboard design. However, it supports the in-script and phonetic typing in 23 languages. Depending on the language you are using, you may have transliteration as well.
In most of the languages, Indic Keyboard can provide you predictions and suggestions. These are great when you are typing a hard-to-type native language. Indic Keyboard is our favorite when it comes to typing in some local languages. At one instance or other, Indic Keyboard performs better than the native language keyboard from Google.
You should go for Indic Keyboard if you are looking for a cleaner way to type local languages. Even if you like to type English, the keyboard is pretty sleek for that. Another big point is that the keyboard is powered by a superb community and is ad-free.
Install: Free
10. Typany Emoji Keyboard
As the name says, Typany Emoji Keyboard is an emoji keyboard. Of course, you can type normal text but the potential is higher when you want to insert GIFs, images and emojis of all sorts. The UI is no less than superb but the difference happens when you click the emoji button. Under here, you have various options including AR Emoji.
That’s right. Typany Emoji Keyboard allows you to use the camera and create the so-called AR-emoji. In case you are old-school, you can go with the standard emojis and GIFs as well. You can also create exclusive emoji icons if you are interested. Powered by Tenor, Typany Emoji Keyboard brings some superb GIFs as well. All these things make Typany Emoji Keyboard the best shot for photo-related typing.
While the UI is good, Typany Emoji Keyboard is not the best for standard typing. However, if you use more photos and GIFs while talking online, you should have this keyboard. On the bright side, you get voice-typing and word prediction in normal mode.
Install: Free, in-app purchases
Best GIF Keyboards for Android
GIFs have become the new way of communication. Here are the best Android keyboards you can use for it.
11. GIF Keyboard by Tenor
We still wonder whether GIF Keyboard by Tenor could be an actual keyboard replacement. However, if you want access to a variety of GIFs from across the web, you should try it. Of course, the Tenor keyboard is integrated on top of a normal keyboard with basic features. You can click the GIF button to search and find GIFs.
The best part about GIF Keyboard by Tenor is the collection itself. Compared to other keyboards for the same purpose, you are getting to use some of the best GIFs out there. In addition to this, you can explore various categories and Trending sections to find the right GIF for the right emotion.
As we said, GIF Keyboard by Tenor is not a direct replacement for your normal keyboard. However, you can keep it installed on your Android — just in case, when you need more than words to express something. It’s having a super-cool UI though.
Install: Free
12. Facemoji Emoji Keyboard
Now, here is another keyboard that is dedicated to emojis and GIFs. It gives so much importance to emojis and GIFs that you can access them all via dedicated buttons. You can even slide over the number pane to find a bunch of emojis. Similarly, clicking on the GIF button would show you the trending GIFs as well as the ones you have used in the past.
As a standard typing keyboard as well, Facemoji Emoji Keyboard gets the job done. You can press on screen and move to change the cursor position. Similarly, there are several gesture-typing perks as well. On top of all these, there are hundreds of ways you can customize the keyboard looks. It checks all the marks for those who need an all-in-one keyboard.
So, do you need an all-in-one keyboard that doesn’t compromise anywhere? Go for Facemoji Emoji Keyboard and you won’t be disappointed. While the keyboard may look funky at first, you can customize it according to your needs.
Install: Free
Bonus: FancyKey Keyboard
FancyKey Keyboard is probably the fanciest keyboard app for Android. It packs many out-of-the-box options for a smoother typing experience. Customizability is the strongest point of this keyboard, to begin with. You will be able to change how the keyboard looks and works. Another awesome thing is that you can type text in different fonts.
There are more than 30 fonts and themes to choose from. From the DIY perspective, FancyKey Keyboard will help you create your own keyboard layout and looks. There are also some typing effects and typing sounds to choose from. Altogether, the fanciness of FancyKey Keyboard keeps getting better every day. You might need some time for exploring all the options though.
We’d recommend FancyKey Keyboard if you are really into customization. Not everyone wants to use fancy fonts, you know. If you are someone who wants that, you should try it. Of course, this keyboard also fulfils the basic requirements.
Install: Free, in-app purchases
SEE ALSO: 15 Best Apps for Students to Study Efficiently in 2019
Use These Android Keyboard Apps
Choosing from these keyboard apps for Android is completely up to you! As we said earlier, you can pick the one based on usability, features or the level of integration. We always recommend a keyboard app that has all the boxes checked, something like Gboard or Fleksy, though. Do let us know your favorite keyboard apps by writing in the comments section below.
