If you own an iPhone you can use any keyboard you want—as long as it’s Apple’s. But if you have an Android phone, there’s a wide variety of third-party keyboards available for download that can suggest words as you type, let you swipe between letters for faster one-handed input and a whole lot more. Want to change to a split layout, have all the numbers up top all the time or customize the entire look and feel of your keyboard? You can do all of that and then some with our five best keyboard apps for Android phones and tablets. (source)
Switching between the various keyboards can be a bit of a pain, but if you tap the menu key on your device, choose "Settings" and then go to "Language & keyboard" you'll be able to choose which ones are active, and which one is currently set as the default.
User comments/poll about most prefered Android Keyboard apps can be found here: Best Alternative Keyboard
SwiftKey Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- There’s a reason why Samsung and BlackBerry have licensed SwiftKey’s technology for their own keyboards. This Android app is so smart it can predict the words you’re going to type next. Just tap the suggestions above the layout as you compose emails, respond to texts or post Facebook updates. In some cases you can enter entire sentences without touching the individual letters. If you grant permission, SwiftKey can also learn from what you type in Facebook, Twitter and Gmail to boost accuracy. Our favorite feature is SwiftKey Flow, a trace-type option that one-ups Swype by letting you string multiple words together without your finger leaving the display.
Swype beta (purchase - evaluate)
- The original swiping keyboard just keeps getting smarter. Not only can you type up to 40 words per minute with Swype Beta using a continuous tracing motion, it can suck in your contacts from text messages, Facebook, Gmail and Twitter. Plus, Swype offers next word prediction, tons of gestures (including ones for cut and paste) and a Living Language feature that updates your dictionary with trending words. We love the Dragon Dictation voice integration, which is fast and remembers all of those tricky proper nouns. Although it’s not available from the Google Play Store, this free app is well worth the download from beta.swype.com.
Perfect Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Those who love to personalize their phones should download Perfect Keyboard, which lets you choose from multiple keyboard themes (from Honeycomb and Stone to Silicone and even iPhone). You can also tweak everything from the button to font color and download additional skins in the Play store (such as Tron Style for 99 cents). Perfect Keyboard also supports multiple layouts, including a split version with numbers in the middle that’s ideal for tablets. The customization fun continues with vibration-intensity settings and gesture-option shortcuts when swiping in any direction.
Thumb Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Tailor-made for tablets and phablets, Thumb Keyboard’s split design makes it easier to type faster without having to stretch your fingers out of their sockets. There’s also a special layout for 5-inch devices and a one-handed operation mode for large-screen handsets. Our favorite feature is the customizable key row above the letters, in which you can place numbers, symbols and even command shortcuts like Delete Word, Copy and Paste. The deeper you drill down with Thumb Keyboard, the richer the rewards.
Kii Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Not a fan of long-pressing letters to enter numbers or switching to numeric mode? Kii Keyboard gives you the option of showing a top number row in landscape and portrait mode. We also like the multiple gesture options; you can either enable gesture typing for Swype-style input or activate other gestures, such as swiping left to delete words and swiping right to show Emoji. Last but not least, you can create multiple text shortcuts activated by abbreviations or your own custom keywords, which is a real time-saver.
A.I.type Keyboard Plus (purchase - evaluate)
- A.I.type's revolutionary text prediction speeds up your writing by saving more than 75% of your keystrokes. You choose entire words instead of typing one letter at a time. It works by smartly predicting words and offering accurate context-sensitive suggestions. And with Android’s new Gingerbread keyboard, it’s easier than ever! A.I.type “understands” what users are typing and offers word and sentence completion that help the user type just a minimal number of letters. A.I.type's smart prediction algorithms maintain the context and the meaning of the text, while making typing easier, faster and better, with the correct grammar, syntax and spirit.
TouchPal Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- TouchPal Input Suite delivers an entirely new input experience to smartphones. You can simply blind type on your touchscreen, no longer worrying about mistyping or misspelling. As a result, you’ll find yourself typing 60% fewer keystrokes thanks to TouchPal’s next-generation prediction engine.
Bottom line: TouchPal enables you to input much faster and much more easily.
GO Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Boot up GO keyboard and you're presented with an interface that's more akin to a game than something that's used for inputting letters. It includes the "GO Market", where users can download new themes and hundreds of smiley-style emoticons, known as "Emoji". Users can add special characters and sounds to their messages, and even completely revamp their entire phones. Underneath all these superfluous add-ons lies a solid keyboard, though, and one that's capable of supporting many languages, including Chinese handwriting. It can also switch between languages at the touch of a button, making it essential for people who switch between English and their native tongue.
It followed our keystrokes accurately, but predictive text is switched off by default - perhaps to make room for the sheer amount of tie-in apps and features GO Keyboard so eagerly promotes above the keyboard. A nice touch is a dedicated selection screen, which uses lovely big arrow keys to make highlighting and copying text a doddle. All GO Keyboard's content seems to be completely free - for now.
8pen (purchase - evaluate)
- A complete oddball amongst the standard QWERTY keyboards, 8pen has reinvented the wheel by literally inventing a wheel. It works more like an old school rotary telephone than a tappy or swipey keyboard, and you must place your finger in the centre of the dial and move it outwards to select letters and words, then back to the centre to input them. It's completely different to any keyboard we've used before, and rather befuddling to begin with. Fortunately 8pen includes a simple game - called "8pen Worldcup" - to help you get used to it. There are also a number of tutorials to aid you in retraining your brain to use it, and after a while we just about got the hang of it. The upshot of this is that 8pen reckons you'll be able to type far more quickly, but Swype still stands as the official fastest input method according to the Guinness World Records.
8pen will divide users between those who regard it as a mere novelty and those who actually find it useful, and the only way of finding out which category you're in is to download and use it. Download this if... You want to try something fresh and unique, avoid this if... You're happy with QWERTY
Hacker's Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Are you missing the key layout you're used to from your computer when using an Android device? This software keyboard has separate number keys, punctuation in the usual places, and arrow keys. It is based on the AOSP Gingerbread soft keyboard, so it supports multitouch for the modifier keys.
This keyboard is especially useful if you use ConnectBot for SSH access. It provides working Tab/Ctrl/Esc keys, and the arrow keys are essential for devices such as the Xoom tablet or Nexus S that don't have a trackball or D-Pad.
Ultra Keyboard (purchase - evaluate)
- Ultra Keyboard is an advanced touch-screen keyboard, with many features geared towards giving you a better Android keyboard experience. Ultra's tool bar provides a ton of features in a tight space. Flick the tool bar left or right to scroll through the available buttons. Quickly change many settings, navigate through text, cut and paste, change dictionaries, change themes, insert emoticons, and more. Show or hide the tool bar by pressing your device's menu button.
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if you posted a request, then I will jump in and raise the reward... - review: Some comments about the application I picked up from the web. Not meant to take for granted, but giving you an idea about the use of the application. Nothing compares to your own experience!
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