IPA Phonetic Keyboard vs ShavKey
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
This free keyboard provides easy access to all IPA and extended IPA symbols. Its intuitive layout mirrors the IPA chart, making symbol input fluid and efficient for linguists, language learners, and enthusiasts.
- Full IPA chart (2020) symbols
- ExtIPA chart (2016) symbols
- Organized symbol sections
- Intuitive symbol layout
- Convenient input for common characters
- Completely free, no ads
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Behold the first completely FREE IPA keyboard on the App Store designed for linguists, language learners, and hobbyists. It is designed to be lightweight and fluid, matching up to the user experience of the system emoji keyboard. =FEATURES= - Includes ALL symbols on the newest standard IPA chart (2020 ver.) - Includes most symbols (the ones available in Unicode) on the newest standard extIPA chart (2016 ver.) - Symbols are divided into sections just like the IPA chart(-duh!): consonants, non-pulmonic, other symbols, vowels, suprasegmentals, tones and word accents, and diacritics - Symbols are arranged naturally, with a layout designed for you to find the symbols you want more quickly (especially the vowels, it's cleverly designed to match the layout on the IPA chart) - Convenient input for "[]", "//", "~", "◌", space, and return on the top of the keyboard - Completely free, NO ADS =EXTERNAL LINKS= For more information on IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet The developer, Vince14Genius's GitHub: https://www.github.com/Vince14Genius/
ShavKey
This keyboard app provides quick access to all 48 Shavian characters without requiring shifts. It includes an always-on number row that can be configured for Base 12 input.
- All 48 Shavian characters accessible
- No shift key required
- Always-on number row
- Optional Base 12 number input
- Optimized for single-stroke input
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The Shavian Keyboard for iOS. It features all 48 characters without needing to shift, in keeping with the idea that each character can be written with one stroke, we don't think it should take more than one key press. There is also an always on number row along the top which can be set to use Base 12 if you are so inclined.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShavKey at none against IPA Phonetic Keyboard's 3. IPA Phonetic Keyboard's advantage is ratings volume (193 vs 10) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. IPA Phonetic Keyboard sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. ShavKey asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for IPA Phonetic Keyboard against 4.6 for ShavKey. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: IPA Phonetic Keyboard has 193 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of IPA Phonetic Keyboard's written reviews are positive against 100% of ShavKey's.
IPA Phonetic Keyboard ships an update every 4 months, ShavKey every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IPA Phonetic Keyboard | ShavKey |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (193 ratings) | 4.6 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 92.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 193 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vincent Cai | Joshua Lancaster |
Customer experience
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
ShavKey
Bugs and requests
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
Reported bugs
2 issues- Vowel [ʁ] displays incorrectly
- Keyboard disappears after switching, requiring settings access to re-enable
Requested features
4 requests- Add angle brackets and parentheses for orthographic notation
- Implement a 'frequently used' section for common symbols
- Allow users to rearrange the keyboard layout
- Add support for laryngeal notation in Proto-Indo-European
ShavKey
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
IPA Phonetic Keyboard
- Donation: Buy me a drink$2.99
- Obsolete/Non-Standard Symbols$5.99
- Donation: Buy me a meal$9.99
ShavKey
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is IPA Phonetic Keyboard free?
Is ShavKey free?
Which has better reviews, IPA Phonetic Keyboard or ShavKey?
Do IPA Phonetic Keyboard or ShavKey have ads?
Which is updated more often, IPA Phonetic Keyboard or ShavKey?
Other comparisons
