These privacy-friendly Android keyboards lastly have what Gboard will not provide you with

Most Android smartphone customers persist with Gboard regardless of understanding how a lot of a privateness concern it’s. One cause for this habits is the concept different Android keyboards, particularly privacy-friendly ones, do not supply nice options. Well, that’s not true!

As it occurs, you possibly can select between fairly a couple of privacy-friendly Android keyboards, and lots of of them are feature-rich. Sometimes, these keyboards supply options that Gboard hasn’t made accessible on most Android units.

Here are 4 such keyboard apps that outperform Gboard when it comes to options.

Turns out my keyboard can out-write me now

LeanType is likely one of the most privacy-friendly Android keyboards on the market, and it excels in a few areas the place Gboard would not fairly ship. Most importantly, this keyboard app packs a neighborhood AI that allows you to proofread your writing. Compared to a typical workflow the place you copy and paste content material between different AI chatbots, this characteristic is an final time-saver. The better part? LeanType’s privacy-friendly model makes use of a neighborhood GGUF mannequin via llama.cpp to do it.

It’s additionally spectacular that LeanType permits you to obtain two variations: Standard (cloud + plugins) and Offline (OS-level web blocking, native AI solely). For occasion, in the event you do not thoughts utilizing a third-party AI supplier like Claude, you possibly can select the Standard Full model. This model additionally permits you to connect with one of many free AI suppliers and get AI-powered proofreading without cost.

This HeliBoard fork would not cease there, although. You get a greater diversity of options, together with offline voice typing, translation, built-in OCR and textual content extraction, and one other set of plugins that you could experiment with. I’ve discovered LeanType to be the right response to everybody who argues they can not go away Gboard due to its options.

OS

Android

Developer

LeanBitLab

Price mannequin

Free

FUTO Keyboard seems like Gboard with out spying

My thumbs stopped double-checking themselves

Full disclosure, FUTO Keyboard is just not open supply, however the supply is on the market. It means folks can’t fork the code, however the underlying code is publicly accessible. If you are okay with this feature, FUTO Keyboard is one of the best Android keyboard apps, and it actually beats Gboard when it comes to options. What I contemplate one of the best amongst these options is its offline voice typing, which, not like other voice typing keyboards, makes use of a neighborhood mannequin to course of the whole lot in your system.

It’s additionally the most suitable choice for these switching from Gboard as a result of the important UI is so related. You do not should create an account or undergo an onboarding course of. Instead, you possibly can benefit from the primary options from the get-go and arrange different options like gestures and on-device transcription as you would like. Yet, you get room for personalization.

For occasion, I like how customizable the sensible auto-correct and choices are, and the enhancing UI constructed into the keyboard can be fairly nice. The configurable features of FUTO Keyboard are nice, as you possibly can create a keyboard expertise that simply works for you. It may simply be selecting a theme or discovering a transcription mannequin that your system helps.

FlorisBoard skips autocorrect to win the whole lot else

It additionally provides superior customization choices

FlorisBoard, regardless of being in beta state, is another feature-rich Android keyboard that can easily replace Gboard for most individuals. It could enchantment to you additional in the event you prioritize configurability and hate how annoying autocorrect is. The keyboard utility doesn’t supply phrase options or autocorrect and as a substitute focuses on superior customization choices. You additionally get further options like an built-in clipboard supervisor, emoji keyboard, historical past, and options.

But theming assist is the place FlorisBoard beats Gboard and lots of different choices on this checklist. You can select from a greater diversity of themes and customise every of them to what you discover higher. The Addon Store permits you to select between official and neighborhood themes, and none of those comprise any advertisements — not like these shady keyboard apps you discover on the Play Store.

Another characteristic that I like about FlorisBoard is a customizable sensible bar, which is nice when you’ve gotten a particular workflow for enhancing and managing textual content. It’s additionally value noting that FlorisBoard is in energetic growth, and the builders plan on bringing new options to the keyboard expertise.

OS

Android

Price mannequin

Free

FlorisBoard is a privacy-focused, open-source keyboard app for Android, that includes modular layouts, wealthy customization, multilingual assist, clipboard administration, and gesture controls, prioritizing person knowledge safety with out advertisements or trackers.

There’s nonetheless friction with these choices

As somebody who used to stay to Gboard for many of my typing wants, I’ve discovered that these privacy-centric keyboards have modified the way in which I kind. It’s additionally good to know that no matter I kind is not being tracked by a third-party server. But I can’t fake the whole lot is clean.

Both LeanType and FlorisBoard are very good choices, however you can not obtain them from the Google Play Store, so a little bit of sideloading is required. Given how the present Android ecosystem is changing into extra restrictive, this may increasingly trigger some friction, particularly since you must hold accessibility providers open for sure options.

Fortunately, you are still at some extent the place you possibly can get pleasure from a privacy-friendly typing expertise, and also you get to try this with out saying goodbye to options!