Screenshots: Five alternative keyboards for your Android tablet

Introduction

The tablet keyboard is a personal thing. To one user, it’s\r\njust a means for typing messages and statuses, entering data while on the go.\r\nTo someone else, it’s a way of making the mobile experience more efficient and\r\nenjoyable.

Out of the box, the Android keyboard is serviceable… especially\r\non the smartphone form. But once you venture into the realm of the tablet, that\r\nstock keyboard seems a bit less than user-friendly.

Thankfully, you’ll find an abundance of third-party\r\nkeyboards on the Google Play Store, ready for action. But which ones deserve\r\nyour precious time and effort? Here are five that I consider to be the best\r\nkeyboards available for Android. Let’s see if one will meet your needs.

Note: This gallery is also available as an article.

Google Keyboard

One of the best Google Keyboard features is that it syncs\r\nyour settings across all devices. All you have to do is set up Google Keyboard\r\nexactly how you like it, and it will sync those settings to all your Android\r\ndevices that also use Google Keyboard. The only drawback to using Google\r\nKeyboard is that it doesn’t offer a split screen keyboard. For many, however,\r\nthe gesture typing makes up for that loss.

Fleksy Keyboard

Once you get used to Fleksy’s methods (pay close attention\r\nto the welcome tutorial), you’ll find this keyboard to be one of the most\r\nefficient third-party options available. Fleksy also offers extensions that\r\nenable you to extend the feature set of the keyboard (some are free, some are\r\npaid), as well as themes to personalize your keyboard.

A.I.type Tablet Keyboard Free

This keyboard also offers a float option that allows you to\r\nmove the split keyboards wherever you want them on the screen. If you like\r\ncomplete control over your keyboard, A.I.type might be exactly what you’re\r\nlooking for.