All smartphones come with their own virtual keyboards because otherwise, how would we type on them, right? For the most part, the one that comes bundled with Android and the ones that your smartphone manufacturer uses work just fine. They get the job done, but what if you wanted more?
What if you wanted to be able to do things like search for things directly within the keyboard itself? Obviously then you’d need to seek out some alternatives, but the question is now that you found it, what’s next? How do you change the default keyboard on your Android smartphone? Well, let us tell you how.
Changing Keyboards On Android
- Launch the Settings app
- Scroll down and look for System > Languages & input
- Select Virtual keyboard > Manage keyboards
- Tap on the toggle of the keyboard you want to use
- Tap on OK
- Launch any app that would require you to use a keyboard
- Pull up the keyboard and tap the keyboard icon in the bottom right corner
- Select the keyboard you want to switch
- Repeat the step above if you want to switch to a different keyboard
And you’re done! The process of changing or adding new keyboards does have a few steps, but it’s not hard and you can just keep repeating it whenever you add new keyboards or if you want to stop using some of them.
So now the next question is, which keyboard apps should you use?
Choosing A Keyboard App
Gboard
This is the official keyboard made by Google for smartphones. One of the advantages that Gboard has over other keyboards is that it can actually translate text within the keyboard app itself. What this means is that if you need a quick translation, instead of switching to a different app, Gboard can make the translation for you on the spot.
SwiftKey
SwiftKey was one of the OGs when it comes to keyboards. It was available for Android in the very early days and has since been acquired by Microsoft. One of the features of SwiftKey is that it has the ability to learn your typing habits and styles, so that it can make recommendations for text predictions more accurately.
Fleksy
Just like SwiftKey, Fleksy has been around the virtual keyboard scene for a while now. It comes with a host of stickers and GIFs that you can search so that you can quickly send them in your chats. There are also a variety of themes that you can choose from to suit your needs and aesthetic preferences.
These are just some of many, many third-party keyboard apps that you can check out as an alternative to what’s bundled on your phone. There is no perfect keyboard app, so just find the one that can get the job done.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Apps, Google and Keyboards.