What Is the Best Alternative Keyboard for Android?

Nonetheless, despite the huge leaps forward in quality, some people still aren’t satisfied with the stock offering. There’s now a huge array of third-party keyboards to choose from, each with their own benefits and drawbacks.

With the ever-increasing selection, we take a look at some of the best replacement keyboards for Android or use android phone as mouse and keyboard.

Why Would You Want to Change?
Before assessing which is the best alternative keyboard, we need to understand why you might want to change.

In fact, there are a litany of reasons to look for a replacement: buttons in unusual and irregular places, poor handling of autocorrect, strange responses to touch, alternative international layouts, and the size of the buttons — to name a few.

It’s not difficult to change the keyboard, so if you frequently find yourself frustrated by the default one, it’s certainly worth testing out a few third-party options.

They are all downloadable from the Google Play Store, and you can change it by simply going Settings > Language and Input > Current Keyboard (the exact terminology may vary slightly depending on which version of Android you are running and which phone you have).

So, which is the best?

Google Keyboard (free)
Make no mistake, the stock Google keyboard is now as good as anything else on the market. It’s picked up ideas from some of the foremost third-party offerings and incorporated them into its own version.

Aesthetically, it now has a new Material Design makeover so it neatly matches the rest of the Android Lollipop experience, while features-wise it’s bursting at the seams.

It supports gesture typing (swiping) for both individual words and entire sentences, a dictionary that learns words as you type them, built-in text expansion (letting you set up “text shortcuts” for long words that you use regularly), personalized predictive text, and speech-to-text. That’s not to mention the dictionaries for 25 different languages and the multiple international layouts.

Fleksy (Free with In-App Purchases)
A minimalist style, artistic themes, and lots of features help make Flesky one of the best keyboards available.

It starts you on a free trial, but simply syncing with your Google account unlocks the free version completely. You can buy premium themes at any time for $1.99-$2.99, including branded ones such as Frozen and The Hunger Games or more creative ones like a “chameleon” that changes according to each app.

It includes typical options for customization like different keyboard layouts and different colors for the row of numbers, but it also has several unique features that make it stand out. These include the ability to make the keyboard invisible, keys that adjust themselves based on your typing preferences, and awards and badges to encourage you to learn about all the options.

On the downside, it’s primarily designed for tap-typists, so if you prefer swiping it might not be the best choice for you.