Keyboard Maker: Keyboard Theme

Review by eFreeware

The default Android keyboard does its job and looks like everyone else's. Keyboard Maker, from BlueSkySoft, is built for the people who mind that: anyone who wants the keys on their phone to match a wallpaper, a mood or a favorite character, and who would rather pick a background photo than settle for a gray slab of letters. It has been installed more than 10 million times and holds a 4.4 average across 104,160 ratings, which suggests the theme-first approach lands with a fair number of users.

What you get is a keyboard that doubles as a small personalization project. The developer lists more than 500 free themes, a set of emoji, sticker and GIF keys, font choices, and tools for designing a theme of your own, including using a picture from your gallery as the backdrop. Typing features sit alongside all of that: autocorrect, word prediction, gesture typing and voice input.

It is a free download, and it carries ads and in-app purchases. That combination shapes the experience as much as any theme does, so it is worth going in with a clear picture of what the app is for before you make it your daily keyboard.

A keyboard for people who care how the keys look

The clearest audience here is anyone who finds stock keyboards dull. If you change your phone's wallpaper regularly, keep a folder of photos you like, or enjoy matching small details across a home screen, this app speaks your language. The theme catalog covers simple, colorful, LED, neon, anime, love and cute categories, plus a custom option, so there is a style for most tastes without much hunting.

The second group is people who want their keyboard to do more than type. Emoji, emoticons, stickers and searchable GIFs are built into the keyboard itself, which saves switching to a separate app mid-conversation. Fonts and keypress sounds let you tune the feel further, and the layout settings cover practical adjustments like a number row and resizing the keyboard.

Multilingual users also fit here. Hindi, English and Russian are among the 150-plus languages available. If you move between languages during the day, having the same themed keyboard in each is a small but real convenience.

It is less obviously aimed at someone who wants a bare, minimal typing tool and nothing else. The app's identity is decoration plus input, and the theme catalog, fonts and sticker keys are the point rather than add-ons.

Themes, fonts and a keyboard you design yourself

Switching between themes is described as instant, so you can change the look without rebuilding anything. If none of the ready-made designs fit, a custom category lets you put together your own, and you can set an image from your gallery as the keyboard background.

There are fonts and keypress effects to choose from, and the app supports fun sounds as well as vibration on keypress. Auto capitalization and suggestion controls are listed among the settings, so the keyboard can be tuned rather than accepted as-is.

The theme update noted for 17-04 suggests the catalog is refreshed periodically, which is what you would want from an app whose main draw is visual variety.

Typing help: prediction, gestures and voice

The typing engine covers the basics you would expect from a modern keyboard. Autocorrect is there to clean up mistakes, and word prediction offers suggestions after the first two or three letters. Gesture typing lets you swipe rather than tap, and the QWERTY layout is supported for people who prefer the standard arrangement.

Voice input is included for moments when speaking is easier than typing. The app is pitched as a way to say more while typing less, which is a reasonable promise if you send long messages or take notes on the move.

The developer promises a keyboard that keeps up with fast input while still being the one you decorated.

Emoji, GIFs, notes and clipboard tools

The keyboard doubles as a place to find things to send. Popular emojis and emoticons are built in, along with stickers and a GIF search that returns results for whatever word you enter. Because these live in the keyboard, sharing a reaction or a GIF does not require leaving the conversation.

Notes can be added, edited, deleted or sent from the keyboard itself, which is handy for a quick reminder or a snippet you want to reuse. A clipboard supports multiple copy-and-paste actions, so you can hold several items and paste the one you need.

The developer's note about privacy is worth repeating in plain terms: the app is described as never collecting personal information or photos without explicit permission. That is a claim rather than a guarantee, but it is a sensible one to make for an app that can use your gallery images as backgrounds.

What it costs, and what comes with it

Keyboard Maker is free to download. It contains ads and offers in-app purchases, so the app is supported by more than one revenue stream.

The themes themselves are described as free, including the 500-plus catalog, and the custom option is part of the app rather than a separate product.

If you are sensitive to ads or in-app purchases, that is the main reason to think twice before making it your default keyboard.

How it compares with the alternatives

Most phones ship with a keyboard that is competent and plain. Keyboard Maker's argument is that you should not have to choose between a keyboard that predicts well and one that looks the way you want. Against a stock keyboard, the theme catalog, custom photo backgrounds and font choices are the difference.

Against a dedicated theme app, the advantage is integration. Themes here change the keyboard you actually type on, rather than decorating a launcher or a lock screen. And against a keyboard built purely for speed, this one adds sticker, emoji and GIF keys in the same place you write.

The comparison that matters most is with whatever keyboard you use now. If you are happy with it and never think about its appearance, the case for switching is thin. If you change wallpapers more often than you change phone cases, the case is much stronger.

A decorated keyboard worth trying if style matters

Keyboard Maker is a free Android keyboard that treats appearance as a first-class feature. More than 500 themes, custom designs, gallery photo backgrounds, fonts and keypress effects sit on top of autocorrect, prediction, gesture typing, voice input and support for over 150 languages. The 10 million-plus installs and 4.4 rating suggest that combination works for a large audience.

The caveats are the ones that come with the model: ads and in-app purchases are part of the package, and the app is built around decoration, so someone who wants a plain, minimal keyboard will find more here than they need.

If you like the idea of keys that match your phone rather than the other way around, this is an easy one to try. Install it, pick a theme, and see whether the look survives a week of real typing.

What's new in version v63

update themes 17-04