The keyboard app for iPhone and iPad
The native iPhone keyboard,
with superpowers.
Number row, gestures, swipe typing, multilingual prediction, clipboard history, dictation, translation and more.
For iPhone and iPad. iOS 17 or later.
Why I built it
I love the Apple ecosystem. Except for one thing: the iOS keyboard.
Next to any Android keyboard the gaps are obvious: no number row, no long-press characters, barely any gestures.
The alternatives were abandoned, bloated, or sent my typing to someone else’s cloud.
So I built EFKey: an iOS keyboard with superpowers. Privacy first. What you type stays on your phone.
What it does
Things you'll notice first.
Swipe through, or use the arrows.
Curious how yours would look? Try the settings in your browser
Your dictionary
It learns from you.
On day one EFKey knows the dictionary. After a few days it knows you: your words, your capitals, the suggestions you never want again.
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Your capitals.
Fix a word’s caps a few times and it stops changing it back. iPhone and EFKey keep their mixed case.
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3Dwell-beingAT&T
Words with digits.
Digits and joiners are learned like any other word. Bare numbers never are.
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Two uses and it’s yours.
A new word is learned the second time you type it, so a one-off typo never gets in. A word shown in quotes is learned with one tap.
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Hold to block.
Long-press a suggestion and it is never offered again. Blocked words stay blocked on swipe too.
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Swipe remembers.
Pick a different word after a swipe and the wrong one stops winning next time.
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Names from your Contacts.
They show up in suggestions and on swipe. EFKey never reads your Contacts: iOS hands the keyboard the names, and they stay in memory, never saved or synced.
Hold a suggestion, tap Remove, and it is gone.
EFKey Pro
Translate, dictate, rewrite. In place.
The chat never goes out of view. You write, the keyboard does the rest, and the result lands in the field you were typing in.
- TranslatorWrite in your language, send it in theirs, without leaving the conversation. Open it from the bar, or set a swipe up on the space bar.
- Dictation with live translationHold the right end of the space bar and talk. Speak Slovak and land English in the field if you want.
- AI editsFix the grammar, reword it, make it formal, make it casual. Set a swipe down on the space bar and it rewrites the whole field, with Undo in the bar.
This runs on your phone when Apple covers it, which means an iPhone with Apple Intelligence and a language Apple supports. Otherwise it runs through your own API key: Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, OpenRouter, or a model on your own computer.
Gestures
The space bar does more.
Everything you reach for mid-sentence, without aiming a finger at a tiny cursor or leaving the keys.
- Hold and slideThe keyboard turns into a trackpad for the cursor.
- Swipe leftSwitch to the next language.
- Swipe upThe translator opens. Switch it on in Settings. Pro
- Swipe downAI rewrites the field, or the keyboard hides. Pick one in Settings. Pro
- Hold the right endDictation starts. Pro
- Swipe left on ⌫A short swipe deletes a word. Go further, let go, and the whole field is gone, with Undo in the bar.
Shortcuts on the letters. Pro
Hold a letter and pull down. A hint shows what will happen before you let go. Any shortcut can move to another key, or switch off.
- CCopyWith nothing selected, it takes the whole field.
- XCutThe selection, or the whole field.
- PPasteWhat you copied goes in where the cursor is.
- HClipboardYour clipboard history opens.
- TTranslate and AIThe translator and AI edits.
- DDictateRecording starts right away.
- GGIFThe GIF panel opens.
- LHideThe keyboard gets out of the way.
- OOne-handedThe keys move toward your thumb.
- EFPull down on the logoHides the keyboard, once you switch it on.
Languages
77 languages. Two at once, or five to switch.
Two are corrected together in the middle of a sentence. Or keep up to five and switch with a swipe on the space bar. Correction, prediction and glide work in every one.
Every other language downloads in a few seconds as a small pack, is checked before it installs and keeps itself up to date. Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu run right to left. Found a wrong word? Tell me the word and the language at feedback.efkey.app.
A Gboard and SwiftKey alternative for iPhone
Coming from Gboard or SwiftKey?
Here is what moves over, what you will find, and what takes a few days.
From SwiftKey
Bring your words.
Export them in the SwiftKey app, or use Export all at account.microsoft.com. Then pick the vocabulary.txt in EFKey under Settings, Dictionary, Import words. Importing only adds.
Moving from SwiftKeyFrom Gboard
The habits carry over.
Glide typing, a number row and two languages at once are all here, with no account of any kind. Your own words come back as you type: two uses and a word is learned.
Moving from GboardHonestly
Give it a few days.
On day one the prediction won’t match a keyboard that has watched you type for years. It picks up your words over a few days. If something feels off, tell me what you typed and what came out.
feedback.efkey.appChoose by what you need
Pick the page for your question.
Nine short guides. Each one says where EFKey fits and where it doesn't.
Tools
Stay in the chat.
The things you would otherwise leave the app for. Free for the first 7 days, then Pro. The typing itself stays free, all 77 languages with it.
- 01Clipboard historyText and photos you copied, pinned and sorted into your own categories.
- 02TranslatorWrite in yours, send in theirs, from the bar or a space bar swipe.
- 03DictationHold the end of the space bar. Speak Slovak, land English.
- 04AI editsRewrite a message where you typed it, with Undo.
- 05Shortcuts on the keysHold C to copy, P to paste, H for the clipboard.
- 06Text shortcutsType omw and the bar offers the whole sentence. Your iOS text replacements work free.
- 07My infoYour email or address into a form in one tap. Never passwords.
- 08CalculationsType 12+5 mid-message and the bar offers 17.
- 09GIF panelFind a GIF and send it without leaving the chat.
- 10One-handed modeThe keyboard moves toward your thumb.
- 11Themes and effectsUp to 12 saved themes, 14 swipe trails, five key press animations.
- 12iCloud syncLearned words arrive on your iPad, end-to-end encrypted.
- 13Your own API keyGemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, OpenRouter, or Ollama at home.
- 14Typing statisticsHow much you type and how many taps it saved you.
Hold the comma key or 123 and the settings open right inside the keyboard.
Privacy
Your typing stays on the phone.
A keyboard sees everything you write. EFKey has no server, no account and no analytics, so there is nowhere for it to go.
Correction, prediction and glide run on your iPhone. EFKey goes online only when you ask it to: a GIF search, a translation, an AI edit through your own key. Never on its own. Language packs are fetched by the app, and the request carries nothing but the name of the file.
- 0analytics, trackers and accounts
- neverkeystrokes stored or sent
- on devicelearned words, yours to export or erase
- on requestthe only times it goes online
Full Access, explained.
iOS shows the same warning for every keyboard that asks, and it's written for the worst one you could install. In EFKey the switch opens four things iOS keeps shut by default: haptics and sound, the clipboard, the internet, and a shared space with the EFKey app. You can say no.
Without it
- Typing, autocorrect, prediction and glide in English, which is built into the keyboard.
- Settings you change in the EFKey app.
- Dictation, with the text arriving when you finish.
- Translation and AI edits on your iPhone, where Apple Intelligence covers them.
- EFKey Pro, if you have it.
With it, you also get
- Haptics and key clicks.
- Clipboard history, copy and paste gestures, and GIFs.
- Learned words, blocked words and shortcuts shared with the app, so they can be backed up and synced through iCloud.
- Translation and AI edits through DeepL or your own API key.
- A live transcript while you dictate, and opening the EFKey app straight from the keyboard.
Either way
- No analytics, no trackers, no account.
- Nothing goes online on its own.
- What you type leaves the phone only when you send it yourself, to the service you picked.
- You can take Full Access back any time in iOS Settings.
Pricing
Free to type. Pro, once.
The keyboard
Freeforever
Typing, glide, corrections, prediction and all 77 languages, including the ones that arrive later. Not a launch promotion. Not free for now. Free.
EFKey Pro
€14.99once
Every tool around the typing. Nothing renews. The first 7 days are free and the trial starts when you tap it, not when you install. No card, no account.
Here before Pro existed? €6.99. The app works it out on its own: nothing to prove, nobody to email. It survives deleting the app, and even a new phone.
Want to give more? The EF tab has four one-time tips. A tip unlocks nothing; it pays for the next build.
Everything, line by lineQuestions
Short answers.
Is this a subscription?
No. The keyboard is free forever: typing, glide, corrections, prediction and all 77 languages, including the ones still to come. The tools around the typing are EFKey Pro for €14.99, once. Nothing renews.
What happens when the trial ends?
The keyboard types exactly as it did before and the tools go quiet. Nothing is blocked and nothing is charged. The trial runs 7 days and it starts when you tap it, not when you install. No card, no account.
Can I really type in two languages at once?
Yes. Pick two and both are corrected at the same time, mid-sentence. “dakujem dont worry” comes out “Ďakujem don't worry” and the globe key never enters the picture. Need more than two? Switch multilingual off, set up to five, and hold 123 to move between them.
Does my text go into some AI?
Typing, corrections and prediction never leave the phone. Translation, dictation and AI edits run on-device wherever Apple covers it. If you plug in your own API key, the text goes to the provider you picked and to nobody else.
Why does it ask for Full Access?
Because iOS keeps haptics, the clipboard, the internet and the space shared with the EFKey app away from keyboards until you allow it. EFKey types without it. With it you get haptics, clipboard history, GIFs, learned words synced with the app, and translation or AI edits through your own key. Nothing goes online unless you ask. The full list.
Can I bring my dictionary from SwiftKey?
Yes. Export it in the SwiftKey app under Dictionary, Import and Export. If your version doesn’t have that, use Export all in the privacy section of account.microsoft.com; the backup holds a vocabulary.txt. Then pick the file in EFKey under Settings, Dictionary, Import words. Importing only adds.
Can I run the AI on my own computer?
Yes. The API address is editable, so it can point at Ollama or LM Studio on your computer, at OpenRouter, or at your own proxy. Set up that way, nothing leaves your network.
Can I turn the Pro offers off?
Yes. There's a switch called “Offer EFKey Pro” and it takes the locked items out of the bar menu. If you're not going to buy it, you shouldn't have to look at it every day.
Ready when you are.
One conversation is enough to tell.
Found a bug? Missing a language?
Report it on feedback.efkey.app. You can see what others reported and what already got fixed. From the app it is quicker still: the EF tab fills in your build and device for you.
Most fixes and new features start as a report from someone who uses it. Prefer to chat? Discord and r/EFKey.
Coffee helps too: ko-fi.com/efkey.