Roundup

The best iPhone keyboards for typing in two languages (2026)

Published 3 October 2026 · 5 min read

If you write in two languages, the keyboard decides how much of your day is spent on the globe key. Here are the five iPhone keyboards worth considering, what each one does with more than one language, and who each one suits.

How we compared them

A disclosure first: Pilcrow is our keyboard. To keep this fair, every statement about the other four comes from their makers’ own help pages or App Store listings, linked at the end, and we say what each does well. We judged them on what matters when your messages change language:

• Languages at once — how many can be active without switching keyboards.
• How it decides — whether it follows you word by word or needs a key press or a space-bar slide.
• Swipe — whether gliding works in your languages.
• Full Access and accounts — what you have to grant or sign in to.
• Price.

1. Apple’s built-in keyboard

For some language pairs, iOS has a bilingual keyboard: add the second language with Add to [language] Keyboard and Apple says it “automatically switches between the two languages you use most often”. iOS 18 also added a three-language keyboard for one specific group of languages. QuickPath, Apple’s swipe typing, covers many languages but not all; Apple’s Feature Availability page lists both.

Good for: anyone whose pair is on Apple’s list. It is free, needs no setup beyond Settings, and is the only keyboard iOS allows in password fields anyway.
Watch out for: outside the supported pairs you switch keyboards by hand; the learned dictionary can only be reset as a whole.

2. Gboard

Google’s iPhone setup page says Gboard can support up to three languages at a time, and you can type in them without changing language, though Google notes not every language is supported for this. Glide typing is built in, also not in every language. Full Access is what turns on Google Search in the keyboard; Google says searches are sent to Google and nothing else is shared, and the listing adds usage statistics and voice input to what it sends.

Good for: people who want search, GIFs and stickers in the keyboard, for free.
Watch out for: the iPhone app’s version history shows no update since May 2022 (version 2.3.19). More in Pilcrow vs Gboard.

3. Microsoft SwiftKey

Microsoft says SwiftKey for iOS supports more than 600 languages and works with up to two at a time. With two languages on the same layout it detects which one you are writing; with different layouts you slide on the space bar to switch. Flow, its swipe typing, works on iPhone, though Microsoft lists which languages lack it only for Android. On iOS the keyboard requires Full Access, because its language models and learning live in the container app; Microsoft states that this does not mean what you type is transferred. Backup and sync use OneDrive and a Microsoft account, and are optional.

Good for: two-language typists who want a free, actively updated keyboard, or whose language is rare.
Watch out for: a third language means turning one of the two off. More in Pilcrow vs SwiftKey.

4. Typewise

Typewise rethinks the layout itself with hexagonal keys, which is a real change of habit and the reason people choose it. Its listing offers more than 40 languages and says you can write in all of them at once; typing in multiple languages without switching is part of Typewise Pro, its subscription. The listing also says the keyboard does not require Full Access and that typing data is not sent to the cloud. Its latest App Store update at the time of writing was in April 2025.

Good for: people open to a new layout in exchange for bigger keys.
Watch out for: the multilingual feature is not in the free version, and the layout takes getting used to.

5. Pilcrow

Pilcrow keeps the standard layout and lets you enable several languages at once. It tells them apart word by word, so a sentence can change language halfway through with no key press, and every language can be typed on the layout you already know. Swipe works in every language it ships, including through the space bar for several words in one gesture. Missing accents are restored 74–85 % of the time when you type without them, quoted at the worst end across the languages it ships.

The keyboard contains no networking code, needs no account, and works completely with Full Access off; turning it on adds only haptics, the clipboard panel and the app’s view of learned words. What it learns is a list you can open from the keyboard and edit one entry at a time.

Good for: people who mix languages within a message, want corrections that leave real words alone, and care where their typing goes.
Watch out for: it is paid after three free days, and it covers fewer languages than SwiftKey or Gboard. Check yours is on the list in the app before you rely on it.

At a glance

Which should you choose?

If Apple supports your pair and autocorrect rarely annoys you, stay with Apple’s keyboard; it costs nothing and you already have it. If you want search and GIFs in the keyboard, Gboard. If you want free and two languages are enough, SwiftKey. If you want a different layout, Typewise. If your messages change language mid-sentence, or you are tired of correct words being changed, try Pilcrow for three days and see whether you notice the globe key’s absence.

Whichever you pick, the setup is the same; this step-by-step guide covers each one.

Last checked October 2026 against each maker’s help pages and the US App Store. All product names are trademarks of their owners; Pilcrow is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. If anything here is out of date, write to info@pilcrowtype.com.

Sources

1. Apple, Add or change keyboards on iPhone; iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability; Use three languages in one keyboard with iOS 18
2. Google, Set up Gboard – iPhone & iPad; Gboard on the App Store
3. Microsoft, SwiftKey with more than one language; supported languages; why SwiftKey needs Full Access in iOS
4. App Store, Typewise Custom Keyboard (description and version history)