Comparison

Unicode Pad vs xKeyboard

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Unicode Pad

Access and copy thousands of Unicode characters to use in any app. Create custom keyboards for frequently used symbols and share them with friends. Search characters by name, codepoint, or glyph, and view detailed descriptions.

Highlights
  • Copy characters to clipboard
  • Customizable keyboards
  • Share custom keyboards
  • Search characters by name/codepoint/glyph
  • View extended character descriptions
  • Thousands of symbols available
Read full description

Note: This app supports only in-app custom keyboards! For a fancier version which also supports iOS 8 and later custom keyboards, check out the Unicode Pad Pro app! • Tested on latest iOS 11 • Support for Unicode 11 standard • Copy characters to clipboard for use in other apps, like web, mail, chat, notes… practically any iOS app! • Notepad with customizable keyboards, for your often-used characters and for copying several characters at once. Great for casual writing, too! • Share your custom keyboards with your friends! • Send mail and tweets right from within the app! • Huge selection of symbols (thousands), in fact all that are available on your device. Database itself actually contains data for all Unicode characters (over 100,000), but only glyphs available in iOS system font are actually visible. • Quick acces to many groups of commonly used symbols! • Search for characters by name, hexadecimal codepoint or glyph! Find similar and related characters instantly! • Streamlined design, specifically optimized for each device. Support for all device orientations and Retina display. • Support for Backspace, New line, Shift and Alternate special keys on custom keyboards. • Custom keyboard sizes up to 6x16=96 keys. • View extended character descriptions on Wikipedia, right inside the app! This works particularly great for emoticons! • One universal application works on iPhone, iPod and iPad! • Reference booklet of characters available on modern computers! Paper Unicode maps are over 1000 pages long! • Developers: see which characters are available on your iOS device! • Great for scientific, mathematical and physics notation, handles many superscripts, subscripts and other symbols! • Excellent for phonetic notation! • Perfect for writing Unicode poetry! • Awesome for making interesting app names! • HTML entity names for relevant characters • UNIHAN english definitions for CJK ideograms for many characters • Flick left and right for next and previous characters in detail view • Affordable price!

About

xKeyboard

Design your own keyboard with custom layouts, keys, symbols, and Unicode characters. This app allows you to create specialized keyboards for various needs, from mathematical equations to phonetic alphabets, and use them across different text editing applications.

Highlights
  • Custom keyboard layouts
  • Symbol and Unicode integration
  • Specialized keyboards (Math, IPA, Chemistry)
  • Template-based creation
  • Use in text editing apps
Read full description

Using xKeyboard, you can create a custom keyboard that includes layout, keys, symbols, and Unicode. The created custom keyboard can be used in text editing software on iPhone and iPad, such as Word, PPT, Excel, notes, and can also be used in text editing boxes. Built-in Keyboards - Unicode Keyboard - ABC Keyboard - ASCII Keyboard - Digits Keyboard : Binary, Integer, Decimal, Octonary, Hexadecimal - Collection Keyboard : Symbols, Words, Sentences - IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) Keyboard : IPA English ( DJ, K.K. ) - Subjects: Math, Chemistry, Music Language - Word Keyboards: English, French, German, Spanish ... - Code-Word Keyboards: Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional ... Culture - Astrology Keyboard: 12 zodiac signs, 10 celestial bodies, full set of aspects, elements, moon phases and auxiliary symbols - I Ching Keyboard - Chess Keyboard: Chess notation keyboard, chess symbols - Chinese Chess Keyboard: Chinese chess notation keyboard - Dice Keyboard - Mahjong Keyboard - Playing Cards Keyboard ---------- Custom - Layout: Custom layouts are better suited for specialized input scenarios. - Environment: Different environments have different rules - Certain keyboards can serve as templates, allowing you to build custom keyboards faster and more easily. ---------- Privacy : We DO NOT COLLECT ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU TYPE using this app. xKeyboard does not require network access, and Allow Full Access is not necessary. If users Allow Full Access, the following functions will be enabled: - Copy, Paste, Cut : these functions will call UIPasteboard APIs. ---------- Tips: 1. If the xKeyboard is not visible in Settings > Keyboards, then reboot the device and reinstall 2. If you could not find xKeyboard when tap globe key : Remove xKeyboard in the system settings, re-add it. ---------- Charging method: Most of the features of this software are paid for, but before purchasing, we hope that users can know if the software has the desired features and if it is possible to customize a keyboard that the user wants. Therefore, the software can be downloaded for free and allows users to try creating a keyboard before paying. Terms of Use : https://www.jianshu.com/p/b2a855c32ffe Privacy Policy : https://www.jianshu.com/p/46e225ffbc59

Screenshots

Unicode Pad4 screens
xKeyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: xKeyboard at Free against Unicode Pad's $2.99. xKeyboard also leads on ratings volume (178 vs 8) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Unicode Pad's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (74% vs 39%). On ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

xKeyboard is free to download; Unicode Pad costs $2.99 up front. xKeyboard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.29 per month. Unicode Pad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unicode Pad holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: xKeyboard has 178 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Unicode Pad's written reviews are positive against 39% of xKeyboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Unicode Pad ships an update every 3 months, xKeyboard every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Unicode Pad versus xKeyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUnicode PadxKeyboard
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.5 (8 ratings) — better3.2 (178 ratings)
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews — better39.2% of reviews
Number of ratings8178 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size140 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZiga Kranjec煦 张

Customer experience

Unicode Pad

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews171 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral7.6%
Negative18.7%

xKeyboard

All ratings178 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral15.2%
Negative34.8%
Written reviews125 reviews
Positive39.2%
Neutral20.8%
Negative40.0%

User reviews

Unicode Pad

From 8 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Comprehensive symbol catalog
  • 💡 Customizable keyboards
  • 🚀 Easy to use interface
  • 🔍 Powerful search functionality
  • 🌟 Useful for nicknames and special characters

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes
  • 📦 Some characters display as boxes
  • 🐌 Laggy scrolling and slow loading
  • 🖱️ Manual copy-pasting required
  • ⌨️ Limited keyboard space for custom keyboards

xKeyboard

From 178 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Highly customizable
  • 👍 Versatile for various use cases
  • 🚀 Powerful keyboard creation capabilities
  • 👍 Useful for conlangs and rare scripts
  • 👍 Allows creating custom characters

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Paywall for core functionality
  • 🐛 Crashes when deleting/editing keys
  • 👎 Confusing and unintuitive interface
  • 👎 Lacks documentation and tutorials
  • 👎 Missing basic features like autocorrect

Bugs and requests

Unicode Pad

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • App crashes when selecting notepad
  • App crashes on startup
  • Scrolling is laggy
  • Custom keyboards take time to load
  • Characters not appearing on keyboard after adding
Show 12 more
  • Some symbols don't copy properly (show as boxes)
  • App won't update
  • App becomes very slow after updates
  • Custom keyboards are hard to see after update
  • Buttons disappear
  • Detail window cannot be closed
  • Glyph description length exceeds screen
  • App freezes and requires device reset
  • Favorites/copy buttons sometimes go invisible
  • Cannot get to clipboard to post to other apps
  • App doesn't work with Facebook
  • Characters not displayed (show as squares)

Requested features

15 requests
  • Ability to add keyboards to other apps
  • More space for custom keyboards
  • Integration with iOS keyboard
  • Add backspace/delete/return keys to custom keyboards
  • Ability to rearrange keys on custom keyboards
Show 10 more
  • Ability to remove custom keys while on the keyboard
  • Sort Unicode blocks numerically
  • Save/swap out keyboards from within the app
  • Option to hide iOS incompatible characters
  • Add space bar to custom keyboard layouts
  • Copy as HTML option
  • Precise selection and editing features
  • Macros for multiple keystrokes
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

xKeyboard

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to delete/edit keys
  • Installed keyboards don't show custom layouts
  • App crashes on certain script/language changes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to export/share custom keyboards
  • Improve keyboard customization workflow
  • Implement swipe typing and autocorrect
  • Add more language/script support
  • Allow creating custom characters/symbols

In-app purchases

None

Unicode Pad

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

xKeyboard

Subscriptions2
  • VIP - 1 Month$0.291 Month
  • VIP - 1 Year$2.991 Year
One-time1
  • VIP - Lifetime$8.99

Questions

Is Unicode Pad free?
Unicode Pad costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is xKeyboard free?
xKeyboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?
Unicode Pad is rated higher. Unicode Pad averages 3.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while xKeyboard averages 3.2 from 178 ratings.
Do Unicode Pad or xKeyboard have ads?
Neither Unicode Pad nor xKeyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?
Unicode Pad ships an update every 3 months, and xKeyboard every 6 weeks. Most recently, Unicode Pad was updated on September 29, 2026 and xKeyboard on September 24, 2026.

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