this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023

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Privacy

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Are there any good privacy friendly keyboards for android? (programming.dev)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Rizoid@programming.dev to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

76 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 71 points 10 months ago (7 children)

I develop thumb-key, so it's maintained.

[–] ShroOmeric@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

god bless you

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago

[–] Cwilliams@beehaw.org 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Typed with thumb-key. This is so hard, but im determined :)

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Usually gets much easier after a few days.

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[–] Arondeus@lemmy.ca 6 points 10 months ago

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!

[–] smock9@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

is it possible to add auto complete / recomendations?

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

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.

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[–] Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz 4 points 10 months ago

I should really use it but I just cant get myself to learn a new layout

[–] Amends1782@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

Based

[–] farngis_mcgiles@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

i love thumbkey!

[–] spamspeicher@feddit.de 22 points 10 months ago (2 children)

AnySoftKeyboard

https://github.com/AnySoftKeyboard/AnySoftKeyboard

[–] pkill@programming.dev 5 points 10 months ago

Sadly the development stopped, but still one of the most feature-rich.

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[–] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 21 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Florisboard is a good one.

[–] ShroOmeric@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yep, hoping they will keep updating.. buy still better than most the way it is..

[–] ARNiM@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

They do, the author just recently started working on it again and welcoming contributions :)

[–] jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

OpenBoard is great and supports swipe typing using a Google library.

[–] skar3@feddit.it 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

OpenBoard 1.4.5 doesn't support swiping, i am wrong?

I know there is a fork with swipe support

[–] vikingtons@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

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)

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[–] hiramfromthechi@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] dannym@lemmy.escapebigtech.info 6 points 10 months ago

Oh, i didn't think about that! Tho I'd feel gross installing a google product on my phone

[–] Vexz@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] Fisch@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You don't even need GrapheneOS for that, I'm using LineageOS and can turn off internet access for apps

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[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 15 points 10 months ago (4 children)

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

[–] speck@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It's kinda like Japanese keyboards

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[–] Prunebutt@feddit.de 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You sonuvabich beat me by 2 minutes! ಥ_ಥ

[–] nik282000@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Prunebutt@feddit.de 4 points 10 months ago

I sawa video on MessageEase and thought it was neat. Also, I hate legacy problems like QWERTY... And things like qwerty on phone screens.

[–] RandomStickman@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Omg I'm so frustrated with QWTY on phones I'm giving this a try now!

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[–] bluGill@kbin.social 3 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] tuto193@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

OpenBoard is great. I've tried a few and it just feels like a privacy-focused version of G-Board

[–] KpntAutismus@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

i second this. the first app i install on every new device is openboard. right after f-droid.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

deleted

[–] encode8062@lemmy.one 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I do not find the glide typing option

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

deleted

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[–] kpw@kbin.social 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Not every project needs regular maintenance. I can imagine a keyboard to be a finished product, no updates necessary.

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[–] lseif@sopuli.xyz 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i've been loving FlorisBoard (F-Droid, GitHub). great customizability, language support, clipboard actions.

[–] rando@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

+1 for floris, it's the only keyboard with glide typing and themes are super good.

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[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] RageAgainstTheRich@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I love Florisboard but i just wish they would add the spelling checker 😔

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[–] markkdark@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I suggestion a Open board with swipe function. https://github.com/Helium314/openboard Swiping this on Openboard 🦾🦾

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[–] jlow@beehaw.org 5 points 10 months ago

Typing this on OpenBoard ^__^

[–] Titou@feddit.de 3 points 10 months ago

I use SimpleKeyboard with updates disabled

[–] robsuto@lemmy.ml 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

AOSP 14 works great and has swipe.

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[–] muhyb@programming.dev 3 points 10 months ago

I use Simple Keyboard from F-Droid (rkkr's, not the one that sold to an ad company) and it's quite nice.

[–] Bizarroland@kbin.social 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Are there any good privacy focused voice to text keyboards? Or do I need to run whisper on a private server to do that?

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Futo voice input.

Pretty impressive

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[–] Cyberjin@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I tried most of them, it's just not the same as Gboard.

Anyone know if you can block Gboard with DNS?

[–] xarexyouxmadx@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

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.

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