Hacker's Keyboard

37,193

Klaus Weidner Productivity

PEGI 3

Are you missing the key layout you're used to from your computer? This keyboard has separate number keys, punctuation in the usual places, and arrow keys. It is based on the AOSP Gingerbread soft keyboard, so it supports multitouch for the modifier keys.

This keyboard is especially useful if you use ConnectBot for SSH access. It provides working Tab/Ctrl/Esc keys, and the arrow keys are essential for devices that don't have a trackball or D-Pad.

HAVE FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS, OR BUG REPORTS? Please check https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/wiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions or email me. It's difficult to track issues reported through review comments.

Completion dictionaries are provided by plug-in packages, see the "other applications by this developer" section for the currently available list. The keyboard also supports use of dictionaries (but not keyboard layouts) provided by AnySoftKeyboard language packs.

For more information, please see the documentation:
https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/wiki/UsersGuide
https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/wiki/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/wiki/ReleaseNotes
https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/

In case an updated version is not working for you, you can download older releases here:
https://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/downloads/list?q=label:Release&sort=-filename

Known issues include:

- Localization for the keyboard layout is incomplete, currently the Spanish, Finnish, Lao, Romanian, and Thai are only localized in 4-row mode and show the English QWERTY layout in 5-row mode.

- Some languages and layouts may not be usable on your phone if it lacks the necessary fonts.

- Right-to-left languages (Arabic, Hebrew) are apparently not fully supported on pre-Honeycomb devices. Your mileage may vary.

- Many applications don't react to additional keys since they aren't programmed to handle them.

The supported keyboard layouts include:
- Armenian (Հայերեն)
- Arabic (العربية)
- Bulgarian (български език)
- Czech (Čeština)
- Danish (dansk)
- English Dvorak (language "en_DV")
- English (QWERTY)
- English/British (en_GB)
- Finnish (Suomi)
- French (Français, AZERTY)
- German (Deutsch, QWERTZ)
- Greek (ελληνικά)
- Hebrew (עברית)
- Hungarian (Magyar)
- Italian (Italiano)
- Lao (ພາສາລາວ)
- Norwegian (Norsk bokmål)
- Persian (فارسی)
- Portugese (Português)
- Romanian (Română)
- Russian (Русский)
- Russian phonetic (Русский, ru-rPH)
- Serbian (Српски)
- Slovak (Slovenčina)
- Slovenian (Slovenščina)/Bosnian/Croatian/Latin Serbian
- Spanish (Español, Español Latinoamérica)
- Swedish (Svenska)
- Tamil (தமிழ்)
- Thai (ไทย)
- Turkish (Türkçe)
- Ukrainian (українська мова)

Reviews

4.4

37,193 total

5 27,065

4 4,993

3 2,019

2 873

1 2,243

Charla Kay Conway

THIS KEYBOARD 'ROCKS'!!!! "IF", you learn how to use it correctly. You must download the FREE language user dictionary, to get better word selection variety. In settings... "IF", you don't understand the command settings... Look the commands up in Wikepedia or BING Search. There have been BUGS, however, the developer, seems to be stomping them out. I'm pleased with this App & HIGHLY recommend it to those that don't care about inserting graphic images or emoticans.

Jayaraman Raju

Full Credit to the developer for this wonderful app. toggle between language is a special feature available only in rare apps like this. The work that the developer puts is specially appreciable and also the layout given . I found ctrol and alt keys. I only ask the developer , whether the control and alt keys are working as combination keys. If he says that it works, then it is amazing keyboard. Probably not many knows about the value of the keyboard special characters. I also came across the size of keyboard changes from portrait and landscape. Kudos to efforts for humanity. Today , only i search for app like control keys and altkeys, left right up down arrows. Wow app

Blood Amplifier

Definitely not standard. Hell yes, a lightweight keyboard that still manages to cram features in there. Some preset themes, a couple of different layouts and heck, even the ability to make it appear on command through the taskbar. Even if extended keyboards ain't your thing, it's still worth a look. Too bad it has seemingly been discontinued. Still, some things are best left at their prime. -EDIT: Never mind it's discontinuation, it's back. Hell yeah.

It's amazing, I love it. The only thing I would add would be a fourth layout that had the same keys as the 5-row, but with the numbers at the right, so there can be 4 rows with keys that are not so vertically short and horizontally long in landscape mode. Add that and I'll find a way to give you six stars ;P

Dove Man

Some damn fine work. I'm a novelist, and this is by far the best keyboard for me. Took a second to figure out how to configure the settings to my liking but after that, it's perfect. I love how you can enable type writer sounds. A true work of art! I think I can text faster because of it! Has all the settings you could think of and more. A very clean look and it's all 100% free, with no ads. Thank you for just an overall great experience.

Jay Cai

Awesome minimalist keyboard! It be nice to be able to hold main keys to get punctuations like latest gboard, but I can live w pressing the alt key as toggle still. The return key is a bit big (in 4row gingerbread style), so accidentally hit it often.

User reviews

Charla Kay Conway January 15, 2017

Jayaraman Raju March 25, 2017

Blood Amplifier December 12, 2016

March 17, 2017

Dove Man December 16, 2016

Jay Cai March 11, 2017

Robert Branstetter January 1, 2017

Best Keyboard I've Ever Found! Great keyboard! Not perfect, but almost. It would be nice if we could adjust spacing on punctuation row. Even more important is ability to override other apps, etc., and keep fifth row open ALL the time! Thanks for making this! =^_^=

Suraj Sharma February 26, 2017

Has real potential but needs improvements. Improvements include arrows keys, ctrl, home, end keys in portrait mode. Other improvements could be cursor control by spacebar swipe, show additional common symbols such as @#$%&*+ on letter keys (access via long hold). Swipe features are currently difficult to use, and autocorrect suggestions conflict with symbol suggestions.

Brett Kelly January 24, 2017

This is the best keyboard if you need to type exactly what you want without the keyboard getting in the way. Still use Gboard as main keyboard but use this one with autocorrect turned off. Takes some getting used to, but it's truly a hacker's keyboard. Plenty of easy access to every symbol you'd ever want or need, and installing a dictionary gives you predictive text which makes it a lot easier to use as a general keyboard.

Keyur Parikh April 20, 2017

This keyboard is awesome in ways that keyboard app are supposed to be. There is no swype input but its as best as typing on real keyboard. Being on android swype function is without a doubt extraordinary, it was the reason I came to android. But one button typing has merits as well. But forget one handed input need two thumbs. ;-)

Wlodek Laszcz December 29, 2016

Pretty good Quite good. For me the best one I have ever used. Yes, I know some people complain lack of this, or that. It's hard to please everyone. It is even impossible ;-) Maybe it's even better when people comment weak points, because the criticism shows the autor areas which should, or could be improved in future releases :-)) Best regards.

Basement Coals December 23, 2016

It Creates No Internet Connections to Cloud/External Servers. This Developer/Group Respects User's Privacy-Rights. This app creates NO Internet connections, typed-info is safe, typed text/words/suggestions are not transferred to cloud/external server stuff for analyzing/collection. Its an offline keyboard app, can also suggests words. Lots of features. THANKS. This review was done when i used v1.39.3. Hope the dev can manage time & resource for adding an offline spell checker for andro to mark words. i/we tested GO-kb & Ginger-kb, both creates super massive amount of cloud+external server connections, even when typing!

Michael Tanquary March 18, 2017

Using it right now. Grows on you real quick. For instance it displays forward slash / if it can fit it. Again if it fits arrow keys, \ [ ] = has autocorrect. I paid for ai.type and i like this better. ai.type has swype but it sucks anyways. Oh and no damn emoji popping up when you least expect it reminiscent of the ms word paper clip. Maybe should give it a new name like grown ups keyboard or maybe grups like that Star Trek episode.

Michael Johnson December 14, 2016

I can't imagine thumb typing without it When I have to type on my wife's phone I struggle. Using the Hacker's Keyboard makes things so easy. Autocomplete is actually smart and stays out of the way. And I love the arrow keys and being able to do Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V. Having a full keyboard is a must for a touch typist. Thanks so much! My one complaint is that a recent update dropped the built in dictionary. Been functioning without for a week or two. But I just found the package so YAY!

February 13, 2017

Best keyboard for programming. It works just like a PC keyboard. Thanks for giving it free. Also thanks for giving the option to change "Ctrl-a" (select all) to "Ctrl-Alt-a. I had deleted everything by mistake many times. This option is very helpful.

Wall Fur February 3, 2017

A pretty good full keyboard. No invasive permissions. Autocorrect is a bit clunky sometimes. Key presses can be inaccurate, often get one from row above (have screenshot to prove it), but aiming for bottom of keys is enough to work around it. Would be nice to have an option to force suggestions without autocorrect on inputs that otherwise disable it (like a browser address bar).

Huang Leo December 12, 2016

It is a keyboard. This is a keyboard app. This is not a personal assistant behind a QWERTY. This keyboard does not know you. This keyboard cannot look into your soul to find what you want to type. This is simply a keyboard. Though... where are the slash and question mark keys on the compact 5-row layout?

Daniel DePeau December 25, 2016

I got very used to the keyboard that originally came with my phone, and was disappointed when it changed after a system update - after trying a couple alternatives, I eventually found this one, and I love it! There are many customization options and a full featured keyboard that even includes Ctrl and Alt "keys" (in landscape mode), while still providing a clean, simple interface without all the useless clutter that so many other keyboards insist on including.

Justin McLoughlin December 12, 2016

Crap It used to be a awesome keynote being able to use ctrl. I's a plus. And helps with work. Although ever sense they changed the default and disabled ctrl a . It's worthless

John T March 24, 2017

Love the keyboard but there is no / key on the 5 row compact mode. Developers, how are you supposed to type urls? Please ditch the :-) key and add /. Would rate 5 stars instead of 4 for this simple change. Please and thank you for the great app!

Wolf Senpai January 27, 2017

You know what? I think this app cannot be trusted every words you type will be submit to the developer of it but expect passwords!

Scott M April 9, 2017

Perfect! The Galaxy S7 with Nougat is no longer able to turn off autocorrect without turning off predictive text. This one does both like Android used to.

March 2, 2017

It's a great keyboard, but please, for the love of god, get rid of the damn "indent/tab/next element" key that's next to the spacebar in gmail. I accidentally hit that little crappy button so often, and it takes me out of typing my message, I have to click back in, and when i do the last word i was typing is selected so if i type a letter it deletes the word and enters that letter. Please, at least give me an option to get rid of that key. Also, when you click that key and click back into the message, it assumes you want a capital letter which is annoying because usually i am cut off mid-sentence.

darkdevil1313 January 13, 2017

Missing keys Very good app, but has a big issue on the portrait 5row compact format: question mark and slashes are MISSING!. please fixx this, it's the only downside to this over all flawless app.

Rohan Machado December 18, 2016

No / key in 5 row compact portrait It's ridiculously missing forward slash in 5 row compact portrait mode. Am I the only one missing it? Do that and I'll update to 5 star

April 14, 2017

This keyboard wins. Though, it would be nice to be able to enable the English dictionary when using another language input. I use the French input to have Azerty layout, but then the suggestions don't work.

Jesse Sargent January 24, 2017

This app has the kind of weird flaws in it that let you know its developers aren't very detail oriented. If I want an asterisk, hold down the eight key and swipe a little right to select that one, as there were two potential selections and the asterisk was on top. Want a dollar sign... Its on top on the four key.. to the right..... no. Left..... and if youre wondering why I'm not usINg any question marks.... THIS STUPID KEYBOARD ARRANGEMENT DOESN'T HAVE ONE.

joe charles February 19, 2017

Does what it says with no ads nor junk. Just needed a keyboard with an escape and arrow keys. Thanks very much Klaus.

Ben Chan January 20, 2017

Missing forward slash and question mark. Question mark only shows after typing period or if it thinks you are at end of line. I'm using 5 line view compact.

Nich Swearingen January 26, 2017

The suggestions are not working consistantly any longer e.g. typing the word 'typing' if I type 'typ' i have no suggestions. Yet, the word 'suggestions' has many variations available. :(

Robin E. Douglas December 12, 2016

Put the old Ginger Bread theme back in. The new Ginger Bread theme looks like the Ice Cream Sandwich but a little lighter. We're not all blind needing these ugly hugh letters. Other than that I really like this keyboard. It's the best I've found since I got my first tablet four years ago.

Malcolm Tan January 2, 2017

Simple Yet Powerful! This keyboard app is the best example of what it means to be simple and minimal yet offering total control to the end user. Simply said, you can configure this keyboard to behave exactly the way you want, display exactly what keys you need, and ditch the rest. Not convinced? I'm using this keyboard to replace the latest Google Keyboard. 'nuff said!

Michael Townshend January 7, 2017

Rotation Problem Used to love this keyboard till it stopped the screen rotation working on second gen Nexus 7. Fix this and back to 5 stars!

Nick Nombre February 9, 2017

I've loved this kb app since my Moto Droid (v1) in ~2010. Now it no longer suggests words in the suggestion bar while typing (it just shows the word being typed progressively). It also doesn't allow me to use the microphone for voice input as of a week or 2 ago. It also stopped auto-correcting or auto-punctuating or auto-editing the 'common mistakes.' For this reason I'm rating a 3★ since every other keyboard does these things and there's no other developer contact. Please reply or email me thru here, or fix these issues w/next update and I'll go back to 5 stars.

February 7, 2017

Mostly working great. The punctuation shortcut bar is very handy, I wish I could customize the selection of characters on the ALT page, too. I think I ran into a bug today, I was trying to show an edit in a quote in square brackets and it kept editing my text to be all caps, probably because hitting ALT after shift registered as double tapping shift.

Gagan Singh March 14, 2017

Hey. I was wondering if you could perhaps add just a plain black flat theme. Because the Holo and the gingerbread. Themes look out of place on noughat

Matthew Ryan December 22, 2016

Used to be good App no longer shows suggested spellings, which makes this a non functioning keyboard in my eyes. Shame, i had used it for years.

Jamie Landeg Jones December 28, 2016

One of the 'must' haves... One of the first apps I must have on any tablet I use! EDIT: Justin McLoughlin and Matthew Ryan. You both show the height of arrogance, whilst coming off as incompetent fools . YOU ARE BOTH WRONG. Don't downvote an app because you are MORONS. And then to only one star? Ungrateful idiots too...

Vibe Killz - Road To 250 Subscribers December 15, 2016

Customize to your profection You can customize how big, how small, keys, best for hacking, and computer programming on a keyboard! Sadly no customization for colors, styles, or emojis :(

Prashanth T January 5, 2017

Just what I was looking for: as lightweight as possible, without cluttering emojis/ dumb stickers. It should come up in search results along with SwiftKeys and the likes. Wish 1. It has separate horizontal numpad without merging with QWERTY pad. 2. It has swipe feature. Also, suggested words do not appear in certain fields, like chrome URL bar..