We dress up every other part of our smart phones, from gorgeous cases to pretty wallpaper. So why shouldn’t your keyboard get a little makeover too? We found 3 fun keyboard apps to perk up your phone and make it look cooler than ever.
1. Go for Color
Spruce up your iOS devices with Brightkey, a keyboard app that offers 13 cool themes, including color, metal and wood options. Brightkey has even partnered with Pantone, so keyboards everywhere can wear any Color of the Year, from 2000 to 2015.
Brightkey doesn’t just look good though; it offers some smart functionality. Swipe left or right on the space bar to move the cursor, and use Apple shortcuts to make typing even easier. Or create custom messages that you can tap and send quickly, like “I’m leaving now” or “My battery’s about to die.”
Although Brightkey is a free download, Pantone colors are an in-app purchase starting at $0.99. (Available on iTunes for free)
Related: Getincased custom smartphone cases
2. Go for Entertainment
Look, I’ve already accepted that Frozen will forever be a part of the conversation when it comes to kids and entertainment. If that’s your jam, the Fleksy keyboard app is here for you. You can customize your Android or iOS devices with a Frozen theme or, if you’re more of a Katniss Everdeen type, try the Hunger Games theme. Keep in mind that these are considered premium theme packs and can run you anywhere from $1.99 to $2.99 as in-app purchases.
Fleksy is also great for added functionality. You can customize the actual layout of your keyboard, like adding a row of numbers to the alphabet view. No more switching between views just to type out what time you’ll be home. Fleksy also lets you swipe left to delete, or swipe right to add a space. Or try out different extensions to see which functions work best for you. (Available on iTunes for $0.99 and Google Play for 30-day free trial or $1.99.)
3. Go for GIFs
Sometimes the best way to convey a reaction or mood of the moment is with a well-placed GIF. But that’s not so easily done via text. Or at least it wasn’t until now, because here comes PopKey to add GIFs to your texts. This keyboard app touts itself as the world’s first ever animated keyboard, and it really is quick and easy to use.
PopKey’s collection of thousands of GIFs is helpfully categorized into sections like facepalm or whatever or LOL, so you can choose just the right GIF for the occasion. Or upload your own. Then create your own set of faves to have at the ready when the situation obviously calls for a dash of Jon Stewart or a Saturday Night Live spoof. (Available on iTunes for free)
