You spend a lot of time using the software keyboard on your phone, so it makes sense to make sure it’s a keyboard you’re comfortable with—one that suits both your aesthetic taste and your typing requirements.
I’ve previously covered the best alternative keyboards if you want a change from the default one that comes with your phone, but if you’re a Samsung Galaxy owner, there’s another option to be aware of: You can create your own keyboard, too.
This comes via the Keys Cafe app, part of the Good Lock utilities suite that Samsung develops to accompany One UI. It lets you build keyboards exactly to your needs—from the keys on show, to the animations that appear when you press them.
Getting started with Keys Cafe
You can access Keys Cafe by downloading Good Lock from the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store. While Good Lock doesn’t come preinstalled on One UI, it is an official Samsung add-on, and there’s a lot to explore: There are tools here for tweaking volume settings, making 3D animated wallpapers, and adding extra processing options to the phone camera, for example.
To design your own keyboards, find Keys Cafe on the Plugins screen. Tap the download icon to the right of the utility name to get it on your phone, and when the download is complete, tap on Keys Cafe at the top of the list to launch it. Keys Cafe will also be added as an app on your home screen and in the app drawer.
Keys Cafe is part of Good Lock.
Credit: Lifehacker
Keys Cafe isn’t just about creating keyboards. It will give you some interesting stats about your typing—including your typing speed for the day—and there are games you can play to improve your typing speed. If you don’t want to make your own keyboard, there are a variety of preset themes you can apply.
When you’re ready to get creative with your own keyboard design, open the Keyboard tab and tap Make. You’ll be given a selection of basic templates to start off with, based on the keyboards that are currently installed: Tap on the thumbnail you want to use as a starting point, then choose Edit to get to the creation screen.
How to make your own keyboard
I’ve never made my own phone keyboard before, but Keys Cafe makes the process simple and fun. The main editing screen shows a grid of all the available characters you’ve got to work with, and these can be dragged down to the keyboard design at the bottom. You can add keys for the special characters you use most often, for example, or for your favorite emojis.
What do you think so far?
Tapping on keys that are already part of the keyboard lets you edit them in more detail. You’re able to change the height and the width of each key individually (the others will shift around as needed)—so if you need a much wider space bar, go for it. Press and hold to select and edit multiple keys at the same time.
Adjusting key height and width.
Credit: Lifehacker
The arrow-and-blocks icon just above the keyboard lets you add rows (if no keys are selected) and remove rows (if one or more keys are selected) There’s also a green reset button in the top right corner if you need to go back to the beginning, as well as an undo button to take one step back. When you’re happy, tap the purple check icon (top right) to save your new keyboard layout.
To change colors and animations, you need to head to the Design part of the Keyboard tab in Keys Cafe, and tap the + (plus) button near the top right: The appearance of the keyboard is handled separately from the layout, so it’s possible to create several different combinations of both, if you’d like to.
Picking colors and styles.
Credit: Lifehacker
When you get into the design editor, there are three main sections: the main keyboard, the individual letter keys, and the animations that are overlaid on top (for swipe typing, for example). You can switch between these sections using the icons up in the top right corner, then make changes underneath—so for the individual keys, you can pick separate colors for the characters, the backgrounds, and the borders.
On the main keyboard screen, you can change the background color and the keypress effects—there are several different animations to pick from, which can be customized as needed. There’s also a Sound tab here to change the sound you hear when keys are tapped. Select Save, and your new keyboard theme is saved on top of the layout you’ve made, and the keyboard is ready to be used.
