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The best iPhone keyboard apps in 2023: our 12 favorites

Simon Hill
Jackie Dove
Bryan M. Wolfe
By , and
Typing on the iPhone 14 Plus.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The iPhone’s built-in keyboard may not suit everyone’s preferences. Its limited features might leave some users desiring more variety and flexibility, especially on larger phones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max or smaller models like the iPhone 13 mini or iPhone SE 2022.

We have researched and compiled a comprehensive list of the best third-party keyboards for iPhone, which can greatly enhance your texting experience. These keyboards offer a variety of features and customization options, such as adjustable key size, swipe typing, themes, and easier access to emojis. With most of them available for free and some offering premium subscription options, you can easily find a keyboard that suits your needs and preferences.

For something different, take a look at our lists of the top Android and iOS emoji keyboards.

Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard

SwiftKey by Microsoft.
Microsoft

Microsoft’s SwiftKey AI keyboard is a fantastic third-party keyboard that has been trusted by many users. It was briefly removed from the App Store in 2022, but fortunately, it quickly reappeared under a new name. This keyboard is powered by AI and is designed to learn your writing style, meaning it can recognize slang, nicknames, and even your favorite emojis. This feature alone makes the keyboard stand out from its competitors. Moreover, the keyboard also allows for personalization with various themes, making it more aesthetically pleasing to the user.

Apple App Store

Typewise Keyboard

Typewise Custom Keyboard for iOS with three different ad layouts.
Typewise

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 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. You also get features that include swipe typing, home screen widgets, and focus filters that mute vibrations and sound effects.

Apple App Store

Facemoji Emoji Keyboard

Facemoji keyboard app.
Facemoji

The Facemoji Emoji Keyboard is a free tool that allows you to add a touch of personality to text messages and social media posts. With a wide range of emojis, fonts, and stickers available, you can easily create unique and engaging content for platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, Snapchat, and SMS. Whether you want to express your emotions through colorful emojis or add some flair to your text with stylish fonts, the Facemoji Emoji Keyboard has something for everyone.

Apple App Store

Phraseboard Keyboard

Phraseboard Keyboard tripartite marketing screens.
Phraseboard

Phraseboard aims to take the pain out of the tedious job of typing the same responses and phrases repeatedly by allowing you to save them so you can 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.
Google

Gboard is a keyboard from Google and includes everything you’d ever want within a single app. Whether you’re sending GIFs or emojis, 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

Fleksy offers users a fun and interactive way to type in their 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 several languages: 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 reduce typos.

Apple App Store

Fonts

Fonts keyboard for iPhone.
Fonts ApS

Are you tired of sending your friends and family the same old boring messages? Spice things up with the Fonts keyboard app! You can customize your messages with a wide selection of fonts to fit your unique personality and style. Whether you’re feeling flirty, professional, or just plain silly, there’s a font for every mood. The Fonts keyboard works through iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Clubhouse, TikTok, Telegram, Roblox, WhatsApp, Twitch, Discord, and more.

Apple App Store

Color Keyboard

Color Keyboard for iOS themes and fonts.
Appyfurious

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 keyboard’s look. 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.
Bitstrips

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 adapt a dynamic avatar 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.
Tenor

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.
MelonSoup

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, 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

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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…
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