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iPhone / iPad
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  • Productivity
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EasyType app review: A comprehensive alternative keyboard app that does it all 2021

Reviews

Introduction

The problem with keyboard apps for the most part is that they tend to do one little gimmick well, but they’re not much use for anything else. In order to get all of the uses you’re looking for out of a keyboard app you generally have to download multiple different ones and switch back and forth between them – in a word it’s a pain.

The best keyboard apps for iPhone

I’ve been searching for the best keyboard apps for iPad and iPhone for some time now and, after a painstaking and largely fruitless effort, I’ve come across a keyboard app for iPhone that's quite comprehensive.

EasyType is quite simply one of the best keyboard apps you’re likely to come across period. It not only allows you to use all of the conventional typing methods you can now, but it also provides you with a great deal of extra functionality that you won’t get with Apple’s standard keyboard app or anything else you’ll find in the App Store.

This is a free keyboard app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Check out our Easy Type Keyboard app review for more details. 

EasyType Keyboard

Free

EasyType Keyboard is a tremendous keyboard app

From the Beginning

This app is used the same way you would use any other keyboard app and, as such, you have to go into the keyboard section of your settings to allow the app permission to be used as a keyboard.

Best iphone and ipad apps

Once you’ve given the app permission, you activate it the same way you activate other keyboard apps by tapping on the globe icon on your keyboard and selecting EasyType.

One thing that’s always worried me about third-party keyboard apps is whether or not they protect your privacy. It seems to me there’s nothing stopping an app from recording your keystrokes and using that data for their own purposes.

The inventor of this app, Ratislav Mirek from Slovakia, makes it clear on the company’s website that protecting your privacy is of the upmost importance to them. In his own words he asserts that they “never collect your typing data, everything stays private on your phone.” That’s definitely reassuring.

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Innovative Swipe Gestures

One of the difficulties that creators of iOS keyboard apps run into is how to add functionality while still making the app intuitive and user-friendly. The developer of this app has come up with quite a few unique tricks to make your life as easy as possible.

One of these new features is the ability to access alternate keys on your keyboard by simply swiping up on that key – it’s a lot simpler than the traditional keyboard method you use on the laptop of holding down the shift key and tapping the keys want.

While you can access the number row by using the swipe up method we talked, there is another way of entering numbers with this keyboard. If you swipe right on the keyboard once you’ll pull up the numeric keyboard.

This looks like a typical number pad on your laptop and then you can simply type in your numbers as you wish. This is a great feature as it actually gives your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch the same type of functionality as a keyboard on a laptop.

If you swipe right from the numeric keyboard you’ll pull up another alternate keyboard that includes other special symbols such as the pound or the yen.

You can access these symbols on your standard iOS keyboard, but you first have to tap on the number icon and then on the symbol icon – it’s a bit of a convoluted process. The process for accessing these symbols on the EasyType keyboard is a lot simpler.

If you swipe left on the keyboard you can access over 1500 different emoji’s. While an emoji feature is built-in to the iOS operating system it doesn’t have anywhere near as many options.

Along with the standard emoji’s you’re used to you’ll find a whole list of separate categories including food and drink, activity, travel and places, objects, symbols, and animals and nature. There is a good chance if there’s an emoji you’re looking for you’ll find it in this keyboard app.

EasyType Keyboard

Free

Quick swipe gestures
Quick swipe gestures

Helpful Suggestions

Another feature of this keyboard that can really enhance your typing experience is that it includes a predictive typing section above your keyboard as well.

If you’re not familiar with this type of function essentially as you type the first couple letters of a word the App will offer suggestions of words that you might be looking for and if one of them is the word you’re looking for you can simply tap on it to complete the word. It can really increase your typing speed.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Seamlessly integrates with your device
  • Protects your privacy
  • Swipe up instead of using alt keys
  • Swipe right to access numeric pad
  • Swipe right twice to access symbol features
  • Swipe left to access 1500 emoji’s

Cons

  • Doesn’t function ideally with the iPad

You can also choose themes for your keyboard

A Great Keyboard Alternative

If you’re looking for a keyboard app that’s a lot more intuitive than the standard one built into the iOS operating system, and with a lot more functionality than some of the other keyboard apps available, then you should definitely check out EasyType.

This app is great because of its simple and intuitive swipe gestures and its access to a separate numeric keypad as well as an extensive emoji catalogue. I was a little disappointed that it doesn’t offer proper iPad support, but the developers do claim they’re working on this so that’s something to look forward to. Overall, it’s a great app and it’s free.

EasyType Keyboard

Free
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Allan Calder

Allan is a freelance writer who loves scouring the App Store for exciting, intriguing and unique apps.