The Best Android Keyboard Apps: Gboard, Swiftkey, Chrooma, and more!

The keyboard is probably one of the most used apps on any Android device, and possibly also one of the most underappreciated ones. Most of the time, you’ll be perfectly content with the keyboard that comes pre-installed on your device. But that’s until you discover that there are so many awesome keyboards out there that can really take your typing experience to the next level. It’s easy to become complacent with what comes pre-installed and stick with it forever — even if it’s not the best option. But why settle for something mediocre?

We’ve compiled a list of the best keyboard apps Android has to offer to help you type faster, with less effort, and also look good while at it. These keyboards have years of experience and user feedback behind them. They know their job very well. Besides offering to correct your spelling mistakes, they also suggest the right words at the right time, and some of them even automatically fetch one-time-passwords from your SMS app and offer a wide range of customizations.

Gboard

Gboard used to be a pretty vanilla keyboard, but steady feature additions and improvements over the past couple of years have made it one of the best in the business. Accurate word predictions, smooth glide typing, nifty gesture controls for cursor and deletion, Google Assistant and Google Translate integration, and multilingual typing are some of the main reasons why Gboard should be your default keyboard. Since it’s a Google app, it’s always getting better.

For example, Google is testing a new feature in the app that will make it even more convenient to quickly access clipboard content, while in Android 12, the keyboard will sync its theme with your wallpaper. The sluggishness and laggy experience that many users had complained about are gone too. It’s now as fast and smooth as it can get.

Gboard - the Google Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

Swiftkey

Swiftkey has been around since the old days of Android and remains the most versatile and feature-packed keyboard you can get on the Google Play Store. Customization is the name of the game with Swiftkey, and there are tons of options and controls to really make your keyboard your very own.

The thing I like the most about Swiftkey is that all essentials are accessible right from the keyboard. Like Gboard, it also has a quick access bar at the top with shortcuts for GIFs, stickers, clipboard, and translator. The word predictions and auto-correct have gone a bit off lately, but hopefully, this will be fixed with updates.

Microsoft SwiftKey Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

Chrooma

If there was ever an RGB equivalent of PC keyboards on Android, it would have to be Chrooma. Chrooma’s main attraction is that it adapts to the primary color scheme of the app you’re using. It turns green when texting in WhatsApp, orange while in Gmail, and so on. It comes with dozens of skins and color palettes, including a cool RGB theme. There’s never a dull moment while using this keyboard.

If you ever get bored of the monotonous look of Gboard or your stock keyboard, this is the one that will refresh your typing experience. Besides colors and adaptive themes, Chrooma also has an extensive set of useful features, including gesture typing, AI-powered contextual word predictions, One Hand Mode, split layout, Night Mode, and many more.

Chrooma Keyboard - RGB & Emoji Keyboard Themes (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Fleksy

Fleksy has everything and the kitchen sink. Its autocorrect game is solid, and the clean design will make you feel right at home if you’re coming from Gboard. Apart from offering all keyboard essentials, Fleksy has some unique add-on features, called Extensions, that you’ll not find in other keyboard apps. You can add a row of the most frequently used emoji, symbols, URLs, etc.; make the keyboard completely invisible; add cool typing effects; create shortcuts for words and phrases, and so on.

Fleksy also offers what it refers to it as mini-apps, which lets you browse and share GIFs, memes, stickers, YouTube videos, etc., right from the keyboard. Fleksy has over 100+ themes designed by popular artists, and you can also create your own using a photo from your gallery or Unsplash library.

Fleksy Free keyboard Themes with Emojis Swipe-type (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Grammarly Keyboard

Many of us have the Grammarly extension installed in our PC browser to keep our emails and writing free from grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. The Grammarly Keyboard brings the same peace of mind to your phone. Sure, it’s not the most feature-packed keyboard out there, and you’ll miss out on stickers, GIFs, themes, etc. But that’s not the reason to use Grammarly Keyboard in the first place. Grammarly Keyboard is for those who care about language and grammar above anything else.

Grammarly’s dead-accurate grammar and spell checker will catch most, if not all, of your embarrassing mistakes while also showing you the correct form and usage, so you learn from it and hopefully don’t repeat them. The free version of Grammarly Keyboard gets the job done for casual usage. There’s a premium subscription plan for more serious use cases that provides suggestions on more advanced grammatical issues, tone detection, word choice, fluency, and more.

Grammarly Keyboard - Grammar Checker and Editor (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Simple Keyboard

Simple Keyboard is, well, very simple. It’s truism, but it’s worth stating because that’s what the Simple Keyboard is all about. It gives you a simple, clutter-free keyboard that doesn’t bombard you with gimmicky features or ask you to hand over your data to “improve your experience.” It weighs about 1MB in size and doesn’t ask for any sensitive permission — in fact, it only needs a single permission: for haptic feedback.

Since simplicity, privacy and speed are the main focus points here, the keyboard does away with features like emoji, GIFs, spell checker, and gesture typing. It’s not for mainstream users, but those who care deeply about privacy will certainly find this a great choice.

Simple Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

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These are the best Android keyboard apps that will help you type faster, better, and with less effort. Which keyboard you should pick from the list is your own personal decision. There’s no one size fits all — although some come quite close to it — we’re pretty sure you’ll definitely find your soul keyboard among our recommendations. My personal favorite is Gboard, and I use it on all my Android phones. When I get bored, I also take Chrooma and Fleksy for a spin from time to time.

Whatever keyboard app you end up picking, be sure to give your brain some time to adjust to a new keyboard, as it will take a few days to unlearn the old habits you developed with your old keyboard. If you’re looking for more recommendations, we also recommend these great Android apps, and these amazing Android games.

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