Privacy @lemmy.ml Rizoid @programming.dev 6 mo. ago

Are there any good privacy friendly keyboards for android?

I've looked at a few on fdroid and they all seem like they aren't being maintained anymore.

Edit: I've spent the past day trying most all of the suggested keyboards here and I think I've landed on either Unexpected Keyboard or AnySoftKeyboard. Thanks for all the suggestions. Thumbkey is quite the thing to get used to.

77 comments

I develop thumb-key, so it's maintained.
- god bless you
  
  o7
- Typed with thumb-key. This is so hard, but im determined :)
  
  Usually gets much easier after a few days.
  
  I had to Google that and my God it looks difficult. I was going to say try Dvorak, simplest answer to his question I think.
- Hey, thumb-key is really cool! I've been using it for a bit and it has solved my issue of constantly fat-fingering wrong letters into what I'm trying to type on other keyboards. I just want to say thanks for developing it and keep up the good work!
- I should really use it but I just cant get myself to learn a new layout
- Based
- i love thumbkey!
- is it possible to add auto complete / recomendations?
  
  Yes, please. I'm still using MessagEase. I want to like thumbkey, but it's missing a few features that are already implemented in MessagEase. Long pressing for numerals is another feature I miss.
  
  I think if you read the github description, you'll find that conflicts with the philosophy. Would be a nice option, though
AnySoftKeyboard

https://github.com/AnySoftKeyboard/AnySoftKeyboard
- Sadly the development stopped, but still one of the most feature-rich.
- And still it doesn't fit my needs
Florisboard is a good one.
- Yep, hoping they will keep updating.. buy still better than most the way it is..
  
  They do, the author just recently started working on it again and welcoming contributions :)
OpenBoard is great and supports swipe typing using a Google library.
- OpenBoard 1.4.5 doesn't support swiping, i am wrong?
  
  I know there is a fork with swipe support
  
  I'm using it now instead of gboard behind a firewall
  
  https://github.com/Helium314/openboard
  
  Also supports gestures for text selection (slide left/right on space bar) and text deletion (per character instead of per-word on gboard)
  
  Fork: https://github.com/Helium314/openboard
Lotta good recommendations here. If you get GrapheneOS, you could get any keyboard (including GBoard) and turn off its network access at the app level (as well as sensors and other permissions), which would make virtually any keyboard privacy-friendly.
- Oh, i didn't think about that! Tho I'd feel gross installing a google product on my phone
- I use AdGuard and do the same with its built in Firewall feature for GBoard. The thing is, since I don't use custom ROMs I can't be sure that GBoard won't just use Google Services for spying/tracking.
- You don't even need GrapheneOS for that, I'm using LineageOS and can turn off internet access for apps
  
  Yes but the Graphene community have to mention it as much as possible.
So this is definitely not for everyone but Thumb-Key is privacy friendly and designed to be used with just one thumb. I have used Thumb-Key (and it's predecessor Message Ease) for about 4 years now and they are way easier for me than qwerty, there are fewer buttons so typos are less frequent and you can access all letter/numbers/punctuation while holding your phone one handed.

https://github.com/dessalines/thumb-key
- It's kinda like Japanese keyboards
  
  In general or just on phones?
- You sonuvabich beat me by 2 minutes! ಥ_ಥ
  
  What made you initially look for an alt keyboard? I have huge problems hitting the buttons on querty and started by looking for a chorded layout.
- Omg I'm so frustrated with QWTY on phones I'm giving this a try now!
  
  I've only ever known qwerty for phones, what else is there lol
- Thanks for this. I'm starting to learn it, but already feel like I make less mistakes without autocorrect. Sad as I'm a bad speller.
OpenBoard is great. I've tried a few and it just feels like a privacy-focused version of G-Board
- deleted
  
  I do not find the glide typing option
  
  I can't figure out how to use Swype?
- i second this. the first app i install on every new device is openboard. right after f-droid.
Not every project needs regular maintenance. I can imagine a keyboard to be a finished product, no updates necessary.
- I won't pretend to know how tightly integrated the keyboard is within the Android OS, but given the interoperability between app and keyboard it seems likely that vulnerabilities could be leveraged to gain malicious access to the clipboard and other sensitive data.
  
  Probably that would be an Android vulnerability.
i've been loving FlorisBoard (F-Droid, GitHub). great customizability, language support, clipboard actions.
- +1 for floris, it's the only keyboard with glide typing and themes are super good.
  
  I use it too but i haven't figured out how to enable autocorrection.
  
  Which is interesting in a sense because since then i know that i don't know how to spell most words.
  
  I am inclined to keep it off just so that i have to think a bit more about what i write.
Florisboard if you want high customizability, clipboard actions and internal (!) history, great privacy option.

Openboard if you want swipe typing and autocomplete.

Thumbkey if you want a keyboard that is made for use with two thumbs.
- I love Florisboard but i just wish they would add the spelling checker 😔
  
  Then pay them XD it really is as simple as that. It is a hobby project, otherwise it doesnt make sense
I suggestion a Open board with swipe function. https://github.com/Helium314/openboard Swiping this on Openboard 🦾🦾
- Are you having trouble with it being less accurate than gboard? I'm using it and that's what I'm experiencing.
Typing this on OpenBoard ^__
AOSP 14 works great and has swipe.
- Is this available on F-Droid?
  
  It came stock in crDroid 10.
  
  For previous AOSP keyboards, someone has extracted the .apk and posts it on apkmirror
  
  They may also be referring to this but I'm not certain.
I use SimpleKeyboard with updates disabled
I use Simple Keyboard from F-Droid (rkkr's, not the one that sold to an ad company) and it's quite nice.
Are there any good privacy focused voice to text keyboards? Or do I need to run whisper on a private server to do that?
- Futo voice input.
  
  Pretty impressive
  
  Amaze balls thanks so much
- sayboard
To type with only one finger, there's 8Vim.
I tried most of them, it's just not the same as Gboard.

Anyone know if you can block Gboard with DNS?
- Idk but you could always just install gboard & not give network permissions. You'll lose a little functionality like the ability to add gifs from the keyboard which obviously need internet to search/load.
Unexpeted Keyboard is the one for me. Takes a bit to get used to but I wouldn't want to use anything else anymore.
I really recommend AnySoftKeyboard.
https://search.f-droid.org/?q=keyboard
I'm using open board with swipe entry (so it functions like gboard). My only complaint is I've noticed I have to be extremely accurate in my swiping or it won't type out the intended word).

In this message alone: my first attempts at the word "type" came out as toe. "Out" came out as TT & "along" came out as "alone"

So it's definitely not perfect. I might stick with it. I might just go back to gboard and not grant it network permission. It's only been about a week so a little too early to tell..
Permanently Deleted
I use unexpected keyboards, the ability to swipe on keys to quickly type symbols and numbers is a feature that for me sets it ahead of others I have tried.

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