The best iPhone keyboard is neither Gboard nor SwiftKey

After over a decade of using Android phones across pretty much every brand available in India, one thing that has been a no-compromise for me is the keyboard and typing experience. Every time I would switch from a phone to another, aspects like the UI and the camera performance would change. However, Google Keyboard (now Gboard) would be one of the first apps I would install, bringing my trusty long-press symbols and swipe-to-type everywhere I go.

So, when I switched to an iPhone about a month ago, the iOS keyboard had my jaw on the floor, and not in a good way. No themes, no dedicated number row, no long-press symbols and all the other features I loved on Gboard. I couldn’t even change the size of the keyboard to my liking!

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Before I even installed essentials like WhatsApp and GPay on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, what would begin was a hunt for the perfect third-party keyboard. Thankfully, after about two weeks of trying every decent keyboard on the App Store and then some, I believe I have finally arrived at a great keyboard for iOS devices. Here’s everything you need to know about it, and how you to get it.

Typefinity Keyboard – Top features

The keyboard in question is called Typefinity, a paid keyboard app that’s much popular among those with iPads than iPhone users. The keyboard offers a full-fledged typing experience. You have basics like a good, customisable autocorrect and quick access to pretty much every symbol you will use.

You also get advanced features like an undo and redo button, a dedicated numpad that pops up when you swipe on the numeric row, and even a built-in calculator for quick calculations, all in your keyboard. There are also small cursor arrow keys on either side of the spacebar which allow you to quickly shift the cursor a few characters to the left or right, although you can still long-press the spacebar to use the Apple trackpad feature to navigate across large text boxes.

The keyboard is handy for users coming from Android or other systems where the keyboard experience is more customisable. The best part is the one-time purchase (Rs 499), also brings the keyboard to any other iPhone or iPad signed in with your Apple ID.

It is still not perfect

With all that it offers, Typefinity is big on features, but it is still not perfect. You don’t get built-in support for GIFs and search like Gboard, or access to AI features like SwiftKey. The developers could also add some more polish to the keyboard, and give it some more themes to make it look more seamless with the rest of iOS 17.

Currently, the sharp edges and lack of transparency gives the keyboard an appearance that stands out from the rest of the interface. There is also no way to enable haptics on the keyboard yet, so if haptics is important to you, this will be a deal-breaker.

How to get Typefinity on your iPhone

To get Typefinity on your iPhone, simply find the app on the App Store and pay for the app, after which you will be able to install the same. You can then head to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards and scroll till you find the Typefinity keyboard to enable it.

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When installed and set up, the keyboard should pop up immediately the next time you tap on a text box. You should now see a quick look at the features of the keyboard, and you can always tap on the gear icon on the bottom left for the settings.

There you go, you are now using one of the most advanced keyboards on iOS and while it still isn’t quite the Gboard-on-Android experience, it is the closest you’ll get if you, like me, type a lot on your keyboard.