Keyboards & Input Methods

Most users probably live with the pre-installed keyboard app. Either because they are satisfied with it, that they are not aware of alternatives, or that the alternatives known to them are not really alternatives to them. Only few will know all available keyboard apps (even I don't). But even if the following list is far from being complete, they might prove helpful to the one or other.

Important to consider is that such a keyboard app is aware of all input done with it (well, that's its job, right?). Theoretically it could record all input (including passwords and other sensitive data). In case it also holds the permission to access the network, one could imagine some evil things. So better think twice if there are concerns to consider! In this context also be aware of all those trackers (which is where your entered information might end up). This category ranks highest in „average trackers per app“.

The permission to read/write user dictionaries is fully legit here, however – as that's what keyboards use for spell checking and „predictive typing“.

Keyboards supporting Swipe, Type, and Voice

2020-02-14

Bobble Keyboard ❤️ Stickers, Themes, Emoji & Ғ◎И†Ⴝ (4.6@273,863) Ǥ 29
Gboard - the Google Keyboard (4.4@4,829,052) Ǥ 20 Kurzvorstellung 6/2013; Video Review 6/2013 | 6/2013; Review 6/2013
SwiftKey Keyboard (4.4@3,393,174) Ǥ 13 Vorstellung 4/2013; Tipps 4/2014; Datenschutz-Test 7/2019
Smart Keyboard Trial (4.1@66,025) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-06-21 / Smart Keyboard Pro (3.6@21,773; ~EUR 2.50) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-10-25 dictionaries available for many languages
Perfect Keyboard Demo (4.1@4,065) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-07-07 Vorstellung 11/2013
TouchPal (0@93) Ǥ 24 Kurzvorstellung 9/2013; Review 10/2013; Testbericht 11/2013; Video Review 1/2014
Kii Keyboard + Emoji (0@22) Ǥ 10 LastUpdate: 2014-10-21 XDA Video 1/2013; Phone & Tablet optimized
Samsung Keyboard (0@13) 36

Keyboards for Typing

2020-02-14

KuKoo App (4.7@41) Ǥ 4 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-07-05 keyboard with „copy-pad“ for frequent phrases
Simple Keyboard (4.5@4,500) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Github
Classic Keyboard (4.4@85,837) 9 LastUpdate: 2018-06-07 Kurzvorstellung 7/2015
Hacker´s Keyboard (4.3@45,786) 3 Github; Video Review 6/2014 | 6/2018; not only for hackers
Tablet Keyboard Free (4.3@2,494) 1 LastUpdate: 2016-05-30
Technical Keyboard (4.3@2,021) 11 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-08-30 Vorstellung 2/2014; XDA Home 2/2014
OpenBoard (4.3@115) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Github
1C Big Keyboard (4.2@14,260) Ǥ 8
A.I.type Tablet Keyboard Free (4.2@13,527) Ǥ 8 / A.I.type Tablet Keyboard Plus (4@1,318; ~EUR 1.75) Ǥ 8
Magic Keyboard Pro (4.2@119; ~EUR 1.50) Ǥ 11 LastUpdate: 2017-09-12
AnySoftKeyboard (4.1@23,763) 6 MobilSicher Empfehlung 10/2019
Minuum Keyboard + Smart Emoji (4.1@10,200; ~EUR 3.50) Ǥ 11 LastUpdate: 2017-02-18 Intro 8/2013; Vorstellung 4/2014; Test 12/2014
Big Buttons Keyboard Standard (4@8,867) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2013-12-18 / Big Buttons Keyboard Deluxe (3.6@1,266; ~EUR 3.25) 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-10-10 Video Demo 2/2013
Bauer Keyboard (4@294) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-01-10 for big fingers
CompassKeyboard (4@56) 3 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2018-03-16 Github; International keyboard
Flash Keyboard - Emoji & Theme (3.9@1,059,134) Ǥ 33
ThickButtons Keyboard (3.9@6,755) 4 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-05-09
Deutsche Tastatur (3.9@2,827) 0 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
Typewise Keyboard PRO Lifetime (3.9@1,177; ~EUR 23.00) 1 Vorstellung 6/2016
BeHe Keyboard - Programming & More (3.9@124) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2018-03-18
Thumb Keyboard (3.7@8,182; ~EUR 2.25) 9 LastUpdate: 2014-11-15 Testbericht 11/2013
ai.type Free Emoji Keyboard (0@432) Ǥ 16 / ai.type keyboard Plus + Emoji (4.1@58,636; ~EUR 5.00) Ǥ 15 stores a lot of your personal data you type on their servers, which already leaked once
Fleksy + GIF Keyboard Free (0@22) Ǥ 19 LastUpdate: 2015-10-26 / Fleksy Keyboard: FREE Themes + GIFs & Emojis (4.4@263,523) Ǥ 20 Video Review 4/2014; Wikipedia EN

Keyboards for Typing & Swiping

2020-02-14

background keyboard (5@1) 11 LastUpdate: 2017-08-10
GO Keyboard Lite - Emoji keyboard, Free Theme, GIF (4.5@2,629,344) 19
Ginger Keyboard - Emoji, GIFs, Themes & Games (4.5@175,300) Ǥ 14 Video Demo 3/2015; spell and grammar check
Izzy (4.5@136) 8 LastUpdate: 2015-08-13 typing and gestures (and no, it's not mine though it shares my name)
Cheetah Keyboard - Emoji,Swype,DIY Themes (4.4@1,834,271) Ǥ 33
Chrooma Keyboard - RGB & Emoji Keyboard Themes (4.4@123,915) Ǥ 22 Kurzvorstellung 2/2016; Intro 6/2016
Swype Keyboard Trial (4.3@87,895) Ǥ 14 LastUpdate: 2018-03-10 Testbericht 11/2013
TSwipe-Pro keyboard (4.2@10,819) Ǥ 13 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-08-01 Addons for hardware keyboards available; Phone & Tablet optimized
Adaptxt Free Keyboard (4.1@13,754) Ǥ 23 LastUpdate: 2015-11-26 Video Review 6/2013; Vorstellung 5/2015
MultiLing Keyboard (3.9@44) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-08-26 / Multiling O Keyboard + emoji (4.2@33,060) 4 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Vorstellung 1/2014
Typewise Keyboard - Big Keys, Privacy, Swipe (3.2@438) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Intro 2/2020

Alternative Input Ideas

2020-02-14

Google Handwriting Input (4.2@111,775) Ǥ 6 Vorstellung 4/2015 | 4/2015; Kurzvorstellung 4/2015
Graffiti Pro for Android (4.2@869) Ǥ 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-03-15 / Graffiti for Android (3.9@3,262) 2 LastUpdate: 2013-03-13 Like in the good-old Palm days
mazec3 (jp) -Handwriting (3.8@537; ~EUR 9.00) Ǥ 6 / mazec3 Handwriting Recognition (3.5@174; ~EUR 14.00) Ǥ 6
Selvy PenScript (3.8@145) 8 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
EVA Facial Mouse (3.6@21,129) Ǥ 9 Github; emulate mouse cursor by eye tracking

More crazy ideas can be found in the category Personal Assistants (Competition to Siri & Google Now).

Remote Keyboards

2020-02-14

… can be found in the category Remote Droide 2: Control your Droid from your Computer

Other Keyboards

2020-02-23

MessagEase Keyboard (4.4@7,311) 4 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2018-07-22
kboard (4.1@967) 4 Github; XDA 2/2019; Intro 2/2019; a keyboard to end conversations
NovaKey - Keyboard (3.6@885) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-06-23
YidKey KD (0@0) 0 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Github; Yiddish keyboard
Czech Diacritic Keyboard (0@0) 15 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Github
BlitzType Keyboard (0@0) 0 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Github; custom keyboard with special keys for the WOT Blitz game

Keyboard Helpers

2020-02-07

Keyboard Switcher (4.5@100) 3 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ GitLab
Hoplite Polytonic Greek Keyboard (4.3@130) 0 Github; extension for polytonic Greek input
Free Physical Keyboard (3.7@166) 0 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
External Keyboard Helper Demo (3.6@2,349) 7 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-06-28 / External Keyboard Helper Pro (3.6@3,084; ~EUR 1.75) 7 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-01-07 Testbericht 2/2013; Review 2/2013; configure your external keyboard
Inputting Plus: Ctrl + Z/F/C/V (3.2@1,246) Ǥ 6
SwypeTweaks (0@0) LastUpdate: 2015-09-11 Github
Suggestions Toggle (0@0) LastUpdate: 2015-02-11 Intro 7/2014 | 7/2014 (w/ video); Github; quickly disable/enable keyboard suggestions
Macro / Text Expansion (0@0) LastUpdate: 2014-09-12 Github

Further Readings:

Video: Tastatur-Apps: Was sie über Sie erfahren und welche App wir empfehlen (10/2019)
How to Connect a USB Keyboard to Your Android Phone (7/2019)
Best Android Keyboard Apps (5/2019)
Best keyboard apps for Android (4/2019)
Leserfrage: Empfehlenswerte Tastatur-App für Android (12/2017)
Alternativ-Tastatur auf dem Android-Smartphone einrichten (1/2016)
Die besten Android-Tastaturen: Swype, SwiftKey und Co. im Überblick (12/2014 - 11/2018)
Best keyboard for Android apps (9/2014 - 12/2018)
Five Best Android Keyboards (6/2014)
What's the Best Android Keyboard? (6/2014)
Vier Emoji-Keyboards im Vergleich: Smileys für alle! (6/2014)
Swype vs. SwiftKey: Vergleich der Tastatur-Giganten (6/2014)

2020-02-23

IzzyOnDroid