Best alternative keyboards for the Samsung Galaxy S6
If we're being honest, the built-in Samsung keyboard on the Galaxy S6 just isn't that great. It puts buttons in weird places, has some odd touch responses and is generally poor at auto correct, but that doesn't mean you're stuck with it. Of course you can switch out that keyboard with a free or paid option from Google Play, and that means you have dozens of choices available to you.
We've been using the Galaxy S6 plenty, and these are the keyboards we're happiest with after using them. Read along with us and see if one of these appeals to you as well.
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Google Keyboard
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Google's own keyboard app isn't just for Nexus devices — you can download it on your Galaxy S6 as well. The simple keyboard has a choice of dark and light themes that fit nicely with Lollipop-designed apps, as well as a few basic features like swipe typing and predictions that learn from how you type on all of your devices. You can also pick up handwriting input if you install the Google Handwriting Input app, which can be quickly switched to from the regular keyboard. As you'd expect the Google Keyboard is free, too, without any sort of ads or in-app purchases attached.
Download Google Keyboard from Google Play
SwiftKey
SwiftKey has taken a position as one of the top third-party keyboards out there. And even though its technology even powers many of the pre-installed keyboards on popular devices, you get the most benefit out of installing the full app on your own. You'll get swiping text entry, but also some of the best predictive text and auto correction in the business. The keyboard layouts are also customizable in terms of buttons and an extensive set of themes, so you can have a keyboard that fits your style.
You can get the basic keyboard for free now, which is a change from the way it was previously run, but you'll pay if you want additional themes to use.
Download SwiftKey from Google Play
Fleksy
Fleksy is a super flexible and customizable keyboard that works well on both phones and tablets, so you can use it on both for consistency without feeling like you're giving anything up. You can adjust its size and layout, set up custom buttons to launch apps or quickly copy/paste, and apply one of 40 themes. The keyboard also has built-in gif support, so you can easily send animated funnies to your friends. You'll have to pay for some premium features, but they're worth it.
Download Fleksy keyboard from Google Play
Swype
Swype is one of the original big name third-party keyboards, and like SwiftKey its technology has also been baked into many keyboards that come pre-loaded on phones. It doesn't have some of the more advanced or flashy features of the others, but it looks great and offers a few neat tricks like good next word prediction, gestures on the keyboard for performing actions and bilingual language input.
The keyboard is now free as well, which is always nice to see.
Download Swype from Google Play
GO Keyboard
GO Keyboard is another option that bills itself as being extremely customizable, with thousands of themes and tons of layout options to make the keyboard look like no other. You also get emoticons, emoji and multi-character smiley faces included, over 60 languages supported and you get free voice dictation as well. There are in-app purchases to load up GO Keyboard with all of the best features, but the basic set are there for free and you get a nice-looking keyboard as well.
Download GO Keyboard from Google Play
What's your keyboard of choice on the Galaxy S6?
We've touched on all of the leading choices in replacement keyboards here, but we also want to know what you've been using on your own Galaxy S6. Whether it's one from our list here or something else, hop in the comments and let us know!
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Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.