How to Install a Third Party Keyboard in iOS 8

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Posted September 18, 2014 at 9:57pm by iClarified

These are instructions on how to install a third party keyboard in iOS 8.

Step One
Find a keyboard you want to try and install its app from the mobile App Store. There are many to choose from. Popular options include SwiftKey, Swype, Fleksy, Minuum, and others.

We'll use the free SwiftKey keyboard for this example.

Step Two
Once the app is installed, tap Settings from your SpringBoard.

Step Three
Choose General from the Settings menu.

Step Four
Select Keyboard from the General menu.

Step Five
Tap Keyboards from the Keyboard menu.

Step Six
Choose Add New Keyboard... from the Keyboards menu.

Step Seven
Select the keyboard you just installed from the list of Third-Party Keyboards.

Step Eight
The keyboard will be added to your personal list of keyboards. Tap it to open its options. Depending on the keyboard you may need to Allow Full Access. This will let the developer to transmit anything you type for features such as word suggestions etc. Be sure you trust the developer of the keyboard before granting full access.

Step Nine
Now you can navigate to the Messages app or any other application that uses a keyboard. Then tap the globe icon at the bottom left of the keyboard to cycle through your available layouts.

Notice the Swift keyboard lets you drag your finger from letter to letter without lifting up in order to intelligently determine the word you are typing.

Note: You may find some helpful information on using the keyboard in the app that you installed from the App Store.

If you need further assistance, please ask a question here.

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Luis Tamborrell - September 19, 2014 at 12:51pm

I don't see third-party keyboards option

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Steve Gates - September 19, 2014 at 12:45am

Really? SwiftKey really wants me to allow it to transmit every key stroke to its developers? They are out of their mind... Never...., I'm going to uninstall it.

NoGoodNick - September 19, 2014 at 2:04am

The idea isn't that Swiftkey, in particular, captures your keystrokes, only that the keyboard is made available to the developer. Thus, if the develops had built in capture technology, they COULD capture your passwords. So now we have to evaluate whether one of the many keyboard companies will start selling what we type to whoever wants the information (for ads), or whether the NSA will file a secret court order to read every word we type (thus bypassing Apple's new secure password). What it doesn't say, is whether switching keyboards shuts off the capture potential. If it does, you could simply switch keyboards. However, I suspect you'd instead have to delete the keyboard (but not the app) anytime you visited a secure site. Chances are, it's very secure. But there's no guaranteeing it except blind trust in the company in question.

anonym - September 19, 2014 at 10:37am

You are right bro, but you don't need to remove the keyboard, just use another one, the apple keyboards for example, and you'll be fine.

Reza - September 18, 2014 at 11:00pm

Cooolkey!