6 Best Keyboard Apps for Android Phones in 2021

There are plenty of excellent keyboard apps for phones. Most devices come with Gboard by default, but it’s very easy to try a free alternative. We discuss the six best keyboards, all apps worth testing.

What is the best keyboard app?

It is difficult to give a good answer to the question of what is the best keyboard in Android. If you look at which keyboard is used the most, you will come to Gboard. It comes preinstalled on most phones, and in recent years we’ve seen more and more manufacturers put aside their own keyboards and opt for Gboard.

At a time when Huawei was still one of the largest smartphone manufacturers, not too long ago, SwiftKey, like Gboard, was pre-installed on many phones. It is in fact the standard keyboard on Huawei devices. SwiftKey is undoubtedly Gboard’s main opponent, and the two apps share a lot of features, but they do have their own accents.

Which one you prefer comes down to personal preference, but we do give Gboard a slight preference, because that app is also the most used here on the Androidworld editors. In this article you will discover the 6 best keyboards from Androidworld, and we also explain the strengths of Gboard or SwiftKey.

The 6 Best Keyboard Apps

1. Simple Keboard

Just like the name suggests: simple and no-nonsense. An app that comes without bells and whistles and that puts the user’s privacy first. With Simple Keyboard you will only find a limited number of themes and you can adjust the size of the keyboard. You can also optionally add a number row and there is a swipe gesture to remove, but that’s about it as far as features are concerned.

This app comes without support for emoji, gifs, spell check and swype typing. On the other hand, you do not have to grant the app special rights and you use an app that respects the privacy of its users. Unlike many popular keyboards that study your typing habits. You can view the source code of Simple Keyboard on GitHub.

2. Gboard

Not only is Gboard the keyboard you get as standard on your phone, but it’s also just an excellent app. A keyboard packed with features: from handy gestures, to Google translate support, typing with speech and third-party sticker packs that you can add.

Google also comes with a whole range of themes and a well-arranged menu of settings that is incorporated directly into the settings of your phone. The keyboard supports over 626 different languages ​​and dialects, blowing away its competitors, including SwiftKey. Gboard is a very complete app that will satisfy most of its users.

3. Fleksy

Many functionalities is one thing, but Fleksy focuses on the most important function of a keyboard: typing. Fleksy states that his word suggestions are the best. The makers also show off the Guinness world record typing on a smartphone, which is in the name of a Fleksy user.

But of course there is more than that. Fleksy’s text suggestions may also suggest the use of emoji at appropriate times. In addition, there are more than 50 themes and Fleksy can also help you open apps faster, right from the keyboard. Unlike SwiftKey and Gboard, the keyboard doesn’t have incognito mode, and there’s a good reason for that. Everything you type doesn’t leave the keyboard anyway and data is stored locally on your device.

4. Open Board

OpenBoard is a simple and privacy-friendly keyboard. which is independent of Google and whose full code has been made public. You can check them out on the developer site GitHub. Although the app is less feature-rich than Gboard, it can do more than Simple Keyboard. There is support for spell check and emoji. In addition, you can choose from different themes to customize the keyboard to your liking.

5. Microsoft SwiftKey

SwiftKey is one of the oldest keyboard applications for Android, and it has been available since 2010. Six years later, Microsoft bought the popular keyboard app. There are quite a few features of SwiftKey that you will find in Gboard and vice versa, but there are some aspects where this app excels.

You can more accurately resize the keyboard to your liking on SwiftKey, and you get a little faster access to symbols compared to Gboard. Furthermore, the app has a handy clipboard in which you can save different pieces of text for easy copying. Still, SwiftKey supports slightly fewer languages ​​than Gboard, and there’s no support for third-party sticker packs. Finally, it’s easy to be the first to get started with new SwiftKey, because you only need to install SwiftKey Beta.

6. Chrome

Chroma is all about style. If you’re a PC gamer, or you know someone who is a fan of gaming, you’ve probably seen the special keyboards with RGB lighting. Chroma has its own RGB theme for the enthusiasts. Like a chameleon, the keyboard can also take over the color used in the app in which it appears.

Furthermore, Chrooma comes with popular features such as: text suggestions, an emoji keyboard, support for GIFs, gestures and word corrections that work with multiple languages ​​at the same time.

Which keyboard do you use on your phone? Do you change regularly or have you been using a keyboard out of habit for a long time? Perhaps you have felt like testing one of the above? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.

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