How to Change the Keyboard Color on the iPhone

There are more than a few different ways to customize your iPhone’s keyboard. But if you want to get colors other than dark grey and white, you need to use third-party apps.

This article tells you how to utilize the Dark mode to change the keyboard color. We’ve included a quick rundown of the top three apps, plus there are other tips to customize your keyboard.

Setting the Keyboard to Dark Mode

Enabling the Dark mode is a complete no brainer.

1. Launch the Setting app, swipe down, and select Display & Brightness. The first option that pops up is Light and Dark, tap on Dark and voila – the iPhone keyboard turns dark grey with white letters.

Quick Settings Access for Changing to Dark Mode

You can have the Dark mode at your fingertips and make the switch much quicker.

1. Launch Settings, navigate down to Control Center, and select Customize Controls.
2. Dark Mode appears under More Controls – tap on the plus icon to add the option to the Control Center.

Now, you get to switch between the two modes in one tap. However, this method has certain limitations if you just want to change the keyboard and that’s why you might want to consider using third-party apps.

Popular Keyboard Apps

1. FancyKey

With more than 28,000 positive reviews, FancyKey is among the most popular apps in its category. In addition to different keyboard colors, this app offers keyboard themes, effects, emojis, and stickers. Other major highlights are the built-in auto-correct option and the swipe feature.

FancyKey is a free app and you get a lot without paying a dime, including a rather large fonts library. But if you want to splurge a little on your keyboard, FancyKey Plus is available with a subscription. You should know that the price is a bit steep and that you only get a three-day free trial.

2. Color Keyboard: Themes & Skins

As suggested by the name, this app is designed to give your iPhone keyboard a splash of color. The changes also affect the chat background and Color Keyboard does a really good job of matching the font color with the background.

Similar to the competition, the app offers emoticons and certain smart features to help you type faster. But the thing that makes the Color Keyboard stand out is the support for more than forty languages. The app is free and there are in-app purchases to get even more features.

3. Cool Fonts

This app comes from an indie developer, but this isn’t a deal-breaker by any means. Aside from fonts, it features a ton for keyboards with different buttons and colors. And it also gives you a keyboard with symbols and emoticons only.

Needless to say, Cool Fonts is free with in-app purchases and works best for people who are constantly posting to social media. Easy set-up is another highlight. Even if you’ve never used this kind of app before, you should have no trouble getting it up and running.

4. Gboard

Developed by Google, Gboard is a popular keyboard app that provides an abundance of built-in emojis, stickers, keyboard customization options, and language support. If you’re looking for a well tested and developed app that’s free, then this might be your best option.

Installing Third-party Keyboards

After you download the keyboard you’d like to use, you need to install and enable it on your iPhone. Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1

Tap on the Settings app to access the menu, select General, and then choose Keyboard.

Step 2

Hit Keyboards at the top of the screen and select Add New Keyboards. You should be able to see the name of the keyboard you’d like to use under Third-Party Keyboards. Tap on it to make a selection and you are good to go.

Note: After installing the third-party keyboard, you can easily switch between it and the standard version whenever you need to type something.

Setting a Keyboard as Default

Again, everything is done via the Keyboard menu under General. As a reminder, you need to take the following path.

Settings App > General > Keyboard > Keyboards

Once inside the Keyboards window, tap Edit, move the keyboard you’d like to use to the top of the list and hit Done to confirm. Now, your preferred keyboard appears every time you enter a messaging app, for example. Of course, you can always switch back to the standard one.

Switching Between Keyboards

Since there’s been some talk about switching the keyboards, it pays to take a closer look at how to do it. The following explanation assumes that you’ve installed more than one native or third-party keyboard.

So, access the keyboard from any app and hold down on the globe icon. As Apple ditched the force touch, a light press onto the icon should be enough. A small window pops up and just tap on the keyboard name to select it. This is also where you can toggle off or on Predictive text.

Get Your True Colors

It would be really cool if Apple included some native keyboard colors. But for now, you’ll need to make do with the Dark and Light mode built-in and the third-party options. Be that as it may, a colorful keyboard gives your iPhone a personal touch that can be a great match for the iPhone case.

Have you used any third-party keyboard apps before? If so, what was your experience like? Don’t hesitate to comment in the section below and share your views with the rest of the TechJunkie community.