Grammarly Keyboard is now available on both Android and iOS. Here’s a quick peek.

As you may know, both Brad and I use and recommend Grammarly, and I use this free grammar checker in all of my web browsers. (It’s even available for Microsoft Edge.) Brad also uses it in Microsoft Word. (I use MarkdownPad 2 for writing, so I can’t take advantage of this use.)

Now, Grammarly has built a free keyboard app for both Android and iOS; the Android version just shipped this week, but the iOS version has been available since late November. So what’s the point?

“The Grammarly Keyboard is a personal editor that integrates seamlessly with all your mobile apps and your mobile browser,” Grammarly’s Ayan Mandal explains. “Whether you’re responding to an important client’s email, posting a Facebook message for the world to see, or texting your boss, you’ll always look polished and professional, even on your phone.”

In other words, you will want to use Grammarly on your phone for the same reason you use it on your PC: It will help find spelling and grammar mistakes before you tap Enter and make a fool of yourself.

So what’s it’s like? I installed the Grammarly Keyboard on my Pixel 2 XL and iPhone X to find out.

Setup is a multi-step process, especially on iOS: I applaud Apple opening up its platform to allow for third-party keyboards, but I wish this as easier. Anyway, once you jump through some hoops, you’re up and running.

And the first notable point is that the Grammarly Keyboard looks native on both platforms. That is, it looks like Apple’s keyboard on iOS and Google’s Gboard on Android. In contrast, many keyboards, like Microsoft’s Swiftkey look nothing like the native keyboard on either platform. In fact, Swiftkey just looks like Swiftkey no matter where you use it. I prefer the native look, so this was an appreciated design decision.

It appears to work well, too, which is obviously the central point. I’m a sloppy mobile typist, and will probably never be otherwise. But Grammarly Keyboard catches my errors and does a decent job of correcting them. I like the pop-up suggestions and explanations, and have found that if a mistake remains in text I’ve typed, I can tap it and it auto-fixes. I’ve never seen that before.

One thing that does appear to be missing is a swipe-style entry system like we see on the built-in keyboards, and on third-party keyboards like Swype and Swiftkey. So that may make it a non-starter for some.

Grammarly Keyboard is free, but if you are a Grammarly Premium subscriber, you’ll get additional functionality including word and style suggestions, correction explanations, and vocabulary enhancements.

I’m going to keep using it and see if it will stick.

Download Grammarly Keyboard for iOS

Download Grammarly Keyboard for Android

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