Android's open source nature makes it one of the only mobile operating systems that allows its users to swap out the default keyboard—and why not? If you can choose the keyboard for your desktop computer, then surely you should be allowed to do so on your mobile phone. There are a plethora of keyboard applications available in the Google Play store, but here's a small helping of some of the ones that are worth a download.
Google Keyboard
Simple, yet effective.
Why bother going third-party when you can choose to stick with Android's native keyboard? Google's keyboard appis readily available in the Google Play store so you can have access to Android's stock offerings regardless of what your phone manufacturer stuck you with. It offers gesture and voice typing, as well as next-word prediction, and it's all wrapped up in Android's signature Holo design. Of the keyboard apps featured in this roundup, Google's keyboard also sports the most simplistic design.
Swype
We used a gesture to bring up the number pad in the second screenshot.
Swype was one of the first keyboard applications to introduce swipe-style typing, though it was previously available only as a side-loaded application.
Swype's whole modus operandi is to make it easier for its users to type a sentence without lifting a finger, but that still comes with its own learning curving. It also features gesture typing, which can seem like a bit of overkill when it comes to things like swiping across the screen to get the number pad rather than long-pressing a button.
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