How to customize and configure the mobile keyboard with colors and photos

If there are many Android users who criticize the iPhone for something, it is because of its lack of customization. Mobiles that work with the Google operating system have endless possibilities when it comes to changing the design and system options, which even reach the keyboard.

This is something that goes beyond altering wallpapers, system icons, or menu colors. Depending on the writing app that we use on the phone, we can even customize the mobile keyboard to our liking, not only changing its hue, but even using our own photos as bases.

Currently, there are different layers of customization depending on the smartphone that we use, although this is not a dilemma or problem to change the appearance of the keyboard, since, in general, there are two applications that we are going to find on our phones: Gboard or SwiftKey .

Customize GBoard

For all those who have the Gboard keyboard on their mobiles, which includes users with Xiaomi, Realme, Google Pixel or Motorola smartphones, among others, there are many customization options built into it without having to do anything other than choose our style. and configure it.

Change the keyboard theme

To take action, we will have to go to an app where we use the keyboard, such as the notes app.

When the keyboard is displayed, we touch on the three points.
In your options we will first touch on Theme .

At this point we will run into many styles to choose from. We can choose to set the default system keyboard and so when we switch to dark mode, the keyboard will do the same. Among the possibilities we also see degraded or themed. By choosing one of them, it will give us the possibility of bordering the keys or not, which will depend on our preferences.

Of course, we can also access these same options from the settings of the mobile device that you have in your hands.

Open the Settings app on your mobile
Scroll down to System options
Enter the Keyboard and input method menu
Select, in the menu of available keyboards Gboard
Click on Theme
choose the one you want

If you notice, next to each category (Colors, Landscapes, Gradients) you will find a button called Show more. By pressing it you will see, obviously, more options to dress the Google keyboard. Simply click on the one you want to download it and then select whether you want the border of the keys to be seen or not. Finally, click on Apply to finish customizing the keyboard .

Add a photo as background

Following the same previous route we also have the possibility of adding a photo as a background to the Google keyboard , only here we will have to follow a couple of more steps:

Open the Settings app on your mobile
Scroll down to System options
Enter the Keyboard and input method menu
Select, in the menu of available keyboards Gboard
Click on Theme
Select My Themes
A screen will open with all the photos you have stored in the gallery, select the one you want
Then, pinch on the screen to enlarge or shrink the photo and frame it in the corresponding box
Click on next
Choose the intensity of the photo
Select Done and the background will be applied immediately

Of course, if you don’t like the result, you can repeat this process to change the photo as many times as you want.

More Gboard Options

Although the style and customization of the keyboard is something very important, we cannot lose sight of the possibility of adding options, removing them or changing other sections. In Gboard we have many possibilities to make every detail of the keyboard to our liking and for this reason you just have to touch the three points again and then choose Settings. This will give us access to various script-based options, and especially the preferences, from where we can do all of this:

Activate the row of numbers on the keyboard
Show quick access to emojis
Use one-handed mode
Change the keyboard size
See emoji suggestions
Sounds when pressing keys
key vibration
expand keys
Heartbeat delays
Spell corrections
Swipe to type

Change the look of Swiftkey

Whether your phone is from Samsung or Huawei, as well as from other brands, or you use SwiftKey because you think it’s a better keyboard, you’ll also be able to customize it quite easily through the different options offered by the app.

Change the subject

Modifying the SwiftKey layout is quick and easy, with many options that aim to give us a better experience. To start, what we need to do is:

We play on the three points of the keyboard
Click on Themes

By touching this button we will come across a gallery of themes available to download and apply to it. Switching to the ‘Yours’ tab we can choose between those that we have previously downloaded.

Again, the route to change the appearance of this app from the Phone Settings is not too different from what we have already seen on other smartphones:

Open the Settings app on your mobile
Scroll down to the General Administration options
Enter the Keyboard List and Default menu
Select Swiftkey among all the available options
Click on Themes
Choose the one you like the most from the gallery that appears on the screen
Click on download
Access with your credentials
Apply the new look of the keyboard

Add a photo as background

Yes, the app owned by Microsoft also gives us the opportunity to choose a photo from the gallery, either made by ourselves or downloaded from the Internet, to change Siftkey’s appearance and interface.

Open the Settings app on your mobile
Scroll down to the General Administration options
Enter the Keyboard List and Default menu
Select Swiftkey among all the available options
Click on Themes
Scroll to the far right and select Custom
Click on Design a new theme
Press the Add Image button
Choose a photo you have on your mobile
Adjust the photo and its transparency and click on Done
Choose if you want the edges of the keys to be shown
Click on Ok
Click Save at the top right

More SwiftKey Keyboard Options

To further complete the customization of the keyboard , we can also just by touching the three points, choose the option to adjust size, designs or modes. To finish, we invite you to tap on Settings, which will give us a series of options that you may really need to change the style and especially the functionalities.

Choose languages or dialects.
Fixes
Gesture based options
Size.
Character Layout
row of numbers
Key sound and vibration

The peculiarity of the Samsung keyboard

We have already said that, in general, most of the Korean firm’s smartphones work with the Siftkey keyboard. But, there are some models that use the Samsung Keyboard by default, although they can choose to change it from the terminal settings.

This application has many customization options, basing the appearance changes on adding a border to the keys, increasing the transparency more or less, and changing between a light and a dark theme. If you want to do it, these are the steps to follow:

Open the Settings app on your mobile
Scroll down to the General Administration options
Enter the Keyboard List and Default menu
Select Samsung Keyboard
Scroll down to the Themes option
Choose the one you want among the 4 available

Show letters when you press the keyboard

There is an option highly valued by users, especially those for whom the on-screen keyboard does not seem big enough, which is directly related to its customization. We are talking about the option that allows you to make the letters expand when you click on each one of them , making writing easier.

This is something that we can also configure as we please from the settings of the two applications mentioned. On the Samsung keyboard, it is active by default and cannot be removed.