# ℂKey - Customisable Keyboard > Build custom keyboard layouts with unique keys and panes. (iPhone/iPad app by Jamie Froggatt.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/key-customisable-keyboard/id1164224433 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Jamie Froggatt](https://appshunter.io/developer/933327498) - Category: Utilities, Productivity - Price: Free - Rating: 3.80/5 from 13 App Store ratings · 13 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 9.0 · 14 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2016-11-09 - Data updated: 2026-08-13 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/key-customisable-keyboard/id1164224433/reviews.md ## What is ℂKey? Build your own keyboard - you choose the keys! Great for maths & science work, fans of more obscure keyboard layouts, or just better expressing yourself. Scroll down for an overview of the premade layouts and a detailed feature breakdown. NOTES • Add the keyboard by navigating to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Keyboards -> Add New Keyboard… • Unicode characters may not display correctly in some fonts. • Check out the subreddit at reddit.com/r/ckey/ OVERVIEW • Add keys to your keyboard, which can type any text of any length. • Organise related keys into multiple pages (‘panes’). • Includes handy editing features and plenty of options. • Built-in unicode character picker for finding new characters to add to your keyboard. • Editable text view for trying out your keyboard designs. DEFAULT LAYOUTS • QWERTY, Dvorak, Dvorak Left Handed - Layouts inspired by the originals, with an original collection of symbols. - Use a reduced number of keys to accommodate smaller screens. • Symbols: contains some more rarely used symbols not present on the standard layouts. • Maths: a layout designed for general maths, with digits, pi & infinity, and a wide set of operations. • Formal Languages: an example of a more complex, specialist layout. • Superscript & Subscript • x/y: all unicode fractions. FEATURES Keyboard: • Your keys - the main content of the keyboard. • Multiple panes, to organise related keys. • A space key. • Control keys: backspace, keyboard picker, dismiss, return. • Alternate key forms. - Hold a key to type it's alt form. - Use the alt key to temporarily switch the forms around. - Alternate forms could be capital letters, inverse operations, or something completely different. • Swipe left on the pane list to give your keys more room in longer typing sessions. - Swipe in from the left edge to bring the list back. App: • Edit panes and keys in a view resembling the keyboard itself. - Tap a key to change what it types: + Keys can type any number of any unicode characters, multiline text supported. + Optionally use a custom keycap, instead of showing the key's output. + Edit the alt mode version of the key by tapping with alt mode enabled. - Hold a key to bring up the edit menu: + Edit [with 1 selected] - bring up a larger version of the key editor. + Swap [with 2 selected] - switch the positions of two keys. + Gather [with >1 selected] - collect the selected keys at one spot. + Remove alt - remove the custom alt state, making the key match its normal state in alt mode. + Duplicate - quickly clone a key. + Cut, copy, and paste - use their established meanings (the pasteboard is shared between panes). + Delete - deletes a key. + Insert - inserts a key at the spot of the current selection. - Enter edit mode for serious changes: + Drag (before selecting anything) to reorder. + Tap keys to select/deselect them, then hold one to bring up the edit menu and perform a batch change. - Hold the + button to add a batch of keys, by splitting text into its individual characters (or unicode scalars). - Set the number of rows and columns in each pane by tapping the pane editor's title. • The unicode character map allows you to add a character to a key directly, or copy one to the clipboard. - Enter a search, or jump to a common region or known unicode codepoint. - Hold a character to view details. • Editable text view, for checking out how characters look at different font sizes and weight, or just testing your latest keyboard design. - Switch through iOS keyboard types. - Set the keyboard's return key type. - View the keyboard in light & dark variations. - Set text font, alignment, and size. • Export individual panes, or your whole keyboard, for sharing or backup. - Creates a .ckey file (uses .plist format). - Use iOS's ‘Open In…’ feature to load the file back into the app. • Additional options to customise the look and feel of the keyboard. ## Key features - Create custom keyboard keys - Organize keys into multiple panes - Built-in Unicode character picker - Editable text view for testing - Pre-made layouts (QWERTY, Dvorak, Maths) - Alternate key forms - Advanced key editing and batch operations ## Recent user reviews (10 of 13) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/key-customisable-keyboard/id1164224433/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Très bonne appli *2026-03-27* Permet de personnaliser les touches à sa guise idéal pour les maths pour les personnes dys ### 5/5 — Fix it *2026-03-13* If i hold a key it sends me out fix it ### 5/5 — A hidden gem *2024-10-27* This is the only developer to allow users to alter individual characters. That's super useful when I have to add (U+200E) Left-to-Right Mark, to each key. Other apps don't consider this a necessary option. ### 5/5 — Love it *2024-08-30* Works great! Love having a custom keyboard with symbols in. Super convenient ### 1/5 — new app paid *2023-07-01* make a free version of keybuild ### 5/5 — Gets the job done *2023-03-09* It doesn’t have the best UI, but it is the only app I can find that lets you really have a customizable keyboard. Rated it 5 stars to get it up the charts even if my review doesn’t count for much. ### 5/5 — brilliant *2023-01-24* realise this is now unsupported but it's still really good - not ideal for typing because of the grid layout, but just easily made a full keyboard of regex shortcuts, which are so annoying to type with the native iOS keyboard, so if you need something along those lines it's great (typing open and closed brackets and moving the cursor inside and similar features would make it perfect though). And it's free! Will definitely be trying the new paid version, seems to have loads more features. Thanks for the app! ### 5/5 — Great app *2022-12-22* i have a suggestion, when the shift key is activated π becomes τ and ∑ becomes ζ ### 5/5 — The best keyboard app out there *2021-05-29* It's easier to use on iPad, but even for phones it's easily the most intuitive and legitimate customisable keyboard app ### 5/5 — Absolutely Bug free. *2020-12-14* This app had me confused first few times but once you get the hang of it, it works amaizingly. However, I would like to suggest some improvements, if it isn’t toomuch hassle. Instead of being able to output the symbols (like command and shift) could we also be able to use the function of the keys? Furthermore, i don’t really like having the spacebar on the right so could you maybe let us customise the layout of the keys? **Developer response:** Thanks for the review! I agree on all points, and have been working to create a keyboard builder with a truly customisable layout, without the limitations of this app. Turns out to be quite a hard problem, but it's one I still really want solve. It'll use a redesigned backend and UI, so this app will remain as-is for compatibility. Keep an eye out! ## Frequently asked questions about ℂKey ### How do I add ℂKey to my device? To add ℂKey, navigate to your device's Settings, then General, Keyboard, Keyboards, and select 'Add New Keyboard…'. You can then choose ℂKey from the list of available keyboards. ### What kind of layouts does ℂKey offer? ℂKey allows you to build your own layouts from scratch. It also includes default layouts inspired by QWERTY and Dvorak, as well as specialized layouts for symbols, mathematics, and formal languages. You can also create superscript and subscript keys. ### Can I use ℂKey offline? As a keyboard application, ℂKey's core functionality of typing and layout customization is available offline. However, features that require internet access, such as checking for updates or accessing online resources, would not be available. ### Does ℂKey support different languages? ℂKey supports Unicode characters, which means it can be used to type a vast array of characters from different languages and scripts. You can add any Unicode character to your custom keys. ### How often is ℂKey updated? The latest version of ℂKey is 1.11, which was released on December 21, 2016. The initial release date was November 9, 2016. Users can check for updates within their device's app store. ### What devices are compatible with ℂKey? ℂKey is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices. It is designed to function on Apple's iOS operating system. ### What is the age rating for ℂKey? ℂKey has an age rating of 4+. This indicates that the content is generally suitable for children aged 4 and above, with no mature themes or content. ### Does ℂKey have ads? No, ℂKey does not contain advertisements. The application is free to download and use without any ad interruptions. ## Version history (last 4 releases) ### 1.11 — 2016-12-21 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. Version 1.11 - big fixes come in small updates. The big things: • Unicode search results now appear live! :D - Known issue: presses may act oddly while search results are being added. :( • Are you a pro spy, needing to take notes while hiding in cupboards? Fear not, for key clicks can now be muted! • Fixed the keyboard's dark appearance! - Sorry to any users who encountered this regression for not being able to fix this sooner; I'll try to be more careful in the future to prevent this sort of issue making it out in the first place. The notable things: • Added a jump option to the popup that displays after long-pressing a search result, to show the result in context. The little things: • Editing a pane's name now temporarily hides the pane's visibility toggle, to give more room. • Improved the reliability of the keyboard's ‘hide pane list’ swipe gesture. (Specifically, the background behind the list now also captures the swipe) The foreshadowing: • I've identified that most of the keyboard's loading time is not down to loading data, but constructing/rendering the views. Armed with this knowledge, I'm more prepared than ever to achieve snappy load times! • I'm planning on bumping the version number up to 2, in one of the next couple of updates. This should come with a big increase in customisability. ### 1.1 — 2016-11-30 Version 1.1‽ That means medium-sized changes! The big things: • All new unicode search - type a character to find its details, or type a word or two to find a character with a matching name. - Just a basic implementation for now, improvements to follow. • The keyboard now loads data asynchronously - this means that the keyboard should load much more snappily, and while it loads you'll see a loading indicator, rather than an unresponsive keyboard. The notable things: • The add buttons now display a menu on tap (previously, this menu only appeared with a long press). - Consequently adding a key requires confirmation. - A paste option contextually appears in this menu, to add the copied item to the end. • The text view tab no longer brings up the keyboard automatically, infuriatingly hiding the tab bar. The little things: • Bug fixes - Splitting text into keys now definitely works. - The pane list's title no longer appears off-center at narrower widths (not a bug exactly, but it looked weird). - App no longer crashes when entering humongous codepoints. • Tweaks - The pane editor's alt button has moved to the left. - The ‘done’ return key symbol has changed from [down arrow] to [checkmark]. ### 1.0.1 — 2016-11-11 Quick minor update for usability. Bug fixes: • Fullscreen key editor in alt mode opens as expected. • Long pane titles are shortened properly. Changes: • Keys usually stay square, but their height is now limited to a quarter of the view height. ### 1.0 — 2016-11-09 No release notes. ## Apps similar to ℂKey | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [CharMap — Unicode Characters](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/charmap-unicode-characters/id369798229) | 4.0 (52) | Free | Utilities | | [Remote KeyPad and NumPad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/remote-keypad-and-numpad/id1135331999) | 4.3 (262) | Free | Utilities | | [MyKeyboard - Custom Keyboard](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mykeyboard-custom-keyboard/id1455404109) | 3.6 (86) | Free | Utilities | | [All Symbol Keyboard Text Fonts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/all-symbol-keyboard-text-fonts/id1439925151) | 4.5 (7,370) | Free | Utilities | | [Phraseboard - Paste Keyboard](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/phraseboard-paste-keyboard/id1566937042) | 4.5 (19) | Free | Utilities | | [WordBoard: Text Expander](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wordboard-text-expander/id960167417) | 4.9 (5,525) | Free | Utilities | ## More apps by Jamie Froggatt - [SimpleEdit](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simpleedit/id1287562515) - [Files Offliner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/files-offliner/id1448101894) - [Keybuild](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/keybuild/id1547174534) - [Medlied Media Library & Editor](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/medlied-media-library-and-editor/id1606367519) - [Shimmer Browser](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shimmer-browser/id6739163018) All apps by Jamie Froggatt: https://appshunter.io/developer/933327498 ## Related topics [ckey](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ckey) · [dvorak keyboard](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/dvorak-keyboard) · [dvorak](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/dvorak) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-13.*