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xKeyboard - best iOS keyboard

Introduction

I have been using Android for the last 13 years (notable exceptions being the Palm Prē running webOS and BlackBerry Passport running BBOS10 - I loved both), so I have been doing my typing in a certain way for over a decade.

I never expected it to be a big problem, but a few minutes after I starting using my iPone 15 Pro Max (iOS 17) the first time, I was extremely frustrated with the stock iOS keyboard. I was missing a numbers row at the top, for example. I hoped I could enable/disable some options in the settings, no such luck.

Next step for a solution was to look in the App Store; a 3rd-party keyboard surely would solve all my problems. There are quite a few apps, but all of them - except one - solve some of my issues but come with their own problems.

The app that made it possible for me to keep using an iPhone is xKeyboard (App Store link).
This keyboard is fully customizable (in the fullest extent of the word of the word "fully"),

iOS stock keyboard

I am someone that writes full sentences, including punctuation. I don't

There are a few things that I absolutely need:

  • Comma and period on the main/first keyboard screen.
  • Numbers row at the top.
  • English, Dutch and Turkish accents when longpressing a letter.
  • Quick access to emoji's is nice.

And then there are the things that I don't need and don't want (and disable if possible):

  • Swiping or gliding to type.

  • Predictions.

  • Bloat, like AI bullshit.

I don't swipe or glide on the keyboard to type, I just tap on each character. I don't do predictions. And I write full sentences, so I need my comma and period always visible. And I have my numbers row at the top, enough screen space, no need to hide the numbers row.

, and I write full sentences,

Where are the numbers? I'll just enabled it in the settings. Nope, not possible. I can't select some necessary accents without switching the keyboard to another language.

My last experience with an iPhone was back in 2008, when I used an iPhone 3G for two years. I somewhat new how the basics worked, and thus also knew that I would lose some of the flexibility that I had with Android. Below are things that I discovered that I wanted to share with others.


1 Keyboard

The stock iOS keyboard started frustrating me within minutes after I started the phone.

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