6 Best Keyboards for Android (Video)
Keyboards. Something we use, literally, every single day. From our computers, at work or at home, to our phones and tablets, everywhere in between, they’re the go-to mode of input for text. Period.
But, considering how vital they are for our communication in today’s day and age, they haven’t really changed much over the last 40 years or so. And frankly, they haven’t really needed to for our computers and laptops, at least –rows for keys within reach of each hand, some practice, and next thing you know, you’re banging out novels the size of War & Peace during your lunch break.
Enter the physical keyboard-less mobile phone movement. I can remember when touchscreens were first showing up on phones and you’re phone either had a keyboard at the bottom of it, or had a slide-out one hidden underneath it –the idea of not having that physical keyboard while mobile texting and electronic mailing was getting more and more popular was completely absurd.
But, as touchscreen technology advanced, that dependance on the physical keyboard soon faded (sorry Blackberry) and soon our phones ditched their keyboards in favor of on-screen versions.
Fast-forward to today – when app stores are booming and our dependance on typing on our phones hasn’t waned – and it’s no wonder that when looking for “keyboard” in the Android Play Store, you’ll regularly see keyboard apps (even ridiculous ones) with millions, if not 10’s of millions of downloads.
So, how do you decide on which are the best Android keyboards for you to even take the time to download and try?
Well, I’ve waded through the ridiculously over saturated app category that is keyboards to see if I could pull to the top 7 of the best keyboards for Android. Take a look and please feel free to comment on here and let me know if there are others you think should be added and why. I’ll try and keep this updated as best as I can going forward so others can at least have a good jumping-off-point. Ready?
Best Keyboards for Android
To judge these, I found which ones were recommended the most by others on the web, checked out the comments on each app for complaints, praise, etc. and downloaded them myself to try out. I based my results on ones that I would want to use on a daily basis, were fast enough to keep up with my typing (seriously some had a problem), and what – if any – features they had that I thought made communication better in some way. So, here’s the cream of the crop in no particular order. (Again, please add to this in the comments and I’ll try and update them here.)
Google Keyboard
Ok, with over 100 million downloads, there’s got to be something to it, right? If we’re being honest… there is.
If you’re looking for a fast, responsive keyboard that’s minimalistic and is just good for typing with no bells and whistles, this is one you should try. It’s free, it comes from Google themselves and has that huge user base I previously mentioned so, it’ll stay up to date more so than most. Oh, and did I mention: fast and free.
Pros
- Fast & Responsive.
- Swiping the keys is included automatically, which is great for one-handed typing.
- Good prediction thanks to Google knowing EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU, er, I mean, their vast language database.
- Minimalistic.
Cons
- For those creeped out by big brother and the like; it’s Google’s own keyboard.
Swype
Swype is the original keyboard to have the ability to swipe your fingers along the keys to input text (my preferred method when using one hand). Thing is, most other keyboards have “borrowed” this feature and put it into their own keyboards so you’d think Swype doesn’t have much going for it now.
But you’d be wrong.
It’s still one of the fastest at using the swiping motion of text (as you’d expect the OG to be), the key layout is convenient, and it’s one of the few keyboards with voice to text done by Dragon Diction, which, arguably, is one of the best voice to text systems out right now for consumers. On top of that, it’s also only $0.99 but has a free trial so you can see if it’s worth a dollar to you.
Pros
- Original swiping keyboard –had a long time to perfect it.
- Great voice to text recognition.
- Minimalistic design, simple.
- Not bogged down by a ton of bells and whistles.
Cons
- Animations for key presses make it feel a little laggy.
- Definitely not as fast as Google’s.
- Costs money.
SwiftKey
One of the most popular keyboards on Android, SwiftKey used to actually be above the Google Keyboard in terms of total installs and even though it’s lost that top position, it’s still loved by millions.
It’s very similar to Swype in a lot of ways, but it’s real claim to fame – and why it’s user base is so loyal – is the “fluency engine”, a fancy name for it’s text prediction system. Regardless of the fancy name, many people swear by it and it’s ability to know how you compose your sentences and what words are more likely to be coming next, etc. It does this by watching for patterns as you type and by connecting to your social networks to analyze how you type on there (you don’t have to enable the social networks, but for the engine to really do its thing –it’s recommended).
Pros
- Great prediction engine.
Cons
- Slow animations make it feel a little laggy to me while typing normally.
- Not as fast as Google’s.
Fleksy
Ever since I did the video on How to Easily Send Gifs on Your iPhone, I’ve been obsessed with annoying my friends using gifs.
It’s a ton of fun –especially cause it’s a relatively new concept and most people are pleasantly confused when they get a looping animation of a cat and Shaq wiggling still. It did get me wondering though, is there a keyboard on Android that could send gifs as easily?
Turns out, one of the most popular keyboards for Android added the ability to easily send gifs from their keyboard (did they watch my video??). Fleksy, known for it’s clever gesture system to help you type faster, which is enough for you to download it and try it, also added gifs, so now you HAVE to try it.
What are you waiting for? I said clever gestures and gifs. Go. Download.
Pros
- GIFS!
- Clever gesture system makes it quick to type once you get the hang of it.
- Smooth
- Did I mention…Â GIFS!
Cons
- A tad laggy.
- Not as smooth or as fast as Google’s –noticing a pattern here and why Google’s keyboard has so many downloads. In the other keyboards defense though, they have a lot more functionality and those features are most likely causing the perceived delay.
- No Swipe Input!
GoKeyboard
One word. Themes.
If you are the type of person who loves to theme things on your device (whether it’s Frozen’s Elsa or the NY Giants, whatever tickles your fancy), then this is the keyboard for you.
You can install it then simply search the Play Store for “Go Keyboard Theme” and you’ll be presented with tons of them –some of which even have over a million installs on their own (see the ridiculous gold one in the image above).
On top of themes, everything is customizable, from the layout, to the background, fonts, and even sounds. As for the actually text input? It’s actually pretty smooth and even has the Swype swipe input method built in. It’s free in the Play Store, but some of the themes might cost you a buck or so.
Pros
- Themes galore.
- Totally customizable – background, fonts, sounds, aforementioned themes.
- Smooth input, not as laggy feeling as some of the others.
- Has swiping input for better one-handed operation.
Cons
- Feels a little, how do you say, spammy. While I remember it used to look way worse — it still has little notifications in it that tell you when there are new themes available. And these don’t go away until you click on them. You’ll have to try it and see if it bothers you or not.
BitMoji
Technically on Android, this isn’t a keyboard (but it is on iOS). It’s a set of photos that are created with your likeness but it works the same way as an emoji keyboard so I figure it loosely fits “keyboard”. Right? Sort of? Ok, maybe not, but it does add some communication functionality and is used in conjunction with a keyboard so I’m feel like it can be on here. OKAY?!
It’s free and after an initial setup of creating your own likeness one time, it replicates “you” in a bunch of poses and themed images to send as if they were emoji. If you’re curious about the entire process, head to my How to Turn Yourself Into an Emoji Video and see for yourself.
Pros
- Unique Alternative to Emoji
Cons
- Not a keyboard. I’ll admit it, but c’mon!
Conclusion
And there you have it, some of the top keyboards for Android. Let me know if there are any you love that I missed in the comments below!
You included non keyboards but missed MessageEase – it’s a must have in my opinion!
What does it do? I’ll check it out!
With SwiftKey I’ve found that some other downloaded app slows it down. And multiple rapid press of the Delete key causes screen expansion, which then has to be retracted in order to type correctly. It seems I will have to disable apps downloaded at the estimated time this started happening. It could be one of the Canon printer apps, or the fact that more than one printer app is in place. This.malfunction will also happen if you have SwiftKey and SwiftKey + emoji both downloaded; you must choose one at a time. ~Marc
Thanks for that, Marc. Good to know and wonder if anyone else has had the same issue.
Missed TouchPal in the list. 🙂
I tried and send didn’t think it was as good as the others in this list. Can you tell me what you like about it so much I’d love to check It out again!
Well, I have used SwiftKey, Fleksy and the Google keyboard which I still use on my tablet and love for its simplicity, among many others I tried out. For my phone I wanted something that offers more themes because I like to change the keyboards look often. Swiftkey did indeed seem to slow certain apps down on my Galaxy S4, It also took longer to generate the keyboard within some apps. Fleksy was nice but didn’t offer enough variety in the way it looks. So I found TouchPal to be very light, doesn’t slow anything down, very direct, offers massive amounts of themes and has a very good prediction engine for different languages, I use three languages and am accustomed to changing between them regularly. With TouchPal I can not only swipe the spacebar left or right to change them, I can set a ‘second language’ so the keyboard immediately recognizes which language I am using at any time without having to swipe the spacebar AND it makes accurate predictions in any language I downloaded (English, Dutch and French) + it’s got great cloud functionality. I’ve been using the premium version for over a year now and it’s worth every penny, I prefere it over all keyboards I ever tried and I tried a lot, even things like Minuum-keyboard. I still haven’t found anything that soothes my needs better. It’s swype functionality is direct and very accurate once it’s (automatically) learnt your behavior, and a lot of the downloadable themes are really sweet and make your phone look great. Once you get the premium version, all themes are free.
Great review of the keyboard! I’m going to check it out along with one other another person just sent in and add them to the article. Thanks again for taking the time to let me know why you liked it, makes it easier for me to check it out. Cheers!
No problem, thanks 4 the feedback! 🙂
For long time I use the go keyboard , I like the theme and all that stuff , but it’s a heavy app , I am using a Galaxy S5 , and sometimes it stuck … , so after some research I move to ginger keyboard , it’s a great keyboard that can do a lot , specially syntax fix and all that .. , I suggest that you try it , and I think that you will add it to your best 6 keyboards next time 🙂 .
I’ll definitely check out the Ginger Keyboard. Thanks for the suggestion!
Typany is perhaps another keyboard that should be on the list. It is very simple to use and has quite good auto-correction as well as word prediction, well, at least in English. There is a lot of things that you can customise on the keyboard. And above all, it is super small and is never a burden for your limited storage.