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How to add a third-party keyboard on iPhone (and what Full Access means)

To add a third-party keyboard on iPhone, go to Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard and pick it from the list. Then use the globe key on the keyboard to switch to it in any app. Full Access is a separate switch that you only need if the keyboard has to do more than type, and you can leave it off until a feature asks for it.

The steps are the same on iPad.

Add a keyboard

  1. Install the keyboard’s app from the App Store. A keyboard only appears in Settings once its app is on your device.
  2. Open Settings, then General, then Keyboard.
  3. Tap Keyboards, then Add New Keyboard.
  4. Under Third-Party Keyboards, tap the one you want.

It now appears in your list of keyboards, below English (or whichever language you already use).

Switch to it in any app

  1. Open any app with a text field, such as Messages, Mail or Notes, and tap the field so the keyboard appears.
  2. Tap the globe key at the bottom left of the keyboard to move to the next keyboard.
  3. To pick a specific one, touch and hold the globe key and choose from the list.

If you have no globe key, you only have one keyboard added. If the emoji keyboard is in your way, you can remove it in the same Keyboards list.

What “Allow Full Access” means

After you add a keyboard, tap its name in Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards. You will see a switch called Allow Full Access.

By default, a third-party keyboard runs in a tight sandbox. It can type text into the app you’re using, but it can’t reach the internet or share data with its own app. Full Access lifts those limits. What a keyboard does with that permission is up to the developer, which is why iOS shows a warning when you turn it on.

So the sensible approach is:

  • Leave it off if the keyboard works without it.
  • Turn it on only for a feature that needs it, and only for a developer you trust.
  • Check the privacy policy on the App Store page first. It should say what the keyboard does and doesn’t collect.

You can switch Full Access off again at any time in the same screen.

How this works with Handy

Handy is a keyboard for iPhone and iPad that holds the replies, links, photos and PDFs you send again and again. Here is exactly where it needs Full Access:

  • Saved text and links can be inserted without Full Access.
  • Images and PDFs need Full Access, because the keyboard copies them for you to paste.

Handy has no account, and your library stays on your device, with optional sync through your own iCloud. It never reads your clipboard and never records what you type. If you only save text and links, you can leave Full Access off.

For the step-by-step on files, see how to paste a PDF or photo from your keyboard on iPhone.

If the keyboard isn’t showing up

  • It’s missing from the list. Open its app once, then check the Keyboards list again. If it is still not there, restart your iPhone.
  • The globe key doesn’t offer it. Make sure it’s added under Keyboards, not just installed.
  • It disappears in a password field. iOS switches to the standard keyboard for secure text fields such as passwords. That is normal, and your keyboard comes back afterwards.
  • It stops working after an update. Switch to another keyboard and back, or toggle it off and on in Settings.

Tips

  • Keep one default you trust. You can reorder keyboards with Edit in the Keyboards list, and the globe key moves through them in that order.
  • Remove what you don’t use. Swipe left on a keyboard in the list and tap Delete. You can always add it back.
  • Use Text Replacement for tiny shortcuts. It’s built in and needs no extra keyboard. See our guide to canned responses on iPhone for when to use it and when a snippet keyboard is a better fit.
  • Test before you trust. Try a new keyboard in Notes before you use it in a chat that matters.

The short version

Add it in Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards, switch with the globe key, and treat Allow Full Access as an opt-in for specific features rather than a default. A keyboard you trust, with a clear privacy policy, is worth the two minutes of setup.